On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 1:26 PM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'll stipulate up front that, as a Dodger fan, anything the Giants do > short of losing 100 games in a season is anathema to me. > > That said, while I agree with the assessment that there's a huge East > Coast bias and that West Coast fans see a lot more baseball, I can't > agree that this year's Series will pay off in added recognition for > either the Giants or Rangers. There was so little national interest in > the games -- and, from the little I saw, it was not a very interesting > one -- that the basic unfamiliarity with both teams will continue. > (This would probably apply to any team west of the Mississippi, by the > way. Since ESPN seems to think only three or four teams play baseball, > this could probably read "west of the Hudson," but that would exclude > their beloved Phillies.) > > And for that tired old canard about Dodger fans arriving late and > leaving early, let me say that I've seen ballgames in every part of > this country, and guess what?, fans for every team arrive late and > leave early. If I had a dollar for every Giant game I've been to where > nearby fans arrived, drunk as skunks, in the bottom of the 4th and > left following the seventh inning stretch, I'd have enough dough to > buy a competent roster for the Dodgers. > I don't think you need the "While" construction in your first sentence above, it looks like you are agreeing with me and disagreeing with JW. I was trying to think of a landmark that was just west of Philadelphia - but the Cardinals do get a lot of play also, and if the Cubs ever sniff the playoffs they get heavy rotation, so I think think the Mississippi works. JW brought up the Rays and Phillies - I doubt many fans knew much about the Rays, but if they watched baseball on television (and SportsCenter) they knew a lot about the Phillies. I hate to agree with a Dodger fan, but I grew up in LA rooting against the Dodgers, and went to a lot of Dodger games. The main difference I notice between Dodger and other baseball fans is how inaccessible the park is. While Dodger Stadium has always been (I hate to admit) a class operation, it can be almost impossible to get to. I took the bus as a kid from the San Fernando Valley (quite an adventure in its own right) but I'm sure the vast majority drive, and those congested downtown freeways are packed. Then the access to the parking lot, which surrounds the stadium, is something of a bottleneck. There is just no comparison between getting to a Dodger game and getting to, say, Fenway park, or Wrigley Field, or Shea Stadium, or Yankee Stadium, or of course AT&T. Those other stadiums are easily accessible via public transportation, or have multiple access routes by car. To get to a 7:00 pm Dodger game on time (or whatever time they start these days) you would have to add a minimum of 1 extra hour drive time to getting to a game (over and above whatever allowance you would make at any other park) even if you live within 20 miles (and in LA lots of fans live a lot more than 20 miles away). The next time you hear a tv announcer bash LA fans for arriving late, see if they show a shot of the long, slow line of cars snaking up the road into the parking lot. They are all listening to Vinny, and trying to get in as soon as they can. So I think Dodger fans do arrive later than fans at most other parks, but they don't leave earlier. My son and I were shocked at how many fans left vaunted Wrigley Field and Shea Stadium before the 8th inning (my son knows I have a strict rule that we never leave before the final out). At Wrigley we found out why the leave so early - while it is easy to get there, it is a nightmare waiting for that Red Train (or whatever its called) to get back down town. My claim about more knowledgeable fans out west was not so much more knowledgeable about the game of baseball (though I concede nothing), but more knowldageable about teams other than our own. We see more teams, both because of the time difference, but also because our (west coast) teams are so rarely on national television, or featured on ESPN. So I both know the details of the Giants (and Dodgers and Padres and Diamondbacks and Rockies) and how many pimples Derek Jeter has on his ass this week. Also, for what it's worth, no park in the country has more fans who bring and wear their baseball glove to the game than AT&T. I have done that since I was a kid (wearing my glove on the upper deck behind home plate at Chavez Ravine, which is one definition of optimism), but the Giants have made it a real cultural tradition. When my son and I go around the country to see games at different parks, we always notice how many fewer fans bring their gloves, and in a few parks we even got teased pretty harshly for bringing ours. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
