There are a few truths in life that I’ve discovered. One is that everybody’s busy. Between kids’ baseball practices, mortgages, 72 unread emails, shopping for the best deal on milk and dirty socks, I don’t know one person who isn’t bustling from here to there and there to here like a hamster on the wheel of life.
Another truth is that it’s tough to love losers. Life as a San Diego Padres fan is rough. The Padres haven’t won a World Series in their 44-year history, and with a $91,138,600 salary (per Baseball Prospectus) that ranks in the bottom third of the Majors this season, San Diego isn’t headed to its first championship in 2014.
Being a Padres’ fan has to be like going to the dentist. You know it’s going to hurt but not going just isn’t an option.
Landing on the other end of the spectrum are the mighty New York Yankees. With iconic pinstripes and a multi-million dollar salary, New York has a grip on our psyches as either the most beloved or hated team in baseball, if not all major sports.
The Yanks have more cash to spend than anyone else and 27 championships make them the greatest winner in American pro sports. If the Padres are like visiting the dentist, the Yankees are akin to walking out of the teeth-doctor office with a bright, clean smile and not even the hint of a cavity.
Just how popular are the Yankees? Facebook measured popularity in each county of the country based on the number of likes on the team’s page. The Yankees ranked No. 1 in Bannock County and much of southern Idaho. From Boise to Twin Falls and up to Blackfoot, the pinstripes, according the world’s biggest social media machine, are our team.
Now, despite rumors circulating otherwise, the Idaho State Journal sports desk is in the business to please. We run box scores for two Major League Baseball teams, the Colorado Rockies in the National League and the American League’s Seattle Mariners. Granted, baseball fans would prefer full and complete coverage of all 30 Major League teams, but with space constraints, that isn’t possible.
It ain’t happenin’.
When we pulled back our baseball coverage to run box scores and game recaps for two teams in 2013, the Journal chose the Rockies and Mariners based on the sound logic that they are the closest to Southeast Idaho. But are they really this area’s two favorite ball clubs?
The Rockies hail from the same city as the Broncos, the NFL squad that ensorcells southern Idaho, a fact that saddens Journal sports writer and Omaha-native Josh Friesen, an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan.
But where do the Rockies fit in our area? They’re the team on Root Sports, folks are guaranteed they can watch their games with a basic cable package, though I don’t know why anyone would. Colorado is coming off a 74-88 regular season, finishing dead last in the NL West, 18 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
At the same time, the Mariners don’t exactly resemble the Seahawks. The M’s were in first place of the AL West after an opening-day victory over the L.A. Angels and had the splashiest free-agent pick up in the offseason, nabbing Robinson Canó from New York. But does that erase the fact the Seattle is a perpetual loser in baseball?
So let us know. Go to Facebook, find the Idaho State Journal’s page and tell us what team you want us to cover. Don’t like Facebook, email kfranko@journalnet.com and tell me yourself what you think. Refuse to use technology? Send the Journal a letter detailing which Major League ball club demands space in these sports pages.
If Facebook is right and the Yankees are this area’s No. 1 team, we’ll dump the Mariners and run boxes/stories detailing Derek Jeter’s final year in the majors.
Or we can stick with Colorado and Seattle, because, you know, the dentist isn’t that bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment