Comments on: More and more I’m liking the 2nd Wild Card

By: clark17

clark17 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:14:47 +0000

Good point. Depending on how the question was phrased, some people might have been answering their favorite sport to play, not to watch. Nothing else explains bowling beating women’s tennis to me.

That said, I think the poll accurately reflects that baseball places as a solid number 2 behind the NFL. I might have guessed college football being closer to a tie with baseball, but that’s probably because I live in Florida. College football rules this part of the country.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:30:19 +0000

Yeah I agree. I’m not sure this poll really shows what is going on in today’s sporting culture. The poll is the result fo 1000s of americans being asked simply, “what is your favorite sport.” I wonder if a better poll would be overall TV ratings for sporting events.

By: clark17

clark17 — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:24:57 +0000

I was very surprised that the NBA is only 1/3 as popular as MLB, and NCAA basketball is tied with soccer(!) for 7th place(!). If that’s accurate, the coverage of both (especially on ESPN) is completely out of proportion with their actual popularity. Men’s golf gets infinitely more coverage than soccer, yet it’s apparently half as popular, according to the poll. Meanwhile, everyday on ESPN I hear another Dwight Howard or Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson story, yet soccer gets so little press that the only American player I can name is Hope Solo (and that has nothing to do with her abilities as a goalkeeper). And wait, women’s tennis is below bowling?! Okay, now I’m starting to doubt the poll…

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:43:38 +0000

I’m ambivalent over 154 vs 162 games, but know that owners will never give up 4 home dates of gate, so I don’t bother arguing for it. DH: you won’t like this but from for several reasons i’m in favor of going full DH in both leagues (this is the subject of a longer post that I have in draft form now, but main reasons would be standardization of leagues, increased offense and increased fan appreciation).

Found the harris poll you speak of and I stand corrected: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/1508/articleId/675/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx

Great resource. 2011 data shows Pro Football #1 (31%), Baseball (17%), College Football (12%), Auto Racing (7%), NBA (6%), NHL (5%), Soccer (2%) and College Basketball (2%). That leaves 18% for every other conceivable sport, though the poll didn’t find one person who listed WNBA or Womens College Basketball as #1. Thanks for pointing this out.

By: clark17

clark17 — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:19:21 +0000

I’m no baseball purist, and I’m glad about the additional wildcard spot. My only purist stances are actually very old issues. First, I’d go back to 154 games, because these seasons are way too long. And second, I hate, hate, HATE the DH! If you’re not on the field, you don’t get to bat. The DH strips away so much fascinating on-the-field strategizing by managers, and I hate it. (Did I mention that I hate the DH?)

However, Todd, your “most popular” sports statistic is off, at least according to the latest Harris poll (as published in USA Today). In fact, baseball is second only to pro football, although by a HUGE margin of nearly 2-1. Behind baseball–in order–are college football, auto racing, the NBA, and the NHL.

By: Myrubberarm

Myrubberarm — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:56:41 +0000

As long as we never witness a .500 team in the playoffs, I’m all for wildcards.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:34:10 +0000

… Aaaaaand we have our first purist Your point is fair, and could be extended to complain about the playoffs in general. Why play 162 games if you can get knocked out in a 5-game divisional series, or a 7-game league championship series? But I think that ship has long since sailed (since, 1969, when divisional play was introduced).

But I must say, I disagree with your sentiment. I think as a fan i’d MUCH rather have a 92-win team that won the 2nd wildcard and then lost than have a 92-win team that finished 3rd in the division and that was that. And, Baseball still has the lowest number of teams making the playoffs of any of the major sports (33% in baseball, 37.5% football, 52% in soccer, and 53% in both NHL and NBA).

Sell-out to the almighty dollar? Perhaps, to the baseball purist. My take on the ever-expanding playoffs is more basic (and perhaps I should have included this missive in the original post): you have to adjust to survive. 75 years ago the most popular sports in this land were Baseball, Boxing and Horse Racing. Look where we are now: Baseball is clearly 3rd in the pecking order behind Football and Basketball, and in many ways fails to out-draw marquee events in Hockey, Soccer and Nascar. Meanwhile Boxing is almost nonexistant in this country any longer and there’s probably only a handful of states that even host Horse Racing any longer. The point is; Baseball has to adjust to survive and keep relevant. And part of that adjustment is cashing in on the post season rise in interest. More wild-cards, more excitement means just that. You have to adapt to survive.

By: bdrube

bdrube — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:10:59 +0000

I absolutely HATE both wildcards, let alone the second one. Go back to four divisions and four divisional winners. Otherwise, what is the point of playing a grinding 162-game schedule?

Before all the wildcard nonsense, a good season that falls just short, say 92 wins, was celebrated as a decent success. Plenty of Senators fans have fond memories of 1969, for example, even though the team missed the playoffs.

Now, if a team wins 92 and lose that silly one game wildcard playoff, it will leave a horrible taste everyone’s mouth. MLB used to be special because of how hard it was to make the playoffs. Now, it’s just another sellout to the almighty dollar.