Fans in Cuba do not agree and the differences between baseball fans and football fans are increasing, exacerbated by the way both disciplines are broadcast in the country’s media, especially national television and radio.
Baseball lovers argue that the extensive coverage of international football has led to children no longer wanting to be platoons and the popularity of what we call “our national pastime” has dropped quite a bit in recent times.
On the other hand, football fans put on their scale that Cuban baseball is not a spectacle, that there are no glittering stars like those in football, that the quality of sports broadcasts is superior in their case and in a matter of schedules a game “of the most universal of sports” lasts almost half of a baseball.
I think both sides have strong arguments. Now, what is the purpose of sports broadcasts? First of all, review the show that occurs on the sports court, recreate the fans in their leisure times and awaken emotions that then translate, in many cases, into the desire of the little ones to practice the sport imitating the stars of the moment.
In this way, fans of each sport, beyond football and baseball, have the right to demand that the discipline of their choice have a place on both television and national radio.
In honor of the truth, football now has more supporters in Cuba than baseball, especially among youth. It’s very easy to see even a newborn in a Real Madrid or FC Barcelona shirt, but how many do we see in an Industrial shirt?
It is true that national offers are not many in this respect, to say “none”, but the situation is a benchmark that must be taken into account. That kid will surely have a ball in his legs first, than a glove in his hands.
Cuba is not the only country where its national sport has to “compete” with football. It also happens in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and the United States, just to name a few sample buttons. However, all these nations have raised their football quality and the results at the international level demonstrate this, something that unfortunately does not happen in Cuba.
In the aforementioned countries, the controversy does not reach the levels of Cuba, because television arrives through various companies and the amateur freely chooses the sport he wants to see and not the one that they impose on him from a single signal.
The football boom in Cuba began in 1986 following the World Cup of Mexico and the triumph of the Argentine national team led by Diego Armando Maradona, who soon after came to Havana to receive the award as the best sportsman on the continent, according to the survey of Prensa Latina. On that date, the outstanding player pledged to sponsor Cuban football and even talked about a “football five-year”, which never took effect. Then came the German Cups 90, United States 94, France 98, Japan-Korea 2002, Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018… and Cuban television broadcast all parties, most of them live regardless of schedule.
At the same time, and almost without realizing it, we went into the most important European Leagues and Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus of Turin, Milan AC, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain began to be very popular clubs in our country, especially among the youngest. It seemed that in some way the increase in hours of transmission and the growing popularity would positively influence the development of this sport. It was also believed that imitating the players of the time was the starting point for child mas aggressiveness that would later translate into better international results. Nothing has come of this, and although exiled Cuban players have excelled in various foreign leagues, our senior national team lives the lowest hours of all time.
Cuban fans know about the European Leagues, they know how the leaderboard is in each country, who are the regular players of the most powerful templates, the price of transfers, the highest salaries and even the name of the coaches. However, and for me the most painful, do not know the date of the Cuban Championship, who are the best players on the island, what is called the technical director of the national team, nor the province that has most times been national champion. Is it the amateurs’ fault? Of course not. Unfortunately, Cuban football does not appear in the media, the names of the main figures are not disclosed… Anyway, that also has its reasons, what a link in a chain.
I understand that it is very difficult for Cuban television to broadcast a match from lands that do not meet the right conditions, because without presenting a show exposes our shortcomings. Today there is no Cuban court with the minimum conditions required for an international stop.
A party between Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands was recently broadcast from Pedro Marrero that embarrassed everyone. The grounds were not marked, the back walls without any paint, the uneven grass, etc. When that happens and then we see a duel of the Spanish League or similar, it is as if the view opens, as if it came out of a cave to the outside world.
It is true that the crisis in Cuban baseball in terms of international results is not due to the growing popularity of football. That’s another topic we’ve already addressed in previous comments. But Cubans breathe baseball. There’s no sport in our veins as much as that. No other is part of our daily talk and no one else has given us so much glory in all history.
But the television coverage of the ball is insub-ficient. I am aware that at this time it is impossible to live stream major league matches, but it is possible to spend them deferred, perhaps a day or two later. (By the way, almost at the close of this edition some international sources reported a possible negotiation between Cuba and some means to be able to live stream the MLB games).
On the other hand, just like there are documentaries about footballers, there are players and that’s a good option. We have excellent documentarians. It would be nice if great figures of our ball had their space and the children could see the best of the sports races of those who gave us glory, live today wherever they live. And hopefully as well you can see materials from Pelé, Maradona, Zidane, Figo… you can meet Omar Linares, Antonio Muñoz, Rogelio García, Santiago Mederos, Orlando Hernández, José Canseco, Braudilio Vinent and José Dariel Abreu, among many others.
Scholars of the subject could argue that the number of baseball practitioners in the world has decreased and there are logical reasons ranging from the economic factor to the dynamics of the game, which is sometimes slow and with many rules, unlike football or basketball, where actions are constant and less complicated regulation. Now, if you add to that the increase in disclosure, it seems that baseball is doomed to die on the return of a few decades.
Personally, I do not share such an “apocalyptic” assertion, but I do believe that if the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) maintains, for example, a policy that advocates the dissemination of Cuban music over foreign music, it should also draw up a strategy to defend our national sport. It is misguided that for every baseball game that broadcasts television, almost ten of international football is spent, either live or deferred.
Finally, I want to make it clear that I do not disagree with football matches being broadcast, but it must be to the right extent. Only in this way will fans of one sport see their differences reduced and baseball lovers will not feel that our national pastime is in the process of extinction. Ω
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