Cubs Win And CMAs Go Into DVR Extra Innings ...

It ain't over until it's over, said baseball legend Yogi Berra! The World Series beat the CMAs over the head with a Louisville Slugger, no matter how you spin it! But that's the overnight ratings ... ahhhhh, the polls are not closed ... It is called Live + Three day Adults 18-49. Counting folks watching on DVR and other .coms is called a LIFT. And if the word can get out for the ABC.COM viewing the show will LIFT.

More than a few say it was the best CMA show ever. Ever is a long time. Was it great to see many of the last 30 years stars? YES!

The CMA 50 used a technique that was used on many award shows over the years. Invite singers mostly to come and sing a few bars of their big song. You get a lot of star power in a short period of time. Several of the highest -ated specials on The Nashville Network and many syndicated shows in the '70s and '80s did all kinds of versions of this ... Even all-star bands featuring the likes of Glen Campbell, Roy Clark, Steve Wariner, Jerry Reed and others. It's fun for the stars and the audience.

The CMAs/ACMs and CMTs do take input from the originating networks, their label partners ... all kinds of people put in their two cents' worth. The labels and the networks want young audiences ... 18-49 at the widest. Oldie folks skew old. The new kids on the block have little TV appeal until they get established. It's a crooked road trying to stack or line up one of these trains. So many moving parts! The amazing crews working behind the scenes are the unsung heroes.

How great would it be for Carrie Underwood to record a special project with songs like "Stand By Your Man?" That may have been the best single vocal performance of the night. She knocked it all the way to heaven where Tammy was smiling! Carrie deserved that Female vocalist award. She can sing anything and sing it with power and exact control. Too bad our Country artists are not encouraged to do anything but record Country radio hits. They all have so much more untested talent.

The hoped-for sales bump post-CMA: Urban, McGraw, Lambert, Morris, Chesney, for starters. You would think Maren Morris really helped herself and so did all things McGraw. He got a lot of screen time from the jokes up front, to the win for songwriter Lori McKenna, "Humble and Kind" Song of the Year to his performance of that song and again with FGL. Lots of screen time!

Garth winning Entertainer of the Year. If he is indeed nominated, how do you make a claim you did more or better than he did? Or out-marketed him. Thus another EOY win. Simple as that. Garth has been everywhere the last month or so during final voting. He is the best salesmen in Country music history ... undisputed.

Where was Blake?

Beyonce' and The Dixie Chicks. Judge only the performance. It was one of if not the best segments of the evening. Dolly's was fun. The opening was a tone setter.

Beyonce and The Chicks. At one time The Chicks were the hottest, then they were the coldest. Political discourse got personal and nasty. Though we might be ahead of all that. Just go to social media to find the ugliness. Beyonce and the cops ... Chicks and Trump. All they needed was Jane Fonda for a hat trick of Country mess. Old habits die hard.