A couple weeks ago I caught the tail end of a Yankees game (dunno who they were playing) only because I wanted to watch COPS and of course they ruined the only night I really want to watch TV.
The game is painfully boring. Most of the time is spent listening to droning commentary, waiting for something to happen, seeing guys adjusting their cups constantly and watching closeups of them spitting brown juice all over themselves. Why the networks want to zoom in on that nauseating part of baseball, I have no idea.
Oh, yeah, one more thing I noticed is guys with intense stares making hand signals that looked like gang signs to who knows where. When they finished, they would look down and walk around like they were waiting for their wife to have a baby and then SPIT a gob of big league with it dripping down their chin.
Do I really want to watch baseball? Never have and never will. Clipping my toenails would bring me greater joy and entertainment.
Doug, I don't think you understand the skill needed to play the game. Just try to throw that ball as accurately as a second baseman, let alone a pitcher.
I'm a Royals fan- at least I was... While in college during the mid-70s, attending SUNY New Paltz within 70 miles of NYC; the obnoxious pinstripe advocates virtually drove me to root for KC. I had to watch the series in a different setting each game. Of course those were the days of George Brett, Hal McRae, Cowens, Killebrew, Otis, Bird, Splittorf and Mayberry...
A prime factor in baseball's decline is the lack of competition. Powerhouse teams are owned by the same big-money clubs, and the rest spend the season accounting the decades their team has spent in the basement.
In the northeast, baseball fans would be satisfied if every game was Boston playing NY.
...And what's baseball without old-school bad boys like Billie Martin?
I'd rather watch baseball than football any day of the week. While the gross stuff cited above is true, how is it worse than these monstrous football players who gargle Gatoraide and spew it out, slap each others' behinds, beat their chests and grandstand like Pro Wrestlers when they accomplish a feat? Real class.
Not to mention how they crash into each other head first like battering rams, something I turn my head and wince at, just hoping the guy didn't just snap his spinal cord.
And talk about the sideline antics of the coaches, the pacing, the swearing, it's no different in football. Ditto the long-winded commentary and parsing of every jot and tittle that goes on, plus the history and stats ad nauseum.
What is different is my complete and utter boredom watching two opposing groups of men run two yards and all fall down, again and again, until somebody gets a real run going down the field. ZZZZZZ...But, hey, that's just me. Football players remind me of gladiators. Their sport is brutal. I know I'm in the minority, but so what.
Billie,
I like to go to baseball games.
I like to watch football on tv.
There is something about being at a baseball game on a warm evening that defines summer.
Going to a football game takes work, especially when the weather turns.
I'd much rather sit home, with friends, and watch the game.
Both provide a social event for me, but it different ways.
But that's nothing new. My point was, it's always been that way. You said there's been a decline of baseball, because ... I'm not sure what you mean by decline, so I'm not even going there ... but the because part is faulty because nothing has changed regarding financing disparity in the 100+ years of baseball history. The Yankees wound up with Mickey Mantle because they could pay the biggest signing bonus. The Dodgers wound up with Sandy Koufax because they could pay the biggest signing bonus.
Bea, I have been to football games in San Diego, where there was no weather-related effort to get there. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. Unless the Chargers were in the Superbowl, any place, and someone gave me free tickets in a great spot. Won't happen.
I, too, enjoy a good time with friends watching football on TV, where it's more like a party with football on, not everyone glued to the set.
I like to watch baseball on TV and at the ballpark, although sometimes sitting on concrete for nine or more innings increasingly takes more willpower.
Watching golf on TV is something I like, too, even though I can see how it would be some people to sleep.
Basketball, I'll pass. Only this year, did I take a liking to World Cup soccer.
I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a fork than attend an NFL game. Being in a crowd with 70,000 belligerent drunk strangers doesn't appeal to me.
I love going to hockey games, the fans are rowdy but well-behaved, if that makes sense, and hockey is one of the few sports (in my opinion) that is great to watch on TV or in person.
An old joke: "I once went to a fight and a hockey game broke out."
I went to a hockey game once and it was truly exciting. It was rough, but not like the NFL. Hey, maybe I'll go to another game sometime, hockey seems pretty big here, what with all the ice and snow.
Chris, you are hilarious. If you think 70,000 belligerent drunks at a pro football game are bad, try going to a game when the Oakland Raiders are playing. The level of raunch and inebriation is multiplied by a factor of 10 at least. They are the most obnoxious sports fans I have ever witnessed. They take it personally and they take it to the parking lot and the streets and along their travels. Their logo goes to their wee little meatball heads, methinks.
Yeah, the folks out in Raider country are a special bunch, I lived north of the Bay Area for a while. Eagles fans were voted the absolute worst in the country last year and the Bills weren't too far behind.
Baseball makes more sense to me. You can score as many times as you can, within 3 outs, before giving the ball to the other team, and there are no time limits, other than 9 innings. Not necessarily a good thing, but a baseball game could go on forever !!
Downside of watching baseball on TV, the announcers. I understand that on the YES network Michael Kay and all his ex-Yankee buddies are paid by the Yankees, but my God, there are other teams on the planet. The Yankees don't have ALL of the best players, and they certainly don't make ALL the greatest plays.
Network announcers are something else too. Do we really need ALL of the info they come up with. They too get carried away.
McCarver for example, talking about the catcher for the Rangers, "Molina is the only catcher in Major League history, to be traded at mid - season, and catch in a World Series game, against the team that traded him." I want to know, WHO KEEPS TRACK OF THIS STUFF!!!!
Howard- the decline I speak of is in general popularity. I fully admit that my perception is exclusively anecdotal. Growing up in the 60s, virtually every kid I knew was into baseball- collected cards, was rabidly defensive of their favorite team and players. It does not appear to be so today. When the World Series was being played every kid was plugged into a transistor radio; every TV was tuned to the game. As I recall, the only instances of TV in the classroom prior to 1970: NASA space launches and baseball games.
What's harmed baseball among youth is video games.
What's more exciting -- collecting baseball cards or trying to kill things on a screen?
The steroid issue aside -- which the average kid probably doesn't care about -- not much about the game has changed since we were kids.
Society has changed, however, and there's just more options for kids to be entertained, and dads have more options, too, which I suspect in too many families means less time playing catch (oh, I should use the East Coast term, "having a catch), less time watching the game together, going to fewer games together.
Baseball is like watching paint dry. Way too boring, pitcher has to scratch this and adjust that, then of course to look twice at everybody on the field. THROW THE BALL! Oh wait now the batter has to step out, spit, adjust and refasten his batting glove!
Here is a novel thought put a timer out in center field for the batter and one behind home plate for the pitcher. Set a fair time count and too much time on either one results in a strike or a ball.
C.M., didn't read the whole thing, but yes -- there's only one sport played in heaven, and it ain't football (either the American or the World version).
I love baseball, but I hate how long the games have become. TV has made the game that should take 2 hours tops, and turned it into a 3 1/2 hour ordeal.
Howard said:
My general response to anybody who says "baseball is boring" is: You don't know the game.
There is never a dull moment in baseball. It's the most intense and exciting sport there is.
And that's impossible to explain to anybody who doesn't know the game.
------------------------------
I have to disagree 100%. I grew up in a house where if there was a baseball game on TV, my Dad had it on. Once cable came to town, bleh, baseball was year 'round.
I also coached softball for a bunch of years, and played on women's softball leagues for years, too.
You couldn't trip me up on the rules if you tried, I understand the game completely, and I think it is horrendously boring to watch!
There are PLENTY of dull moments, lol. My gosh, the ball is popped up to left field...Joe Blow is under it...waiting...waiting... and he's OUT! Yeah, let's see Joe Blow catch it if the entire other team was coming at him full speed, ready to knock his head off! Even if they drop the ball, so what? It's still not exciting.
Football, now THAT'S exciting to me. Even if you don't know the game well, it can be entertaining. Baseball, nah.
The longest professional game record is attributed to the Rochester Red Wings (Vs. Pawtucket), over 8 hours. Ticket holders certainly got their money's worth that day.
Since when is central Texas
Since when is central Texas the west coast?
Ask MLB -- they're the ones
Ask MLB -- they're the ones that put them in the West.
Sure Western conference but
Sure Western conference but no coast
No interest because there's
No interest because there's no Red Sox! :)
A couple weeks ago I caught
A couple weeks ago I caught the tail end of a Yankees game (dunno who they were playing) only because I wanted to watch COPS and of course they ruined the only night I really want to watch TV.
The game is painfully boring. Most of the time is spent listening to droning commentary, waiting for something to happen, seeing guys adjusting their cups constantly and watching closeups of them spitting brown juice all over themselves. Why the networks want to zoom in on that nauseating part of baseball, I have no idea.
Oh, yeah, one more thing I noticed is guys with intense stares making hand signals that looked like gang signs to who knows where. When they finished, they would look down and walk around like they were waiting for their wife to have a baby and then SPIT a gob of big league with it dripping down their chin.
Do I really want to watch baseball? Never have and never will. Clipping my toenails would bring me greater joy and entertainment.
Doug, I don't think you
Doug, I don't think you understand the skill needed to play the game. Just try to throw that ball as accurately as a second baseman, let alone a pitcher.
I'm with Doug on this one. I
I'm with Doug on this one. I can't stand to watch baseball on TV. I like to see games live though.
I'm a Royals fan- at least I
I'm a Royals fan- at least I was... While in college during the mid-70s, attending SUNY New Paltz within 70 miles of NYC; the obnoxious pinstripe advocates virtually drove me to root for KC. I had to watch the series in a different setting each game. Of course those were the days of George Brett, Hal McRae, Cowens, Killebrew, Otis, Bird, Splittorf and Mayberry...
A prime factor in baseball's decline is the lack of competition. Powerhouse teams are owned by the same big-money clubs, and the rest spend the season accounting the decades their team has spent in the basement.
In the northeast, baseball fans would be satisfied if every game was Boston playing NY.
...And what's baseball without old-school bad boys like Billie Martin?
I'd rather watch baseball
I'd rather watch baseball than football any day of the week. While the gross stuff cited above is true, how is it worse than these monstrous football players who gargle Gatoraide and spew it out, slap each others' behinds, beat their chests and grandstand like Pro Wrestlers when they accomplish a feat? Real class.
Not to mention how they crash into each other head first like battering rams, something I turn my head and wince at, just hoping the guy didn't just snap his spinal cord.
And talk about the sideline antics of the coaches, the pacing, the swearing, it's no different in football. Ditto the long-winded commentary and parsing of every jot and tittle that goes on, plus the history and stats ad nauseum.
What is different is my complete and utter boredom watching two opposing groups of men run two yards and all fall down, again and again, until somebody gets a real run going down the field. ZZZZZZ...But, hey, that's just me. Football players remind me of gladiators. Their sport is brutal. I know I'm in the minority, but so what.
Baseball has always had its
Baseball has always had its dynasties and it's big money clubs that always win.
That's the premise behind "Damn Yankees" afterall.
But if money buys championships, how do you explain the Chicago Cubs?
Well, Howard... 10
Well, Howard...
10 winningest teams by W%, from 2000-2009 (past 10 seasons)
Team, Winning Percentage
Yankees, 0.5972
Red Sox, 0.5683
Cardinals, 0.5639
Angels, 0.5556
Braves, 0.5513
Athletics, 0.5501
Twins, 0.5324
Dodgers, 0.5321
Giants, 0.5288
White Sox, 0.5287
*http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/316908
Team 2008 payroll 2009 payroll
Yankees $209,081,577 $201,449,189
Mets $137,793,376 $149,373,987
Cubs $118,345,833 $134,809,000
Red Sox $133,390,035 $121,745,999
Tigers $137,685,196 $115,085,145
Angels $119,216,333 $113,709,000
Phillies $98,269,880 $113,004,046
Astros $88,930,414 $102,996,414
Dodgers $118,588,536 $100,414,592
Mariners $117,666,482 $98,904,166
Braves $102,365,683 $96,726,166
White Sox $121,189,332 $96,068,500
Giants $76,594,500 $82,616,450
Indians $78,970,066 $81,579,166
Blue Jays $97,793,900 $80,538,300
Brewers $80,937,499 $80,182,502
Cardinals $99,624,449 $77,605,109
Rockies $68,655,500 $75,201,000
Reds $74,117,695 $73,558,500
Diamondbacks $66,202,712 $73,516,666
Royals $58,245,500 $70,519,333
Rangers $67,712,326 $68,178,798
Orioles $67,196,246 $67,101,666
Twins $56,932,766 $65,299,266
Rays $43,820,597 $63,313,034
Athletics $47,967,126 $62,310,000
Nationals $54,961,000 $60,328,000
Pirates $48,689,783 $48,693,000
Padres $73,677,616 $43,734,200
Marlins $21,811,500 $36,834,000
*http://baseball.about.com/od/newsrumors/a/09teamsalaries.htm
Billie, I like to go to
Billie,
I like to go to baseball games.
I like to watch football on tv.
There is something about being at a baseball game on a warm evening that defines summer.
Going to a football game takes work, especially when the weather turns.
I'd much rather sit home, with friends, and watch the game.
Both provide a social event for me, but it different ways.
But that's nothing new. My
But that's nothing new. My point was, it's always been that way. You said there's been a decline of baseball, because ... I'm not sure what you mean by decline, so I'm not even going there ... but the because part is faulty because nothing has changed regarding financing disparity in the 100+ years of baseball history. The Yankees wound up with Mickey Mantle because they could pay the biggest signing bonus. The Dodgers wound up with Sandy Koufax because they could pay the biggest signing bonus.
Bea, I have been to football
Bea, I have been to football games in San Diego, where there was no weather-related effort to get there. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. Unless the Chargers were in the Superbowl, any place, and someone gave me free tickets in a great spot. Won't happen.
I, too, enjoy a good time with friends watching football on TV, where it's more like a party with football on, not everyone glued to the set.
I like to watch baseball on TV and at the ballpark, although sometimes sitting on concrete for nine or more innings increasingly takes more willpower.
Watching golf on TV is something I like, too, even though I can see how it would be some people to sleep.
Basketball, I'll pass. Only this year, did I take a liking to World Cup soccer.
I'd rather poke myself in the
I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a fork than attend an NFL game. Being in a crowd with 70,000 belligerent drunk strangers doesn't appeal to me.
I love going to hockey games, the fans are rowdy but well-behaved, if that makes sense, and hockey is one of the few sports (in my opinion) that is great to watch on TV or in person.
An old joke: "I once went to
An old joke: "I once went to a fight and a hockey game broke out."
I went to a hockey game once and it was truly exciting. It was rough, but not like the NFL. Hey, maybe I'll go to another game sometime, hockey seems pretty big here, what with all the ice and snow.
Chris, you are hilarious. If
Chris, you are hilarious. If you think 70,000 belligerent drunks at a pro football game are bad, try going to a game when the Oakland Raiders are playing. The level of raunch and inebriation is multiplied by a factor of 10 at least. They are the most obnoxious sports fans I have ever witnessed. They take it personally and they take it to the parking lot and the streets and along their travels. Their logo goes to their wee little meatball heads, methinks.
Yeah, the folks out in Raider
Yeah, the folks out in Raider country are a special bunch, I lived north of the Bay Area for a while. Eagles fans were voted the absolute worst in the country last year and the Bills weren't too far behind.
Baseball makes more sense to
Baseball makes more sense to me. You can score as many times as you can, within 3 outs, before giving the ball to the other team, and there are no time limits, other than 9 innings. Not necessarily a good thing, but a baseball game could go on forever !!
Downside of watching baseball on TV, the announcers. I understand that on the YES network Michael Kay and all his ex-Yankee buddies are paid by the Yankees, but my God, there are other teams on the planet. The Yankees don't have ALL of the best players, and they certainly don't make ALL the greatest plays.
Network announcers are something else too. Do we really need ALL of the info they come up with. They too get carried away.
McCarver for example, talking about the catcher for the Rangers, "Molina is the only catcher in Major League history, to be traded at mid - season, and catch in a World Series game, against the team that traded him." I want to know, WHO KEEPS TRACK OF THIS STUFF!!!!
Howard- the decline I speak
Howard- the decline I speak of is in general popularity. I fully admit that my perception is exclusively anecdotal. Growing up in the 60s, virtually every kid I knew was into baseball- collected cards, was rabidly defensive of their favorite team and players. It does not appear to be so today. When the World Series was being played every kid was plugged into a transistor radio; every TV was tuned to the game. As I recall, the only instances of TV in the classroom prior to 1970: NASA space launches and baseball games.
This article seems to support my observations:
http://newsburglar.com/2009/06/03/major-league-baseballs-demographic-de…
Then, again, there are those who still consider baseball, "God's sport":
http://www.norauuchurch.org/sermon/rollins/baseball.pdf
What's harmed baseball among
What's harmed baseball among youth is video games.
What's more exciting -- collecting baseball cards or trying to kill things on a screen?
The steroid issue aside -- which the average kid probably doesn't care about -- not much about the game has changed since we were kids.
Society has changed, however, and there's just more options for kids to be entertained, and dads have more options, too, which I suspect in too many families means less time playing catch (oh, I should use the East Coast term, "having a catch), less time watching the game together, going to fewer games together.
Baseball is like watching
Baseball is like watching paint dry. Way too boring, pitcher has to scratch this and adjust that, then of course to look twice at everybody on the field. THROW THE BALL! Oh wait now the batter has to step out, spit, adjust and refasten his batting glove!
Here is a novel thought put a timer out in center field for the batter and one behind home plate for the pitcher. Set a fair time count and too much time on either one results in a strike or a ball.
C.M., didn't read the whole
C.M., didn't read the whole thing, but yes -- there's only one sport played in heaven, and it ain't football (either the American or the World version).
I love baseball, but I hate
I love baseball, but I hate how long the games have become. TV has made the game that should take 2 hours tops, and turned it into a 3 1/2 hour ordeal.
My general response to
My general response to anybody who says "baseball is boring" is: You don't know the game.
There is never a dull moment in baseball. It's the most intense and exciting sport there is.
And that's impossible to explain to anybody who doesn't know the game.
Any suggestion of speeding up the game is entirely misplaced. That's the last thing baseball needs.
Now this is exciting baseball
Now this is exciting baseball !
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Howard said: My general
Howard said:
My general response to anybody who says "baseball is boring" is: You don't know the game.
There is never a dull moment in baseball. It's the most intense and exciting sport there is.
And that's impossible to explain to anybody who doesn't know the game.
------------------------------
I have to disagree 100%. I grew up in a house where if there was a baseball game on TV, my Dad had it on. Once cable came to town, bleh, baseball was year 'round.
I also coached softball for a bunch of years, and played on women's softball leagues for years, too.
You couldn't trip me up on the rules if you tried, I understand the game completely, and I think it is horrendously boring to watch!
There are PLENTY of dull moments, lol. My gosh, the ball is popped up to left field...Joe Blow is under it...waiting...waiting... and he's OUT! Yeah, let's see Joe Blow catch it if the entire other team was coming at him full speed, ready to knock his head off! Even if they drop the ball, so what? It's still not exciting.
Football, now THAT'S exciting to me. Even if you don't know the game well, it can be entertaining. Baseball, nah.
The longest professional game
The longest professional game record is attributed to the Rochester Red Wings (Vs. Pawtucket), over 8 hours. Ticket holders certainly got their money's worth that day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_professional_baseball_game