Digby

On 2023-11-26 at 2:28 PM, McCall said:

I'm new to MLS, but St. Louis had like a 2-&-a-half week break between their final two regular season games. Then you have these breaks in the playoffs. Is there any rhyme or reason to this scheduling? Why not just be consistent with each weekend (& occasional Wednesday). MLS Cup would've happened by now.

On 2023-11-26 at 4:59 PM, LaGrandeOrange said:

The somewhat cynical reasoning is that MLS is a bit of a pyramid scheme because it mostly makes money through expansion fees and the best justification they can get for charging those fees involves having a ton of matches, since it's mostly a gate-based league (and most MLS teams do draw very well). It operates in that way like every other North American sport, except unlike those leagues it has to contend with a higher body that can interrupt its' schedule (FIFA International breaks), and MLS has no real control over it, but the breaks are known far enough in advance that they could just...work around them.

 

 

Last year the MLS playoffs were disarmingly normal -- one game per round, winner advances, approx one per week without weeks off in the middle -- but only because they were forced to get the whole ordeal over with before the Winter World Cup.

Apparently the origin of this "3 game series but only in the first round" thing was because Apple TV wanted more playoff games to show than there would have been had the rounds just been single games. Which is a bit of a funny shift from the general MLS history as, to @LaGrandeOrange 's point, it's usually been about ticket sales vs paltry media rights. Of course they will never tell us ratings with this purely streaming setup, but based on the chatter I've read and heard from my MLS circles, nobody was watching those extra games anyhow, they torpedoed themselves with meaningless play and momentum-destroying schedules.

I actually do think more playoff games / letting lower seeds get a game or two is a noble ideal -- get people in stadiums for playoff atmospheres and hopefully they're hooked. But I continue to advocate for a return to the classic two-leg home-and-home rounds to do so. Play games 5-7 days apart and it's still over with in just over a month when the schedule is right.

3 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

The MLS for years has struggled with making the end of its season as widely engaging as the beginning. The playoffs are already easy to ignore for casual fans or those who support teams who didn't make it far. Taking weeks off doesn't help that. I had forgotten the the playoffs weren't over by the time I saw ads that they were starting back up again. 

 

This is the least attention I've paid to MLS playoffs in recent memory, I've only watched a couple of games. The best-of-3 format seemed to lead teams to basically give up playing after 20 minutes, and then having a week or ten days between those games totally killed momentum even before we got to the international break. I saw the Cincy controversial goal yesterday but beyond that I couldn't even tell you who's still involved. 

Not sure I've ever seen a level of self-inflicted dumbass play like what I just saw from Sergino Dest. Incredible.

Players from both teams criticizing Friday's court in Toronto.

Doubt that was the only problematic one.

This has shades of when the league tried to change the ball in the late 00s.

It's interesting to me how people apparently don't care but they have to post in the sport's thread about how they don't care.

On 2023-11-10 at 3:57 PM, McCall said:

It's California.

What does that have to do with it?

On 2023-11-11 at 9:18 AM, BBTV said:

I'm slightly closer to 50 than 40, and I've known exactly 2 Phillies TV main broadcasters, and 3 main radio guys, one Eagles guy, 2 Flyers guys, and 2 Sixers.  Color guys have come in and out, but even then, not that much.

 

Is there any other city with that kind of longevity / consistency in their broadcast teams? 

I think it's pretty common, actually, especially in legacy markets. The Big Four broadcast jobs don't really change out very often at all at the local level. It's a limited pool with, I guess, some prestige. (Which is maybe why the intrigue of who'd come in after 43 years of Mike Gorman was such a thing... yet they picked generic Syracuse gen-Z guy...)

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

 

Isn't Gillette closer to Providence, Rhode Island?

Roughly equidistant. Depends what part of Boston you're starting from. An interesting tidbit for the usual SSS talking points of the last 20 years of MLS, Providence is a more diverse city than Boston at this point. The new location also drags the Revs away from the Mass/RI Portuguese belt, although the immediate close radius of the stadium site is very Central-American and Brazilian (though not of the tax bracket that will be affording whatever ticket prices this will cost).

3 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

The Timbers Reddit has been very vocal about how of all the "local" businesses they could pick, most Timbers fans are not happy with this choice. 

I mean, that's been every day in the history of Timbers Reddit, no?

As someone who lives here, it's about as good as they'll get (well, the South End tow lot and the Olympics location and the old Expo site would've been better, but those ships have all sailed). Obviously Fenway and the Garden have set a high standard for accessibility but it'll be impossible to replicate that nowadays, so this works.

Transport-wise: driving over there is a total nightmare as-is. The leaked memo says only 75 onsite parking spaces, which I assume to mean ADA only and they'll tell everyone else that you simply can't drive to the stadium. It's a bit of a hike to the Orange Line right now, but there's supposedly plans to build a footbridge from the nearest Orange Line stop to the casino over the Mystic River, which would make for a scenic 10-minute walk and make some much-needed connectivity to Somerville. You could also do shuttles and, if we're really thinking big, a water ferry from downtown could stop right at the park.

There is, of course, a faction of Revs fans upset at this site because of the driving impossibility and the loss of the tailgate scene. To which I say, who cares.

This whole zone has been blight for years. The new casino was built 4 years ago across the way, and while I find it physically and morally hideous, it's the anchor for turning this blight into some kind of entertainment district that anyone will actually want to go to, and there's still enough empty space around that there aren't many neighbors to NIMBY the thing to death.

On 2023-11-15 at 4:08 AM, who do you think said:

Someone just needs to knock Green out cold. It's the only appropriate comeuppance for his career of BS, I still remember him holding Sabonis down on the floor in the backcourt during one of the Kings games last spring and nobody even cared. The league has never and will never do anything substantial about him, not with a gaping LOLcat like Adam Silver in charge and definitely not now that he's weaseled his way into the occasional TNT studio appearance.

 

Minnesota sounds sufficiently pissed off about this, they've started off and this may help them keep it going. If they can trade Towns for something useful they might be a threat this year.

I enjoyed the ESPN guys yesterday solemnly explaining how they hope this five-game suspension will finally send a message to Draymond. Maybe it would make a difference for some young player who doesn't have his history, but I can't imagine how they all kept straight faces through it. If the teammate sucker-punch in practice somehow wasn't rock bottom for this guy, how do you maintain any benefit of doubt afterward? Would like to see a pundit say "He's a loose cannon who makes his workplace unsafe and he needs to find different meds."

21 hours ago, OnWis97 said:

I am usually a big Steve Kerr fan, but I was a little disappointed in his comical defense of his player and suggestion that Gobert did the same thing. L O L.

 

I am not a Kerr fan, and that's his usual act of being a complete sycophant to his star players. Going to be fun to see him maintain his elite coach persona when he doesn't have Steph Curry's generational star-turn to hide behind.

A Revolution-associated LLC has a memo of agreement with the city of Everett on a waterfront stadium: https://www.theblazingmusket.com/p/city-of-everett-and-nrs-llc-enter

Now just needs the state Senate (and then Governor) to sign off on the necessary zoning changes. In the usual Massachuetts politics fashion, the budget bill meant to include that provision still hasn't been agreed upon despite the end of formal sessions for the year. Still, this is I think the closest and most "real" that the 15-20 year stadium saga has ever been.

I'm surprised at this point that a team would have a contractor as a sponsor and not yet another "non-profit" healthcare provider or another higher-profile option. At least we've mostly passed the eras of MLMs and crypto sponsorship... I think...

Adam Silver did a guest spot on the local Celtics' broadcast last night and was eager to concede that the courts are less about people liking them than they are about being attention-grabbing, even for the casuals watching at a bar where the TV's muted. (Unsurprisingly Mike Gorman just kinda gave a "huh" with a pregnant pause, while Brian Scalabrine just got worked up about being at a bar.)

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/11/red-sox-unveiling-new-uniform-schedule-including-weekly-yellows-for-2024.html

Alex Cora was on a podcast and said the Red Sox are going approximately back to their old uniform schedule, with alternates limited to Fridays (red home, navy road). Now with the City Connects in the mix, those will be the Saturday homes.

There's always been slippage with these guys. This sort of brings it back to how it always used to be with alternates for Fridays (and day/night doubleheaders) only. If memory serves they didn't start with jersey randomizer mode until the 2018 World Series, of all places. And the yellows were originally meant to be just the Marathon weekend series until last year those went wild too.

Choice quote:

Quote

“We cannot rely on yellow whenever we suck,” Cora added. “Is it the uniforms or is it us?”

I realized today that the asphalt court in the nearest park to my house is painted mostly dark green with accented areas of khaki tan. Nice of the Celtics to pay tribute to local neighborhood parks but for added authenticity, their tournament court should have cracks in the pavement and irregular slants here and there.

It kinda reminds me of when they've tried to mess around with the paneling or the colors of the ball itself. Turns out there's only so much you can improve on. Orange, leather ball, eight panels, bounced off a woodgrain court. Anything else looks like the multipurpose gym at the local YMCA. 

8 hours ago, Walk-Off said:

A special congratulations should go out to Rangers relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who pitched briefly in tonight's game.  Now, he is part of two especially history-making World Series title runs; he was one of the relievers on the Chicago Cubs squad that won the 2016 Fall Classic.

Heartwarming! This pitcher finally has more rings than domestic violence suspensions!

Those are soccer shorts. We really can't help ourselves, can we?

Everything about this jersey/court/branding initiative screams white guy taking a sunglasses selfie in his car. Weird Florida Man pivot from the Heat.

On 2023-10-30 at 12:20 PM, Digby said:

 

I suspect the CGI ads have been jettisoned. Celtics have a beige-ish City jersey this year, and I don't think I've seen those ads present on national broadcasts so far this year. Of course, there are more IRL ads on the court instead, which I guess was the inevitable monkey's paw solution.

I take this back -- maybe I had only watched, or noticed, with ABC/ESPN games to start. But currently watching Spurs v Suns on TNT and they've got the CGI ads. Could be though that either the tech is better at mapping it this year, or we'll find out the league and partners are happy to pass on that revenue this year in the service of this silly "IST" brand.

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

I guess they wanted expiring contracts.  What a F'd up league where lousy players are desirable simply because of their contracts.  Harden's is expiring too, so I'm not sure if/how this is really worth it unless it would have rolled over due to him not playing.

 

Phila is not competing with Milwaukee and Boston this year either way if Harden doesn't want to do his job. So same outcome but extra picks and fewer bad vibes, though a revolving door of old guys at power forward will probably make for some memes on the court this season. Assuming their situation isn't totally radioactive by next summer they'll be a big free agency player.

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

  

 

I said one time that going to an NBA game was becoming more like attending a performance of Hamilton than a sporting event and people got mad at me. If it wasn't true a year or two ago, it has to be true by now.

I imagine Hamilton crowds keep their mouths shut during the action, whereas every NBA game I go to now I have idiot finance bros behind me who won't shut up about their respective FanDuel bets on other games.

I'd also say that particular phenomenon hasn't seemed to be limited to the NBA. Again, might be market-by-market, but Bruins and Sox games of the post-covid era to me have felt similarly moribund, and similarly wallet-destroying, though maybe with less FanDuel banter. Though the Red Sox were pursuing the luxury-experience strategy for many, many years now.

Just now, PurpleRain said:

The Pelicans' voodoo logo is actually super cool. Shame the city uniforms are so minimalist.

The ESPN piece called it a "skelican" which I love. That's an example of where some of this NBA "innovation" I think is actually fun and different, these tertiary looks that aren't just the base uniform in a third colorway but actually a clever, alternate brand. The problem (beyond these hideous courts) is that we're getting 2% cool, thoughtful alternate and 98% greedy excess of thrown spaghetti against the wall.

2 minutes ago, PrimalCookie said:

Remember when the Bucks had to can their cream alternates because they'd blend in with the court and mess up the CGI sponsors? I guess that problem got fixed, because otherwise there's about to be a lot of players disappearing into the green (or black, or purple, or blue, etc) screen.

I suspect the CGI ads have been jettisoned. Celtics have a beige-ish City jersey this year, and I don't think I've seen those ads present on national broadcasts so far this year. Of course, there are more IRL ads on the court instead, which I guess was the inevitable monkey's paw solution.

49 minutes ago, bbush24 said:

 

In my experience, it seems that over the past 5-7 years the NBA has stayed very popular on social media and national TV, but has become much less relevant in real life. And maybe it's just because I live in Ohio and LeBron isn't here anymore, but pre-covid if I walked up to a random group of guys who are into sports I would expect there to be some interest in the NBA. Not anymore. It's starting to feel more like a fringe sport like hockey. And I honestly believe that the whole AAU culture of the league (which the uniform/brand mess strongly attributes to) is the primary reason for that.

This may be a market by market thing because I'm in Boston and the Celtics (who've traditionally been #4 in the city, very occasionally briefly popping up to #3) are more relevant locally now than ever. It helps that they're consistently contending now whereas they had 3 years of contention and 25 years of mostly sucking in the years prior to the Tatum era. It also helps that the Patriots suck now and the Red Sox have withdrawn themselves from relevance. I can't tell you how often I used to ask bartenders if they'd put the Celtics game on the TV in the 2010s and it was like asking them to turn on The Biography Channel. 

The wider shift I think is less AAU and more about the Silver administration's fetish for anything soccer does. In fairness, the way European league soccer took off in the 2010s in the States did suggest that people (especially younger generations) will watch sports from far away, grow attachments to teams without a local connection, and chase the groups of star players more than the organization itself. (Also that you can sell a new set of jerseys to people every year, and change jerseys can grab from the extreme end of the Crayola box instead of just a color swap.) This whole tournament is a straight rip-off of the FA Cup and similar tournaments, neglecting of course that those events are usually MORE traditional and LESS centralized than the EPL or Bundesliga etc.

The other factor is the push to turn sport into Streaming TV Content, with the actual tickets to games becoming so expensive that it's only really tenable as an expense-account thing for city socialites. There's been no real consequence for that.