baseball's falling popularity and its affect on our hobby

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

No just joking with you I thought that was what we were doing, having playful fun with each other since we seem to have different views on how the hobby pays out.

Did I miss something? Or are you taking this more seriously than I am?

These are baseball cards, how serious or personal can one take it? Lol.......now if you told me you were sleeping my wife.......you get it ............wait are you?

In all seriousness I surely do hope the hobby continues to grow, I just can't help but be concerned at the path this sport and hobby, that we enjoy, are projecting. It's not gonna stop me from buying what I need for my set, but the thoughts of looking forward will still be part of my mindset.

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by MyGuyTy

These are baseball cards, how serious or personal can one take it? Lol.......now if you told me you were sleeping my wife.......you get it ............wait are you?

Agree, second question is your wife hot?

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Agree, second question is your wife hot?

....smokin hot little Latina

Women are just drawn to guys who collect vintage!

With your collection Johnny, I'm sure you gotta have em lined up

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by MyGuyTy

With your collection Johnny, I'm sure you gotta have em lined up

I wish I can’t afford the divorce.

Besides I haven’t met a check yet that digs baseball cards where are you finding these girls?

[Cardboard Junkie]

Take it from me....you can't afford NOT to get divorced. (3X)

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Besides I haven’t met a check yet that digs baseball cards where are you finding these girls?

Now if I told you that, you'd just steal em all away from me......

Alright maybe I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not share it with Leon.......then we're both screwed......and not in that sense

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by MyGuyTy

Now if I told you that, you'd just steal em all away from me......

Alright maybe I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not share it with Leon.......then we're both screwed......and not in that sense

Leon is cool, he's a "Bro's Before Ho's" kinda of guy at least that's what his lower back tattoo says....

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Leon is cool, he's a "Bro's Before Ho's" kinda of guy at least that's what his lower back tattoo says....

Good to know.....just don't share what his lower waist tattoo says, lol, we'll leave that to our imagination............on second thought not sure if imagining is a good idea.....

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Leon is cool, he's a "Bro's Before Ho's" kinda of guy at least that's what his lower back tattoo says....

Awwseeesssome! Thanks for that!


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[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Leon is cool, he's a "Bro's Before Ho's" kinda of guy at least that's what his lower back tattoo says....

[DerekMichael]

For me personally, the reason baseball attendance is down is because it is so effing expensive to go to a game, and it has turned into quite the "to do".

My Dad and I used to go see the Mets every time they came to play the Dodgers, and occasionally the Angels and Padres, but I am older now, and I have to pay my own way. If I want to drink some very crappy beer, it will cost $11 for a taste. More importantly, the atmosphere can be vile at times. I would not want to take my niece to a game, for example. People are screaming obscenities and even getting into absurd and pointless fighting etc. etc. etc. ... it is not all that "warm and fuzzy" anymore.

My Dad and I had gone to almost every game since the Piazza, Fonzie, Leiter days, so maybe since 2000 or so, for years and years and years ... then SNY came around in 2006 or so, and now we can watch the Mets anytime we want, and we can sit in the comfort of our own homes, and listen to Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez. It has been glorious (not the team, the broadcast).

Thats what it is. Television broadcasts have gotten so good, and it is too damn expensive to have a day at the ballpark anymore !!! We still love the game and our favorite teams just as much ... I think ? Sign of the times, maybe ?

Derek

[Al C.risafulli]

This is a great thread. I do have a couple of points to add.

I think the subject line, "baseball's falling popularity..." is a misnomer. I do not think that baseball's popularity is falling, and the numbers support me. Major League Baseball attendance in 2013 was its sixth best EVER. Using 2011 figures, Major League baseball was the top drawing professional sports league in the world for total attendance, and the fifth in the WORLD in terms of average attendance.

That's fifth in the world. The NFL is #1, growing an average of just over 67,000 per game - but I think comparisons between baseball and football are not apples to apples comparisons. I suspect that if baseball teams played in 80,000 capacity stadiums, 8 home games a year on days everyone has off, when the weather is cold and miserable, we might see different average attendance than we do when they play 81 home games, mostly at night, during the week, when the weather is more pleasant.

I think the same might be the case for television revenues.

In terms of collecting, my feeling is that the internet has taken its toll on a lot of different pastimes - including sports cards. That being said, I work with kids from 7 through 14 in two different youth baseball leagues and I'm impressed by the number of them that buy cards, as well as the number that seriously collect older ones. Frankly, it doesn't seem to be that much different, percentage-wise, than it was when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s. Perhaps since we're not kids ourselves, we're just not exposed to as many kids - and what they do - than we were when we were younger. Maybe it doesn't seem like kids collect because we aren't around kids as much as we were when we were kids ourselves.

To me, the card hobby seems to be big enough to sustain several manufacturers, who make multiple sets a year in multiple sports (and non-sports), and keep putting out new sets. It supports a secondary market that thrives on eBay and in what seems like a thousand different auction companies, three grading companies and three autograph authentication companies and umpteen message boards.

Ultimately, I think the sports card hobby will be just fine, for a long time. It may continue to change and evolve, it may experience rough patches, but I don't see it disappearing.

-Al

[Cardboard Junkie]

"Johnny"??......sounds like a bloody, budding, bromance.

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

"Johnny"??......sounds like a bloody, budding, bromance.

Shhhh........we don't need any of this getting out. Let's keep it professional