I am sure you are right about local Pittsburgh ratings, but I wouldn't be shocked if national ratings for the NBA finals were greater than the World Series.
I last watched a WS game in 2001, because I was at a bar where people where watching it. I do watch the NBA Finals sometimes.
Are you saying the Pens may not beat the Cavs locally? The Pens are the #1-3 hockey market in the US depending on when the numbers are tallied. They consistently have tv ratings in the 20's and drew ratings in the 30's during the playoffs. Would the Cavs even draw a 1 or a 2 locally? I am thinking I have to be misunderstanding your post.
Thanks for the clarification. When I mentioned pens ratings in the 20's and 30's, I was referencing playoff games. The Pens drew somewhere around a 35 in Pittsburgh for game 6 vs the Sharks (the Sharks drew and 8 or 9 in the Bay Area). By comparison, game 7 of the NBA in Cleveland drew in the high 40's. Both the Pens and Cavs are emmensly popular in their home markets. Cleveland was playing in a game 7 for a championship the city hasn't won in 55 years. My question is what else could people in Pittsburgh and Cleveland have been watching when their teams were playing for a championship? Both games were on a Sunday night, so maybe Game of Thrones??
Lalas is a douche. But his douchery ways led to an occasional good jab from time to time. Like the Landon Donovan/Abby Wambach tweet. It was absolutely priceless. http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/...ens-world-cup-2015/1tl7xrk914mqp1a5cfe3zk4d6v
are you comparing pitt football and pitt basketball to USA mens soccer? Dude, that is beyond depressing.. USA soccer isn't even in same conversation as the major powers, I mean, not even close.. people get excited over a win against Ecuador. there are more people in nyc than live in the entire country of Ecuador. Beating Ecuador in soccer is comparable to pitt basketball beating 4 pitt students and their high school sister who came along to watch at trees.. I think you are over exaggerating it here just to provoke a reaction
pitt football and basketball are not blue bloods or whatever the equivalent is in football but they are in the conversation.. Kids aren't wearing script hats in texas but they know who pitt is. I'd put Pitt in the very bottom of the first top 3rd, meaning you break all D1 progams down into 3 groups, pitt is in the first (albeit at the end). Without a doubt in the top 1/2, no debate whatso ever. Are you telling me USA mens soccer is in the top 3rd of all national teams? Not even close..
im far from a soccer expert just find it weird that we cant compete with resort islands posing as countries. just don't see the comparison between pitt hoops going .500% in the acc and usa mens soccer inability to compete with an island that has less inhabitants than the Cleveland metro area..
Why does England suck so bad in European basketball? Why does India suck so bad in everything? Who knows? USA is 31st in soccer, China is 84th. Having more people isn't the only factor.
an interesting topic.. I stand corrected on the rankings, you've proven me wrong. Hey, not a huge soccer fan but I did watch it yesterday, always rooting for the stars and stripes.. I can't for the life of me figure out why we aren't a major player or why there is such a large gap between us and the top countries. Obvious answer is youth developmental leagues but we do well in womens.. is our female youth developmental leagues that far ahead of boys developmental leagues?
Yeah. It's a cultural thing. We got a head start on other countries with our women. Others are catching up and have caught us. Most countries don't care about women's soccer. Personally I love it but I know it's place in the world. Just like I know that no one cares that our Pens just won a Stanley cup.
The roots in this country are the same for men and women. The level of coaching is the same. However, We now have a DA (developmental academy) system on the boys side which is tied into US Soccer and boys enter the system, give up high school soccer, hypethetically has the best coaching, etc. US Soccer is looking to do the same on the girls side. These things take time but I think we will see dividends in about 10 years.
It might be that simple actually. All it would take is a couple elite athletes every few years to change the fortunes of an entire program. If soccer pulled from the same demographics as football, our perception and success might be entirely different. I mentioned the DA in my post above. I don't know what the cost is for players who are in the DA. But it costs at least 5-6K per year for kids to play soccer at the highest level in this country. If the DA changes the $ landscape, maybe we'd see more inner city Hispanics from LA who have a passion for soccer or low income kids from major cities and areas all over the country.
think we have less resources than Jamaica and Panama? I get why their young men grow up playing the sport, it's either that or carrying golf clubs for tourists at the resort hotel. Makes sense, it's their only real option outside of cutting down sugar canes...
