Long, long ALCS game tests viewers' peseverence
Saturday's game ended on Sunday morning, Did you stick with it to the end?
Long, long ALCS game tests viewers' peseverence
Paul Vigna
Used to e-mail questions to a readers panel connected with the Savvy Consumer column and post their responses. Most were universal issues that just about everyone had an opinion on: ticket prices, ads placed on players oor on the playing surface, or crying in the locker room.
With a chance to bring more people into the dialogue, I'd like to start interspersing questions among the posts related specifically to teams.
So, curious how much of Saturday's game you watched? The game started just after 8 and lasted almost 5 1/2 hours, ending close to 1:30. This is an issue that comes up during every baseball postseason; the games often end so late that many people on the East Coast already are in bed. Still, with TV calling the shots, there's no hope this trend toward 8 or 8:30 p.m. starts will change anytime soon. For instance, every remaining Phillies-Dodgers game will start at 8:22. Even a game of normal length won't end until almost midnight.
So, how late did you stay up Saturday. If you left the game, at what point or time did you decide to head to bed?
Paul Vigna still has the seat he wrestled out of the concrete at Connie Mack Stadium parked in the finished basement, a 1980 Phillies championship mirror hanging above it. Now, why he’s kept an autograph of former Flyer Bruce Gamble on a sheet of Hockey Hall of Fame paper is another story. A native of Philly who grew up in Lansdale, he’s an assistant sports editor at the Daily News in charge of special projects who has written two columns related to sports and consumers: View From the Seats and Savvy Consumer.
ABOUT THIS BLOG:
Athletic contests were, for a long time, simply fun and games. Nowadays they’re just a small part of a sports entertainment industry that puts billions of dollars into play and a number of issues into motion. Moneyball indeed. You might be closer to the action than ever before, but that privilege comes at a price - and often it’s beyond what you can afford.
With that as the backdrop we’ll use this blog to dig out stories and swap advice about how the fan experience is changing and what it’s costing you now and in the future. Some of it will educate, some will let you vent. And in a sports panel format, it should allow for a consensus of opinion that can carry some weight.
Reach Paul at vignap@phillynews.com.
