Ad hoc thoughts on sports (mostly the Rays)
July 1st, 2008 by Eric Snider in SportsWatched nine innings and nearly three hours of baseball last night. Again. I’m still amazed that I have that capacity, because baseball has always been a bit on the slow side for me.
It’s all about the Rays, of course. Watching them become a good team has been a kick, then a thrill, then something of a preoccupation. And the more you watch, the more you get an affinity for the team, and the guys on the team, the more you learn about game situations via illuminating analysis by the TV announcing team of Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane.
The game is still a bit on the slow side for me, but it’s never boring (these days) and, during tense situations (like last night’s 9th inning in a 5-4 Rays win) can be as exciting as any other sport.
• During last night’s game against the Red Sox, it sure seemed like a Rays crowd.
I think the TV coverage skews that way — showing crazy Rays fans, for instance, instead of throngs in red. But the audio doesn’t lie (unless there’s a Wizard of Oz type adjusting the volume levels), and it sure sounded to me as if the Rays were getting bigger cheers. I never heard an exploding ovation after a Boston homerun or some other feat.
Of course, crowd makeup and allegiances are best gauged in person. I’m heading to the Trop on Wednesday (Rays/Red Sox) and will provide a more detailed report.
A truer test of fan interest will come when the Oakland A’s — a West Coast team with no rivalry with the Rays and little cache in this market — arrive for a three games on July 21-23. If that series draws more than 25,000 per game, then the tide has definitely turned.
• I’m pretty much only reporting the following because I can and the daily sports sections can’t: When closer Troy Percival hurt his hamstring in the top of the 9th inning last night, manager Joe Maddon came out to the mound with the clear intent of replacing him.
The burly reliever wasn’t happy. Percival must’ve said iterations of “that’s fuckin’ bullshit, Joe” about a dozen times. Maddon started out conciliatory, but finally resorted to a firm, “That’s enough.”
Big-screen TVs make lip-reading so much easier.
By the way, both Maddon and Percival say there is no any lasting issue — a competitive, heat-of-the-moment thing — and I believe them.
• NBC is going bigger on the U.S. Olympic swimming trials — which I’ve enjoyed (for a few minutes) — but let me recommend the Track and Field trials (mostly on USA Network). Set on a pristine track in pristine Eugene, Ore., the coverage has been spine-tingling, well-edited into tight one-hour segments. Just the best, most exciting, stuff.
Not a track fan? Try it. Watching speedsters jet down the track, or behemoths throw the shot or distance runners gut out the last stretch is some thrilling stuff.
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