While it was nice to cleanse the Chicago-baseball palate and get that nasty taste out of my mouth that rivals last night's tequila and White Castle's sliders; however, the All-Star game itself was about as exciting as logging onto http://www.watchgrassgrow.com/. It received its lowest ratings ever for the second year in a row. The "This Time It Counts" novelty wore off years ago and is now the most asinine concept in sports.
What about the college football BCS, you ask? Okay, second most asinine concept in sports.
It could be less asinine if managers actually managed like it was a regular game (i.e. AL starting pitcher Jered Weaver throws more than one inning).
It could be less asinine if less players were invited. 84 were invited! The reasons being other players were either hurt, pitched too close to the All-Star Game to participate, or just wanted to use the break as a, well, break (right Mr. 3,000?)
By the way, I know Jeter sited his being physically and mentally drained as the reasons for not playing in the All-Star Game, but dude, do what Jimmy Dugan did and wave your little hat in the air and give the crowd a thrill. Nobody said you had to PLAY. I've got a hangnail and I'm still typing up this blog post, it's crap, but I'm doing it nonetheless.
Anyway, there have been plenty of good ideas to take away the home-field advantage for the World Series and still keep the game "relevant". Padres' closer Health Bell suggests that the game's winner gets to donate money supplied by the MLB to the charity of their choice and the MVP does the same.
Hell, with that plan, you can go the NHL route. Have the teams' starting pitchers or catchers or first-basemen or managers or whomever be captains and have a draft. Only, don't bury the draft on a Friday night like the NHL did. Make a big spectacle out of it. Sure Scott Rolen would have gotten picked last, but who cares about Scott Rolen's feelings. I don't.
The players will still play to the best of their ability even if they do away with World Series home-field advantage. They're going to play hard because they're representing their teams, their families, and most of all, themselves.
By the way, Chicago players went 0-4 with 3 LOB (left on base).
Yep, sounds like Chicago baseball to me.
Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and me Rob Zielinski this and every Friday evening from 6 to 8pm only on Chicagolandsportsradio.com. Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.884.8205 during show hours or email Chicagosportsfix@gmail.com
PREACH
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment