Forget the debate over the 18-game NFL season for a second -- when tonight's make-up "Tuesday Night Football" game gets seismic TV ratings, why wouldn't the NFL seriously consider creating a weekly Tuesday night game, to join the Monday night and (late-season) Thursday night editions?
Overkill? Not if you watch the out-sized success of the Sunday night and Monday night games. Fans can't get enough.
So consider how much money a network would be willing to pay to have throttle-the-comp, defy-the-DVR programming that would almost assuredly "win" Tuesday nights?
Fans would love it. TV networks would love it. Advertisers would love it. (Thus, the league would love it.) It makes too much sense NOT to try more aggressively.
*****
MNF: Saints upend Falcons. Now, on the one hand, the Falcons had little motivation to do anything but avoid injury. On the other hand, it is hard to now simply assume that home-field advantage for the Falcons in the playoffs means they will coast to the two wins they need to win the NFC. Meanwhile, the Saints needed (and got) a gritty win on the road that might give them all the momentum they need to make a repeat run in the NFC playoffs.
More TNF: Are we "wusses" for not playing the Eagles-Vikings game in a blizzard on Sunday night? That's what Pennsylvania governor/uber-Eagles fan Ed Rendell thinks. Yes, they probably could have played the game on Sunday -- and it would have been a spectacle -- but way more ticket-holders will get to see the game tonight. Is that so bad?
Brett Favre Watch: He won't play. Well, let's hedge that -- he PROBABLY won't play. But, of course, you never know.
CFB Bowling Tonight: Champs Sports Bowl (West Virginia vs. NC State) and the Insight Bowl (Missouri vs. Iowa). Both are kind of meh, honestly.
LeBron claims he doesn't know what "contraction" means when he said that the Nets and T'wolves should be, y'know, contracted. LeBron is either a dope -- or thinks we are.
NBA Last Night: The Mavs got a big win over the Thunder, but Dirk went down with a knee injury. Needless to say, that's a big deal.
NBA Tonight: Knicks at Heat and Lakers at Spurs are the headliners. Miami should throttle the Knicks in a redux of last week. The Lakers are coming off that Xmas Day loss to Miami, and the Spurs are still smarting from last week's shellacking in Orlando. (And yet both remain the Top 2 teams in the West.)
More: The NBA had its best ratings ever for the Christmas Day games. So much for the complaints about overkill.
CBB: Pitt staked a claim as the best team in the Big East with a win over Top 10 rival UConn, their only meeting of the regular season.
MLB: Lots of talk heading into Friday's deadline for Baseball Hall of Fame voters to submit their ballots. The most intriguing, as always, is Bert Blyleven. More:
*Jack Morris is most notable for a single game (Game 7 of the 1991 World Series), as well as being the crux of the "You can't vote for Morris if you don't vote for Blyleven" argument.
*Robbie Alomar will likely get in. Tim Raines SHOULD get in -- and ultimately will, I think.
*Mark McGwire will get closer -- enough that "Will McGwire get in?" will again become a topic of conversation.
More later. Have to put together my end-of-year lists....
-- D.S.
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1 comment:
As an East Coaster who frequently wakes up before 6am, I couldn't think of anything more inconvenient than another regularly scheduled primetime NFL game.
I'm already annoyed enough whenever my team plays Sunday nights. These games don't even start until 8:40 because NBC deems it necessary to play that terrible Faith Hill song first.
I'm hoping this Tuesday night game is a one-and-done deal.
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