Yes, they assume he's on vacation but they also haven't seen him in quite a while. So they worry. They fret about his whereabouts. They worry about his rumored health issues. Officially, NO ONE is TALKING/ Not the bosses either. There's been no communications from the guy at the center of the storm but there's considerble angst. And yes, they are aware of O'Donnell's disturbing and worrisome ona-r quirks and speech patterns that were quite VISIBLE in the recent months.
All this could come to rest, at least temporarily, when/if DOD is visible at Saturday night's 49ers-KC pre-season game at Levi's where O'Donnell is scheduled to work the pre-post game; KPIX will televise the game. If Dennis is MIA, the WORRY will take on a more SERIOUS tone.
*THE Bay Area (SF) SPORTS MEDIA corp (Chronicle especially) has so far, IGNORED the Giants attendence woes at Oracle Park. Have you seen the EMPTY SEATS? Last night's gathering (maybe 10,000 barely) was quite STARTLING. My go-to sports broadcasting figure was also quite amazed at how LOW the crowds have become. The person pointed out the camera shots down the lines show just how many empty seats there was. Like the broadcast person, I figure the COVID-19 fears have hit the Giants, plus other factors like MLB's diminishing ratings, the lack of interest in the game of baseball and the COST of attening a game (food, beer, souvenirs, etc) It's not only the Bay Area, it's national too but to see the massive empty seats in SF is disturbing. And to see that the SF PRESS is yet to write anyting is also quite telling.
Perhaps there's an opportunity for Gary Radnich to have a comeback and
ReplyDeletejoin PIX and show them how sports coverage should be done.
Dennis is OK. Christine is taking good care of him. She saved his bowels, who said “I’m grateful.”
DeleteGary Rat's Nest has been phoning it in for years now. Best that he take all that sportz dough and have fun with it. Local sportz is dead anyway. Why local newscasts still feature it is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Giants attendance issues, Greg Papa mentioned it last night on Giants postgame. It really is unfortunate.
ReplyDeletePart of it could be the reasons you mentioned. With the variant around, some might be apprehensive about going to games. It will be interesting to see the attendance for the Niners preseason game this Saturday against the Chiefs and the Niners preseason game against the Raiders on the 29th. If the Niners end up outdrawing the Giants for preseason games, there could be something there and probably be a bigger issue.
Some of it could be a baseball problem too. Sadly the game is too slow for some, even though baseball is a slower paced game, no matter how much they try to speed up the games. Baseball games are going even longer now despite the rule changes. Most Giants games go at least 3 to 3 1/2 hrs now. The Dodgers especially when they play in L.A., play about 3 1/2 to 4 hr games. It's ridiculous, but it's just how baseball is.
does anyone know if greg papa and bonti hill are on speaking terms?
Delete@unknown stuntman- Not sure. I would assume they are now that they are both working at NBC Sports Bay Area, and Bonta replaced Greg Papa as the host of Warriors TV pre and postgame.
DeleteI would assume Greg Papa had a hand in Bonta replacing him if that was the direction NBC Sports Bay Area wanted to go in; a Warriors new TV pre and postgame show.
I like Greg Papa as the Niners new radio play-by-play guy, and I think he does great work on NBC Sports Bay Area overall, I'm not as big on his radio show with John Lund, but it was messed up on how he left Bonta on 95.7. Yeah, it's the radio business but that was kind of messed up and was probably disrespectul to Bonta. I would assume and hope they've patched things up since then off air. Sometimes Bonta and Butcher Boy reference Greg Papa and the respect is still there.
Another issue, and I mentioned this in Rich's article from the other day, and that could be, some might be boycotting the Giants right now because of Charles Johnson. He owns a small percentage of the team, but he is known to donate to some of Donald Trump's groups, and that didn't go over well with some Giants fans back in the offseason, and I remember some people on Facebook at the time saying they were going to boycott the team. I'm not sure if that still is the case now for some people, but a lot of people had a hard time with that when the news first came out. He's donating to groups like QAnon. Yes, he said he didn't knowingly do it, but c'mon.
ReplyDeleteI know Charles Johnson doesn't represent the views of the Giants as a franchise, but still having him around is not a good look for the franchise or the team.
I like many now have a reason to go see the Giants. Thanks for the FYI!!
DeletePeople are boycotting because of Gabe Kapler and the woke regime not Charles Johnson. But I understand that doesn't fit the narrative of trying to blame everything on Trump somehow.
DeleteFyi, Charles has owned the team for decades. And has been donating money to similar causes for decades.
Dont bother replying to Otis he ( she?) has been babbling nonsense for years
DeleteNobody is boycotting, especially the very few maga dipshits in the bay area. SF downtown is still a ghost town. No one is walking to a game after work and 40 bucks for parking and expensive tickets during Covid are the main reasons. Probably won't have a sell out until the playoffs start
DeleteSF downtown is a ghost town because no-one goes to SF anymore. That is unless they want to be assaulted or have their cars broken into. Woke liberal politics at their finest have ruined a once great city. See: weekly videos of people robbing stores blind carrying trashbags right in front of security.
DeleteIs anyone surprised the DA of SF and former mayor of SF are both facing recall elections?
@2:29- I'm a man.... What am I saying that's so nonsensical? I can't state my opinions in a forum that allows us to do so? If you don't like it, you don't have to read it or reply to it.
DeleteCharles Johnson is the PRIMARY owner of the Giants. Major League rules require that one person own more than 50% of each team. No ifs, ands or buts and Mr. Johnson absolutely positively is the majority owner of the Giants.
DeleteI hope this isn't an issue, but I think when the Giants did the social justice stuff last year, that could've rubbed some the wrong way. It was great to see the Giants along with all of sports be in solidarity with the BLM movement, and even today being against Asian hate, or in general being for social justice movements, but sadly a lot of fans don't want sports mixing with politics like this, and a lot of people were turned off by this. Let's be real, a lot of sports fans, but really baseball fans, aren't as diverse as football, basketball, and soccer fans, so those fans might have a harder time with baseball teams participating in social justice movements.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that's not the case, but there could be a number of different reasons why the Giants aren't selling out right now. Hopefully that changes this weekend, and down the stretch as we get closer to the MLB playoffs.
Would serve them right, they should keep that lame woke garbage to themselves.
Deletecould be a small reason..baseball is a very, very conservative game, its played by very conservative people, its audience is mostly older white people over 45 i would say, who yes, are also mostly conservative politicaly and cultururaly.. and are turned off by social justice messages..
DeleteThe official attendance Wednesday night was 20,037, which is surprisingly low, but way more than 10,000.
ReplyDeleteFrom the people I've talked to is all the side BS going on. People are sick of it. Just play the game people really don't give a s&%$ what their opinion is. PLAY BALL!
ReplyDeleteSide BS?
DeleteWoke politics, kneeling, Kapler having to mouth his opinion on every subject between sips of smoothies and visits to the tanning bed. "Hey look we hired a woman for this". "Hey look everyone we hired a person of color for that". The vast majority of people couldn't give a shit less.
DeleteIt sure seems to bother you though.
DeleteWhy would I want to go to a Giants game, spend $100+, invest up to 5 hrs watching game and getting to and from my seats when I can DVR the game and watch it in under 1 hr and see every scoring situation? The Giants should let everyone under 40yrs old into the games for free!
ReplyDeleteSports are just pricing themselves out. Ticket prices are ridiculous, but food/bev/merch prices are insane. I think Covid is mostly to blame, but for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDelete1. People have been out of work and don't have the discretionary budget they had pre-Covid.
2. Covid cases are on the rise again so people may not be attending due to not wanting to get sick.
3. Covid forced fans to watch games from home last season and they got used to it.
We'll see how the 49ers, Sharks, and W's draw over the next 2 months, but I'll bet that aside from a few odd games, attendance will still be woefully short of the pre-pandemic numbers.
Valid points.
DeleteThe #1 reason people aren't going to games: there's a pandemic with a very contagious variant right now. A first-place team can't change that. I'll watch the games on TV and not catch a dreaded disease, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteThe basic principles of capitalism -- irrespective of what you may think of the subject -- are what solves this. Once the cost of attendance is higher than the value potential attendees believe attendance is worth to them, they won't attend. To wit ... The solution is rather obvious, lower the price of attendance.
ReplyDeletesports talk is no longer ,''who's on first??''.it is now, ''You're las vegas weekend golf score'' talk.
ReplyDeleteseems like these teams wait til 9 th inning to finally score then it goes extra innings.as if modern players cant finish a game without second base runner extra innings. let them play underhand pitching if they are so tired .
ReplyDeleteThe retirement of Bruce Bochy hasn't helped, along with the turnover of players. They're playing well, but they don't have the personalities of previous line-ups. The whole organization seems cold, including the manager, general manager, and ownership. It's endemic in the game now. It's not baseball anymore, it's high-tech stats that chooses and uses players like a video game. The front offices are Ivy League MBAs, not baseball people. The owners are more interested in the dollar value of their team if they sold to another billionaire and how much real estate they can develop around their ballparks.
ReplyDeleteTo some extent, you do have a point. There isn't that same feel with this team like it was during the championship years, or even back in the early 2000's during the Bonds era. Back in the championship years, there were colorful personalities like Pablo, Angel Pagan, Andres Torres, Juan Uribe, Hunter Pence, Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Aubrey Huff before he became an idiot, and many others on those championship teams. Bochy was a mainstay. Those Giants teams those 5 years were a fun group overall and they won championships!
DeleteI like this current Giants team, and it's fun watching this team hit and score runs and most importantly win games, but you could have a point in that people might not identify with this team anymore, or at least not at this point in time. In baseball, you have to have a team fans can gravitate to and identify with, and that develops over time with continuity.
"The owners are more interested in the dollar value of their team if they sold to another billionaire and how much real estate they can develop around their ballparks."
DeleteBingo!
Dude they are in first place, Kapler is a rock star and the veteran players the fans love are having career years. That's not it
DeleteOtis III
DeleteAs this season progresses new fan-favorites will become evident. (Bryant, Wade Jr, Webb are the first to come to mind). And how did we know that they were "colorful personalities"? Roving reporters and cutesy interviews immediately after the game. No Jaymee Sire, (thankfully) no Amy G or Cammy Blackstone).
Remember, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year but the players and coaches that Farhan put together didn't get the memo.
@9:32- That's true, new fan favorites can emerge from this current team. Yaz is already a fan favorite, been found money for the Giants pretty much every since he got here in 2019. Kris Bryant could be a fan favorite, especially if he signs a long term deal. It helps that he's already enjoying his time here so far and feels welcomed.
DeleteWade Jr is becoming popular, and has already made big contributions to this team. I hope the Giants find a way to hold on to him after this season and not give up on him like the Twins did. He can be the next Yaz for the Giants as far as a guy another team gave up on, but paid big dividends for the Giants. Some have compared Wade Jr to Andres Torres. Webb could be popular. Some think he could be a future ace for the Giants. We'll see.
@9:32- We knew guys like Pablo, Pagan, Andres Torres, Juan Uribe, Pence, Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Romo, and even Aubrey Huff were colorful personalities because of how outgoing they were, and how they resonated with the fans because of their personalities and how their personalities kind of fit with the team, with SF, and with the Bay Area. I guess maybe not Huff as much now, but the rest of the guys, they are perfect for SF and the Bay Area.
DeleteYes, interviews with Jaymee Sire, Amy G, and even Cammy Blackstone did help though for some. LOL.... I will admit that Amy G is kind of missed in the broadcasts. Yeah, she never really said anything noteworthy, and yeah her voice sounded like she was talking to little kids, but her personality did add something to the broadcast in some way, and the players enjoyed being interviewed by her. I wonder if she reminded them of their Mom's or maybe their wives or gf's with their kids.
LOL. I agree this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Giants. No one gave them a chance, but years like this so far is a very nice surprise. The Dodgers and Padres are shook, even though yes, they have battled injuries this season. The Padres are definitely not the same team without Fernando Tatis Jr. They're like the 2011 Giants the year Posey was out for most of the season, not the same team. The Dodgers are still scary, even with all the injuries they suffered. Hopefully the Giants can outlast both teams this season. But yes, this season so far has been a nice surpise.
There are many reasons for the Giants so-so attendance. Not mentioned is the Giants allowing season-ticket holders to defer their seats until next season. Also, with the offices empty in San Francisco, the team is not getting the downtown office crowd. Yes COVID (especially in the Bay Area) is a factor. Note how the Giants stopped announcing attendance at the games. Yes, this all should be reported by the media. It is a story.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing why people think attendance is low. It is simply a COVID issue. Fewer fans are comfortable going to the ballpark. Sure, if EVERYTHING about the game was cheaper, more fans would go because that changes the risk/reward benefit. It is not Charles Johnson, I bet by savings most don't know who that is. It is not woke politics. Fans will still go enjoy the game. It is not because they don't identify with the team, as the teams in years past was also a mix of young, new, unfamiliar players. It's not because baseball is too slow. That is the game and has always been. It is all about the virus. The issue is the Giants are really doing nothing special to increase the numbers. The team is doing nothing special, no promotions, no deals, no fun events, nothing to help with attendance. That is what is surprising.
ReplyDeleteBaseball attendance, revenue & ratings as a whole were down prior to the pandemic. It's an old white guys game. And with the shift to what most people are calling MLB (mostly latino ballplayers) many more are checking out.
Delete@11:23- As far as the league being mostly Latino ballplayers, I'm not totally sure if that's the case. It varies from roster to roster, but most MLB rosters have a mix of white players, latino players, and some black players. As far as baseball being an old white guys game, even Adam Jones, a black player who was a center fielder for the Orioles for a number of years, I think a few years back said that baseball is a white man's sport.
DeleteI'm not sure if white people are checking out of baseball because of guys like Fernando Tatis Jr and other star players like Tim Anderson, Bryce Harper, et al in the league who are trying to help make baseball appeal to younger people and help make baseball more exciting to the casual fan, but it would be sad if they were tuning out because of bat flips and the showboating.
Attendance is down throughout sports due to Covid fears. Giants season tickets are down for that reason. Plus, midweek games vs the Rockies and Diamondbacks aren't going to get lots of walk-up ticket sales, in fact these are the no-show games for many season ticketholders.
ReplyDelete//P.S. there are way more empty seats across the Bay. No one (including this blog) is making much of that either.
@8:49- Yes, covid fears are probably the biggest part of it. It's still nice to see some fans out at the ballpark though, compared to last year when no fans were at the ballpark.
DeleteWith that being said, your second point could be more of a reason too, as the D-Backs are Rockies are awful and those teams really are hard to watch, even though it's always nice to see the Giants get some easy wins at home. Oracle Park was packed for the A's series, and the Dodgers series as well, even though unfortunately for the Dodgers series, a lot of Dodger fans came to Oracle Park. The ballpark was lively though like it normally is for a Dodgers-Giants game.
Regarding the A's, it's the same old story. They haven't been selling out the Oakland Coliseum for years, and at this point, it almost feels like they're pretty much as good as gone, now that they have been given the green light to look into other cities to build a new ballpark. I think some people might get exasperated talking about it that it's almost no use. The A's have kind of made it clear they don't really want to be in Oakland anymore, but we'll see what happens.
MLB attendance issues are more than Covid. It's been happening long before Covid existed. Just watch any NFL game this season, it'll be packed, as it always is. MLB does not move the needle until playoff time and even then it still takes a back seat to the NFL.
DeleteVery true. Also, I'm surprised you got a comment critical of the A's past the goalkeeper.
Delete36,000 at the game tonight. You were saying?
ReplyDeletehaha. I actually thought about that last night when I heard the attendance for last night's Giants game and saw the crowd at the game on TV. It was like, what attendance issues? LOL.
DeleteEarlier this week it might've been simply because the Giants were playing the D-Backs who are the worst, if not one of the worst teams in baseball. The D-Backs don't even sellout games in their own stadium. It's just the thing is, the Giants used to sell out against everybody, but the Giants normally do well for weekend games.
Hey, Otis-In-Triplicate: don't you have a job or something? What's with the logorrhea?
ReplyDeleteI do have a job, yes. I work the regular business hours, Mondays to Fridays 8-5..... I just have a lot to say at times, and I enjoy giving my thoughts on Bay Area sports media stuff whenever Rich posts articles regarding that.
DeleteLet me guess, you hate it?
My GOD Otis brevity is the soul of wit......
ReplyDeleteOtis III is grossly incorrect when he states that Charles Johnson owns a small piece of the Giants. ALL of the major sports require that there be a single individual with at least 50%+ ownership so that decisions can always be made without having to get the approval of another. Mr. Johnson owns 50%+ of the Giants.
ReplyDelete