Sports things I don't understand

[SandraC]

Here are some things I just don't get. Perhaps the boys can help me here...

1. Why do baseball telecasts tell us the ball/strike count of the pitcher? I don't get it. Does it count all batted balls as strikes? They're not strikes! Well they could be a foul ball, but they could also be a 550 foot home run that goes into the pitcher's 'strike' column. It's a stat I've never understood.

2. Why did the NHL switch to the away team wearing the white jerseys? When I turn a game on I STILL have to think for a second and figure out which team is home. I don't have Ranger season tickets anymore, but if I did I don't think I'd be happy with every team that comes into the Garden looking pretty much the same. The dark jerseys differentiated the teams for me in person.

3. Why is the NHL still awarding a point for an OT or shootout loss? Every game now has a winner and a loser, stop already with the extra point. Non-hockey fans cannot understand the standings, and hockey fans have a problem too. A .500 team isn't even a .500 team anymore.

4. Why do so many coaches struggle at Notre Dame? I thought Charlie Weis would be a no-brainer for them. Wouldn't you think with all of the recruiting advantages you would be able to find a coach to be successful there for 30 years in a row?

5. Why doesn't the NFL play on Saturday afternoons late in the season anymore? Surely they're leaving some money on the table here. Wouldn't you think a TNT or someone else would pay big bucks to get their foot in (or back in) the NFL door? And we get more games to watch.

6. Why does ESPN ruin so many sports? Their NBA studio show is unwatchable, and TNT's studio show is required viewing for all. Their NFL pregame show is a yuck-fest as well. There aren't many things as silly as hearing all of their announcers screaming 'JACKED-UP' when they show their big hit highlights. Dick Vitale's announcing also yells at people. Why do they produce Baseball Tonight for people who are actually watching with a brain, and so many other shows for people who are comatose and need to be yelled at to wake up?

7. Why does the NHL think there needs to be a team on Long Island? I mean really, the New York area has not proven it can support three teams in any of the popular sports, why do they think three hockey teams are necessary?

8. Why can't the NHL (or NHL teams) make great commercials? The Penguins commercial set to 'A Wonderful World' is awesome. The Rangers go from Bobby Granger (some were funny but none caught the emotion of the NHL) to something called 'I Am A Ranger'. Huh? Ranger fans are many things, most of them good...but we're not Rangers. I don't get it. A couple of years ago I was sitting down to play EA sports hockey with my nephew. When he turned the game on it went through a montage of clips to get you pumped up about hockey...it was amazing! Why can't the NHL come up with something like that?

9. Why are coaches given so many timeouts in NBA and college basketball? So many exciting games turn into timeout festivals, with each and every possession in the last minute or two needing a timeout. Half the time they don't even go to commercial, so I don't get why the sport feels this is necessary.

10. Why is Atlanta such a bad sports city? Seems like each and every team they have is under-attended. Braves can't sell out playoff games, when the other teams are even mediocre attendance dries up. I know it's a college area, but so are some other areas that seem to be able to support teams.


Sandra

 

[HD MM]

1. Why do baseball telecasts tell us the ball/strike count of the pitcher? I don't get it. Does it count all batted balls as strikes? They're not strikes! Well they could be a foul ball, but they could also be a 550 foot home run that goes into the pitcher's 'strike' column. It's a stat I've never understood.

A ball batted foul counts as a strike and rightly so, because it is considered another strike in the batters count. Not sure how you count a ball hit for a home run though. How can one judge whether it was in the strike zone or not? Good question.

4. Why do so many coaches struggle at Notre Dame? I thought Charlie Weis would be a no-brainer for them. Wouldn't you think with all of the recruiting advantages you would be able to find a coach to be successful there for 30 years in a row?

Don't know, but I'm not sure why Charlie is getting a free pass and Tyrone Willingham was axed after 3 seasons.

5. Why doesn't the NFL play on Saturday afternoons late in the season anymore? Surely they're leaving some money on the table here. Wouldn't you think a TNT or someone else would pay big bucks to get their foot in (or back in) the NFL door? And we get more games to watch.

To not compete with CFB?

6. Why does ESPN ruin so many sports? Their NBA studio show is unwatchable, and TNT's studio show is required viewing for all. Their NFL pregame show is a yuck-fest as well. There aren't many things as silly as hearing all of their announcers screaming 'JACKED-UP' when they show their big hit highlights. Dick Vitale's announcing also yells at people. Why do they produce Baseball Tonight for people who are actually watching with a brain, and so many other shows for people who are comatose and need to be yelled at to wake up?

I guess they think Basketball viewers must not have brains and watch the sport solely for the high flying dunks and fast breaks. Quite aggravating to say the least. I can't stand the Stephen A. Smith types.

7. Why does the NHL think there needs to be a team on Long Island? I mean really, the New York area has not proven it can support three teams in any of the popular sports, why do they think three hockey teams are necessary?

Why does NY get 3 and Cleveland gets nothing?! Not fair.

9. Why are coaches given so many timeouts in NBA and college basketball? So many exciting games turn into timeout festivals, with each and every possession in the last minute or two needing a timeout. Half the time they don't even go to commercial, so I don't get why the sport feels this is necessary.

Dunno, but I agree. The timeouts ruin the spontaneity of the game.

10. Why is Atlanta such a bad sports city? Seems like each and every team they have is under-attended. Braves can't sell out playoff games, when the other teams are even mediocre attendance dries up. I know it's a college area, but so are some other areas that seem to be able to support teams.

I've noticed there is a string of SEC states that don't have professional sports teams including, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina. Maybe Georgia should've followed that rule.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

1. Sure, all batted balls are counted as strikes. The assumption is that if the batter hit it, it was a strike. The goal here is also to show the total pitch count and if you excluded the batted balls the pitch count would not be correct. Sounds like you're looking for separate stats, sort of like Shots on Goal and Saves in hockey...

2. There are a few theories:

• Back in the old days the white jersey used to be the road jersey with the dark jersey being home, but this was reversed from 1971-2003. Maybe it's a desire to get back to the league's roots.
  
• The ice background is white, so the white jerseys look more plain and bland. The dark jerseys jazz it up a little.
  
• The change was made to encourage the third sweater program and increase merchandise sales. I buy this reason. $$$$$

4. Tougher academic standards than a lot of other Div. 1 schools. Plus, policies like this:

Tom Lemming, recruiting analyst of CBS College Sports believes Notre Dame's troubles began with the 1991 recruiting class, when several players Holtz recruited weren't admitted to Notre Dame.

Holtz confirms there were two recruits who scored well on their college entrance exams, but weren't admitted because the admissions director had a policy that he wouldn't accept a football player from a high school where another student who was more academically qualified was rejected.

Notre Dame approaching 20 years without a title | WSBT South Bend - Your Local News Leader | Sports

5. I believe this is due to the expansion in the number of games appearing on the the NFL Network. There was also an issue regarding the league's anti-trust exemption and Saturday games during the NCAA season.

9. I agree. I would say eliminate the "TV timeouts", but we know that's not going to happen. Reduce the number of called timeouts and/or bring back the rule that allowed a called timeout to replace a "TV timeout". That's the way it used to be. Now, you can have a timeout called at 4:10, then a "TV timeout" at or after 4:00..

 

[CharlesO]

4. Why do so many coaches struggle at Notre Dame? I thought Charlie Weis would be a no-brainer for them. Wouldn't you think with all of the recruiting advantages you would be able to find a coach to be successful there for 30 years in a row?

Notre Dame lives in the 80's of college football. Notre Dame doesn't accept non-qualifiers, thus doesn't recruit in rural markets. Staying Independent means other than it's old foes has few rivalies or buildup for late season games. Even the NBC games are third or fourth on the TV totem pole vs. CBS and ABC and sometimes FSN telecast. Until Notre Dames hierarchy changes and joins the 21st Century they are irrelevant in college football.

5. Why doesn't the NFL play on Saturday afternoons late in the season anymore? Surely they're leaving some money on the table here. Wouldn't you think a TNT or someone else would pay big bucks to get their foot in (or back in) the NFL door? And we get more games to watch.

College Football's season continues to expand, so only one Saturday during the NFL season is open, that's why the NFL has shifted to Thursday for it's NFL Network games.

6. Why does ESPN ruin so many sports? Their NBA studio show is unwatchable, and TNT's studio show is required viewing for all. Their NFL pregame show is a yuck-fest as well. There aren't many things as silly as hearing all of their announcers screaming 'JACKED-UP' when they show their big hit highlights. Dick Vitale's announcing also yells at people. Why do they produce Baseball Tonight for people who are actually watching with a brain, and so many other shows for people who are comatose and need to be yelled at to wake up?

I only watch ESPN for games only, nothing else. It's worthless babble, sadly the "New Economy" hasn't hit ESPN yet and when it does may end some of this sillyness.

9. Why are coaches given so many timeouts in NBA and college basketball? So many exciting games turn into timeout festivals, with each and every possession in the last minute or two needing a timeout. Half the time they don't even go to commercial, so I don't get why the sport feels this is necessary.

One word answer....Television.

10. Why is Atlanta such a bad sports city? Seems like each and every team they have is under-attended. Braves can't sell out playoff games, when the other teams are even mediocre attendance dries up. I know it's a college area, but so are some other areas that seem to be able to support teams.

Atlanta is the Phoenix of the Southeast. Unlike the rest of the southeast, many who live in Atlanta are from somewhere else, thus no real affinity for the Atlanta based teams exist. If the teams in Atlanta would work harder on developing a varied fanbase, instead of promoting the team, the fan number would improve and over the years would become fans of the Atlanta teams.

 

[SandraC]

1. Sure, all batted balls are counted as strikes. The assumption is that if the batter hit it, it was a strike. The goal here is also to show the total pitch count and if you excluded the batted balls the pitch count would not be correct. Sounds like you're looking for separate stats, sort of like Shots on Goal and Saves in hockey...

Well, in hockey if you subtract goals against from shots on goal, you do get the number of saves. It works.

I suppose in baseball I'm more questioning the validity of the balls/strikes comparision than anything else. If 'strikes' are flying over the center field wall, what does it tell us if a guy has 25 balls and 75 strikes? Seems meaningless to me.


Sandra

 

[SandraC]

College Football's season continues to expand, so only one Saturday during the NFL season is open, that's why the NFL has shifted to Thursday for it's NFL Network games.

Conference championship games are the only thing that's changed since the NFL was televising Saturday afternoon games, and they're done on December 6. There are three NFL weekends left after December 6...December 13, 20 and 27 are the Saturdays.

There are bowl games, but there were always December bowl games when the NFL televised on Saturdays. And with the advent of the BCS, these December bowl games are even less relevant now then they used to be.



One word answer....Television.

Disagree. Very often in the last minute or two they don't even go to commercial. No additional ad revenue. And lengthening these games actually hurts TV coverage, as another game on the network starts and we don't get to see the start of it. ESPN has to start a crawl that the later game can be seen on ESPN alternate, or classic, or whatever.



Atlanta is the Phoenix of the Southeast. Unlike the rest of the southeast, many who live in Atlanta are from somewhere else, thus no real affinity for the Atlanta based teams exist. If the teams in Atlanta would work harder on developing a varied fanbase, instead of promoting the team, the fan number would improve and over the years would become fans of the Atlanta teams.

Then how come the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lighting draw so well?


Sandra

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Well, in hockey if you subtract goals against from shots on goal, you do get the number of saves. It works.

I suppose in baseball I'm more questioning the validity of the balls/strikes comparision than anything else. If 'strikes' are flying over the center field wall, what does it tell us if a guy has 25 balls and 75 strikes? Seems meaningless to me.


Sandra

Not to beat a dead horse, but again, the assumption is that if the batter hits a pitch, even if it goes over the fence, the pitch was a strike. His ERA and other stats will reflect the fact that runs were allowed.

I don't think that pitch count, balls/strikes, etc. were ever intended to be a barometer of how effective a pitcher is. Just like the pitch speed they show in the ballparks and on the screen. If a guy's hitting 98 on the gun but can't get it over the plate, who cares??

 

[CharlesO]

There is a agreement between the NFL and the FBS that they won't compete with each other on Saturday. The only Saturday that has no FBS games is Dec. 13th.

FBS teams also now play 12 regular season games, plus the added conference championship games. It used to be only 4-5 games on the final weekend of regular season, now it's over a dozen.

Dec. 20,27 are for bowl games throughout the day.

There are more bowl games than ever, this year 34 total bowl games.

Atlanta and Tampa are very different cities, Atlanta worker base is from all over the US and internationally. Tampa is home to many who relocated from other Southeast/Rural Florida cities and New York.

 

[Visitor]

7. Why does the NHL think there needs to be a team on Long Island? I mean really, the New York area has not proven it can support three teams in any of the popular sports, why do they think three hockey teams are necessary?

Nothing is necessary. Ask the NHL why the Devils were allowed to relocate here from Colorado when there already were 2+1 teams in the area (if you include Hartford). It's obvious why the Isles don't sell out - it's because for the good part of the last 15 years, they've been cellar dwellers. However, the support does show up when the tide is better. Contrast that to the Devils that have been perennially in the playoff picture for over a decade now - and they were never able to sell out the Brendan Byrne area during the playoffs. Yes, it's bigger than the Coliseum, but on some games they were barely breaking the Coliseum 16k seats. Sorry that the Isles don't have an easy access and the corporate sponsorships that the more city-central teams enjoy, but despite that - the Isles created a little dynasty on the Island - one of the last dynasties in the NHL and even though people like to say that it's a long time ago, well, that's what history is all about.

The Isles had to pay $4million to the Rangers to be in Long Island despite being about 30+ miles away from MSG. I don't know if the Devils had to pay any fee to be in the area, but I don't think they did, despite being closer to MSG. So, apologies that the Isles are in NY and apparently in Ranger territory, but they paid their fee - and their existence on the Island doesn't need to be questioned.

 

[SabresRule]

7. Why does the NHL think there needs to be a team on Long Island? I mean really, the New York area has not proven it can support three teams in any of the popular sports, why do they think three hockey teams are necessary?

Nothing is necessary. Ask the NHL why the Devils were allowed to relocate here from Colorado when there already were 2+1 teams in the area (if you include Hartford). It's obvious why the Isles don't sell out - it's because for the good part of the last 15 years, they've been cellar dwellers. However, the support does show up when the tide is better. Contrast that to the Devils that have been perennially in the playoff picture for over a decade now - and they were never able to sell out the Brendan Byrne area during the playoffs. Yes, it's bigger than the Coliseum, but on some games they were barely breaking the Coliseum 16k seats. Sorry that the Isles don't have an easy access and the corporate sponsorships that the more city-central teams enjoy, but despite that - the Isles created a little dynasty on the Island - one of the last dynasties in the NHL and even though people like to say that it's a long time ago, well, that's what history is all about.

The Isles had to pay $4million to the Rangers to be in Long Island despite being about 30+ miles away from MSG. I don't know if the Devils had to pay any fee to be in the area, but I don't think they did, despite being closer to MSG. So, apologies that the Isles are in NY and apparently in Ranger territory, but they paid their fee - and their existence on the Island doesn't need to be questioned.

Ranger-Islander smack talk- very feisty!

 

[ScoBuck]

The average attendance last year for the NY Isles was 12,609 - and for the NJ Devils 14,176. Big Woop of a difference.

As a long time hockey fan from the NY Metro area, I easily remember the years from 1975-1984 when the Isles sold out EVERY NIGHT, and the Devils were called a 'Mickey Mouse' franchise by Wayne Gretzky and averaged under 10,000 a game for YEARS.

Put a winning team in the building and they will come as I see it. The only exception may be the Rangers - they missed the playoffs for what? 6 or so straight years (with the highest league payroll) but generally play to a full house.

 

[SabresRule]

As a long time hockey fan from the NY Metro area, I easily remember the years from 1975-1984 when the Isles sold out EVERY NIGHT

I might as well steal one of Sandra's lines:

Bill Torrey sold his soul and his bow tie to the devil in the early 80's, getting guaranteed cup wins to be followed after that by a lifetime of ineptitude, criminal ownership, laughing-stock uniforms, a rotting building, eight fans total, incredibly bad front office decisions, idiotic ice girls, and probably the eventual folding of the team.

 

[ScoBuck]

So why haven't the Buffalo Sabres ever sipped from the Stanley Cup? Who sold out to the devil there?

 

[SabresRule]

So why haven't the Buffalo Sabres ever sipped from the Stanley Cup? Who sold out to the devil there?

Buffalo is a cursed sports city, plain and simple.

Remember, New York has had plenty of other champions.

 

[Ramy]

A ball in play is considered a strike.

 

[talos4]

I'll add one to Sandra's list:

Why are we counting pitches? Think about it.

Did we count how many pitches Nolan Ryan, Rollie Fingers, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, Warren Spahn threw?

Sabathia was a perfect example this season. Pulled from a playoff game beacuse he threw 110 pitches in his last start 3 days ago and was coming up on 115?

What happened to pulling a pitcher when he was tired? Lost his "stuff"

What's happened to the complete game? In the NL the leader in complete games was Sabathia with 7 in the AL Halladay with 9.

 

[SandraC]

And I'm going to add another one...

What on earth is the NFL doing tweaking the instant replay system? I understand how the San Diego/Pittsburgh game ended was a farce, bordering on criminal, but this is how they fix it? Having a guy next to the replay referee with a notebook?

What, are they afraid the replay ref will forget what he saw in between the monitor and the field?


Sandra

 

[anders5189]

Here's one I don't understand. Why, when they report baseball scores, do they show runs, hits and errors? The only thing that matters are the runs. Who cares how many hits a team has? You don't see this with any other sports. Can you imagine football scores being reported as points, yards, turnovers? Crazy.