Football's rise as the country's pasttime coincided with the rise of TV. Its a sport that translates very well to television, with the top and bottom of the screen largely correlating to the sidelines. It also works well with Basketball and Hockey, and why those sports are also larger and growing in audiences as well.
Football's rise as the country's pasttime coincided with the rise of TV. Its a sport that translates very well to television, with the top and bottom of the screen largely correlating to the sidelines. It also works well with Basketball and Hockey, and why those sports are also larger and growing in audiences as well.
Baseball does not. It requires lots of cuts and coordination between cameras, with the ball outside of the shot quite often, and a difficulty in focusing on two things at once--the ball and the baserunner(s).
Racing has that problem as well, but an additional one-- you have to context of the speeds involved. On the screen, its hard to tell the difference between a car going 200 MPH and one going 150; the only context is how fast other cars are going, but factor in various track shapes from track to track and its hard for casual fans to get into it. Of course, considering NASCAR gets high TV ratings, (shows how much I know!) and has some of the largest in-person attendance of any sport, it could be argued that that is the actual current National Pasttime.
Lastly, considering you mentioned the intersection of baseball and public service, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite ballplayer of all time, Moe Berg. If you've never heard of him, you wouldn't be the only one, but he lived one of the most interesting lives of any American ballplayer. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which he declined, saying what he did for country was his duty as an American. When he died, his family accepted it posthumously and the medal is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. If it sounds interesting to you or the teeming millions on Bulwark, I recommend looking him up on Google to find out what he did.
Football's rise as the country's pasttime coincided with the rise of TV. Its a sport that translates very well to television, with the top and bottom of the screen largely correlating to the sidelines. It also works well with Basketball and Hockey, and why those sports are also larger and growing in audiences as well.
Baseball does not. It requires lots of cuts and coordination between cameras, with the ball outside of the shot quite often, and a difficulty in focusing on two things at once--the ball and the baserunner(s).
Racing has that problem as well, but an additional one-- you have to context of the speeds involved. On the screen, its hard to tell the difference between a car going 200 MPH and one going 150; the only context is how fast other cars are going, but factor in various track shapes from track to track and its hard for casual fans to get into it. Of course, considering NASCAR gets high TV ratings, (shows how much I know!) and has some of the largest in-person attendance of any sport, it could be argued that that is the actual current National Pasttime.
Lastly, considering you mentioned the intersection of baseball and public service, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite ballplayer of all time, Moe Berg. If you've never heard of him, you wouldn't be the only one, but he lived one of the most interesting lives of any American ballplayer. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which he declined, saying what he did for country was his duty as an American. When he died, his family accepted it posthumously and the medal is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. If it sounds interesting to you or the teeming millions on Bulwark, I recommend looking him up on Google to find out what he did.
I took your advice and looked him up. Wow! What an incredible story.
After reading your comment I also looked up Moe Berg. Fascinating story!
I know, right?!?
I also like this little tidbit... "His is the only baseball card on display at the CIA Headquarters."
We saw an excellent movie about him; I think it might have been on CNN