Baseball players set a strike date for Aug. 30, a senior member of the union's executive board said Friday, putting the sport on course for its ninth work stoppage since 1972.
Morons... both sides are complete, f'ing morons...
Yep, another good season wasted. Good races in the AL West, AL Wild Card, and NL Wild Card all gone. The question is how many people will be turned off by baseball once again?
It looks like Bud Selig is going to lead baseball into Jonestown for Kool-Aid time. Split the middle, get a deal, and contract the Brewers and baseball will be all set.
At this point, all I really care about is that I have Phillies tickets this weekend (for Harry Kalas bobblehead day) and that game will be played.
After that, it's football season for all I care about, especially once I get my copy of Madden tomorrow.
You're all so WONDERFUL. Why did they ever have to remove you from the continuity? You'd have made for MARVELOUS stories. You WILL make marvelous stories. And the FIRST story of the new world will be a story of REVENGE! -- The Psycho Pirate, Animal Man 23, May 1990.
Originally posted by Mr. CactuarYep, another good season wasted. Good races in the AL West, AL Wild Card, and NL Wild Card all gone. The question is how many people will be turned off by baseball once again?
I've said this before - another major strike, so close to the last one, again disrupting the playoffs, will massacre Major League Baseball. Chances of survival for MLB would be very low, especially given the competition that other sports are giving baseball.
Steph
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
There really shouldn't be a strike. Listening about talk of negotiations, the two sides have a general agreement of what needs to be done. That's not even the issue. We're only talking about numbers now. Getting the numbers together shouldn't be that hard. But if anyone could manage not to come to an agreement, it would be baseball players and owners.
As far as fans not coming back, I think they will. People said the only reason people came back last time was Ripken, McGuire, and Sosa. Guess what, there will be another Ripken, McGuire, and/or Sosa in the future, after the strike. Great players do great things, and the greatest players play in the Major Leagues. So if all it takes for fans to come back is a great story, then there is no doubt, the fans will come back. If it can survive a World Series cancellation (and everyone said it wouldn't back then too), then it can survive just about anything.
(The are some attempts to organize a fan strike the next two weeks. If that actually takes off, then maybe I would change my opinion. But I'm betting there will be no significant drop in attendance or ratings)
Nine stoppages since 1972. Now, the last one was 1994. It's been 8 years roughly since that one... which leaves 8 work stoppages in the 22 years between '72 and '94. That's an average of one every 3 years if they were spaced out evenly.
Why don't I remember all of these work stoppages? What's the deal with this number... it doesn't add up to me. Were there multiple stoppages in one season?
Much like in pro wrestling, there was one defining moment that restored faith in baseball and brought fans back to the sport after the depressing abomination that was the 1994 strike. That one thing was the chase for the home run record. Big Mac and Slammin Sammy brought intrigue back to baseball and after Maris's record was snapped, fans stuck around.
Time for a reality check! If there's another work stoppage, there IS no home run race or any other race that will bring back fans! Much like in pro wrestling, rehashing the same story will not bring back fans! The only exception would be Barry Bonds catching Hank Aaron, but that's not the only reason fans will not come back.
To the average Joe, a strike is being threatened because the players aren't satisfied with their payroll. People in this country are struggling with the economy and unemployment is rising by the day and these guys are complaining over an average $2.3 million salary?!?! That may not be true, but that's how the average person will see this and the fans WILL turn against the players! They will also turn against owners for being stubborn bastards!
This is not what the country needs right now! Our country has turned to baseball to get us out of the reality of the post-9/11 era. We turned to baseball and asked it to be our national pasttime again to help us cope with tragedy and less than a year later, these jackoffs are cutting another season short and cancelling another World Series over something as asinine as payroll.
Every sports writer has said this: How the hell can you NOT come up with a sensible way to divide $3.5 BILLION?!?! This is NOT rocket science!! There should at least be SOMEBODY out there who knows what the hell they're doing.
I've seen CRZ use this somewhere in one of his recaps and I'll say it here because it applies. IT NEVER SHOULD HAVE COME TO THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!! I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT, BUT FIX IT!!
In this post-9/11 era, baseball doesn't mean as much as it used to. If there's a work stoppage, fans will not come back and the sport will die! Fans won't care. As long as there are alternatives in the forms of the NBA, NFL, and NHL, we'll live.
Rant over.
"That's right! You suckas better FIND somewhere to run! 'cause it's me - Booker T - not only am I the Scorpion King, but I'm the five-time WCW Champion - and I got a sword, too! Now can U dig THAT - SUCKAAAAAS" -Booker T, Hollywood's next big superstar!
And that's the bottom line, because it's false! It's DAMN false!
Only 2 more weeks until this shit finally ends! (pumps fist) Baseball sucks right now, I have no reason to watch it. I love baseball, I can still watch individual games, but I have absolutely no reason to follow it over the course of a season anymore.
That being said, they'll get a deal signed before the deadline. They're too close. But, there's a positive in that to: I won't have to hear this crap anymore.
I am a 16-time Wiener of the Day. Unfortunately, all of my reigns happened during house shows and are not officialy recoginzed.
"BobHollySTILLRules STILL rules!" -SmooveK, finally letting the world know what a select few have known all along. That I do, indeed, rule.
bah. Could that be because both your teams are not having good years? To wish the season over is one thing.... to wish baseball dead is another. The Redbirds are having a good season... and i for one wanted to see the end of this season.
Go Cards!
I've torn myself apart.... and tried to figure out why... but the only answer i was ever given... that really fits..... is the fact... that women are crazy.
Originally posted by SerWolfebah. Could that be because both your teams are not having good years? To wish the season over is one thing.... to wish baseball dead is another. The Redbirds are having a good season... and i for one wanted to see the end of this season.
Go Cards!
See, this is another reason for me to have sour grapes! FOR ONCE, both the Dodgers and the Angels are on the verge of making the postseason. It's something I've been waiting to see for a long time, being a lifetime Dodgers and Angels fan. I was even one of the guys rooting for a Freeway World Series (it'll never happen, but a guy can dream, right?). There's even intrigue in this, because it still not 100% sure to happen, but half the thrill is in the chase and watching to see if the Dodgers can hold off the Giants and if the Angels can hold off the A's and Red Sox and maybe even *gasp* TAKE FIRST PLACE FROM SEATTLE!! And now none of it will happen or unfold because of another work stoppage. It's beyond frustrating and it makes me want to walk away for good.
"That's right! You suckas better FIND somewhere to run! 'cause it's me - Booker T - not only am I the Scorpion King, but I'm the five-time WCW Champion - and I got a sword, too! Now can U dig THAT - SUCKAAAAAS" -Booker T, Hollywood's next big superstar!
And that's the bottom line, because it's false! It's DAMN false!
Is it just the Major League guys going out? Is there any chance of minor league guys playing in their place? Is the players union a compulsory thing? Would anyone NOT go out?
Originally posted by It's FalseSee, this is another reason for me to have sour grapes! FOR ONCE, both the Dodgers and the Angels are on the verge of making the postseason. It's something I've been waiting to see for a long time, being a lifetime Dodgers and Angels fan. I was even one of the guys rooting for a Freeway World Series (it'll never happen, but a guy can dream, right?). There's even intrigue in this, because it still not 100% sure to happen, but half the thrill is in the chase and watching to see if the Dodgers can hold off the Giants and if the Angels can hold off the A's and Red Sox and maybe even *gasp* TAKE FIRST PLACE FROM SEATTLE!! And now none of it will happen or unfold because of another work stoppage. It's beyond frustrating and it makes me want to walk away for good.
OR, maybe the strike will save Angels fans from having to watch another choke job.
George Washington gave his signature The Government gave its hand They said for now and ever more that this was Indian Land
"As long as the moon shall rise" "As long as the rivers flow" "As long as the sun will shine" "As long as the grass shall grow"
If they do strike, I hope fans give up on baseball entirely and these players never ever make a single dime off baseball again. Nobody. Maybe then all of them, players, owners, whoever, would realize what complete jackasses they are.
Mean Gene: "You know, I don't think it's a question - Goldberg, I don't think it's a question of who's next, I think it's a question of who's left?" Goldberg: "No, see, that's where you're wrong. It ain't who's left, it's - WHO'S NEXT?"
"Just how hardcore am I? Well this morning, I drank milk that was two days past the expiration!" -Norman Smiley
Originally posted by SerWolfebah. Could that be because both your teams are not having good years? To wish the season over is one thing.... to wish baseball dead is another. The Redbirds are having a good season... and i for one wanted to see the end of this season.
Go Cards!
Hey, until they fix the damn sport, it deserves to die. Period.
And yes, my team sucks. The Marlins are a joke, they are a PRIME example of what is wrong with the sport.
(edited by BobHollySTILLRules on 17.8.02 0757) I am a 16-time Wiener of the Day. Unfortunately, all of my reigns happened during house shows and are not officialy recoginzed.
"BobHollySTILLRules STILL rules!" -SmooveK, finally letting the world know what a select few have known all along. That I do, indeed, rule.
Originally posted by MercIs it just the Major League guys going out? Is there any chance of minor league guys playing in their place? Is the players union a compulsory thing? Would anyone NOT go out?
It is, in fact just American and National league players going out. Which forces me to wonder why they don't start having scab games. Its what happened in football, and it ersulted in the "holy grail CBA" that football is so proud of. I would still watch it. Then again, I'll watch anything.
EDIT : after I wrote this, I realized the reason why - baseball has guaranteed contracts, which means that they can sit home and make their money. I think.