[lex24]

Like some others, I was really surprised when the early ratings numbers came in showing big drops in viewership. I watched a lot of NBA bubble playoffs and every minute of the Finals. I watched every single Twins game this year on MLB.TV and a lot more random MLB postseason games that I wouldn't have tuned into normally (and I watched several KBO games when that was the only thing going). Now, my football viewing habits have dropped off significantly, and while I normally would've watched every Stanford game, I've missed a couple this year because the season just don't seem all that real to me. Whether it's because the season is shorter, schedules are limited, teams are forced to either cancel games or play with dozens of players out, or because of the different limitations faced by different teams around the country, there's a sense of legitimacy that feels lacking from this year's college football season. And with that gone, I can't shake the feeling that it just doesn't matter, so why invest those hours? 

My NFL fandom had already been waning, and perhaps the reality check of covid heightened some of the concerns. I cherished MLB and the NBA bubble as an escape this past year, but I haven't watched a full NFL game this entire season. The desire to do so is just totally lacking. 

As for soccer, the seeming greater availability of high-level European club games hasn't changed my viewing habits, but that's not because I don't like soccer, it's because I'm a complete homer when it comes to most sports viewership. I'm a Bundesliga guy in general, and a Hertha guy in particular, so I don't much care if Arsenal-Chelsea or Barca-Real Madrid is on. Happy to catch highlights, of course, but I'm just not watching a match start to finish unless it's my team. That's generally true of all sports for me, with playoffs being the primary exception. 

Quick aside: the Lakers were absolutely deserving champs, and there should be no asterisk there. Same thing with the Dodgers--the expanded playoffs created even more hurdles for a great regular season like that (the idea that a runaway division winner could be out of the postseason after two games is abhorrent and I hope that idea is forever banished from the minds of the MLB powers that be), and they did the thing. The 2020 sports seasons will be fascinating conversation topics for years to come, but not in the sense of titles having asterisks, I don't think. (I think a big part of that, at least with the Lakers and Dodgers, is that both of those teams were expected to do very well--if an 8 seed in the bubble had run the table, or if one of those 3rd-place-in-their-division baseball teams had pulled a rabbit out of their hat, it's absolutely a different story.)

Of course there is an asterisk for the Dodgers. 60 games.  That’s not a season.  So the Bums haven’t won a legit title since ‘88.  And that’s my purely unbiased assessment.....

[lex24]

Like some others, I was really surprised when the early ratings numbers came in showing big drops in viewership. I watched a lot of NBA bubble playoffs and every minute of the Finals. I watched every single Twins game this year on MLB.TV and a lot more random MLB postseason games that I wouldn't have tuned into normally (and I watched several KBO games when that was the only thing going). Now, my football viewing habits have dropped off significantly, and while I normally would've watched every Stanford game, I've missed a couple this year because the season just don't seem all that real to me. Whether it's because the season is shorter, schedules are limited, teams are forced to either cancel games or play with dozens of players out, or because of the different limitations faced by different teams around the country, there's a sense of legitimacy that feels lacking from this year's college football season. And with that gone, I can't shake the feeling that it just doesn't matter, so why invest those hours? 

My NFL fandom had already been waning, and perhaps the reality check of covid heightened some of the concerns. I cherished MLB and the NBA bubble as an escape this past year, but I haven't watched a full NFL game this entire season. The desire to do so is just totally lacking. 

As for soccer, the seeming greater availability of high-level European club games hasn't changed my viewing habits, but that's not because I don't like soccer, it's because I'm a complete homer when it comes to most sports viewership. I'm a Bundesliga guy in general, and a Hertha guy in particular, so I don't much care if Arsenal-Chelsea or Barca-Real Madrid is on. Happy to catch highlights, of course, but I'm just not watching a match start to finish unless it's my team. That's generally true of all sports for me, with playoffs being the primary exception. 

Quick aside: the Lakers were absolutely deserving champs, and there should be no asterisk there. Same thing with the Dodgers--the expanded playoffs created even more hurdles for a great regular season like that (the idea that a runaway division winner could be out of the postseason after two games is abhorrent and I hope that idea is forever banished from the minds of the MLB powers that be), and they did the thing. The 2020 sports seasons will be fascinating conversation topics for years to come, but not in the sense of titles having asterisks, I don't think. (I think a big part of that, at least with the Lakers and Dodgers, is that both of those teams were expected to do very well--if an 8 seed in the bubble had run the table, or if one of those 3rd-place-in-their-division baseball teams had pulled a rabbit out of their hat, it's absolutely a different story.)

Of course there is an asterisk for the Dodgers. 60 games.  That’s not a season.  So the Bums haven’t won a legit title since ‘88.  And that’s my purely unbiased assessment.....