Once in a while, I read something that makes me eyes bleed and head hurt to the point where I can’t continue it. Then I come here to rail to a mostly indifferent audience. It’s one of those times.
I’ve slowly noticed this in the writing of Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci for some time now, and it’s a tactic I abhor, especially from writers I like who should know better. The logic goes something like: “See people? This is why [my sport, perceived to be struggling and not exactly tapped into the American zeitgeist] is much better than [infinitely more popular sport that my sport wished it had the TV ratings and revenues of]! See? Why can’t you see, American public? Please see!”
Verducci did this in comparing the managing “showdown” between Tony “I bring random dudes out of the bullpen BECAUSE I CAN” LaRussa versus Ron “Hitters gonna hit, pitchers gonna pitch” Washington. LaRussa, perceived to be the superior tactical genius, made a couple of not-so-superior moves that may have cost his team the game in the ninth inning. This prompted Verducci to write this crap:
This World Series is reproving why baseball, when you take away the obsession with ratings and payrolls and the annual bleatings of how to “fix” this American institution, is the best kind of competition. This kind of baseball is a second-guesser’s delight. Everybody wakes up the next morning a better manager than the guys in the dugout the night before. Great baseball games have an afterlife unlike those of any other sport. The games go on eternally. Tommy Lasorda still has to hear about why he didn’t walk Jack Clark.
Nobody wakes up slamming Bill Belichick for going to a Cover 2 on third-and-long early in the fourth quarter. Heck, football coaches themselves routinely issue the disclaimer, “I’ve got to look at the films” to understand what really happened. Football games are disposable. Great baseball games get preserved in our mental amber.
“Preserved in our mental amber?” What? Huh? What is he talking about? So baseball is better than football because it’s somewhat easier to second-guess the coaches/managers?
First of all, NOT TRUE. Dopes sitting in bars like myself may not be experts in either sport, but it has never stopped anyone from second-guessing the coach or manager. You will hear an equal amount of “I can’t believe the manager is bringing in this clown” and “I can’t believe these fools just ran it up the middle on 4th down!” from sports fans. Football fans don’t sit there, just shrug their shoulders and go, “Well, the offensive coordinator must know something I don’t,” then go back to drinking their beers and beating their wives, which is pretty much what Verducci would have you believe from that quote.
Second, is there any more sign of a desperate sport that one that’s always compaing itself hopelessly to the top dog and going, “They should be watching us!” It’s pathetic.
I first used to notice this with some hockey fans, whose big move to promote their sport would be to take shots at the NBA, the more popular American winter sport. And it never worked, as hockey just has a limited appeal. There’s nothing wrong with that, as the owners soon figured out. Post-lockout, you don’t hear this tired old trope anymore because the big lesson learned from missing an entire season was that hockey is a niche sport. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Of course, no one learns their lesson. Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption and an ABC NBA analyst, has taken the tack of attacking the NFL on PTI and imploring people to watch more NBA basketball. This made me wince, but not truly get me angry, as I’ve sort of dismissed it as TV schtick he does, much like when he takes his constant shots at the East Coast in defense of the forgotten Midwest. It’s an exaggerated version of his real feelings. That said, it’s also a mistake. And sure enough, now the NBA is about to start missing regular season games, and guess what? Almost no one cares. Basketball will soon be harshly reminded of it’s standing in the American sports hierarchy.
And now, here comes the Defender of America’s Pastime, Tom Verducci. Much like Wilbon, I think Verducci’s too good a writer and reporter for this tired junk. Look, is it sad that baseball isn’t what it once was in the culture? Sure. But constantly attacking football is not the way to go about promoting baseball. Especially if it leads to writing stuff like what I saw today that pretty much stopped me from finishing this article. Let baseball be. As basketball and hockey found out, no amount of pontificating from writers is going to change the public’s mind. So stop, enjoy your sport, and keep Bill Belichick’s name out of your articles. It’s only reminding baseball fans that they haven’t checked out Peter King’s picks column yet.
3 months ago
