I must admit that I didn’t vote yesterday in the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to be the “deciding” vote. Like Al Davis, I abstained.
It was a close vote: Mike Cuellar won 56% to 44% over Ed Reed.
I think Cuellar deserved to win but maybe it says more about how the folks who are voting feel about Ed Reed. Honestly, we really thought more people who read the site and call in and interact would be voting. The turnout at the polls has been disappointing in the first round, but today’s matchup is Brooks Robinson vs. Bert Jones. Brooks should win, but I think Bert will get some love.
We’ve routinely had more than 3,000 people in some contests we’ve held in the past. Our text service alone has this many people. Some weeks we’ve done in excess of 5,000 on block pools, so we know how many people listen, click on the website, etc. We’ve had as many as 12,000 unique users to the site in one 24-hour period.
I guess a lot of folks wanted to talk about King of Baltimore but not follow the early round voting or to abstain from the voting. I have a feeling the voting will pick up as the matchups become more “even” in the upcoming rounds.
We hope so. We’d really love to find a legitimate winner.
We’ve educated some folks, annoyed some folks but many people have walked up to me on the street and tell me how much they love the idea. It’s like anything else I’ve encounted in my 16 years of doing radio: some people are gonna love it and some are gonna hate it.
Whatever…we did the KOBS for the right reason and with the best of intention and certainly during one of the slower times of the sports calendar year.
So spread the word for us come the next round. It’s still has plenty of time. All of the guys who “should” win kinda have (as expected). So the tournament is still on track and focused.
But the Ed Reed thing is interesting because he really couldn’t have been much better in his first few seasons. He was a Player of the Year in the NFL as a safety. That might never happen again. It’s unprecedented. He was THAT good. He’s done all that a future Hall of Famer could do at his position.
But he’s a moody guy, a strange bird amidst a room full of different kinds of personalities. Reed doesn’t want attention for the most part, yet on the field he’s all energy. And he doesn’t curry favor with the fans here for the most part. He’s not the “man about town.”
Cuellar had tried to get back in the with Orioles organization for years but most people in town under 40 probably can’t pronounce his name. But his stats were just astounding after coming over from Houston. He was a legitimate difference maker during the three-year run of World Series appearance’s for Earl Weaver’s Birds from 1969-1971.
The fact that Mike Cuellar has gotten some run and some respect means that the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports has worked better than we thought.
Like I said, it’ll get a lot more interesting for those who are claiming “walkover” in this round.
There’s a lot more contest left. Feel free to vote. It’s easy and free and fun to participate.
And don’t forget to save Friday, Aug. 8th on your calendar. We’ll be inviting you to WNST’s 10th Anniversary party at Sports Legends Museum.
