AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2005 > October > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAnother reason to blame Selig
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I’ve been doing this for a while now, but what happened Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, actually) was a first. An event ran so long that I didn’t have a paper to write for.
Game 3 of the World Series ended at 2:20 a.m. EDT. Our last print deadline was 1 a.m. Usually, no matter how late something goes, there’s always another edition coming up. (For the uninitiated, we have something called the 4-star, which goes around 10:30 p.m.; the 5-star, which goes around midnight, and finally the replate, which goes around 1 a.m.) Game 3 sailed past — well past — all of the above.
So there I sat, helpless and forlorn. I pride myself on being pretty deft on deadline — I might not be any good, but I’m fairly quick — but this time there was nothing to do. There’s no point writing a column that doesn’t reflect the outcome, and I’d already written what we in the trade call an “early” column. (Sometimes we call it a “plug,” because that’s what it does — it fills space until the real thing gets done.) The plug was about the roof at Minute Maid Park and how it should have been opened during Game 3 of the Braves’ Division Series but wasn’t, and that one stood up in all print editions.
Luckily, though, we now have the Web. Dave O’Brien and I wound up filing strictly for AJC.com that night/morning, which beat sitting around doing nothing. But, speaking only for myself, I’m still conditioned to print. I’m trained to Get Something In The Paper, and this time I couldn’t. And I felt really bad.
And then I did what I do when I’m feeling really bad about something: I blamed it all on Bud Selig.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
Comments
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By david
October 27, 2005 09:10 PM | Link to this
I appreciate the fact you have a job to do and you take pride in your work.But to blame Selig for extra-innings is lame.Mark you understand the realities of TV and that assures that no game will start before 8pm,the fans wishing for daytime WS games can also continue to wish for leather helmets for their favorite football team also.Ain’t gonna happen. Mr.Bradley what do you propose?if the game is in danger of going past the final edition of your paper-just advance a man to 3rd base with no outs and if he can score that’s it.Just what sports needs-more contrived endings.
By Tom
October 27, 2005 09:36 PM | Link to this
I’d think maybe a better solution is to not have three-minute commercial breaks between innings and on most pitching changes. Or, start the games at reasonable times, not 8:33 p.m. It was laughable to see a program grid that had the game scheduled to go from 8-11. Of course, that’s something Bud, as commissioner of baseball, actually has some say over. But I guess the later the game goes, the more drama (boredom) there is.
By david
October 27, 2005 10:27 PM | Link to this
I too would like to see the games start as soon as possible,but as long as they are on a Major network then the earliest they can start would be 8:05 pm and that would barely give time to get the pitchers and lineups stated.I also detest the commercial breaks but the only other answer would be a pay-per view without commercials,while I would take that option myself,most other people in my opinion would be screaming for the good ole days of Fox and their 3 minute commercials.
By geechee
October 28, 2005 04:28 AM | Link to this
I could be wrong david, but I think what Mark is saying is that it might be better for baseball if baseball ran baseball instead of letting Fox or NBC run baseball which is what Bud Selig is allowing to happen. Hawaii is the only place in the country where you can still watch a World Series game in the daytime.
By Dan
October 28, 2005 09:09 AM | Link to this
My bet is Fox starts the games somewhere between 8:30 and 8:40 based on avoiding at all costs the horrible possibility of a game concluding before the local news that runs on competitor’s stations in the Eastern and Central time zones. If this were the 1970s, a World Series game might actually be completed in 2 hours and 15 minutes and a game might end before 11 pm EDT, but that’s not happening anymore. After Game One (which is on a Saturday night and can run later) have a brief pre-game, sing the National Anthem, and throw the first pitch by 8:10 EDT. Baseball is its own worst enemy with its inane scheduling decisions - you cannot blame MLB for a game going 14 innings but you can be blamed for knowing your showcase games will regularly run until midnight in the East.
By GP
October 28, 2005 10:46 AM | Link to this
Try to write a quick note about deadline pressures and get a lecture from some random reader who misses the point. Bet you’ve asked more than once if you could bag the open forum. Way too many idots with too much time on their hands.
By RRR
October 28, 2005 11:34 AM | Link to this
It was a joke you knuckleheads. :shakes head: Good one Mark.
By Joe Roman
October 29, 2005 09:30 AM | Link to this
Unfortunately, I doubt anyone who had become commissioner of baseball would have made a different choice. The prevailing conventional wisdom says sports must always cave into the TV networks. It’s part of the destructive mode of short term thinking that infests nearly every facet of business in America. Night games help sponsors sell beer to people in bars and at home. It helps networks air competitive programming in those coveted “prime time” hours, short term stuff. Airing games in the day time, turns kids into lifetime fans. I feel blessed to be old enough to have those kind of memories. Listening to games surreptitiously on transistor radios in school are priceless recollections. By freezing out the kids with nothing but night games, MLB might as well be buying school kids season tickets for the NFL in 2020. As for us adults, most of us don’t have deadlines at 1:00 A.M. Ours come at nine or even seven-thirty in the morning. That hardly makes for warm and fuzzy memories, does it?
By SRC
October 29, 2005 04:13 PM | Link to this
Hey Mark, I guess I could see some merit in this article in the print edition, as a ‘day in the life of a reporter’ feature or something. But what are we supposed to ‘blog’ about?
By Ronald
October 30, 2005 09:30 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bradley does have a point concerning the dome being open against Chicago but not against Atlanta. What a blatant double standard, and no, the fact that one’s a World Series game compared to a divisional playoff game is meaningless, as all eight playoff teams should be respected, not just the last two standing.
Bud Selig is a farce. His playoff alignment makes a mockery of all the hard work that goes into a 162-game season. Why in the world is there not a travel day between games four and five of the divisional series? We have an incompetent baseball commissioner, and I could go on and on with supporting arguments, but I’ll assume Mr. Bradley already knows them and will let him keep them handy the next time he needs a last-minute story.