FanHouse PhillippeAumont

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

It will never be the World Cup or the Olympics. We will not rush to a computer every March to print out brackets like we do the minute the NCAA Tournament field is announced. But just because there is little chance of the World Baseball Classic becoming a transcendent international event on par with the most recognized ones on the sports calendar does not mean the event has little intrinsic value.

The WBC has plenty of haters -- no surprise there since it was an idea drummed up by Bud Selig -- but just two days into the North American portion of the tournament, it seems like they just aren't paying attention.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

Though it is being greeted largely with yawns of indifference, the World Baseball Classic is less than 24 hours away. OK, so maybe it is a far cry from Opening Day. Maybe we aren't sure how to feel about a tournament that's supposed to crown a true world champion, but is unforgiving to the point that two losses equal elimination. Maybe we don't know what to make of a tournament that is supposed to be chock full of national pride and pageantry, but is an afterthought to many of our favorite stars.