Baltimore at Twins. Twins 7, O's 2.
This entry posted by tgd, which is merely one more bit of evidence that sleep deprivation has badly impaired BG’s judgment.
Well, that was certainly refreshing: Chase those lingering memories of last April’s suckitude with a little pitching, a lot of hitting, and piranhas regularly swimming around third base. All was lovely - except for the gnashing of teeth from downstairs, where the mother of my children usually watches Her Mets.
“You told me we’d have Extra Innings again this year!” she shouts, while our 12-year-old stat freak attempts to paint verbal pictures off of Gameday. I’m luckier. Our little corner of the Old Dominion gets the Orioles’ regional cable network – so I’ve been able to stall an extra three days before deciding whether to junk cable for the dish.
All you batlings in Minnesota can just skip the rest of the rant (we know you just want to peek at the BOD results, anyway – Cuddles? Ramon, for whistling past the graveyard inning after inning? Shaggy, for giving Vice Prez the night off so he can deal with his own new bundle of sleep deprivation?).
But us out-of-towners, we’re facing A Decision.
Do we get rid of cable, find someone new to give us our Internets, and nail a warped pizza pan to our homes? Or do we resign ourselves to squinting at computer screens and scanning the ESPN listings hopefully?
This is one of those fights where you want everyone to lose, hopefully in as much pain as possible. On the one hand, there was my first experience with DirecTV, not long after we moved here. A thunderstorm blows in during the late innings of a tight game. The picture cuts out. Frantic call to customer service.
Is it raining? they ask. Umm, yeah; in the pestilential swamps of coastal Virginia, it rains in the summer. Well, huffed the ‘service representative,’ we can’t be held responsible if the service degrades in the rain. And they want me to let them on my roof with power tools?
Of course, cable companies are about as cuddly as a rabid raccoon pawing through your trash. [Shout out Louise!--BG] Our local monopolistic blight is even trying to bribe me to stay by offering to pay for MLB.tv while they “continue to negotiate for rights to carry the MLB Extra Innings” package.
Well, they can dream. Negotiations usually take two parties, and baseball seems determined to keep their 10-year, $700 million DirecTV deal in place. (Why, split among 30 teams each year, that’s enough to buy an aging utility infielder.) Conspiracy theories abound: DirecTV cut ‘em a sweetheart deal to carry the future MLB Channel. The league is trying to push more people to MLB.tv. There’s even that dark rumor that Bud Selig is exacting revenge for that time his cable company made him wait all day to get an extra outlet installed at his summer cabin. [IN HELL--BG]
But I digress.
I can stall the decision for another couple of days – between Fox and WGN, I’ll get to see two of this weekend’s three blood feuds against the Byotches. But the Mets fan downstairs is getting restless. ESPN can’t carry the Muttsies every week (not when there are 19 Yankee-Red Sox games to show!). I can rant all I want, but pretty quick here I’sve got to decide: Dish? Or domestic discord?
ETA: The power of the BG community inspires awe. (Thanks, mmmarkiep.)
I think you'll find this article to your liking.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2826280&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
Posted by: mmmarkiep at April 4, 2007 10:14 PMGreat post, but in my post-"Thank you Angel of Death for passing over this house" bloated state of confusion I'm not sure what graveyard I have been whistling past or why. Or why I would be whistling when all the corpses are used to my atonal singing.
Here in Durham, NC, a Braves fan, a Red Sox fan, and I have combined our money to buy MLB.TV. It's pretty amazing. And cheaper than getting crappy cable in our dorm rooms. I highly recommend it if you have a good connection and a way of getting it onto a TV.
Posted by: fatfryar at April 4, 2007 10:39 PMBoy when you go on a rant, you get RESULTS!!!!
Posted by: JimCrikket at April 4, 2007 11:04 PMI agree with JimCrikket. Start ranting about Garza being in Rochester RIGHT NOW!
And incidentally, Shaggy isn't shaggy anymore. Sad...
Posted by: Flip at April 5, 2007 12:24 AMI'm unsure, tgd, whether *all* Batlings within MN - yet outside of the Twin Cities - CAN hear DicknBert.
(Dare I link my name to the PVS1 days? Lest we forget.)
Posted by: Piranhtachew at April 5, 2007 01:31 AMI've gone with mlb.tv for the first time, rather than our UK cable channel that occasionally shows baseball but more often than not Nascar/nhl and poker. I will be getting home from work tonight in time to pack for my weekend by the sea, and to watch Dice-K strike of 55 batters with 55 different pitches none of which anyone has ever seen before(or something). It also means I get to see way more Twins so I won't have to just rely on Batgirl for my Twins news.
All these media companies are scared and a little insane. At any point the whole nature of the business might change and they're desperately trying to stay ahead of the game.
But over here Rupert Murdoch has been flexing and loads of cable customers have lost 24 and Lost; now THAT'S rough
d
Posted by: dan in london at April 5, 2007 02:26 AMthe new mlb.tv premium is actually pretty sweet if one has a broadband connection. It doesn't lag too much for me plus you can go fullscreen and actually still tell what the heck is going on. Also being able to get to the archived game and watch it with out it plastering the final score everywhere is pretty sweet as well. Overall I rate it a pretty good investment.
Yeah Sweep!!!
Posted by: TwinsinBoston at April 5, 2007 02:39 AMJim, mmmark:
I. Am. Stunned.
Not at the alleged powers of that rant. But that a United States Senator actually accomplished something. (Full disclosure: I like Kerry. Heck, I voted for him. But I also used to report on politics, and his whole intervention struck me as blantant grandstanding to one of the most powerful constituencies in America, the Red Sox Nation.)
It's too much to ask the dear senator to solve that whole Taliban thingie. But if Carlohse* shows up more than once in April, I propose we ask Kerry to investigate the Case of the Missing Garza.
(* Carlohse is a registered trademark of Sacky. Your mileage may vary; offer void in Nebraska.)
Posted by: tgd at April 5, 2007 05:26 AMForget ranting about Garza, rant about Terry Ryan not getting enough cash to work with. Maybe Bill Gates will die or something.
Posted by: tgd's stat freak at April 5, 2007 06:34 AM[[All these media companies are scared and a little insane. At any point the whole nature of the business might change and they're desperately trying to stay ahead of the game.]]
Speaking as a tiny speck of a minion inside a media company (one that happens to be selling a baseball team, sans stadium, if you have a spare $600 million or so): Dan, you have no idea. My bosses wake up in the middle of the night screaming "Who moved my business model?!?" and spend their days longing for the '90s, when they could make rapacious profits by simply doing what their forbears had done three decades earlier.
But, hey, as long as I can watch the boys and the starts remain 'quality' and doubles keep rattling into corners and the Byotches keep losing, I will blissfully immitate an ostrich. Hello, Cox Cable? Yes, I still hate you. But would you be willing to tack another $159 on my bill, spread over four easy monthly payments, to give me my baseball? Why, thank you!
Posted by: tgd at April 5, 2007 07:04 AM{Please do not be rude to the guest bloggers. Batgirl, too, has done plenty of whining about the cable issue. Not being able to watch the games is incredibly annoying.--BG]
Posted by: Charles at April 5, 2007 08:21 AMDearest Charles -
Please settle down - this is a fun and happy blog. Play nice.
Wow - I thought I had friends in high places - LOL.
I love the enthusiasm of Ramon - NICE.
VP - nice of you to show up after the birth of your baby - Riley Grace - congrats to you - Mrs. VP and Cole!
Tho Wonder Mom thought it would have been ok for you to stay at the hospital =)
Just read on the Strib seems that the Chairman is still growing - but he would like to grow the other way and put on some muscle and not become the Jolly Green giant
What a fun series!
Let's bleach some Sox!!
Much Love
Wonder Woman
Hooray Twins, hooray us!
MLB "caved" on the Season Ticket issue. It's supposed to be available on cable nearly immediately.
(Allegedly. I've already heard this song once already, but it's being widely reported.)
Posted by: Ben at April 5, 2007 08:49 AMFor all those who felt the Twins made a dire mistake by letting The Real Deal get away...from the Strib:
"Twins staff members winced when they saw the results of J.D. Durbin's debut with Arizona on Wednesday: two-thirds of an inning pitched, seven hits, seven runs (all earned) in an 11-4 loss to Colorado in Denver. The Twins lost Durbin on waivers last week."
Ouch.
Oh, and I've had DirecTV for years, and I've been generally satisfied with the quality of the programming and their customer service. Yes, weather affects the signal from time to time (I live in DC, so I get some of the same weather TGD gets), but it's still better than cable for what it costs. AND you get all the MLB games, not just the ones the cable guys have room for.
In deference to the DBacks organization, J.D. Durbin has changed his nickname to "The Raw Deal."
Posted by: Kurtis at April 5, 2007 10:17 AMAh, the big media companies. What people have to realize about them is that they don't fear competition because they've effectively eliminated it. They don't fear regulation because they carry the FCC and more than enough lawmakers in their pockets. What they fear is innovation, any kind of potentially disruptive technology they can't control that might challenge their lucrative legacy business model. And that is why we end up with blatantly protectionist legislation like the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Sorry, this is one issue you don't want to get me started on lest I bitch too much.
And speaking of bitching too much, bring on the Sox!
Posted by: twayn at April 5, 2007 10:38 AMOf course, this whole "cave in" thing does me absolutely no good since (a) my cable company is Mediacom, which isn't part of the deal and thus doesn't even offer the EI package, and (b) the MLB powers that be (yes that's you Mr Selig) have decided eastern Iowa should be considered the "home market" for no less than SIX major league teams and thus pretty much every game any resident of the state might be interested in seeing is blacked out.
OK, there, I feel better for ranting. Enjoy the EI package the rest of you!
JC
Posted by: JimCrikket at April 5, 2007 11:32 AMDear Baby Dash -- See how easy that was? We throw the ball, we hit the ball and we catch the ball. And we make the other team sit down, as many times as possible. That's really all there is to it; that and some tiny super heroics. There will undoubtedly come a time of great sucking in the future. It may be short, or long, but it will come. When it does, please gently remind all of us of this glorious beginning. And let your mom get some sleep, please.
PS -- Someone will explain the Bitch Sox when you're a little older.
Posted by: Dee at April 5, 2007 12:17 PMJC,
I feel your pain, I'm Des Moines and have the exact same problem. Have you found any way around the issue? I can barely even pick up radio broadcasts of the games and gamecast just doesn't cut it.
One faint glimmer of hope I'm holding on to is that Mediacom has told me it's under consideration to add FSN North to their channel lineup.
Well, the real deal was just cut by the DBacks...
As to Extra Innings--I agree with guy above--Kerry grandstanding was a waste of a Senator--how about dealing with real issues?? BTW: I deal with Comcast in DC suburbs--Extra Innings not on yet here--no word on how much they gonna charge either
DAM
KD, the "way around" that I've gone with is (1) to get the MLB.com audio package so at the very least I can listen to the radio broadcasts since those are not subject to blackout. I have also purchased the MLB.com video package for (at least) this month. Last season, if I was REALLY fast and logged on immediately when the video of a Twins game became available, I was often able to get access before the "blackout" button was pushed by the powers-that-be. So far, I haven't been able to do that this year, but I really haven't tried but twice (since I attended game 2 in person). If they've tightened down their system to keep me locked out all the time, I'll be dropping the video package after the first month.
If you've got a phone number or address to write to Mediacom at in order to try to get them to pick up FSN, let me know. I tried calling last year but obviously didn't get far.
The good news, this weekend anyway, is that we do get Comcast and WGN on our package so I should be able to catch the BitchSox series.
Posted by: JimCrikket at April 5, 2007 03:12 PMYou know, when y'all join the Twins Territory Team at www.twinsbaseball.com, you get MLB.com Gameday Audio as one of the benefits...plus a pretty spiffy card and a 15% discount at the Pro Shops. And live Web chats with guys on the team. Such a deal for only $15 or whatever it was! And I only say that half-sarcastically! And I'm really stupid for joining, because I already have DirecTV's Extra Innings package, so I don't need Gameday Audio, and I don't live in Minnesota, so I'm almost never at a Twins Pro Shop! But I joined anyway, because that's the kind of fan I am!!! A gullible one!!!!!
Posted by: adidasman at April 5, 2007 04:06 PMLegoVision for 2007? PLLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE! :D
Posted by: Pickles at April 5, 2007 04:42 PMSpot-on post as usual... I'm just really hoping for a Twins Rotation Idol edition, featuring Johan Doolittle, BoofKisha Joneser, Slighdney Ponson, and Carlosanjaya Silvakar, who is apparently quite charming in the dugout and manages to never get voted out no matter how off-key (and dare I say "pitchy") his performance may be. Ramon Ortiz's character is up for grabs, but if you can work Phil Stacey in as the musical version of Sam Cassell, that would so be worth bonus points.
Posted by: aussie at April 6, 2007 01:19 AM