Rockies

[MeanGreengdub]

GO ROCKIES!! Edited October 16, 2007 by MeanGreengdub

[Coach]

Coors Field at the first game the Rockies and Red Sox ever played one another:

[KingDL1]

Go Cleveland, I just hate Boston

[KRAM1]

Who Cares????? It's baseball...it's boring! Sorry, just can't get excited until the World Series is here and it is at least three games deep into the Series...then and only then might I turn on a professional baseball game. WAY TOO SLOW and too boring for me, but it is nice that you can get up, go to the men's (or ladies) room, get another beer and fix yourself a triple decker sandwich for a snack and come back to your seat and the same guy is still up at bat with the same guy pitching. Man, what a great game! Sorry...my apologies to all the baseball fans out there!

Before you "skewer me" with your replies...I did play baseball through high school and loved playing it. I think it's a players game...not a spectator game. Too slow, too boring, not nearly enough action for my tastes as a fan. So, that now you can respond to this...what would I rather watch? Well, soccer of course! It's "human chess" with alot more action, and it doesn't take all day to play...and for you, "it doesn't have enough scoring"...just pretend that every goal counts 6 or 7 points like Ameican football and you can cheer all the 21-7 games as "high scoring affairs". Bring it on you baseball lovers!

[Coach]

If you want to say that baseball is boring, that's understandable. But to then rave about the excitement of soccer...

[Quoner]

Some people hate baseball; some people hate punctuation....some people hate constant...use...of ellipses...

But we all love North Texas!

Winning the NL seems to get easier every year - last year it took 83 wins, now it just takes 3-4 good weeks of baseball.

[CMJ]

The Rockies are on the most amazing run I've ever seen. It's hard to believe about 3 1/2 weeks ago no one even thought they'd make the playoffs. They were behind the Dodgers for God's sake.

[UNTLifer]

Got to pull for the Rockies. Even though they swept Arizona, those were four fantastic games.

Yes, griping about baseball and then singing the praises of soccer is interesting. Talk about slow. Applying your "scoring system of 7 points for every run scored" in baseball would give you scores of 42-21 in baseball as opposed to 14-0, 7-0 or 0-0 in soccer.

Edited October 18, 2007 by UNTLifer

[Censored by Laurie]

Some people hate baseball; some people hate punctuation....some people hate constant...use...of ellipses...

But we all love North Texas!

Winning the NL seems to get easier every year - last year it took 83 wins, now it just takes 3-4 good weeks of baseball.

I absolutely LOVE...I'm talking LOOOOVE...ellipses.

[Texas Stranger]

I absolutely LOVE...I'm talking LOOOOVE...ellipses.

Using ellipses is easy. You just have to stay focused.

rockme....

[KRAM1]

Man, you guys are going soft on me. You didn't get your "I hate soccer" juices flowing too bad. Just wanted to see if I could "stir the pot" a little. Hey, just remember, that 42-21 baseball game would have taken 6 days and 3 hours to play. You need a pillow and a cot to go to a baseball game. You can take a 30 min. nap, wake up and not one thing has happened. O.K., to each his/her own "poison". I do think this will be one of the very lowest TV rated series in the history of baseball on TV. Is anyone really watching the Rockies play? Looks like it will be Cleveland-Rockies in the Series. If that is so, what do you think the TV ratings will be, and will anyone be watching? Me, I am sure I will turn it on after the first 3 games just to see "what's up". But, I am thinking this just might be the lowest rated Seies in the history of TV baseball. With so many college and pro football games on mid-week these days, baseball seems to be dropping like a rock in the TV ratings.

Anyone have a clue why "America's Pastime" is losing so much of its TV fan base? I have my thoughts on the subject, and you know one of them. It is too slow and too plodding for today's sports fan, the owners and players have priced the average fan out of the season ticket market and there are simply way too many games. But the big one is the lack of a swift paced event and the absolute boredom that some of the games produce.

What do some of you baseball fans think? Serious, what do you think about this?

[Quoner]

Man, you guys are going soft on me. You didn't get your "I hate soccer" juices flowing too bad. Just wanted to see if I could "stir the pot" a little. Hey, just remember, that 42-21 baseball game would have taken 6 days and 3 hours to play. You need a pillow and a cot to go to a baseball game. You can take a 30 min. nap, wake up and not one thing has happened. O.K., to each his/her own "poison". I do think this will be one of the very lowest TV rated series in the history of baseball on TV. Is anyone really watching the Rockies play? Looks like it will be Cleveland-Rockies in the Series. If that is so, what do you think the TV ratings will be, and will anyone be watching? Me, I am sure I will turn it on after the first 3 games just to see "what's up". But, I am thinking this just might be the lowest rated Seies in the history of TV baseball. With so many college and pro football games on mid-week these days, baseball seems to be dropping like a rock in the TV ratings.

Anyone have a clue why "America's Pastime" is losing so much of its TV fan base? I have my thoughts on the subject, and you know one of them. It is too slow and too plodding for today's sports fan, the owners and players have priced the average fan out of the season ticket market and there are simply way too many games. But the big one is the lack of a swift paced event and the absolute boredom that some of the games produce.

What do some of you baseball fans think? Serious, what do you think about this?

Time of day is a big issue - why are Boston games starting around 9 pm EST? Why are kids consistently timed out on these?

I think there is nothing better than a good playoff baseball game, but unless you are a specific team fan or someone with a very open evening, you just can't watch them.

[CMJ]

I would argue that baseball is as popular as it has been in a long time. However, baseball is a very localized game. Most people only follow THEIR team and couldn't give a crap about anyone else. I believe that's why baseball ratings have suffered come postseason more than the sport dying off. I actually know more baseball fans now than say 15 years or so ago.

Football is more of a national audience game than baseball, basketball, hockey, or whatever you want to throw in there, but it's not because it's inherently more exciting. A shorter season - means not as much to keep up with. You can follow what ever every team is up to with a 16 game schedule. Not 162...or 82 or even 30+(for college basketball). And if you don't KNOW the team, you won't follow the playoffs when your team is out(except March Madness).

Except for the true blue fans of the sport.

[KRAM1]

Great thoughts, folks. I tend to agree that time and "local" interest plays a big role. Let me ask you this. Does the lack of a minority player grooup of any size at all play into it? When I was a kid black and hispanic players seemed to have made up a much larger percentage of the players than they do today. has baseball "lost" a big part of its potential market due to the fact that black kids and many other minorities are simply not playing baseball to the degree they once were in the US? If so, why are these kids not growing up to want to be baseball players in this day and age? I think this is a big issue for baseball in the US today. I know it is still VERY popular in may latin american countries, but why not so popular here in the states with the minority populations? Just looking for your thoughts on the matter.

[CMJ]

I definitely think so. Not as many African American players in the bigs equals fewer role models to look up to which feeds upon itself as that prompts fewer still to pursue the sport. I don't see it as a big problem among hispanics, because most I know are huge baseball fans. *shrug*

[Smitty]

Great thoughts, folks. I tend to agree that time and "local" interest plays a big role. Let me ask you this. Does the lack of a minority player grooup of any size at all play into it? When I was a kid black and hispanic players seemed to have made up a much larger percentage of the players than they do today. has baseball "lost" a big part of its potential market due to the fact that black kids and many other minorities are simply not playing baseball to the degree they once were in the US? If so, why are these kids not growing up to want to be baseball players in this day and age? I think this is a big issue for baseball in the US today. I know it is still VERY popular in may latin american countries, but why not so popular here in the states with the minority populations? Just looking for your thoughts on the matter.

Well, baseball has something that soccer can never have - the truly monumental comeback. I have seen teams come from huge deficits in the final inning to win, and that's not possible in soccer or football or any game on a clock. If you're down six goals with five minutes left in a soccer game, you've lost. If you're down six in the bottom of the ninth, you've got a chance, and those kinds of comebacks happen every year in baseball. There are few things more exciting and agonizing than a big ninth-inning rally. In most sports, time is the ally of the team with the lead. In baseball, time means nothing. You've got to protect that lead to the last out, and no stalling or time-wasting will help.

Plus, soccer players are either the worst actors or biggest wimps in all of sports. They go down like they were shot at the slightest touch. New rule for soccer: if you go down and act injured, you are out of the game for a mandatory ten minutes.

And you want to make soccer more interesting to American audiences? Make one change: eliminate offsides. Scoring would go way up, the game would be much more wide open, and Americans would become bigger fans. I know the rest of the world would not stand for that change, but get rid of the offsides trap and actually play defense!

As much as I love baseball, I do love watching the World Cup, which is the truest world championship in all of sports.

[KRAM1]

Smitty, you have a point about the clock...but the lack of one is also what makes baseball so boring...it can go on FOREVER!!! But, I think you missed the question. This is not a soccer vs. baseball question. Take a look at the last question again, and let me know what you think about the dropping popularity of baseball with some of our minority populations and take a shot at explaining why you think that might be happening. I am interested in why our mionority kids are no longer flocking to baseball.

I give you the "acting" of some of the soccer players. That is of most concern among the latin teams and players, but it is not immune to other national and club teams. FIFA is trying to crack down on that, and the refs are beginning to card such "stupid showmanship". It does hurt the game.

However, an exciting comback can and does very often occur in soccer, in basketball and in football...all sports on the clock. That Cowboy win over Buffalo with over ten points in the last few seconds of the game was pretty exciting. Ever seen the Mavs come back from 20+ points down in the 4th quarter? How about that goal scored in "extra time" in the World Cup to send the game to extra play. Acting? How about that manager that walks to the mound every few seconds while his reliver warms up? O.K., we can all think of little items in all sorts that we like or dislike...that's why there is more than one sport. O.K. with me.

Smitty, what about the question at hand? Got any thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

[UNTLifer]

Does the lack of a minority player grooup of any size at all play into it? When I was a kid black and hispanic players seemed to have made up a much larger percentage of the players than they do today. has baseball "lost" a big part of its potential market due to the fact that black kids and many other minorities are simply not playing baseball to the degree they once were in the US? If so, why are these kids not growing up to want to be baseball players in this day and age? I think this is a big issue for baseball in the US today. I know it is still VERY popular in may latin american countries, but why not so popular here in the states with the minority populations? Just looking for your thoughts on the matter.

I'm confused. You state that black and hispanic players seemed to make up a larger percentage of the players than they do today, but then you state that it is VERY popular in latin american countries. This seems to be a contradiction. I don't really notice that much of a difference from when I was a "kid" and I'll be 42 in a month.

[Smitty]

However, an exciting comback can and does very often occur in soccer, in basketball and in football...all sports on the clock. That Cowboy win over Buffalo with over ten points in the last few seconds of the game was pretty exciting. Ever seen the Mavs come back from 20+ points down in the 4th quarter? How about that goal scored in "extra time" in the World Cup to send the game to extra play. Acting? How about that manager that walks to the mound every few seconds while his reliver warms up? O.K., we can all think of little items in all sorts that we like or dislike...that's why there is more than one sport. O.K. with me.

Sure, I've seen great comebacks in other sports. I watched Germany's rally from two goals down in overtime of the 1982 World Cup semifinal against France. I watched Clint Longley rally the Cowboys past the Redskins on Thanksgiving in 1974. I was there when Eastland ended Pilot Point's great unbeaten streak in high school football in the early 1980s with a TD drive in the closing minute with no timeouts. All tremendous.

But no sport can have a more dramatic, instantaneous change of fate like baseball. I've seen rallies from eight- nine-, and ten-run deficits in the FINAL inning of a baseball game. I've never seen a rally from an eight-, nine-, or ten-goal deficit in soccer, or a 50-point deficit in football, or a twenty-point deficit in the last minute of a basketball game. That kind of rally only happens in a game with no clock. Time doesn't run out on a rally in baseball. I watched a high school baseball playoff game in which one team missed ending the game on the ten-run-rule by one run in the sixth - then watched that fat 10-1 lead disappear in the bottom of the seventh. No errors, no walks, just one scorching hit after another by a team that suddenly awoke. The mounting euphoria on one side and the growing horror on the other side is unmatched in any other sport.

And not having a clock is one of the beauties of baseball. I spend my most of my life chasing the clock, living on the clock, fighting the clock. A timeless game is a breath of fresh air.

Edited October 19, 2007 by Smitty

[Censored by Laurie]

Sure, I've seen great comebacks in other sports. I watched Germany's rally from two goals down in overtime of the 1982 World Cup semifinal against France. I watched Clint Longley rally the Cowboys past the Redskins on Thanksgiving in 1974. I was there when Eastland ended Pilot Point's great unbeaten streak in high school football in the early 1980s with a TD drive in the closing minute with no timeouts. All tremendous.

But no sport can have a more dramatic, instantaneous change of fate like baseball. I've seen rallies from eight- nine-, and ten-run deficits in the FINAL inning of a baseball game. I've never seen a rally from an eight-, nine-, or ten-goal deficit in soccer, or a 50-point deficit in football, or a twenty-point deficit in the last minute of a basketball game. That kind of rally only happens in a game with no clock. Time doesn't run out on a rally in baseball. I watched a high school baseball playoff game in which one team missed ending the game on the ten-run-rule by one run in the sixth - then watched that fat 10-1 lead disappear in the bottom of the seventh. No errors, no walks, just one scorching hit after another by a team that suddenly awoke. The mounting euphoria on one side and the growing horror on the other side is unmatched in any other sport.

And not having a clock is one of the beauties of baseball. I spend my most of my life chasing the clock, living on the clock, fighting the clock. A timeless game is a breath of fresh air.

Wow...very well put.

[KRAM1]

Lifer...There is a difference between the popularity in latin american countries and the popularity of the sport with those of hispanic origion here in the states. Don't see how you could be confused about that point. What do you think is the issue with monority players in baseball these days. The stats say they are in declining numbers. I tend to think it is the "slowness" of the game and the declining TV and fan base that is moving the numbers down. I am almost 60 and I can tell you there is definitely a difference in numbers today than in the 60-70-80's. Don't get me wrong, i played baseball and loved it. I still think baseball is a great game to play...but it's tough to sit through so much non-action for so long...in spite of those every so often late game rallies that take another couple of hours to complete with all the pitching changes, throws to first base (if you can really call that lob a throw), steps off the mound, batters stepping out of the box, etc., etc. baseball could do a lot to speed up the game and add some extra action, but so far has shown no willingness to change. Folks want soccer to end the "off sides trap"...one of the great plays in soccer when executed properly and one of the ways to get a goal scored against you if you slip up...to add scoring (as if it needed more scoring), but they never mention things like not allowing the batter to step out once the pitcher has started his wind up, not allowing the pitcher to step off the rubber once the batter is in the box and ready, not allowing a change of pitchers more than twice during a game, etc., etc. I think w could bring fans back to the game at the parks and watching at home if we found a way to speed the thing up....if falling on the field in soccer is acting, so is the constant walks to the mound, the "dance" between the batter and pitcher in stepping off the mound and stepping out of the batters box, and the lob to first, etc. to move a runner closer to the bag. The effect is the same...wasting time!

Anyway.....Lifer...why do you think minorities are not gravitating to the game of baseball today in the numbers they were in prior years???