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Originally Posted by JRutledge
Why does it have to be about ADD? Maybe the sport is just not appealing. There are people that do not like to watch Soccer or the World Cup and there is much more action in that sport than any other I can think of. It is not about ADD, it is about appeal. When baseball was the National Pastime, there was not TV and sports like Boxing was something the nation paid attention to. Both were heavily followed on the radio. I bet without looking, hardly anyone could name the Heavyweight champion in any division and I bet that the casual fan could not name 5 players on each WS team. This has more to do with the public have moved on to watch and focus on other things. Football is just more appealing. It works better on TV and the media spent all summer talking about a free agent in a sport and they finally played a game last night.
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Rut you are "right-on"
I was listening to the radio and one of the broadcasters mentioned that "back in the day" Baseball was number 1 followed by Boxing and believe it or not Horse - Racing (at least in Calif and NY) Football was 4th on the list at best UNTIL the Giants / Colts Over-time game which was the "spring-board" to put the NFL "on the map"
The NFL commissioners most notably Pete Rosell were visionaries and did a really good marketing job making football a NATIONAL sport. That's where baseball went wrong.
Baseballs downfall was the firing of Fay Vincent a "TRUE" Commissioner and putting in "one of their own" in Bud Sileg. Other then the fans of a particlar team like Yankee Fans for the most part No one watches baseball anymore.
Look at the Yankees / BOSOX series. One year you have the Yankee fans "hating" Johnny Damon and the next year "loving" him. Again another major drawback of baseball. That's equivalent of Dennis Potvin (NHL - NY Islanders) being trading to the NY Rangers (NHL). If any one follows hockey they know Ranger fans "hated" Dennis Potvin.
Today in baseball it's quite common. The player that you "hated" is now a member of YOUR team.
Also, baseball is boring especially the Yankee Bosox games which last 4 hours or so.
All in all baseball is a Regional Sport with the owners of the small market teams like the Pirates simply pocketing the money and NOT investing in the team. In a way you can't blame them because even if they did invest the money in the team they still could not compete with the other BIG market teams.
The Yankees are also what's wrong with baseball. They set the bar so high that other teams cannot compete for Free agents. 2 yrs. ago they got CC, Teshera and Burnett.
The NBA is following suit as Mega stars are teaming up together leaving the league "barren" At least Commissioner Stern has the "guts" to mention that the NBA needs to contract to make the league more competitive and attractive.
"Back in the day" not only did I know the members of my team but I knew many players on the "other" teams as well. As you say how many people really KNOW or would recognize Cliff Lee? However, most KNOW and would recognize Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in a heartbeat.
Football is KING by a HUGE margin. I bet the Steelers / Saints game on NBC's SNF will "destroy" the ratings on Fox which is carrying the Giants / Rangers series. Game 4 of the series is scheduled at the same time slot as the football game.
Pete Booth