Back-Page Barometer (7/2-7/8)

In which we gauge the popularity of New York’s major league franchises by using the ultimate indicator: appearances on the back page of The Post and The Daily News.

Visit here to see the headlines each day:
www.nydailynews.com/front/covers
www.nypost.com/frontback.html

The Yankees are on a roll, their back-page domination continues unabated. And in a sign that happier times are on the way, positive back-page baseball covers finally outnumber the negative for the year. First, the numbers for the week:

Total Baseball Covers: 14 (12 positive, 2 negative)
News: 4 (3 positive, 1 negative)
Post: 6 (4 positive, 2 negative)

Yankee Covers: 12 (10 positive, 2 negative)
News: 6 (5 positive, 1 negative)
Post: 6 (5 positive, 1 negative)

Met Covers: 2 (positive)
News: 1
Post: 1

Yep, the News and the Post marched in rhythm all week, covering the same story from the same angle day after day after day after day after day after day after day. They do that sometimes.

Big Yawn: On July 2nd, Randy Johnson was the back-page subject, after getting shelled by the Tigers the night before. The News proclaimed him to be "Big Dud", while the Post dubbed his sub-par performance a "Big Mystery". Add these covers to previous big-themed Randy covers: "Big Shot", Big Sweep", "Big Bummer", "The Big Disgrace", and "Big Start".

Big Turnaround: Jason Giambi, who has had a very difficult year and a half (to say the least), is finally starting to play well again, and the tabs are taking notice. He was the cover star four times last week, as the tabs covered his heroics in a wholly positive fashion (typical was the News' July 6th headline, which featured Giambi connecting for a home run and the headline "G-Force"). This is significant, considering Giambi's back covers up to this point were largely concerned with his lack of hitting, steroid abuse, and possible demotion to the minors.

Big Back-Page Debut: Since Chien-Ming Wang made his debut for the Yanks a few months ago, you just know the tabs were chomping at the bit to use a "Chien Music" headline. Well, on July 3rd, Wang pitched 7 scoreless innings, and both the News and Post responded with just that. Hey guys, why not "Big Wang"?

Big Rip-Off Artists: For the second time in two weeks, the Post used a headline previously used earlier in the season by the News. That should be illegal! On 7/7, both tabs featured their lone Mets cover for the week (of course, the Yanks didn't play the day before). A key moment in the game was when Aaron Heilman entered in the 6th inning, bailing Tom Glavine out of a tight spot, which helped to preserve his (and the Mets') eventual victory. The Post's headline was "Thank Aaron", which the News used on April 26th after Heilman got the victory in a 5-4 Mets win over the Nationals.

I guess it's too much to ask the Post to have at least a little shame. They're owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Headline of the Week: A good sports headline often manages to find a way to incorporate current non-sports events, in an attempt to, uh, capture the zeitgeist. On July 4th, the Yankees won a wild game, scoring 7 runs in the 8th inning to win 13-8. The Post responded with "Live 8th". It is unclear whether the Yankee's big inning was motivated by their burning desire to alleviate world hunger.

Damn, this has been a great "Back Page Barometer", if we do say so ourselves. Let's check the season totals to close this one on out.

Season Totals: (there have been 3.7 Yankee covers for every Met cover).

Baseball Covers: 177 (89 positive, 87 negative, 1 neutral)*
News: 88 (44 positive, 44 negative)
Post: 89 (45 positive, 43 negative, 1 neutral)

Yankee Covers: 138 (66 positive, 72 negative)
News: 68 (32 positive, 36 negative)
Post: 70 (34 positive, 36 negative)

Met Covers: 37 (23 positive, 14 negative)
News: 20 (12 positive, 8 negative)
Post: 17 (11 positive, 6 negative)

*(there has been one baseball cover unrelated to Mets or Yankees, and one featuring both equally).