And why can't the Super Bowl be here in the Midwest instead of East Coast megapolises like Indianapolis?

You certainly put forth a compelling argument when you start with "Hank Williams, Jr. said it best..." You'd do a better job convincing me by quoting Yosemite Sam.

The South is the most provincial and self-regarding region in the U.S. The Eastern Seaboard follows closely. I have spoken.

Here on the west coast, we're too high all the time to navel-gaze. On the other hand, whoooooa...man....you ever really look at your bellybutton? Man.....that really makes you think.

“Ask anyone in Chicago, Detroit, Iowa, Minnesota — it just feels like a large portion of the country gets ignored,” said Steve “Sparky” Fifer, a sports talk radio host for WSSP-AM in Milwaukee.

I remember in the 1980s and 1990s when the Chicago and Detroit basketball franchises were getting no attention at all.

And are there ANY professional sports teams in Iowa?

Hmmm, what a shock that the guy's listening area is the area that doesn't get any respect in his mind. I'm sure radio hosts in NY bvtch about the lack of respect to their area as well.

Tim Groseclose must be an invested figure, someone who dropped in from the Arrested Development movie. His website is awesome:

"To this day, I consider Goldwater one of my political heroes. Four others are Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Four other heroes, in addition to being successful politicians, are true scholars: Newt Gingrich, Phil Gramm, Dick Armey, and Dick Cheney.[1]"

[1] Gingrich, Gramm, and Armey earned PhDs—Gingrich in history, and Gramm and Armey in economics. All three began their careers as professors. Although Cheney was never a professor, nor obtained his PhD, he was once enrolled in the political science PhD program at University of Wisconsin. Unlike 66% of political science professors in the Ivy League, and 56% of the political science professors at Harvard, Cheney has published in the top academic journal in political science, the American Political Science Review. Another academic credential of Cheney is the fact that he has an Erdos number. Named after the great mathematician, Paul Erdos, who was famous for his prolific scholarship and his numerous co-authors—an Erodos number is calculated as follows. All of Erdos’s coauthors have an Erodos number of one. Anyone who has co-authored with one of Erdos’s coauthors has an Erdos number of two. Anyone who has co-authored with a co-author of one of Erdos’s coauthors has an Erdos number of three. And so on. Cheney’s Erdos number is no more than seven. He wrote his American Political Science Review article with Aage Clausen, who has coauthored with Greg Caldeira, who has co-authored with me, who has co-authored with Keith Krebiel, who has co-authored with John Ferejohn, who has co-authored with Peter Fishburn, who has co-authored with Erdos.

This guy is a UCLA professor?

If he does good work in his field, then that should be all that matters. It was troubling to me when I realized that not everyone smart was good or kind and that being smart in one area of inquiry didn't equate necessarily to being smart in another. It's still troubling to me. But it would, for obvious reasons, be a very sad day if universities started basing their hiring on personal politics (which I don't think they do except perhaps in isolated, outlier cases--certainly not to nearly the extent that people like Maese, ironically enough, probably think they do).

But it would, for obvious reasons, be a very sad day if universities started basing their hiring on personal politics

Luckily (or not), the only thing that matters is publishing papers. We had an interesting discussion at a research group about the reality show contestant who is also pursuing a Ph.D. in epidemiology at one of the best schools for public health in the country. She would almost certainly be in the running for high profile faculty positions upon finishing, assuming that she did some interesting work. We were mostly discussing how the hiring process might go, given that some people would know about this woman's (short) bout of fame and how that would reflect on the department, whether if she were a marginal candidate but from her school, whether someone would want the baggage (or if they would go for her, specifically because she would have some name recognition).

We were somewhat unanimous in our opinion that if she was publishing in top journals, no one would care, because in academics, this has become almost a tautology.

Enough football. Baseball now, please..

This article wasn't from Arkansas or Iowa or any of the other "neglected" states. It was from the leading newspaper in Washington, yet another city whose heroic sports teams have been ignored due to all that East Coast bias.

Tim Groseclose, a professor of political science and economics at UCLA, has spent a professional lifetime studying politics, media and biases,

I'll bet there are a few million people out there who wish they could get paid for a "job" like that. It sounds almost as good as "consulting."

"To this day, I consider Goldwater one of my political heroes....Four other heroes, in addition to being successful politicians, are true scholars: Newt Gingrich, Phil Gramm, Dick Armey, and Dick Cheney.[1]"

You can't make this stuff up.

For all intents and purposes this is sportsthinkfactory.org at this point. Sad but true.

For all intents and purposes this is sportsthinkfactory.org at this point. Sad but true.

I find this to be true only in the offseason. The overwhelming majority of articles posted from the beginning of spring training through the end of the regular season are about baseball. I think that the "problem" is that people get used to killing time in here during baseball season and then need to keep coming back to the community, even though there's nothing to talk about. Other sports would be a natural starting point (although it's obvious that the "second" sport of many people here is quite varied, which is why football, basketball, hockey, and soccer get different audiences in each thread.

Three Super Bowl threads? Come on, moderators. At least expand the Hot Topics list so the baseball threads don't disappear so quickly in the face of the various off-topic threads that might as well have "stickies" applied to them.

For all intents and purposes this is sportsthinkfactory.org at this point. Sad but true.

Not true! They also talk about soccer here, and nobody accuses that of being a sport.

Three Super Bowl threads?

Not quite. The theme of the article referenced in this thread also could have applied to any Yankees-Red Sox series.

I grew up in Oklahoma. Love it. It's a great place, with lots of fine people, terrain and history. Until I left home I, too, thought of New York and New England the way this guy describes. But then I went to New York and New England. Loved those places, too. Lots of fine people, history and culture.

Of course there are negatives to both places. I am not, by nature, a northeasterner and sometimes find them grating in large number or when disagreements arise. But they see me differently, too. Having never been to Oklahoma, many of them think my birthplace backward, boring and devoid of beauty. Their loss. My friends who have visited with me have also loved it.

Basically, earth is cool and people, by and large, awesome. Don't let the jerks get you down.



Also, this guy appears to live and work in Los Angeles. He may have forgotten but we Oklahomans don't like LA anymore than we do New York. If I took him to my hometown and simply identified him as "UCLA professor", he would not get many free drinks.

Also, this guy appears to live and work in Los Angeles. He may have forgotten but we Oklahomans don't like LA anymore than we do New York. If I took him to my hometown and simply identified him as "UCLA professor," he would not get many free drinks.

Whereas if you took Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth -- who's made it big in both LA and NY -- back to your hometown, she would get plenty of free drinks (probably because she's a cute, sexy little blonde).

I met her once. Just as cute in person. Mutual friends.


And she also embodies, or appears to, what I was saying. She loves LA and NY and they love her but she still loves OK and they love her, too. It just isn't that hard to get along and enjoy all types of places. I mean, I couldn't live in NY or LA - the crowds and the rush is just too much for my day to day zen. But there are times it's just what you need.

Templeusox: Until other really strong bulletin boards pop up, I like this being a big tent.

Most provincial and self-regarding regions: Strongest regional biases I've encountered are from New England and the Deep South. Texas and NYC are up there as well.

Strongest regional biases I've encountered are from New England and the Deep South. Texas and NYC are up there as well.

Sure, in North America. These places have nothing on Europe.

I do love the "but they're talking about stuff they like and continuing to maintain a community even during the off-season!" complaints. Those are awesome.

These places have nothing on Europe.

Soon every area with an accent will print their own stamps and have their own flag, isn't it wonderful?

Soon every area with an accent will print their own stamps and have their own flag, isn't it wonderful?

I can't believe Belgium is still a country!

I do love the "but they're talking about stuff they like and continuing to maintain a community even during the off-season!" complaints. Those are awesome.

Who wants to talk about other sports when you can talk about politics and alcoholism and rape?

It's the offseason. If there were actual baseball news, that would be discussed a lot more. But we've entered the deadest zone of the year, in terms of baseball...so, rape.

Also, there's a Primate with an Erdos number? Cool.

I do love the "but they're talking about stuff they like and continuing to maintain a community even during the off-season!" complaints. Those are awesome.

This.

If he does good work in his field, then that should be all that matters.

I've seen some of Groseclose's work. It's poorly reasoned and politically biased. His attempted defenses of the work spoke poorly of his intellectual ability.

It's weird to bring up East Coast bias with the NFL considering that by a huge margin the most over-covered team in the league is in Texas, not anywhere in the east. They're like the Yankees of the NFL but without the actual success in recent times to merit extra coverage. Pittsburgh, while in the east, probably isn't considered an East Coast team in terms of bias and Green Bay is of course a midwest team yet they're both heavily covered in good years and bad.

It's weird to bring up East Coast bias with the NFL considering that by a huge margin the most over-covered team in the league is in Texas, not anywhere in the east. They're like the Yankees of the NFL but without the actual success in recent times to merit extra coverage. Pittsburgh, while in the east, probably isn't considered an East Coast team in terms of bias and Green Bay is of course a midwest team yet they're both heavily covered in good years and bad.

All that's true, but facts seldom get in the way of a good persecution complex.

It's weird to bring up East Coast bias with the NFL considering that by a huge margin the most over-covered team in the league is in Texas, not anywhere in the east.

And one of the reasons it is so overcovered is that it's in a division with three east coast teams. Were the Dallas Cowboys in any other division, they would essentially be the Houston Texans.

And one of the reasons it is so overcovered is that it's in a division with three east coast teams. Were the Dallas Cowboys in any other division, they would essentially be the Houston Texans.

No, it's b/c they were really good in the '70's when the league was coming into its own, with MNF, merger, etc. Likewise, the Steelers and Dolphins have outsized national fan bases/media exposure.

Seriously? What is this guy talking about? Even when the Packers are shitty they get national coverage. Green Bay is the most provincial professional athletics "city" out there and its in northern Wisconsin of all places.

And are there ANY professional sports teams in Iowa?

Yes, quite a lot. Minor league baseball and hockey for sure, arena football too. Maybe some other professional sports as well.

I've seen some of Groseclose's work. It's poorly reasoned and politically biased. His attempted defenses of the work spoke poorly of his intellectual ability.

Sadly, this isn't atypical.

Reading the conversation between Bunyon and TerpNats #18-20, I'm not really sure what the point is about free drinks. But it does make me think of the ways people across this country are more alike than different.

Cute, sexy, little blondes will get free drinks wherever they go. College Professors, whether from UCLA or Iowa or anywhere else, will not. Unless they are cute, sexy, little blonde college professors.

[5] The pedant in me has to point out that you mean "major league professional teams". But the state is 30th in the country in population, and its largest city (Des Moines) is 106th nationally. (Wikipedia). I wouldn't really expect there to be.

We Arkansans and Oklahomans sometimes call people from Boston or New York ‘Yankees,’ which we mean as a synonym for ‘rude, Northern person'Groseclose said. “Hank Williams Jr. might have said it best: ‘If heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie, I don’t want to go. .?.?. You can send me to hell or New York City. It’d be about the same to me.’

Pro Tip: You can avoid 80% of Yankee "rudeness" by not lingering in the immediate vacinity of doorways or staircases and by knowing what you want to order by the time you get to the front of the line, and an additional 15% by declining to say things like "I believe visiting the place that you live is more or less the same as suffering eternal damnation."

Reading the conversation between Bunyon and TerpNats #18-20, I'm not really sure what the point is about free drinks. But it does make me think of the ways people across this country are more alike than different.

Cute, sexy, little blondes will get free drinks wherever they go. College Professors, whether from UCLA or Iowa or anywhere else, will not. Unless they are cute, sexy, little blonde college professors.

If you can't get free drinks as a college prof, you aren't doing it right.

[5] The pedant in me has to point out that you mean "major league professional teams".

True. However, I still think 75% of the people on this board couldn't name ANY of the professional sports teams based in Iowa.

According to Wikipedia:
There are 4 Class A baseball teams, one AAA team (did not know that), and an independent baseball team.
There is one D-League basketball team.
There are a bunch of football teams that play in some leagues I didn't know existed.
As well, there are a slew of extremely low-level/independent hockey teams.

But can anyone name one of them off the top of their heads?

In summary, why would any of these teams expect to get ESPN coverage?

Unless they are cute, sexy, little blonde college professors.

Kristin's next movie role?

Hey, I've even got a title. Hot for Teacher. Now we just need a script.

The AAA team is easy, the Iowa Cubs. Cedar Rapids is one of the A teams. Can't name the others without looking up though.

A majority of the people on this board would know of the Iowa Cubs, I think. Minor league watchers would rifle off the other Midwest League clubs (Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities (in Davenport IA, featured in the outstanding movie Sugar), Burlington, and Clinton). There's also the Sioux City Explorers, which have been around about as long as Indy ball has in its current incarnation - they're could maybe support a MWL club if the geography were a tad more in their favor.

The Iowa Energy are in the D-league - I've watched them play on TV. They've got a swingman, Marqus Blakely, that ought to get another shot at the show.

What do I win?

Burlington Bees, low A Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland A's.

“Ask anyone in Chicago, Detroit, Iowa, Minnesota — it just feels like a large portion of the country gets ignored,”

So produce something like Los Angeles's entertainment, San Francisco's technology, or New York's finance, and you'll get your attention. You don't get limelight for putting out sausage, clunky cars, corn, or whatever the heck Minnesota does.

clunky cars

I think Clint Eastwood just squinted at you.

This Super Bowl was the highest rated TV show ever, by the way. Not enough hicks hated it.

I knew that Cedar Rapids was a MWL club, but I couldn't have told you what state Cedar Rapids was in. Nor what city the I-Cubs play in, though I'm guessing it's Des Moines. Is Des Moines the city that closes at 4pm?

Downtown Des Moines gets more lively during the evening than you would think, using the metric of "do the bars and restaurants get crowded?" Although I may be biased in assessing that; I'm a native Iowan who went there hoping to get surprised.

The Iowa Barnstormers. It's the team Kurt Warner played for.

It's the offseason. If there were actual baseball news, that would be discussed a lot more. But we've entered the deadest zone of the year, in terms of baseball

When do pitchers and catchers report? It's got to be pretty soon, no?

When do pitchers and catchers report? It's got to be pretty soon, no?

Mariners report on Saturday. That's the earliest (by a week, I believe, due to their opening against the A's in Japan).

This Super Bowl was the highest rated TV show ever, by the way. Not enough hicks hated it.

That's going to make it a lot harder for baseball to rationalize the shitty ratings they always get for the World Series these days.

So produce something like Los Angeles's entertainment, San Francisco's technology, or New York's finance, and you'll get your attention. You don't get limelight for putting out sausage, clunky cars, corn, or whatever the heck Minnesota does.

Nice. That is what Chicago is known for? maybe you should quit watching SNL. Oh and you should also keep up with the times, while Silicone valley is still a major player, places like Alexandria, Seattle, and Raleigh will overtake them in the next 10 years. Then I imagine the on-line portion of trading will make the NY financial strangle hold dwindle, then NY wont be in the news anymore right?

When do pitchers and catchers report? It's got to be pretty soon, no?

The list was part of yesterday's "Dugout" thread. The Mariners report on the 11th and just about everyone else is the 18th to the 20th.

This Super Bowl was the highest rated TV show ever

Most viewers thanks to population growth, but not highest rated which is percentage based. Super Bowl XVI in 1982 was the highest rated.