The ultimate rankings

[Wook]

Check this out. (http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/franchiseRanks)

IT is a sortable list of pro sports franchises and what the fans had to say about them on a number of factors. In the overall list I'm happy to say that the Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons all placed in the top 20 and embarrassed, in an honest sort of way, to say that the Lions were dead, absolute, utterly, last. Talk about institutional incompetence.

[carmachu]

Yanks are about right. The last half a dozen years have been disappointing, plus some aquisistions were terrible.

[Dr. Mercury]

The Mariners are ranked at 90th overall, 113th in field leadership. Mike Hargrove sometimes makes me long for the days of Bob Melvin, especially when he does something so idiotic as announce the pitch counts he has on his starting rotation. That's just an invitation to draw out at-bats and eventually drain the bullpen. That one of baseball's richest franchises ranks so low, 27th out of 30 MLB teams, ought to be a wake-up call to the dithering ownership and front office.

When Ichiro walks this fall, or is traded at the break, attendance and overseas TV ratings will plummet. I'll still go to the ballpark, at least to see good baseball--as played by the road team.

[Dr. Mercury]

The JailBlazers, IMO, have not yet earned a ranking higher than triple digits. They have a long way to dig themselves out of the hole they created in the '90s.

Getting back to the M's: Interesting to note they're in the Top 10 for stadium experience. I love Safeco Field. It is a beautiful ballpark with plenty to offer. I highly recommend the Bullpen Market area and the Terrace Club. The latter is where you can get plowed at the bar while watching Hargrove f:tapedshut:k up another game.

[Detritus]

I believe the Lions received the ultimate wanking.

[Archer]

I'm always torn when I see these cross-sports cost comparisons. If I see one football game, I've seen a significant chunk of the team's season, 1/8th of the home games. If I see one baseball game, its likely that one game is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Baseball can charge less because there are so many meaningless games in the course of a season and there's a gob of seats to fill. The Yankees or the Dodgers might be "worth" seeing any season out of a sense of tradition or past greatness but don't make me suffer through the Tigers or Twins even in one of their good seasons. But I don't mind watching a bad NFL game.

1/8th of a baseball season would be what? About 8-9 games?

[Kalzazz]

I enjoy baseball games, even the ones that arent particularly relevant

Ive seen a lot of Akron Aeros games, and saw a Diamondbacks / White Sox Spring Training game once

[Detritus]

1/8th of a baseball season would be what? About 8-9 games?
An MLB team's home schedule has 81 games, so 10 games for 1/8 the home season. There's a lot more variability in the outcome of a single baseball game compared to a single football game, so the extra games are probably necessary to get a true reflection of the relative merits of all the teams.

[carmachu]

If I see one baseball game, its likely that one game is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.


Not really. Most are. But come september, every game starts counting.

Add in divisonal rivalries, they always count. Every Boston/Yankee game counts, whether its April or September. Last year when the masssacre happened, boston faded away after that.

Depends on the game.