It's springtime. NCAA Basketball and the Masters are over. Hopefully, by June the NBA and NHL playoffs will be complete.
You know wha that means!
ESPN and FOX hire additional staffers, who have always lived in the New England/NY area, to talk about what they will force down the throats of sports fans for the next six months. Yankees vs. Sox.
Here we go again. Non stop, till the end of World Series, it's SportsCenter, leading off with the lastest Jeter/A-Rod love triangle. The crowd chants Jee-tuh, Jee-tuh, and on the network feed it's Alex crying and asking, "When will I be loved!"
FOXSports will fan the same flames, feeding us drivel about Dice-K and his translator's parallel parking issues. Tim McCarver will rent a Kia or Hyundai and show us how to parallel park, all the while, talking down to the viewer.
Whatever the MLB network contract limit is for national telecasts of one team, rest assured that the Yankees will max it out, and a way will be found for every Yankees vs. Sox game to be broadcast nationally.
There are twenty something other MLB baseball teams out there, not counting KC; we don't hear about other teams, unless a player is busted for DUI or caught in a Yugo with a transvestite-midget-hooker-wrestler.(Thanks Eddie Murphy.)
The reality is that the majority of baseball fans don't care or are sick of the Yankees and Red Sox. Ever heard of over exposure? Have you listened to an East Coaster complain about the starting time of West Coast games? It's comical. "Cricket and I had to stay up till 2am to see the Yankees beat Seattle 27-0. How do those West Coasties stay up so late? Is it the coffee? We watched Seinfeld during commercials."
It's humerous when any Red Sox fan mentions the unfairness of the Yankees payroll, which is the highest in the Western Hemisphere. The Red Sox, historically, have the second highest. Hey Boston, relocate and force reallignment!
Game on!
Make me pick a team and I'll cheer for Boston, every time, because they're not New York, home of the media and network control.
Hey, I'm ALWAYS sick of Evil Empire version 1.0 and Evil Empire version 2.0. I don't need to wait for the season to start, or the time of constant "rivalry" games (though I admit I had to take a few minutes of being happy that the Sawx did a number on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Azusa, Cucamonga and all points east today, and that Evil Empire version 1.0 are doing their best to overcome the A's--but I only do that when they are playing the other three teams in the AL West).
The first one of those televised games is this week already. I'm certain that I will be somewhere else, doing something else when it is on.
I've been sick of these two teams and their rivalry since the 2004 ALCS. While I hate the Yankees most, the Red Sox have a certain irritating characteristic the Yankees don't. I would hate to have to choose between these two teams in a Playoff series.
JoshQ they don't get it! Soxs/Yanks, never get tired. Best rivalry in sports bar none. If your teams had success I could understand the crying and moaning. You're just jealous. This is what people want to see. Not Mariners/Astros!
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 14th at 9:49 PM.
slshusker. I can't believe you of all bloggers that I have read on these posts do not understand the significence of this rivalry. This rivalry has been going on for nearly 100 years. The Red Sox have HAD to spend because the Yankees would run away with the division every year! They still win the division every year but at least the Red Sox make it interesting. Also I would like to point out, Red Sox fans support their team even in lean times. No 9,000 fans here. In their worst years Fenway would be almost or completely filled. Tell me when the Seattle's, Oakland's, Kansas City's, Milwaukee's, and all those other SMALL market teams fill their stadiums. Fenway's capacity is 35,000. These other teams just want to line their pockets with revenue sharing and T.V. deals, and put an inferior product on the field. Look at the owners who won't compete for major free agents, and I'll show you the problem. 35,000 people is not alot of people. Support your TEAMS! GO TO A GAME! But alot of you won't because your team isn't a contender. Also when the Red Sox and Yankees go on the road, have you noticed that fan attendance goes way up. That's because we support our teams even on the road which helps the revenues of both teams. Did you know the visiting team cuts a percentage of the gate? It's true. So when the Marlins go into Philly and doesn't draw. Who loses. That's right, BOTH TEAMS. Again support your team by going to a game. Your attendance records negate the lip service.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 14th at 10:20 PM.
I don't have E S P N, recently changed my DirecTV programming and it doesn't have 20 espnsssss and all those annoying catch phrases that were old in the mid 90's.
Socrates, you obviously aren't reading between the lines.
1)The media pushes only this rivalry and the Yankees above all other teams.
If you ARE a fan of Boston or NY, you're blind to the rest of the league and love the publicity. Who wouldn't.
2) Writing a post is to either get everyone to agree with you and kiss your ####, or to get people screaming at you. Which do you think this blog was?
3) Nowhere did I say anything about the quality of the NY/Boston rivalry. You did.
4) The Astros and Mariners aren't in the same League, so they're not possible rivals. This explains quite a bit about your rant.
Consider yourself poked with at stick.
The first two responses were Yankee haters.
Believe it or not, some don't want to hear about these teams every day.
Last edited by slshusker on April 14th at 10:48 PM.
slshusker, Well I'm not in agreement, and I'm not puckering up. I guess I'm screaming! You stated the Red Sox shouldn't complain about the Yankee payroll, when they spend so much themselves. How do you think Boston got it's money? The Red Sox Fans. Going to the ballpark when they sucked. SEE 1920's, 30's. 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, half the 90's. They still went to Fenway in droves. That's my point. You complain your team sucks because they won't spend on free agents or pay the players that you have. So you stay out of the parks. No money to spend on free agents! Advertisers realize Red Sox and Yankee Fans are not Bandwaggoners. They stick by their teams thick and thin. That's why you see so many fans of these two teams. People love People who are loyal to them! You love THEM unconditionally. And when you have fans that are that loyal, doesn't it make good business sense to take some of that money that's in your pocket and treat the fans right. Hey if I was a Business owner and my customers were making me fistfulls of money. YOU KNOW I WOULD KEEP THEM AS HAPPY AS POSSIBLE. Oh the Mariners/Astros comment. Point is that it would appeal to no one but the Northwest U.S./Houston areas. No history to it.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 14th at 11:08 PM.
slshusker; to say That the Mariner/Astro comment explains my rant. I'll give you a little bit of insight to how closely I follow baseball. The #6 member inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, was my Great Uncle an old timer named Larry "Nap" Lajoie. It's pronounced La ja way. Greatest 2B that ever lived.
Wait a minute. You mean there are other teams? Just mess'n. Hey look, whether anyone will admit it or not, every fan of the game either likes the Sox or Yanks, or loves to hate them. It's baseball's greatest catch-22. Kind of like the BCS bowl standing every year. If they really corrected it, we'd have nothing to rant about and in the long run we'd miss it. All of baseball will be great this year. Overblown coverage of the Sox and Yanks is just an old tradition of which we'd miss if it ever went away.
So true. SAD...but true. I guess they give the Dodgers/Giants the same type of hype on the left coast. But we get it in every sport. This year it will be the Packers and Brett Favre. The Celtics suck or we would hear it every time they play the Lakers. Hell...in hockey yesterday the Ottawa Senators played Sidney Crosby. Apparently the rest of the Penguins stayed home because the only name you heard all day was SIDNEY!!!
I guess I don't mind the Sox/Yankees thing as long as both teams are good and competitive. I just hate it when the teams suck and they still get forced down our throats.
A few little, tiny corrections here, just for the record:
The Mariners are an AL team, so they are in the same league as both versions 1.0 and 2.0
The Mariners always come in within the top 3 in attendance EVERY year, including last year and the five or six years before that.
The Mariners have the best demographic ratings for their televised games (which is all but about 3-4 early day games per year), better than even most "major" market teams.
The Mariners are about 4th or 5th in total payroll, as well. The problem there is how they spend it.
Sometimes it helps to do a little research before you make blanket comments. I suppose that you didn't know who the M's were the year that they tied the major league record for the most games ever won, either. Sure, there are some fairweather fans here in the PNW, just like everywhere else, but there are a lot of passionate fans who support their team just as much as people in New York or Boston, and a lot more politely (in terms of booing indiscriminately (they still DO boo A-Rod, though), at that.
Last edited by sleeplessinseattle on April 15th at 7:58 AM.
Sleepless, your corrections were referring to Socrates in your post, I hope.
Actually, Socrates writes some good stuff.
On this issue, he's freaking about anyone not loving NY/Boston. It's inconceivable that anyone could possible love Seattle, since they're not one of the original MLB teams, created by cavemen.
I understand his passion and am laughing.
Socrates- You said 'Nap", which is a variaton of 'nappy.' You're insensitive and are now fired.
Last edited by slshusker on April 15th at 10:05 AM.
Yes, they were, and he does, indeed, write some good stuff (just occasionally takes a tone that needs to be dampened down a bit, is all).
I'm also certain that he's not too happy that the M's winning percentage is .71 above version 1.0 and slightly below that of version 2.0. In fact, version 1.0 is fourth in their division of 5, while the M's are in sole posession of first in the AL West (though I am not prognosticating a long lived stint there just now). But, again, what do I know--I'm just a "poor little female baseball fan in the backwards southern part of Alaska"?
slshusker: gotta love your sense of humor. Nap, refers to Napolean Lajoie. Manager of the Cleveland Naps. Had a controversial batting title taken away from him. Given to Ty Cobb. Elias said Cobbs stats weren't correct and gave him the plaque. Couple years down the road Elias realize Lajoie actually won the title over Cobb. Didn't give him the plaque back. 1921 I believe. Oh an interesting note. Last day of the season Nap played in a doubleheader. Went 6 for 8 with, 4 count em', bunt singles. They didn't like the boy from Twin Falls Idaho too much. They REALLY liked the boy from Woonsocket, R.I. though. The Indians changed their name while he was coach, he was so loved. Little history in baseball.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 15th at 1:04 PM.
Sleepless I never said alaskans or anyone else, didn't know their stuff. Also never said not to give your team the love it deserves. Yes Seattle filled the stands when they were winning. I said go SUPPORT YOUR TEAMS even when they are terrible. Talk to me in a few months and if Seattle's out of it watch the attendance. Fill up the parks. Be a Fan of the game. Not just the team. I think you cried umbridge when I wasn't going to crown Felix King yet. That's okay. I give free passes just like intentional walks. It's all part of the game. A little Yogism.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 15th at 1:16 PM.
Good news Socrates, History and I do recognize your Great whatever relative for winning the title.
Some day, some civilization will recognize you and me for our brilliance.
Some names that are synonymous with Baseball. Lajoie is one of those names.
How dare you throw in a biblical reference on the pronunciation. I don't need Ultra Mega showing up and cursing us.
I love a good, smarmy post. Keep in contact and let me know when a knuckle head posts.
Our brilliant young, hot, female Seattle Pilots fan is identifying the Jankees as 1.00 and the Red Sawks as 2.00, if I'm sane.
Even if I'm incorrect, it's still humerous.
oh and slshusker, you said you were laughing about my passion. Passion stirs the flames o####reat rivalry. The higher the passion, the higher the flames, the better the rivalry. The Yankee fans I know are Truely passionate about their teams. The Red Sox fans treat their players like rock stars! Red Sox are probably a little more passionate cosidering the Red Sox have usually been the underdogs to the Yankees. People root hard for the underdog. There's also less teams in Boston to follow than New York. There's alot of truth to the movie Fever Pitch, then even most Sox fans want to believe. Heck when the Sox won the Series in 2004, I had one brother who lives in Cape Coral Fla, on one cell phone. My two brothers who live in Tampa Bay, were on my wife's cell phone. My sister who lives in Connecticut on the home phone, My brother who lives in Memphis, Tenn. on my business speaker phone. And here I'm sitting 50 miles out of San Francisco. So here we all are watching Game 4 together. Red Sox are Family.
O.K. sleepless, you asked me to back up my mouth. Here it is. From 1977-1994 the Mariners had two winning seasons; 1991,and 1993. Their attendance average in that losing era was a whooping 11,581. In the years between 1995-2006 their attendance rose to an average of 37,142. This includes the glory years of 2000(91-71), att. 38,889. 2001's record year of (116-46),att. 43,308. 2002(93-69)att.43,710. 2003(93-69)att. 40,361. In each of the last 3 seasons the Mariner's attendance has declined to just over 30,000. That's a 25% drop and it can be attributed that the Mariner's having had 3 straight losing seasons. 2004 (63-99),2005 (69-93), and 2006 (78-84). Team history ave. att. just over 23,000. Look it up yourself under MLB attendance records. That hardly falls within the top 3 last year. Nor the year before, or the year before that. In Their glory years 2000-2003 they were in the top 3. Now they fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. I think YOU should DO your homework before you say others don't do theirs. Also the premise of my argument was Red Sox and Yankee fans go to the stadium when things are not so good. The years before 1995 and the last 3 years support my theory. Also do you remember the City of Seattle had fears with building a new stadium because of lack of support issues in the mid 1990's. It was only when saftey issues with the Kingdome came up. YOU KNOW that whole roof falling down thing, that they decided to build Safeco. It's refreshing to see that you support your team.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 15th at 5:19 PM.
Oh since there is interleague play now, the Mariners and Astros CAN be rivals. This explains quite a bit about your response. Or did you forget that whole scenerio sls, sleepless?
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 15th at 7:46 PM.
Seattle and Houston have played against each other in 2 three game series with Seattle holding a 4 game to 2 lead. Played each other in 2002 and 2004. A rivalry doesn't have to be division or league foe. A rivalry can start when one team doesn't like another. Let the rivalry begin. See Yankee/Mets, Red Sox/Braves, Cubs/White Sox.
Last edited by socratesofswat on April 15th at 8:02 PM.
Socrates, it took you 22 hours to come up with that silly seattle vs. houston item. Try again. I know you can do better. They're not rivals. You're covering for an early rant.
I wish they'd show more college baseball on ESPN. Granted, the "ping" can take some getting used to, but at least the game has a little more integrity.
I can't put my finger on who your avatar is and it's driving me nuts. Well, okay, probably too late for that.
Speaking of over-exposure, wait until football season when the Cowboys are on every week. Have you heard how many nationally televised games they will be on?
Yankees lost today, so that should make your day!!!
You mention media and network control...you did not complain during last year's NFL season when ESPN forced the Dallas Cowboys, T. O. and Big Bill down our throats...1st and 10, NFL Live, A.T.H., P.T.I. and Sportscenter...every program. The Yanks are my team!!! Due to fact, he has not produced the last three October's, he is known to me as #13...one year penalty for not producing ..Sometimes it is about the Game...I get tired of the Yanks/Red Sox!!! I love watching sports and sometimes I have to remind myself of this fact...do not worry about the media and network issues stay focused on the Game!!!
Texas has some talent leaving...Crowder, Ross, Blalock, robinson, Studdard, Young and many others. Let's not forget Ramonce Taylor and Tarrell Brown...first rd. talents teams are going to gamble on!!
AS always, the media in the most overrated and ovver-hyped city in the world(New York) will overpromote their overpaid Yankees. The Yankees and everything they stand for are one of the main reasons Baseball has become a shadow of the sport it used to be, yet these people never run out of things to say about them. They have the best player to play the game in a long time(A-Rod) but they spend more time boo=ing him and discrediting everything he does, even though hes been the most productive player in the game since his first game in the pros. If thats the way Yankees fans treat their workhorse and Franchise player, Its no wonder that the bandwagon keeps on rolling.....
slshusker .......... One can never be really sick of this matchup as it always has some sort of subplot to what's been an endearing story. It's by far the biggest thing that baseball has to offer with regard to the sport itself. There's not much interest in any other rivalry in the sport. And now it has an even added flavor because of the early exploits of Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Yankees have A-Rod and Jeter and a cast of players that are just there to ensure continued success. Both franchises are storied but without them the sport would be just turgid and of no real interest to anyone. It's like having hockey without the Red Wings. And in football not having the present day Patriots or Colts for that matter to get the fans enamored with the sport.
rampant/tophatal/justan' ........
Last edited by rampantfanatic on April 22nd at 3:40 AM.
Cuda, I agree. We cheer or hate based on the teams we're forced to hear about our see.
Ramp, this current series is great. Not all are. We don't hear squat about west coast rivalries, due to eastern media control.
The Sox were banking on media coverage with the signing of Dice-K. It increases the bottom line for the team and league.
Humor and sarcasm are a major part of sports and reporting of sports.
Steeler, SlingBlade is on cable right now. I'm jumping between NBA, NHL, Multiple MLB and SlingBlade.
Ever notice that Blade 1-2-3 is always on some channel(the Wesley Snipes version)?
Last edited by slshusker on April 22nd at 1:30 PM.
Yeah, but you can't top Sling Blade...it's the one and only.....hmmmmmm.....John Ritter was at his finest. He played that part perfectly as did Billy Bob Thorton. Dwight Yoakam didn't do bad for a country music artist. That and Anchorman are way up there on my movie lists.
slshusker .......... When you come to think of it. There are no longer any truly great rivalries in the sport anymore. The Red Sox Yankees' rivalrry is merely now just more hype than anything else but it's built up inot something that it is no longer. But it's the press that now makes it what it is. True the cast of characters are there but beyond that there's not much else that attracts us unless it's a game of great consequence.
Steeler, Billy Bob and Ritter became friends; remember how Ritter was in Bad Santa. Another great acting classic. As for Dwight, we finally saw the cue ball head of his. Cowboy hats serve a purpose. Ramp would look great with one, too.
I hear ya on the hat....ha ha. Hey, I forgot about Bad Santa. Man, that movie was almost more wacked than Sling Blade. That little kid was so funny. Great co-stars all the way around. I'd like to know where that bartender works.
The following message was posted on Curt Schilling's blog website 38pitches.com on April 22, 2007. The message was also sent to Fox East, Fox West, Newscorp headquarters, DirecTV and the following email addresses at the FCC: fccinfo@fcc.gov, KJMWEB@fcc.gov, Michael.Copps@fcc.gov, Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov, dtaylortateweb@fcc.gov, Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov, FOIA@fcc.gov.
- - - - - - - -
Curt,
Great effort Friday. Turned out to be one for the ages again. Really appreciate your work, but my post will get a little off target. It does, however, pertain specifically to the game on 4/21 against the Yankees.
Sometimes in life, people just don’t know where to turn. Sometimes people would like to help themselves, but they just don’t know how best to go about doing it. This is the story of a few empassioned Red Sox fans living in the small ski resort town of Aspen, Colorado. No sympathy for someone living in Aspen, you say? Well, it’s not like we’re living here collecting out trust funds. We’re living here working our #### off to try to enjoy a better life than the craziness of big-city living that we knew before we came here, but I digress…
There is a war going on. Among the unfortunate reality of real wars, I by no means intend to say that this is quite as serious, but it is a serious matter with regard to the basis of our economic process, the free market economy.
Last edited by chriseverson on April 23rd at 8:15 AM.
We live and work here, but we are still loyal Sox fans. We deserve to see the “out of market”, as they’re called, Red Sox games. Why do we deserve to see the games? Because we are willing to pay for them, and because it’s technologically feasible for the games to be served to us. That’s it. That’s the basis for our deserving to see the games. In a true free market situation, the demand is recognized and the supply is directed as needed to fulfill the demand. If the first guy doesn’t recognize the demand or doesn’t have the means to fulfill the demand, then the next person does it.
Fox is monopolizing Saturday baseball in America, and quite frankly, what Fox is doing is so unamerican in so many ways, it’s distubring. First of all, there’s the free market thing. We have NO alternative for seeing the games when Fox broadcasts the Saturday games on Fox East. In Colorado, we get the Fox West games, not Fox East, so we are NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE SOX PLAY ON SATURDAY AFTERNOONS when Fox broadcasts the games on Fox East. I have DirecTV. I subscribe to MLBTV. I happily pay in every way that a consumer can pay to get the games. Even so, I could not get the Sox / Spanx game 4/21 because Fox East is blacked out here and because MLBTV even blacks out the game when Fox has it. This happens every year now. Why, when we live in a time that they can just turn on or turn off a channel with ease, can we not get these licensing issues worked out in the contracts so that the distribution of the product is fair? Oh and second of all?.. It’s just unamerican, damn it!
Last edited by chriseverson on April 23rd at 8:17 AM.
No Sox on Saturday afternoon during baseball season? C’mon!
Here’s what we ended up doing. Since our local watering hole has the same problem getting the game, the local Sox and Yanks fans are all there freaking out. My buddy is working the bar there and calls me to see if I can get the game. No, of course not. Neither can he. Everyone calls DirecTV in a frenzy, but those requests fall on deaph ears because DirecTV just points the finger at Fox. In fact, the customer service folks at DirecTV are frustrated by it too, so they just give out addresses and say, go ahead and write letters to these addresses…
KTTV (Fox West)
1999 South Bundy Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310)584-2000
DirecTV Inc.
PO Box 6550
Greenwood Village, CO 80155
Anyway, I’m here listening to the game over the MLB.com gameday audio, and I’m texting the play-by-play to the bartender at Little Annie’s in Aspen. He’s reading it to the crowd at the bar. It’s insanely comical. They are of course on the phone with people at the game and back home, but this is ridiculous! You can’t see Papi’s Pesky Pole shot on streaming audio. You can’t experience Beckett dealing gas on a cell phone. You can’t capture that look in Papelbon’s eyes with a text message. If ther is anyone out there with the desire and means of getting the word out for people like us we sure would appreciate it. We all send letters and emails and phone calls to DirecTV and Fox, but they never reply. Nothing gets done.
Last edited by chriseverson on April 23rd at 8:17 AM.
There are a lot of fans out who love the game, and who keep coming back year after year, but we’re trying to figure out why we’re being treated like this. Ok, so it’s not exactly like we’re victims of ethnic cleansing or some other horrible atrocity of humanity, but it’s still pretty unamerican when we can’t watch our favirite team play baseball on a Saturday afternoon during baseball season sitting here with a hot dog, an apple pie and a Chevrolet (hey, how did that get in there?) in the good old US of A. (Cue God Bless America here.)
Anyway, just throwing that out there, otherwise, nice job on Friday. Good luck Wed at Baltimore, and of course good luck to Daisuke and the guys tonight against the Empire.
slshusker ......It's looks as if the Yankees are struggling again and this time it's against the lowly Devil Rays. If they should lose this series or even square it. I'd say that they've got some real problems. But if you were to tell that to some of their fans they'd think that you're a 'hater'. Me, I just look at their pitching roster and I'm not impressed at all. The offense is there but that's about it. Mussina , Pettite, Igawa aren't going to be sending shivers down anyone's spine. About the only thing that they've got going for them might just be Chien Ming-Wan.
Ramp, you're dead on.
Yankee pitching is BAD.
A-Rod is covering up for this flaw.
NY has historically bought other team's best pitchers to keep the wins coming and fans happy.
That was a double A pitcher who gave up 4 straight home runs a night ago.
The Yanks will bid high for Roger when he decides he wants to pitch.
I'm sick of the yearly Clemons fiasco of "maybe I'll retire unless I can blackmail someone into paying me 10 times what someone will make in a lifetime."
He'll somehow end up making a $million a start and we'll work for a living.
Ramp, my Newcastle Jersey showed up today.
It should look out of place at a PGA tourney later this week.
Last edited by slshusker on April 24th at 3:45 PM.
slshusker ........ After that rather astonishing loss to the Rays. One has to wonder what's next for the Yankees ? Their fans aren't indifferent to the loss but they'll play it down as if it's just one of those things. But we all know it's helluva' lot more than that ! Their pitching sucks at the moment but they're in complete denial of this !
Statistics are a dangerous when handled by zealots.
I believe Burnt Orange isn't a color, it's a disease.
The DH rule should be elimintated.
I like cats and dogs...cats taste more like chicken.
Women are god's greatest creation.
Barry Bonds was detrimental to sports.
The month after the Super Bowl is sports HELL.
March Madness is the best elongated sports extravaganza.
The Masters is great watching, in spite of Jim 'nancy boy' Nantz.
Anyone spouting political commentary should be barred from this site.
This is a sports blog!
I need a soma.
