How is the competition watered down exactly? When a team leaves, that gives other teams the ability to rise in their place and take the recruits those departing teams are no longer pursuing. The teams might change, but with the increase in population and each generation having an increase in athleticism, the competition is still going to be tough.
Video games? I'm too old to care.
National Championships were won with a lot of busting your-arse off work - most of which happened outside of practice.