tkihshbt wrote:

That was one of the more ridiculous things I've read. 

The NFL fan base is made up of 40 percent gambling addicts, 35 percent fantasy players, 15 percent ESPN employees, 5 percent people who are bored and the other 5 percent is John Madden.

I'm a 35 Percenter.

I guess I'm in the 5 percent who are bored then. Unless John Madden swallowed me whole while I wasn't looking.
I used to be able to sit down and watch any NFL game, and name 80 percent of the players on both teams. Now the only full games I watch involve the Raiders, and they're only on here two or three times a year. And I'm not sure I could name five Carolina Panthers or three Jacksonville Jaguars.
 

I'm just tired of hearing about the NFL's monstrous popularity when a lot of it is due to a nation of gambling fanatics and people being bored because it's cold outside. 

Watching the NFL requires watching a couple games per week and paying attention to a whole 11 minutes of action. You get a 40 second break between every play. It just doesn't take much to flip it on and leave it there while you do other things.

If people were as football crazy as Silver seems to believe, then ESPN's Thursday MAC games would be the hot TV ticket. The NFL is just convenient. 

 

tkihshbt wrote:

I'm just tired of hearing about the NFL's monstrous popularity when a lot of it is due to a nation of gambling fanatics and people being bored because it's cold outside. 

Watching the NFL requires watching a couple games per week and paying attention to a whole 11 minutes of action. You get a 40 second break between every play. It just doesn't take much to flip it on and leave it there while you do other things.

If people were as football crazy as Silver seems to believe, then ESPN's Thursday MAC games would be the hot TV ticket. The NFL is just convenient. 

 

i basicly posted the same thing in another thread
 

forsberg_us wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

Watching the NFL requires watching a couple games per week and paying attention to a whole 11 minutes of action. You get a 40 second break between every play. It just doesn't take much to flip it on and leave it there while you do other things.

That's funny TK, because that's exactly how I feel about baseball.  I can't watch a game live because it seems like there's about 40 seconds between each pitch.  I can only watch baseball if there's something else on the TV.  I'll set the DVR to record the baseball game, watch another show/movie and flip to the game during the commercials to see if I missed anything.  Then if I did, I can rewind the DVR.

I play in a couple of fantasy leagues, but that doesn't explain why I can sit down on any given Saturday and watch a day's worth of college football.  I'll watch more start to finish football games involving teams as to whom I have no rooting interest than I will Cardinals games.  Baseball bores me to tears and I suspect I'm not alone in that sentiment.

 

I hear this a lot, and I understand it. Baseball is losing its audience. I don't think it's ever going to become extinct, but I'm one of the few people left in my age group who can watch a Giants/Padres regular game with no rooting interest and be entertained. The era we're in puts a premium on highlight reel fodder in a 30-second package on Sports Center, and baseball just doesn't fit that dynamic.

forsberg_us wrote:

Part of it is the lag between pitches.  I'm much more likely to watch an Adam Wainwright game than I am a game with Erik Bedard.  I'd rather mow the lawn with a pair of scissors than watch Eric Bedard pitch.

i agree with that.  One thing i think i can objectively say about the cardinals is that the pitchers work fast.  The whole rotation does for the most part.  I always like when carp matched up against another good fast working pitcher.  If they both went deep into the game u could watch the whole thing in an hour and 45 minutes it seemed.  I am sure the ballpark sells less beer tho.  
 

" i can objectively say about the cardinals is that the pitchers work fast."

The efficiency of guys like Waino and Carp really became apparent when Cementhead was out there dawdling for 20 minutes every half inning. It's one thing to suck, it's another to take a long time being suckish.

APIAD wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

Part of it is the lag between pitches.  I'm much more likely to watch an Adam Wainwright game than I am a game with Erik Bedard.  I'd rather mow the lawn with a pair of scissors than watch Eric Bedard pitch.

Papelbaum is just as bad. Maybe worse, because I think Bedard is just a sloth. Papelbaum is posing for pictures out there.
 

My favorite was listening to shannon during the Cement-head era.  Ive never heard a broadcaster beat up a player from their own team like that.

 

It's rare, especially from an ex-player who is picked by the team. I think the Cubs fired Steve Stone because he upset the players, and of course Rob Dibble got canned for calling Strasburg a pansy when he had a torn UCL.
There's a lot more friction with the print people, obviously. I listened to a reporter from the Orange County Register rip Bert Blyleven, who by all accounts was a total dick until he started begging for Hall of Fame votes, for nine innings one night in the press box at Fenway, and of course there's the legendary rift between Dan Shaughnessy and Carl Everett, that involved Shaughnessy getting tagged with the "Curly-Haired Boyfriend" moniker and Everett still being referred to as "Jurassic Carl" in Shaughnessy's columns.
 

Maybe that's a good thing.  Let's see where the chips really lie.  The days of three networks and one local station are long gone, and even the days when winning the total ratings are behind us.  Viewers will choose, advertisers will see which demographic goes with baseball, and we'll move on.

forsberg_us wrote:

"Viewers will choose, advertisers will see which demographic goes with baseball, and we'll move on."

Which poses another question--does anyone actually watch commercials any more?  The Super Bowl doesn't count because that's a unique circumstance, but since the introduction of TiVo/DVR, I can't tell you the last time I actually watched a TV show at the same time it was actually airing. Even sporting events, I'll just record them and come in an hour or so later so I can fast forward through the commercials. And on the rare occasion, I watch something as it's airing, I'm changing channels during the commercials. 

i am not like you in that i can not watch a taped sporting even.  If i can get on the internet and see results it ruins it for me.  So imo the best use of commercials is during live sporting events.  Still i changes the channel alot during commercials.  I think we have all become ADD. I think it is telling that is there is a new tv show coming out there are ads on the internet for it.  That is how you reach people.  Buy a block on yahoo or msn and you will reach more people then any 30 second commercial.