I get where you’re coming from, but I’m sure the possibility of an “accidentally” exposed nipple during the seventh inning stretch wouldn’t hurt ratings any.

lol…true.  A wardrobe malfunction involving Don Zimmer ain’t much of a draw.

Nipples aside - let’s talk about why MLB and the WS is being compared to the NFL and the Superbowl.  I find it interesting that this conversation doesn’t happen with either the NBA or NHL and like baseball both leagues also have seven games series and neither get the same ratings as the Superbowl. 

It seems to me that folks associated with baseball (e.g. within MLB, the media) seem overly occupied with the NFL.  I’m not sure it is an appropriate comparison as comparing leagues with championship series are a different animal than those with a championship game.  I believe crowning a champion through a best-of series results in a truer champion than those that use a championship game.  For example, while NC State winning the NCAA title over Houston was a great story if they played a series I truly believe that Houston would win 3-1 or 4-1.

However the simplicity and marketing beauty of a one game, and date known well in advance, death match makes it a great single day event.  That is very hard to compete with especially given the party atmosphere that is associated with single day events. 

I believe baseball needs to stop acting like the overlooked little brother and recognize that it has a great product and should focus it’s energy on selling it strengths (e.g. the drama of a series, the challenges of playing on the road) not trying to live up to the image of big brother.  For example, the Superbowl had last years Giant’s upset of NE but that does not compare to the Yankees being up 3 games to none, leading game 4 late in the late innings and then losing the series (technically that was the ALCS but you get my point). 

One of my mentors has a saying - “you will always be a lousy copy of someone else but are a great original”.  Baseball needs to embrace its originality and leave the false comparison with the NFL alone.

@Sara - Would that be utility guys with nice nipples?

Count me as one who is sick of hearing about The Stories.  If it were the story of the series, that would be different, but the pre-packaged storylines of veteran redemption, utility hustle, or Manny-being-Manny are a waste of time.

Stark has some good columns, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts is his use of “we.”  Does he have a co-author for every story?  If so, put the person in the byline.  If not, say “I,” Jayson!

(I tried posting this before, but it said it needed to be moderated… let’s try one more time)
I think the answer to that is pretty easy, Moose, and it’s not because of anything nefarious or because of self-esteem issues. Almost the opposite, probably.

The Super Bowl and the World Series are compared like that - at times, and usually only when ESPN is looking to fill dead-air/space - because they’re the two most successful championships. They’re successful for two completely different reasons, and with two completely different metrics (NFL: revenue, MLB: excitement, drama), but they’re successful. And their success means that people care about them which leads to ESPN talking about the two of them more.

We all know that ESPN hates the NHL, so they’ll never make that comparison. They do love the NBA, but the mystique and tradition and all of that of the NBA Finals just isn’t there. Why talk about lesser events when you don’t have to?

Personally, I think MLB has the best events (World Series, All-Star Game), and I’ve heard many TV personalities say the same thing. But when you have two weeks of nothing but hype to fill, those hypemakers are going to be looking for every possible angle. This is just another one of their dumb ideas.

—lar

The burning questions is:

If B.J. Upton were a tree, what kind of tree would he be?

That tells me all I need to know about the difference between the Super Bowl and the World Series right there.

The comparisons between MLB and NFL constantly come up because baseball is desperately trying to figure out how football has completely and utterly usurped its position as the country’s most popular sport. It’s gotten to the point that calling baseball the “national pastime” is actually laughable, because everyone knows football is the real national pastime—and it’s not even particularly close. Unfortunately, I believe it’s a problem endemic to the sport of baseball itself; I don’t think any of these quick marketing fixes are going to make up for the fact that people are more inclined to watch the violent, relatively fast-paced action of football than the more cerebral, leisurely-paced sport of baseball. In other words, it’s the product itself, not the packaging.