Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Other College B-Ball

As we sit here on May, 31, it is time to think about what the month of June will bring to us. For Barry Bonds, it means another month of unemployment and a lot of laughter from every person outside of San Fran. For David Stern, it means he can now donate sperm to every cum bank in the world because the NBA finals feature the two most storied franchises in the sport's history. For Joakim Noah, it means he can officially blaze his crib up with Josh Howard every night until training camp begins. (Is it just me or could you picture Joakim and Howard blazing in one of their basements with a giant calender hanging on the wall that crosses out the days until they have to report to training camp only the day training camp starts is labeled as FUCKKK.) For the MLB, it means the descent into those summer nights of humidity and baseball under the lights. Or does it?

Little does literally anyone know, the MLB draft is fast approaching. That's right, this Thursday the 5th of June. Does anyone care besides the 12,000 people that will be drafted? No. Why? How many times a year do you see a college baseball game on television? Exactly.

The thing is, there really isn't a legitimate reason why college baseball doesn't get put on TV. With the success of college basketball and football, you would think that the NCAA, being the scumbags that they are, would try and advertise this sport a little more. The college world series features 8 teams playing in a mini tournament to vie for the national title. It is a very well attended and well watched sporting event. Wouldn't it be great if you actually knew the names of some of these players before they got on ESPN in late June? Think of the benefit the MLB would get out of this. How insanely hyped would the first pick in the draft be if people actually knew who he was! Baseball is America's pastime people! Some will argue that the college baseball season is too short/south dominated to be put on TV. 1- Oregon State has won back to back national championships. That's equivalent to the United States winning the Cricket world championships. 2- College Football is so ridiculously south dominated that you really can not make that argument.

I am a huge fan of collegiate athletics. Getting baseball a little more pub would be a great thing not only for the NCAA but for the MLB. I just think it is time for the NCAA to take the next step with this sport. I like the college world series but I would LOVE it if I had some background on the teams and players other than getting it from the announcers three minutes before the game.


Bet of the day: Detroit Red Wings (Even) moneyline. The Red Wings are just too good. They almost stole game 3, a game that everyone and their brother knew the Pens would take. The Wings are going to take control of this series for good.

Fantasy Player of the day: Ben Sheets vs Houston Astros. Sheets owns the 'stros. In 158 innings, Sheets has racked up 10 wins and 141 Ks to go along with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He's also coming off two great starts. Look for Sheets to continue his dominance tonight.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Cal,
The reality is that baseball players take to long to develop for your average fan to care about the college ranks. Think about it, the first picks in this years football and basketball will have a huge impact on how their team performs this year. On the other hand the first pick in baseball could be years away from appearing in the bigs IF he ever does. Throw in the fact you have the occasional 20th round pick you ends up making the team and contributing plus the fact half the guys drafted may opt not to turn pro and go/stay in college. All this means is the MLB draft doesn't matter because its too much of a crap shoot therefore college baseball won't matter.

Cal said...

I agree and my main argument was getting college baseball a little more attention from the average fan. The college world series is such a big event and I just dont understand how the NCAA can let the rest of the season go unnoticed. But I do agree with you, they take so long to develop that its really irrelevent for the MLB.