Olberman

[Eaglealum]

He's about the only personality that I can stomach anymore .
But the point of this is this; everyone talks about changing baseball rules to speed up the game. He brought up some excellent points the other day that really annoyed me about the current state of things once you think about it.
He brought out 2 rules that are on the books and have been for years and are ignored on a pitch by pitch basis, every game every day. First it is in the rules that the pitcher has 12 seconds to deliver his next pitch or it's a ball!!! And second a batter cannot step out of box unless awarded time.... If you go back 20 years the avg game lasted 2 hr 25 minutes... This is the only tangible difference between then and now. Today's games avg well over 3 hours... You don't need to change the game to make it right,just enforce what's there now! Sound familiar?

[Manfred]

Valid points, but he's still a d***.

[Eaglealum]

He may be... But from what I've seen over the past year... He's about the only one where he works that forms his own opinions... Probably back with Dan Patrick soon and I won't even have the notion of wanting to watch that channel.

[Manfred]

Hahaha! Birds of a feather......

[abpk2903]

No one will ever compare to the arrogance of Colin Cowherd.

One sports talk host that I really like but can't find on my radio anymore is Dino Costa. He used to be on from 7-11 pm on Mad Dog Sports on XM but I can't find him anymore. Does anyone know where he is at now?

[abpk2903]

I also have a hard time believing that MLB really wants the games finished any faster. Think about it. They have monster TV deals right now, that's not broken. They are selling more seats than ever, that's not broken.

Why would they want the game to end in 2.5 hours? That's just means less revenue from concessions. Last week at the Nationals/Pirates game, I bought 5 beers and got food twice. If that game ends in 2 hours and 14 minutes, I get food once and probably only buy 3 beers.

I've heard proposals to limit pitching changes (or to speed them up). As a fan, I really think pitching changes should be limited to 45 seconds and 2 warm up pitches (after all they do have bullpens). There is no reason for a reliever to walk in from the outfield, throw 6 pitches, do their typical pace around the mound twice while kissing their necklace, get on one knee and say a prayer, then climb the mound and get the sign. But let's think about the money that generated by MLB during these few minutes. Spectators rush down to drain their and while down there restock their beer and nachos. At home, fans sit throw another set of commercials in an usually " important" stretch of the game (so the channel more than likely doesn't get flipped.)

As a fan, we've seen 4 minutes of wasted time. The MLB sees 4 minutes of higher profits.

[say_oww]

I really don't think anything needs done to alter the game with regards to time. Part of the "charm" of the game is its leisurely pace. People can chat while watching the game, and can analyze what is coming next. Listening to these moronic announcers and sportswriters complain about the time of the game is a joke. These are the clowns who wish the game were like the old days when it was all white guys and there were no lights at the fields, but you can't have too many visits to the mound???? Using an average time of the game is really irrelevant. If you have two pitchers who are dealing, its over in 2.5 hrs. When the teams score a lot of runs the games typically take a lot longer, thus skewing the time stat. Or, if the game is a tight game between two good teams, it is obviously longer because the pitcher and catcher often times meet to discuss the pitch so the guy on second cant steal the sign and tip off the hitter. The only beef I have is starting playoff games after 8pm. Start the games at 7 like in the regular season so at least people can finish watching before bedtime.

[Crimson's Ghost]

I agree with that, postseason baseball should start at 7 not 8.

[abpk2903]

Could agree more about the pace of the game adding to the "charm." I wish they would play afternoon playoff games. You watch your favorite team all year to only miss the first 4 innings of every single one of their playoff games. That makes no sense.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Yeah the 1:07 weekday playoff games sucked. Game 2 last year I believe.