We tend to believe that evolution is always a good thing for everyone involved. Well, just as we’ve learned in biology class in school, evolution has a way of sidetracking some, whilst making the whole better. This is also true in sports.

As players and their training methods and rules evolved, so has each and every game. Football went from being a kickabout to a sprinting match of super athletes. Faster, stronger and more skilled players have made the game even more enjoyable to watch than it was 30 years ago. Track and field events will always be ever more exciting as the participants push the boundaries of human strength further and further. But does every sport benefit from quicker play, faster and stronger players?

I believe certain sports have become sidetracked in all of this commotion. Tennis is usually a great example. Every time a brilliant hard-hitting serve-and-volley player comes along, the game is reduced to points of three hits or less. It is an impressive, dominating performance - but enjoyable? Never. Ivan Lendl, for example, made the game boring. His combination of speed and power was unprecedented at the time. He had his opponents beaten in three or four hits at max.

Thankfully, it seems like this was just a passing phase. Player strengths have evened out; we are once again seeing longer drives for each point and tactics have once again come into play in tennis. We do have a dominating presence with Roger Federer, but his domination is due to skill and an uncanny ability to see what’s happening on the court at all times.

Boxing was receiving great ratings, however, at its gravest times. Mike Tyson made the one-round boxing formula famous. People cheered at first when they saw him demolish his opponents so quickly, but after enough of these bouts they felt cheated out of their money. You pay top dollar to see Tyson go at least six rounds. Heck, we all love knockouts, but give us time to enjoy the fight! Interestingly enough, boxing is always peaking when somebody dominates. When the talent pool is evened out we feel like boxing needs to be saved – see the advertisement for the recent Oscar De La Hoya fight.

Ice hockey has also suffered a blow to some extent. I know most people will point to the long NHL lockout as a major reason for the declined ratings of the sport; and they are right, it did have a negative effect. However, the reason behind the lockout taking so long as opposed to the ones the other three major US sports faced, is that hockey was on the decline even before the lockout started.