I stand corrected

I will ammend my comments in the last post. The MLB is not the least watched of the four major leagues. It is second to last. My bad.

Please refer to the following article from Wikipedia:

"All of the top four major leagues have had television contracts with at least one of the original "big three" U.S. broadcast television networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) since those networks' early years, indicative of the sports' widespread appeal since their inception, continuing today additionally with FOX. Regular season games, as well as important contests such as championship and all-star games are often televised in prime time. In the last generation, fast-growing cable and satellite networks have taken a larger chunk of the major sports' pie. Three of the four major sports now have entire sports networks dedicated just to each of them. NBA TV launched in 1999, with NFL Network and NHL Network following.

Major League Baseball had announced plans for their own network, but then dropped them to attempt to start a national sports network with FOX. Those plans were dropped as well, after MLB and FOX failed to acquire a late season package of NFL games that went to NFL Network.

Comparing the sizes of television contracts, the NFL is by far the largest (reportedly $2.2 billion US for the 2012 season), with the NBA and MLB second and third ($500 million and $479 million respectively). The NHL is in a distant fourth place ($120 million), a disparity those who wish to exclude the NHL from the top four major leagues often point to. Since 1952 it has been broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Hockey Night in Canada. The 2006 Stanley Cup Finals attracted 2.63 million viewer on the CBC.

The NHL began airing games on NBC starting in January 2006 and the NHL Network, currently only available in Canada, will soon be available to U.S. cable and satellite subscribers. In addition, the NHL broadcasts games nationally on Versus, generally on Monday and Tuesday nights. Many regular season games are also broadcast on regional sports networks (such as FSN), which can vary on contract worth by region or team."

Wikipedia.com

Ratings v.s. Right

After one more game in Cleveland, we will most likely be looking at a World Series Matchup of The Colorado Rockies against the Cleveland Indians. First of all I just want to say: Who in the world picked these two teams at the beginning of the season? I know I didn't. I wouldn't have thought either would have made it past the first round.

All that aside we are faced with a question that only happens every few years. We know that the networks that carry MLB want it to be Redsox v.s. Yankees every year. Why? Because they have the largest fan bases in the country and spend lots more money on things as well as tune into TV broadcasts. When those two play, or some of the other big names, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants etc. play they are big money makers. Also, if truth be told the ratings for the World Series will dip dramatically as a result of these two teams playing. The reason being the majority of people outside of Cleveland and Denver could care less who wins now. So I ask you this question. What would be better? A match up of the powerhouse ball clubs that would be exciting to watch, or a match up of these teams that actually deserve to be here this season? It sounds like an easy question, but if you think about it, it isn't.

Wow

The Colorado Rockies have redefined the term "miracle run" in baseball. Wow.


...more to follow...

Not What We Expected

I have not written in a few days because I wanted to wait until the next round of the playoffs was decided. Thanks to the New York Yankees that took a day longer than expected.

 

First of all I will go on record right from the get go to say that my predictions were way off. I incorrectly called the Padres to beat the Rockies for the wild card spot, then I called the Phillies to beat the Rockies and neither of those things happened. That is the last time I bet against the Rox. They not only won, they won impressively, and honestly I don't think it's a fluke, they look good. They are solid at every position, and they don't make errors. At this point they are my pick to win it all.

 

Of course since I am a Cubs fan they lost again in the first round of the playoffs, even though they were heavily favored. I have yet to see anything good happen from the Cubs in my lifetime. I will just leave it at that, since I tend to get very angry the more I talk about it.

 

Also, I said the Yankees would come back and beat the Tribe. This is the most interesting one to me. First of all, because yes, I will say it again, it looks to me like they had another meltdown. But, in their defense, Cleveland played great. They look unstoppable at this point, but we will see when they run into a very good Red Sox team.

 

So, who goes to the Series? I will say Colorado and Boston at this point. Both teams will probably lose, but wow, what a postseason it has been so far, I think it can only get better.

Opening Night

Last night was the opening night of the 2007 MLB playoffs. It did not dissapoint either. We had an answer to the question on everyone's minds after Monday night, a pitching clinic, and an exciting game from the desert. If last night was any indication of how the rest of the playoffs are going to be, we are in for a wild ride.

 

First of all, the question on everyone's minds after Monday night was, will Colorado be able to keep up this winning streak they have been on? Will there be a let down in game one of the NLDS? How long can this possibly last? Well, apparently it can last at least another game. The Rox went to Philly and stole game one right out from under the Phillies. It was a good game for them as well, in the stats area I mean. They allowed only four hits, had no errors, and Jeff Fracis was pretty amazing in the pitching category last night too. It wasn't a no hitter, but it was plenty enough to get the job done. He kept Philly's three best hitters in their places by making them go 0 for 11 with eight strikeouts. Maybe I will have to change my prediction on this one?

 

In my opinion the most impressive thing of the entire night was the show Josh Beckett put on in game one of the Red Sox/Angels series. He put on a clinic. After allowing a leadoff single, Beckett put away 19 straight hitters. Not a pleasant evening for the Halos. They allowed only four hits total, and this marked the first shut out by a Red Sox team in the post season since the the 1975 World Series. I don't think many predicted this to be a tough series for the Red Sox and by the looks of what we saw last night, it wont be.

 

In the last game of the evening Chicago traveled to Arizona to play the Snakes in game one. This game was kind of a grind it out, do your best to get through it and hope you can squeeze a couple runs in before it goes to extra innings. Well, this one didn't have to go to extra innings thanks to some poor relief pitching by Chicago and some opportunistic Diamondbacks. In what can kindly be described as a questionable call, Lou Piniella, the Chicago Cubs manager, pulled Carlos Zambrano to "save his arm for game four." Marmol went in and immediately game up two hits to the Diamondbacks that proved to be the difference in the game. Meanwhile, Webb, for the D'Backs continued for one more inning, and the strong bullpen of the D'Backs held on for the victory in game one. Following the game Piniella was asked if thinking ahead to game four cost the Cubbies in game one. Pineilla retorted with "I'm not accused of anything, sir," Piniella said. "I've got a good bullpen here, OK? And I trust my bullpen. I'm bringing back a pitcher on three days' rest on Sunday, and I took a shot with my bullpen. It didn't work today. They've done it all year. I've got confidence in them -- period, end of story."

 

I don't know if Lou realizes this, but the series is the first one to win three games. If he makes many more decisions like this one, the Cubs curse could continue…again.

The Stacked SEC

I will not try to make anybody think that I am not biased. Well, maybe biased isn't the right word. Whatever you want to call it I think the SEC is the best college athletics conference in the country. This is across the board, in every sport. I love watching the schools in this conference slug it out week after week in during basketball and football season, and its also nice to know they are quite competitive in other sports as well.

 

Let's take the current college football season as an example. The SEC is well-represented in the most recent top 25 poll, being tied with the Big 12, both having five teams in the top 25. The most interesting part about this to me are the teams that the SEC has in there. A couple are the powerhouse teams that you would expect to see. Of course LSU, Florida, and Georgia are in there. However some of the other teams that you would expect to see like Tennessee, or Alabama are noticeably absent from the list. Instead they are replaced by Kentucky and South Carolina.

 

Think about this. Kentucky is ranked #8 in the nation. This is football, not basketball. I am the biggest Kentucky basketball fan that you will find, so I know what it is like to see Kentucky in the top 25; but not in football. In my lifetime, I cannot remember a time off the top of my head that Kentucky was in the top 25 in football. The craziest part about it, is that they 100% deserve their ranking too. They are good. Of course, we see stuff like this every so often. They have a lot of seniors, guys that have had the opportunity to play together a long time, and they have veteran leadership and experience on their side. So, when they play younger teams, like Arkansas, and even a young Louisville team. But, you cannot deny the ability of this team, quarter back, Andre Woodson has already thrown for over 1300 yards this season, has tossed 16 touchdowns and just one interception. Impressive, no matter how you slice it. They have not been playing all cupcakes either. Don't believe in blue yet? Well, we will find out this weekend, when they go up against the other newcomer SEC team in the top 25. The South Carolina Gamecocks.

 

The "other" USC is another team that is not as used to the spotlight in the SEC as the bigger schools like LSU and Florida. However, having snagged Steve Spurrier out of the NFL, away from a miserable career there, they had a glimmer of hope of returning to prominence again. Well, I would say they are well on their way. Spurrier said in an interview when he first became the head coach at South Carolina that it would not be an overnight success story, but if the school and the fans gave him a few years to turn things around, he would, and he has. Being a South Carolina resident myself, it is kind of cool to hear people talking about them this season, as opposed to Clemson this, and Clemson that. Carolina has improved upon its previous record in each of the past three seasons, and have started to recruit the kind of talented players that will be able to hang with the SEC's elite for years to come. I am not jumping on the Gamecock's bandwagon just yet, but it is fun to watch.

 

This Saturday at 7:30pm in Columbia, SC the Gamecocks host the Wildcats in what should be an excellent game. They near prolific offense of Kentucky against the smack-you-in-the-mouth defense that South Carolina has been producing of late will be a sight to see. The battle of the two fresh faces in the SEC promises to be a good one. At the end of the game, we might have just figured out who is for real, and who has just be pretending up to this point. Kentucky or South Carolina? You decide. Well, actually whatever you decide doesn't really matter, but for purposes of this blog and good discussion. You decide.  

ROCK(ies) & ROLL

It happened. The incredible run continues. The Colorado Rockies are going to the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history. They will face the Philadelphia Phillies in what promises to be an interesting series, as both teams are extremely hot right now.

 

Last night in an extra regular season game that definitely held the playoff atmosphere, the Colorado Rockies continued this dream ride they have been on for the past 15 games. Winning 14 out of their last 15 games the Rockies squeaked into a tie with the San Diego Padres for the wild card spot in the playoffs. Monday night they proved that the deserved it. In extra innings the Rockies took care of business when Matt Holliday walked up to the plate, hit a triple, and then dashed for home just in time on a sacrifice fly on the next play. Needless to say there was a mile-high celebration last night after the game.

 

In the next few days, and maybe long thereafter, there will be much talk about, Matt Holliday's score. Did he touch the plate? Well, I for one don't care at this point. The game is over, they are not going to reverse the call that the official made now, and so its stupid to continue talking about it, if you ask me. Let the Rockies have their 15 minutes of fame. I think they have earned it, don't you?