Since I can't watch Sportscenter anymore without wanting to kill myself, I've taken to flipping on the Weather Channel in the mornings as I get dressed. Admittedly, its lame as hell, something I really shouldn't be doing as a twentysomething. However, given the weirdness of a Midwestern "Spring", its also fairly essential, since most days I do all my business on foot. The point is this: everyone knew the storm was coming days ago.
I know theres nothing more tired than the overreacting to the weather that we've seen all over the media. At the point at which MLB makes the decision to start the season on April 1, things like this are going to happen, but not with any kind of regularity. Most of the proposed "solutions" aren't really guranteed fixes to the problem, as evidenced by the fact that games in the Northeast are being snowed out today. I'm 100% sure next year MLB will start the season in all domes and Sun Belt locales, with lots of self-congratulation about their wisdom. Then, during week 2, it'll still be cold and rainy in Chicago, NY, Boston, etc. Just like it always is.
All of that being said, I think its fairly stupid that no attempt was made to play a doubleheader thursday, friday, or even yesterday. But why be proactive when you can just call the game today, then either punt it later or have the Royals fly back in for one game in two months!?!? Of course, in the Age of Greed, a double-header is just a lost day of ad revenue and ticket sales, making it something to be avoided. The Cleveland debacle showed the thought-process plainly: Game One should have never started, period. But they tried to gut it out. The next day they scheduled a "day-night" doubleheader (aka, no two for one ticket bargain), which also had zero chance of being played. Finally, on Sunday, they announced that they'd try to play a traditional doubleheader. No clearly sign of desperation could have been given.
Someone in Baltimore: Hmm, theres a 5% chance it won't rain here on Sunday, I like our chances!
Anyway, another horrible Sunday.
Since I've already started to complain, can I just say that I'm really not a fan of the ESPN-driven Sunday schedule we've seen the past few years. Day games are pretty miserable in most of the country as it is (I've done some 1:05 games in Arlington before... AWFUL) and for people, like me and most other hardcore fans, its actually nice to follow multiple games throughout the day. But, a 1% ratings boost for ESPN is enough to completely dictate the entire schedule. Again, this is incredibly anti-fan, radically limiting your viewing choices for a pretty marginal financial gain. You can either listen to Joe Morgan's idiocy and Jon Miller's incredibly self-glorifying elan for pronouncing latin names, or you can not watch baseball. The choice is yours.
Al Central Rain Delay Theatre
-Royals Authority on the last two nights.
-New Royals blog, I've been meaning to link to, but keep forgetting, In Dayton We Trust
-Could the Tribe be leaving Cleveland?
-Bless You Boys provides you with just about every Jackie Robinson link you could ever want.
-Gleeman breaks down the Santana breaks off talks with Twins story and retraction.