As it relates to tennis, tennis has had a difficult time for three major reasons:
1. Super Saturday at the US Open in 1984 was sooooo good and compelling that it set the bar unrealistically high that the game has never been able to match it again. The only other time was when Jimmy Connors made it to the semifinals in either 1990 or 1991 (can't remember which year).
2. By 1993, all of the personalities in tennis basically retired, which makes it more difficult for people to truly connect with the sport. The sport was quite interesting when A Ashe, J Connors, J McEnroe, I Nastase, S Smith, J Newcombe, B Becker, Y Noah, B J King, M Navratilova, etc. all played the game. Today's players are all, more or less, devoid of that type of personality because the sport has become too much of a business to actually show any personality. For example, Sampras and Graf were great players, but they couldn't sell the sport anywhere.
3. The 1994 SI cover declaring tennis dead left a bullet in tennis' body permanently.
As a tennis player who has recently tried the new technology (the Dunlop 200G-4th incarnation), mishits now stay in play much easier and one doesn't have to swing as hard to achieve the type of pace necessary. They also make volleying easier because the racquets absorb the tension unlike the racquets of old.
I think the problems with Shinnecock last year were much more political than anything--the USGA decided to make a political statement about playing the course less than 7000 yards, the normal weather conditions didn't materialize until late Saturday and having 10+ players under par wouldn't work well so certain measures were implemented. As a result, they did succeed in the 4th round where the scoring average was 78.73. Frankly, there was too much discussion over the 7th in the final round when more of the discussion should have occurred over the 10th--the stroke average for the 10th on Sunday was 5.03. The top guys couldn't get down in par on that hole from 55-70 yards on Sunday because the extreme pin position (7 on, 11 from the left) left virtually no margin for error. The R and A did something similar to this at Muirfield in 2002--I still think the set up at Muirfield was almost as bad as the set up at Carnoustie in 1999.
Some of the yardages Fay quoted for Bellerive (7191) and Olympia Fields (7190) weren't quite correct. Neither of those venues were ready for prime time.
However, when he stated there are few championship courses over 7200, the US Open roster coming up is chock full of 7200 plus venues:
Pinehurst--7214, can still build in another 150
Winged Foot--7266 for the last amateur, +280 from the 1997 USPGA Championship in 1997
Oakmont--7171 for the 2003 amateur, +224 from the 1994 US Open
Torrey Pines--currently 7607, par 72 from the back--I would think it is absolutely guaranteed it will play at least 7300, par 70 in 2008
Bethpage--was 7214 in 2002, probably going back another 100+ yards (4, 5, 12 come to mind)
Pebble Beach--can't max out this course by more than 6925.
Congressional--7213 in 1997, 7254, par 71 for the Booz Allen, probably moving back another 100-200 for 2011 according to the PGA Pro interview on pga.com earlier today.
The USPGA Championship is already in the well north of 7200 yard range already:
1989--Kemper Lakes--7197
1991--Crooked Stick--7295
1999--Medinah--7401
2001--Atlanta AC--7213 (70)
2002--Hazeltine--7360
2004--Whistling Straits--7514
2005--Baltusrol--7392 (70)
2006--Medinah--7500+
2009--Hazeltine--7400+ (hopefully the 7th plays as a par 4)
2010--Whistling Straits--perhaps 7600+
2011--Atlanta AC--7300+ (70)
I think the USPGA is playing 2 of Baltusrol's par 4s at 503 and 505, respectively, this year because there won't be any in 2006, only one possibility in 2007 (Southern Hills 16), only two possibilities in 2008 (Oakland Hills 8 and 18, both more unlikely than Southern Hills 16), only one possibility in 2009 (Hazeltine 7), then they could really max out in 2010 if they so choose (Whistling Straits 4, 8, 15, 18, maybe reduce 16 to a par 4).
Same goes for the British Open--Lytham is the shortest venue left (6905). Hoylake will be over 7200, Carnoustie approaches 7400, St Georges was increased by 250 yards for Curtis' victory, St Andrews is now 350 yards longer than when Daly won in 1995. Troon is pushing 7200.
Say what one will--7200+ courses are now the norm, especially if a club wants a major championship.