Yankees vs Red Sox Officially Owns Baseball

Which came first, chicken or the egg, or sports networks covering the Sox/Yankees as if they're the only teams in baseball?

The excuse of course is, the networks give the people what they want. So are these two teams what most of the nation want to see? Does 100% of the country want to see the teams that represent 16% of the population? Or did the networks take a look at the recent merchandise boom and are riding the wave?

As soon as the Sox won the world series in 2004, they doubled their nationwide merchandise sales. And that pushed those two teams over the 50% of all MLB merchandise. However the interesting part, is that out of the 15 best selling jerseys, only 5 are from Yankees and Sox. So it's more team support than individual players. And their overall revenue is only 10% of the league revenue. So it's not like they're the only ones pulling in money. And even though their payrolls are the highest, they're only paying their players 12% of the league's payroll.

Player-wise, half the AL voted on line-up has been from these two teams for the past 3 years. So the fans are speaking that more of the best players come from these two teams. And in a recent article depicting the most "irritating" players, half of them were from these teams, and a couple others used to play for them. And by the way, maybe they're just "irritating" cause the media talks to and about them more than any other team. Ever think about that?

So what's the final answer? The world may never know. But the end result is that the best rivalry in sports is what the people wanna see, what they wanna pay for, and what the networks are gonna cover. So rather than complain about the extra coverage, why don't ya kick back and enjoy some of the best baseball going. Reg season games played like their post-season. Rockin' stadiums full of fans that know when cheer, understand the intricacies of the game, and don't need fountains, amusement rides, or give-aways to draw a crowd. Whether home or away, the nation comes out to support these teams. And it's that surge in support that's kept baseball from falling to the depths of pro sports (ala hockey).

So let's thank the networks for giving the people what they want to see.