The great state of Michigan is crazy for their Tigers and can’t wait to host their first playoff game in 19 years. The great state of Michigan is also enamored with football and coincidentally the state’s 2 biggest universities are facing off on Saturday in Ann Arbor.
So of course MLB and Fox decide that it will be a good idea to make the Tigers-Yankees a 4pm start to go up against the Michigan-MSU game which is set to kick off at 4:30pm. Nevermind the 100,000+ viewers who couldn’t possibly turn in because they’ll be at a football game, do you think anyone will actually be sticking around to watch any of that precious advertising in between innings?
What’s silly is that there are 3 games scheduled for 4pm, and only 1 in the 1pm slot. The 1 o’clock game stands a good chance not to be played because Minnesota is down 2-0 and headed to Oakland. An A’s win on Friday night, and there is no 1pm game. (Thanks Paul)
Now they could have scheduled the game at 1pm instead of the Cards/Padres game which is occupying the time slot. There is also a 7:30 timeslot which would have worked nicely but the Mets get that one.
I’m grumpy because I’m going to be one of those 100k in Ann Arbor. I’m not the same kind of grumpy I was today at work because it’s hard to be too upset about going to a college football game. I’m just frustrated by senseless acts of scheduling.
That’s one of the absolutely stupidest decisions I’ve ever seen from MLB.
They have to know that they’ll get a 50+ share in Michigan, which is probably a good 20% of their national audience. So what do they do? Schedule the game at a time where they’ll lose a big chunk of their base audience. That’s the audience that will stick with the game even if it’s a blowout either way, so it’s an even dumber decision for that reason too.
I don’t think this was thought through either…
A free concert for OKGO is scheduled on the same Saturday as both these games at 2:45. Not an entirely big deal aside from the fact that it is supposed to take place at Pioneer High School (adjacent to Michigan Stadium). I’m just imagining the conflict between concert goers and tailgaters already.
Your point is well made, but there are two games at 4 PM (DET-NYY & MIN-OAK), one at 1 PM (SD-STL) and then Mets-Dodgers at 7:30.
Two of them are if necessary and I don’t think they wanted to schedule the game in LA that early.
At least I’ll have something worth watching in between watching my poor, hapless Spartans getting slapped around at the Big House. I bet the local sports bars are ticked off as well. Imagine the all day crowd they could have had with either an earlier or later start for the Tigers.
I’m sure they tried really hard to please everyone, but this still sucks. I want to spend all of saturday at the bar (and CoPa, of course) but it sounds a lot less fun now that I know I won’t be able to spend any of that time watching UM-MSU.
I still follow UofM, but I’m a University of Texas guy through and through after graduating from there. Nothing will trump the Tigers game for me.
I have a simple solution to this problem: GO TO (OR WATCH) THE FREAKING TIGERS GAME!! I realize Billfer and others have plans to go to the football game, plans that cannot be changed. I just do not understand why people get so excited about college football. I am 29 and I lived in Ann Arbor for 25 of those years, and I went to U of M for law school, so I guess I’m supposed to love Michigan football. But I cannot bring myself to pay attention to such a ridiculous sport. For the three years I was a student I went to every single home game. You know how many exciting games I saw in three years? Maybe three or four. The rest of the time you just stand out in the cold for four hours at a stadium that does not sell alcohol watching a good team beat the crap out of a bad team in pursuit of some mythical “national championship.” This is a sport that actively encourages teams to screw over its fans by scheduling Ball State, Central Michigan, and Vanderbilt so it can maybe go undefeated and maybe win the national championship or get invited to some lucrative BCS bowl. So pardon me if I forget to even check the score of the UM-MSU game on Saturday.
It’s a free country, and I know a lot of people think baseball is boring, but I know what I’ll be watching on Saturday. OK, sorry for going WAAAAAAY off topic…
MSU vs. UofM takes place every year. How often to the Tigers take on the Yankees in the postseason? With a win tomorrow (please) Saturday becomes the CLINCHER.
It’s been 19 years since we sniffed the glorious scent of the postseason. 22 years since we won a postseason series.
Explain to me again why this is a problem.
Andrew – I understand that argument. At the same time I have tickets for the game, and I’m in a situation where I can’t not go.
It’s a problem because many many people would like to watch both and not have to choose.
Pete,
Right on with your analysis of college football. I agree, they need a 4 week 16 team playoff in December if they want me to pay more than casual attention to that sport.
Besides, Notre Dame isn’t playing either team this week, so why watch? 😉
-Sam
Let’s just say this, Texas plays OU this weekend at 3:30 and the Tigers start at 4. I’m a diehard Longhorns fan… but Detroit comes first. I agree with the notion that this something so rare that I can’t risk missing any of it. I’ll tape TX-OU!!
Watch the Tigers, TIVO U of M vs. MSU. MLB are morons for putting us in this position in the first place.
Hey, it’s great to be a Spartan. I don’t give a crap about this game! Nothing bad can come from it. We lose, so what. We win, so what! The Tigers are on! Thank god! I don’t have to be forced to watch the Spartans lose this meaningless game yet again.
The “problem” is that it wouldn’t have been that difficult to schedule the game at 1 p.m. or 8 p.m. MLB and the network are usually pretty cognizant of trying to maximize the TV audience, which is why you’re seeing NY teams in every EDT prime time slot so far.
As for baseball and college football, to quote Lloyd Carr, “I like ’em both”.
For me, without cable TV, it’s a clear choice. The Tigers are on Fox and UM-MSU is only on ESPN, so there you go. College football does not translate to radio as well as baseball. Actually, it’s a clear choice anyway. I love both the Tigers and Wolverines, but baseball is my true passion. The Tigers are my childhood sweetheart.