caulfield12

See all those banking, real estate and mortgage loan originators who are sitting in jail now after the 2008-09 financial crisis. The more white collar or celebrity you are, the lower the probability that anything of consequence actually happens to you. The two counter-examples that come to mind are "insider trading" (Martha Stewart, Phil Mickelson) and then the more recent university admissions scandal.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mets-advisor-jessica-mendoza-calls-out-mike-fiers-for-exposing-astros-cheating-scandal-183736726.html How she still has an ESPN job with this obvious conflict of interest is beyond me. Ironic, that she might be getting fired or asked to resign on the same day the Giants just hired the first full-time female coach at the MLB level.

I think it was simplistically a way to prove some cover for KW and JR...they knew a dark time was coming, they’d been putting it off for around five years at least, and they still pushed it until mid-season 2016. Hard to criticize the manager when he was a lifetime fan favorite of many...back in the fold after ending his career “outside the family.” Plus, without the experience, everything would be chalked up to learning on the job...so how can you criticize someone management put in an impossible position? But, he didn't even want it, so he’s nobly soldiering on, etc.

See current college admissions cheating scandal and its poster child, the martial arts expert, Lori Loughlin.

That’s all you hear about in Asia. Especially the Korean teams, Faker and Ambition...the Chinese have a top player now too, although roughly 75% of the top teams are still based out of S.Korea.

Kintzler was decent for the Twins as well. Just not sure of the asking price at this point. Can’t be too onerous.

They just needed someone to take it on the chin for the team after 2011 and Ozzie/Dunn. The problem is they actually played over their heads for most of 2012, going with something like 13 rookie pitchers over the course of the season. Of course, 2013-2016 wasn’t as much fun, other than Abreu, Sale, Eaton and Q. 2016 was about as much of a disaster as 2011. Just wonder what he did in 2012 that was so effective, other than NOT bring Guillen. Then it all just disappeared, poof. Beckham and Viciedo being massive disappointments didn’t help much.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-pass-red-sox-in-appeal-with-josh-donaldson-s-addition-and-alex-cora-s-subtraction/567020282/?ref=nl&om_rid=48311239113&om_mid=619812297

https://www.mlb.com/news/best-free-agent-available-at-each-position

A lot of those illegal free sports streaming sites have that an attached chat function but it’s a complete free for all and almost distracting when it’s people rooting blindly for their favorite college teams. Sportsurge.net, for example. I was able to watch most of the NCAA title game this week at work through that one, although there was a significant lag.

https://nypost.com/2020/01/15/chris-russo-takes-aim-at-justin-verlander-in-astros-cheating-scandal/

The NBA added billions in revenue and viewership due to Yao Ming/China. Unfortunately, Latin America is not extremely wealthy. Mexico's the closest you get to a potential new market, along with Montreal. Japan/S.Korea/Taiwan, each are too far away to make bi-weekly travel unfeasible, although it's possible to imagine a future where their championship teams take part in the end of a season against the MLB teams but in a "real stakes" format as compared to the WBC. That would require a significant increase in talent in the Pacific Rim. That's pretty unlikely to happen. So the question is obviously if there is an area for growth. NFL has England, they tried the World League and football is also somewhat popular in Australia/New Zealand, but the NFL's pinned in as well in terms of future markets/expansion. Countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa are some of the real wild cards here in terms of the future of the game. Baseball is close enough to cricket, but that's still a unique/distinctive quasi-religion there that will never catch on in the States. Salary/Endorsement Earnings for ten highest paid in every sport: NBA: $600M Soccer: $555M NFL: $376M MLB: $315M NHL: $159M Avg. Team Values per @Forbes NFL: $2.6 billion NBA: $1.9 billion MLB: $1.7 billion NHL: $630 million On the other hand, MLB overall revenue is significantly higher than the NBA...with the NFL far and away #1, MLB #2, the English Premier League #3 and NBA close behind at #4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2018/01/12/has-mlb-been-passed-by-the-nba-in-popularity-the-problems-with-the-gallup-poll/#5533426e2cd3 Fans of basketball and soccer rejoice! Baseball fans panic! Analysts say, "Wait a second..." Here’s the deal: while historically you can say that the categories hold true, what has greatly changed is exposure to the types of products within each. It’s here that “baseball” bumps up into a disadvantage the other sports don’t. When you read “baseball” you think of MLB. When you read “basketball”, “football”, and "soccer" you think of NBA, the NFL, NCAA Basketball, NCAA Football, MLS, Premier League, and a host of other soccer leagues now visible on television. When it comes to baseball, nothing other than Major League Baseball gets the coverage close to its counterparts in the Gallup poll, sans the College World Series. Ask how often you see collegiate baseball outside that. Or for that matter, Minor League Baseball;. There’s also timing. The Gallup poll was conducted December 4-11 of 2017. That is at the height of MLB’s off-season and at the height of football season with the NBA season underway. So, depending on your preferences, if you’re a fan of basketball or soccer, you may see the Gallup numbers as reaffirming your ideology. At the same time, if you’re a baseball fan, you might wonder what other data shows. ESPN polling (of which the latest has not yet been run), presents a more granular view. In fairness to soccer fans, the poll only shows MLS, and no other soccer leagues. Within that data, MLB is seen as the second-most popular behind the NFL, followed by collegiate football, and then the NBA.

Wasn't it something like Netflix that had 119 new programs in the last year? That's nuts. And 32 Golden Globes nominations for their films. 1) Esports/Computer games 2) XGames/extreme sports 3) Ubiquitous nature of Social media (which obviously has to be more incorporated into the sports world) 4) Middle class is working increasingly longer hours, or two jobs (single parents)...generally economic decline leading to decreased family viewing and attendance versus corporate/elites/comps for clients/suite rentals 5) Cord-cutting, pay t.v. is too expensive 6) More engagement in politics than at any time in recent memory 7) Lots of Americans prefer hunting/fishing/camping/hiking 8 High cost of sports attendance/concessions/souvenirs leading to less loyalty (see Greg775) 9) Increased interest in futbol/soccer around the world 10) Lack of nationally-identifiable stars to promote the sport (see Commissioner's lectures on Trout's ambivalence) 11) Fewer nuclear families, so there's less of a bond between fathers and sons around watching the sport or playing catch in the backyard 12) Times and pace of games 13) Cost of participating in summer/touring teams...many are being priced out, just simple access to fields, equipment, etc. 14) Quality of baseball instruction at lower/youth levels declining..."win at all costs" parents who live out their lives vicariously through their kids and fight either the refs/umps or other parents 15) Increased disconnect between billionaire owners, millionaire players and consumers...more found at college and low minor league level 16) Professional sports increasing politicized/political correctness movement/attacks on mascots or even Title IX/gender equity backlash

https://nypost.com/2020/01/15/mets-carlos-beltran-mess-puts-mike-piazza-in-awkward-spot/ Mets are going to have to decide if they want Beltran at the Mike Piazza event in Florida Thursday a.m. https://theathletic.com/1532563/2020/01/15/carig-notes-from-a-roadside-conversation-with-the-elusive-sammy-sosa/?source=dailyemail

Well, as a recently-minted 50 year old, I'll firmly count myself in Generation X box...the first generation that was much more NFL-oriented than baseball. For me, it's MLB, NCAA BB, NCAA FB, NFL...then a big gap down to golf (mostly the five majors) and tennis. Fwiw, I really love following baseball through MLB At-Bat, especially the home and away radio (because the video streams aren't always reliable here in China) announcers and this year for sure I'll pay attention to the White Sox on a daily basis again through getting the team package (thankfully, few blackouts). In Iowa, that was a nightmare. The only games were basically every other Saturday/Sunday via free t.v. through the third local ABC channel. Ironically, my friends with DISH and Directv couldn't watch most of those same games despite paying for the MLB packages.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/briangoff/2019/12/16/long-term-viewership-trends-show-warnings-for-nfl-nba-and-other-major-sports/#1fe4cbd0584f Thought this was an interesting article...a lot of stories coming out in the last few days (after Astros/Cora-Gate) have been speaking about the threat to the sport, about baseball increasingly becoming a regional and not national one (in this area, the NFL and NBA have the advantage), about how the NFL and college football product (NCAA basketball is terribly watered down this year) dominate the landscape. Some of it's clearly about marketing, the pace of the game, the average age of 57 for a fan that ranks baseball as his favorite sport, etc. Of course, on the other hand, baseball still ranks ahead of the NBA in terms of revenue and is about even in terms of franchise values. That's still a monumental change from the 1970's and 80's, before the age of Bird/Magic/Jordan. The NBA has the China market and much of the globe....MLB dominates in Latin America/Mexico and the Pacific Rim (Japan/S.Korea/Taiwan). India is a world all of its own. In terms of football, parents are increasingly becoming concerned about football injuries, which we've been talking for at least the last 5-10 years about CTE and concussions...so it's hard to imagine the NFL ever getting MORE popular from here on out, especially with the end of the Brady/Belichick Era. What happens in the NBA once LeBron retires and the Golden State Warriors dynasty is dissolved? Well, it's already resulting in NBA viewership being down (along with Zion Williamson being out.) The article also talks about NASCAR's ebbs and flows, you can certainly say the same for golf for much of the last decade with Tiger Woods out of contention for the majority of that time. Baseball, despite national/local media talking about its demise, is still thriving...all things considered. It just won't be the 1950's and 60's version where kids all skipped school to watch games during the daytime, listened to the radio wherever they were or found the nearest black & white television in a department store window to watch. It's also pretty clear the Cubs and White Sox were at least five years too late to really take advantage of the most profitable broadcast rights deals...although sports will always be viable when compared to the rising production costs and billions invested by Netflix, Apple, Disney, Hulu, HBO, CBS All Access and Peacock for movies and series development. Lots of different ways to take the conversation. Just thought it was an interesting topic, and it certainly will be back in the news with Marquee Network having to announce their fee structure in February and comparing Cubs/White Sox ratings and broadcast production values.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/why-mlb-teams-look-to-college-baseball-for-pitching-coaches-but-not-managers/

Some will feel that Cora and Hinch are the scapegoats for actions committed by the players, who escaped any punishment. That's an argument, I suppose. But history tells us players are incapable of policing themselves, as in the steroids era when few players spoke out against what was happening (former Texas Rangers pitcher Rick Helling was a notable exception). Indeed, if Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers, a member of the 2017 Astros, hadn't broken the player code of silence, we might not be where we are today. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28486412/two-managers-gone-two-days-losing-alex-cora-aj-hinch-means-baseball So we have two examples of players who came forward, and Fiers waited until he was off the team and left off the post-season roster as well... https://sports.yahoo.com/column-astros-punishment-dodgers-pay-price-063003118--mlb.html

According to ESPN, Mets are still considering how to play to play the Beltran situation. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28490598/sources-mets-assessing-manager-carlos-beltran-astros-fallout

Well, it used to be affiliates accentuating or emphasizing their local roots and running in the opposite direction of the Chicago connection, so there’s that. We’re the 2013 Royals. Pegged at 84-86 wins (2020 Sox), they finished 86-76.

https://atmilb.com/36Y2EO8 It’s now cool/hip/trendy to be associated with the White Sox again...so that’s a positive development.

Kind of difficult for a university to turn down the best player in the history of the program and maybe one of the ten most famous college baseball players of all-time.

Some in the media used to deliberately spell what Latino players would say back in the 50’s and 60’s, using phonetic pronunciation to make them look bad. It even happened with Sosa. OR, he’s just a lousy typist on a mobile phone and doesn’t take time to correct it.

Wonder if the Indians’ drumming guy will switch it up for Houston?

How many men under age 35 do you know who’ve watched the movie...and didn’t do it at the urging of wife or gf? Just curious.