The College Football Industry

Over the last couple decades the NFL has vastly grown, in terms of talent and in terms of fans for various teams, but college football has grown even more over the same time. From a numbers perspective, over four college football teams average more than 100,000 fans for every home game compared to the NFL, which doesn't even have any stadiums that exceed a seating capacity of 85,000. Colleges have the benefit of having a savage student section at games, but this section only amounts to 5,000 fans. Then how do college football games achieve so much attendance? And what makes, in terms of number of fans and stadium size, college football more popular than NFL football? In my honest opinion, the only factor is the environment at college football games. The 5,000 students that cause a raucous at college home games are the heart and soul of the other 80,000 fans that attend the game. The energy that flows through a college football stadium on game day is unparalleled by any experience in any other sport. for these reasons, it is safe to say that college football is an ever expanding industry that already has plans to break all attendance records by selling 150,000 tickets to a game planned at Bristol Speedway late in 2015. If you have never been to a college football game, your time will come, the numbers don't lie!

The Extra Month Phenomenon

Today, I would like to explain the effects that a season has on a professional baseball player's body. This explanation is mainly to explain in detail why the Giants have won in 2010 and 2012 and not even made the playoffs in 2011 and 2013.
When the Giants won the World Series in back in 2010 they started spring training in early to mid February and played all the way to the evening of November 1st, when they won Game 5 of the World Series to win it all from the Texas Rangers. This season lasted a total of 9 1/2 months whereas almost all other teams played close to 8- 9 months in their season. The extra month of rest that these teams receive leaking into the next season is a major difference maker in the performance of these professional athletes for the entire coming year. This extra moth gives players a chance to rest hamstring, quads, should and elbow tendons, and many other aching body parts after the long grueling season.
The Giants, with this extra month of rest taken away from them, were at a dire disadvantage going into the 20111 season which clearly goes to explain the outcome of the 2011 season. Many players got hurt, again, due in part to the tightening of under rested muscles, or the overuse of unrested arms. Come midseason, the Giants were grueling with injuries because of the extra month they lost in the offseason.
Even though it may not seem like a significant amount of time, this extra one month rest becomes a crucial part of an athlete's professional career.
The extra month phenomenon as I like to call is a major explanation to the repeating success of the San Francisco Giants every two years. Because this time around the team has received the extra month rest like the years of 2011 and 2013.
This is why I look forward to the 2014 baseball season as a very promising one for the San Francisco Giants.
Bleed orange and Black!!!    

Season's end

I know that I haven't posted in awhile, but now that the season is officially is over for the San Francisco Giants, it is time to reflect on the past 2013 season and look forward to a clean slate in 2014. The players have all gone back to their respective homes, and won't be seeing each other until the new season. Some still in the bay, some to the opposite end of the country, and some abroad. AT&T Park won't be host to another event until the Emerald Bowl in late December. And the fans, are left alone to countdown the days until Giants baseball is back. I know that I started my countdown the very second the last pitch in Game #162 happened. 

Overall it was a season of ups and downs, but contained more downs than ups. A couple key injuries contributed to the plunge in the standings in June and July. Nevertheless, the Orange and Black haven't failed to pack the house for their last 216 home games, a record that leaks back into the historic 2010 season. Many rookies were also given their first chance at glory, to show the world the next generation of baseball. Skipper Bochy showed the world the determination of his managing skills with no matter which group of 25 guys he had day in and day out. 

Looking to next year, statistically, looks like another successful year on the horizon for the orange and black. As they have won the world series in the past 2 even number year (2010,2012). A die hard could only hope to imagine that it happens again in 2014. Logically, though, the Giants will start out with the same record as any of the other 31 teams in Major League Baseball. And from the there the battle will begin. Numbers just tell us the facts, they don't write the story and that is the beauty of baseball.