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U.S. Sport Thread

21:11 / 05.05.04

UK Barbelithers have that thread about football or whatever benighted sport they follow over there, but U.S. sports fans, even the most casual ones like me, haven't often been able to openly professed their love of jocks for fear of being labeled a "sheeple" (singular =sherpson? I dunno).

Thus I would like to inaugurate this "safe-space" for those of us who would like to chatter about Barry Bonds and steroids, Kobe and rape, Jayson Williams shooting his dog, and how the Yankees deeply, deeply suck, among whatever other topics come up.

My first post is about this news story, which details an upcoming joint effort between the makers of the movie Spiderman 2 and MLB.

Apparently, in 15 ballparks around the summer, a 4x4 inch Spiderman 2 logo will be placed on each base. Now, it will probably seem silly to some of you to complain about advertisements in the ballpark, but this is just ridiculous. Yes, ballparks are just huge billboards, and yes, player's equipment features (small) manufacturers logos, but could we keep it down a notch? The most galling thing about this is what the ball clubs are being paid - the two highest paid clubs, the NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox, are being paid $100,000 for the right to show the Spiderman logo. While that may seem a lot to you ad me, the Yankees have a 2004 payroll of $180 MILLION dollars. And they still turn a profit. Do they have to squeeze every last drop of revenue they can?

Oh look, Nader's involved. The last time he made a statement about pro sports, he was threatening to the sue the NBA over the officiating in last year's (i think; it might've been the year before) Lakers/Kings series. Go Ralph!

Less searchable M0rd4nt

21:35 / 05.05.04

Baaaaaaaaah.

21:39 / 05.05.04

hey! Safe space! Safe space! Go back to smoking under the bleachers with your "Sneerleader" friends.

22:16 / 05.05.04

Do they have to squeeze every last drop of revenue they can ?

You wouldn't have thought so, no. And yet they still seem to manage to somehow keep on doing it, to you guys, the fans. Admittedly, I'd rather slam my old chap repeatedly in a broken car door than have anything to do with professional sport, at least in any other context than picking up the money, but surely at times it must feel like these people are just taking the piss ? Out of you, the supporters ? The way the gates are these days, just to go and see a game, never mind buy the merchandise, it seems pretty clear you're held in utter contempt by the powers that be, US or UK, unless you're involved in corporate entertainment. So why on earth bother...

02:02 / 06.05.04

Oh, you're kidding. But how is anyone going to see them? Aren't they kind of small?

02:04 / 06.05.04

Duh. TV. Nevermind.

02:07 / 06.05.04

Alex, why bother going to the movies?

02:47 / 06.05.04

New article - outlook less grim. I understand the need for marketing teams to get "nontraditional messaging" out there. I get it. I think we all get it.

What I don't understand is.. it's so horrifying to put an ad on the playing field itself, but not on the walls? Or those behind home-plate adverts for the home audience?

Where exactly is the line drawn?

-C.

ps. he plays first base now and he's still gay.

Goodness Gracious Meme

07:30 / 06.05.04

Call this sport?

*ducks and runs*

07:59 / 06.05.04

[threadrottery]
BiP - it's true. Sorry Todd, but frankly American sports are rubbish. (in the words of David Brent) FACT!

Essentially, all US sports are poor imitations of their European counterparts.

US football, is kinda fun to watch but it's not rugby really is it? Or Aussie rules? or the brutal Celtic footie they play on Setana (sp?).

Baseball = glorified rounders.

Basketball, invented by a Canadian for children when it was raining reminds me of Netball.

There's little of the skill and passion of European / Commonwealth games. Football is the world game. The US "world series" is a joke!
[/threadrot]

pointless and uncalled for

09:25 / 06.05.04

Basketball was not invented by a Canadian for when it was raining, it was developed from a First Nations game and matched well with the colonialist predeliction for playing sports indoors. Probably on account of the rain we get over here.

Ice Hockey and Lacrosse are also developed games with no direct roots relation to European games. (Attempts to relate Lacrosse to Pelota will be just plain wrong)

Baseball is not glorified rounders. You'll find that baseball is to rounders as basketball is to netball.

You're right on the American Football and it is tedious but one doesn't really constitute all does it?

nedrichards is confused

09:56 / 06.05.04

Stop the hate, Baseball is great. Go A's! My only fripe with baseball is that you can't really get any decent coverage over here. There's the odd game on 5 but sky sports would rather show that excuse for netball that is basketball *pchuckh* than a game with men running around in pyjamas, how can that be bad? At least they have a sane coverage policy wrt American Football which is also a top sport. As already noted it's no rugby but since they don't know any better I think we can let 'em keep it.

I'd take issue with the statement that pro sport doesn't respect/need the fans, not in Premiership football or the numerous excesses of baseball but in first division football and bellow and rugby lots of love (and cheaper tickets) go out to the fans. I suspect it's that as soon as the broadcast media get too involved bad things start to happen.

10:02 / 06.05.04

Sorry SK - in this case it really does. US sports suck!

Baseball is not glorified rounders. You'll find that baseball is to rounders as basketball is to netball.

You seem to be using the second sentence as support for you're first. Baseball *is* glorified rounders! - but your right I have "found" that baseball is to rounders what basketball is to netball. Pale imitations of children's games. Rounders and netball never became national sports FOR A REASON!

pointless and uncalled for

10:10 / 06.05.04

Actually I was using the first as support for second. By which I was implying that there is little origin related relationship.

Of course your statements do let basketball off as it is Canadian and not a "US" sport. Unless you consider all First Nations originated games as US, in which case the border issues are far different.

10:27 / 06.05.04

Actually I was using the first as support for second. By which I was implying that there is little origin related relationship.

That's as maybe - but it's still a big chore to watch. Baseball - schmaseball. If it's so darn good, why is it only popular in the US, really? Now football on the other hand! well it's a pure delight! To my mind calling their championship "the world series" when only, what the US, Canada and Japan take part is arrogant in the extreme. The real world championship tournament is the football world cup.

Of course your statements do let basketball off as it is Canadian and not a "US" sport. Unless you consider all First Nations originated games as US, in which case the border issues are far different.

TBH - I'm not sure about this 1st nations milarky, although, I'm pretty sure although the man was Canadian, he was a missionary or something in the States. I never said it was Canadian!

As for these other sports, Jeez! Hockey's British. Ice-Hockey is Canadian.

To simplify: Britain's best exports were her sports - the colonialists taught the world to play - except, it seems, America who seem intent on playing namby pamby games.

pointless and uncalled for

10:41 / 06.05.04

He was Canadian, it was developed in Canada.

There is no relationship between ice hockey and field hockey. Oddly enough more than one person is capable of coming up with an idea of hitting an object with a stick with the intent of placing it in a fixed area. It, like many sports stems from a basic hunting principle.

Football, for the record is 90 minutes of overblown boredom for which there has never been any satisfactory justification.

10:51 / 06.05.04

Quite so Seldom Killer. It was a much better sport when it was a 2 day blood bath culminating in kicking a pig's bladder into the crypt of the neighbouring village's church.

pointless and uncalled for

11:00 / 06.05.04

Exactly, and there's Jub accusing the US of playing Namby Pamby games.

Where else do you get a game where a slight tackle will result in a player lying on the ground and crying for a week. At least in American Football and Hockey body checking is legal, encouraged and results in the player carrying on as usual.

Harold Washington died for you

12:11 / 06.05.04

Yankees need to get rid of "the Muscle" Giambi and move A-Rod to first. That is all.

12:18 / 06.05.04

Football, for the record is 90 minutes of overblown boredom for which there has never been any satisfactory justification.

Most of the *world* would disagree with you there SK, well excpet the - ahem - skilled athletes of the US pantheon.

If American sports were anything other than shite, someone, somewhere else in the world, would have started giving a fuck about them by now.

Now - I'm not too good at Geography, but Massachusetts is in the States right? That's where the guy developed it.

I know what you mean about football players being a bit soft, but frankly, I'd prefer to see an Italian writhing around on the floor in pretend agony while everyone cathces their breathe than a bunch of losers in lycra try and play a crap version of rugby. Football may be namby pamby sometimes, granted, but it's a fast flowing game and the world's favourite.

pointless and uncalled for

12:24 / 06.05.04

My point about opinion flies right over your head then does it?

This page here indicates that the roots of basketball stem further back than a wintery day in Massachusetts.

12:32 / 06.05.04

Hmm. I'm not sure what you're opinion point was. That different people have developed different games similar to each other? So?

You said Basketball was developed in Canada. Thanks for the link and everything, but it doesn't say anything of the sort on that page. It says he played duck-on-a-rock, which seems to be a similar game, but nothing that anyone would readily identify as modern basketball. It was in the states he developed the game.

This sideline is all very well anyway SK, but the fact remains. The whole world has adopted British sports - but the Americans play US games. (and they're rubbish!)

12:41 / 06.05.04

SAFE SPACE! SAFE SPACE!

Ahem. The British *invented* football? Really? International Football and Cricket are simply the accident of colonialism and occupation.

Why do you think the Japanese love baseball instead?

But really, take this crap argument outta my thread, okay?

pointless and uncalled for

12:45 / 06.05.04

My opinion point was that people have different opinions of sport and while you feel that sports played predominantly in the US are rubbish (the term US sports being fairly redundant) there are others who enjoy them and find them interesting and entertaining.

I'm not sure what it is that compelled you to post an off the cuff pop culture "The Office" reference in a thread designed for people to discuss but it seems rather churlish.

An interesting piece of trivia for you though. More people watch The Superbowl outside of America than watch the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup combined.

pointless and uncalled for

12:53 / 06.05.04

Sorry Todd.

OK, with this weekend leading into the Conference Finals, what is you pick for the Stanley Cup winner.

Feeling all patriotic I'm going to say Calgary but the reality check is placing Philidelphia.