Professor Mike Lewis and I kick off this week's podcast with a discussion on the week's most zealous fans - from one fan setting himself on fire at Federer's final match to the "checkerbearded" Tennessee Volunteers fan.
Discussion of the Volunteers' ruckus fanbase leads us to talk college football as blue bloods like Michigan, USC, and Clemson fight to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
We then transition to our weekly discussion on the NFL's top storylines going into Week 4 of play.
Listen to the full conversation here:
Transcript:
Mike Lewis 0:07
Hey, welcome, everyone. Welcome to the fandom analytics - the Fanalytics Podcast brought to you by Emory marketing analytics center. And my name is Mike Lewis and I'm joined by Doug Battle dog right out the gate shows all about fan and analyzing fandom. We're in the middle of the college and the pro football season. I think this is pika. You know what, it's kind of funny when I teach these courses on fandom, I think, you know, oh my god, you know, the college football fans at CS SEC fans. These people are at a next level. And then I always have these European students in the class that go, what about the, you know, the European soccer fans, and they always have examples that blow me away. But given where we're located, we will stick with our bread and butter. So we're in peak American fandom. Let's start out with kinda looking at who rose who raised the bar on their fandom this past week.
Doug Battle 1:01
Man, there were several this week, I have a list an extensive list. And I honestly have a whole list of honorable mentions I saw saw so many crazy fans across both college and professional sports. I'll start off with a so so when I say fans, we're literally talking fanatics. In this sense, we're talking a fan of the week, maybe not people that we look up to but people that were the most extreme fanatical people about sports or whatever it is the cause that they care about. So number one,
Mike Lewis 1:30
I do look up to these guys in a way.
Doug Battle 1:33
Well, I just want to say I don't endorse the behavior of each of these people. But I admire the the full sin. Yeah, the passion that they bring to whatever it is, they're in love with. So first off, we've got a Utah student who has been arrested for the crime of threatening to detonate a nuclear reactor if the Utes last Saturday. I don't know if that was this Saturday or last Saturday, but there was a nuclear threat in Utah over a college football game.
Mike Lewis 2:05
Is this an honorable mention? Or is this our fan of the week?
Doug Battle 2:07
This is this is a candidate for fan of the week, one of five, I have five candidates, I had to be concise, concise as possible. But nuclear nuclear threat, certainly, you know, that shows some fanaticism in college football fandom.
Mike Lewis 2:23
Well, and look at I think I've told you this, when I start my class, I start off with a picture of it. This is a Boston Red Sox fan. And this dude has an open jersey, he's all painted up. And I started out with a fairly outlandish statement that this is the most important person in the world. Because this person cares so much has so much passion. And so yes, you're right. I should have known where you're going with it before I said I sort of support what these fans
Doug Battle 2:52
here for what you support. Yeah,
Mike Lewis 2:57
the, the passion is extreme. And extreme passion is what makes the world go round. Just gotta get it under control. They're in Utah.
Doug Battle 3:05
Right, right. Yeah, gotta rein it in. So number two, we've got this is a fan, maybe not of sports in particular, or any sports figure, but rather have a cause. And we've talked about how fandom stretches beyond sports, whether it's brands, whether it's politics, in this case, I think it's more environmentalism or maybe even Oh, yeah, I think that's probably the best you know, the environmentalism fan base. They're pretty
Mike Lewis 3:32
anti private plane. Yeah,
Doug Battle 3:35
that that fan base is they go to extremes as well as college sports fans. You know, it's that same level, no nuclear threats here. But maybe I don't know this might be a step further, a man set himself on fire before Roger Federer's last tennis match on the court in protest of private jets in the UK.
Mike Lewis 3:54
I assumed that when you put this out on the visual elements on the Instagram, you're gonna have your link to the tweet. But yeah, folks, you got it. My favorite part of this story and again, you know, I you know, I've got too much fashion for this passion for this whole topic, because I've got too much enthusiasm for, for what these folks are doing. I was absolutely struck by how gentle the tennis security was removing him from the court. And I made this point to you when we're just tweeting, texting back and forth. So much more gentle than those SEC security guards the back out there and LSU I mean, they they carried him out like they were carrying a baby that was falling asleep,
Doug Battle 4:37
right? Well, you've got to be careful. You don't want to burn yourself removing this person. I mean, the Tennessee and in their defense, the Tennessee police or security. They weren't dealing with a fire. This was a fire that they had to put out. I don't know if they had fire extinguishers or they just dumped water on it. Maybe they gave him a Gatorade bath. That would be all time sports fandom to get a Gatorade bath on the court at Roger Federer. His last tennis match
Mike Lewis 5:00
remember seeing the video on the tweet? I mean, I'm getting I don't know that they did a great job. I mean, it's turning skills were subpar. His passion off the charts, his self
Doug Battle 5:11
control was off the charts to do that to yourself. I don't know how but yeah, that's number two. Number three, Brian Breezies. Dad, the Clemson defensive line, probably all American. I know he's played at that level. He's a phenomenal player, his father, the Clemson Wake Forest game. He was taken. He was taking it personally his son's performance, the doubt on Clemson. And when Clemson won that game, his son made a big play. They pan to his father in the crowd, and he's beating his chest. He's running up and down the stands, letting everybody know who the alpha is, you know, that breezy name that Clemson brand. And I was like, Man, these parents I hear about it all the time, even at Georgia, but parents are these college kids. There's some of the craziest fans that are out there.
Mike Lewis 6:04
Definitely a high test dude. I mean, that's that's was my total thought. him going up and down those stairs. It was like yeah, he he looked ready to play and he went well, he was ready to go. As a father of a defensive lineman.
Doug Battle 6:18
Yeah. And you imagine he was probably the linebackers coach or the offensive line coach of Breezies Little League team, maybe even the head coach and he probably brought that same intensity every Tuesday night or whenever the Little League up. Clemson Tiger football games were but I got a kick out of that. Okay, so our last two are both Tennessee fans I just about any fan and that Tennessee, you know Neyland Stadium, Florida game, you could single out and say, Okay, this guy, or or this lady, they, they've got another level of passion. I talked earlier in the season about Tennessee being a sleeping giant fan base. Because of the history, because of what I've seen when I've gone to games where they've gotten blown out the pregame it's just electric. And so seeing a Tennessee fan, with a checkered beard that maybe didn't necessarily resemble checkers, because I don't know if he got the square thing down was little more like polka dots. But he tried he made an attempt. That was certainly a level of dedication. I don't know I've seen. I don't know, I've seen the creativity in that way before. And the second Tennessee fan, I still can't tell if it's real. There's been much debate about it on the internet. But a fan who caught a pa t that went through the goalposts and threw it back on the field. Perfect spiral, he threw a bomb. It looked like it looked like Justin Herbert was in the crowd or something. It's been all over the internet. There's been debate as to whether it's real or fake. Well let the listeners decide. Those two fans right there stood out to me at that Tennessee Florida game, which was a heck of a game by the way.
Mike Lewis 7:55
Yeah, I think we've almost got to I think we've almost got to make all of Tennessee everyone in that stadium the fan of the week. I mean, you're looking at that, you know, yeah, like Penn State gets a lot of a lot of credit for like their wideout games. Yeah. Right. And it's like, okay, Tennessee, a beautiful checkerboard. And talk. I mean, I, you know, I'm from the Midwest. So we never really saw this and you don't see this kind of intensity in the big I mean, I'm maybe you see some of it, but it's just, it's not trust me. It's not the same as what you see in the SEC. And I gotta tell you, I'll never get used to the well, I guess you have to wear a shirt to get into the stadium. But overall, the top of an overall the top of overalls count for the shirt, I guess.
Doug Battle 8:48
Yeah, I think I mean, we talked last week, one of our fan of the week, candidates was a young lady who did her wedding dress reveal for her husband on the big day. And she was wearing the overalls. And I've seen you know, having gone to that stadium a multitude of times. That is the look that is the, the way you show your dedication is to wear those checkered overalls. And like I said, I thought that checkered beard was just an extension of that I hadn't seen it extend to the face and or facial hair in that way before. But the checkered overalls, it counts as a shirt, I think. I think as long as you got those two little straps, you you're good to go in that stadium.
Mike Lewis 9:27
Well, and you know, looking at I'm trying to think back to I think the announcers made some comment that you know Florida has absolutely I think dominated that that series for the last while and I just think about is like in Florida hasn't been great. Right? I mean, Florida is as really struggled I mean, they've had you know 17 head coaches since Urban Meyer right? I mean, that but but look, I'm always taken by schools and places that have that level of passion during down cycle. Yep. And so I want to say what? Tennessee has the second largest stadium? I think you're talking about maybe 100 204,000. So they're all completely in unison, right. They're wearing the clothes they're supposed to wear. Rocky Top is going off, you know, they're dying beards, they got the overalls. The State of Tennessee is the fan of the is the fan of the week. And I'll say this and we can go into college football. As I'm watching that game, I was thinking, you know, the SEC has got it rolling. But the SEC needs. I mean, maybe the SEC, the SEC is kind of like the NFL. Right? They always win. But the SEC needs are so much better when Tennessee and Florida are top 10 programs.
Doug Battle 10:50
I agree. I think national about that. Yeah, and I think LSU is another one that's kind of been in and out of that status. But that seems like the golden SEC years are when LSU LSU Alabama and the West and Tennessee, Florida and the East are kind of the dominant teams. Of course, Georgia has been dominant in the East. And you know, I think that Tennessee, Georgia matchups gonna be pretty interesting. Of course, Tennessee's got Alabama coming up. But when Tennessee's the team in the east, they play Alabama in the regular season every year, and then they have Georgia and then they have Florida and there's so much drama in that division in that conference. And so I know I know a lot of Tennessee fans, I know they are fired up for the season, they're feeling great about things. They've got Alabama and a couple of weeks I think that'll be either a huge wake up call for them or a huge wake up call for the rest of the SEC that like hey, Tennessee's nothing to mess around with so that's going to be a huge storyline coming up. But nevertheless that fan base is just special. They have been they got a coach fired before he even got hired. I'm talking about Greg xiana A couple years back, that's the power that fan base they bring the intensity when their team is not good, at least in the pregame and it's looking like you know they might have something to really be excited about here of course beating Florida and the way that series has gone in recent years is a huge thrill for that fan base.
Mike Lewis 12:14
Okay Doug I'll give you my quick thoughts on college football and you can sort of you know fill in where you where you think is useful so my takeaway is after essentially the the first portion of the first third of the season basically quick observations SEC ranked number one and number two big 10 ranked number three and number four this separation between the essentially the power to conferences and the rest of the power five conferences continues it's it's you know made for drama as we go down the road here with you know, someone's going to lose right but undefeated teams and the SEC and the big 10 are really interesting because they just complicate the playoff picture right we get these storylines of well of Alabama to loss Alabama team can make go to the playoffs right it's beautiful stuff. But you know in terms of those conferences, Kentucky is ranked number seven dog Tennessee is ranked number number eight at an interesting SEC.
Doug Battle 13:22
Yeah, and as far as I'm concerned the East those two teams are in the east Georgia is right there number one also in the East shown some weakness and technically everything's wide open you know we could have Kentucky we could have Tennessee and that SEC championship, let's say let's say Tennessee
Mike Lewis 13:40
Can you can you seriously imagine Kentucky in that SEC champion? No,
Doug Battle 13:44
I can't but I'm saying technically it's on the table at this point in the season. You know we're what a quarter of the way through and everything's in play for them. They've got a win over Florida All right, you know, they're there. They've got a head start and SEC east over the school like Georgia and right there with Tennessee. And so Georgia's got their work cut out for him. Tennessee, you know, the tough thing about Tennessee schedule is they've got to play Alabama every year that's their cross divisional rival that's just brutal because between that game you know say they are to win that and then they have to play Georgia if they were to win those they make the SEC championship and have to play Alabama again. So that's like playing three number one teams one season that's just absolutely brutal. And that is a huge What if you know if they were to win those games, I don't necessarily expect that. But Kentucky right there, you know, Kentucky I think it's just a win to be there. I think it's a win to be the fact that we're talking about that right them right now is a huge win for their coaching staff for their fan base. And you know, being a basketball school traditionally. I think getting some respect in football is that's, that's, that's big time. It's like if Georgia and basketball, it's like if we were talking about you know, could Georgia make the final fours Georgia can be in the tournament sort of, you know, there's sweet 16 team that would just that discussion would be a huge win for UGA hoops. I look at Kentucky football as kind of the inverse.
Mike Lewis 15:04
Keep talking, because I want to look up the preseason NCAA basketball rankings to see if Kentucky is the best ranked in the
Doug Battle 15:12
variety. It'll be wild if the football team is ranked higher. And of course they've got some tough games ahead, too. So I mean, they're the toughest part of their schedules probably ahead of them with Tennessee with Georgia, and the remainder of their SEC schedule, but that beating Florida is huge for them. And
Mike Lewis 15:30
well, to answer my my question where my Kentucky Wildcat wildcats are the preseason number four on ESPN at least.
Doug Battle 15:38
Okay, so we've got we've got. But going back to what I was saying like no scenario where either Kentucky or Tennessee, take your pick, beats Georgia wins the remaining SEC East games. Georgia is one loss. Let's say that team, they've got a there, maybe they're undefeated, I don't know maybe they're undefeated, or they're one loss after an SEC championship game against Alabama, who's also either undefeated or one loss, you would have three, one loss or less SEC teams. And played for that playoff spot. And so the SEC, having the number of top 10 teams they have right now, are definitely well positioned for one team, it's kind of hard to imagine just one SEC team making it. And the big 10 is in a similar spot. The thing that really makes this interesting is a lot of these teams end up playing each other. So we talked about, you know, the winner of the East is going to play Alabama, more likely than not, if they don't already play them in the regular season like Tennessee does. Michigan and Ohio State are going to play each other just like last year. And if it's anything like last year, one of those teams will eliminate the other. And so those two conferences are so dominant at this point and is looking to continue to move that way as the divisions or as the conferences, add teams and add the more dominant programs and football. But right now the playoff picture, the kind of common idea has been that Alabama is going to be in Georgia is going to be in Ohio State's going to be in Who's that fourth team right now. You know between those big I don't know. But between those big 10 teams and those couple of SEC teams and then you got USC you got Clemson both holding on again, let me get lesser opponents.
Mike Lewis 17:23
You might take on the the lesser power three conferences. Okay. That's that's needless I apologize for that. Um, some looks vulnerable.
Doug Battle 17:32
All right. Looks vulnerable. Georgia looked vulnerable this week. Alabama looks vulnerable a couple of weeks ago, our state looked vulnerable week one.
Mike Lewis 17:39
But you know, Clemson Yeah, I mean, that's like, you know, I'm gonna I'm not gonna I'm not gonna have any diagnosis on Georgia for a Kent State or Akron. Yeah, I mean, and state. USC may well be back. Clemson looks a little vulnerable. In the Big 12 Ouch.
Doug Battle 18:01
Yeah, Big 12 of Oregon State drop into USC that would have been a huge win for them. It would have been a huge loss for USC but USC keeping their playoff hopes alive. Big 12 Baylor lost what BYU two weeks ago Oregon State loss to they're not winning. They're out of conference games. They're big out of conference games, which doesn't bode well for the playoff picture Oklahoma losing this week. I don't know what to make of that. You know, Texas lost Alabama and again, they probably should have won also lost the Texas Tech this week. So that that conference is the people the teams that they need you know the teams that really have a shot at making the playoff aren't getting the job done. And it's hard to see a scenario where one of those teams make it if anybody would think Baylor but like I said they lost the BYU the it's hard to imagine them making it
Mike Lewis 18:58
it really is right I mean it look shall we should we pick our pick the college football playoff already done?
Doug Battle 19:04
Well, it gets back to you know, just looking at it. Georgia and Alabama and Ohio State all seem like they're gonna have the kind of season if they stay healthy one loss,
Mike Lewis 19:16
and then you're less so you know, to big 10 Yeah. But to big 10 to SEC
Doug Battle 19:23
Right. Or your season on the big 10 yet pre big 10 Really big 10 Yeah, they're not the big 10 yet but like I said, you know, Michigan barely beat Maryland Live baby two out there, lighten it up, just about took down Michigan. Clemson barely survived week for us. USC barely survived Oregon State. All of these teams are showing weakness, all of these teams, and even those top three like I said, you know, it feels like it's the top three than everyone else. But at one point people were saying it's Georgia and then everyone else going into the season. People were saying it's Alabama than everyone else. Ohio State's a team. Like I said that looks unstoppable this week against Wisconsin a few weeks back, the offense looked anemic. And so everyone in college sports has some weakness. There's not the parity that there is in the NFL. But there is this level of unpredictability where it's any one game, Alabama can lose to Texas or Georgia can be challenged by Kent State, even though they could have scored on at will against Oregon. Ohio State can look like the best offense you've ever seen in your life. And all of a sudden, they can't move the ball for a game. And so there's this level of unpredictability makes it interesting, I'm really, really interested in that fourth spot, see what goes down between Clemson between USC, Michigan, and whoever else, you know, of course sees right now there's plenty of undefeated teams over the course the season, I'm sure one team that we're not talking about is gonna stay undefeated longer than expected. And we'll start say, hey, is this team? Are they in the next? So we'll find out? But it certainly is interesting.
Mike Lewis 20:53
Don't you think it's interesting as well, that? You know, we've almost moved to a structure where, you know, having one loss and the SEC is okay, having one loss in the Pac 12 is a problem, you know, having one loss? Is one loss in the big 10 acceptable? You know, I mean, it's, I kind of feel like we're going to see a lot, we're going to see a real mess, vino going going into this, right, it's because you're right, you know, the SEC, MC SEC, seems really kind of insanely well balanced in some ways, with the way Georgia and Alabama have been so dominant. And, you know, it almost feels like inevitable that the SEC championship will be between the two of them. And you know what, I feel like Doug, one of them will have one loss at that point. Just because they've kind of it seems to add some juice to it. Yeah, it's like, where they're gonna be no, playing not to be eliminated.
Doug Battle 21:51
Yeah. Well, and that's what we saw last year in the team that was playing not to be eliminated one. And so both teams made it. You also mad him for the SEC, in those situations, they just want to forfeit, they just want to cancel the game, get make it a tie, so that they can get both teams? And did they did they gain anything? By you know, let's say Alabama, is?
Mike Lewis 22:12
You know, I don't have enough time? Look, I don't spend enough time looking at college football TV ratings. But I gotta think, you know, some of those SEC championship games. I mean, you know, they're kind of strange games, right? Where they've got a very, you know, how far is how far is, you know, Tuscaloosa from Athens? You know, there's a two three hour drive.
Doug Battle 22:32
I haven't made that drive, but I imagine it's about 234 hours.
Mike Lewis 22:38
Kind of, you know, places, you know, so concentrated regionally, you know, this is not like New York playing Los Angeles in the in the World Series. Right. But I, but those games take on the feel of, you know, a college football playoff. And so I don't know, they do in the ratings. But I wouldn't be surprised if those have really broad national appeal, despite being so local, to you know, this very relatively small region of the southeast.
Doug Battle 23:06
Yeah, I think the I mean, Alabama has, I mean, Alabama fans everywhere. And I know, Georgia has graduates everywhere, but Alabama has. They are a dynasty. And like most dynasties, they've developed fandom beyond their local region, right? We talked about that with the NFL all the time. But Alabama's got fans all over the place. So I think that's part of it. But I also look at those games. And I'm thinking like, even as a fan of one of the teams if Georgia and Alabama are both undefeated. And I'm not saying that's gonna happen, but it is a possibility. Come SEC championship time. Doesn't really matter. Do you really, I mean, you almost feel like we're gonna play him again. It's hard to beat the team twice like Alabama experienced last year. And the you know, the winner gets a slightly easier first round playoff game. But that's it. I mean, you're you're playing for seeding and a four seed thing, where more often than not, those top two seeds are going to play each other. Or those two SEC teams are going to play each other, you know, and two rounds later anyway. And so it loses a little bit of its significance in the BCS era, there was no way for both of those teams to make it to the championship. And so that game like 2012 SEC championship, I remember that really felt like a playoff game. That was the most fired up. I've just felt ever seen. I'll give you
Mike Lewis 24:25
I'll give you a list of teams here. Okay. And so, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State kind of expect to be in it. Yeah. Michigan really wants to be in it. Does Harbaugh need to go back to it? I mean, I think you know, getting into playoff did wonders for his situation in Michigan. USC really wants to get back to that level. And, you know, like the coach, you know, that's got to be his goal. Clemson. You know, it's been no down for a moment. I mean, for a second, right a second. Okay. So We're outside of those. How many did I reel off six teams there? Yeah. Clemson, USC, Michigan and then Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama. Can you imagine anyone else in that playoff?
Doug Battle 25:14
No, I really can't. And that's where it's, you know, we're getting back to ya. Kentucky's right there at seven. And it's hard to imagine them even playing in a conference championship. Georgia, right, exactly. I gotta beat Alabama, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, in a similar situation, there was a point where people were talking about Florida, and they've already they've lost two games since then. You know, outside of the SEC, Oklahoma State, if they had beaten USC, I would say they're very much in the mix. And I feel like the Big 12 teams kind of tend to later in the season, they all kind of beat each other and end up with two or three losses, NC State, you know, ACC teams, that's outside of Clemson, that's the next team. And it doesn't feel like an actual possibility. Ole Miss being right there, but also being in a situation where they're going to have to beat Alabama. And then if they make it through the SEC, West gauntlet, they'll have to be Georgia and SEC championship, or they'll have to make it through that schedule with one loss. It's hard to foresee that Utah already with a loss Penn State, you know, that might be the next team. And it's almost like, it's almost like you judge these teams just based purely on their history, where it's like, yeah, I could see Penn State number 11. Penn State making it, but I couldn't see number seven, Kentucky or number 10 NC State.
Mike Lewis 26:39
Now it's very true, right? The brands have the brands mean a lot in this right. I mean, and like even the fact that, and again, you know, I mean, I think we kind of get the sense that there's a different level of competition in different conferences, but like we said, 11, and one in the SEC means a lot more than 11 and one in the big 10. But, you know, Penn State does seem to have a shot at it. I mean, you know, the big 10 is a little different than the SEC, where the the big 10 East tends to have tends to have most of the dominant teams where the big 10 West has been relatively weak since they built that structure. So, you know, Penn State would have to run the table. But, you know, the championship game in the big 10 doesn't seem to be that kind of, you know, soul crushing moment for one of the teams ever. Right?
Doug Battle 27:29
So I still think 99% of college football fans have in their heads, they know it's either it's gonna be Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State one other lucky teams gonna make it and get beat by one of those other three teams. And it really comes down to those three.
Mike Lewis 27:44
You know, that being said, Doug, Penn State probably is the Tennessee of the North in terms of fandom. I mean, those wideout nights. And, you know, I think that's another one of the 100k Plus stadiums, which I think means something. You know, that's a special fan base. And it's a you know, it's located in this, you know, this beautiful valley, but, you know, this kind of really isolated place where, you know, Penn State football is everything.
Doug Battle 28:12
Yeah, and I want to add one thing with Penn State. They're undefeated. Yeah, they absolutely destroyed Auburn. And that game, to me going into that game, it was like the winner of this game is going to be a contender, because these are two teams that haven't lost the game, that have a lot of talent that have, and then Penn State destroys them. And then all of a sudden, their perception is well, Auburn's, just terrible, Auburn is not good. And therefore Penn State we don't know about them. We saw that, you know, a lot of Georgia fans were talking after the Oregon game how that game was viewed as, Wow, these are two playoff contenders. This is going to be like a playoff game. Georgia goes out there scores the first seven possessions. And then the talking points are, well, Oregon's got a new head coach Bo Nix has never been good. And the Oregon football team is a joke. And they were just highly overrated. I feel like that's, you know, Penn State's kind of gotten that treatment. Whereas if they had played, if they had played Auburn, close and want to close game, and both teams looked good, people might be talking about them a little different, say, hey, well, they beat a really good Auburn team. And they pulled out a close victory on the plains. And that's going to be their toughest game of the season. So that is one dark horse that I will be keeping an eye on. And I'm not saying that I think they're elite or on that level of Ohio State. But I'm keeping an eye on them. They are undefeated, they were incredibly impressive, you know, against an SEC team on the road in a very hard environment, regardless of how good or bad Auburn might be. I don't think they're very good. But I do know that Jordan hare early season game when that fan base is fired up, that's a tough environment to win a football game and they certainly took care of business. But it's a
Mike Lewis 29:47
blueblood program. It'd be interesting to see someone else in the in the college football playoff. Yeah. Okay. So my perspective on college football at this point is that we're kind of, we're in the middle of it now. Right? I in like college football is different than pro football in the you don't have the marquee matchups on a week to week basis, right? It's just not how it's structured. Right? People play big name opponents early on in the season. They get to their natural rivals at the end of the season. We're geared towards the conference championship games. So I I'm looking at the week ahead and nothing really gets me I mean, there's some good games out there. Nothing gets me pretty excited. To me. This is the part of the season where it's, it's the grind. Now this is the time for the Ohio State's the Alabama's the Michigan's the USPS to not screw up right to keep going. Before we move to the pros, anything else you want to add on on the college side?
Doug Battle 30:40
Yeah, we're seeing a lot of head coaches start to fall early this season. And it makes me curious as to whether that's going to be a trend throughout the season because the head coaching searches. Yeah, the head coaching search has already begun. The head coaching surface our search has already begun at some of the schools and I think schools that feel like, you know, we're gonna be out with our guy by the end of the year for sure at the end of the year. And we don't want Georgia Tech or whoever, Nebraska to have a head start on us and to get the top candidate while we're just sitting through a season. So Jeff Collins down at Tech recently finished his career there with less wins at Bobby Dodd stadium than Mark Richt, who was never the head coach at Georgia Tech. An interesting stat. But you know next looking across the teams, I think Auburn is one to keep an eye on we talked about that Penn State game being an enormous disappointment for that fan base. I don't know if you saw the Auburn Missouri game this week. When I did. Both teams were trying to lose the game so hard. The ballgame came down to Auburn had a fourth and one in field goal range down three. They go for it, and they don't get a yard. So Missouri gets the ball. Missouri gets a chip shot field goal to win the game, at some point, misses that. Over time. Auburn gets a field goal, Missouri gets the ball. If they score a touchdown, they win. One of the first plays running back, runs to the endzone untouched. Nobody's gonna get to him. If anything, he's gonna go out on the one yard line and they'll have three downs to punch it in on a quarterback sneak and running back. Just loses the ball as he's running across the endzone ball goes out of his hands. Auburn player gets on it. It's a touchback Auburn winds. Had that not happened. I think Brian horseman would already be out at Auburn. It felt to me like I was seriously watching the game like is he trying to lose this like is he with that fourth down call? I was pretty dumbfounded by it. And I think the Auburn fan base was as well. They're beyond frustrated with horses and obviously there was offseason drama in Auburn people trying to get him fired already. And looking across the Nebraska seen Georgia Tech start to get you know a head start on these coaching searches. I think the margin for error on the plains is incredibly low and almost feels like a matter of time, especially looking on schedule and seeing LSU Georgia Ole Miss Arkansas, Mississippi State a&m And then Alabama with maybe one other game and that next stretch, but that's their schedule. And you know, some of those teams might not sound too good, guess what? Auburn's not too good either. Those are all reusable games for them. And they very well can end up with a four win season. So Brian horse and I think is very much on the hot seat. And I think he could be next. I don't know who else though. But coaches are starting to get fired midseason early in the season. It's crazy to me. I've never seen anything like it.
Mike Lewis 33:30
Yeah, I mean, it probably means something. So maybe a trend. A trend to watch here. Yeah. God. I mean, that Auburn job, in some ways is like the pinnacle of college football, and one of the worst places to ever get a job, I suspect.
Doug Battle 33:44
Yeah. Yeah. So. So
Mike Lewis 33:47
switching to the NFL, and I want to start with I want to start with, you know, we talked about some of the greatness and fandom particularly in Tennessee. I want to complain about an advertisement. Okay. Okay, and look, there's something kind of strange going on. I don't, I can't quite even fathom what's going on. I feel like the city of Las Vegas is getting a fairly significant push. In terms of the world of sports, everything from all the hype around Becky ham and getting just to coach the aces to Davante Adams and this is where I'm what I was noticing last week because I keep seeing this ad over again. But Davante Adams suddenly has all sorts of advertising opportunities. I think he's got Wendy's. He's got Hilton, but the one I'm talking about that annoys me is tied. Okay, now I'll talk your way through how this how this ad works. You see the fan base, and they're wearing black and white or white and black jerseys, right? Because then Davante Adams comes in, essentially looks like he's scored a touchdown and leaps into the stands. Now right off the bat
Doug Battle 34:59
way I believe Lambeau leap.
Mike Lewis 35:03
Yeah, a lot like that. But you know, right off the bat, of course, we're, you know, they're not showing any Raiders colors, right? Because this is an advertisement. So the fans are wearing, you know, like a black jerseys with white numerals or, you know, white jerseys with black Eric. Yeah, generic but suggestive. Now, right off the bat, and this is right off the bat. Okay, so this is the Raiders. Why are they wearing why are they wearing away jerseys in the fan section? Right? Why is the guy wearing a white jersey? You know, and it's like, I don't I don't think that actually happens too much. But so Davante Adams jumps into it, and starts to have a conversation with a guy who in the conversation basically goes, my jersey is lucky. No, it's dirty. No, it's lucky. No, it's dirty. Well, no, it's lucky. No, it's dirty. You know, so the guy's got sort of a dingy yellowish jersey on. And, you know, the fan at some point makes the argument to Vontae. It's lucky. We just scored a touchdown. Okay. And this is where I've got the issue because Devonte corrects the fan and says, I just scored a touchdown. Okay, so this ad as someone that you know, like I said, we we how we started the show, talking about kind of the, this extreme passion and the value in it. I think the worst thing an organization can ever do is tell the fans, they're not part of the program, right? That they're not part of the team, that they're just these casual by standards that should enjoy kind of the excellence of the athletes and they're not and they're not part of it. In this case, how long is how many games is Davante? Adams played as a writer?
Doug Battle 36:46
What 443 Okay.
Mike Lewis 36:51
And a fan that is in a essentially a TV version of the black hole. How many games has that person gone to?
Doug Battle 37:00
Shoulder Pads and the Bulldog?
Mike Lewis 37:03
Okay, and now you're really getting into what annoys me about this. So rather than have these Raider fans with the spikes, and and the shoulder pads and the full face paint, they make the guy the fan that's talking to Davante Adams look like, you know, well you know when I'll just say a 4chan kind of soy boy meme, right this kind of chubby weak looking dude with a little scraggly neck beer. It is the most anti fan ad. I can imagine a company putting together and so I'll put it out there complete and and you know, notice one thing. It's suggestive of the Raiders, but the Raiders don't have anything to do with it. If I'm the Raiders, I'm actually really annoyed with what tide has done in their advertising campaign.
Doug Battle 37:49
Okay. Yeah, that's, you know, having gone to several NFL games, it feels like the team, the organization is always making an effort to make the fan feel like they are part of this, man, right? Yeah, tough man. Hey, you know, it's third down, we need you to get loud we need and they're always putting that up on the big screen. And everyone standing up, there's always those couple guys that stand up in their chairs. And they're waving their hands trying to get other fans to stand up, like come on, like they need us. And the fans that really believe it. And when there's a stop everyone's high fiving each other like, hey, we did it, you know, and the the coaches and the press conference and the quarterbacks when they're interviewed after the game, they'll say, Hey, man, heck of a game by our fans, they showed up tonight, just like and you'll see in a press conference, especially in college sports, the coach will say, we need our fans to be there early, we need our fans to be loud. There's always an effort to make fans. And maybe part of that is a legitimate competitive advantage where they need the noise and they need the atmosphere. They need that aura, that magic in the air. But I also think from from a team marketing perspective, these organizations certainly want the fans to feel involved and when fans are under that illusion. And again, that whether or not it's an illusion is somewhat debatable. But when fans are under the impression that they are contributing to the game, that they are part of the wind that they are part of the loss and that they've gone through these things with this team. It builds that connection between the fans and the team and the players. And so yeah, for someone like Todd tide to kind of spit in the face of that, of course, you know, if you're the Raiders, you probably not loving that. And if you're a professor Mike Lewis fandomanalytics expert, you're not a fan of that either. And so Mike, I want to ask you are you proposing that these brands consult with with someone like yourself for advertising and representing fans in the right light?
Mike Lewis 39:46
I just, you know, I don't know exactly how something like this would have worked or worked out in terms of you know, obviously it's not a Raiders ad so the Raiders colors are not on the Raiders logos are not in it. I don't even think it's that hard that they need a consultant. I think it's just you've got to have people in the advertising in the marketing space that actually are capable. They're a believer in the power of sports. And luck. I mean, you said that you haven't actually seen the ad because you're a guy that flips around from game to game and skips the ads. Yes, I just leave my TV on the game. And I'm sort of watch this stuff. Oh, I mean, I've not seen nearly enough, let's say Kevin Hart draft King ad this year in terms of watching football. But uh, you know, I think they've just got to think it through. And you've got to have people that are passionate. In some ways, you gotta have people that believe in the product, right? You gotta have people that believe in the in football, whether it's college or pro, and just think about what you're saying. And so for tide is like, dirty, clean, dirty, lucky. I mean, even even that Doug is kind of an anti fan statement, right? I mean, there's all sorts of fans that are known for having. I mean, I don't have it, but you know, it's like a lucky jersey that they don't wash. Yeah. And now I'd saying that that's a that's not that's not a great idea.
Doug Battle 41:09
Yeah, I don't know that. I've washed my tortured Jersey since the national championship game last year. So I certainly probably contributed to that stereotype amongst fans. But interesting observation.
Mike Lewis 41:22
One other one that you that we didn't You didn't include in your and I'm a little bit surprised, but maybe it was the week prior in terms of the calendar with the Bears fan, that is in the argument with his, with his girlfriend, and she's making fun of him because they're in his, he's wearing a woolen cap. And he's, he's just staring at the screen and he's upset. And he's claiming that the Packers cheated. But there's one line in there. And I think almost every probably everyone listening to us has seen this on it was on everyone's Twitter feed. But he says something to her. They've been my team for 22 years. I've known you for two months. Okay. If you don't understand what that ads about, you should not be making ads, you know, featuring Devonte.
Doug Battle 42:12
That was all time. I like to think it wasn't staged. Although this this day and age of the internet seems like people will stage anything to get the views and the clicks. But that was phenomenal. That was I think a lot of men really felt that one really watched that and said, I relate with this that that feels right.
Mike Lewis 42:34
I don't think it was staged just because of the way he went. So such a classic fan move. Have they cheated? Yeah, the rest of
Doug Battle 42:43
us. Yeah, if your team loses the refs cheated. And if your team wins the REST call it a great game. That's how it works in sports. That's like rule number one of sports fan and as a Georgia fan. I'm still salty about Tyler Simmons was on sides and that SEC or that national championship game my senior year 2018. I'm sure Alabama fans will point to some holding call and last year's national championship that cost them the game. That's what fans do. And so that that gentleman, he demonstrated fandom to its fullest. And you're right, Mike, I should have had him on the list. He got there just was it was there was so much this week, there was so many crazy I mean, the previous week nuclear nuclear bomb threats and setting yourself on fire for the cause. There was so much this week it was I mean, that top five year it really had to be an elite fan.
Mike Lewis 43:35
Okay, Doug, so how about for our NFL coverage? Because so let me go through sort of a five to one countdown for where I think the top matchups are. And again, these are the top matchups in terms of the narratives, the storylines, the best storylines. Again, you know, what, we're three weeks into the NFL season, and in some ways, you know, the NFL fans are all over this stuff. But in some ways, if you're an observer of the NFL media, the football media, it kind of drives you crazy, right? Because it's it's this constant overreaction, right? I think we've had three different quarterbacks win the MVP of the league already in the first three weeks. So how about if I'll go I'll go through my top five, and then we can sort of fill in, you know, observations and fill in anything else that I'm missing because it like there's gonna be some players that are left in storylines that are left out of this? Yeah, let's do it. Okay, at number five, and again, this is almost more of a pet interest than a classic kind of, you know, media storyline. Bears versus giants. Okay, so we're taping on Monday, so we don't know what the giants are going to be after, after Monday Night Football. But I think the Bears fans are rapidly losing patience with Justin fields.
Doug Battle 44:56
There are two and one right?
Mike Lewis 44:58
Yeah, there are 211. So there And Joe burrow is wanting to
Doug Battle 45:02
exactly so they're getting in the win column just may not be the in the style or the fashion that they may want but yeah we'll see what happens the Giants tonight Monday Night Football Of course most of you probably listen to this after that but giants or fans are probably they're an interesting situation because they're to know for the first time and what seems like forever and what might actually be forever and yet half the fan base hates the quarterback Daniel Jones so almost a similar situation you've got two fan bases that are having success that they haven't had as far as wins and losses early in the season. And yet there's still there's still a lot to be proven a quarterback whether I think the I certainly think the Bears fans are more on board Justin fields than the Giants fans are Daniel Jones even though at this point in his career, you know, when Jones was at fields point he had had a lot more success than fields has had statistically. But there comes a point you know, it's your for for Jones and your two for fields we saw yesterday like Trevor Lawrence, turning the corner it seems we've we've seen that with so many young quarterbacks in their second third year so it feels like there's still time for field
Mike Lewis 46:10
not to interrupt you. But number four on my list is Jaguars vs eagles. Because it does feel like Trevor Lawrence is turning a corner and again, you know, with this, QB wins metric that I'm you know, this is going to be a multi year project. One of the biggest challenges is is what do you do with young players that are when you have limited data? How do you project them out? But, you know, Trevor's seem like, hey, suddenly, this is, you know, suddenly the Jaguars might be for real. And, you know, Jalen hertz for the Eagles. Wow. Now people are talking about him like he is one of the elite NFL quarterbacks? Yeah,
Doug Battle 46:52
who would have thought with Jalen hertz, a guy who was benched for two at Alabama transferred, had a heck of a career. I mean, he had a heck of early career at Alabama, but he's certainly his second year in college did not look like this guy is going to be an NFL quarterback. He looks more like this guy's a great athlete. And he'll probably have to find a different position at the next level. developed a lot under Lincoln Riley. Early in his NFL career, I you know, kind of compare it I was like he I could see him being a Dak Prescott, I kind of saw that as a ceiling. And he's there already. He's in my eyes. And the Philadelphia Eagles are maybe the favorite in the NFC right now. I mean, the way that they are playing the way that the convincing fashion in which they're winning football games Devonte Smith, taking a huge step yesterday in his career and emerging as more of a threat at wide receiver AJ Brown, off to a great start and in looking like a great addition to that team, Philadelphia, they are maybe elite, but again, you're still dealing with a pretty young quarterback and a guy that a lot of people have doubted as a starting caliber quarterback for several years. And so there's still this kind of, you know, you start to wonder is there gonna be a regression to the mean, same with Trevor Lawrence for Jacksonville, of course, Jacksonville, not as dominant. But yesterday, they certainly were against the chargers, and I gotta be honest, the chargers, if you saw the box score of that game, you might think, wow, the Chargers defense must be really bad. And the Chargers did have some turnovers and they they set up Jacksonville great field position. So Trevor Lawrence was set up to succeed probably for the first time in his NFL career being drafted by Jacksonville, but a lot of those touchdown throws man, there was great defense, there was great coverage he was he was being pressured some and he was just making he was making the throws we saw in high school the throws we saw at Clemson and he was the player that Jacksonville drafted him to be Trayvon Walker on the other side of the ball certainly doing the same. So it looks like Jacksonville with two back to back first round picks, or number one picks rather, may have transformed both sides of the football with you know with with an elite pass rusher and with an elite quarterback or a quarterback who has the potential The upside of an elite quarterback. And it's hard to imagine Jacksonville being good at football. But looking at that young core and looking at you know, they're gonna have these guys for the next 10 years more likely than not really interesting team to keep an eye on I think the Philadelphia game will kind of prove whether it's been a fluke, so far this season, or this last week against the chargers, or whether Jacksonville is already taking the strides to become a content, you know, a playoff contender, legitimate playoff football team.
Mike Lewis 49:38
Well, you know, and I think that that's sort of how the rhythm works in the NFL, right. It's someone who has a breakthrough performance and the media is absolutely in love with them. Then you know, they follow the next game and all we were premature. But yeah, I mean, Jacksonville is a Jacksonville is a really interesting case. because, you know, they might be one of the best examples of how NFL competitive balance the system works, right? And you mentioned it, you know, so it's a team we kind of forget about, they get a number one overall pick at the quarterback level and then a number one overall pick at the defensive line. And in addition to that, remember, they're also getting essentially the the first pick in the second round and the first pick in the third round, right? And, and that stuff adds up over time. And so it's kind of the subtle thing of, you know, suddenly when you look year to year why you see these, you know why I've got these competitive balance adjustments built into this QB wind forecasting system, because that stuff adds up over time. And it matters. And that's why you suddenly, and I mean, it's a hard thing to predict, right? The team that goes from six and 10 to 10, sorry, from let's say, six and 11 to 11. And six.
Doug Battle 50:51
Yeah, and Jaguars fans have got to be looking at what Cincinnati did last year and saying why not us Cincinnati turned it around. They had the number one pick got a quarterback you know he got injured, so they ended up with a higher pick than they would have thought got a guy like Jamar Chase. And very quickly, they're in a Super Bowl and they look like they're position to contend for quite some time. Of course, this year has been a little bit rougher, but they turn things around on Sunday.
Mike Lewis 51:14
Okay, and Doug helping with the Segway. So number three on this countdown, are the dolphins versus the Bengal I
Doug Battle 51:21
didn't know that was next but
Mike Lewis 51:22
certainly to an MVP candidate, right again, please these early reactions. And I'm sorry, you know, I think they're wanting to but you gotta love Joe burrow, because he he is. He sits there on the sideline, and he's completely stoic. And even if he's wanting to, if I'm a fan, I'm still a believer in him, because he just, he looks unflappable. He has. We've had a you know, in some ways, we I think we've had three different MVP candidates. MVPs. So far this year, I'll mention the the next two to, you know, definitely, again, the dolphins are gonna have to pay him if this keeps up. But now two faces Joe burrow and you know, the NFL is built for parity. So do we see Cincinnati, Georgia to into? Or do we see him go to one and three, it's kind of a pivotable, Pivotal, early season game? It
Doug Battle 52:21
is. And with two, you talked earlier about how we see these kind of Fluke performances and everyone holds their judgment until the following week to see hey, did they continue this level of play? Or was that truly a fluke? You know, when I said fluke, the first time probably Sure, so breakthrough performances, but to get in to win over the bills, which, by the way, tough season for Microsoft Surface tablets, they've taken, they've taken a toll between Tom Brady, and what was that week to, and this week, the Buffalo Bills, I believe their offensive coordinator having a tantrum and what was one of the most memorable videos in recent memory in the NFL, and shattering that thing. So rip to Microsoft Surface tablets. Don't try this at home kids. If you buy a piece of expensive technology, probably not best to demonstrate your frustration by destroying it. But we've seen that across the league, but to getting a win over the bills the week following his breakout performance. And his statline wasn't great. By the way. I have him on my fantasy bench. statline was not great against the bills, but getting that win. I think that cemented him in a lot of people's minds is okay, he's legit. This wasn't just a breakthrough performance. This wasn't one thing. The one caveat is he looked concussed in that game and I don't know what his status is going to be for this upcoming week. He certainly I talked about it last week. He has a tendency he is injury prone. He took a heck of a hit and looks like he didn't know where he was. Afterwards trout stumbling around so we'll see what becomes of his health but the dolphins overcoming the bullet point to beat the bills was one heck of a storyline for week three in the NFL.
Mike Lewis 54:10
Okay, number two cheese chiefs versus Buccaneers. You know, I mean, Tom Brady is the NFL doesn't pay Tom Brady enough. Right. Brady versus Rodgers last week. Brady versus mahomes this week? You know get out the NFL films crew save all the archives in us. This is
Doug Battle 54:37
It's good stuff. Brady losing one's Aaron Rodgers last week too and showed a lot of frustration early this year. We've known that he's had some off the field frustrations missed some time. Got his team off to a good start in the winds. Colin but still frustrated his team's been banged up. You know and last week's game I can certainly see. I mean you can't you just see the NFL ELMS building to a climax. And the Buccaneers get that playoff rematch with Green Bay and they talk about how this time they're healthy and they feel like they show flashbacks to that last game and how far they've grown since then, I can certainly foresee that happening with this this upcoming playoffs, but taking a loss to Aaron Rodgers not having the best statistical start. He's been he's been good you know, but nothing phenomenal from Tom. And the Bucs and and like I said they're without a lot of receivers. They're I mean, they're down a lot of guys taken on a very good team, the chiefs taken on the player many have pegged to be the air for King of the NFL and Patrick mahomes. Huge storyline. I can't believe this is too like it's crazy. The NFL is so much that it's even debatable, but here we are.
Mike Lewis 55:50
Okay, and then at number one. And this tells you, you know, the fact that this is the fact that the chiefs and Buccaneers are not number one in one of these games is going to be the final matchup right between Brady and mahomes. You know, the number one kind of tells you some interesting stuff about the NFL, so in week one, I think Josh Allen was the consensus MVP of the league and then in you know, week two was too but you know, right now, I think everyone is a big believer in the man that is going to set a massive record for his contract. The bills, ravens, l ugh. I know, the bills just last but bills, ravens, doesn't this start to feel like this is a preview of the AFC Championship.
Doug Battle 56:41
Man, I would love for that to be the case. That would be a very exciting playoff game between two quarterbacks who aren't only great, but are also just exciting to watch. They're little they're both unorthodox in their own ways. They both kind of bring this new wave of quarterbacking and
Mike Lewis 56:57
the two guys that could play both ways at the pro level.
Doug Battle 57:00
What are they what is what is Josh Allen playing on defense? He is a linebacker.
Mike Lewis 57:06
I think he's a linebacker we'll put we'll we'll let Jackson play safety. Maybe I could
Doug Battle 57:13
certainly see Jackson as safety. Man. He's tearing it up and coming off five TDs against the Patriots. Over 100 yards rushing. I mean, we talked about last week if he keeps playing at this level. He's gonna cash out in a very big way this offseason. And again, he performed another game. At this level. I have him on one fantasy team. I wish I had him on my other. I believe he's the number one fantasy quarterback and football because rushing yards for quarterbacks is such a huge move, but well he's out if it's not him. It's Josh Allen.
Mike Lewis 57:46
He's number four in the league in rushing, including the running backs. And he has 10 touchdown passes. So I assume he's winning fantasy football.
Doug Battle 57:54
He's winning fantasy football, and he's winning. football, football, beating the Patriots. It's crazy how you know the Patriots Tom Tom Brady. They haven't been winning championships. But beating them still feels like a legitimize your football team. It's like wow, they'd be Bella check that you know, there's a real good be belcheck ease. This isn't a fluke, last week wasn't a fluke, they'd be belcheck they beat the Pats. And so with a second year quarterback but five TDs over 100 yards, like I said to in one record and Baltimore, you know that fanbase? I've talked about it before. They are so pro Lamar Jackson, it's not even funny. And if that front office messes around and ends up losing him to some other team, they are going to riot in Baltimore.
Mike Lewis 58:40
Okay, Doug, so I'm looking at the clock, we got a bad, we're at 58 and a half minutes. So let's let's move towards wrapping this up. What did I miss out what else is sort of caught your eye in the NFL. I mean, there's look, there's there's a bunch of other stuff, you know, the, and I'm not quite getting to it yet. But I will, I will get back to this forecasting system and where the forecasts seem to be coming true, and where they're not coming true. I still want to I want to let the season run out a little bit more, collect a little bit more data. You know, one of the that's one of the things that I've kind of noticed is the experiments with the older quarterbacks in Denver in Indianapolis, seem to be meeting with very mixed results that, you know, the the, like those, the early data on those experiments doesn't look good. So it's like, you know, it's an interesting, it's an interesting story, that kind of fate has a tendency to it's an interesting story, but one that tends to fade into the background, because they're not winning games.
Doug Battle 59:41
Right. And we've seen Yeah, I think the reason teams have been making those moves is because I don't know if it was for the last seven super it was some crazy stat where Stafford was on a new team Brady was on a new team going back to Peyton Manning and the Broncos playing what two seasons there and getting a Super Bowl Mmm. That had been a winning formula. And Matt Ryan got the big win this week for the Colts Good for him. But the whole Matt Ryan Russell Wilson, the idea that these guys were going to come in and make those teams Super Bowl favorites has not looked good so far. It seems like the Lamar Jackson's and the Josh Allen's the guys that are kind of being pulled up from the farm, if you will, that are born and raised ravens or Buffalo Bills in one system and develops. Those are the guys that are dominating the league. Patrick mahomes. Another one. So with the exception, of course, if Tom Brady, but Tom Brady has always been an exception, you know, drafting a quarterback in the sixth round in hopes of finding an all time great probably isn't the best strategy either. So he's always been an exception. And I think that his exception in Tampa may have influenced the decision making of some of these other franchises to focus on those older quarterbacks.
Mike Lewis 1:00:59
Okay, Doug, I'll throw in one last word. And then we can wrap this one up. I want to make a point as well. And so I don't remember which of the college football games I was watching. I think it was the game that was on ABC. But ABC kept cutting away, too when Aaron judge was batting for the New York Yankees. Oh, my question. I should have brought 61 Oman's and you know, the thing that occurred to me was wow, this is exciting. You know what I mean? Where has this been? Right? And it's like, no. And that games not on TV, right? That this is an amazing story and poo halls too, as well. It's an amazing story. But you know, a guy trying to you know, catch Ruth and then Maris. The American sports media has got to do a better job with that. Cut. Wow, you know, in some ways, and then no criticism of what I was watching, but I'm watching a college football game that I've like, I can't remember which games I was watching. Because I'm flipping around, you know, sort of a mid season college football game versus this quest for tying Roger Maris. You know that something something is a miss, because I gotta tell you, Doug, not the biggest baseball fan. But that worked. For me. That's exciting stuff.
Doug Battle 1:02:22
It's exciting stuff. It's stuff we haven't heard about all year. I feel like I've heard and know more about the Las Vegas aces than I do about this whole storyline. But
Mike Lewis 1:02:32
about their celebration. Yeah, there's Yeah, to add on Instagram.
Doug Battle 1:02:37
On the flip side, I think the way your little critical of how the media has presented baseball or covered baseball, I think the way that this presented or was presented was actually bad for baseball, because I know and I was on Twitter, I always kind of a to screen guy as far as watching college football on Saturdays. People were irate that they were flipping in the middle of their game, to some baseball game to watch a guy strikeout. It wasn't even highlights. It was like he's that he's that bad. Let's watch these three, four or five, six pitches.
Mike Lewis 1:03:09
the Twitterverse was mad. And they
Doug Battle 1:03:11
were they were irate. And this is the football fans are like if we wanted to watch baseball, we would be watching baseball. You ruined a perfectly good football Saturday, when we were watching football. And there were there were games where it was like third down, it'd be in the middle of the play the ball be in the air and they'd cut away to judge fans were losing it. And so you know, if you're going to try to promote baseball, maybe don't interrupt. Fans have one very specific thing and very fanatical fans at that and say, Hey, we know that you want to watch this, but we want you to watch something else. So we're going to cut away from what you are watching. That was not an effective strategy, and not a win for baseball in my eyes.
Mike Lewis 1:03:53
Shut down Twitter. Okay, let's wrap this up. So as always, folks, thanks for listening much more content@www.fandomanalytics.com Until next week, bye
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