Is Anyone Watching This World Series?
Tigers vs. Cards. Can it get any more yawn than this? I know that The Media can't seem to write a sentence anticipating the MLB postseason without beginning it with A-Rod and ending it with Papi, but this is too much. Why will this Series suck? (1) There are no "cursed" teams, or at least ones that the general populace cares about. I didn't even know Detroit had a baseball team until I dated someone from Michigan. Until then, I assumed that when someone said "Go Tigers" they were referring to Princeton. At least with the past 2 years, both winning teams' fan bases got a taste of "Thank you, now I can die in peace" relief. (2) The teams are from cities that have lost their relevancy. Sorry, Detroit, but the real "Motor City" probably exists somewhere in Germany or Japan. No one buys American-made cars anymore. In fact, the amount of people I know who would rather buy a donkey than an American-made car vastly outnumber the people I know who actually own American-made cars (I do have an uncle who won't buy anything other than an American-made car, which makes me wonder if I was adopted). Unless GM gets bought out by a foreign-owned white knight, the company's going down like a led zepplin, and rightfully so. But I digress. And what of St. Louis? What do they have other than That Arch and a cutesy musical? Bad domestic macro-brewed beer that no one drinks once they graduate from college, i.e. once they can afford real beer? (3) Both teams are from small markets. This is why the Yankees are the best thing in baseball. Either you love them, or you hate them, but either way, you'll watch the Series praying for their victory or their demise. If the Mets were in the Series, EVERYONE from the country's largest market would be watching. As it stands, most people on the Eastern and Western seaboards essentially view the post-season as over. And if the East and West Coasts don't care, no one does. (4) Cards fans look conspicuously blonde. While watching the 2004 WS, I noticed that the Cards' stadium was populated by a Hitler Youth-esque crowd. Is there any ethnic diversity in their fan base? Is there any ethnic diversity in the city of St. Louis? At least Detroit's fan base is from, well, Detroit. While the rest of Michigan may be whitewashed (with the possible exception of Ann Arbor), at least Detroit has some urban flavor. I'd thus be rooting for the Tigers if my ex-boyfriend weren't so much a fan (so I thus feel obligated to root against them). As the current situation stands, I'll just somehow wish there was a way for both teams to lose. But, in some ways, both fan bases already have lost. Can you get excellent hungarian food, sushi, tapas and fondue all within a 3-mile radius of either stadium? Does either city possess world-renowned theaters, art exhibits and architecture? Can you walk down the streets of either city's downtown area and pass native speakers of 7 different languages? Is either city vital to not only the economy of America, but that of the world? Call me, Detroit and St. Louis, when you can answer "yes" to any of the above. Question for the Audience: Do you care about this World Series? Why or why not?
posted by Plain Jane Jones @ 8:16 AM
8 Comments:
USC sucks.
I second the "USC sucking" comment.
News flash to those in NYC and even the West Coast. The world does not revolve around you. If you don't want to watch the series b/c your overspending, underachieving teams aren't in it, fine. We won't miss you. Even if everyone in NYC turned off the t.v., they're more than enough people to get the ratings needed.
To those who have at least some working knowledge of the game of baseball and its history, this is not only a good series. It's a great one. Both teams are from awesome baseball towns. While there is no cubs-type curse, one team came from out of nowhere and hasn't been competitive since the late eighties. You don't have overpaid, underpreforming atheletes. Instead, you have rookies who've torn up the league and the playoffs going at it. You've got Kenny Rogers making the post-season his bitch, and the series is tied up. I hate to break it to you, but watching one team kick the ever-living shit out of another for four straight games isn't fun to watch either (Even if you're on the side that wins).
Also, the relevancy of the city doesn't mean shit in baseball. It's a sport, not a popularity contest.
Finally, you might want to check where your next Auto was made before you make statements that you'll never drive an American car. The Benz you covet so much is built in Alabama. Toyota too.
Huskerhornfan is correct, actually. Both teams in the World Series have long histories and are in major baseball towns.
Anyway, if you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_television_ratings, you'll notice that the "Subway Series" in 2000 did not have great ratings (61% of the televisions in New York watched Game 5 but the next thirty largest television markets, during that same exact viewing period, registered double digit percentage losses compared to the market in New York City). Same with other World Series featuring two "coastal" teams.
"Finally, you might want to check where your next Auto was made before you make statements that you'll never drive an American car."
I know full well that German and Japanese auto makers have factories in the U.S. that make their cars. But the technology and engineering behind them, to my knowledge, is the property of foreign-owned car companies. I'm sure that engineers of all countries collaborate to create new models, but the intellectual property that comes out of such an exercise is not American-owned.
I know that a lot of foreign car companies have factories in the South. Which is precisely why it's so stupid when people say "Buy American" to support the American worker when it's foreign car companies employing the factory workers in the South. Midwesterners who want people to buy Ford and GM to support the jobs of their neighbors should really be saying "Buy Detroit", even though that would be adverse to the interests of the Southern auto factory workers employed by Toyota and other competitors of Ford and GM.
I remember people caring about the California series. Quite a few people dressed up as the Rally Monkey who didn't have an affiliation for either team.
The best World Series are always those with the Yankees in it; since people (myself included) watch in hopes that they lose.
RE: Detroit
Can you get excellent hungarian food, sushi, tapas and fondue all within a 3-mile radius of either stadium?
Though not a Detroiter, I've spent some time there and feel qualified to comment. Hungarian village, for one, is a few miles from the stadium. I don't eat tapas. There's a good tapas place like a mile away in Windsor, same for sushi. Fondue ... I wouldn't know.
Does either city possess world-renowned theaters, art exhibits and architecture?
Yes, Detroit has the most live theatre seats in the US outside of NYC, and the FOX and State are considered absolute gems. The Detroit Opera House is superb, and the DSO is (or was, I don't keep up) top-tier. The Detroit Institute of Arts is the fifth-largest US fine arts museum. Check the wikipedia entry on it for an idea of its prominence. Detroit is also arguably the art deco capital of the world when it comes to architecture, with the Guardian Building (masterpiece), Penobscot, and Fisher.
Can you walk down the streets of either city's downtown area and pass native speakers of 7 different languages?
English, Spanish, French (next to Canada), Arabic, Polish, Greek, German, Italian, etc. Among others, Detroit has the largest Arabic-speaking population outside of the Middle East, the second largest Polish population in America (only Chicago has more), and the largest U.S. concentration of Belgians, Chaldeans and Maltese."
Is either city vital to not only the economy of America, but that of the world?
First, no *one* city is vital (other than DC/surrounding area for gov't). The world and the USA would go on without any one city. Other cities would pick up the slack and be glad to if NYC were erased from the map. Similarly, it's all relative. Some cities are more needed, others less so. That being said, GM/Ford are still huge corporations and vastly outsell others in non-urban areas. Take a look around a boring tract subdivision or any farm and you'll probably see "Chevy" or Ford logos.
In short, it's a bit ironic to me that you espouse the cosmopolitan and "superior" nature of NYC while making conjecture as to what these two cities are about. Granted, they're losing relevance, but there obviously were a number of "yes" answers to your questions.
Oh, and you can hear ebonics in detroit, too. ;)
"Yes, Detroit has the most live theatre seats in the US outside of NYC, and the FOX and State are considered absolute gems. The Detroit Opera House is superb, and the DSO is (or was, I don't keep up) top-tier. The Detroit Institute of Arts is the fifth-largest US fine arts museum. Check the wikipedia entry on it for an idea of its prominence. Detroit is also arguably the art deco capital of the world when it comes to architecture, with the Guardian Building (masterpiece), Penobscot, and Fisher."
Thank you for this extremely informative response. It makes me think that the problem isn't so much the cities themselves, but their residents; more specifically, the residents who couldn't care less about all the great cultural opportunities surrounding them. If I had someone like you show me Detroit, I probably would find it pleasant.
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