Living in the past isn't always helpful

The ad slogan "baseball is flush with money" is based on the past. The future is another thing. (With the possible exception of MLB online enterprises). Past performance is no guarantee of future results. George Vecsey in today's NY Times:

• "There is no point in saying he (Bud Selig) should resign, because the owners obviously love him. He makes money for them —

at least until the recession takes its cuts. (How many naming-rights sponsors will go down?)"....

• (From NY Times article by George Vecsey, "Ignoring the 800-Pound Gorilla," 1/20/08) ***********************************

• Around the time of baseball's post season ratings flops:

Selena Roberts writes in the NY Times, 10/15/07, that baseball's popularity is diminishing in part because it can't be seen (such as the current post season tv campaign). She says:

• "As baseball truisms go, you can’t hit what you can’t see. As viewing habits go, a sport can’t be a hit if it’s not seen. Football gets that. And with it, all the talent.
• Certainly baseball’s fat attendance is bursting with baby boomers. But the sport is an old flame for romantic types, as proved by numbers even sabermetric lords can wrap their seamheads around."

She continues citing statisitics about young American players choosing football over baseball.

• From NY Times article by Selena Roberts, "Football is Booming at Baseball's Expense," 10/15/07

(Originally posted on this blog 10/14/07).

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