Its Monday afternoon and I am still trying to recover from the Phillies parade on Friday. What a spectacle. Have you ever seen that many people lining the streets of a city? It was overwhelming. Fans shut down the public transportation, when is the last time that has happened in Philadelphia? Has it ever happened before? I have been asked how many people I thought attended the parade and you know what I tell them? I have no idea. I can't imagine how you could fit any more people along a parade route then the fans of Philly did on Friday. The historians say that the Flyers in '75 had the largest parade and 2 million people attended. If that is true I would say this parade must have dwarfed the one from '75.
The one thing that became clear to me as the day went on is how Philly fans are unfairly criticized in the national media. For every reference there is of fans throwing snow balls at Santa Claus and booing injured players on the field there wasn't one incident that occured during that parade that could be considered unruly behavior. Everyone was there for one reason, to celebrate our cities first world championship in 25 years. I have never seen so many joyous faces in one place in all my life. It was a day I will never forget. I saw every age of fan, from infants to 90 year old women, and they were all there to show their support. The city was, for at least one day, unified for one mission, to enjoy being champions.
In case you live under a rock and haven't heard the Phillies are the 2008 World Champions of baseball. They ended a 25 year championship drought in Philadelphia sports. Last night was, in one word, AMAZING.
Ever since I knew what sports were I have been a diehard Philadelphia fan. Some people will say that I might take sports too seriously and maybe sometimes I do. My life would be a lot less stressful if I wasn't so infatuated with Philadelphia sports. Over the last 20 years I have not known what it was like to root for a championship team. Every year that a season ended in any sport, the motto always was "There is always next year." Until today. There is a next year but the wait is over. Our beloved Philadelphia Phillies are World Champions! It feels as though a 1,000 lb #### has been lifted off my back. I actually think I will now enjoy watching our hometown sports teams play more than I ever have in the past. It will be stress free and I am having a hard time imagining what that will feel like. I am not saying that I won't be as diehard as I have been in the past but I definitely won't live and die with every game. The losses will be a little easier to handle and the wins will be that much sweeter.
How many adults do you know that play organized sports aside from softball? I know one, a guy I work with, who is 23, plays on an ice hockey team. How many kids do you know that play at least one organized sport? I actually can't think of a kid that I know that DOESN'T play at least one organized sport. So why are people so against letting kids in this area (Philadelphia) enjoy the first (and maybe only) World Series they may ever see?
The broadcasts of these games are extremely late, games do not start until after 8:30 EDT. That means when the final out of the game is recorded it is usually around midnight. Most kids are not able to stay up that late to watch a baseball game either because they can't stay awake or their parents aren't allowing them to stay up due to the fact all but one of these games were played on a school night. Hell, I am almost 30 years old and I am having trouble staying up to watch every game. Well, I might not be having trouble staying up, but I am definitely having trouble making it to work each day and functioning properly. We all know the reason why the games are on so late...MONEY. That's it and that's all. Starting the game earlier would not allow the network to make as much advertising money and that is all they care about. They don't care about building a base of fans that maybe would provide a larger viewership in the years to come. They care about right now, how much money can we make right now....continued...
Over the past couple of years I have become an avid listener of sports talk radio here in Philadelphia. My commute to work each day seems to have gotten longer and longer due to the increased traffic in the area. When I first started at my job it seemed that I would make it to work in under 30 minutes and now its very rare a day goes by when it doesn't take a least an hour. So I have turned to sports talk radio to pass the time. We have two choices in Philly, 610 WIP and ESPN 950. The morning shows of both stations are very good, Angelo Cataldi for 610 and Mike and Mike in the Morning on 950. They usually don't have commercials at the same time so I end up flipping back and forth the entire commute. Mike and Mike brought up an interesting question today, Should MLB consider a neutral site for the World Series just like the NFL does with the Superbowl?
There is definitely a trend growing during the World Series. The later in October the World Series is played the greater the chance of inclement and/or cold weather. All you have to do is look at the last three World Series to see what I am talking about. This year there has been rain twice in the three games at Philadelphia and when they finally finish tonight the weather will be more suited to a football game in Green Bay then a baseball game in Philadelphia. The temperature is supposed to be in the 30's with a wind chill in the 20's. Baseball is synonymous with warm weather. The majority of the season is played in Spring and Summer and rarely is a game played in temperatures under 50 degrees let alone in the 30's. With that said, is the weather impacting the integrity of the game? Should the World Series be played in a warm weather neutral location or earlier in the month?
As I see it there are three solutions to this issue, play the World Series at a neutral site, somehow shorten the season or spring training so the World Series falls earlier in the month, or play the World Series during the day when the temperature is at its peak.
Playing the World Series at a neutral site is an absolute horrible idea. Its one thing to have the Superbowl at a neutral site because it is only one game. How could you expect fans of a team to travel to Phoenix or San Diego for an entire week to watch their team play? The cost of tickets is bad enough as it is, but then you would have to factor in flights, hotel costs, meals, etc. into the cost of watching your team play. Would MLB even be able to fill the stadium at a neutral site for 7 games?
Playing the World Series during the day is obviously not going to work. We all know MLB is driven by money and network TV. Viewership would tank if the game was on during the day. No company would pay the money they do now for advertising during the game if it was held in the middle of the day and no network would pay the money they pay now (Fox paid 250 million dollars for the rights to broadcast this year's World Series) to show the games during the day.
So maybe the solution is to shorten Spring Training or at least start it a little earlier. By shortening Spring Training and starting the season a week earlier maybe MLB could avoid the inclement and cold weather we are seeing recently. Some people will argue starting a week earlier could mean more inclement weather at the beginning of the season. That is true, but you would then have the entire season to make up those games.
Anyway you look at it something probably has to be done to prevent this from happening to future teams during the World Series. Baseball is not meant to be played in freezing cold weather, its meant to be played during the dog days of summer.
No...the Philly Sports Dude is not dead...a lot has happened in the past year that has caused my attention to go to other things...but now I am back. And just like any normal Philly fan, I am pissed. In my 17 years of closely following sports and being a die hard Philadelphia sports fan, I have never been this upset. Last night's fiasco during the World Series is incomprehensible.
How can MLB and Bud Selig allow that game to start when they knew there was no possible way for them to finish the entire game? Its the World Series, not some interleague game in August which no one cares about. Not only is it the World Series, but it is a do or die game for Tampa and a chance at an allusive championship for the starved Philadelphia fans. I took a semester of meterology in college (it was my required science lab) and I thought it was pretty obvious it was going to rain, and rain hard, during that game. After seeing the radar, my seven month old daughter could have told you it was going to rain.
But I will let that one slide...Selig isn't a meterologist and only has access to 7 different weather outlets so how would he have known they weren't going to be able to finish.
So they began play on time, but how could MLB and Bud Selig allow that game to go into the sixth inning? The Phillie Phanatic's four wheeler might have gotten stuck had he tried to drive it through the infield. It was comical, the reigning MVP couldn't catch a routine pop up to short. The best pitcher in the playoffs was bouncing his best pitch in front of the plate. There were PUDDLES all over the infield!
But I will let that one slide...Selig wasn't on the field and he probably thought those puddles on the infield were just drops on his enormous glasses...so lets keep playing...
Tampa then proceeds to score the tying run in the top of the sixth and as soon as the final out came to rest in Victorino's glove I could have sworn I heard a collective sigh of relief from Selig, MLB, Fox executives, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. They then made the decision to suspend the game. The field was not playable in Bud Selig's mind anymore and he was concerned about the welfare of the players. Where was that concern in the top of the 6th? BJ Upton hydroplaned into second and home...that is safe? I am going to go out on a limb here and say Selig's explanation might have been a little hypocritical.
But I guess I will let that one slide too...fair is fair, that is what Selig seemed to think in the post game conference.
I just have one question. How is it fair that the Rays got one more inning at bat in the monsoon where our pitcher was only able to throw one pitch, a fastball, and our fielders couldn't field routine balls? Tampa now gets to come out either tonight, tomorrow or whenever this NorEaster passes by, and play in perfect conditions. Is that really fair? I think the FAIR thing to do would be to restart the sixth inning from the beginning.
It seems as though Major League baseball doesn't want another fiasco like last night as they have decided to delay the finish of game 5 of the World Series until Wednesday night. I believe that is the right move, finally. I know I need some rest after the last few nights of watching the Phils play late into the night and sometimes early in the morning. If my out of shape #### needs rest just from drinking beer and cheering on my team, then I can only imagine how tired the players from each team have to be.
So the major question is this, What team is going to benefit from this layoff? I honestly don't know...I have never seen a game be delayed two days with nothing in between. On the one hand you have the Phillies, who, without a doubt, had the momentum going into game 5. After this layoff is that momentum still there? The Rays have nothing to lose...they must win this game to get the series back to that wiffle ball park they call a stadium. (Seriously, what is up with the rules for the catwalks? I know their team hasn't been any good but come on...you have to do better than this with regards to a real stadium) The meat of their lineup just started hitting again, allbeit in a monsoon, but that had to give them some sort of confidence for their next plate appearance. The Phillies only have to score one run and get nine players out but the Rays have to score one run and get 12 players out.
So I am interested to see how this game will play out. I have had the day to cool off from being completely aggravated from last night and I now realize that the past is the past and the Phils still hold a 3-1 lead in the World Series. Philly is only nine outs and one run away from finally grabbing a world championship. All I really know is that the champagne will still taste just as sweet on Wednesday as it would have last night.
Each morning on my commute to work I listen to sports radio and most of the time I listen to Michael Bradley and Glenn Foley's morning show on Sports Radio 950. More
Saturday has always been such a good day, hell, its the weekend and I don't have to work. This is the also the first day in a long time where I don't have any kind of obligation, be it from the wife or from other family. More
I am a diehard Philadelphia sports fan. I enjoy all sports and my favorite college team is the Maryland Terrapins, my alma mater. I have recently started a new website which you can view at http://www.mo leandmeares.c om. If you get a chance please check it out!
