MLB and Union talk major rule changes

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Yea, the West Indies team has historically been very good.  South Africa is a power, and I guess Zimbabwe(?) plays, too.  Most of the bigger former British colonies except the US and Canada play at a high level.

Right, so more than eight.

I don't think just saying India likes Cricket and lots of people live in India is very accurate.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Right, so more than eight.

I don't think just saying India likes Cricket and lots of people live in India is very accurate.

Eight was a swag.  It's really England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Zimbabwe... who else?  Sri Lanka.  Looking up the 2015 World Cup there was also Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, and the UAE, who all qualified as other than "full members" of the International Cricket Council.  Whatever that means.   That's 14.  I'm sure there are others, but I'm guessing they're not on the same level, like South Africa in the World Baseball Classic.

[Satyr3206]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:14 PM, atomic said:

I think at a certain point it gets boring. My father said when he was in Vietnam they would show them all the NFL Games with only the action and the games only lasted 10 minutes but were pretty unwatchable.  

I don't think fast forwarding baseball to only watch the action would be that enjoyable.  

You could always just look at the box score. But I guess that is why Soccer is most popular sport.  There is constant action.

To me, games that end up 1-0 or 2-1 are not exciting. If I wanted to watch a lot of running Track and Field comes to mind.

[DrungoHazewood]

What's the comparable list for baseball?  US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, various Caribbean nations, Australia, the Dutch.  Italy.  Some Central American countries that supply players but don't really have domestic leagues, except maybe in the winter.  Much of the Caribbean falls into that category, too.  There are other countries with leagues, but (for example) I'd guess the Baseball Bundesliga in Germany is on par with the NY-Penn League or the Appy League, just with older players.

Cricket might actually be played at a reasonably high level in more places.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 minute ago, Satyr3206 said:

To me, games that end up 1-0 or 2-1 are not exciting. If I wanted to watch a lot of running Track and Field comes to mind.

It's funny.  I know a lot of baseball fans, and a lot of soccer fans.  The soccer fans will sometimes remark that baseball is the most boring of all the sports, and they don't understand how anyone wants to watch nine guys standing around all night waiting for some big dude to hit a homer or strike out.  The baseball fans are often like you, incredulous that billions of people watch so many 2-1 matches.

I think we need some kind of fan exchange program, because both sports are pretty awesome most of the time.

[Satyr3206]

1 minute ago, DrungoHazewood said:

It's funny.  I know a lot of baseball fans, and a lot of soccer fans.  The soccer fans will sometimes remark that baseball is the most boring of all the sports, and they don't understand how anyone wants to watch nine guys standing around all night waiting for some big dude to hit a homer or strike out.  The baseball fans are often like you, incredulous that billions of people watch so many 2-1 matches.

I think we need some kind of fan exchange program, because both sports are pretty awesome most of the time.

I have had a lot of friends that either played Soccer or are huge fans. And there is a worldwide following. I guess it's what you grew up around or personal taste. I played numerous sports but never had any interest in Soccer. Too each their own.

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

 

Is cricket really "way more popular than baseball"? If it is, how much of that is from it being by far the most popular sport in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which have a combined population of 1.7 billion people? In the UK it's a distant second to soccer, in the US it's probably not in the top 20 sports, it's minor niche in the rest of Europe, China, South America.  There's about 8 countries where cricket is popular, not too different than baseball. It just so happens that India has like 1/6th of the world's population.

Almost every TV show has ratings half or less of what a comparable one did 30 years ago because of the continued fracturing of media markets and exponential growth of entertainment choices. 30 years ago a significant percentage of the population still had five channels. The NBA finals TV ratings peaked 21 years ago and is now a little more than half that mark. The Super Bowl is an exception.

 

o

 

I suspect that part of the reason for that is that the Super Bowl is a one-shot deal (a single game), unlike the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup, all of which have best-of-7 series to determine their world championships.

 

o

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

I suspect that part of the reason for that is that the Super Bowl is a one-shot deal (a single game), unlike the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup, all of which have best-of-7 series to determine their world championships.

 

o

The Super Bowl has become a cultural event that draws in folks that don't follow football.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

 

[Number5]

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

The Super Bowl has become a cultural event that draws in folks that don't follow football.

They're hoping to see a wardrobe malfunction.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

11 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

It's funny.  I know a lot of baseball fans, and a lot of soccer fans.  The soccer fans will sometimes remark that baseball is the most boring of all the sports, and they don't understand how anyone wants to watch nine guys standing around all night waiting for some big dude to hit a homer or strike out.  The baseball fans are often like you, incredulous that billions of people watch so many 2-1 matches.

I think we need some kind of fan exchange program, because both sports are pretty awesome most of the time.

Two words: Playoff Hockey.

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, Number5 said:

They're hoping to see a wardrobe malfunction.

I missed the wardrobe malfunction because my next door neighbor’s house had a small electrical fire and I was busy checking out the fire trucks that were arriving on the scene.   

[OFFNY]

9 hours ago, Number5 said:

 

They're hoping to see a wardrobe malfunction.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

I missed the wardrobe malfunction because my next door neighbor’s house had a small electrical fire, and I was busy checking out the fire trucks that were arriving on the scene.   

 

o

 

There are a lot of wardrobe malfunctions on the internet, aside from the one-time thing that happened at the 2003 season Super Bowl.

 

o

[SteveA]

2 hours ago, OFFNY said:

 

 

o

 

There are a lot of wardrobe malfunctions on the internet, aside from the one-time thing that happened at the 2003 season Super Bowl.

 

o

Some of them are not actually malfunctions!

[SurhoffRules]

Another take on what's slowing the game down: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/foul-balls-are-the-pace-of-play-problem-nobodys-talking-about/