Missing Football :(

[Eric]

Well, I like baseball too, and as much action that it lacks compared to football or hockey, I don't mind that. But for 3 months non-stop of that, it gets boring. I'm pretty excited about the Tigers this year. Wish they'd add some more firepower to the bullpen. They got Matt Mantei but he'll be kind of washed up. I am excited about Kenny Rogers, I still think he has something left in the tank. And as for our manager, Jim Leyland, he's a disciplinarian. He isn't going to put up with any crap from "Pudge" either, he can get an attitude that he's above the team because he is Ivan Rodriguez.

[Spence]

The Reds have a new owner. He seems serious about building the team after the banana guy tore it down. I just don't think baseball will ever be competitive again until the decide to cap the spending like the NFL. Parity is what makes the NFL great.

[Eric]

Spence, do you think there is a reason the Yankees can get an Alex Rodriguez every season and teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, etc have in common? Smaller markets. They all pretty much have losing traditions, and the free agents don't have them #1 on their list. A salary cap would certainly level out the playing field.

I applaud the Brewers though. They have to fend for themselves in a small market. And they've built it up to mediocrity while not being able to afford big-name players. They'll be good in a couple years, as they're a young baseball team.

[Spence]

With the amount of money that the Yankees make on TV contracts there is no way the small market teams can compete. This is what is hurting the sport. Before the big TV contracts baseball was decided by who ran the best clubs. It isn't that way any more. I think eventually it will kill the sport.

[mountainman]

I could not agree more. Seems like all I heard or read last season was about either the Yankees or the Red Sox.

[Spence]

Until they fix thier problems I won't go to another professional baseball game. I stick with the little kids. They play for sport. You can learn a lot about life by playing teams sports. Not the least of which is learning how to deal with losing.

[mountainman]

I've been in and around sports most of my life and I can say one thing with certainity ..... if you do not learn how to deal with losing, you will never learn how to deal with winning.

[Spence]

I have always been about as competitive a person as you will ever run in to, but sports taught when the game is over you shake hands and move on. Then you try and get better for the next go around.

[Howdy]

I like American Legion baseball.

I do donate my time to help it along.
I get the honor of running the score board and I do get to see a lot of games.
Some of these kids make it to the big times.

Alex Gordon for one.

Third Pick this year in the draft and went to Royals

I also watch college ball if on TV and I not at Sherman Field doing my thing.

Matt spellcheck is not working.
I one of those guys that need it and bad.

[..fanatic]

Mountainman - I'm stumped. What was my other "premonition"?

[mountainman]

It was back on the old forum. When we were all debating the merits of BCS -vs- playoffs.

One of your contributions to those debates was the cost to the regular season fans of following their team to various playoff appearences held at different venues as a team progressed through the playoff bracket.

Sorry for being a little mysterious about that. There were some very good points that came out of all that. I see where the conference commissioners, the bowl associations, college presidents, athletic directors, coaches and sportswriters are now saying in print some of the things the group identified back then. Your point is being used quite often.

I thought, as a group, the pro's and con's of the issue were addressed very well.

[..fanatic]

That's funny. I thought it might have had to do with that. In fact, I had to wonder if ESPN wasn't checking out that old board because shortly after we finished our long-running debate on the subject, some of the ESPN commentators began echoing many of our sentiments. Especially, the cost factor.

[mountainman]

You know, fanatic ..... I wondered about the same thing.

We got a awful lot of views on the view counter on that subject, as I recall. I'm convinced the talking heads on the TV review these type of sites ..... their popularity (ratings) is everything to them. Just tell us what we want to hear ....... I'd rather they just give us the information and let us make up our own minds ..... but that ain't gonna happen.