Monday, June 27, 2011

06/27 (What Now?) Quickie

The NFL is still locked out, with no end in sight. The NBA, coming off its most-watched draft in years, is locking out on Friday. We're officially in sports' slow season.

Oh, the Gold Cup final on Saturday night was compelling -- if frustrating. (Grantland's Bill Barnwell makes the smart point this morning that US Soccer and Bob Bradley continue to make personnel decisions to win now, not win World Cups.)

Baseball deserves -- and will get -- our full attention for the next month or so (or until the NFL resolves its issue). My old editor David Schoenfield makes the point in an ESPN.com blog post this weekend that if you take out the bankrupt Dodgers and spiritless Mets, MLB attendance is up this year. Hell, last night we had a game-winning (if not walk-off) wild pitch during an intentional walk. Adrian Gonzalez is destroying American League pitching. Justin Verlander is must-see every time he pitches, as is Roy Halladay, who had another CG yesterday.

Rather than lament the state of the NFL and NBA -- both of which will return, eventually, and to huge audience numbers, no matter how long it takes to resolve the labor issues -- it's probably more productive to recognize that baseball is entirely compelling this season. Give it a try.

Otherwise, it's going to be a long, slow, boring summer.

(You know what's never boring? Quickish -- constantly updating with the best takes on the biggest topics. Even when it's seemingly slow, Quickish is hopping and popping.)

-- D.S.

No comments: