How can a baseball fan getexcited over one game

[ginscpy]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

 

[candycorn]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

I admit it is hard to put into words. One of the problems I feel Baseball and especially MLB baseball has is that when we were agrarian and seemingly distant from one another, Baseball was a big thing. Few people knew of news outside of their county much less what is happening in Egypt or with Pakistan's nuclear program.

What I'm saying is this; it was a different mindset. People thought about comparatively small matters and these larger items were not even a blip on the most sophisticated man's radar screen.

So people could appreciate the pitcher/hitter dynamic more than they do now because the fan's eyes was looking through a more narrow scope. I especially like it (or liked it I should say) when Rickey Henderson was at bat; you'd see 3rd basemen even with the pitcher's mound, shortstops on the grass in front of 2nd base and if he got on base; forget it, the pitcher looked as if he was going to cry trying to keep him close to 1st base. I mean, who cares what A-Rod does this year on the larger sense of things? Very few. Yet somehow the people cared what Mickey Mantle did 24/7...same city different public reactions.

I believe that the mindset that keeps you and most others from appreciating baseball is the same mindset that makes for rabid football fans; The games are big because so much importance rides on every game; especially in the NCAA. Baseball is still a game; when two teams take the field in football; it's an event. The Volunteers have what, 113,000 seats? Tennessee...really? That is an event!

Let me ask you this; do you think a playoff system would hurt the college football games?

It depends on the format from where I sit. I think that if you take the conference champions and put them into a playoff system, you will keep the regular season integrity in tact. Because if you have an undefeated Auburn v. and undefeated Alabama and they are ranked #1 and #2 lets say; the winner takes all just like they did last year (SC was a speed bump in the championship game) If you take the top 8 schools regardless of conference, you run the risk of someone not able to win their conference winning the entire championship and thats not right.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I used to be a huge baseball fan and followed all the games and players very closely. However, strike after strike where the players all demanded more and more which in the long run ran the price of a ticket up so high that you can hardly afford to take a family of four to the ball park anymore has left me very cold and has cooled off my happiness of following the sport. These days, I have very little interest in the game until the world series comes along. I watch that if I can but it's no big loss if I'm too busy to watch. Baseball players have killed themselves with all of their demands that never seem to be satisfied. I am still a Philadelphia Phillies fan but nothing like in days past.

 

[Two Thumbs]

162
one hundred sixty two

I think I clued into how boring baseball was when they would show people, with good seats, SLEEPING during the game.

What's the most exciting ball game? A no hitter. A game in which NOTHING happens except 2 men play catch.

Who invented softball? A man that thought baseball wasn't boring enough.

 

[Two Thumbs]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

I admit it is hard to put into words. One of the problems I feel Baseball and especially MLB baseball has is that when we were agrarian and seemingly distant from one another, Baseball was a big thing. Few people knew of news outside of their county much less what is happening in Egypt or with Pakistan's nuclear program.

What I'm saying is this; it was a different mindset. People thought about comparatively small matters and these larger items were not even a blip on the most sophisticated man's radar screen.

So people could appreciate the pitcher/hitter dynamic more than they do now because the fan's eyes was looking through a more narrow scope. I especially like it (or liked it I should say) when Rickey Henderson was at bat; you'd see 3rd basemen even with the pitcher's mound, shortstops on the grass in front of 2nd base and if he got on base; forget it, the pitcher looked as if he was going to cry trying to keep him close to 1st base. I mean, who cares what A-Rod does this year on the larger sense of things? Very few. Yet somehow the people cared what Mickey Mantle did 24/7...same city different public reactions.

I believe that the mindset that keeps you and most others from appreciating baseball is the same mindset that makes for rabid football fans; The games are big because so much importance rides on every game; especially in the NCAA. Baseball is still a game; when two teams take the field in football; it's an event. The Volunteers have what, 113,000 seats? Tennessee...really? That is an event!

Let me ask you this; do you think a playoff system would hurt the college football games?
It depends on the format from where I sit. I think that if you take the conference champions and put them into a playoff system, you will keep the regular season integrity in tact. Because if you have an undefeated Auburn v. and undefeated Alabama and they are ranked #1 and #2 lets say; the winner takes all just like they did last year (SC was a speed bump in the championship game) If you take the top 8 schools regardless of conference, you run the risk of someone not able to win their conference winning the entire championship and thats not right.

No. It would give a deeper meaning to the current post season. Right now you need 6 wins to get a bowl bid. I mean really! Who wants to watch 2 teams that suck, find out who sucks the least?

top 2 in each division play, winners get ranked, set into braketts and have it out. Imagine how hard a small school would fight just to prove they belonged?

Man! Each game would be a thrill to watch.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

I don't really have a favorite baseball team I cheer for (like I do for the NFL, NHL, and college FB+BB). The season is WAY too long in the amounts of games. I follow the last 2-3 weeks of the season, and the playoffs and that's about it.

I agree that you can't win the championship in any given game of the season-but you can lose it. With 162 games however it's just too much.

 

[Sheldon]

Baseball is a thinking game. Much of the action doesn't take place on the field, but in the mind. It's about understanding the dynamics of the current situation, what z would do if x did y on the next pitch. I grew up playing the game, so from that perspective you understand the importance of being one and two steps ahead of the present moment.

Candy made some good points. It's like life was slower back in the forties and fifties. Now, we're used to getting our news as it's happening, where if it takes ten seconds for a web page to load then it's 8 seconds too slow. But baseball has mostly stayed like it was a hundred years ago.

I say mostly because, I don't know, maybe the steroid era has really done a number on the sport's perception by the general public, especially my generation that grew up with Mark McGuire having once been a hero.

 

[candycorn]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

I admit it is hard to put into words. One of the problems I feel Baseball and especially MLB baseball has is that when we were agrarian and seemingly distant from one another, Baseball was a big thing. Few people knew of news outside of their county much less what is happening in Egypt or with Pakistan's nuclear program.

What I'm saying is this; it was a different mindset. People thought about comparatively small matters and these larger items were not even a blip on the most sophisticated man's radar screen.

So people could appreciate the pitcher/hitter dynamic more than they do now because the fan's eyes was looking through a more narrow scope. I especially like it (or liked it I should say) when Rickey Henderson was at bat; you'd see 3rd basemen even with the pitcher's mound, shortstops on the grass in front of 2nd base and if he got on base; forget it, the pitcher looked as if he was going to cry trying to keep him close to 1st base. I mean, who cares what A-Rod does this year on the larger sense of things? Very few. Yet somehow the people cared what Mickey Mantle did 24/7...same city different public reactions.

I believe that the mindset that keeps you and most others from appreciating baseball is the same mindset that makes for rabid football fans; The games are big because so much importance rides on every game; especially in the NCAA. Baseball is still a game; when two teams take the field in football; it's an event. The Volunteers have what, 113,000 seats? Tennessee...really? That is an event!

Let me ask you this; do you think a playoff system would hurt the college football games?
It depends on the format from where I sit. I think that if you take the conference champions and put them into a playoff system, you will keep the regular season integrity in tact. Because if you have an undefeated Auburn v. and undefeated Alabama and they are ranked #1 and #2 lets say; the winner takes all just like they did last year (SC was a speed bump in the championship game) If you take the top 8 schools regardless of conference, you run the risk of someone not able to win their conference winning the entire championship and thats not right.

No. It would give a deeper meaning to the current post season. Right now you need 6 wins to get a bowl bid. I mean really! Who wants to watch 2 teams that suck, find out who sucks the least?

top 2 in each division play, winners get ranked, set into braketts and have it out. Imagine how hard a small school would fight just to prove they belonged?

Man! Each game would be a thrill to watch.

Well, I don't see how you can be a legitimate National Champion when you can't win your own division; I mean I think winning your division is a litmus test to get into post season play.

With Baseball, they have the wild-card round which is 3 out of 5 so there is some mettle being shown if the wild card is the winner. I firmly feel that if they played 120 games instead of 162, you would never see a wild card beat a division winner. The injuries, dead arms, and inevitable let-downs effect the winners much more than the wild-card teams.

NFL football also has the wild card and the Packers did in fact win from the wild-card this year but I think they were only the 2nd team to ever do it so I will call a non division winner a fluke-like phenomenoea (sp?) for right now.

In the NBA and NHL you have the worst of all worlds, the last quarter of the regular season means very little because you're either going to be late lottery or a low seed if you're like most teams and if you're really good, you're resting your horses. Worst ticket in professional sports is a ticket to the Celtics in March. It wouldn't surprise me if they got Bob Cousy out of retirement to spare Ray Allen and Rondo some minutes for the playoff run.

The 64 team field in NCAA basketball is probably the fairest of all because you have to win 6 straight games or go home a loser.

Football can't practically do that so I feel that having the SEC, Big 12, ACC, Big 10, PAC 10, and Big East champions along with the top 2 BCS Ranked not in those 6 conferences is the most equitable way to do this. Seeding is done by BCS rankings. Meaning that if you're ranked #1 and a champion of your conference; you'll play the lowest ranked team in the playoff field regardless of whoever that may be. Like this past year for example, Auburn was ranked #1, Oregon was #2. Auburn would play whoever was seeded #8 in the playoffs and Oregon would play whoever was seeded #7. Stanford would have been out of the mix all together as would Florida, Alabama, LSU, and USC. Sorry; win your division if you want to win the championship.

While this would have allowed Connecticut to play for the national championship, last season, and unbeaten Cincinnati team would have played. There will be some anomalies like the Seahawks making the NFL playoffs this year. Shit happens.

Anyway,
#1 Auburn would get to play Connecticut (I can't imagine Connecticut would be ranked higher than any other conference winner or TCU--I don't know about other mid-majors who were ranked),
#2 Oregon would have gotten#7Oklahoma,
#3 TCU would have gotten #6 Ohio State
#10 Boise State would have gotten #13 Va Tech

Now I know that a one-loss Wisconsin or Stanford are out in the cold in favor of a 3 loss Connecticut. Tough! The current system doesn't even give you the chance to settle it on the field; LSU would have had no problem destroying Connecticut but they didn't get a chance to play in a BCS bowl either.

The game they play is within the current bowl format. The four games mentioned above can be in the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange bowl games. The games take place on the Saturday and Sunday before/after New Year's Day. This would not be a problem for the NFL where most teams are out of playoff contention by this time. In cities that are still in the hunt, it is possible that the ratings for these NCAA games may be hurt if say The Bengals was going for a playoff spot and Ohio state was playing in one of the bowl games. A lot of major colleges don't have NFL competition but some do.


After those four, you re-seed and the top 2 seeds host the bottom 2 seeds at their home stadium; on the following Saturday afternoon/evening. If Penn State is #1 or #2, whoever is playing them gets to play in Happy Valley in the snow. With the NFL going to an 18 game schedule, there would likely not be games on Saturday at this time.


The championship game is within the current rotations for the BCS Championship framework and rotates to be played on Monday the next week--likely the day after the NFL Pro Bowl. They have the stage all to themselves.

The hardest thing is picking which of the 8 teams make it. I would be partly happy with 6 teams and a bye for #1 and #2 but I hate the idea of the bye myself.

 

[Article 15]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

Tell that to the 2009 Tigers.

 

[Skull Pilot]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

 

[Article 15]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

Or they have friends, family, loved ones, and many other activities and things of that nature going on in their life

 

[Skull Pilot]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

Or they have friends, family, loved ones, and many other activities and things of that nature going on in their life

So much so that every win or loss of a sports team can make or ruin their day.

 

[Sheldon]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

I think that's a pretty cynical broadbrush.

What about those who get emotionally involved in a weekly TV drama, do they usually have nothing else in their life? That would be a lot of lifeless cretins.

People just have different hobbies and interests, things that may be meaningless to others. It can be and usually is an addition to life--not a replacement.

 

[Skull Pilot]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

I think that's a pretty cynical broadbrush.

What about those who get emotionally involved in a weekly TV drama, do they usually have nothing else in their life? That would be a lot of lifeless cretins.

Finally, someone gets it.

 

[candycorn]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

Yeah unlike people who have 8,000 posts on a single message board....

Can we lay off the personal attacks?

 

[uscitizen]

How can a baseball fan getexcited over one game


How? Well fan is just a shortened version of fanatic.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

it used to be fun for me till the owners started messing with tradition by tearing down old classic ballparks such as the astrodome,comisky park,tiger stadium,yankee stadium and free agency came into play,before free agency,you could count on players being back every year,year after year,now players change so much from team to team,its impossible to care about the team anymore or want to listen to them on the radio.thats why now i just mostly buy old games from the past and watch them such as the big red machine in the 70's with pete rose and all those other greats,

on a side not,same with football,got tired of all these teams moving from one city to another.for football,unless its the chargers during the regular season,i dont care what any other team does so i only watch them until the playoffs of course,thats when it gets interesting.

the rams moving away from LA was the last straw so i really only like old football games as well now.i might really hate pro football even more so soon cause the chargers are now talking about moving to another city.i turned to the chargers after the rams left because they are a california team-i like california teams and they got the same colors and are close. the players and owners for both baseball and football have really ruined both sports.i myself hope there is no football season this upcoming year personally.

 

[Skull Pilot]

People who get wrapped up in the utter meaninglessness of professional sports generally have nothing else in their lives so leave them alone.

Yeah unlike people who have 8,000 posts on a single message board....

Can we lay off the personal attacks?

In over 3 years and if pro rated, you're not too far behind me. And who did i attack personally?

Are you crying in your beer over a recent game lost by a bunch of overpaid morons who chase a ball for a living?

 

[Oddball]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

Tell that to the 2009 Tigers.

Or the Twins.....

 

[candycorn]

in a 162 game season.

none of the games mean SQUAT ( unlike in the NFL and college football)

are time-fillers for me

Tell that to the 2009 Tigers.

Or the Twins.....

Or the Padres last year..or the Giants for that matter.