OK, I can admit when I’m wrong. Fox knows what they’re doing. They knew the Red Sox had no chance to compete with the Yankees, so they’re giving disheartened haters like myself something else to watch.
What’s going to hurt worse for Red Sox fans? Last year, when it took a small miracle to get past Oakland just to play the Yankees, then they were five outs from winning and only lost on an 11th inning home run? Or this year, when they had swept through the ALDS; their Yankee killer basically twists his ankle, rendering him lame and ineffective; and on paper they looked like the stronger team but they get swept or lose in five? If the Patriots lose their next game, Boston’s going to be a dangerous town to live in.
Month: October 2004 (Page 2 of 3)
Forget all the asinine cross-promotion (Am I the only one who noticed the guy in the Homer mask knew exactly when to jump up as the Fox cameras highlighted him last night?) and exploding scoreboard features. The fact they’re airing Game 1 of the NLCS at the same time as Game 2 of the ALCS tonight is probably the dumbest thing they’ve ever done. After two hours on the couch with M. watching ESPNews, consensus is Fox made the decision to compete against itself for, shockingly, ad revenue related issues and the desire to avoid an early afternoon broadcast on the West Coast. Allow me to retort:
* How does airing two games at the same time increase ad revenues? Aren’t you splitting the audience by doing that? There’s no way they charge as much on Fox Sports Net as they do on big Fox. In some markets, they’re pushing at least half the audience (totally made up, unscientific number) away from the flagship network to a cable outlet. In addition, viewers, now having the choice to watch a different game, will probably switch away during commercials rather than sit there and soak up the encouragement to consume. Seems to me like you’re losing viewers during the exact time advertisers want them most.
* Fox has a limited national lineup in the afternoon. Isn’t a single prime time game plus afternoon revenue you can’t normally count on going to be greater than those received from a split audience at night?
* There are no West Coast teams left in the playoffs. WHY DOES THAT AUDIENCE GET VETO POWER OVER THE REST OF THE COUNTRY???
* There’s a Presidential Debate tonight. So an audience that would already be reduced by a certain amount is watered down further by Fox’s idiocy.
I do understand how Fox gets significantly more ad revenue during prime time than during the afternoon, and with the amount they’re spending to secure broadcast rights, they need to maximize those revenues. I don’t see how tonight’s broadcasts do that, though. This decision just proves that business decisions will almost always trump the interests of fans. It’s bad enough that after all the pregame activities, games usually don’t start until 8:20 Eastern. Throw in the grinding pace of playoff games and you’re asking half the country to stay up watching games well past 11:00 PM local time. Now we can’t even get a late afternoon/early evening game to enjoy at a reasonable time. Fox did show game six of the ALCS in the afternoon last year, so perhaps things will improve as the series progress. I’m not going to hold my breath, though. One of the great things about being a baseball fan in the 80s was coming home from school in October and watching the last half of an LCS game that started anywhere from 12:00 to 3:00 Eastern, then catching the other LCS game that night. Of course, Fox wasn’t around then. Idiots.
I never thought I’d have to give up on Game One of the ALCS before the 4th inning even started. I can only hope this was a little like Atlanta’s outburst in Game One of the 1996 World Series and the Sox right things tomorrow. I was contemplating the long-term effects of a Yankees loss, though, and am a little concerned. The two biggest names on the free agent list for this off season are Carlos Beltran and Carl Pavano. If the Yankees lose either this series or the World Series, I estimate there is a 99.9% chance the Yankees will sign both players (and jack up Pedro Martinez’s price so it ruins the Red Sox payroll as well). If they win another title, though, the odds drop to 99.5%. So should I want the Yanks to go ahead and win out to give the rest of baseball a glimmer of hope? Will even the most myopic of Yankees bandwagon fans jump ship in disgust over a $300 million payroll? For some reason, I doubt it. Just in case anyone accuses me of jumping on the anti-Yankees bandwagon, I’ve been hating them since 1977. This ain’t anything new. And in case you accuse me of jealousy, think again. Maybe it was jealousy in the era when the Royals had an equal or higher payroll than the Yanks. Now it’s pure hate; there’s nothing envious about it.
I used to really be into omens, mostly concerning up-coming basketball games, but I was never afraid to extend them into other sports. As an example, the first day of the 1993 NCAA tournament, it snowed in Lawrence, KS. I got very excited, because the last time it had snowed in the KC area on the first day of the tournament was 1988. KU did make the Final Four in ’93, but the karma didn’t translate into another title. So it really wasn’t an omen, but for three weeks I thought it was and told anyone within earshot about it.
Anyway, two potential baseball omens have been rattling around my head and I feel obligated to go on record with them. First off, our bird feeder has been host to even more cardinals than usual lately. A few days I’ve looked out and seen three cardinals on the feeder and several more in the trees and shrubs around it. Could this be a harbinger of more good news for fans of the St. Louis Baseball Club? The second omen is a little more universal. The Houston Astros finally winning a playoff series has to mean something to the Boston Red Sox. I just can’t figure out if it’s a sign that baseball history will shift this post-season, or if all the transforming karma has already been sucked out of the playoffs. It’s gotta mean something though, right?
Speaking of the Houston-Atlanta series, a couple thoughts. First, I loved seeing Carlos Beltran break out in the series. There are a lot of experts around the country who dismissed his talents just because he spent the first chunk of his career in KC. In the tradition of George Brett, it was wonderful to see a homegrown talent explode when the lights shine brightest. It’s just too bad he’s doing it for someone else. How many former Royals were on playoff rosters anyway? Beltran, Jeff Suppan, Johnny Damon, Paul Byrd, Brent Mayne to name just a few. Second, it’s not news, but Atlanta baseball fans suck. The team has been on one of the greatest runs in the history of the game and the upper deck was half full for game two. That might explain why the team always comes up short. They don’t know when to cheer, or what to cheer for, when they do show up. I think I have a solution: move the franchise to a new ballpark in Montreal. You don’t think fans there would support a team with this much talent and this good of a farm system? Atlanta would be freed from the burden of having to support the most successful franchise in the sport over the last 15 years. Everyone is happy. I solve problems; it’s just what I do.
I’ve had the argument many times about the best sporting month. I contend March is the best, mostly because college basketball is my favorite sport and the drama of the NCAA tournament is unmatched. I must admit, though, Saturday was a most excellent day here in Casa de DDB. There were about 1,000,000 college football games on. Between CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, the local Big 10 games, and then some bonus coverage I seem to be getting, I had an almost limitless supply of games to choose from. On top of all that, there were three baseball playoff games to choose from. Little wonder I barely moved from the couch all day.
Being that I am a big college sports fan, I’m used to freshmen being over-hyped before they’ve done anything. Of course, I personally have never done that before. Anyway, after watching Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson Saturday, I’m confident in saying he lives up to the hype and SI cover he’s already received. That kid is phenomenal. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a true freshman play football at the level he’s playing at right now. Sometimes even the freakishly talented don’t really understand the game until the end of their first season. Right now, Peterson might be the best running back in all of college football. It was awe-inspiring to watch him combine speed with raw power, beating Texas defenders to an angle and streaking upfield on one play, and just annihilating players that tried to tackle him on the next play. It will be very interesting to see how he continues to develop and watch how long he stays in college. I recall Beano Cook demanding than Ron Powlus be given the next four Heisman trophies after an effective performance his freshman year. Archie Griffin might finally have some true competition for multiple Heisman wins.
Am I the only one who thinks, for the first time ever, the Boston Red Sox are not playing to override 85 years of history but rather simply to exorcise last year’s demons? There’s a huge difference in playing not to be Bill Buckner or Mike Tores and playing to make up for a missed opportunity the previous season. Fear vs. hope, to put it in electoral terms. That, along with superior starting pitching, are why I continue to believe they’ll beat the Yankees in the ALCS.
On the NL side, I don’t know if there’s a team that’s more fun to watch than the Cardinals. They’ve got the curious blend of best record in the league yet a small chip on their shoulders because of all the doubts about clinching so early, starting pitching, health of a few players, etc. They don’t have the personalities the Red Sox have, but the way they methodically go about winning game after game is a wonderful thing to watch. All the more reason why a Cards-Sox series would be great: outside the flamboyance of the Red Sox, the teams are very similar. They’ll both destroy you offensively. The Sox have better starting pitching, but the bullpen can let you back in the game. The Cards’ starters have some questions, but the most versatile pen in the majors can dig them out of any holes the starters leave.
I normally don’t like Fox’s Tim McCarver, but I enjoyed the slam he got in on Tommy Lasorda during last night’s game. Well done, Timmy McC!
I’m working on some thoughts on VH1’s And You Don’t Stop history of hip-hop. As you might imagine, I’ve loved the episodes I’ve been able to watch so far. I really need to crack open those boxes I brought back from KC and see what kind of late 80s gems are hidden in there.
I’m not sure if it was the lengthy, and frankly rather one-sided, discussion she had with her mother or the fact I took her looting with me after the KU game went final, but M. slept a full eight hours on Saturday night/Sunday morning. She damn near slept all day Sunday, too, so I wondered if a witch had put a spell on her or something. It is October, after all, so you never know. You do know what they say, though: once you go eight, you never go back.
The second milestone was reached last night. M. managed to pee on the couch while we were trying to do a quick change, so I ran upstairs to grab a new outfit. I picked the first thing I saw with long sleeved arms and footies and ran back downstairs. S. looked at my selection, wrinkled her nose, and said, “I don’t think she’ll fit in that anymore.” Sure enough, we stretch it out in an attempt to get it over her legs, and she couldn’t get her feet into the footies, let alone stretch her legs out. And you know how she needs to stretch her shit out if she wants to be a tall drink of water one day. That was equally impressive and odd. We’ve watched her grow rapidly over the past ten weeks, but it’s more than a little strange to think she’s already out growing some of her clothes.
Looks like I lost the bet on who would beat who first: KU beating K-State in football, or K-State beating KU in basketball. I always said it would be hoops since it’s easier to beat a better opponent in basketball, plus it takes a smaller infusion of talent to improve a bad hoops squad. I’m glad I was wrong!
Last night it was me and M. for an evening of baseball. I tried to get her to sleep downstairs so I could watch on the big screen and study, but I think she was too distracted and needed to be held the entire time rendering it impossible to hold a book. When she was due for her next bottle, we moved upstairs. After eating, burping, and getting changed, she chilled out in my arms for awhile. I was watching one game or another and working to keep her pacifier in her mouth, barely paying attention to her. Suddenly she got really quiet and I looked down. She was laying there, eyes wide open, Binky perched on her lips, but her mouth was spread in a soft smile. I took the Binky out and started talking to her. Her smile grew. She stuck out her tongue slightly and made light noises at me; our first conversation! This continued for about five minutes. After she was done exercising her conversational skills, she still wanted to stare at me, smile, and mimic my expressions. It was at least another 15 minutes before she grew tired of this game.
I’m telling you, there’s no better feeling in the world than when your child is old enough to interact with you and is totally entranced by the interaction alone. Someone could have exploded a bomb outside our house, and she would have been content to just lie there and look up at me. Next week she’ll probably do something else that amazes me, but it’s hard to believe any 20 minutes we share will ever be more magical and rewarding as that time together last night. I think you can judge the job you’re doing as a parent if every few days you have a moment that makes you think, “Nothing in life has ever been better than this moment.” As long as they keep coming, you’re doing ok.
You know, I’m getting sick of hearing about Yankee mystique. There’s nothing magical going on when you have $210 million at your disposal. It was maddening watching last night’s game knowing that each time the Twins worked their asses off to push a run across, the Yankees would immediately respond. Making things worse was Joe Morgan jumping all over the Yankees bandwagon in order to push his anti-Moneyball rant. Was I the only one who noticed how he all but said it was impossible for the Twins to win both games in Minnesota? “Tonight’s game is more important for the Twins than the Yankees because then when you go home and split, you have to come back to New York for game five.” What total horseshit. The Yankees have little idea of how their rotation is going to look and what quality of pitching they’ll get out of it, yet he’s convinced they can go into Minneapolis and be certain to win a game.
Joe’s act was tired years ago, and now that he lives in fear of the Moneyball aligned forces, he’s gotten even worse. I bet he still hasn’t read the book, still thinks that Billy Beane rather than Michael Lewis wrote it, and still thinks it’s a way of replacing the traditional structure of baseball rather than a framework for small market teams to attempt to compete in a sport that has gone fiscally insane. Scared old men are never easy to watch.
A little over a year ago I had my first South Bend football experience. It was a stunning day, one that I’ll never forget. Saturday I returned for the big Notre Dame – Purdue contest. I can’t say it was as glorious a day as my first trip, but it was still a fine way to spend a fall day.
We departed from Indy around 6:30, and after two straight nights with less than five hours of sleep, I was dragging a little to say the least. While the other guys in our van were cracking open beers by 8:30, I held out until we were encamped in our tailgating spot in South Bend. I thought it better to wait and actually see that game than be ready for a nap at kickoff. We met up with a friend of the group who now lives in Chicago at his parents’ tailgate. They have a primo spot in the lot right next to the stadium. Hearing that a bunch of guys from Indy were coming up, his mom put some serious effort into the pre-game food. Sandwiches made on focaccia bread. Deviled eggs. Brownies. Two different home made dips. Cookies. Two different kinds of store-bought wings. It was ridiculous. We all stood around hungrily eyeing the food, thinking it was for a larger group that us. She said, “Boys, I made all this food for you, so you’d better eat it.” Very nice. We proceeded to engorge ourselves.
One of the more interesting things to watch on game day in South Bend is the nearly endless stream of private aircraft that fly in all morning. At least every 30 seconds another small jet would sail over the stadium towards the airport. If Sean M. weren’t on his honeymoon, I’m sure he’d make a crack about the Pope somehow being involved. It was quite impressive to see all the air traffic, though. During the game, once commercial traffic resumed, planes came just over the edge of the stadium. I think that would be a pretty cool site to fly into South Bend during a game.
When you have nearly four hours to tailgate, you have to pace yourself. So naturally the one hard partier in our group handed us shots of what we thought were Jagermeister as soon as we set up shop. We all wrinkled our noses and tried to protest, but he insisted. Thankfully, they were half Jager, half Red Bull and they went down fairly smoothly. There were Purdue fans everywhere, so there was lots of trash talking, some of it friendly, some of it not so nice. What cracks me up about ND games are how many people with other affiliations you see. I saw shirts from almost every Big 10 school, four Big 12 schools, ACC schools, Pac 10 schools, etc. It’s as if people want you to know that they’re there for the spectacle more than to root for the Irish.
We survived four hours in the rather brisk parking lot and moved towards the stadium just before kick off. Our eight tickets we split into groups of 4-2-2, and I was paired up with a Purdue guy. We made a pit stop at the restroom near our section before we took our seats. It was like Opening Day at Kaufman Stadium in there: packed to the back walls. Guys, fueled by their liquid breakfasts, were yelling out, “GO IRISH!” “GO BOILERS!” back and forth. There were plenty of crude comments hurled by cowards as they exited the restroom. I was able to just stand there and enjoy it. Most fun, for me, was standing next to an older guy who was absolutely hammered. When we got to the urinal, he was making all kinds of inappropriate comments about the genetics and intelligence of Purdue players. I noticed, as I politely nodded my head at his yammering, that the windbreaker he was holding was hanging into the urinal and getting drenched. Served him right.
We took our seats, about five rows from the top in the south end zone. Purdue comes up short on third down and kick a field goal to take the lead. Notre Dame marches downfield to tie it. On the ensuing kick off, Purdue takes it back 100 yards for a touchdown. We were right on the edge of the Purdue section, and the Domers to my left got very quiet. Through the entire first half, it was obvious that Purdue was much, much better than Notre Dame. Purdue’s rather suspect defense was giving ND hope, though, despite leading 20-3 at halftime. Early in the third quarter, Purdue faced third and long from their own three. The ND student section behind them was at a fever pitch, sensing a chance to get back in the game with a stop or turnover. Kyle Orton lofted a beautiful pass that landed in Taylor Stubblefield’s hands at the 25. The Notre Dame defender slipped and fell, leaving Stubblefield with 75 yards of green. Stubblefied raced towards the end zone, pumping his fist in the air in the traditional Purdue train whistle fashion. The north side of the stadium went dead silent while the south end exploded. It was a phenomenal play, and one of the coolest changes of momentum I’ve ever seen. The game was pretty much over at that point, although ND Coach Willingham kept calling time outs in the fourth quarter which stretched the game out to four hours.
As the clock ran down, the Purdue team ran to the corner in front of us, where the band played their fight song and the 10,000 or so Purdue fans went nuts. On our way out of the stadium, down the tunnels that lead from the new upper deck to the ground, the Purdue fans let out huge roars that echoed against the concrete and were scary they were so loud. 30 years is a long time to wait for a win at a rival stadium.
There was a lot of settling of bets in the parking lot after the game. Many dejected Domers now afraid their season is again in the shitter. Lots of exceptionally happy Boiler fans now wondering aloud about a BCS bid. And for the innocent bystanders like me, just a gorgeous day of college football.