Bud Selig is Coming to Town

I saw Bill Plaschke acting like half genius, half total dope. That's the beauty of Around the Horn! The genius half was that he said Bud Selig ought not be so cowardly as to sneak into games without talking to the press about Bonds. Then he said he knows Bud is a good man who loves the game.



SHAME ON YOU BILL PLASCHKE! (I couldn't resist, sorry).

Did Bud love the game so much that he cared to do anything at all about steroids until the pressure from the US Government came at him? No, no he didn't. Where was all the stuff Bud was doing to save the game from the steroids era in 1998-2002?

Were there no steroids then? Bud wasn't yelling about Barry, Mark, Sammy, etc back then. He was saying, "Goodness gracious, we're making a lot of money here folks...let's ignore the problem until it goes away!"

That doesn't make Bud Selig the worst guy in the world, in fact as these things go, it makes him pretty human. But it does make him a lousy commissioner if saving the game from steroids is important.

I'm still not sure that it is. In fact, I'm much more sure they're using HGH and that Jason Giambi was cheating with greenies and getting caught just last summer. You want to impress us Bud? Don't make Giambi talk to Mitchell. Make Giambi give his blood to a lab so they can test for HGH.

I understand that's not going to happen. It isn't in anyone's best interest -- even Bud's. OK, so the test comes back and sure as heck, HGH -- then what the hell does Bud do? He can suspend Giambi I suppose, but without changing the collective bargaining agreement, he can't test anyone else and so the cloud will still hang over the game.

The All-Star game is here in San Francisco in a few weeks and I know for a fact Mr. Selig will be coming to that and I can make a fairly good guess at which hotel he's going to be staying at (I have it narrowed down to 5, but it's probably one of the top 3).

The question is this, what's going to win out: crazy or lazy? I'd bet on lazy, but I am tempted to stand out in front of his hotel all day with a sign saying "Bud Knew Barry Cheated, Why does Bud Get a Pass for not doing anything until the President said something about it? Bud Selig is every bit the cheating, liar Barry Bonds is, but not nearly as talented at what he does!"

Ok, I admit, that will need to be a pretty big sign.

MLB All-Star Game Ratings 1967-Present

Can MLB/FOX make it two consecutive years of ratings increases?


I doubt it. The phrase "Lowest rated ____ in history" is going to continue its trend. These lines are all down for everything but the Super Bowl and NASCAR.

But this year is special. Controversy...building, mounting, controversy. It will build faster if Barry hits a few more homeruns. At his current pace he won't break the record before July 10, but stranger things have happend. Either way, the Bud vs. Barry controversy is brewing.

Will this controversy be good for MLB ratings? Perhaps. If the downward trend continues though, no doubt it will be blamed (rightly or wrongly) on the impurity of the game and dislike of Bonds. Looking at the overall trendline I would conclude if the ratings go up measurably vs last year, Barry ought to get some credit for that (even if they just tuned in to hate him). If the ratings go down, I'd attribute it to the trend. Bill Plaschke (who I do enjoy, but who like anyone else can be a dope sometimes) will blame it on Barry.

I'll probably repost this chart again in a few weeks, but you people in the know enjoy getting in on things before the hoi polloi.

P.S. TV by the Numbers is coming Fall '07.