It's Too Early for Baseball
People are going to read the above headline and be really upset. "How can you say that? It's never to early for spring training!!!!" Or, "You're just mad because the Mets are lousy."
Well, yeah, the Mets suck and they have no money and their owners are clueless at best and criminals at worst. But that's not it. Baseball season, lasts way too long. This year, if the World Series goes 7 games, baseball will have gone from February 14th to November 4th. I love baseball, but not on Valentine's Day and not after Halloween.
If I were commissioner of baseball, pitchers and catchers would report no earlier than February 24, and mandatory reporting for all position players would be March 1st. Every year. Ten days of practice and drills and then three weeks of exhibition games. The season would start no earlier than the first Sunday in April. That Sunday game would be on ESPN.... at 1 PM.
The World Series would not be played any later than the 27th of October, weather permitting. If you have to have more day-night doubleheaders (because heaven forbid you should give fans two for the price of one) to make this work, so be it.
And I'm not singling out baseball either. This talk of the NFL going to 18 games is ridiculous. 16 is probably two too many as it is. If I were NFL Commissioner, the Super Bowl would be no later than the last Sunday in January and the season would start Labor Day Weekend. I'd also start training camp no earlier than August 1st and cut down at least one exhibition game. That the Super Bowl is played in February is a disgrace. It leaves no room for hockey and basketball (pro and college) to flourish alone.
Hockey and basketball are also guilty of spreading out too. Hockey in late June is as ridiculous as baseball in November. I love the NHL playoffs, but they last for two months. No more than one day between playoff games until the Finals. Then schedule two off days to account for cross continent travel. Same thing in the NBA. Pro basketball seems determined to decide their champion on the 4th of July.
I know the reason why all these sports are hell-bent on spreading out their seasons is the all mighty buckeroo. But I don't care what anybody says, they are risking over-saturation. Not to mention the absurdity of it all. What happens if the Rockies play the Twins in the World Series? Two cold weather cities without the benefit of a retractable roof. Baseball wasn't made to be played on the frozen tundra.
And not that it has a prayer of happening anytime soon, but a Stanley Cup Final in Phoenix would be no fun. I was in Phoenix in late June, and I can't see how hockey in 115 degree heat would work. (That's not a typo my friends..it gets that hot.)
All the local news outlets are going to send their sports reporters down to Tampa and Port St. Lucie to cover the opening of Spring Training, and they are going to come on and say "Opening Day is right around the corner." Only it isn't. We have a whole month and a half of cold weather to slog through before it starts to get nice around here again.
Hey, I love baseball as much as the next guy, but not a week after the Super Bowl.
Not on Valentine's Day.
Well, yeah, the Mets suck and they have no money and their owners are clueless at best and criminals at worst. But that's not it. Baseball season, lasts way too long. This year, if the World Series goes 7 games, baseball will have gone from February 14th to November 4th. I love baseball, but not on Valentine's Day and not after Halloween.
If I were commissioner of baseball, pitchers and catchers would report no earlier than February 24, and mandatory reporting for all position players would be March 1st. Every year. Ten days of practice and drills and then three weeks of exhibition games. The season would start no earlier than the first Sunday in April. That Sunday game would be on ESPN.... at 1 PM.
The World Series would not be played any later than the 27th of October, weather permitting. If you have to have more day-night doubleheaders (because heaven forbid you should give fans two for the price of one) to make this work, so be it.
And I'm not singling out baseball either. This talk of the NFL going to 18 games is ridiculous. 16 is probably two too many as it is. If I were NFL Commissioner, the Super Bowl would be no later than the last Sunday in January and the season would start Labor Day Weekend. I'd also start training camp no earlier than August 1st and cut down at least one exhibition game. That the Super Bowl is played in February is a disgrace. It leaves no room for hockey and basketball (pro and college) to flourish alone.
Hockey and basketball are also guilty of spreading out too. Hockey in late June is as ridiculous as baseball in November. I love the NHL playoffs, but they last for two months. No more than one day between playoff games until the Finals. Then schedule two off days to account for cross continent travel. Same thing in the NBA. Pro basketball seems determined to decide their champion on the 4th of July.
I know the reason why all these sports are hell-bent on spreading out their seasons is the all mighty buckeroo. But I don't care what anybody says, they are risking over-saturation. Not to mention the absurdity of it all. What happens if the Rockies play the Twins in the World Series? Two cold weather cities without the benefit of a retractable roof. Baseball wasn't made to be played on the frozen tundra.
And not that it has a prayer of happening anytime soon, but a Stanley Cup Final in Phoenix would be no fun. I was in Phoenix in late June, and I can't see how hockey in 115 degree heat would work. (That's not a typo my friends..it gets that hot.)
All the local news outlets are going to send their sports reporters down to Tampa and Port St. Lucie to cover the opening of Spring Training, and they are going to come on and say "Opening Day is right around the corner." Only it isn't. We have a whole month and a half of cold weather to slog through before it starts to get nice around here again.
Hey, I love baseball as much as the next guy, but not a week after the Super Bowl.
Not on Valentine's Day.
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