Dragging
I'm dragging just a little bit this morning as I tried to stay up and watch the entire game last night. It didn't work. I fell asleep in the 11th, woke up about 11:40 and went straight to bed. Anyway, I was pulling for the Astros to win. Not because I want the Astros to win the Series or that I don't want the Sox to win, but a 3-0 Series at this point is a lot less interesting than 2-1 would be. From a standpoint of a baseball fan and not particularly a fan of either team, a drawn out series with multiple lead changes and drama at every turn is infinitely more entertaining than a lopsided victory by either team. What baseball doesn't need is a series sweep for the second year in a row. Each game individually has been very entertaining with plenty of tension and playmaking, but collectively are turning out to be only slightly more entertaining than the 2004 WS.
Things were looking pretty good for the Astros heading into the 5th with a 4-0 lead and Oswalt pitching well. The game changed quickly though with the Sox sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Oswalt's fastball which was clocking in at 96-97 mph in the first was only registering at 93-94 by the fifth and the Sox hitters weren't being fooled at all. The Houston bullpen pitched admirably and kept them in the game until the offense could rebound and tie it up in the 8th. Houston may be getting used to these marathon games, now having played the longest game in playoff history and the longest game in World Series history.
It seems like the networks that broadcast the championships for the major sports always feel it necessary to unveil some technological or graphical innovation with each year's telecast. Fox, possibly the most notorious for this, has had it's FoxTrax gadget this year. FoxTrax is a graphic that illustrates the location of a pitch, indicating the speed and break (in inches) up or down of the pitch. After three games of seeing it and evaluating it, the staff at DITR has decided it is useless and distracting from the action on the field. It really doesn't enhance the game and it's... ok, I'll say it, stupid. (We don't use that word around our house, having a three-year-old and all.) I happen to like Dusty Saunder's take at the RMN that he longs for the good ole' days when the only things on the screen were the players, umpires and managers.
Another thing that I'm starting to have a problem with is the endless replays from every possible angle. If a ball is foul, I don't need to see from multiple angles if it was two feet or ten feet foul. If it's hard to see from the live angle, show it was foul in a replay and move on. Don't get me wrong. Replays are good, but sometimes the networks get a little carried away. Plays that have been highly controversial this postseason, (the ball in the dirt with Pierzynski, the hitbatsmen with Dye) all probably happened in the past. However, with instant replay from so many angles, the networks can determine if close plays were the right call or wrong call, usually before the next play occurs. The results are often claims that the umpires unfairly helped determine the outcome of a game. DITR takes the stand, along with others, that the umpires reviewing plays by looking at replays has no place in baseball.
Things were looking pretty good for the Astros heading into the 5th with a 4-0 lead and Oswalt pitching well. The game changed quickly though with the Sox sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Oswalt's fastball which was clocking in at 96-97 mph in the first was only registering at 93-94 by the fifth and the Sox hitters weren't being fooled at all. The Houston bullpen pitched admirably and kept them in the game until the offense could rebound and tie it up in the 8th. Houston may be getting used to these marathon games, now having played the longest game in playoff history and the longest game in World Series history.
It seems like the networks that broadcast the championships for the major sports always feel it necessary to unveil some technological or graphical innovation with each year's telecast. Fox, possibly the most notorious for this, has had it's FoxTrax gadget this year. FoxTrax is a graphic that illustrates the location of a pitch, indicating the speed and break (in inches) up or down of the pitch. After three games of seeing it and evaluating it, the staff at DITR has decided it is useless and distracting from the action on the field. It really doesn't enhance the game and it's... ok, I'll say it, stupid. (We don't use that word around our house, having a three-year-old and all.) I happen to like Dusty Saunder's take at the RMN that he longs for the good ole' days when the only things on the screen were the players, umpires and managers.
Another thing that I'm starting to have a problem with is the endless replays from every possible angle. If a ball is foul, I don't need to see from multiple angles if it was two feet or ten feet foul. If it's hard to see from the live angle, show it was foul in a replay and move on. Don't get me wrong. Replays are good, but sometimes the networks get a little carried away. Plays that have been highly controversial this postseason, (the ball in the dirt with Pierzynski, the hitbatsmen with Dye) all probably happened in the past. However, with instant replay from so many angles, the networks can determine if close plays were the right call or wrong call, usually before the next play occurs. The results are often claims that the umpires unfairly helped determine the outcome of a game. DITR takes the stand, along with others, that the umpires reviewing plays by looking at replays has no place in baseball.
posted by Todd Nikkel | 8:05 AM
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