Wynalda tell hime Rome to suck his ****!

And don't base your defense of the NBA on an attack on baseball. It doesn't hold water.

 

That's because it is. It's utterly unwatchable.

 

This is something we've talked about on the soccer thread.

I'm guilty of it. I watch internationals and follow the EPL and SPL. If there's an FA Cup or Champions League match on TV, I'm watching it. But I haven't watched a complete MLS match in years.

I have vowed to change that this season. I'm going to pick a club and become a fanboy looser of it. (If only they'd put a club in Pittsburgh, my choice would be made.)

 

The only thing I've seen on this thread that says that the MLB is going up is the attendance numbers.
Secondly, the reason why I think the NBA is improving is this. It's become more diverse. They're having more stars from different countries. When you go overseas(which I have many times), the NBA has become extremely popular. Guys like Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, and Yao Ming are helping in that case. In some areas, soccer has become a number 2 sport. The TV ratings over there are sky rocketing. I also think the star power will help the NBA. Almost every NBA has a star on the team. These stars are young as well. LeBron, Carmelo, DWade, Dwight Howard, Kobe..I can go on and on.
I'm not going to lie, it's not as popular as it was in the 90's when Jordan was still playing(TV ratings began to decline), which was expected because the whole league revolved around Jordan. But I also think that the NBA will come back on top because it has a great product and the star power is going to lure in a lot of people.

And baseball is?

 

Chuck, did you see the excellent point Mark Cuban made a few weeks ago? He basically said that the NBA was neglecting its fans in the U.S. to try and get ratings to go up overseas.

He's right. The NBA is so obsessed with overseas ratings, they've lost sight of the fact that ratings within the continent that the sport is played are dropping. And I'd like you to name somewhere other than China where basketball is more popular than soccer now, cause it sure ain't Europe or Africa.

 

Basketball isn't the number one sport in China. In fact, it isn't the number one sport anywhere on Earth. It has grown to number 2, but soccer is still king.

 

Where?

 

I only throw China out there because of Yao and the jersey sales figures that are talked about in the country. There's no way it's bigger in Africa, Australasia or the Asian subcontinent.

 

Chuck, I'm going to dip down myself here and explain why you find baseball "utterly unwatchable."

It's because you and your buddies need a "fix" every 10-12 seconds, or you look for the next shiny object. It's the prevailing characteristic of an ADD generation.

There is more than one way to watch a sporting event. And being able to turn to talk to somebody between plays is just as enjoyable for a lot of people than up-and-down action.

 

I'll give you an example. I was once visiting my uncle in France. My cousin(his son) explained to me how basketball was played even more than soccer around his area. When they were younger, they'd play soccer everyday. Now all they do is play basketball. I can't even tell you how many times I saw someone wearing an NBA jersey.
GB-Hack, I agree(I don't know if I've mentioned it on this thread already) with that point. I remember( I think it was the 2005 Finals) were the ratings were down here. Stern said he wasn't concerned because they were sky rocketing outside of the US.

Again, I'm not saying it's extremely popular now. But in time, it'll be back.

Fine, it's just as enjoyable. But how does that make basketball unwatchable?

P.S. When I go to baseball games, I see a whole bunch of people either sleeping or wishing the game dosn't go to extra innings.

 

Basketball is not ahead of either Soccer or Rugby in France.

Take it to the bank.

 

I know, I know. I get that. But my point is that in time, it'll be up there with those sports.