THE GREATEST OF ALL IS TIME

Peyton, this is Kobe; give me a call when you get a minute. Oh and by the way Father Time says he's been trying to reach you and said he will eventually.

...And still undefeated, Father Time! No one outruns him; no one out plays him and no one will ever will. Kobe Bryant finally succumb to the cruel reality that Father Time gets us all in the end. You have willed your way past injuries Peyton Manning and fought through an assortment of ailments but sitting in the fourth quarter of life with an end of game invoice is Father Time. You can't escape it and the illusion of your youth gives you false hope that you can. Talk about false hope...

cbssports

So many athletes in their prime, at the top of their game, felt they were different only to learn there is no discrimination when it's time to call it a day. Muhammad Ali for as great as he was, looked embarrassingly inept beyond his years before he quit. Joe Namath played for several different teams looking for lighting in a bottle only to find out it was Vodka. You can go to every sport and you'll find someone who doesn't know what we see and that is, that their time is now. I've got one more inning; one more at bat; one more jumper and they do but it only resides in their mind. If you're a real fan of that player you hold out hope based on past performances that yeah, they do have one more. This was just an off night, week or month.

USA Today

How does an athlete reconcile with their mind, the fact their body no longer has the ability to compete at the highest level regardless of what they done the past double digit years? Yes you see the ball but a split second in sports has cost many a player a chance at stardom so when it happens to a legend it's even harder to take.

Father Time doesn't take any prisoners, has no sympathy for your idol and certainly doesn't care if it affects the outcome of the game. He's making room for the next superstar or the next idol-in-the-making and you, once full of youth, yes you are in the way.

Peyton Manning has outlasted Father Time for a while now even though we all see he can't throw a deep ball with any velocity and/or accuracy the way he once did. Kobe Bryant's legs went on vacation a while ago but he thought they were still at the ready upon his command. These are the latest two players who have tested the age old theory that you can't out run father time and they're doing it in the typical and most painful way; lying to themselves. Having not been a superstar I wonder how they justify their sub-par performances when they turn consistent? How do they rationalize the pain that now awaits them in the second half versus 2 days after the game if at all? How do they make sense of the fact the signature move they made time and again, which freed them to make the Sportscenter Top Ten highlight reel, arrived later than it used to giving the defender the decided advantage?

Business Insider

It has to be disheartening but the clues are all around. Former athletes they looked up to including Michael Jordan, have fallen to Father Time and typically in ways we'd rather forget. 10, 12 even 14 years of stellar performance and then we're left to watch a former shell of our heroes unwilling to concede their time has come. It has to be painful (Ask Tiger Woods); it has to be a slap in the face with a wet rag for them knowing their body and mind now disagree with them about playing one more game, down, quarter or inning. Part of the body is saying golf, more golf. While the mind says "Yes we can!" Never have two sides that were once in total sync become such a contradiction of their past.

But that's what happens when you try to beat your last opponent, who is and always will be undefeated. Father Time; a cruel opponent who lets you think you can do it all and all of a sudden, won't let you do it at all. Kobe finally gave in and once Peyton answers his call he will to. The great thing about Father Time is he has all the time in the world; and time outs too. Don't worry he'll win and so much so that Vegas won't take odds on him. Father Time is called a sure bet and Oddsmakers avoid him at all costs. Something our heroes can't seem to do. That's the way I see it sitting in The Box Seat. I'm Wayne Box Miller.