What's with the media blitz?

Sports talk radio to put it bluntly "sucks". I've heard nothing but whining talk show hosts cry about how the NBA finals are so low rated and boring. They are part of the reason that people aren't watching. The sheep do what the media tells them to do. That's how Dancing with the Stars and American Idol became such huge hits.

Real basketball fans appreciate great basketball and the Spurs are a machine. Flawless execution of a game plan interests real basketball fans. Of course, jealous fans in Dallas and Phoenix aren't going to watch, but who cares about them?

The sportstalk guys should be encouraging people to watch a great team trying to win their fourth title in nine years, not telling everyone how boring the finals are to watch. It really pisses me off!

Do these idiots realize that it wasn't that long ago that the NBA finals were so low rated that they were on "tape delay"? !!!! Yet, all we hear is how great it was back in the day of Dr.J, Magic, and Bird. When Magic played center against the Sixers and scored 42, I had to watch at 10:30pm central start time because there wasn't enough interest in the finals to be on prime time. Also, there is so much more to watch out there today with all the cable networks and stuff that there is no way the NBA finals will ever be that high rated.

Real basketball fans watch though, and that's what counts. I just wish these media blowhards would appreciate a team like the Spurs rather than constantly cut down the NBA. Screw 'em!

anyone else listen to sportstalk radio? or am i the only one that noticed that there is no praise for the Spurs, only talk about the ratings and how bad cleveland is playing and how boring it is. I'm talking national shows.

This has been the status-quo since 1999. Its not gonna change anytime with this core group of players, so its absolutely fruitless to fume about the indifference the media shows. If the SA takes care of business tonight and Thursday, I think we'll get our fair share of adulation.

As for me, these Finals telecasts are the pinnacle of nationwide exposure...who the hells talking about any of the 28 other teams.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dav4463

Sports talk radio to put it bluntly "sucks". I've heard nothing but whining talk show hosts cry about how the NBA finals are so low rated and boring. They are part of the reason that people aren't watching. The sheep do what the media tells them to do. That's how Dancing with the Stars and American Idol became such huge hits.

---

i've been saying this for years...people are stupid and will believe what they are told.

Well, I see more as a result of what our culture has become.

You have to be interested in something and understand it, to watch it. It's easier to keep up with "Days of Our Lives" or "American Idol" that it is to watch and understand the nuances on a basketball court.

People today are obsessed with "easy" and technology. You didn't think they just pulled that "Easy Button" commercial out of thin air did you?

Basketball requires some work. You have to watch and understand what is going on. You have to know offensive and defensive schemes. Otherwise you might as well tune in beach volleyball (hey look at the bod on that chick), or Hasselhoff with his bevy of lifeguard chicks. It easier to understand and easy on the eyes.

Sports have taken a hit in this country, and you only have to look at the change in culture over the past 50 years or so to see why. Many people today refuse to even let their children participate in sports. So as these children grow, there is less interest, because they never played any sports themselves. And their children will never participate in sports either. Then we wonder why we have a bunch of overweight, diabetic, twelve year olds running around this country.

Sure the media doesn't help. I honestly don't know why they have to continually harp about the "ratings". It's like "ratings" should be what the game is about. But I guess that it is easier to rant about ratings, than it is to try and explain what is great about the game, and what is going on between the two teams involved. Again they revert to the "Easy Button" solution.

Oh, and don't look for things to get better in the future. In fact I would predict that in the next 20 years there will be less and less interest shown in sports. It could even get to the point of the Superbowl being shown on tape delay at midnight.

Everyone on sports talk radio are drama hounds. They want the sky to be falling so bad in just about everything they talk about, because drama brings in the listeners.


If you listen to them long enough, you will be thinking that any day now the NFL is going to be dried up, NBA is going to pay per view only, and baseball is now the only sport in the world.

:jack Less than 10% of the viewers of the NBA Finals are in the United States. Who cares what Americans think?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Extra Stout

:jack Less than 10% of the viewers of the NBA Finals are in the United States. Who cares what Americans think?

---

Liberal

Quote:

---

Sports talk radio to put it bluntly "sucks". I've heard nothing but whining talk show hosts cry about how the NBA finals are so low rated and boring.

---

This kind of talk is a huge reason why the ratings aren't very good. Instead of watching many people just listen to talk radio, or ESPN (PTI, Around the Horn, etc) and hear them say this and decide to just not watch. Those ESPN talking heads and such need to hype up the series (and not just talk about LeBron all the time) to get people to watch more of the finals. I have herd them say that the Cavs aren't in it. They could say something to the effect that you would be witnessing a great team playing some of the best ball in recent years. The other problem is people want style over substance (thanks ESPN) which almost never works (on the scoreboard) in the end.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Extra Stout

:jack Less than 10% of the viewers of the NBA Finals are in the United States. Who cares what Americans think?

---

where do you get those numbers ?

I listen to a few on XM - Steve Czaban hasn't said anything about boring. Matter of fact he kind of defended the Spurs saying that they were getting a bad rap because CLE sucked so bad.

Andrew S had been bumping on them for a bit but that Entertainment tonight guy came on there, as a Lakers fan, and was saying what the hell was wrong with America. To sub quote him "America says they like all these stand up guys, but they pretty much ignore Duncan who's the king of them." Andrew even admitted that if the Spurs were in NY they would be considered one of the greatest ever, and heralded as the next best thing to happen since basketball.

It was sad in a way but I think most people are not considering the Spurs boring just the lack of competition has created the bad air this season. At least they are blaming it on that. They don't think they are boring any more than they think the Cav's can win.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by romain.star

where do you get those numbers ?

---

Last year worldwide viewership was 105 million, of which 11 or 12 million were in the United States.

that plus I am betting foreign NBA commentators >>> american NBA commentators.

foreign NBA commentators do not bitch about ratings, boring, too much defense, not enough ballers :rolleyes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oh, Gee!!

Liberal

---

:lol

In other news:
Garth Brooks sold more albums than Pink Floyd,
Backstreet Boys sold more albums than Bob Dylan, and
Britney Spears sold more albums than Pearl Jam.

When people who are supposed to know something about sports aren't actually watching the events and complain about them, what do you expect non sports fans to do? They certainly aren't going to watch something they are being told is boring.

The Pistons "win the right way". The Spurs just play bad basketball against bad opponents because they don't re-seed the teams and because David Stern suspended Amare and because Nash had a nosebleed.

Gametime with JT the Brick, on Fox Sports Radio, has been saying the Spurs will win the Championship all year. He gives them respect they deserve. Jim Rome, on his radio show "The Jungle" has also praised the Spurs in this series. But my local sports talk radio, here in Austin, Texas, AM 1300 the Zone, do not show a rooting intrest in the Spurs. They are a bunch of Houston sports homers. All they praise are Astros and Rockets. But yeah for the most part the media in this country seems to turn a blind eye towards the greatness that is the Spurs, though I do see some progress with some of the media.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dav4463

Sports talk radio to put it bluntly "sucks"........Screw 'em!

---

This have been my main subject of contention since I started posting way back at other sites since the '99 crown.

Basically, most of the big time media is memo driven. Those execs and managers enforce a formula that is carried out by those below them to a T or they're fired or assigned to a sucky job in some isolated part of the organization.

The media collective is a "different beast" :clap

It's humongously clumsy and slow to wake up to new trends.
It's market driven thus the bowing, scraping and servitude to cities with high viewership.

The owners, stockholders of media and endorsement companies keep a hot and heavy relationship in circles and discourse in places you and I will never have privy to, a kind of a different strata far removed from the sweat and odor of lockerroom environments.

But, a creepy quality is common to all services, an element of derision and scorn that is scarily self-perpeptuating which is showered upon outsiders that march to a different drummer, create obstacles to the roadmaps that they've generated and are successful organizations that aren't easily categorized or pigeonholed.

Do you know any teams like that?

We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars domestically, billions of dollars worldwide, and those execs will do anything to secure their "bonuses" which rank from anywhere to the 10's of millions to 100's of millions of dollars in compensation packages.

Just a small insight into what fuel's the disparity.

Have a nice day :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ambchang

In other news:
Garth Brooks sold more albums than Pink Floyd,
Backstreet Boys sold more albums than Bob Dylan, and
Britney Spears sold more albums than Pearl Jam.

---

This is the crux of it. In a world where Madonna outsells John Prine, does anything matter? :lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oh, Gee!!

Liberal

---

Imbecile

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Clutch20

....just a small insight.....:)

---

peace

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EVAY

Imbecile

---

you don't have enough posts to comment on one of mine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oh, Gee!!

Liberal

---

Bush-loving fascist theocrat

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oh, Gee!!

you don't have enough posts to comment on one of mine.

---

You just proved my earlier point again. Quality>quantity

I listen to the ticket 760 24/7 (leave it on while I sleep haha) and most of the sports guys do give the Spurs props and say ppl are missing out on great basketball.

I don't give a fuck what Sports radio is saying, and apparently, I'm not alone.

What else can explain the fact that between 7:30 and 8:00 am (drivetime), there is no local recaps of sports, and the Fox Sports Radio on 760 is talking about 80's music and whats on TV (not necessarily sports) that night.

The media basically did an about face on this NBA finals. When Lebron got in they all said what an exciting finals this will be with the King getting his first crack at the crown. They all thought Lebron's suppossed star power would bring in the ratings. That has not happened, clearly the media thinks Lebron is a bigger star than the public does. Plus the Cavs are playing like shit so they have all gone the other way and killed the finals and basically everyone who is playing in it.

The Cavs played like shit in the last round, but nobody was watching. Lebron James hasn't improved ratings with his presence, AFAIK. Dwayne Wade is vastly more exciting to watch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MadDog73

I don't give a fuck what Sports radio is saying, and apparently, I'm not alone.

What else can explain the fact that between 7:30 and 8:00 am (drivetime), there is no local recaps of sports, and the Fox Sports Radio on 760 is talking about 80's music and whats on TV (not necessarily sports) that night.

---

Ah no shit, I remember that when I was in SA. Your right. You got Walter Crapacreda, and that Schmo from WOAI that does TV too. All 3 or 4 of those guys are awful and talk about nothing. Oh god kill me.

Pretty funny the first 2 weeks before basketball season started year before. "We added rafer alston (sp?), and Stromile Swift, SA didn't change anything. We're totally going to kick their ass this year, they are going to be old and slow" They trade Swift last year for Battier btw.

Paraphrased but the content is legit. Now tel me that isn't comedy gold. At least they talk sports.