Monday, May 16, 2016

Ranting and Raving: Punches, Funks, and Network TV

Everyone is talking about the punch heard round the world.  When I first saw it my reaction was DAMN!  After that I kind of was happy it happened to be honest.  I don't hate Jose Bautista, but I do admit if someone flipped a bat against my team I would have some built up anger against them.  I'm not saying it was justified punching him, but looking at it closer it did appear both seemed to square up and a punch was going to happen it was a matter of who throws first.  I was also happy because I don't like Josh Donaldson, and I heard he got tossed, so that made me happy.

I was also happy because something like this needed to happen to baseball.  For better or worse, it got people talking about baseball for at least one day if not all week.  That is an impressive feat when competing against a game 7 of the NBA Semifinals, an NHL Conference showdown, Jason Day dominating the PGA tour, and a boatload of soccer this weekend.  This was a shot in the arm MLB needed to gain some fans.  Sure I shouldn't care if nobody but myself watches, but the truth is, I want MLB to be the most popular sport again.  Sure I doubt it happens, but gaining some new fans is never a bad thing.  People will be tuned in to see these two teams and how the do on the field after this (sadly they won't compete against each other the rest of the year), and will be interested to see how MLB handles the suspensions.  Surely Odor will get a lengthy suspension for the punch (even the push both men gave each other deserves a couple games each), but was the slide dirty?  Will Joey Bats get a lengthy suspension too?  If all you take into account is the video, I would be okay with him getting one game for the push.  However, we all know despite it not looking like a really bad slide, there was some bad intentions on the slide.  Maybe he wasn't planning on injuring him, but at what point is it in the spirit of the game and not a personal vendetta?

I was a bit saddened by it though because while it appeared exciting, there isn't really a place for this in sports.  It has also came out that Odor even has a tendacy of taking liberties on his slides.  In addition this isn't his first brawl as video has popped up of him starting a fight in the minor leagues.  After ESPN showed it, it even appeared he threw the ball at Bautista's head.  There is absolutely no place for that.  Last year the Royals were known as the dirty team, though they were just really defending themselves.  One of the teams they had bad blood with was the Blue Jays.  That's why it doesn't surprise me they were involved.  I'm also not surprised to see Texas involved.  The question remains will either be labeled dirty now, or just caught in the heat of the moment?

I hope the suspensions are handed down soon, and we can move on from it.  Sure baseball fans will remember it for a long time to come, much like the Nolan Ryan vs. Robin Ventura showdown, but at least we can move on from it.

Speaking of moving on, I hope the Royals can move on from this losing streak soon.  Sure they took the series against Atlanta, but they really need to step it up soon.  If they keep losing, they are in fear of being labeled a fluke.  I would argue that as I can't see a team making the World Series twice in two years hardly a fluke, but it does pose serious questions.  Sure every team has a rough patch, but having it this early in the year does hurt a bit.  Hopefully it means they can catch fire at the right time and be done with this soon.  I hope in the end they win another title, but realistically I would have been happy for another .500 or better season.  I had more worries than most when the season began because our starting rotation wasn't on par with other top teams, and our lineup wasn't as good (in my opinion) as it was a year ago, but I still saw this team as the top dogs in the AL Central.  I still do, but with other teams starting off hot, it digs the Royals into a hole, that if they don't start digging out of soon, will be too buried to contend.

On Sunday, I watched a lot of sports.  I mean a lot more than I have in a long time.  I watched a few holes of Golf, which isn't too surprising since its one every weekend.  I also watched the last quarter or so of the NBA game between the Heat and Raptors.  I haven't watched much NBA this year, but I do start watching in the playoffs.  I was happy to see Toronto win because I am a DeMarre Carroll fan.  I don't have a favorite team, so I root for players.  I get the hype for Curry, but I just can't get behind them.

I also watched some MLS soccer.  I won't say I'm a big fan of soccer, but I got to see Sporting KC play Orlando City, and it was a pretty exciting match.  KC won 2-1, but scored all three goals.  Dom Dwyer scored his 50th goal for SKC, so that was fun.  I have a friend who is a big SKC fan, and I bet he was at the game.  I should see about going one time, but never been yet.  After this game, I might try to watch more MLS games.  I can't get into European Soccer, but I did watch the Manchester Derby on TV a couple times, and usually root for Man City just because it seems nobody else does.

If Fox and NBC kept NASCAR on network TV, I would have missed all this.  I find it idiotic that the two networks abandoned for the most part the thing that brought NASCAR to the limelight, especially when counter programming includes repeats, infomercials, and bull riding.  Sure I get it if they show the Olympics and don't have another spot for it.  Showing it though on cable for no other reason they to try to get people to buy their crappy sports channel is pretty stupid.  Let me say for the record, I feel the same way with ABC doing that to the NBA Finals too, but at least ESPN is a lot more established.  Weekend programming especially during the daytime is made for sports, why not just show it on Network TV?

Well, thats enough ranting for one night, I think I'll stop there.  Thanks for reading and have a great night.  Hopefully I'll be writing more blogs this week, but still have a cluttered desk.  I'm also waiting on the fate of Limitless, as CBS hasn't announced a season two yet.  I guess the good news would be, I'd have more time for blogs on Tuesday nights if it is cancelled.  Oh well, maybe I should find better things to do.

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