Baseball is Still Our National Pastime
Many feel Football has superseded Baseball as the national pastime. They are wrong.
According to Wikipedia, a national pastime is a 'sport or game that is an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation.' And, from the same source, you can find some fascinating 'national pastimes.' For example, 'Capoeira' is the national sport of Brazil. It is described as a Brazilian martial art developed by slaves combining elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. It even has a special protected status by United Nations as an 'intangible cultural heritage.' The UN list itself is full of unusual items. Check out, for example, the 'Portuguese Cowbell' - this must have something to do with needing 'more cowbell.' Boy, so easy to get lost wandering the internet.
Back to the original question, many people say that football should be our country's National Pastime, having far exceeded baseball in television viewership years ago. Frequently, one of the news stories around the World Series is that television viewership and ratings have declined from the prior year. Except for 2016, when the Cleveland Indians were the big once-in-a-lifetime baseball story. Maybe the Chicago Cubs had something to do with it also.
But this brings us to the obvious answer of why Baseball, not Football, is still the national pastime - Roman Numerals. Football labels their champion with Roman Numerals. You cannot be a national pastime if you use Roman Numerals to denote your winners. What Super Bowl did Tampa Bay and Tom Brady win recently? Right at the tip of your tongue is the answer – Super Bowl LV.
There is only one use of Roman Numerals that makes sense – covering up your age. If you tell people you were born in 1954, they'll know you recently turned 65. Instead, tell them your birth year was MCMLIV and that you just turned 40. Who can prove you wrong? (If you must know, MMXIX – MCMLIV = LXV – look it up)
What Super Bowl did the Bears win? The famous Bears with Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Jim McMahon, and the Super Bowl Shuffle? No cheating, no internet search. The answer, which I did have to look up, is Super Bowl XX. And the year? You must look that up also, 1986. Now imagine, ok, fantasize, that the Bears win the Super Bowl next season. You can tell your grandchildren that you saw the Bears win Super Bowl LVII, their first win since Super Bowl XX. That has a real ring to it.
Meanwhile, everyone remembers when the Cubs last won the Series, 1908, right? No, its 2016, but we all remember 2016 and that it was the first since 1908. Of course, most important, and near and dear to true Chicagoans, the White Sox World Series win in 2005 was their first since 1917. And for you refugees from the Northeast, Boston’s 2004 win was their first since 1918.
Television is not the only metric to define a National Pastime. How about attendance? And which sport has the most in-person attendance? Major League Baseball, ~70 million. Japanese Baseball has ~25 million. Heck, the National Hockey League at ~22 million outdraws the NFL’s annual attendance of around 17 million.
What about George Carlin’s famous comparison of Baseball and Football? Check out the short video.
History? Baseball has it all over Football. Here is a quiz, what do each of the following numbers mean? Answers in the footnote at the end of the article. I guarantee many fans will recognize the baseball numbers, but not the football ones.
56
5,477
406
55
60
2,105
On the other hand, Football still has a vital role in preserving American culture – the metric system. We are never going to convert to the metric system if Football remains important. Can you imagine Football under the metric system? The gridiron would be 91.44 meters long. Instead of first down and 10 to go, it would be first and 9.14 to go. Have an offside penalty? Move back 4.57 meters. What about football records? The first player ever to rush for 2000 yards in a season (2,003 to be exact) was OJ Simpson, who would now become the first player to have exceeded 1,828.8 meters. Who was the first quarterback ever to pass for 5,000 yards in a season? Dan Marino, way back in 1984. How would it sound to say that Marino was the first passer to ever exceed 4,572 meters? Records matter, and they would be ruined by converting to the metric system.
Therefore, I award football a second-place honorable mention as National Pastime for their role as a bastion against the metric system. But baseball is still number I.
Answers to quiz:
· 56 = Joe DiMaggio’s consecutive game hitting streak, 1941
· 5,477 = single season passing yards record, held by Peyton Manning, 2013
· 406 (technically, .406), Ted William’s batting average in 1941, the last batter to hit over 400
· 55 = single season record for passing TD’s, also held by Peyton Manning, 2013
· 60 = Babe Ruth’s 1927 HR record, later broken by Roger Maris in 1961 and then by some steroid users in the 1990’s.
· 2,105 = single season rushing record, held by Eric Dickerson, 1984