Alright, listen up, y’all. Let’s talk about this NBA thing, the basketball games on TV. I hear folks sayin’ the ratings, that’s how many people watchin’, are goin’ down. Down like a sack of potatoes dropped off the back of a truck, you hear?
So, what’s the big fuss? Why ain’t nobody watchin’ no more?
Well, some smarty-pants fellas, the kind that wear fancy suits and talk all proper, they say it’s ’cause there’s too darn many games. Too many games! Can you believe it? They playin’ basketball all the time, seems like. And it ain’t just that, they say the players, they keep jumpin’ from team to team. Like them fellas can’t make up their minds where they wanna play. And the teams, they keep changin’ them clothes they wear, the uniforms. One day they red, next day they blue, makes a body dizzy, I tell ya.
- Too many games, that’s what they say.
- Players jumpin’ around like fleas on a dog.
- Teams changin’ clothes faster than I change my apron.
Now, I ain’t no expert, mind you. I just watch sometimes when my grandson’s over. But even I can see, things ain’t right. They say on that ESPN channel, the watchin’ is down somethin’ awful. Twenty-eight percent, they say. That’s a whole lotta folks not watchin’, ain’t it? It’s like losin’ a whole bunch of chickens from the coop, you suddenly notice they’re gone.
And it ain’t just this year, oh no. This has been goin’ on for a spell, they tell me. Years, even. The watchin’ just keeps gettin’ less and less. Kinda like the well dryin’ up little by little, you don’t notice till it’s almost gone. Folks used to gather ’round the TV, hootin’ and hollerin’ at them games. Now, it’s just… quiet.
Then there’s this fella, Gilbert Arenas, he used to play the game, I think. He says it’s ’cause it costs too much to watch. Says folks gotta pay a lot of money to see them games on TV. Now, that don’t make no sense to me. Why would you pay a whole bunch of money just to watch some fellas throw a ball around? Back in my day, you just went outside and played yourself, didn’t cost a dime.
And Shaq, you know, that big fella, he got his own idea. He thinks he knows why folks ain’t watchin’. But I ain’t gonna get into all that. It’s too much for my old brain to handle. What I know is, somethin’ ain’t right.
They say even those fancy games at night, the ones they make a big deal about, even them ain’t gettin’ watched like they used to. Fewer and fewer folks are tunin’ in. It’s like callin’ everyone for supper, and nobody comes to the table. That’s a bad feeling, let me tell you.
So, there you have it. The NBA, it’s in a pickle. Too many games, too much money, too much changin’ around. Maybe they need to slow down, get back to the basics. Like makin’ a good old-fashioned apple pie, simple and sweet, that’s what folks like. Not all this fancy stuff.
I don’t know what they’re gonna do. But if they don’t figure somethin’ out soon, ain’t nobody gonna be watchin’ them basketball games no more. And then where will they be? Just a bunch of fellas throwin’ a ball around in an empty room.
That’s all I got to say about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go check on my biscuits.
Tags: NBA ratings, viewership decline, ESPN, TNT, Gilbert Arenas, Shaquille O’Neal, basketball, sports, television
