Everything old is new again.

The Lakers and Pistons are back in the NBA Finals for a Showtime-Bad Boys rematch. Rocker Slash is selling out arenas with Velvet Revolver. Actor David Caruso's starring in one of the top-rated programs on television. My friends are all wearing Bad News Bears-style mesh hats. And the local Sam Goody is stocking up on Barry Manilow's newest "2Nights Live" album.

OK, who's the prankster with the time machine? And what year is it anyway?

After this week in sports, you'd be hard-pressed to give an answer.

Last Thursday night, 45-year-old Julio Franco became the oldest player in major league history to hit a grand slam homerun. World Series hero Miguel Cabrera, 21, wasn't even a fetus when Franco debuted in 1982.

Then on Friday afternoon,Roger Clemens, 41, earned his eighth win of the season, giving him the most wins in the Major Leagues. Clemens, who has yet to lose a game, is also second in the majors in strikeouts.

Who's got more? Forty-year-old Randy Johnson, who has a little something called a perfect game under his belt this season as well.

It doesn't end there. On Friday night, Fred Mcgriff, 40, had the game-winning hit for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in their eleven inning victory over Baltimore. The "Crime Dog" was hitting homeruns before even Snoop Dogg was hitting the blunt ... Well, can't be so sure about that, but you get the point.

Instead of catching the "early bird" at some restaurant in Boca Raton, 38-year-old Al Leiter got his 147th career win on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Ruben Sierra improved his average to .304 with a homer on Friday night, and 75-year old Rafael Furcal had three hits on Thursday.

Toss in Vince Coleman and Lloyd Moseby, and you can re-play the All Star Game from Nintendo's original RBI Baseball with today's league leaders. And oh yeah, I haven't even mentioned the 39-year-old Barry Bonds. The man is hitting over .370, leads the league in both on-base and slugging percentage, and has thirty more walks than any other player in baseball. How is this possible? He grew up watching Sonny and Cher!

Off the diamond, elder statesmen are dominating other playing fields as well. Dave Andreychuk, 40, is the captain of a team one win away from a Stanley Cup Championship. Fred Couples, 44, finished second in the Memorial this weekend (2 shots ahead of Tiger, no less). Karl Malone, 40, continues his quest for an NBA title this week. Men of such age are usually expected to pick up the kids from Little League in a powder-blue minivan; not compete on a nightly basis for championship rings.

Earlier this week, 39-year-old Vinny Testaverde made news by re-uniting with Bill Parcells and signing with the Cowboys. Testaverde was a Miami Hurricane long before the German hair band "The Scorpions" even rocked us like one.

Ric Flair, 55, is still wrestling, 44-year-old bowler Walter Ray Williams, Jr. recently won the 2004 ABC Masters, and arguably America's best table tennis player, Khoa Nguyen, just turned 37. Like re-runs of "Charles In Charge", it seems as though sports stars across America are only getting better with age.

It's not just athletes either. Is there anyone cooler than William Davidson? This 81-year-old stud is the owner of the Detroit Pistons and the Tampa Bay Lighting. Both teams are vying for championship rings this week. He and Hugh Hefner might very well be the two luckiest men alive. Davidson may walk away with a Stanley Cup and a Larry O'Brien, while Hefner comes home to a myriad of twin "trophies" everyday. Not bad for two men who were born during the Coolidge administration.

Clair Huxtable is winning Tony awards, Julie Andrews is one of the stars in "Shrek 2", and AC Slater's bachelor party details are on the cover of all the tabloids.

I really enjoyed "Back to the Future", but I never realized it could ever actually take place. Next thing we know, Jeff Gordon will be driving a DeLorean at next weekend's Pocono 500.

Should I break out my Umbro shorts and Adidas "Samba" sneakers? Should I toss in a Starship cassette tape and rock to "We Built this City"? Is that Bull Hurley "Over the Top" poster that dressed my bedroom walls as a kid OK to put up again? Maybe I'll just throw on a slap bracelet and crack open a bottle of Crystal Clear Pepsi.

With all these old geezers dominating the world of sports, it is hard to consider Eddie George "too old" to continue as a starting running back somewhere in the NFL. And yet, a record number of underclassmen have declared for this year's NBA Draft, 20-year-old Carmelo Anthony was the star of last weekend's episode of "Punk'd", and 19-year-old Avril Lavigne's latest album "Under My Skin" debuted at number one on the Billboard Charts.

If anything, it is safe to say that age is officially only a number. In the world of sports, this couldn't be truer. Just ask Ruth Daley Simmons of Verona, Wisconsin. As seen on SportsCenter's "Not Top Ten", she spent her 105th birthday Friday afternoon bowling at the local Wildcat Lanes. "I love to bowl. I'm no good at it, but I love to bowl," Simmons said.

If I've learned anything this week, I can assure you that Ruth's lack of bowling skills have nothing to do with her old age.

One of ESPN's final 100 "Dream Job" contestants, Peter Schrager recently graduated from Emory University, and covers popular culture for Page 3. He can be reached at PeterSchrager@yahoo.com.