Things that matter

[MajGenl.Meade]

in the meantime it's BASEBALL

Not in the real world it isn't

[dales]

You're right, General!

I prefer a time when the old man and I watched Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Jaun Marichal kick the crap out of the Dodgers!

Those were magical days, now in the 21st century life has resumed to a grand, 2-D flat monotony.

[Sean]

Baseball, basketball... The only difference is winter and summer pyjamas.

[Gob]

YES!!!

Two tickets for the Sydney Ashes test ......

On my birthday!!!!!

[dales]

Is that a good thing?

[Gob]

Too fucking right it is!!!!!

[dales]

Well then it is!

[MajGenl.Meade]

YES!!!

Two tickets for the Sydney Ashes test ......

On my birthday!!!!!

Which day? (Not the birthday - the Test day)? SCG attendance for cricket beats soccer, rugby union, Oz rules and bloody concerts there but it's down to 36,000 capacity now. When's the redevelopment completed - in time for the Test or not?

Largest cricket match attendance: 58,446 (Australia v England, 15 December 1928)

[Gob]

Day two, on the fourth day of the month, on my 55 th.

Friday 3 - 7 January 2014, SCG.

The new four-level stand will offer spectators better viewing, facilities and atmosphere. Improvements include seats closer to the field of play, more of them undercover (85%), no obstructed views, the largest video screen of any Australian sports ground and enhanced catering, corporate, media and AFL player facilities. Superior dining and bar areas, including a roof terrace will set a new benchmark for Australian sports venues.

Work commenced in March 2012 and will be finished ahead of the Ashes Test match between Australia and England in January 2014.

[Lord Jim]

Largest cricket match attendance: 58,446 (Australia v England, 15 December 1928)

Ahem...

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at new Cowboys Stadium set an NFL regular-season attendance record with a crowd of 105,121.

That broke the previous mark of 103,467, set in 2005 in Mexico City for a game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.

The Dallas crowd included up to 30,000 fans in standing-room party plazas at either end of the stadium. The stadium has about 75,000 seats.

The record for an NFL game in the United States was 103,985 for the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and then-Los Angeles Rams at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in January 1980. The largest crowd to watch any NFL game was 112,376 in a preseason matchup between the Cowboys and Houston Oilers in Mexico City in 1994.

And here's what the NFL averages per game across the entire league, in a bad year:

The average NFL game drew 64,698 paying customers in 2011. That was the worst average attendance since 1998.

And oh yes:

Times are changing on the other side of the pond, however, as yesterday signaled the sixth straight year that an NFL regular season game was played in London, and once again, the Euros embraced American-style football and turned out in droves.

The most recent installment featured the aforementioned Patriots, who by virtue of their star power and recent run of dominance have become the adopted home team of many in the U.K., and the St. Louis Rams, to whom the Brits are justifiably indifferent. Any pre-game excitement was over early, however, as the Pats lambasted the Rams 45-7.

Despite the lopsided match-up, the NFL once again saw its faith in the overseas market rewarded, with attendance at Wembley Stadium exceeding 84,000 Brits, or nearly 500,000 teeth. I kid, I kid.

This show of support is nothing new, as the half dozen games previously hosted in the U.K. yielded average turnouts in excess of 80,000, earning a continued commitment from the NFL to host games in London in each of the next four seasons and fostering a burgeoning belief among league higher-ups that London may soon be ready for a team of its own.

In other words, about 26,000 more people turned out for a National Football League game in London then have ever attended a cricket match anywhere on the planet in the whole of human history....

[Gob]

And that proves what Jim? (Apart from the quaint notion of Americans that more is better?) Dear god, who would want to attend a match with 100,000 spectators?

[Lord Jim]

And that proves what Jim?

Well, one thing it proves is that the NFL can draw bigger crowds in the heart of Cricket Land than Cricket can....

[Big RR]

and the St. Louis Rams, to whom the Brits are justifiably indifferent

Pretty snarky; justifiably? As a Rams fan since the days of Roman Gabriel, I take offense to that; British fans may well be indifferent, but then what do they even know about the Rams?

[Gob]

And that proves what Jim?

Well, one thing it proves is that the NFL can draw bigger crowds in the heart of Cricket Land than Cricket can....

ermmm.... no... not quite....

It proves that the rugby and football stadiums in the UK have a larger capacity than cricket pitches.

Oh, and our love of slapstick comedy is well known

[MajGenl.Meade]

er Jim. (a) Sydney Australia is not London England.

But be that as it may, I drove to Detroit from Cleveland to catch a chartered plane to take my son to England in 1989 for my mother's birthday on August 5th. And on August 6th I travelled up to London from Sheperdswell, Kent to watch the Cleveland Browns lose 14-17 to the Philadelphia Eagles at the Old Wembley stadium along with 100,000 other people.

Now the NFL played only one game in the UK in 1989. And in 1990. And in 1991 and in..... get the picture? One game.

The Sydney (Australia) record of 58,446 was for ONE DAY of a FOUR day test match. Each of the four days drew more than 50,000 so that means 200,000+ plus watched ONE cricket match. A "series" is 5 such matches - so one series means approx 1,000,0000 spectators..... and (assuming Australia as the home team) they might play 3 or 4 series in a year. And that's just Australia. If you got into Indian cricket..... well that's a lot of watchers

Also, there is already a European American Football league (since 1986) with 17 teams and a play-off field of 8 teams. The mighty Vienna Vikings are the top team athough (also Austrian) Tyrol Swarco Raiders won the 2013 crown. The "London Blitz" team won a big final in 2011: "In front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 people the London Blitz won the EFAF Cup by beating the Serbian Champions, the Kragujevac Wild Boars 29-7".

Nearly 2,000 people. A far more accurate gauge of the American rules game in England than the once-a-year showing of two practise teams from the NFL

Meade

[Gob]

Also,

USA population; 313,000,000 yet they can only attract a crowd of 105,121.

Aus population; 22,000,000 they attract 58,446 to a match.

So 14 x the population, but less than double the attendance? You don't like your sport much do you?

[Gob]

Taken in combination with Canada the USA has the single largest online audience for cricket in the world. There were more people willing to pay-per-view the 2007 World Cup in the US than in any country other than India. There are 30,000 registered players and an estimated 200,000 recreational players. And 500 pitches across 30 states.

[Sean]

Go easy guys... Jim just got a little over-excited there. Bless!

[dales]

Can't we all get along?

[dales]

Speaking of things that matter............

SAY IT AIN'T SO!

Brian Wilson signs with Los Angeles Dodgers









PHILADELPHIA -- Former Giants closer Brian Wilson has crossed to the other side of one of baseball's fiercest rivalries.

According to multiple reports, Wilson has signed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wilson was drafted by the Giants in 2003 and 171 saves in seven seasons in San Francisco. He threw the final pitch of the 2010 World Series and was a cult hero with the fan base thanks to a quirky personality and bushy beard.

Wilson had a second Tommy John surgery last April and was cut loose by the Giants in the offseason. The team left the door open for Wilson to return when healthy and closely monitored the rehab process. Twice in recent weeks, Giants bullpen catcher Billy Hayes

"We've tried to stay in touch throughout the process and monitor his progress," assistant general manager Bobby Evans said on July 22. "His rehab is our responsibility. He's a Giant, and we've been in tough with his people as he considers his options.

"We've kept the door open the whole time."

Wilson shut it Tuesday. The next time he pitches at AT&T Park, he will do so in a rival uniform; the Dodgers, currently in first place in the division, visit San Francisco during the last week of the regular season.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reported that Wilson had three offers and chose the Dodgers. According to Brown, Wilson is expected to be pitching in the big leagues in about two weeks.