Tag: dan wetzel

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Sports

Awful CFP semifinal ratings show sport still lacks common sense

Dan Wetzel tears down College Football for having the playoff games on New Year’s Eve:

> You move an event from a national holiday synonymous with the sport to the middle of a workday for many and this is what happens – ratings drop as much as 45 percent. Double that by placing a second game on a night with endless entertainment options and longstanding traditions and you’re completely spitting in the face of many of your fans.

I was one of those people who felt much less inclined to watch the various games on New Year’s Day after this. What other sport would put its bet games in a subpar time slot as a prelude to inferior games?

Categories
Sports

Why are the playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve again?

> This is confusing to everyone because New Year’s Day is a great time for a couple big games and New Year’s Eve is a horrible one – at least if you are one of the many people who A) have to work, or B) have other plans that night. In other words, tens of millions of you.

> So why is this happening? Why is college football staging its semifinals at a time that everyone predicts will cause fewer people to watch?

> Here’s the honest answer: the people who run college football don’t care about you. At all. Like, not one single bit.

Dan Wetzel does an excellent job pointing out how stupid of a decision this is. Even as a die-hard college football fan, I wish the games were on another day.

Categories
Sports

Question for the committee: Does Clemson deserve to make playoff even if it loses?

Interesting column from Wetzel, but I *really* hope it doesn’t come to that (even though I have a fear that it will.)

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Sports

Tom Brady in position to put NFL on defensive over deflate-gate probe

Dan Wetzel on the Wells Report:

> It’s not fair to Brady and the Pats, who are put in a hostile place. It’s not fair to the Indianapolis Colts and the rest of the league that deserve a truth that should be accepted.

> The release of the evidence acquired, no matter where it pointed, was all that was needed. The public didn’t need Wells to tell them the most plausible scenario. They already knew. They could’ve figured it out based on McNally carrying that bag of footballs into a bathroom that locked.

> Yet by having Wells overstep acceptable standards, the strong parts are weakened, the water gets muddied and the entire story gets exhausting.

I am not surprised at all that Dan has the best take on this story.

Categories
Sports

Olympic Blade Runner

The story of Oscar Pistorious, the South African Olympic athlete who had both legs amputated at the knee, has been one of the most heartwarming of the Olympics. Dan Wetzel recaps part of the race today:

> When Pistorius got the baton, they were in eighth place, but he dug deep, turned it on during the backstretch, barreled through the second turn, and gave every ounce he had until he crossed the line.

> South Africa was still in eighth, but Pistorius’s split of 45.67 was second-fastest on the team. They picked up .17 seconds on Venezuela and .62 on Belgium, the seventh- and sixth-place finishers, respectively.

I hope that we get to see the Blade Runner on the international stage for many years to come.