Based on some of the responses I’ve received, I seem to have created an impression in my last post that I think the television ratings of football vs. baseball are misleading as to the sports’ relative popularity. I didn’t mean to create that impression, though I see now that I did.
Let me be clear: I realize that football is far more popular in this country now than baseball is, and that would be the case no matter how the broadcast dynamics worked. It probably has been the case for a long, long time too. Since the 70s, I’d guess, at least in terms of the national mood, even if the ratings show it differently.
There are a ton of reasons for this, some of them understandable (more visceral action and kinetic energy in football; more excitement of a certain kind; any one game means more in football than in baseball) and some of them lamentable (the prevalence of gambling on the NFL and the far greater popularity of fantasy football as opposed to fantasy baseball). Does this bother me? Nah. I mean, sure, I wish everyone liked baseball as much as I do, but it’s not the case and there’s no sense moaning about it.
Besides: The top movie this past weekend was “Jackass 3D.” I take that as pretty solid proof that popularity is overrated.
