While You Were Gearing Up For Football...

... there were baseball games going on. And now, nearing the middle of September, there are only two races left: the NL Central and NL Wild Card. This is exceptionally bad for the MLB. With twenty days to go, interest in baseball is going to hit a serious downhill slope. September and October are the most important months for the NFL, and football being the most watched sport in America, baseball suffers. And having only two races worth watching, let's see if the cities involved even care.

As far as the Wild Card, we have San Diego, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Do we really need to address the latter? We are left with Chargers/Padres and Eagles/Phillies. Show of hands of who thinks either the Padres or Phillies will do anything if they make the postseason? I didn't think so. How about the future of the Chargers or Eagles? The Chargers are a given. Anyone who has the Roto King in the backfield is going to matter. And despite the loss to Green Bay, the Eagles should find themselves having big games at the end of the season.

Now, we turn our attention to the NL Central. The Brew Crew is currently one game ahead, but guess what? It's Milwaukee, and the Packers are undefeated (1-0, but we are talking about Cheeseheads, people). I'm giving this one to the NFL. However, the Cubs are coming in second, and I have to believe that they matter more to Chicago right now than the Bears. First off, the Bears were in the Super Bowl last year, so there might be a quiet confidence that they will fare well this season. Having said that, the fact that they put up the same amount of points as the Chiefs on week one might send enough panic through the Windy City that the message boards will be run amok with Rex Grossman threads. I'll give this one to the MLB.

So, with only two races left, and only one city really paying attention, baseball will be put on the back burner for fantasy trades and reruns of NFL Live. By the time October comes around, will anybody really care? I expect fans from Boston and New York (Yankees and Mets) to pay attention as always, since the Patriots would have locked up a bye and the Giants/Jets will have locked up a top ten draft pick. Arizona, Cleveland and Los Angeles (Angels) are the other teams left, and all three have bad or no teams. So there might be a chance of a ratings spike in October, due to the fact that the only cities who would've been watching anyways won't be tied up with football. Or will they? As bad as the NFC West is, the Cardinals might be relevant. As bad as the Browns are, the whole city will be waiting for Brady Quinn. My last visit to L.A. gave me the impression that sports don't exist there. So there is only one thing that will help baseball, and that's the Cubs in the Series. Because if it's Angels/Diamondbacks, expect America to be tuning into Raiders/Titans.