Cowherd on NBA vs. NCAA hoops

[hifigator]

On the way to work this morning, I was listening to Colin Cowherd and he was basically defending his talking about the NBA rather than college hoops. I don't know what started this debate, but his argument was that his job was to talk about what the most of us were interested in. Among other things, he was talking as if the NBA is getting really good ratings and how nationally people just don't care about college basketball until March.
I am admittedly biased, but I think he has it exactly backwards. I don't give a rat's a$$ about the NBA and watch almost none of it until the playoffs. My question to you all is how do you view it? Without a doubt, you would certainly rather watch your Hoyas more than any other team, but in general how do you compare watching a college game versus and NBA game? To me it's not even close and just about all of my friends feel the same way. I know it isn't my Gator tinted glasses since I would rather watch a Hoya or most any other college team play hoops instead of the Rockets or the Jazz etc... But am I really in the minority in that one? How do you all feel?

He also pointed out that the big names just simply aren't or at least haven't been going to college. Of the 7 most popular selling jersies from the west, there is only one year of college between them -- Garnett, Kobe, Ming, McGrady and 3 others were the ones he listed. He even went so far as to talk about Durant as being someone that no one outside of Austin even knows who he is and they won't know until March and then he will be gone to the NBA. Am I that oblivious to these supposed throngs of NBA fans that supposedly dwarf all of the college fans that I run into all the time?

[tgo]

first off, cowherd is a complete moron. he has some of the most non-sensical and contradictory arguments you will ever find.

see this link www.firejoemorgan.com/search/label/colin%20cowherd

as for you question, i think it depends on the part of the country, in so.cal, even with the gold standard of UCLA here and many other tournament possible teams like USC and even LB state no one cares about college hoops. i think that is different in other markets like new york and dc.

one barometer i think would be to look at the sports bar market, how many bars carry espn full court versus NBA league pass. i can count on one hand the bars that have full court in la & orange county combined. i have looked for them and can never find them. i cant stand the nba so i dont know how many have league pass but it has to be more than the college version and you never have trouble finding nba games on tvs here.

in other parts of the country i think it is different but for the most part i think that those who watch college hoops appreciate the game more. Passing, shooting, and defense are things you dont have in the nba and are fun to watch but those who dont appreciate them and just want to watch the best athletes are in the majority and they will always favor the nba

[SFHoya99]

The NBA gets crappy ratings, but still probably better than NCAAs. The reality is, in the cities (where NBA franchises are found), the NBA rules. And that's where the population is, where spending money is, etc.

In areas without the NBA, I'm sure college does better -- does anyone in say, Alabama, watch the NBA? But still, the highest level is the highest level.

Personally, I find most of the teams in the NBA boring. Having the best talent doesn't always make it the most interesting (see Men's tennis, as well).

[EasyEd]

I love NCAA basketball and never watch the NBA.

[hifigator]

Good points tgo and I guess that is really what I am asking. Here in Gainesville obviously we are die hard Gator fans for sure. But even aside from the Gators, college sports and specifically hoops rule. In the fall of course Gator football is the number one topic but the NFL is certainly a part of daily life as well. I just don't see that about the NBA. We did have a little up-tick last year with a regional team in the Miami Heat, playing for and winning the title. Of course the added bonus of having Jason Williams and Udonis Haslem playing for them helped spur interest. But for the most part, the NBA is nothing but a time filler around here.

[Deleted]

Agree on the geography points. How many locales are big college f-ball and NFL markets? NBA and college hoops? As awful as the Celtics have become, in my four years in Boston they still received more ink and coverage in the local media than BC (when they were a very good squad). I would imagine the only part of the country where there is equal division/coverage of the two levels is the Texas/Oklahoma area, and even then only for football.

Also, c'mon hifi... you should know by now to never, EVER bring Cowturd into a conversation on Hoyatalk. That guy is awful, has clearly never played sports in his life, can't discuss an issue intelligently for any extended period of time... I could go on and on, but I think the point has been made.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

I definitely prefer -- and pay much more attention to -- the college game than the pros. I follow the Western Conference a bit and then pay more attention during the playoffs, but overall college hoops rules.

The geography points are key to this discussion. To break it down by the places I've lived (i.e. know about):
Southern Cal: NBA>NCAA. Laker basketball is king. NCAA ball doesn't come close in viewership or exposure. Part of this is obviously due to the lack of an NFL franchise in LA or an NBA team in SD.
Denver: NBA>NCAA. There's a little more interest in the Nuggs this season than usual, and due to the lack of quality college hoops in the area (excepting Air Force), there's more of an NBA following than NCAA.
The District: NCAA>NBA. I think DC is one of the NCAA Hoops hot beds of the nation as a metro area. If we look at media exposure, I think the colleges combined get more press than the Wiz, but the Wiz get better coverage overall.

[hifigator]

Ok, I guess it makes sense that the regional team will have the most support/fans generally. The pro teams are in larger markets for the most part than college teams. Therefore there will be a larger fan base for most pro teams. I guess my question really deals with out of market teams then. In other words, I understand Atlanta having more Hawks fans than G Tech fans for example. But does this necessarily translate into more fans in Atlanta who would therfore rather watch the Nuggets play the Trailblazers than a Big East, SEC or ACC basketball game?

[tgo]

many have expanded the discussion to all college sports and college football in so cal is huge, of course LA doesnt pay attention to the chargers (never been able to figure that one out, we dont even get their games on tv) so all it has is the raiders, which i also will never understand why people follow a team that left them high and dry, if my team skipped town they would become dead to me. the point is that USC is the only game in town and if ucla has a good year they get a lot of attention too. helps to have a program that is so dominant over the past five years here (and dont say anything dumb about Fla or anywhere else being even close, this was a down/reloading year for usc and they were in the title hunt until the last week of the season) to push interest in college football but then again the same doesnt hold true for UCLA hoops which obviously doesnt dominate on the level that usc does in football but has just as rich a tradition and has the ability to make it consequetive final fours this year.

i would rather watch two hoops teams with a combined 300 rpi than an nba regular season game that AI isnt playing in.

[hoyarooter]

I love the Lakers (as many of you may know from various posts I have made over the years), but in general, I will watch college hoops over NBA. If you put the Spurs-Heat on opposite Kansas-Texas A&M, I'll watch the college game.

[TigerHoya]

I'll watch college over pro in all of the big 3.... football, hoops and baseball.

I've been to one NFL game (Browns-Titans - first season in the Coliseum in Nashville and got to see Tim Couch's first career TD pass) in my lifetime and zero NBA games. I only generally go to MLB games anymore for cheap seats or freebies but I'd pay to go to some stadiums that I want to go to and haven't like Wrigley and Fenway. The only baseball I've actually paid for lately was college and minor league.

[JimmyHoya]

I understand Cowherd's position about talking about NBA teams over college ones--there's 30 teams everyone can identify with. It's a very neutral area. If he starts talking about a few college teams he's either a homer or a hater. Look at how we react to the smallest mentions of not only the Hoyas, but also Duke, 'cuse, the twerps, WG, etc.--there's almost no way for him to win unless he talks in very general terms about the overal landscape, which isn't exactly mind blowing chatter.

[hifigator]

I see you point and that is kind of the way he explains it. Quite often he spends segments of his show justifying what he is talking or has talked about. He likes to use the word "interesting." He'll always point out that the Yankees are interesting or that the Lakers are interesting, but then suggest that the Texas Longhorns aren't interesting outside of Austin. I guess I am just different. I would rather hear a show about Big East hoops or Big 12 hoops even than hear crap about the Lakers or the Rockets or the Knicks.

[VictorSkyPage]

I enjoy the NBA, but I absolutely LOVE the NCAA and I really don't know how one could like the nba more than college (esp. regular season nba)..

clearly the majority of people like nba more, I will never understand it (storylines maybe? personalities?)...

whatever

[hifigator]

victorskypage said:

I enjoy the NBA, but I absolutely LOVE the NCAA and I really don't know how one could like the nba more than college (esp. regular season nba)..

clearly the majority of people like nba more, I will never understand it (storylines maybe? personalities?)...

whatever

I guess that sums it up in a nutshell. Maybe this is a classic case of the big market power that small markets are forced to contend with, and I am just an outsider firmly entrenched in a small market and uncurably infected with small marketitis.

[ExcitableBoy]

Sure there is more MONEY in the NBA, no doubt. But that doesn't equate or even translate into fan interest. Try going to a Wizards game, for example. Sure the place is mostly filled (2/3rds or 3/4ths) with people paying top dollar for their seats. But based on my admitedly small sample size, the overwhelmingly vast majority of the people who are paying more for the experience of going to a basketball game than for the exciting and passionate play from the multimillionaire freaks of nature on the court in front of them.

Noise was pumped in over loudspeakers instead of originating from student sections that fill 10-20% of the entire arena. Bars were easily accessible to the high-priced ticket sections. Fans rarely, if ever, got on their feet unless Gilbert did a tomahawk dunk with two flips or made a shot from the length of the court. (Except for the t-shirt toss, of course). If you think fans show up late and leave early for Hoyas games, look at how full Verizon is for most of the first quarter and much of the fourth quarter.

So yeah, based on money, the NBA is far, far more popular than college (as is every professional league). But based on actual interest in the sport, it would take some pretty serious data to convince me that the NBA is even close to college.