Texas Rangers baseball surpasses Dallas Cowboys in popularity

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This probably doesn't seem like that big a deal outside of Texas. But in Texas, where football is a religion, the Cowboys have basically been Jesus for decades upon decades.

No more! The Dallas-Fort Worth area joins just 10 other major cities/metropolitan areas in the U.S. where the Major League Baseball team is more popular than the National Football League team.

The implications are really stunning -- DFW is more like Boston, Cleveland or NYC in this respect than are places like Seattle or Miami.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/02/08/4610354/rangers-pass-cowboys-as-most-popular.html

i can relate because i live in Kansas City home of the horrible Chiefs but i do have a fondness for the Rangers baseball club.

No love for the Royals, though?

Ben_Reilly wrote:No love for the Royals, though?

i've been a Royals fan for as long as they have been in KC but it's hard to maintain that love when they have stunk for 10 years.

I had a niece who lived in Kansas City in the '80s. We went out there when her husband graduated from medical school. While we were there we went to a Royals game. They got beat by the Angels as I recall.

in the 80s the Royals were bad s. in 80 they went to the World Series and lost. in 85 they won the World Series against the Yankees. that was freaking awesome. good memories.

I haven't watched a baseball game since 1991. I played a bit of baseball as a kid, but got bored fast (gave it up for RUGBY!!!). I thought that in all its dullness, baseball would have died off by now. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that it hasn't died yet though since even more insane things are happening in the world of sports; like how they are thinking of taking wrestling out of the Olympics (which was one of the first original olympic sports) while horse prancing and swim dancing (synchronized swimming) is an Olympic sport.

Gonna have to call foul on labeling baseball "boring." Yes, it is much slower-paced than rugby, but to me, if the pace of the game is the sole determining factor of its interest level, then auto racing should be the most interesting sport and chess should be boring. Or to frame it in classic video game terms, Sonic would be the best game ever made and Final Fantasy would be boring.

ahhh, so you're saying it is interesting because it is slow? Never looked at it like that. I've got friends who are baseball fanatics but I just never was able to relate with them no matter how hard I tried.

Not so much *because* it's slow, but that it's not fair to say slower-paced things are boring just because they're slower-paced. Unless you happen to find slow-paced things boring, of course. I'm way over-analyzing this, sorry

I always loved baseball. It was my favorite sport to play as a kid. I've always been laid back. I guess that's why it appealed to me. I haven't followed pro baseball like I used to for quite awhile now. I used to be an Atlanta Braves fanatic. I used to listen to Milo Hamilton call the games on the radio and watch the live action on TV. It was fun to catch Milo embellishing the game. His version sometimes wasn't what I saw on the screen. LOL

I enjoy playing some slow sports like chess, golf, bowling, shuffleboard, darts, pool, petonk (bouls), lawn darts, badminton etc... but I don't enjoy watching any of them. When I was a kid I was a huge Atlanta Braves fan and I had thousands of baseball cards (even had a Hank Arron rookie card). Then the strikes happened and it destroyed all respect I had for pro baseball. I have nothing against the sport, I just don't think people should be treated like royalty and paid millions of dollars just for being good at a sport (that goes for any sport not just baseball). Especially one like baseball where its just hitting and throwing. To understand where I'm coming from, remember that I grew up most of my life in 3rd world countries in Africa where people were(are) starving to death and on the news I was hearing things about baseball players want so many more millions of dollars, so they refused to play. It seems surreal when you are surrounded by dire poverty and people who don't even have access to drinking water.

DrSchool wrote: ... I just don't think people should be treated like royalty and paid millions of dollars just for being good at a sport (that goes for any sport not just baseball). Especially one like baseball where its just hitting and throwing. To understand where I'm coming from, remember that I grew up most of my life in 3rd world countries in Africa where people were(are) starving to death and on the news I was hearing things about baseball players want so many more millions of dollars, so they refused to play. It seems surreal when you are surrounded by dire poverty and people who don't even have access to drinking water.

Can't say I disagree with you there. Most people would love the chance to play a game for just a small fraction of what these guys get paid.

I think an even bigger problem is that when players negotiate larger salaries, owners just jack up ticket prices and the cost of everything else. Owners of all businesses simply cannot accept a smaller profit margin in any situation. I think that's the real power that the wealthy have over the rest of us.

I also think that more emphasis should be put on education and academics rather than sports. How come a guy that hits a ball with a stick and runs in a circle get so much more money and is treated so much better than the people who are responsible for our children's education? Education has taken a back seat to sports, war, movies, and pretty much everything else. Many athletes (and actors) get way more money than doctors. Society seems to have been kissing its own ass so much that its head got stuck up inside there. Top paid surgeons get about 200-300K a year....Mayweather punches people in the face for a living and got 45 million dollars for ONE fight.
http://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/

btw...how much do tickets cost these days to go to a pro sports game? Baseball, Basketball, boxing, etc...

DrSchool wrote:btw...how much do tickets cost these days to go to a pro sports game? Baseball, Basketball, boxing, etc...

the answer really depends on what city you would see said sporting event. for instance going to a ballgame at Fenway Park in Boston would cost you a third as much than a ballgame in Kansas City. It depends on the market. but on an average, the cost of a ticket can range anywhere from $9 in the nose bleed sections or general admission, $25 for a moderate ticket and $100 for premium seating. and then the beer is almost priced too high to drink there. last time i looked it was $10 for a 24 ounce can.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/baseballtickets/

The Rangers vary their pricing wildly -- if you'd like to catch a game from the grandstands, tickets can be as low as $11. From behind home plate? Try up to $585.

But that's nothing compared to prices at Yankee Stadium, where some seats near the field can run upwards of $1,000. However, obstructed-view outfield seats (where maybe you can't see plays in left or right field) can be as low as $5.