Thread: When do you check out?

Ah yes, September. The time of the year when it starts getting cooler, school begins again for all the kiddies, and, for the second year in a row, the Twins are so far out of contention that it's not even worth mentioning anymore. My question for you is, at what point do you stop caring if the Twins win or not?

Obviously in a non-contending year like this one, it may have been easy to check out on the season mid-June, but I still cared whether they won or lost, on the off chance that they would reach a respectable record. Now, if I watch a game at all, I'm more than likely just closely watching a few Parmelee ABs, certain starting pitchers, or focusing on who's playing the best infield defense. I consider myself officially "checked out" on this basis, not whether or not I actually watch the games, because odds are being the baseball fan that I am, I'm still checking on every box score from every team every day and watching highlights and such.

For me, there comes a point every year where I swap my Twins gear for Philadelphia Eagles and Fresno State gear. This year it was mid August. Have any of you checked out yet?

Probably about two weeks ago. Now, I'm more concerned with draft position and watching how Hendriks and Parmelee finish the season. Watching the prospects finish up was fun, too.

The 3rd game of the season was a good time to check out.

I check out to certain things and check in to others... Right now I really don't care if the Twins win or lose. The season has been long and terrible, and I look for more than just the W or L in the box score.

In a season like this, I actually check in more in September to watch individual story lines play out and see how our call ups perform. This is an exciting time for these players, and it is nice to see how they do. Am I watching every at bat of every inning of every game right now? No, usually I DVR the game, start about a half hour late, and FF through all the unimportant things (i.e. Dick/Bert/Robbie random nonsensical ramblings to try and keep the main streamers engaged still)... my favorite Dick/Bert/Robbie moment as of late you ask??? Their " The Twins still will honor the integrity of the game bit" LOL.

I don't... I'm 'checked in' all year round.

The Vikings certainly aren't going to make me checkout...

At no part was I ever invested in this ratty-ass team. Bad start, average middle and once again another dog sh*t ending to a season.

More important things in life.

May 2011?

I've been casually following the team but I can't say I've watched a full 9-inning game since early last season.

Check out completely? Never.

Allow myself to miss a few games in order to focus on something else or a different sport? That probably set in in early August.

I don't think I've checked out but I honestly don't care about the results ... except for a morbid curiosity to see how close they can come to equalling or exceeding last year's debacle.

I probably watch most closely when the Twins are in the field followed by the AB's of some of the "new guys."

But I'm also switching a lot more to the games of some of the contending teams.

We have seven more games left from our Season Ticket package. The Tickets are worth next to nothing on Stub Hub.

At the same time, the Twins are hitting us up for Money on next year's tickets.

Originally Posted by mikeee

The Vikings certainly aren't going to make me checkout...

That's a great point. Sports fandom is all relative. I'm always going to watch some sporting events to some level, just like my wife will revert back to watching whatever TLC or random reality show she can find if she's bored. Since there's no competition in the summertime, baseball interest benefits disproportionate to how much people actually care about the sport.

But if there's nothing interesting to "check into", I don't see a reason to check "out" of the Twins. Sure, the Vikings are only one game a week, so it's not like the game is taking away baseball interest. But the team is lackluster, I don't even care about the coverage of the Vikings. I'm not waiting all week with baited breath to hear which garbage cornerback we might cut, or when Jerome Simpson's suspension is over. And with the Gophers being terrible and the NHL lockout looming, I'm not really getting as excited for the other leagues as I'd like to be.

I have stopped watching games for the most part now that football season is back.

I never check out. But if we're not going to make playoffs, I want to lose as many as possible to get the highest draft pick we can.

How can you check out? It's baseball. TWINS baseball. Soon enough we'll be waiting six months for the next real baseball game. No real baseball fan--Twins fan--checks out.

Checking out isn't a good description. Im still fully engaged with my team and will be until the end of the season.

However... I don't care about wins and losses anymore and haven't really since June. So I guess I checked out a little in June.

What I care about is if they are playing well. The team can lose but if they play well in the loss... I'm ok with it and If they win and look bad in the process. I'm not Ok with that.

Im watching the players now. The score only matters in the context of what needs to be done in the current situation and how the players handle it.

Its all about the future for me and the Future is starting Right now.

Because every game has the potential for something amazing, unique, or pathetic there's always a draw for me to listen or check the highlights, even the last game of last season when Pavano outpitched Chen to avoid the dreaded 100th loss of the season.

Originally Posted by DPJ

At no part was I ever invested in this ratty-ass team. Bad start, average middle and once again another dog sh*t ending to a season.

More important things in life.

And yet you look at this website.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

How can you check out? It's baseball. TWINS baseball. Soon enough we'll be waiting six months for the next real baseball game. No real baseball fan--Twins fan--checks out.

Still love baseball and whenever it's on I watch. But I can't watch a Twins right now, it's just such a bad brand of baseball it's damn near unwatchable. Whatever the ESPN or MLBTV game is I watch, but I havn't watched a full Twins game since the last time I was at TF in May.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

How can you check out? It's baseball. TWINS baseball. Soon enough we'll be waiting six months for the next real baseball game. No real baseball fan--Twins fan--checks out.

You and I don't agree on much. But I agree with this.

I doubt I can say it better, but I still watch all the games. Of course, if you watch me closely, you'll catch my eye wandering toward facebook, TD, etc. while watching certain games...