Civic Pride

Date: 5/2/2010
Watching: SportsCenter
I can't overstate how dominant ESPN is. They decided that Americans would start liking soccer, and it happened! Do you understand how impossible that once seemed? Go back and read what people wrote when MLS was founded. Heck, read anything written about it in its first five years. And now, it seems solidly established; it's never going to be a major sport but it seems to have a consistent, reasonably respected existence. And everybody is expected to care about the World Cup, and even the UEFA tournament! A tournament that doesn't take place in America, and has no Americans in it! NBC has had the Olympics forever, and refuses to even to TRY to get Americans to care about foreigners. But ESPN saw the business opportunity, and they put the word out throughout their organization: cool sports fans respect soccer. And lo and behold, it happened.

The success of sports teams has an effect on a city. Cleveland hasn't won a championship since 1960 or whatever, they had their most important team stolen from them, then restored to them as the worst team in football, a laughingstock. And now LeBron is probably leaving, without giving them a championship. The best player they have had in any sport since James Brown, and he's going to skip town for a bigger spotlight, and likely as not win multiple championships there. And it spills over into reality the real world. What do people think of Cleveland? Losers. Look at that 30 Rock episode, where they "Flee to the Cleve." That was the perfect Midwest city for that joke, because it's a natural punchline, and has been my whole life. And yet, I've spent a reasonable amount of time in Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, and Indianapolis, and a bit of time in Detroit and St. Louis, and I have to say I like Cleveland better than any of them (I do prefer Pittsburgh, however, and Chicago is obviously in a different league). But, even if you're not a sports fan, how is it going to affect you when 80% of the times that you hear something about Cleveland, it's negative? Wouldn't it make you less likely to move yourself or your business there? Not by a lot, but enough to potentially make a difference? I think it must.

Hockey fandom update: the deal-breaker for me may turn out to be its unsuitability for casual watching. If I read a book while I'm watching baseball, football, tennis, or really even basketball, I won't miss anything that crucial. There are down periods even in the run of play, which are worth watching if you're really into the game, but if you just want something on while you're reading, or cleaning, or whatever, hockey seems kind of pointless. Because you look away for five seconds and "Goal!". And, I don't know, it robs the excitement of it from me. And they show the replay, and it's always the same story: one team got a little lucky, and was fortunate enough to actually get a shot past the goalie. Foozball has more of a flow than hockey (when it's played right, and I've played with some serious players). Though I must say, both teams I was rooting for tonight won, and I did enjoy that aspect of it. So, we'll see. I mean, it helps that I don't feel that passionately about the NBA playoffs this year. It's the Robo-Lakers vs. the about-to-betray-his-city-immediately-after-disappointing-in-the-playoffs-yet-again LeBron Cavaliers. And I'd like the Suns to win, but they're not going to, they're going to steal one on the road, maybe push it to 7 (after getting screwed by the refs in Game 5), and then lose by like 8 points, never quite being out of it but never really looking convincing. And if we're really unlucky the Lakers will be up against the Magic after LeBron goes 10 for 28 in a crucial game, and we'll be treated to teams led by Kobe "I may or may not be clinically insane" Bryant and Dwight "the least charismatic man in the universe" Howard. Awesome.

I have to admit that much of the reason I like the Sharks is because I think San Jose is so cute with its hockey team. It thinks it's a real city!