Why is it that no one was talking about the ALCS until last night?
What a great story the Rays have been. Having never won anything, they sit in the big spotlight, pounding on the defending World Champions...and then three innnings go horribly, horribly wrong.
No the talking heads are running in full throttle. Good for baseball, I suppose, but something sticks in my crawl. Yes, it was a great comeback. Monumental even. And sure, the NLCS is finished now, leaving more attention to be shone on the AL. But something just seems fishy. The sports media seems excited now. This was already an exciting series to watch. Why the sudden extra bounce in the step?
It just seems that the media loves the baseball royalty, those teams that seem to pop up on ESPN on a weekly bases, whose hats are in every Wal-Mart regardless of region, who have fans in every pocket of the country?
These are immensely popular teams, which explain the facts above. But should this explain a different media attitude? Is it all in my head? Or is it that The Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, and Dodgers just seem to get a different spotlight than others.
Maybe that comes with being a fan of the underdog.
I love ranting.
baby einstein walker
2 years ago
1 comment:
I haven't actually followed the talking heads of late, so I don't know who's said what. Yes, big market teams are great for ratings and merchandising and therefore directives are handed down to appeal to fans of those teams. You're trying to catch the viewer channel flipping, and you have a better chance of snaring him if you discuss, say, the Red Sox than you do if you discuss the Rays.
The Elias Sports Bureau pops off with an endless array of statistics, most of which are so trivial they're actually minutiae. Case in point: Discussing a team's or a player's post-season streak that goes back farther than this year. How many at-bats have these guys had since last October? Why would anyone place any value on the fact that a guy is x-for-y lifetime in the postseason?
Other than that, my only real thoughts on the ALCS are covered in my blog. Actually, I take that back. Shame on the TBS broadcast team for spending the first six innings crowning the Rays and the last three innings fawning over the Red Sox's resurrection. Discussing a lopsided game is one thing, but they acted as though they had inside information that Tampa had already won and they were waiting for the part where Chip Caray would announce it. Not very professional, I'm afraid, and it's even worse because it is the only blemish on TBS's otherwise high quality team. I definitely like their studio guys better than Fox's, and not having Tim McCarver means that TBS has, by default, my favorite booth team.
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