Sports As We Know It

I remember it wasn't that long ago, maybe a decade ago that I remember being so appalled that MLB was changing a few rules.

I recall so many people asking why does MLB hate MLB? A ghost runner was the dumbest idea ever and a game that had been played one way for 109 years consecutively would be played in some new ways completely differently.

I often wonder how much better society would be if there was no social media. It seems unfamothable that only 14 years ago 15% of Americans looked at social media for their news.

I often wonder why every sport suddenly needs to make these huge changes to how a sport is played, watched on multiple networks, why the rules have to be tinkered with constantly and how even the championshipa and drafts must be completely upended.

Dave Chappelle said something that remained with me months after hearing what he said in regards to Charlie Kirk during his last comedy special.

"Charlie Kirk is a internet personality, by design. Internet personalities have to be negative because nobody will engage them otherwise. They have to say shit that makes others upset. Hence why Kirk's catchphrase was, Change my mind."

Chappelle goes into make people laugh but have you ever considered how much angrier people are in the last decade over things they never knew existed?

Everything I know about Charlie and Erika Kirk has been against my will. I now don't like what either stood for, their killer, the lack of evidence in the case, the bullets that had 60 word messages, the lack of security all while I'm caring for a dying mom and in the first month of being a husband.

I only have so much bandwidth but everyday if you wanted to and it turns out most everyone does... You can spend your life bitching about everything that pisses you off.

Is the NBA, CFB and the NFL trying to make every fan happy because they've been reading those critical posts online everyday for years or are they trying to maximize profits even if turns off the majority of fans in the short term?

Here's my issues. Let's take MLB which is my favorite sport. I love it so much that I do not wager real money on MLs because I have insane biases that will creep into my numbers.

Let's say you grew up with MLB and you went to 10 games a year of your team. Not a ton but youre a good fan and you love supporting your team and it's a great family event.

Your games were 3 and half hours. Your ticket 25-45 bucks if on a budget 75-150 if not. You followed the players, the storylines, the trades, whatnot. That was a decade ago.

Now? Double the ticket price, parking costs not included and the game is 2 hours. No arguments, no real rivalries anymore and if you don't want to watch the game at the park no worries you got TVs everywhere. I can't watch on local TV (blacked out) gotta stream it but I need 3 services.

My team sucks but has great fans. You go to a rockies game in April it's 45 degrees and right field box is full, same ushers 20 years. You go online and it's pure hatred only. Win or lose, it's bitch and moan time. My team hasn't been competitive in 15 years.

You know who's worst online? Dodgers fans! Every loss they gotta fire the coach, the GM.

In a society where no one is happy and get a open invitation to tell people how much they hate them for their own disappointment of a life, I do wonder if the higher ups are just saying... Fans? Fans? You mean the people who threaten our players and tell us to kill ourselves daily? Yeah maybe we will just focus on the money.

I'm scared. I hate the idea of 24 team playoffs, the elimination of rivalries in a sport built on them. The sport I grew to love became a job that I've never for one moment grew tired of doing. I'm scared that everyone loved college football like I do only to realize not many people were paying attention to the beauty of any of it.

They didn't want to go to the 3.5 hour game. They didn't want to experience the ballpark and meet the guys like me in the right field box. They wanted the cliff notes version of a game and the loudest voice in the room is normally the least intelligent in my experience but nowadays might be the most powerful.

They'll never stop at 24. They'll never reverse to 12 again, that's not how this works. We have a history of that.

The NBA will never say they were wrong about overcorrecting a draft to stop tanking which they were 8 years ago and will go way too far now again. We live in a non apologetic society when it comes to corporate class to working class.

My advice in all walks of life currently is enjoy every minute you can with something you love. If you love a sport currently... Embrace it.

Thank you for the space. Good luck to all, Eddie