Coffee Talk

[CeeLoGreen]

Bud Selig is neither a Bud nor a Selig.....Discuss.


Im watching reruns of last year's home run derby and among Bay's goose egg and Hee Sop Choi looking like he just got off the boat, they have an interview with Bud Selig. This man is ruining baseball. Between his reluctance to deal with the steriod issue (On Capitol Hill he looked like a naughty child getting disciplined by his parents after breaking their favorite antique) to the tie in the All Star game, this man has not made one correct move when the opportunity arose.

I liken him to Roy Munson of "Kingpin." As in, "Man, I had a chance to do the right thing, but I went all Selig and screwed it up"

I know it's not possible, but would there be a way to start a petition to get rid of him once and for all?

[Krunk City King$]

This man is ruining baseball.

old news....

[hwiggen]

EVERY thing he has done has been bad for the game.
Promoting steroid use
Interleague play -- a joke
the unbalanced schedule
second place teams making the playoffs
expansion ... during the strike!
the all star game deciding home field for the World Series
Aiding rich owners to force tax payers to buy them new parks

[jlm53089]

we need mike tyson running baseball

[RynMan]

Man, I'm just glad to see baseball being played.

[TheYanks04]

EVERY thing he has done has been bad for the game.
Promoting steroid use
Interleague play -- a joke
the unbalanced schedule
second place teams making the playoffs
expansion ... during the strike!
the all star game deciding home field for the World Series
Aiding rich owners to force tax payers to buy them new parks

Add to that the luxury and payroll taxes and robbing rich teams to pay welfare to poor teams and himself when he and his family owned the Brewers. Guy is just a crook looking to make himself the biggest buck he can without spending any of his own money.

As to getting rid of him...not a chance. MLB can put in anyone they want and he has the backing of the majority of the owners...mainly all the ones getting welfare from the rich clubs and some of the Selig cronies like Angelos of the Orioles.

And none of the owners really wants to do anything about the roid problem except push it under the rug.

[davidmarver]

EVERY thing he has done has been bad for the game.

Lets break some of these down shall we?

Interleague play -- a joke

A joke or an opportunity to see players you otherwise can't see? The attendance for interleague play is good; MLB is making more money because of it. Several rivalries have also started due to this.

the unbalanced schedule

Gives division games greater importance. Has allowed rivalries to flourish as well.

second place teams making the playoffs

Would you rather have there only be two playoff teams per league? Would you propose a four division league -- in which case, it's actually easier for a crappy team to make the playoffs. Four wild card teams have won the World Series since it's creation 11 years ago.

expansion ... during the strike!

While the Marlins attendance is low, they have won two World Series in the 11 they've been around for. The Diamondbacks just won one as well. The Rockies draw fairly decently. The Devil Rays we could do without.

the all star game deciding home field for the World Series

By doing this it will make the game more competitive -- better baseball -- and it makes ties virtually impossible to occur; they'll play it out now.

[Tavish]

Baseball attendance is up nearly 12 million since Selig took over. The expansion teams account for about 7 million of the difference. Baseball has gone through a strike that cancelled a World Series, is in the middle of a steroid scandal, a league payroll system dominated by large market teams, rising ticket prices and all the little sidenotes like the tied All-Star Game. For a game being ruined, its fans certainly don't seem to care.

[hwiggen]

Davidmarver,
I understand the points you're making, I just feel differently about them than you do. And that's one of the fun things about sports: having different opinions about something we both enjoy.
To me one of the best things about MLB was the 162 game schedule. The long season ensured that the best teams were rewarded. There's really no reason to play 162 games now. And the same level of fairness that came with the 162 game schedule is further undermined by teams fighting for the same playoff spot but not playing the same teams.
The attendence figures for interleague play mean nothing to me. Those games are scheduled when most people want to go to games. I agree that an all Chicago or NY (etc) series is a big draw, but what kind of attendence boost would a team like the Pirates see when the mighty Royals came to town on a school night in September?
I would hate to see four divisions per league.
I think home field in the Series should go to the team with the best record.
The truth is I'm still mad about the strike. Real mad. And I don't like the gimmicks that Bud Selig employed to boost attendence.
But I realize I'm fighting a losing battle here.
If you and most fans enjoy interleague play and the wild card then by all means, keep enjoying it.
But for me the things that set baseball apart from other sports are long gone. Now baseball is no better than football or hockey or basketball. And I'll keep on complaining about it because I remember how important MLB used to be to me. And I think it's kind of fun to have this debate. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just disagree.

[Vitreous]

I thought this would be about how Todd Coffee sucks.