largely, i think there's that perception among baseball fans becaue they feel that only they can understand the subtle nuances of the game. the feeling that, since baseball is a game of such subtlety and precision, that every moment counts moreso in baseball than in any other sport when nothing could be farther from the truth. baseball games are boring, they're long, and many times they just suck. baseball is still my favorite game, but not because i think it's the greatest game ever or that there's some sort of real magic and mystique surrounding it. i like it because my background is in psychology and statistics and i think quantifying human behavior is the quest for understanding the human mind. i see a lot of this in baseball, more than any other sport, there's enough of a sample size to really delve down deep to find out what really makes the game tick. when you do this in respect to baseball, you find that the game isn't a game of nuance and subtle complexity, but a game of common sense. the teams that win year after year understand this. the teams that don't win, curse their inability to execute the inane, nonsensical fundamentals of the game--and that becomes the scapegoat for a poor season, EVERY single time. find me a team that loses and doesn't blame their poor results on a lack of fundamentals and i'll buy you a coke. i love how the game drives me completely insane for a few hours and causes me to believe in magic and ghosts and curses, but the main reason is because i've always admired the common sense of perrenial winners and their understanding of the absolute simplicity of it all.