COLUMN: State your case
Gotta celebrate October
Mark Israelsen
It’s October, and for many people that only means one thing: it’s time for some baseball. The past few weeks have been crazy for teams in MLB as they have scrambled to try to make that final push, and now the playoffs are here. October is baseball’s month and I think this year’s playoffs are definitely worth watching.
Sure, the college and NFL football seasons are starting to heat up, but all their games are either on the weekend or Monday night. That leaves Tuesday-Friday with nothing for the die-hard sports fans to watch except baseball playoffs. These playoffs will be exciting, and as any sports fanatic knows, intense playoff action is always worth watching, regardless of the sport.
During the regular season all the talk was on the pitchers as we watched them dominate, throwing five no-hitters, two of which were perfect games. Now the question must be asked, will it continue in October? What will happen when Roy Halladay faces Joey Votto and the Reds (answer: a no-hitter in game one)? Cliff Lee dominated in the postseason several years ago, but can he do the same with a new squad? It’s always exciting to see superstars go head-to-head, and this year’s playoffs will have plenty of that.
These playoffs will also see some great storylines. This year we’ll be seeing some faces that we haven’t seen in a while. The San Francisco Giants haven’t been to the playoffs since 2003; the Texas Rangers haven’t made the postseason since 1999, and this year’s National League Central champion, the Cincinnati Reds, are playing in October for the first time since 1995. New teams provide new excitement, and that only leads to better competition and better baseball.
Steve Schwartzman
Staff Writer
I’ll tell you this much, coming into this week I didn’t have the greatest of interest in the MLB postseason. In all honesty, the teams don’t look too exciting, we’re just getting into the thick of an insanely competitive NFL season, and I‘m not loving the idea of watching anything on TBS. All things considered, my expectations for the playoffs have been pretty low.
This was, until Tuesday, when I watched the most recent ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Four Nights in October,” reliving the 2004 Red Sox and their comeback from falling behind 3-0 against the Yankees in the ALCS. My heart gave a complete reformation. Suddenly my blood ran for baseball.
Only one explanation is needed – it’s October, people! Never mind the fact that we’ll get to see beastly pitchers, with the likes of Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay (who, by the way, already threw a no-hitter) take their shot at the postseason for the first time in their respective careers. Never mind the fact the Cincinnati Reds have a shot at being the Cinderella-that-could, or that Yankee haters will be back in full swing. Take all that out of the picture, and it’s still October.
We just got out of some exciting baseball in September, and something tells me this month will be even better. And if you need statistics, here’s a number for you: 10. It stands for the tenth month of the year – when cheers and tears bring cities together and rivals farther apart via baseball stadiums across the nation.
Football is where it’s at
Tavin Stucki
Staff Writer
Don’t get me wrong, I loved playing baseball when I was a kid, and I still like co-ed softball in the summertime, but baseball is boring to me now. I would much rather watch a football game instead.
Baseball is too slow. The methodical ceremony that begins when the pitcher gets the ball, looks for the sign, shakes it off, looks again, checks the runner, sets, throws to the base, gets the ball back, looks for the sign, shakes it off, looks again, checks the runner, ignores him, sets, and … well, you get the point. All of that for us to see just one pitch? Games take about three hours, and there’s a game almost every day! Who’s got that kind of time?
The baseball season is way too long. C’mon, 150 games in the regular season? This is fall; let’s get back to watching football already! Baseball needs to stay in the spring and summer, and stay to about 25 games. That would make a win a lot more meaningful.
Baseball players don’t even need to be athletes to play the game. Can you imagine Babe Ruth in the 100-meter dash? All baseball players do is sit in the dugout for half the game, and the other half they stand around in a park.
Seriously, football is a million times better. How many Aggie fans would have traded seeing BYU get thumped in Logan to watch a baseball game on TV? That’s what I thought. Let’s get back to watching more brain-rattling tackles from some real athletes in a sport where one win or loss actually means something; like the difference between a bowl game and a mediocre season.
Jace Miller
Staff Writer
There is no way you should waste your days watching “America’s Pastime” this fall. For one, it shouldn’t be even considered our pastime anymore. The days of gathering some friends to play baseball have been replaced by gathering friends to go out to toss the ol’ pigskin. Next time you go to a park, take a look around. You might not see anyone since America sits in front of TVs and computers all day, so make sure it’s a Saturday. How many people are playing baseball?
Consider how many watch the sport in the first place. The World Series final game last year had 22.3 million people watching it. In comparison, Super Bowl XLIV had over 106 million people watching. That’s more than four times as many viewers. Also, the biggest Major League Baseball stadium is Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California and it seats about 56,000 fans. Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas is the biggest National Football League stadium, seating up to 110,000 fans – almost twice the capacity. This is not even adding in the audience of college football, which is arguably more popular than the NFL.
Finally, think about the games. Baseball players get thrown a ball and they try to hit it. The best MLB hitter, at this moment, is Josh Hamilton on the Texas Rangers. He has batting average of .359 so far this season. How is this fun to watch? If a quarterback completed 35.9 percent of their passes, they wouldn’t even be considered for a backup role in the NFL. That kind of percentage is pathetic! I mean no offense to baseball fans, but if you want to watch a sport where people can actually do their job more than 35.9 percent of the time, I recommend football.