Baseball vs. Football

goldy313 · Post by **goldy313** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:36 pm

Jim Souhan, I know you're reading this since many of your columns come right from this very site...

How can you compare the NFL and baseball? Here, football maybe king, I doubt it and honestly I think it's closer than most people are willing to admit but elsewhere it's not. In New England even though the Patriots are the best team in football and gave a few titles the past few years the Red Sox are king. In New York the Yankees are king and you could make a very logical argument that the Rangers are second, in LA they don't even have an NFL team and support 2 baseball teams, and just this past weekend I saw an interesting internet poll (unscientific I realize) that showed by a nearly 2-1 margin the fine folks in Cleveland would rather have their Indians finally win a World Series than their Browns a Super Bowl. Sure football is easier for the layman to gripe or rave about, largely because the layman doesn't understand the deicate intricies of baseball and bitching about a bad QB is more interesting radio and newsprint than talking about whether a the manager should have called for a bunt in that situation or not, but that doesn't make it more popular.

Finally, how many people showed up at the dDome one October evening in '87 after the Twins beat Detroit? Do you even think they'd open the Dome if the Vikings won the NFC in New York a few years ago?

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:05 am

The Vikings are king here. I think that might be true for all small/average market areas.

The Vikings have been competitive but I think that because of football's financial structure, people stay more connected to it.

Every other day we hear about how the Twins cant afford this or that and how we will most certainly lose popular star players because of money.
Its like going out with a friend afor a fun time and hearing about his financial problems all night long.

We turn to sports as a diversion from our own responsibilities and financial problems and all we hear about from the Twins are.....financial problems.

The NFL doesnt have those problems. Sure, players are lost due to the cap but that is different. The Vikings actually have signed relativley high profile free agents on both sides of the ball. The Twins...... ah, not so much.

I think thats why football remains king in a lot of areas. NY, Boston, LA don't have those issues.

Govs93 · Post by **Govs93** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:51 am

packerboy wrote:The Vikings are king here. I think that might be true for all small/average market areas.

The Vikings have been competitive but I think that because of football's financial structure, people stay more connected to it.

Every other day we hear about how the Twins cant afford this or that and how we will most certainly lose popular star players because of money.
Its like going out with a friend afor a fun time and hearing about his financial problems all night long.

We turn to sports as a diversion from our own responsibilities and financial problems and all we hear about from the Twins are.....financial problems.

The NFL doesnt have those problems. Sure, players are lost due to the cap but that is different. The Vikings actually have signed relativley high profile free agents on both sides of the ball. The Twins...... ah, not so much.

I think thats why football remains king in a lot of areas. NY, Boston, LA don't have those issues.

I think you're being a little too gracious to the purple here PB (I can't believe I'm saying that).

With the Twins, since they got the new ballpark was approved you're hearing less of the "it's hard to compete" rhetoric, and more of the "we'll have to spend within our budget". I'm ok with that to a point... they'll obviously never spend like the east coast times, regardless of the new Govs93 Ballpark, so a budget is goign to have to put in place. I hope that they'll change the mentality of signing a handful of washed up "has beens" and turning that money toward one good "currently is".

The Vikes, on the other hand, are in the much more financially equal system, yet they're still $22m under the salary cap... and are starting Bobby Wade. Something is wrong with that - even Red spent up to the cap limit. I'm starting to smell a "we better get a new stadium or else" ploy. AP is a start, but let's see how they continue to build around him.

State Champ 97 · Post by **State Champ 97** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:03 am

Another reason for the populrity of football is every game is an event. One game a week. One game Championship. Win or lose there is no tomorrow. Baseball is every day. Miss the game today, no problem we can watch tomorrow. 7 game series, exciting in its own right but it is a different mentallity to watch a championship series rather than a one game deal. Personally, I love them both. One of the best days in recent memory was the Twins in the playoffs, The Wild very early in the regular season, and the Vikings playing all on the same day.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:12 am

The thing that does it for me is the way the teams are treated in the down years.

goldy can talk about the 1987 experience and it was special. But where was the love for many years before that. Sure a lot of Twins fans came out of the closet, but they go right back in when losing seasons start to appear.

We used to sit out at the Met in the late 70s on a July night for a game and enjoy the privacy.

The Vikings are sold out and they dont have a QB nor a WR and they are 22mill under cap. They havent won squat in forever. Their "glorious past" is losing 4 Super Bowls in embarrassing fashion.

But the fans keep showing up. The talk radio is all about them.

Why?

I dont think its the sport. I think its the fact that we know we wont lose AP because of money.

I am not being critical of the Twins. I thnk they are doing it right. I would like to see a touch of the Florida Marlin's approach but its tough.

I am also not complimenting the Vikings. Its the NFL that has it right, not the Vikings. The Vikings are clueless and have had the weakest front office and coaching in the last few years that they have ever had.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:47 pm

Football is popular because deep down, Americans are Communist at heart.

Look at it, the NFL is about the common good, the NFL is just a big Smurf Village. The league controls the TV, they control spending, they control merchandise sales, they even have police to fine players who don't where their socks or jersey's correctly. The league is designed so all the pieces can compete and contribute. With baseball it's a free for all, spend what you wan't, televise your games if you want, wear your pants how you want.

Govs93 · Post by **Govs93** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:54 pm

If you ask me, I think the National Lacrosse League has got it right.

Can't Never Tried · Post by **Can't Never Tried** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:40 pm

packerboy wrote:But the fans keep showing up. The talk radio is all about them.

Why?

Minnesotans like baseball.....IMO
Minnesotans Love football.... IMO
I think it's pretty simple, the football season is shorter so it's more intense, and the fans can stick with it easier...could you imagine how much they would be hated if they played 160 games...who could stand it??
I wonder how many dropped passes that would be

goldy313 · Post by **goldy313** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:41 pm

I agree football is an event and the fact that only 8 games are here helps the Vikings sell out. It's easy to miss a couple of Twins games at $20 a pop vs. missing 1 Viking game at $100 a pop.

The Vikings never really sold out until Randy Moss came on board, I remember days when the only way to see the Vikings was on away games or because General Mills bought the unsold tickets. Sell outs are a recent phenomenon for the Vikings not a 40 year trend. To that end only 2 Vikings games are sold out this season so far and one was thanks to Packer fans.

In Michigan, Tennessee, Penn St., Florida, all towns with nearby NFL teams the college teams nearly double the attendance of the NFL teams, the easy answer is because the college stadiums are bigger, but that's not the whole story. If the NFL really believed that they could sell 100,000 tickets per Sunday in Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Detroit, or wherever they'd have built their stadiums that big. They all have new stadiums and none are close to what the college stadiums are. The proposed Viking stadium is actually smaller than the Dome, why is that? The supply vs. demand theory doesn't hold up either, ever try and get a ticket to the Big House or in Knoxville? You'll pay more than face value, especially for big games.

I think the NFL marketing machine makes the NFL #1 in peoples minds but in reality in some places it is and in some places it isn't.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:38 am

We love our Twins when they win and we like them some when they lose.

We love our Vikings all the time.

Why?

IS says its because we are Commies.

I'll go with that.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:14 am

packerboy wrote: IS says its because we are Commies.

I'll go with that.

I forgot, the NFL also has people watching the people who watch people.

Ask Bill Bellichick.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:17 am

Thats because the NFL has a..........KGB