MLB 2023: how ya like it now?

[JSngry]

It's only "too much money not to ____" for people who have a price for anything. 

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

Has there been a decision to go to 8 or 16 teams?

This season is the final year of the 4-team playoff in college football.

Next season (2024) will mark the beginning of a 12-team playoff.  Teams seeded 1-4 -- the four major conference champions -- will have a bye as seeds 5-8 host home playoff games vs. seeds 9-12.  After those games, the quarterfinals and semi-finals will be traditional bowl games (Fiesta, Peach, Rose, Sugar, etc.).  It will end with the National Championship at a neutral site, just like it is today.

 

[HutchFan]

 

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

It's only "too much money not to ____" for people who have a price for anything. 

I don't think it's nearly as simple as that.  Because anyone who's watching sports on television is part of it.  In fact, even if you don't watch sports, you're paying more for your television because of sports.

I worked a year-long contract gig for Cox Communications, a huge cable company.  I'm not an expert, but while I was there, I learned that broadcasters love sports because it's just about the only programming that viewers continue to watch in real-time.  Other types of programming can be recorded & viewed on-demand asynchronously.   Consequently, the cost (and value) of advertising is MUCH higher for sporting events than any other type of programming -- since those ads are going to be seen by many more viewers. 

In fact, sports are the main thing that regularly drive up the cost of everyone's TV bill.  The professional leagues know how their "product" is different.  So the NFL, MLB, NBA -- and, yes, the NCAA -- demand huge sums from networks to broadcast their games, and the networks pass along these costs to the cable companies and streaming platforms who in turn pass along the costs to consumers.  These advertising revenues have made professional athletes incredibly rich -- and those numbers are only going to go higher as more people watch programming on-demand instead of in real-time. 

And, if we step back a bit further. . . Remember that the only reason that any programming appears on commercial television -- from the network's point of view -- is because it puts eyeballs on advertising and thereby generates revenue.  The fact that they're offering entertainment of any kind is incidental. 

Please keep in mind:  I'm not defending all this, saying it's moral or right or just.  I'm just saying that's how commercial television works in the U.S.  It's business. Full stop.

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

Maximizing a profit and making a great profit are not the same thing. The latter is a healthy aim. The former is simply all the Kool-Aid having been drank.

Fullest stop. 

[ghost of miles]

…. And down go the Dodgers. Proving to be a disastrous postseason for most of the divisional titans. 

[Dan Gould]

11 hours ago, HutchFan said:

This season is the final year of the 4-team playoff in college football.

Next season (2024) will mark the beginning of a 12-team playoff.  Teams seeded 1-4 -- the four major conference champions -- will have a bye as seeds 5-8 host home playoff games vs. seeds 9-12.  After those games, the quarterfinals and semi-finals will be traditional bowl games (Fiesta, Peach, Rose, Sugar, etc.).  It will end with the National Championship at a neutral site, just like it is today.

 

I always thought utilizing the bowl structure for a tournament made sense - (as in, all games in January or January/February) but count me out for the idea that a 2 loss team could make it to the National Championship.  If it were limited to 1 loss teams then nobody is on the outside looking in.

[JSngry]

6 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

…. And down go the Dodgers. Proving to be a disastrous postseason for most of the divisional titans. 

And yet the Astros 

grrrrrrrrrrrr...... 

[Dan Gould]

Cord-cutting is going to kill the gravy train of huge rights deals for major sports.  That was the purpose of the latest battle between Disney and Spectrum over fees.  If ESPN was hugely profitable, Disney wouldn't be trying to sell it. And all the streaming services are failing to deliver profits, too.

Cable companies were the cash cows 10 years ago with millions of non-sports fans not even knowing that their $120 cable bill included $20 or more for sports networks they never watch.

(We switched to a company that my sister-in-law found and pay $50 every six months and I get every MLB broadcast and could if I wanted watch every NHL, Basketball and NFL broadcast too.  Hiccups with streaming is a small price to pay against that bargain.)

Regarding the results in MLB to date I am with Jim, I wish Houston was bounced first over LA (and seems likely, the Braves) but with them still in I fear another championship is in the cards. Really need the Rangers to bring it, and I guess the Phils as back up.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

59 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Really need the Rangers to bring it... 

Yeah, and this is where their maddening (almost literally) inconsistency inspires at least as much doubt as it does hope. 

[Dan Gould]

43 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yeah, and this is where their maddening (almost literally) inconsistency inspires at least as much doubt as it does hope. 

But I just read Scherzer is a strong possibility to return! That could be awesome if he's the guy he was for 8 starts after the trade deadline.

[JSngry]

Yeah, if. Could be. 

[Dan Gould]

I forgot to take credit - I turned on the Dodgers in the middle of the homer inning, saw #2 and #3 and when #4 was confirmed foul, knowing Lance Lynn's issues this year, I said to my wife, watch, he'll give up another anyway and next pitch ... gone.

<green obnoxious smiling emoji here>

[HutchFan]

5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

I always thought utilizing the bowl structure for a tournament made sense - (as in, all games in January or January/February) but count me out for the idea that a 2 loss team could make it to the National Championship.  If it were limited to 1 loss teams then nobody is on the outside looking in.

Dan, I think it would extremely unlikely that any teams with 2 losses would make the playoffs.

I suppose it could happen if a two-loss team happened to win one of the four conference championships and then advanced to the NC.  Usually, conference champs have one loss or none. 

I guess we'll find out what happens starting next year.  It's uncharted territory ahead for college FB.

 

[Dan Gould]

51 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Dan, I think it would extremely unlikely that any teams with 2 losses would make the playoffs.

I suppose it could happen if a two-loss team happened to win one of the four conference championships and then advanced to the NC.  Usually, conference champs have one loss or none. 

 

I am trying to find a source for top 25 rankings as of December 3 or whatever, with records included. Not coming up as easily I'd hoped. Not convinced a two loss team could end up 12th in final poll after conference championships.

[HutchFan]

Try this: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs/associated-press

 

Incidentally, a two-loss conference champion would be seeded in the top four -- with a bye, automatically, by virtue of having won their conference.

It's conceivable that a two-loss team could be seeded somewhere between 5 and 12 -- but I assume that other teams with only one loss (that didn't win one of the four major conferences) would get those "at large" bids first.

But I'm only speculating.  I don't really know what it will look like . . .  because this hasn't ever happened before. 

 

EDIT
I still think it's safe to say that this new post-season system is going to make college FB much more like baseball and NFL football.  Winning during the regular season will only matter in the sense that it  earns the team a place somewhere in the playoff.  After the regular season ends, records won't mean much.  It'll be a new mini-season, and the hottest, healthiest teams -- at that moment -- will have the biggest advantage.  Of course, seeding matters.  But I don't think it'll matter as much as these other things.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

Ok! 

[Dan Gould]

Definitely enjoyed waking up to Altuve's blunder.  The funny thing to me was that he was straddling the base he could have easily dragged his toe across and he wouldn't have been out.

Glad to know too that these are reviewable plays. I question why the ump admitted that he was watching the outfielder and couldn't know if he had touched the base, run past it, or what, yet me makes a call.  Aren't they trained nowadays to seek help?  The 1B ump probably had a good enough view to help make the call.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

Scherzer says he's ready, so he'll be starting Game 3.

What forearm stiffness? 👁️‍🗨️ 

[ghost of miles]

2-0 means you still have to win two more games in a best-of-seven. But it’s a helluva lot better than being 0-2! 

[JSngry]

whew

[Dan Gould]

1 minute ago, ghost of miles said:

2-0 means you still have to win two more games in a best-of-seven. But it’s a helluva lot better than being 0-2! 

I'll take the odds needing to win two out of 5 with next three at home.

 

[JSngry]

In case you missed it:

https://www.mlb.com/news/adolis-garcia-does-cartwheel-after-hit-by-pitch?partnerID=mlbapp-android_article-share

[ghost of miles]

I’d love to see a Texas-Philadelphia World Series come to pass. 

[Joe]

[ghost of miles]

Quite the shellacking in Philadelphia this evening. 

Edited October 18, 2023 by ghost of miles