I bristle at the
argument that baseball, or any other professional sport, is mere
entertainment. If so, then why the fuss
over PEDs’ use or sign stealing?
Integrity is essential to sports; in entertainment, it’s little more
than a character trait. Then along comes
the commissioner’s office yesterday proposing a playoff format Clare calls “straight
out of Bozo buckets.” For you
non-Chicagoans out there, just cue the circus music. Same thing.
The idea is to
add two more playoff teams from each league; abolish the one-game wild card
“play in”; give the team in each league with the best record a first-round bye;
and have a best-out-of-three first round where the other two division winners
would pick who they want to play from the bottom three wild-card teams. Let me repeat that: Teams would pick who they want to play. This is pure Bozo buckets, which is why other
elements of the proposal aren’t worth talking about.
Oh, but
MLB.com/Pravda sure liked it, cooing over a possible “Selection Sunday.” Why, just hours after the end of the regular
season the post-season “could begin with a dramatic live television show during
which two teams from each league would have the ability to select their
first-round opponents.” Yeah, maybe by
tossing a cream pie in their opponent’s face.
Monkey see,
monkey do. Baseball sees basketball
thinking about changing things up with an in-season tournament and wants to get
in on the action. God forbid the viewing
public thinks MLB is some old stick-in-the-mud.
Give the customers what they want—that’s entertainment.
Fans be damned.
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