5th Post - This is Blogging!

Apparently this commercial for Sports Center has been around for at least 3 years (because that's when it says it was uploaded), but I definitely recently saw it for the first time last week and actually laughed out loud at it. Maybe they only show it around baseball season - which is seven months long soooo not sure where I've been.

Anyways, in case you don't follow baseball, and have no clue what's going on at all here's a breakdown of people in the vid:

• Guy on the left in the NY Yankees' uniform = Jorge Posada the Yanks' catcher and sometimes a DH
• Guy in the middle in the Red Sox Uniform = David Ortiz aka "Big Papi" the Sox DH
• Guy on the right = Stan Verrett a Sports Center Anchor
• Green thing walking by = Wally the Green Monster and Boston Red Sox Mascot

I think it's clever that ESPN is capitalizing on the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, or even just the two clubs in general. If you ever go see these teams not in their home parks, you'll know that tickets for Sox & Yanks games have a premium for them. So if I live in Houston and the Astros are playing the Phillies my tickets might cost $35. However, those same seats are $55 if the 'Stros are facing the Sox/Yanks!

I'm thinking the other clubs can get away with charging the premium for one or both of the following reasons:

1. The Yankees and Red Sox are not only popular in their respective states/regions, they are also extremely popular across the nation
2. Yankee and Red Sox fans are the craziest and will follow their team anywhere. I've known people who couldn't get tickets @ Fenway that bought tickets @ Camden Yards and Nationals Park just to get their Sox fix for the season.
   

How did these two franchises get so popular? For Boston I'm guessing it's the "dirty water", and for NY those pinstripes are mesmerizing... Thoughts? Theories?

~emy