Sunday, November 1, 2009

My Qualms with the World Series

As I sit and watch a dramatic game 4 of the 2010 World Series, I can't help but be frustrated with Major League Baseball. As you can probably imagine, the umpires have been a major disappointment to me, as it has been for countless others, as I watch bad calls go both ways. But that's another discussion for another time!

What really irks me is the corporate imposition on the game. To wit, here are some nuisances that I've encountered:

-REALLY, REALLY, REALLY long commercial breaks. These commercials slow down the game way too much, ruining the flow of the game and taking too long to complete each game. The game started shortly after 8pm, and it's now almost 11:30, with still the full 9th inning to go. And it's only a 4-4 game with few pitching changes to slow things down. These commercial breaks need to be shortened in order to appeal to younger fans, since most of them can't stay up too late.

-Speaking of 8:00 games, why does MLB insist of showing the games so late? At least on a Sunday night, we could get a 7:00 game, no? It's likely due to some kind of prime time formula that skews (and screws!) the timing, but something that is not fan-friendly.

-Repeated commercials ad nauseum. How many times do we need to be tortured with Subway's $5 foot long commercials and the obnoxious Mac commercials before we get spasms and automatically decide to NOT buy from these advertisers?

That's my rant for the night as I sweat out this 9th inning. It's a shame that an otherwise excellent World Series would have to be marred by such frustrating intrusions. But if the Phils win it all, it will all be worth it. I suppose. Go Phils!

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