Author Topic: ESPN Coverage (2012) (Read 15598 times)

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #125:** April 16, 2012, 02:04:31 PM »

Quote from: PC on April 16, 2012, 01:29:45 PM

Gotta disagree again. I can't imagine Rangers, A's, Mariners, Cardinals et al fans, the vast majority have seen Strasburg pitch once (his debut) would not want to see him again as opposed to seeing yet another Yankees game (remember they were on last night) against the Twins. And I'm even more confident that other NL East fans (and probably Orioles fans) would rather watch Strasburg, in the hope that he fails.

And he's not just another good pitcher because you see other good pitchers on national television. You never see Strasburg on national television. Again, I'm sure most baseball fans have seen him pitch once, twice at the most and haven't seen him at all in almost two years. That's not true with any other "really good pitcher".

Remember this isn't a game between the Yankees and Red Sox in September. This is a Yankees-Twins game in April! Freddy Garcia vs. Carl Pavano in APRIL or the most hyped prospect ever who you've seen once (or twice).

I consider myself a pretty good baseball fan. I love me a good pitchers duel, but I'm not scheduling my day or life around when Roy Halladay or Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw is pitching. Frankly, I don't watch the nationally broadcasted games all that often. Most fans watch their team and that's about it and even then, with a game like baseball, they're not watching every game. There aren't going to be a lot of fans of other teams tuning in to Nats games, even with Strasburg pitching, especially not in April.

Strasburg will get plenty of nationally televised games. You haven't seen any of his games on TV because he was hurt alllast year and we're only 10 days into this season. He and the Nats will get their day, but they're still a team that hasn't finished over .500 to the casual fan, which, unless your team is playing, is who watches ESPN. Strasburg was basically out of sight, out of mind for a whole year and he hadn't really done anything to put himself back in mind yet. He will soon, I'm pretty confident of that, but it doesn't make much sense to expect him and the Nats to be nationally relevant after a nice first week of the season.

The Chief · « **Reply #126:** April 16, 2012, 02:05:59 PM »

One thing that I've learned about internetting is that if you haven't reached common ground after 3 innings you might as well just give it up. Or start insulting each other viciously

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #127:** April 16, 2012, 02:07:10 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on April 16, 2012, 02:05:59 PM

One thing that I've learned about internetting is that if you haven't reached common ground after 3 innings you might as well just give it up. Or start insulting each other viciously

[casey]That ain't my style[/casey]

OldChelsea · « **Reply #128:** April 16, 2012, 02:15:13 PM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on April 16, 2012, 02:04:31 PM

[...]Strasburg will get plenty of nationally televised games. You haven't seen any of his games on TV because he was hurt alllast year and we're only 10 days into this season. He and the Nats will get their day, but they're still a team that hasn't finished over .500 to the casual fan, which, unless your team is playing, is who watches ESPN. Strasburg was basically out of sight, out of mind for a whole year and he hadn't really done anything to put himself back in mind yet. He will soon, I'm pretty confident of that, but it doesn't make much sense to expect him and the Nats to be nationally relevant after a nice first week of the season.

As it is the Nats are already down for two ESPN Sunday Night Baseball dates: 6th May (Phillies home) and 27th May (Braves away) - one might think Strasburg would go in one of those.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #129:** April 16, 2012, 03:45:18 PM »

Currently, assuming the rotation holds and no rain outs or anything, he's not projected to go in either one.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #130:** April 16, 2012, 06:50:37 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on April 15, 2012, 07:57:26 PM

Desmond and Zim both made web gems.

I missed Sunday's game b/c the MLB Extra innings trial ended Saturday. I take it the error Desmond made before the grand slam was not the web gem. Was it a tough chance? Rangy play followed by a dumb throw? Bobble? Airmail / bounce pass a routine throw? A ball LaRoche should have gotten? I know Blog Ludestones did not mention it in his write up when he described the first inning, and ESPN did not mention the E6 in its crawl describing the 3 for 5.

blue911 · « **Reply #131:** April 16, 2012, 08:09:12 PM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on April 16, 2012, 06:50:37 PM

I missed Sunday's game b/c the MLB Extra innings trial ended Saturday. I take it the error Desmond made before the grand slam was not the web gem. Was it a tough chance? Rangy play followed by a dumb throw? Bobble? Airmail / bounce pass a routine throw? A ball LaRoche should have gotten? I know Blog Ludestones did not mention it in his write up when he described the first inning, and ESPN did not mention the E6 in its crawl describing the 3 for 5.

Blown call, guy was out by a step.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #132:** April 16, 2012, 09:59:43 PM »

Quote from: blue911 on April 16, 2012, 08:09:12 PM

Blown call, guy was out by a step.

why was it close?

UMDNats · « **Reply #133:** April 16, 2012, 10:00:29 PM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on April 16, 2012, 09:59:43 PM

why was it close?

He made a poor throw, so it drew LaRoche off the bag, which led to the blown call. Throw wasn't too terrible, though.

RobDibblesGhost · « **Reply #134:** April 16, 2012, 10:27:10 PM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on April 16, 2012, 09:59:43 PM

why was it close?

Judge for yourself. Ump missed LaRoche's foot coming down on the corner of the bag.

KnorrForYourMoney · « **Reply #135:** April 16, 2012, 10:38:37 PM »

Quote from: spidernat on April 16, 2012, 01:33:29 PM

ESPN is all about the yankees and the red sox. It's that simple. And I don't think it will ever change.

They have a roving third spot - this year it's probably the Angels

PC · « **Reply #136:** April 16, 2012, 10:59:39 PM »

Ankiel's throw was the web gem #5 on Baseball Tonight.

PC · « **Reply #137:** April 16, 2012, 11:18:06 PM »

Now THIS is the height of insult!

Tyler Durden · « **Reply #138:** April 16, 2012, 11:20:03 PM »

Not making the ESPN headlines list = WORST LOSS OF THE SEASON

RobDibblesGhost · « **Reply #139:** April 16, 2012, 11:25:01 PM »

but damn, Jeter's honorary degree is important stuff!

KnorrForYourMoney · « **Reply #140:** April 16, 2012, 11:28:33 PM »

Quote from: PC on April 16, 2012, 11:18:06 PM

Now THIS is the height of insult!

Only a fool would see that as an "insult." It's more of a good thing. The Nationals are quietly taking care of business in the National League. I'm sure they didn't talk about last year's Cardinals, the 2010 Giants, or the '08 Phillies very much either.

It's really beyond me why anyone would care about this kind of thing.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #141:** April 17, 2012, 12:32:21 AM »

I have a question, why is anyone still watching ESPN or using ESPN.com in the first place?

Kevrock · « **Reply #142:** April 17, 2012, 05:58:48 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on April 17, 2012, 12:32:21 AM

I have a question, why is anyone still watching ESPN or using ESPN.com in the first place?

Because Screw ESPN!

OldChelsea · « **Reply #143:** April 17, 2012, 07:32:25 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on April 17, 2012, 12:32:21 AM

I have a question, why is anyone still watching ESPN or using ESPN.com in the first place?

I don't watch ESPN much (in fact I watch little telly of any sort, period) but ESPN.com does have some pretty good statistical databases, well presented - and on top of that it loads up faster than many sites (notably mlb.com and nhl.com).

shoeshineboy · « **Reply #144:** April 17, 2012, 07:45:22 AM »

I flipped on baseball tonight for abit last nightout of curiosity. Noticed Francona and Nomar were the analysts and that they spent what seemed about 15 minutes on the Red Sox andBobby V. Then they started talking about the Mets. They are really a regional network and should be treated like one. I flipped it off when they teased the Nats coverage with a comment about only 16k showing up to see Strasburg. It's all NY, Boston, and stars to them. It won't change. MLB Network is the crap.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #145:** April 17, 2012, 07:46:04 AM »

Baseballreference.com and fangraphs.com both have better databases and load very fast

OldChelsea · « **Reply #146:** April 17, 2012, 08:43:04 AM »

Quote from: HalfSmokes on April 17, 2012, 07:46:04 AM

Baseballreference.com and fangraphs.com both have better databases and load very fast

The first-named is very good indeed (haven't tried the other yet).

spidernat · « **Reply #147:** April 17, 2012, 08:49:02 AM »

I don't even know why you guys give a crap. It doesn't impact the standings.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #148:** April 17, 2012, 10:39:02 AM »

FWIW, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist brought up the 16,000 this AM as one of the two sports stories they mentioned. Now the angle is, Washington has a good team but this town will not support it after 30 years of whining about not having a team.

blue911 · « **Reply #149:** April 17, 2012, 10:42:36 AM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on April 17, 2012, 10:39:02 AM

FWIW, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist brought up the 16,000 this AM as one of the two sports stories they mentioned. Now the angle is, Washington has a good team but this town will not support it after 30 years of whining about not having a team.

Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist should go back to blowing dogs for quarters.