Let me first start this by saying I like football. I watch it and follow it, but it doesn't even compare to baseball. In 1987, Thomas Boswell wrote a piece entitled "100 reasons why baseball is better than football." One of my favorites is #53 "Football fans tailgate before the big game. No [self-respecting] baseball would have a picnic in the parking lot." (My addition) Some of them are out of date, but still funny. Here are two that Mr. Boswell did not add, but maybe should have:
1) A perfect quarterback rating is 158.3. How is that possible? What mathematical genius would ever come up with anything and say it was "perfect" when it's not even a round number. A perfect batting average? 1.00. A perfect ERA? 0.00. A perfect quarterback rating? 158.3. It's ridiculous on its face, and the fact that sportscasters never talk about how ridiculous it is shows how ridiculous it is.
2) According to a recent study conducted by the Wall Street Journal, not exactly the bottom of the media pool (although Rupert Murdock will eventually take it there I am sure), the average three hour football game has an average of 10 minutes 43 seconds of action. 11 minutes total! 75 minutes of time is spent showing the players roaming around between plays. Commercials eat up another 60 minutes, and the rest of the time is spent looking at the coaches and then watching the same play over and over again. Cheerleaders were only shown for an average of 3 seconds, and that number was skewed upwards because of the Dallas games. Some broadcasts spent more time showing the kicker warming up for a kick (7 seconds) then they did cheerleaders. The next time you hear someone say that baseball is boring that they prefer to watch football, please remind them of this, because it actuality there is much more action in baseball than there is in football.
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