From: miked@pterodactyl.cis.ohio-state.edu (Michael Davey)
Subject: Re: Baseball and Billions
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept. of Computer and Info. Science
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 14:01:29 GMT

In article <BtK031.EBF@news.cso.uiuc.edu> jhg8680@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon  Hamkins) writes:
>
>>It is unrealistic to think that not paying for baseball will solve all of 
>>its problems.  
>
>Naturally.  Noone claimed this, however.  It will cause is to change
>for the better.
	Yes, she did. re-read the original post. She suggested that not 
spending money on the game would force the owners to change their behavior.

>I think we all agree that if ticket prices doubled, there would be a
>corresponding decrease in attendance.  We might go, but just not as
>often.  Love or no love.
	Your counterexample is inappropriate. Any drastic changes in the cost
would obviously curb our participation; however, because the owners are
"good business people" they are able to gradually increase the cost and charge
the maximum possible and still fill the stadiums. This may be good business, 
but it is also rather mean-spirited. Whatever happened to making an honest 
profit, not the greatest profit possible.

>I agree.  I have a feeling I'd disagree with your definition of evils,
>though.  I'd want expansion to be easier, and professional baseball more
>enticing to owners.  I regard tying the owners hands as evil.
	I was not suggesting tying the owners hands. I was simply positing that
the owners are not perfect and simply having lots of money does not 
automatically mean you have the baseball know or respect for the role The Game
plays in our culture to make prudent decisions. See my example regarding the
broadcast of games on radio.

>It's not clear to me that there should even be a commissioner, let
>alone one that protects baseball "from" the owners.  What does that
>mean, anyway?  I sure as hell wouldn't invest in an area in which
>someone else had a ultimate control over what happens to my
>profits.  
	I find it strange you do not know what that means. It means that 
sometimes, the commissioner must interfere and force the owners to do things
they do not want to because it is in the best interests of the game. Such as
allowing African-Americans to play in the major-leagues, for example.

>That was not what was said in the original post at all.  OK, the word
>"greed" appears in the post, but all the other ideas here you have
>introduced.
	Wrong. If you cannot agree that the poster's motivation for
making the post he did was at least some disconcernment with the present
state of the game and specifically with the owners, you need to go to your
nearest Continuing-Ed program and take a basic course in literary analysis. 
Better yet, just improve your reading comprehension skills any way you can.

>Perhaps you have a reason why double headers *help* revenues?  And do
>you really think the Cubs's line to the public about rivalries is more
>important to them than lost TV money from west coast games?  There is a
>difference between public relations statements and what they are
>actually thinking.

	I never said double headers help revenues. I used them as an example
of something which actually lowers revenues, but which there seems to be 
a strong demand for from fans. Or more accurately, from prominent sport
writers. I know I barely have 3 hours a week to attend live games let alone
6+ hours plus travel time. The point you have missed again is that obviously
the money is the issue and I maintain that it should not be the only issue
when it comes to making decisions about the game. The DH was introduced by
AL owners to try and increase attendence by making The Game more exciting.
In the European soccer leagues, where the tradition and love for the game
of soccer is just as strong as it is for baseball here, there are no domes
and no artificial turf, and the owners make money. Lots of money, in fact.
It is unfathomable to me how the owners here can maintain that they have to
compromise the integrity of the game in order to turn a profit, when in other
countries they factor the traditions of the game strongly into their business
decisions.  If it works there it can work here.

--Mike D.--


Xref: sparky rec.sport.baseball:26409 rec.sport.basketball.pro:16575