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I don’t want to pimp you guys or anything but…
Check out what The Atlantic had to say about Major League Baseball earlier this year.
Even Apple’s kicking MLB’s butt!
And while you’re at it, add this to my growing Steve Jobs slagheap. Here’s the headline:
"Is Apple More Popular Than Major League Baseball?"
Nice, huh?
Atlantic associate editor Nicholas Jackson does the honors.
"Of course Apple is more profitable than MLB, but it’s also managing to get more money out of every visitor that walks in the door," Jackson begins. "With millions of iPads sold and millions of iPhones sold and millions of laptops and desktops sold — and, yes, even millions of iPods are still sold — Apple is moving its products faster than its factories in China can even produce them. Certainly all of these gadgets bring in more money than peanuts — literally. Apple stores alone are more profitable than America’s favorite pastime, accounting for $9.8 billion of Apple’s reported $65.2 billion revenue in fiscal year 2010. For comparison, MLB reported $7 billion in revenue."
How do you like them Apples?
Look, you guys are welcome to chew me up for not being a "real sports fan." I’ll admit it. I’ve been down that road but that’s not where I’m at now. I’m a fair weather sports fan, a casual fan, if you will.
Frankly, I’m more interested in the business, societal and political aspects of the game than on base percentages. But I do get out and meet and talk to lots of people, and clearly the vast majority of street walkers are not wrapped up in baseball or sports in general. They have what passes for lives, other interests. When it comes to sports, most people are fair weather at best. Hey, most people don’t collect stamps either, no biggie.
No harm, no foul. Remember 55,000 (wink) Kansas Citians hit the new Kauffman Center for Performing Arts the other day.
My take is for most folks – if the Chiefs, Royals, KU, MU or K-State make the playoffs – are in. Look for ’em at Price Chopper on Game Day. Short of that…
Hey, I went to Arizona, but I kinda got off on K-State beating Miami a couple weeks back, so I’m not a total loss.
But back to baseball…
Here’s what bleacherreport said not long ago in "Major League Baseball: Still America’s Pastime?"
"What is wrong with baseball these days?" it begins. "Has this era become accustomed to the evils of Performance-Enhancing Drugs? Have players become rather covetous, no longer playing for the love of the game? Has baseball just lost itself overall? Let’s face it: Baseball is not what it was."
And that’s courtesy of the jock sniffers at bleacherreport.
Want another taste?
"Bottom line: Fans are tired of what baseball has come to," bleacherreport says. "It’s costly. It’s annoying. It may not stay America’s pastime for too long"
Now check out this bit of research from the University of Northern Iowa’s editorial staff.
"Baseball, the sport that is, or was, considered by many to be America’s pastime, has gradually decreased in popularity over the past decade. Just look at the number of people who have watched the past few World Series compared to those who watched the Super Bowl.
"Super Bowl XLV, which took place in February between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the most-viewed telecast in American broadcast history with 111 million viewers. Super Bowl XLIV, between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, recorded the second-highest viewership in American broadcast history with 106 million viewers. Super Bowl XLIII, between the Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, had an audience of 98 million and Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots had an audience of 97 million..jpg)
"The three World Series in that same time span have had audiences of 69 million (2010 World Series, Giants vs. Texas Rangers), 116 million (2009 World Series, New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies) and 68.5 million (2008 World Series, Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays).
While the 116 million viewers for the 2009 World Series is greater than Super Bowl XLV, remember that that 116 million viewers is a combined total from the six-game series. That comes out to an average of 19.3 million viewers per game."
Get the picture?
Now brace yourselves…
"MLB didn’t fare that much better against the National Basketball Association either. However, it does draw a more accurate comparison, with each sport having a best-of-seven series to decide a champion. The past three NBA Finals have had audiences of 83 million (2010 NBA Finals, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics, seven games), 47.5 million (2009 NBA Finals, Lakers vs. Orlando Magic, five games) and 89.4 million (2008 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics vs. Lakers, six games)."
UNI’s $64 million question: "Are sports fans simply getting tired of spending three-plus hours watching a game that has made little technological advancements since its inception in the late 1800s?"
Now get back out there and start bashing Craig, I’ve got a lawn to mow
apples and oranges.
WTF? Nice stretch to make a point. Still not sure what the hell that was about…I like tomatoes. Therefore tomatoes are more popular than baseball. Hearne, really? A journalist would take the average attendance of baseball, basketball, football, hockey and baseball then compare them. Want me to write it for you? Lazy. Lazy.
What’s your point?
Baseball is dead? Why cover it? Why waste your time writing about it? Who the hell is out there saying “Baseball is #1 and more popular than Apple”?
I just thought I would put a list of random questions together since that’s all you seem to add to any conversation. Other than the insight that a fucking ipad costs more than a baseball game – what else are you contributing here? What value do you bring? How long can this site last based solely on the popularity of an aging lothario who knows even less about sports than you do?
The Pork Fried Rice Code
You hit the nail on the head about Steve Jobs. Those fuckers in CHINA better hope the R&D and PD pipeline is full at Apple otherwise there’s liable to be some mass executions, er uh I mean mass layoffs.
All that Apple revenue is good but money can’t buy ya’ more time. You think God uses a PC?
Oh yeah another claim for the Steve Jobs wall of fame is that ipods will be responsible for the greatest amount of hearing loss in a generation than any other individual product. Can you hear me now?
When the Mexicans get finished taking over the US baseball will return to being America’s Mexican American pastime.
The Negro’s are taking over the NFL and the NBA.
Blacks don’t work so they won’t be able to afford tickets. Mexicans on the other hand work 17 jobs so they’ll always have money for tickets and churros.
fail
Are you done blathering? Glazer knows nothing about baseball, just as Hearne knows nothing about presenting a cogent and coherent argument.
Everybody loves anonymous haters…
Lothario, huh? Flatterer.
Hearne it’s almost as if you’re handing your readers a microscope and inviting us to view your clueslessness up close.
” I do get out and meet and talk to lots of people, and clearly the vast majority of folks I encounter are not wrapped up in baseball or even sports in general.”
Now Hearne, I’m sure somewhere along the way you had a Composition or Creative Writing professor who suggested that you “write what you know.” In this case, that advice is probably best not followed. You’ve already admitted you don’t know sports, an admission clearly bolstered by this extremely poorly constructed argument you’ve offered, so there’s strike one. Or is that two? In any case, whatever “lots of people” you’ve been out talking to, be it your cronies at Jardine’s or the sales girl at the Ward Parkway Bath & Body Works, it’s probably a good idea to abstain from gauging this city’s sports interests on the thoughts and opinions of that motley crue you rub elbows with.
And the article you dug up from bleacherreport.com is more guilty of stating the obvious than Sly James telling us “Parenting is important.” Baseball got gutted with a strike in the mid-90s and then kicked in the balls, poked in the eyes and dumped in a pool of dung with steroids. It ran people off. At the same time, the NFL blew up like Violet Beauregarde. I won’t even get into MLB revenue sharing, payroll, small markets losing high-priced free agents and those types of things seeing as how you are a self-admitted “casual sports fan.”
As an aside, since you brought it up, let’s revisit the fact that Apple is one of the five highest grossing corporations on the planet. To use a convenient Hearne-like comparison, let’s substitute Exxon Mobil for Apple and compare that company’s gross profits with those of Major League Baseball. Now click your heels together three times. Poof! Hey what do ya know? I’ve just made a great argument about how baseball isn’t as popular as gasoline and oil! Look how smart I am! I think I’ve proved my point here. Ok kids, run along to bed now…lesson time is over.
Wow.
But wait – there’s more. Get out of bed and get back in here kids, Hearne’s not finished yet!
“Did you know that the NFL is more popular than Major League Baseball? No really, it’s true. I have the TV numbers to back it up. Seriously. I wouldn’t lie to you. I read it on the internet. I talk to lots of people around town who tell me so. Stop looking at me like this is all common sense, I told you I’m not a sports guy. Besides, Glazer gets horsewhipped every time he posts something besides an old story about chasing tail or doing blow and he’s really been making my site look bad. I had to come to his defense sooner or later and this is the best I could come up with.”
Glazer: Why Baseball Really Doesn’t Matter Much Anymore & Not Just in Kansas City
That headline was brought to you by the same guy who once wrote a column titled ‘Why Black and Whites Don’t Get Along.’ Yes, you’re reading that right. With a straight face, he actually attempted to inform everyone about racism with the following newsflash, a truly deep, thought-provoking and intellectual observation:
“Many blacks hate whites. Many whites fear blacks. It’s as simple as that.”
That’s all folks. Craig will be doing another show at 10:30, don’t forget to tip your waitress. Thanks for coming.
Hearne, as a reader who has begun to question why I even come here anymore, let me give you some advice: Try harder. Just a little. Shoot for a little thing called “effort.” That includes things as easily accessible as disciplining your own writing (case in point above) as well as keeping your pets on a leash. You might find that you insult the intelligence of fewer people in the process.
Now, if Glazer hangs around long enough to make it to next summer and the Royals continue their ascent with the funnest bunch of young players we’ve had in ages, I’m sure we can all expect Craig to pump out the obligatory “The Royals and Baseball Are Back!” headline. And then we’ll all get a lesson about how great baseball is.
The real question is, how many readers will you have left by the time we get there?
All opinions are subjective, here is mine.
Every year, 28 or so teams, and their cities, in the NFL, think, maybe erroneously, that “This could be the year”.
A great draft pick, a few free agents, and an emerging star gives hope to the most jaded of fans.
Prima facie, just look around THIS city, every July.
The salary cap structure, gives small markets a shot at the trophy.
Baseball, with a few notable exceptions, serves up the same fare every year.
Are the Yankees in the playoffs this year? Oh, ok…
If Clark Glass, or Stienbrenner waved a wand, and suddenly owned every team, in MLB. The very first thing he would do, in my opinion, would be to split up the talent.
HOLY PETE ROZELLE!!!
Every year, no one could say for certain, who would win the world series, and the interest for the sport, increases exponentially.
Fuck Curt Flood.
time to delete this site from favoritess…. again…. oh well.
I really want to support this local (effort) webite, but there is really nothing of interest here…
maybe you should rename it the hearne circle jerk(s)
I wonder why you cant find a real sport person to write sports without being a cynical lil asshole…. ya know?…someone who just reports the stories and gets the comment going…… but…. sigh….. it seems you only hire frinds and most of your friends tend to share the same traits and it makes it all somewhat unpleasent…..
maybe try ya later….. if/when something rerminds of this site…
no snarky reply needed.. I wont be checking back for a while….
I just wanted to let ya know…… I am, or at least was, kind of a hearne fan for 30 years…. oh well
But Then
Not everything that can be counted counts,
And not everything that counts can be counted.
That’s cool. We’ll trot out the black armbands and wear ’em in your honor and in the hope you’ll bump your head (ever so slightly) and have a change of heart.
I’ll pass your re-naming suggestion along too and we’ll take it up after we decide whether to remain in the Big 12
Don’t give up G Man – no arguments here, just a little food for thought for the sporting of mind.
Lazy, huh? We’re not running a sports statistics geek sight her. Just a little food for thought.
That’s deep, man.
Interesting though that we follow baseball on our Apple devices–yet we don’t go to the ballpark to follow Apple. It would be an easy decision for me if I had to give one up–thankfully I don’t.
bleacherreport???
you cited bleacher report? really? you have absolutely no journalistic integrity at all.
What do you expect?
Walking through the water of the souls of Craig and Hearne would hardly get your feet wet.
Mearle The Pearl
Fuckin’ Mearle is EN FUEGO. Disemboweled Nick Wright at Hall’s space last week and the brings the heat with a quadruple sphincterotomy with anal fissures to bear on the God Couple.
The fact that you’ve chosen such pedantic figures to crucify begs the question does your mission have an objective or is this all for the entertainment of our collective id?
It’s a sports opinion site, andy. You got something against opinions? Guess we should turn off the comments section maybe, huh? The difference between the writers on bleacherreport and you is they have the ball to use their real names.
Btw, you left out The Atlantic and the University of Northern Iowa. Did you forget to discredit them?
Quick question: How do we get that stuff of yours we just stepped in off our feet, soul man?
Just wait Hearne
It will probably come off the next time you guys stick your foot in your mouth.
Good to know. Tell you what, I’ll save some for you for the next time you break out of the orphanage
That’s ok Hearne
I wouldn’t want to deprive you.
Real name?
What is your obsession with people not using their real name? Some folks are private, get over it.