If you are a frequent reader here, or know me at all you know I love baseball. I spent some time this weekend watching the World Baseball Classic, which is like soccer’s World Cup, except for baseball. At least that is what they want it to be. The scheduling is a little moronic since you are disrupting spring training. The rosters weren’t finalized until a week before the start and the coverage has been mediocre. I mainly say that because I can’t seem to find the damned thing on TV when I think it is going to be on. I watched the US play Japan, resulting in a victory for the US more or less because a bogus umpiring call.
It was very cool to see Jeter and A-Rod wearing there Team USA unis. The downside was this whole thing now reeks of a fix. MLB wants the WBC to work. They have banked a lot on it and poured countless millions into it. They need the US to make a strong showing and, honestly, so far they haven’t. (17-0 routing of South Africa notwithstanding) Things like this need to catch the public eye on there own. They can’t be forced otherwise they turn out like Major League Soccer or the WNBA, which haven’t exactly lived up to expectations. They should schedule the next one a lot better. If the had the next one in November, post World Series, in all warm climates I bet it would be HUGE.
(Note: this post was written before Heep Seop Choi and Korea bombed the US yesterday)
No 1 of Consequence
2 comments:
A-Rod & Jeter look like they're having a don't ask don't tell moment in that picture.
NoBrotherofconsequence
I've been hooked on these games, but I agree, the coverage has been spotty. Last night Team USA was on 2-hour tape delay at 1 am on ESPN2. Is it too much to ask that they show it at a reasonable hour at least for the home country? I don't think playing it in November would be an improvement. For one, it would be competing against the NFL. Another reason is that a lot of the foreign leagues begin around this time.
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