My call for boycotting worked. Those are really pathetic numbers. I'm betting the advertisers are pulling their ads now. People might see their local insurance companies, jewelry or water bottles ads now.
If this were Pistons vs. Spurs and the series was getting these exact same ratings, would they be making a bigger deal about it? The NBA needs to go for long term ratings improvement, not short term. Get rid of the flop reward system.
So what happends if it stays the lowest rated and the Spurs sweep? The amt of money lost would be staggering. Everyone was writing on how the league needed to get LBJ in the Finals. How could they be so wrong? Maybe the common fan is not buying the hype and really does not like LBJ or feel that he was too young and un-accomplished to call the King. Not to mention how it insults every other superstar in the game. The kind of superstars that dedicated fans adore.
Nobody wants to see blowouts and once the game gets into the second qtr, that is what is happening and the channels are turned. No one is Tivo-ing them either. The league does not really want a sweep either, so I expect a few homecooked calls tonight. The question is can the Cavs take advantage of them or will they still fall by the wayside?? yeah probably. The other question is IF, the Cavs possibly win tonights' game, it will force a game 5 on Fathers Day Sunday. Labron's girl friend is due to deliver their second child on Sunday.....does he play in the game or sit at the hospital...do they induce labor for a Friday or Saturday delivery or set up a delivery room on Sunday at the Quicken Loans arena?
If the rumours about the Cavs organization are true with regards to how they kow-tow and acquiecse to LBJ's every whim and sideways glance, I'd put money on the franchise doing whatever it is LBJ wants.
You know, now that I am not watching NBA anymore the reward would be I don't have to hear that stupid annoying P.u.s.s.y.cats Doll song any more. That song was so annoying.
Of course. Every sports article would talk about how the Spurs/Pistons are MURDERING basketball, and how great it would've been to have LBJ in the finals :p Honestly, the only "superstar" i'm interested in watching is Kobe. I don't hate or love him, but i'll watch Kobe. There's no denying that he is the most talented player in the game right now. Put Kobe in the finals, and i think Stern would get the ratings he's looking for. LBJ doesn't do it for me. He's not really clutch, doesn't/can't ? take over the game. He looks good against bad defense, but that's about it. I just don't see that killer instinct or competiveness in him that all the greats have. He's young though so we'll see.
I agree. I hate that. They so overdid it. Add in that annoying Mike Breen guy and its hard to watch. I think ABC is part of the reason for the low ratings. ABC should just contract it out to TNT.
Actually, I was thinking about this the other day: the real measure here of how much LeBron helps or (doesn't help) the ratings is not by comparing this year's ratings to last years, as some reports have been doing, but by comparing it to the 2005 Finals. Spurs/Pistons two years ago, Spurs/LeBron now. A comparison of the ratings between those two series would be the most reasonable way to measure a "LeBron Effect" in the Finals. Does anyone know a handy resource for looking up the ratings from previous years' playoffs?
I didn't find a site that listed all the ratings but i did find this. http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/25/AR2005062500134.html ------------------ Ok for some reason the rest of my long post got deleted ? so i'll just write out the numbers quick instead. The Spurs/Pistons series (in the above article) averaged an 8.2 and a 15 share. Game 1 of the Spurs/Cavs drew a 6.3 and an 11 share; the previous low was was 6.4/11 in 2003 (IIRC Spurs/NJ) so SAS/DET game 1 was higher (bu how much i don't know) Game 2 of the Spurs/Cavs got a 5.6 and 10 share So unless this goes more than 5, and interest seriously picks us, the 2005 finals would be higher.
2nd lowest scoring game in Finals history...yikes. It looked like both teams wanted to lose down the stretch, with missed shots and turnovers all over the place. Spurs hit just enough shots earlier in the fourth quarter to pull it out, as LeBron missed a 3 to tie it in the final seconds. Weirdest play of the game was in the first half, when LeBron got fouled on a breakaway, so the Cavs got 2 FTs and the ball, but the refs somehow allowed Boobie to shoot the FTs before they remembered that LeBron had to take them. He missed one, which ended up being big at the end, as Dre mentioned in chat. Looks like the sweep will be complete on Thursday.
