National Radio Rant

[CySeymour]

Sorry to rant, but I am so upset with the national morning radio shows. First off, Mike & Mike only want to talk football. Period. And at that, they spend too much time talking about Greenberg's favorite team, the Jets. He tries to bring every conversation around to the Jets.

You would think with the Division Series starting that MLB would get a pretty good presence on the show, right? Wrong. Regular season NFL is all they want to talk about.

And when they do get around to baseball, it all comes back to the Yankees series. They pretty much only mention the Reds series when they read the scores. No real talk about how they had to pull a rabbit out of their hat Saturday night with Cueto going out. Nope. But you can bet if they Yankees had lost Sabathia after 2 hitters and won, that is all they would have talked about.

Sorry, I know this is kinda childish to rant about, but why can't these national shows talk about things besides the NFL and NY teams?

[George Anderson]

Sorry, I know this is kinda childish to rant about, but why can't these national shows talk about things besides the NFL and NY teams?

Ratings

[CySeymour]

Ratings

Yeah, I know...but here in Indy, I think we only have 2 choices for over the air morning sports shows.

[westofyou]

More people = more interest

Why even go there for what you need, you don't go to a cat house for love

[CySeymour]

More people = more interest

Why even go there for what you need, you don't go to a cat house for love

lol

[buckeyenut]

Sorry to rant, but I am so upset with the national morning radio shows. First off, Mike & Mike only want to talk football. Period. And at that, they spend too much time talking about Greenberg's favorite team, the Jets. He tries to bring every conversation around to the Jets.

You would think with the Division Series starting that MLB would get a pretty good presence on the show, right? Wrong. Regular season NFL is all they want to talk about.

And when they do get around to baseball, it all comes back to the Yankees series. They pretty much only mention the Reds series when they read the scores. No real talk about how they had to pull a rabbit out of their hat Saturday night with Cueto going out. Nope. But you can bet if they Yankees had lost Sabathia after 2 hitters and won, that is all they would have talked about.

Sorry, I know this is kinda childish to rant about, but why can't these national shows talk about things besides the NFL and NY teams?

If we aren't up 2-0, Cueto going down is a HUGE freaking deal. With the way this team picked up the slack, he really has some time to get himself right and it isn't a big deal. This is where our pitching this year really comes into play. How many teams would have a guy like Bailey to go to in this situation, a guy currently on run of 10 runs allowed in his last 48.2 innings with a recent no hitter to boot, a guy who wasn't scheduled to even pitch in this series?

[DGullett35]

Sorry to rant, but I am so upset with the national morning radio shows. First off, Mike & Mike only want to talk football. Period. And at that, they spend too much time talking about Greenberg's favorite team, the Jets. He tries to bring every conversation around to the Jets.

You would think with the Division Series starting that MLB would get a pretty good presence on the show, right? Wrong. Regular season NFL is all they want to talk about.

And when they do get around to baseball, it all comes back to the Yankees series. They pretty much only mention the Reds series when they read the scores. No real talk about how they had to pull a rabbit out of their hat Saturday night with Cueto going out. Nope. But you can bet if they Yankees had lost Sabathia after 2 hitters and won, that is all they would have talked about.

Sorry, I know this is kinda childish to rant about, but why can't these national shows talk about things besides the NFL and NY teams?

I agree with you 100%. Also who else thinks TBS's baseball coverage is horrid? They know absolutely nothing about the teams that they are covering or the teams in the playoffs. They act like Bronson has never went 7 innings in his life. I understand that the magnitude of a playoff game makes his performance good but if I remember correctly he did have a 1 hit shutout in SD before the All-Star break this year and had another complete game somewhere along the lines too. Hes been good all year. And another thing Im getting tired about hearing is Joey Votto's lack of power and how that will doom the Reds. Everyone outside of Cincinnati forgets we went 22-3 without him. This team gets no respect from any national media and hopefully this team is using that as some sort of motivation. The only comment I heard that made the announcers act like they knew what they were talking about was when Ron Darling said "Dusty would love to have Stubbs bat leadoff but he strikes out way too much". And last, in Fridays edition of the USA Today they had capsules of all the playoff teams and at the bottom of the Reds capsule they mentioned that GABP had banners up commemerating the 1869 and 1976 teams(I think those were the 2) and it said that those 2 things will remind fans that there is some sort of history associated with this team. What a JOKE. Sorry for the rant also. A quick question to all of you. Who else is muting there TV and listening to 700 for all these playoff games? I am.

[OldRightHander]

ESPN starts talking NFL in July, so this really doesn't surprise me.

[RedsMan3203]

Lets face it, no matter what... The Reds will never be a media darling.... Or any team outside Ohio State in this state will be a media darling....

Just how it is....

[cumberlandreds]

ESPN is all about football. All other sports are just filler time for them. If I want baseball talk I go elsewhere. Any sports fans should know that by now. I quit listening to ESPN radio long ago.

[CySeymour]

Lets face it, no matter what... The Reds will never be a media darling.... Or any team outside Ohio State in this state will be a media darling....

Just how it is....

For me, it isn't even about the Reds. It's about baseball in general, and any team not named "Yankees."


ESPN is all about football. All other sports are just filler time for them. If I want baseball talk I go elsewhere. Any sports fans should know that by now. I quit listening to ESPN radio long ago.

Here in Indy, I don't have a lot of other options.

[OldRightHander]

ESPN is all about football. All other sports are just filler time for them. If I want baseball talk I go elsewhere. Any sports fans should know that by now. I quit listening to ESPN radio long ago.

That's funny, because for me, the other sports serve as filler for when baseball isn't on. Football is something to do during the offseason.

[cumberlandreds]

That's funny, because for me, the other sports serve as filler for when baseball isn't on. Football is something to do during the offseason.

Me too. Baseball and college basketball are top two for me. Over the years I have slowly lost interest in the NFL for whatever reason. It just doesn't fo much for me and really haven't watched much this season. I'd much rather watch baseball.
In DC this morning it was all about football even though their team just won their first post season game in nearly 80 years. Hardly a mention of the Nationals. This is and will always be a Redskin town.

[bucksfan2]

For me, it isn't even about the Reds. It's about baseball in general, and any team not named "Yankees."



Here in Indy, I don't have a lot of other options.

I actually think Mike and Mike do a decent job. The problem with baseball is no one really talks about it. They do spend a disproportionate time on the Yankees but unfortunately they have the most fans as well as anit-fans. They spend a lot of time talking about the BoSox as well this season.

Unless they have a baseball analysis on they don't talk a whole lot of baseball when the NFL is in season. Even when they do its normally Buster Yankee who has a strong NY Boston lean. They lost a lot when Peter Gammons quit doing his segment on Mike and Mike.

Lets be honest Baseball did itself no help by having the games on TBS and having two games end past Midnight eastern time. I give credit to the NFL who on work nights has the playoff games ending no later than 9-10 as opposed to baseball who doesn't. There was no reason that the Reds game couldn't have started at 630. There was no reason they couldn't use TNT and stagger two MLB games within an hours start time.

[WildcatFan]

Me too. Baseball and college basketball are top two for me. Over the years I have slowly lost interest in the NFL for whatever reason. It just doesn't fo much for me and really haven't watched much this season. I'd much rather watch baseball.
In DC this morning it was all about football even though their team just won their first post season game in nearly 80 years. Hardly a mention of the Nationals. This is and will always be a Redskin town.

I'm right with you, and the beauty of that is College basketball takes you to the first Monday of April, otherwise known as Opening Day. They're really a perfect pairing.

I don't care about football at all. I follow what the Bengals and UK do week to week, but that's about it. The result is that Sportscenter, once my favorite thing on television, is pretty much useless to me. All my highlights and analysis come from MLB.com, a couple blogs, and this board.

[medford]

the problem w/ Baseball, is that w/ the exception of the Yankees, its a very regional sport. Redszone is going to be the exception to the rule as many on here are avid baseball fans beyond just football fans. However most people don't have a huge passion for baseball beyond the team they root for along with a mild interest in a handful of other teams.

I think I'm pretty average in that regard. I love watching the Reds, catch them as often as I can, read this board w/ vigor, post when I think its appropriate. However, throw me a mid season Sunday night baseball game involving anyone outside of the Reds and it doesn't jump very high on my radar. On the flip side, throw me any regular season NCAA or NFL football game and I can watch and be entertained. Throw me any NCAA basketball game and about half of the NBA teams that are watchable, and it grabs my attention.

I believe it was Joe Pas who said it, perhaps someone else, but the beauty of baseball is that its a very boring game, then all of a sudden it isn't. Every play in football has action, ever trip up the court in basketball has action. A lot of plays in baseball involve a pitch 6" outside the zone, a routine pop-up, etc... Its much harder to predict when the action is going to come, and you're not going to sit there and wait for it when you have little interest in either team.

The NFL is also heavily betted across the country. Baseball is much tougher to bet, therefor doesn't get as much general interest in that regard. Right now, in KC, Cleveland, LA, Miami, Chicago, etc... there are few people that passionatly care about any of this weekend's playoff games. However, there were many people in all of those markets and many more who cared what happened in the NFL and NCAA. Mike and mike, and any national show is going to cater to their largest audience, and that rarely is going to be baseball on a NFL monday.

[Johnny Footstool]

More people = more interest

Why even go there for what you need, you don't go to a cat house for love

What if you love cats?

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

There are plenty of options for anyone anywhere in the country to only get exclusively Cincinnati sports news. No need to listen to the E-SPiN idiots rave about Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning all day.

[OldRightHander]

Then maybe people like me are in the minority. I can turn on any baseball game and watch it, but if it's football, I have to have a rooting interest in the game. I can't just watch a game if I don't care about the outcome. Give me baseball or the EPL, and I can watch any game whether I care about the outcome or not. It's the beauty of the game that goes way beyond the amount of action involved in each play.

[Tadasimha]

Then maybe people like me are in the minority. I can turn on any baseball game and watch it, but if it's football, I have to have a rooting interest in the game. I can't just watch a game if I don't care about the outcome. Give me baseball or the EPL, and I can watch any game whether I care about the outcome or not. It's the beauty of the game that goes way beyond the amount of action involved in each play.

This is me as well - I can watch a baseball game from college on up featuring just about any team an364d enjoy myself. I used to enjoy NFL a lot but in recent years I've gotten less interested in the games. I think the obsessive year-round coverage has soured me on the game. So far this season I have not watched a down of college or NFL football and do not miss it at all.

I cannot count how many MLB games I watched online or on the various television options throughout the year. I also followed games on milb.tv and the various independent leagues that offered streaming of their games.

[Unassisted]

The broadcast rights for a season of NFL games cost more than broadcast rights for MLB games, plus there are fewer of them. That alone tells you which sport is higher in the pecking order.

ESPN also has no TV rights to MLB games anymore, so their parent company's financial interest is best met by drumming up interest in the NFL's product. An affiliate of Fox Sports Radio is more likely to meet your needs than an ESPN affiliate.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Me too. Baseball and college basketball are top two for me. Over the years I have slowly lost interest in the NFL for whatever reason. It just doesn't fo much for me and really haven't watched much this season. I'd much rather watch baseball.

Exactly where I am too. One difference, I haven't watched ANY football in 2 years now. Surprisingly, not even OSU (which I never used to miss). Now it baseball and buckeye basketball.

[fearofpopvol1]

I definitely understand where you're coming from, because I get annoyed by this too. But on the flip side, perhaps it's a good thing that the Reds are sort of flying under the radar.

Maybe the Reds and Yankees will meet up in the World Series?

[Razor Shines]

Mike & Mike is horrible no matter what they are talking about. It seems any time I listen all they do is tear down ridiculous strawmen.

And as others have said not sure what you expect? It's football season and baseball is regional. Plenty of big market teams left, so the Reds are gonna have to advance to be mentioned in more than just a sentence or two.

[lidspinner]

I thought MLB has a radio station?.....it might've been on Sirius radio...or at least I know it used to be but I canceled my sub when they raised rates for the 10th time.

[Chip R]

The broadcast rights for a season of NFL games cost more than broadcast rights for MLB games, plus there are fewer of them. That alone tells you which sport is higher in the pecking order.


Does that count all the local TV deals?

[Vottomatic]

I'd love to dismantle the Yankees in the World Series. We'd become America's Team if we did that since all fans around the country hate the Yankees except for New Yorkers.

[westofyou]

I'd love to dismantle the Yankees in the World Series. We'd become America's Team if we did that since all fans around the country hate the Yankees except for New Yorkers.

I've lived on the west coast for 30 years and I have met tons of Yankee fans, who oddly enough aren't from the east.

It's a TV thing, it's a Cowboys in the 70's thing.

[sabometrics]

If you're watching any nationally syndicated TV or radio show for Reds coverage then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. I didn't look at the ratings but I'm sure most of the NFL games out there drew better TV audiences than any of the playoff games, save maybe the Yankees series. Playing Monday morning QB is a national tradition pretty much now and as long as the NFL is in the regular season MLB will always play second fiddle when it comes to media coverage until you get to the League Championship Series and beyond.

It isn't just the Reds getting ignored, pretty much an entire weekend of baseball was glossed over, so I see no need to get our panties in a bunch about something we knew was going to happen anyways. In my opinion it isn't a bad thing anyways. I don't need national sports pundits that don't know **** about the Reds to jump on the bandwagon to validate my excitement about the team. More important than that, this team either A) doesn't mind and is out to win it for themselves and this city, or B) does care and is playing with a chip on their shoulder. Either way its a good thing and it takes whatever amount of additional pressure would be added if everyone was suddenly picking the Reds to win it all.

I really think we shouldn't think of this as a bad thing, and just laugh about it.

[Yachtzee]

I've lived on the west coast for 30 years and I have met tons of Yankee fans, who oddly enough aren't from the east.

It's a TV thing, it's a Cowboys in the 70's thing.

For as much as people like to say America loves underdogs, I think a lot of Americans like winners. It's not uncommon in NE Ohio to find people of a certain age who like the Yankees, Steelers, and Notre Dame.

[sabometrics]

As an aside, I grew up a huge UK basketball fan. Deep down, I still am, but oddly, since the Calipari era started I have grown to care less and less about the Cats. Post-Pitino they struggled to really stay in the national spotlight until Cal cam along. Now, they get more air time than probably the next 5 college basketball programs in the nation and I've just grown more detached from the program.

Why? Because its 8 or 9 new faces every year. It isn't a team that is invested in the Kentucky brand like the teams under Pitino, Smith, and dare I say Gillespie. They come and soak in the spotlight and are gone before I even get to really know them. I'm not bashing Cal and the great things he's done, this is just what the NBA draft rules have done to college basketball and in my opinion its unfortunate.

Point being, in that case the hunt to gain national adoration meant losing a lot about what made the program great (to me).

The coolest thing this team has is that it we've seen it gel over the last 5 or 6 years, we've seen them grow, and a number of these guys will be here for more years to come (surprisingly thanks to Castellini). Do they deserve all the credit in the world for how far they've come and how good they are? Hell yes. But the coolest thing for me is the guys like Votto who are quietly awesome. I for one love the overall modest nature of this club, and the example they set for the fans. We don't have to go yelling in the streets about how good the Reds are. If someone asks, we tell them, otherwise we just soak it in.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

Colin Cowherd's tweet today:

@ESPN_Colin: Reds/Giants PLAYOFF game got a 0.9 rating. Um, yea, that explains why I talk Yankees. Be interesting--that's on you.

[OldRightHander]

Colin Cowherd's tweet today:

@ESPN_Colin: Reds/Giants PLAYOFF game got a 0.9 rating. Um, yea, that explains why I talk Yankees. Be interesting--that's on you.

You think the late time slot had anything to do with that? Keep giving the Yankees prime time games and see how the ratings compare.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

You think the late time slot had anything to do with that? Keep giving the Yankees prime time games and see how the ratings compare.

Late time slot combined with the uncompetitive score, I'd guess. Not to mention the Yankees/O's rain-delay game on TBS at the same time siphoned off most of the East Coast audience.

[dman]

I think this is one of the underlying pieces of our successful puzzle this year, and possibly for years to come with this Reds team. I'd like to think of this Reds team as an MLB "Seal Team 6" of sorts... While the rest of these teams our getting their glory with all of the media pizzazz, our Reds are quietly landing on the shores of each opponent, quietly sneaking up behind them, slitting their throats, and leaving them dead.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

I think this is one of the underlying pieces of our successful puzzle this year, and possibly for years to come with this Reds team. I'd like to think of this Reds team as an MLB "Seal Team 6" of sorts... While the rest of these teams our getting their glory with all of the media pizzazz, our Reds are quietly landing on the shores of each opponent, quietly sneaking up behind them, slitting their throats, and leaving them dead.

Good analogy. And all the other postseason teams do have their cheesy E-SPiN media pizzazz:

Yankees - They're the Yankees
Orioles - Part of East Coast Bos-Was corridor, Cinderella story, Yankee opponents
A's - Little engine that could team, stormed back to win division
Tigers - Triple crown winner
Nats - Baseball in DC angle, Bryce Harper, Strasburg drama
Giants - 2010 champs, mega-market team
_ards - Defending champs

[MikeThierry]

Don't get me started on the ESPNization of sports. I cannot stand how football and basketball get the main coverage. Last year, arguably some of the best playoff games you will see happened in the NHL yet on ESPN, it's the sport that shall not be mentioned. World wide soccer gets more coverage than the NHL does on that network. It's like the sport doesn't even exist. Annoying.

[dougdirt]

Colin Cowherd's tweet today:

@ESPN_Colin: Reds/Giants PLAYOFF game got a 0.9 rating. Um, yea, that explains why I talk Yankees. Be interesting--that's on you.

I am sure it will be about the same this time too.... San Francisco fans will be working while the game is going on.

[Tadasimha]

Colin Cowherd's tweet today:

@ESPN_Colin: Reds/Giants PLAYOFF game got a 0.9 rating. Um, yea, that explains why I talk Yankees. Be interesting--that's on you.

Colin Cowherd is a tool and should be ignored on general principles.

[DGullett35]

Colin Cowherd is a tool and should be ignored on general principles.

Agree 110%. And even if they talked about the Reds it would be about Joey's lack of power, Dusty's medical history and how Bronson Arroyo came from Mars for one night and pitched the greatest game of his life. These so called "expert analyst'" know hardly anything about the Reds or any team other than the Yankees or who the Yankees are playing. I used to watch alot of ESPN but I seriously havent switched to that channel in over 6 months. Its all MLB Network, the NFL Network or the Golf Channel for me. I hate the Cards but geez they are the defending champs and hardly get any pub. Ive said before that I hope this Reds team uses this as motivation and sneaks up for 10 more wins. I hope to God that ESPN never gets the rights to brodcast the World Series. Id rather listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

[OldRightHander]

Don't get me started on the ESPNization of sports. I cannot stand how football and basketball get the main coverage. Last year, arguably some of the best playoff games you will see happened in the NHL yet on ESPN, it's the sport that shall not be mentioned. World wide soccer gets more coverage than the NHL does on that network. It's like the sport doesn't even exist. Annoying.

Yep. For a while ESPN was all there was, and they used to have ok hockey coverage, but now with all the options out there, not to mention most every major sport having its own network, there really is no need to even turn on ESPN anymore unless they're broadcasting a game of interest.

[Sea Ray]

Agree 110%. And even if they talked about the Reds it would be about Joey's lack of power, Dusty's medical history and how Bronson Arroyo came from Mars for one night and pitched the greatest game of his life. These so called "expert analyst'" know hardly anything about the Reds or any team other than the Yankees or who the Yankees are playing. I used to watch alot of ESPN but I seriously havent switched to that channel in over 6 months. Its all MLB Network, the NFL Network or the Golf Channel for me. I hate the Cards but geez they are the defending champs and hardly get any pub. Ive said before that I hope this Reds team uses this as motivation and sneaks up for 10 more wins. I hope to God that ESPN never gets the rights to brodcast the World Series. Id rather listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

Colin is quite the frontrunner. Yesterday he was railing on the city of Kansas City basically saying that the reason they cheered Cassel's injury was because they live in a cow town in flyover country. A much more sophisticated city like NY never would have done that because they're not all about football. They have Broadway, shopping etc so football isn't everything to them. I got news for Colin. Don't think it can't happen anywhere. It could happen in NY. If Sanchez puts up numbers like Cassel they very well might cheer when he goes down.

[mth123]

Yep. For a while ESPN was all there was, and they used to have ok hockey coverage, but now with all the options out there, not to mention most every major sport having its own network, there really is no need to even turn on ESPN anymore unless they're broadcasting a game of interest.

Exactly right. MLB Network for baseball stuff. NFL Network for football stuff. I don't really watch much else as far as sports goes except for actual games. I'll probably watch CBS around NCAA tourney time for bracket analysis. Ten years ago, ESPN was a must have, now, other than a few games of interest, I could do without the entire group of ESPN networks completely.

[medford]

Colin Cowherd's tweet today:

@ESPN_Colin: Reds/Giants PLAYOFF game got a 0.9 rating. Um, yea, that explains why I talk Yankees. Be interesting--that's on you.

That right there sums up one of the reasons why Colin Cowherd, not to mention most sport talk show hosts lose me. First off, I get the point, there's even some validity to it. However, it exposes a major flaw in Colin's idea of how his talk show works. Colin is basically saying that b/c the ratings were lower than elsewhere, there is nothing worth talking about, nothing worth presenting to his audience that might enlighten them just a shade more than they were before they flipped the dial.

Look, Reds fan or not, there was plenty of interesting things that happened over the weekend prior to Colin's show. They're starter and a guy that has been in the cy young conversation most of the 2nd half of the season and will likely end up top 5 for the Cy Young goes out after 8 pitches. Starting Cueto game 1 was the easy managerial decision, how you react to his back acting up after 1 batter was the difficult part, the interesting part.

There was a team that had all but clinched its division a month ago, that saw its offense go dormant for the final month wake up and put an explosion of offense on the board Sunday evening in a place considered one of the better pitcher parks in the league.

There is a team that most of the ESPN "experts" picked to win the series down 0-2 and having to win 3 straight on the road. There is the question if they bring Cain back for game 4, and what they would do in game 5 if they make it that far.

The games might have drawn low ratings nationally, but don't pretend that there was nothing intresting to take away from the first 2, not what is about to transpire over the remaining series.

I'm guessing Dancing w/ the Stars draws better ratings than Breaking Bad, that doesn't mean Breaking Bad is "uninteresting" or not worthy of discussion. I didn't hear his show yesterday, but I'm guessing he talked about the same things Mike & Mike and most other radio shows discussed. Rather than bring up something new, something different, something interesting, he washed, rinsed and repeated the same show done before him.

Anyhoo, its all part of Colin's schtick. Bash LeBron when he's in Cleveland b/c Cleveland fans are passionate and will flood him w/ calls defending their man, praise him when he gets to Miami b/c Miami doesn't have the passionate fans like Cleveland, and he's now the "villian" so they'll call in b/c you're praising him. Bash Ohio State to get calls from their passionate fan base, praise USC and overlook they're annual loss to a team they have no business lossing to b/c he knows nobody is going to call in and "react" to his USC bashing.

[OldRightHander]

Fans in big markets on the coast don't stoop so low as to actually cheer an injury, even an opponent's starting pitcher. I'm sure we would never see something so shocking.

[medford]

Colin is quite the frontrunner. Yesterday he was railing on the city of Kansas City basically saying that the reason they cheered Cassel's injury was because they live in a cow town in flyover country. A much more sophisticated city like NY never would have done that because they're not all about football. They have Broadway, shopping etc so football isn't everything to them. I got news for Colin. Don't think it can't happen anywhere. It could happen in NY. If Sanchez puts up numbers like Cassel they very well might cheer when he goes down.

Big City Philly fan would have never, ever boo'd an injuried player. never.

[klw]

Now it has always been the custom to cheer/ applaud for an injured player as they are taken off the field as a show of support. How is what the KC fans did different? I am asking because I have not seen it.

[DGullett35]

Fans in big markets on the coast don't stoop so low as to actually cheer an injury, even an opponent's starting pitcher. I'm sure we would never see something so shocking.

Im sure if the Yankees were facing the Sox and what happened to Cueto happened to a RedSox player in NY they would cheer their hearts out.

[DGullett35]

Big City Philly fan would have never, ever boo'd an injuried player. never.

or Santa Claus:)

[Always Red]

That right there sums up one of the reasons why Colin Cowherd, not to mention most sport talk show hosts lose me. First off, I get the point, there's even some validity to it. However, it exposes a major flaw in Colin's idea of how his talk show works. Colin is basically saying that b/c the ratings were lower than elsewhere, there is nothing worth talking about, nothing worth presenting to his audience that might enlighten them just a shade more than they were before they flipped the dial.



Yep, and also Cowherd's show exists only to fill in time and attract advertising dollars. The higher his ratings are, the more $ comes into ESPN coffers. That's what it's all about.

It's not about enlightening or teaching anyone, it's about pandering to your audience. It's really like listening to a local radio talk show from NY (or, Bristol, CT).

Mo and Lance do a good job locally here, for the most part, and they pander to their audience, in a way, and they'd be crazy not to. They're fans of all the Cincinnati teams, at least while they're on the air.

The national dudes are no different, do the same thing, and their target is the population dense east coast. Mike and Mike have become absurd in the morning, all they talk about is the Jets, Patriots, Giants and Eagles.

I'm with you all that go with MLB network, NFL network, etc- they do a much better job of covering the sport in it's entirety.

[Reds Freak]

I walked into the break room at work just now and heard the Sportscenter host say a Cincinnati win tonight would give the Reds their first postseason series win since the 1990 World Series.

[CySeymour]

I walked into the break room at work just now and heard the Sportscenter host say a Cincinnati win tonight would give the Reds their first postseason series win since the 1990 World Series.

I guess the Reds skipped right over the divisional round in '95 and went straight to the NLCS.

[Rojo]

the problem w/ Baseball, is that w/ the exception of the Yankees, its a very regional sport. Redszone is going to be the exception to the rule as many on here are avid baseball fans beyond just football fans. However most people don't have a huge passion for baseball beyond the team they root for along with a mild interest in a handful of other teams.

This about captures it. The fact that baseball still draws well at the gates and on local TV masks a nationwide challenge. Rural folks especially seem uninterested. I'm on the record for rule changes to speed up the game.

[dougdirt]

I still don't get the "speed up the game" crowd. Football games last 3 1/2 hours and not one single person thinks twice about it. Baseball lasts 3 hours and "OMG ITS SO SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ERMAHGERD!"

[CySeymour]

I still don't get the "speed up the game" crowd. Football games last 3 1/2 hours and not one single person thinks twice about it. Baseball lasts 3 hours and "OMG ITS SO SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ERMAHGERD!"


Well, there's a difference. Football is played once a week, and baseball is almost everyday.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I'm right with you, and the beauty of that is College basketball takes you to the first Monday of April, otherwise known as Opening Day. They're really a perfect pairing.

I don't care about football at all. I follow what the Bengals and UK do week to week, but that's about it. The result is that Sportscenter, once my favorite thing on television, is pretty much useless to me. All my highlights and analysis come from MLB.com, a couple blogs, and this board.

Ouch, a Bengal and a UK football fan? No wonder you don't like football. For all the heartache that the Bengals put me through, at least I have Ohio State football to save the sport for me. I wouldn't like football either if I were you. Just being a Bengals fan alone has almost caused me to drop the sport on several occasions. Having the worst owner in all of professional sports is just the icing on that crap cake (not to be confused with what they specialize in over there in Baltimore).

[OldRightHander]

I still don't get the "speed up the game" crowd. Football games last 3 1/2 hours and not one single person thinks twice about it. Baseball lasts 3 hours and "OMG ITS SO SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ERMAHGERD!"

The games are over too fast.

[Rojo]

I still don't get the "speed up the game" crowd. Football games last 3 1/2 hours and not one single person thinks twice about it. Baseball lasts 3 hours and "OMG ITS SO SLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ERMAHGERD!"

As well-put by Bill James, it's about "draining the inaction" from the game. Lazy throws to first, batters stepping out of the box, 3 in-inning pitching changes -- all of that needs to be kept to minimum.

[westofyou]

I walked into the break room at work just now and heard the Sportscenter host say a Cincinnati win tonight would give the Reds their first postseason series win since the 1990 World Series.

And that's why I don't get my baseball news from sports stations that aren't baseball centric

[WildcatFan]

Ouch, a Bengal and a UK football fan? No wonder you don't like football.

Hahaha, there's probably something to that. But I've been a Reds fan my whole life too, and my baseball love has never waned, even through the decade-which-shall-not-be-named. I can watch any team play any time. If I'm being honest (just me and you here, right?) football is too slow for me, and I don't understand it particularly well, especially defense.

I kind of watched the Green Bay game Sunday, and I swear every time I glanced up from my iPad where I was following the playoffs, there was a huddle of refs and a flag laying on the field. I don't know how to look it up, but it had to have been pushing four hours. It was brutal.

But back to the point, I remember when during the summers Sportscenter was an hour long and had about 40 minutes of good, snarky baseball highlights. Now during the summer it's 20 hours long with 19 hours and 15 minutes of "WHEN'S FOOTBALL COMING BACK I MISS IT LET'S TALK ABOUT TEBOW."

[Yachtzee]

As well-put by Bill James, it's about "draining the inaction" from the game. Lazy throws to first, batters stepping out of the box, 3 in-inning pitching changes -- all of that needs to be kept to minimum.

Of course they never discuss the real reason games go so long, the ever expanding time taken for ads between innings and during pitching changes. That's what I like about soccer, no timeouts for ads. I watched NFL football in Europe once and it was unwatchable. The Euro broadcaster didn't insert ads, so you got to see all the time they waste standing around.No ads, no studio guys talking, no announcers talking. Just guys standing around. I swear American football involves more standing around than actual play. The Europeans we watched the game with got bored after one quarter and started playing foosball.

[MikeThierry]

Another question I have about this issue is why Skip Bayless still has a job? His love for Tim Tebow was bordering on scary.

[Yachtzee]

Another question I have about this issue is why Skip Bayless still has a job? His love for Tim Tebow was bordering on scary.

Same reason Jim Rome has a job. Radio programmers don't care if you can provide actual analysis as long as you can yell loud and tick people off enough to call in. Sports radio has become a steady stream of loud talking and banana phone callers.

[Sea Ray]

Another question I have about this issue is why Skip Bayless still has a job? His love for Tim Tebow was bordering on scary.

I'm a Skip Bayless fan. I just wish they'd give him better sparring partners. So many of them are one trick ponies that only know one sport. Skip's knowledge of many different sports is quite impressive. As for Tim Tebow, he's on record as saying that he'll never go to a Pro Bowl so I don't know what kind of love he has for the guy.

[Matt700wlw]

I heard JT The Brick call the Reds the best team in the National League the other morning, of course they'd just got done clobbering the Giants 9-0.


Also on the Loose Cannons last week, (Fox Sports Radio), 3 of the 4 guys picked the Reds to make the WS, and 2 picked them to win it.

I was surprised they knew the Reds existed.

[cincrazy]

Colin Cowherd is the worst. I don't give that idiot the time of day.

[MikeThierry]

The NBC Sports Network is in its infancy but I've really liked a lot of things they have done. I would go to that channel before I would trust anything from ESPN.

[Unassisted]

Does that count all the local TV deals?According to this chart (http://www.plunkettresearch.com/sports-recreation-leisure-market-research/industry-statistics), which cites its sources, the NFL's total annual revenue, gate/media/licensing/etc. in 2012 is $9.5 Billion, while MLB's total 2012 revenue is $7.7 Billion.

So the NFL has about ~20% more revenue overall.

[gilpdawg]

The games are over too fast.

Exactly. I love baseball. Why would I want less of it?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Rojo]

Exactly. I love baseball. Why would I want less of it?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I love Citizen Kane, that doesn't mean I want to watch it unedited.

[Crumbley]

Remember Cowherd's argument about how Votto didn't belong in the 2010 ASG because he plays in Cincinnati and therefore isn't a star?

He's a professional troll.

[WrongVerb]

Someone would do well to create a sports talk network that targets the "flyover states" and mainly talks about midwest related sports. Big-10, Big-12, central divisions from all sports, north divisions in NFL, and so on. From Ohio to the Rockies and Canada to Texas, you're talking easily 100 million plus people. That's quite a market.

[Yachtzee]

Someone would do well to create a sports talk network that targets the "flyover states" and mainly talks about midwest related sports. Big-10, Big-12, central divisions from all sports, north divisions in NFL, and so on. From Ohio to the Rockies and Canada to Texas, you're talking easily 100 million plus people. That's quite a market.

I object to the term "flyover states." That term was coined by jerkwads on the coasts who mistakenly believe there is nothing important in between the coasts. Yet if NY and CA fell into the ocean, America would do just fine. If something happened to the Midwest, America would be toast. There goes most of your food and manufacturing, coastal idiots.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Want ESPN to talk about you? get to the world series and beat the yankees. They'll talk about you then.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

Want ESPN to talk about you? get to the world series and beat the yankees. They'll talk about you then.

For about five minutes, then they'll shift back to Tebow, the Jets, the Cowboys, Tiger Woods, the Lakers, North Carolina/Duke and USC football.

[gilpdawg]

I don't blame ESPN. They just talk about what draws the most ratings. If people want it to change they won't listen/watch. It's what America wants. You know what they say. "The masses are (euphemism for anuses).

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

[MikeThierry]

I don't blame ESPN. They just talk about what draws the most ratings. If people want it to change they won't listen/watch. It's what America wants. You know what they say. "The masses are (euphemism for anuses).

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

That's sort of a chicken vs. egg scenario though. ESPN is king and if it chooses not to air games or even mention some sports (IE hockey), how then can it be a highly rated? They have a monopoly right now on what is watched nationwide. If NBC Sports Network were to get in every home, maybe I would think differently.

[westofyou]

I object to the term "flyover states." That term was coined by jerkwads on the coasts who mistakenly believe there is nothing important in between the coasts. Yet if NY and CA fell into the ocean, America would do just fine. If something happened to the Midwest, America would be toast. There goes most of your food and manufacturing, coastal idiots.
Roughly one in eight Americans live in California and much if the food you eat too

C'mon you'd miss us out here!