MLB wont let Dirk throw 1st pitch at World Series since he lacks national appeal

Dirk lacks national appeal? Uh huh... sure.

 

greenhippos, each of your arguments has so many fallacies that even a 3 year old could point them out. I don't even know whether or not the NBA is behind or ahead of the MLB, but at least when making your arguments try to make them logically sound so you at least maintain some credibility.

 

No, they wouldn’t question Kobe’s broad-base appeal, just like they never really questioned Dirk’s. Like I said, it was just some dumb-ass excuse because look at who they’ve let throw opening pitches before.

So that makes your familiarity/popularity tangent you’ve gone on completely irrelevant, but I will say anyway that a lot of it doesn’t make any sense. You say NBA fans only know Dirk, while Durant and Griffin are American household names. I actually find the opposite to be true. My roommate, for example, is not an NBA fan. She knows the names of some of the Rockets (because I’m always watching), and then maybe a couple other superstars like Kobe and Lebron. But she did watch the NBA finals, just like a lot of other Americans will tune into big games like that, and she knows who Dirk is now.

Just because you think Griffin and Durant are more popular with NBA fans doesn’t mean the average American knows them more than the reigning finals MVP/someone who’s been in the league a LOT longer.

 

I bet Dirk starts in the all star game next year(if there is one), that's how popular he's become.

I'm out before Ze Germans get here!

 

Dude your argument is so faulty it's beyond ridiculous. If you don't know what you're talking bout then don't talk, plain and simple!

Do you know WHY Dirk has no national commercial or shoe line???

FOR THE SAME REASON HE HAS NO AGENT, HE DOESN'T GIVE A FLYING F#CK ABOUT THAT STUFF.
I assure you he's been offered all of that stuff over the past decade AND ESPECIALLY this past summer and he keeps turning all of that ancilliary stuff down. He doesn't care about it.

Dirk may not have been a household name prior to this year(although I believe he was to a large portion of America) but he DEFINITELY became one after beating the Heat in the finals.

 

Once again, just utter rubbish re. Dirk. You do know Dirk did appear on Letterman along with Cuban and I believe Roddy B and JET?
Now it wasn't a case where he flew to New York to be on Lettermans couch but the offer was there and not just from Letterman. The Tonight Show and JKL as well BUT DIRK REFUSED THE OFFERS! Dirk did not/does not give a flying F#ck about all that stuff.

 

That's because the Red Sox didn't make it and the Yankees and Phils got knocked out in the first round. Game 5 of the NYY/DET series got 9.7M viewers.

EDIT: Look at the 2009 WS between the Yankees and Phillies, compared to the 2010 NBA Finals, the highest-rated ever:

MLB: Avg 19.3M viewers over 6 games
NBA: Avg 18.1M viewers over 7 games

That's a function of scarcity.

Why wouldn't you compare the NBA ASG to the 2011 MLB ASG, which drew a 6.9?

Like I said, the NBA finals will outdraw the WS occaisionally when it's BOS v. LAL, but that's not the norm. And with the lockout, there's no question that the NBA's numbers will suffer.

 

LOL at t_mac1 completely getting owned in this thread :grin:.

 

I don't know whether NBA or MLB is the more popular thing in the US, but in Europe, (or anywhere else in the world to be honest) noone gives a flying **** about baseball. I think about 5% of China's population know about Dirk and that would be like um... 60 million people at least. Add to that about 70 million germans, and you know, Dirk is quite recognized I guess.

 

Except, you know, Canada, Japan, and all of Latin America.

 

Argentina? Brazil? Uruguay? They care about baseball?

As far as I know, baseball is popular in parts of the Caribbean and some of the northern countries in South America. But definitely not in all of Latin America.

But you could add Korea to your list.

 

You're right, shouldn't group in South America since its basically just Venezuela and Colombia. But you also can't ignore central america, seeing how it's the second most popular sport in Mexico (Euros consider Mexico to be part of Central America, right?) and is big in Panama and Nicaragua.

EDIT: Isn't it also one of the most popular sports in Taiwan?

 

Anyway, lest my point is lost, I'm not even trying to argue the global popularity of baseball. I'm guessing it lags considerably behind basketball.

Just pointing out that assuming no one outside the U.S. cares about baseball because Europeans don't is the same kind of ignorant world view that many Europeans accuse Americans of having.

 

Agreed.

 

George W. Bush's net favorabilty rating is still -11, higher than the -28 when he left office, but "national appeal" is probably a stretch; am going to give it to Dirk.

 

I don't even know what to say.

It's like there is a horse right outside your house and you refuse to acknowledge it exists.

The angry German that 4-0ed the previous champions and one of the most popular franchises in the world in Lakers. Then the same angry German took out the sports hype of the year in the Heat.

You yourself boasts about how popular and how many people watch the Heat. You yourself often go on about how this is greatest playoffs or whatever. You yourself acknowledge the fact that this is one of the most watched finals in NBA history.

So how in the HELL could somebody watch the Miami Heat and not watch that one GERMAN guy out there destroy them in the finals? How could a team with a fan base full of bandwagoners and casual fans NOT see the Angry German take out their team?

Ridiculous, it's like I'm talking to a wall here. Maybe I am.

 

BTW, while we're on the subject, I pretty much don't turn on the World Series and wouldn't think of driving down to the ol' ballpark unless I know of, and approve of, who is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch - it is non-negotiable for me.

 

Apparently Dirk is throwin the 1st pitch

http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story...ericks-dirk-nowitzki-throw-first-pitch-game-3

 

Canadians play baseball? Also, most of my Japanese buddies like soccer more than baseball these days.

Baseball to me is somewhere between watching paint dry and getting my teeth pulled, I'll admit, but isn't the fact that baseball stadiums draw more just a design of their stadiums? Baseball stadiums are bigger because baseball is played over a much larger expanse compared to basketball. It was observed when they were playing that All-Star Game in Dallas recently that the guys at the top of the giant Cowboys Stadium really couldn't watch the game.

 

It'd be interesting to see the demographics of MLB viewers. It seems that older people are a main viewer of the sport and there is risk that if MLB doesn't replenish it's demographics that the sport will suffer in the future when the viewership die off. Also, most of them are white and with the shrinking white population it is also a concern.

I think the ratings are closer than you may think. The nba is already outdrawing the MLB some of the time. It is probably true that young people watch less tv than old people. Old people are known to watch tv a lot (look at how CBS is #1 in ratings) while young people are busy on the Internet.

If the nba isn't the #2 now it is in a good position to overtake the MLB in the future.