World Series Fever is Localized

From today's Detroit Free Press:

The Rays-Phillies World Series could be the lowest-rated in baseball's 105-year history, betonline.com is projecting. Lower than the Tigers-Cardinals in '34? Actually, betonline.com says the lowest TV ratings ever was the 10.1 drawn by the Tigers-Cardinals in '06. 2006, that is.

Well, the rest of the world can have their big ratings and famous teams. I'm excited for this World Series, and I'm not going to apologize for that. Tampa Bay is in the World Series. I watched the first game in Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays history. It was against Detroit and Justin Thompson started for the Tigers. He was supposed to be our next big thing on the mound. Then, not surprisingly, he wasn't. I remember being impressed at just how much of a shithole that stadium was. I couldn't believe baseball was so desperate for the expansion fees that they would even put a team in that building. Now the World Series is going to be there. How wonderful is that? I love it when things wind up in places they aren't supposed to be. It's like putting the Super Bowl in Jacksonville or Detroit. Or like when we lived in Southeastern New Mexico.

Other things I like about this World Series include

• The Rays are favored only for the most deeply cynical reasons
• I know a guy who used to work for the Rays organization, who promised me that the team was on the right track. So I really feel as though I was in on the ground floor with them.
• Philly fans are sort of like the nuts at John McCain rallies. Give them a chance in the national spotlight and they're bound to do something terrible.
• The the networks are so greedy that not only have they already pushed the starts back so late that kids on the West Coast will already be in bed, but they're willing to do it even further so they can pocket another check.
• That's it my candidate buying that block of time.
  
• That when it's over, either Tampa or Philadelphia will have won the World Series.

I made some other cases earlier, which are still operative as well.