As Parkes so eloquently put it– albeit not quite in so few words– in today’s URL Weaver at Getting Blanked, shitting all over Major League Baseball’s annual All-Star Game has become as tiring an exercise as the game itself (though I’m pretty it can’t yet possibly reach the tiring heights of tonight’s impossibly insufferable Home Run Derby).
Sure, I suppose there are still people– and companies– who value the All-Star Game as a showcase event and as a means to entice casual fans to draw a greater connection with the game’s biggest stars, and all that noise. And it’s undeniable that those of us within the blogging and twittering universe could stand occasionally taking a step back and realizing what a mind-blowingly vast and different-thinking world is out there, and how insulated we can get from it inside our little cocoon.
But at the same time… so what?
We’re right, and I’m full-on prepared to get in on the ground floor of backlash against the backlash against acting like you’re way too cool for the All-Star Game. Because the All-Star Game is virtually unwatchable unless you’re blind drunk, eleven years old, or both. And until they start starting playoff games early enough to not end at 1:30 AM in the east, I don’t need to sit here and pretend for them that MLB actually gives damn about marketing its product to kids.
So, I certainly don’t feel like it’s dereliction duty to tell you that I don’t care about the game, I’m probably not going to watch the game, and I felt no pangs of sorrow when my employers very generously suggested that, with no Jays action between yesterday’s finale in Chicago and Friday’s second-half opener against the Clevelands, I might as well not worry about coming into the office this week.
I don’t wish for anyone to not enjoy the game, and I’m sure it will be a nice party for those going down to provide literally the same coverage as everybody else, but I’d much sooner just put my feet up and not pretend that I, or anyone else, ought to give a shit.
Besides, with the trade deadline upcoming, all sorts of interesting names on the market, and Alex Anthopoulos having all kids of prospect capital at his disposal– and not needing to worry as much about convincing players to come here as he might for free agents– there will be plenty to talk about that’s actually, y’know, interesting.
Image via Sportslogos.net.
