[soriano33]

As an avid baseball fan, last years World Series was one of the worst to watch of memory. I didnt have much interest in the Astros or ChiSox and it seemed that everyone jumped on the ChiSox bandwagon only to jump off this year. I think this years World Series is even worse. We have an 83 win team in the World Series. At least the best team from the NL could have made it in to the WOrld Series to make it a little more interesting. The Cards and Sox were baseballs worst teams after the All-Star Break. I'm not going to be watching the WS at midnight to see David Eckstein and Brandon Inge or Fox have the radar gun blow up when Zumaya comes out to pitch. Look out here comes another one year wonder, and this time its Detroit!!!!!!!!!!! Except nobody cares, well everyone will be on the D-Town bandwagon until they fail to make the playoffs the next year just like all those one year wonders before them.

[ThePundit]

I sort of agree with you Soriano. The Cardinals especially are a tough team to watch...But I like the Tigers....But I guarantee you, I'll only watch bits and pieces of the series. Not the whole thing.

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

But I guarantee you, I'll only watch bits and pieces of the series.

You and me both. I don't plan on watching much of it, maybe a bit here and a bit there.

[soriano33]

This is exaclty what I am getting at, even baseball fans have less interest in the big game....the playoffs for Baseball seem to ditract from what fans really want....if only it was a subway series........then everyone would watch...

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by soriano33

This is exaclty what I am getting at, even baseball fans have less interest in the big game....the playoffs for Baseball seem to ditract from what fans really want....if only it was a subway series........then everyone would watch...

Every New Yorker would watch. The 2000 Subway Series didn't do great in the TV ratings either because let's face it, the rest of the country doesn't like us.

[firefrozen]

I have to agree that Detroit is a one year thing. The cardinals will hang around but only as what they are this year a mediocre team that was just able to cut it in their division. I will check the news everyday to see how the series will progress but i wont be watching all of the games.

[flamnotspam]

No way is Detroit a "one-year wonder." They've spent a lot of time building this team up....you're seeing the product of several years of rebuilding. There's a lot of young talent on this team, and if they don't sell it (and I don't think they will....Mike Ilitch is enjoying this far too much) why would you think it's going to just disappear?!

I realize that a big rivalry makes for a more exciting series, and a subway series is pretty cool, but more so for New Yorkers, as previously pointed out. But then again, this match-up is pretty historic....these two teams have faced off in the W.S. four times prior to this. And I'm biased, being a Tigers fan, but I'm pretty darn excited about this

[firefrozen]

I think the tigers are a one year wonder because of the way they fell off at the end of the season. Strong teams just dont do that. The tigers had a september worthy of the royals I just cant see them being stong next year.

[EmpireWF]

I disagree firefrozen. Most teams eventually lose some luster at the end of the year. And with the plethora of young guys on the Tigers, they were bound to hit the wall at some point. But next season, all the young guys will have a years worth of experience under their belt. They have such good young pitching in the rotation and the pen that I can't see them returning to the cellar anytime soon.

[firefrozen]

Their pitching is great but i see them having the same problem as Florida. These pitchers are going to start demanding more and more money that the Tigers just don't have. Other teams like the yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers etc... will pull out their wallets to lure those young pitchers out.

[chsbletz]

Originally Posted by EmpireWF

Every New Yorker would watch. The 2000 Subway Series didn't do great in the TV ratings either because let's face it, the rest of the country doesn't like us.

The rest of the country is not anti-New York. (Just remember some of the considerate things America Beyond the Hudson did for New York in the aftermath of September 11.) There are two things about New York that other American baseball fans don't like, however. Specifically, they are the concept of buying a World Championship by cavalierly throwing money at every glamorous free agent that puts his services out there for auction and New York sports writers. New York's sports writers are roundly disliked because they go out of their way to create the sense of entitlement that they portray as New Yorkers' birthright. New Yorkers, as wonderful as most of them can be, have no more intrinsic right to celebrate World Championships than other fans, but you'd never even consider that if all you ever read about baseball was the jottings of Big Apple writers. They write as if baseball outside of New York is a mere formailty and a necessary evil. (After all, the Yankees and the Mets have to play someone.) It's that arrogant, short-sighted attitude that drives people who are not New Yorkers crazy. If those of you who live in New York lived in one of those other places, I think you'd find that your view of the baseball world would be considerably different.

[soriano33]

what you basically are telling me is people dont care as much about baseball outside new york?

[chsbletz]

If that's what you understood from what I wrote, soriano33, we are speaking a different language and there is absolutely no hope of our ever fully communicating or understanding each other. Frankly and with respect, I think your interpretation is an enormous oversimplification. I don't know how else to say it. Fans in places like Seattle, Colorado, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, and Texas care very much about baseball, but they have never had even one World Championship to celebrate. Despite that, they keep supporting their local teams with considerable enthusiasm. New York fans, on the other hand, are ready for therapy if the Yankees haven't won a championship in the last five years. That isn't passion, in my opinion. It borders on irrationality.

[soriano33]

I think what I was getting at is that the fact New Yorkers live and die with sports, you say, is irrational. This is tremendous passion and commitment to have a team that will perform and entertain us. You say the rest of the country is not anti new york but yet you are taking our view of sports and comparing it to yours and saying you are a more rational sports fan. What is rationality in sports? Saying "I know my team is going to lose but I will support them". Even if this is the case you have hope for the season because you are a fan. I go through this every year with the Bills. I know we dont have a great shot but I picture our team winning anyway, not just supporting to find a team to support. The fact you call us arrogant and short sighted is a pretty big insult to me and thats why I oversimplificated that answer. Dont forget the Yankees built their way up to be able to spend the way they do. If it wasnt for fan support and the tremendous history that brought them to their current point, Steinbrenner couldnt afford to pour money into the team. Frankly, we earned our way to the top, and as a result I guess we have higher expectations then other fans. Is this good? Yes, it pushes the players and team to push harder. Do you think Kansas City players feel there is a big desire to win or Tampa Bay? no. and owners of these teams know this and know they wont have to spend money because they have 0 expectations

[chsbletz]

The big factor that you are overlooking, soriano33, is cable TV income. Big cities like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, because of sheer population mass, generate enormous income for the cable telecasts of the local teams' games. And, that has nothing to do with the efforts made by the teams. It is strictly the result of huge populations in certain geographic areas. Because of the enormous income those clubs derive from cable TV income, they have significantly more money to spend on the acquisition of playing talent than their small-market opponents have. To attribute that to building themselves up to that status is disingenuous, in my opinion. The reality is that small and medium-market teams have absolutely no way to generate sufficient funds to compensate for the income advantage enjoyed by the larger-market teams. That's just a fact of doing business. But, to say that their fans just don't care as much as New York area fans is flat-out wrong. They care every bit as much. That is why we see the people of Detroit and St. Louis "going bananas" right now. In their minds, they're finally getting the opportunity to win the big prize, and they care very, very much---passionately so, in fact.