ONE of sport's great milestones was reached a decade ago today.

To many in this country, the name Cal Ripken Jnr means nothing. But the tall, athletic, greying baseball player is an institution in America.

I've followed the game for 20 years, and been lucky enough to visit half-a-dozen stadiums, which all put our sorry excuses for football grounds to shame. I've grown up learning about the legendary Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. I've seen Hall of Famers Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez in the flesh.

But none of that compares to the day 10 years ago when Ripken created history.

The event was so monumental that it was beamed over to Sky TV in England, and I watched in wonderment in the early hours of the morning as 46,000 fans cheered Ripken onto the field for his 2,131st consecutive game for the Baltimore Orioles. Both teams formed a guard of honour, and the evening was lit up by a sea of flashbulbs.

The run had beaten the record set by New York Yankee legend Lou Gehrig, and it will never be beaten again.

Ripken went on to play for three more years without missing a single game. That amounted to 2,632 consecutive matches.

The baseball season lasts a gruelling 162 games, and Ripken played for 17 years without missing a single one of them.

During the six-month long season, players take to the field at least six nights a week - sometimes seven. Many games finish between 11pm and midnight, and the team then have to fly to another city, catching a few hours sleep on the plane.

Baseball is mentally and physically demanding, and Ripken picked up his fair share of injuries, but he always played on. In 1997, his appearance streak was famously under threat when he suffered a herniated disc and was told to rest for two weeks.

Ripken played through the pain barrier, and reached his memorable milestone, known throughout America as The Streak.

Last week, football's transfer window closed until Christmas, and the only streak we're likely to see is from an over-exuberant fan.

David James holds the record for most consecutive Premiership games (159), with Frank Lampard nine games behind.

Both will be lucky to reach 250, and neither will threaten ex-Liverpool defender Phil Neal's record of 417 league and cup games.

They won't get near because footballers today are protected far too much. They are cushioned from the rigours of the game they all love.

When Sir Alex Ferguson 'rests' Wayne Rooney, he is over-protecting the club's most valuable asset. At the age of 19, the England striker can handle two games a week. He can play in 55 of the 60 games Manchester United without fear of burn-out. Yet, Rooney finds himself out of the starting line-up for a quarter of the games.

When Spurs came to Ewood Park a couple of weeks ago, manager Martin Jol left out striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Edgar Davids with the Chelsea game in mind a few days later. What a ridiculous state - resting key players just two weeks into the new season.

Chelsea's success last season was down largely to the spine of the side: Petr Cech, John Terry and Lampard - who missed just a handful of games between them. If you have consistency, then you have success. The great Liverpool side of the 1980s used between 14 to 16 players all season.

Premiership teams now feel they have to go into a season with five strikers on the books so that they can rotate tired players. Tired? Sick and tired of being left on the bench is what any player worth his salt would tell you.

Rooney, Owen, Van Nistelrooy, Henry ... they should never miss a Premiership unless injured.

Cal Ripken's amazing record will never be matched in any sport, but it would be nice to see one professional footballer making it through a season without needing a week off.