Thusly Boned

Illinois won because Iowa is faceplanting. The Hawks are going to get a mediocre seed and be one and done.

No, that's hockey.

Right. To be clear, I'm not saying football is only for idiots, but that idiots are more likely to gravitate to football than baseball. Idiots often get bored of baseball because of the traits you mentioned. Football simply has a broader appeal, and as such, a greater portion of its fans are very casual. Baseball players are the world's dumbest athletes. Plenty of idiots are drawn to baseball. 65,000 people get to attend a football game 8 times a year. Baseball has all sorts of broadly clueless casual fans. Did I say otherwise? Of course there are, how else do you account for Cardinals fans? But football is the most popular sport in the country by a large margin, and it isn't because all or most of those people are students of the game who enjoy the strategic nuance. It's because it has a broader appeal than pretty much any other North American sport. Because of its pace and nature (far fewer people would call it "boring", I'd wager), it's more appealing to the casual fan. I fail to see how this is a controversial position at all, unless a knowledgeable fan feels defensive because they think it's an indictment of them somehow. Every sport has a preponderance of idiot fans, that goes without saying. Frankly, being a sports fan of any type isn't a particularly intellectual pursuit. None of them are really all that complex, and being emotionally invested in something extraneous and over which one has zero control is pretty dumb on its face, but here we are. As far as which sport has the dumbest athletes, I'm gonna need a citation for the claim that baseball does. Not that I think that baseball has genius players, but because pretty much all professional athletes fall onto the same spectrum of dimness. I've watched hundreds of post game interviews, press conferences, etc. over the years, and they all sound like the same breed of caveman to me.

Right. To be clear, I'm not saying football is only for idiots, but that idiots are more likely to gravitate to football than baseball. Idiots often get bored of baseball because of the traits you mentioned. Football simply has a broader appeal, and as such, a greater portion of its fans are very casual.

Yeah, it's anecdotal, obviously. Most of the people I talk sports with are really into baseball, are well versed in statistics, and obviously that has a lot to do with it. But knowing the basic formations is pretty superficial knowledge, and as you say, beyond that, it usually devolves into ranting about intangibles, leadership, toughness and "knowing how to win". And maybe some quasi-knowledgeable bitching about rules/penalties. At football viewing parties I've been to, there's typically a small handful of knowledgeable fans, and a much larger contingent who root hard, but who need the few to explain anything not completely obvious to them.

My experience has been the opposite, to say the least.

it's also the most easily analyzed because it's so simple, which is kinda why smarter, more analytically minded fans love it, even though that's kind of oxymoronic Analytically minded people (stat heads) love it because in baseball, individual performance is easily quantifiable (relatively). There aren't as many variables involved, and team performance can be reduced to an equation much more easily.

I think the lowest common denominator comment is way off. Consider that in a sport like football, where coaching and strategy actually matter, as opposed to baseball, where it's all about getting the best players and having them play. Baseball writers have always pretended it was more of a thinking man's game when it never was. It's just a very simple game and that's what makes it so great. Oh, there's next to no actual team strategy in baseball, which is why I find the arguments against the universal DH to be feeble. My LCD comment was more in reference to being violent and requiring next to no attention span on the part of the fan. It requires very little of the viewer in order to enjoy it (though a knowledgeable fan can obviously derive more from it). Though it does have strategy, it's the violence, speed, and pace of the game that is the foundation of its appeal, imo. I would confidently wager that a much larger portion of football fans are knuckle draggers than is true of baseball fans. It's all subjective taste, but the way the pace of baseball fosters anticipation, the strategy (not team strategy, but mano a mano, pitcher/battery versus batter), and sheer skill and focus required of the player all make baseball more compelling to me.

Football is fun to watch in its violent, short attention span requiring, lowest common denominator way, and part of me enjoys that. And those traits have made it successful, and will ensure it remains popular. But it's not nearly as compelling to me as baseball is. A decent way to pass most of the baseball offseason, though.

I'm sure some of the concern is pretense, but it's more of a visible issue than ever. I think we're going start hearing more of what Antwaan Randle-El said about wishing he had chosen baseball (from those who had the choice). Making it from the draft to MLB is trickier, but in addition to fewer serious long term health effects, career longevity and earning potential in baseball is so much better than in the NFL. Neither sport is particularly accessible financially, though as we see budgets cut, it'll probably hurt football more. I don't there is much danger of fans abandoning football out of some sort of moral opposition, as many people will always love their gladiatorial spectacle. I think the more immediate issue is talent drain as parents and advisors start steering kids away. Also, I'm not sure what effect dialing down the violence of the NFL will/would have long term, but I think changes are coming. Football isn't in any danger of falling off precipitously, but there are looming issues.

I don't baseball supplanting the popularity of the NFL any time soon. Most people don't care about football players getting concussions. At least not enough to stop watching football. Probably not in the very near term, but if the NFL doesn't do something substantive about player safety, it's going to bite them hard before long. It's becoming a more visible issue, players are expressing regrets over choosing the wrong sport, and we may well see the tide turn when it comes to athletes choosing football before baseball. There's a long way to go before we can talk about MLB supplanting the NFL, but it's entirely possible we've reached the zenith of football's popularity.

And he takes a walk. He looks like he has a very good feel for the strike zone.

Contreras having a quality AB.

Edwards had a good first batter, but has lost his command. But he gets the gidp to end the inning.

Edwards, Alcantara, Almora, Candelario and Contreras in.

Russell bomb. No doubter to LF.

Baez broken bat single and SB.

He threw the walker aside to make that play.

Nice play in the hole by Zobrist.

Snoozefest thus far.

Johnson out, Fife in.

A few of the more level headed guys over there were trying to talk sense to the others, but the mob was hell bent on vilifying Fowler, Close, and the Cubs. Anything but admit there was any fault with the Orioles FO or the Baltimore media.

Well, I appreciate the sentiment but Victorino is probably below replacement level at this point. Yeah, I don't see how he will be appreciably better than Szczur at this point, but he probably won't be any worse. Maybe the thinking is that he'll add a leadership component. Or something.

I'm not sure we have enough outfield depth, guys.

Yeah, they're lucky Gallardo still signed with them after they played hardball with him. They probably feel emboldened because it's the end of the offseason, but trying to bulldog players isn't a good look. On the other hand, I don't blame them for not giving Dex an opt out. Their farm system is not in great shape and I can understand them not wanting to give up another first round pick for one year of a non-impact player.