An Open Letter to Bud Selig

[AustinHoya03]

Dear Bud:

The baseball team I root for (the Chicago White Sox) has been involved in a pennant race for the past couple of weeks. Last week, they played the other team involved in the pennant race. Not one of those games aired on national television.

The Sox series against Cleveland got similar treatment -- the Saturday night game made it on the Superstation, but the Friday and Sunday games didn't.

I used to be able to listen to the game on the radio -- but now you've blocked internet radio broadcasts. I can get the games on XM in my wife's car, so I spent Thursday night cruising around town, burning gasoline, and crying when Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run in the 10th.

Your so-called solution to this problem -- MLB.tv, sucks for two main reasons.

a) I'm not going to pay extra just for baseball -- my cable rates are high enough.
b) I don't want to sit at a computer desk to watch my team -- I prefer my couch.

I thought that at least I'd be able to see the Sox play Detroit in a suddenly-very-meaningful make-up game tomorrow evening. But you scheduled the game for 2:30 pm EDT when most Americans, including me, are at work.

We have a system here in America, Bud, that I'm not sure you're aware of. In the fall, we pay attention to football on the weekends, pennant races during the week. If I can't get the September baseball that matters on my television Monday through Friday, I guess I will start paying attention to the (usually) crummy CFB games ESPN broadcasts on weekdays.

[vcjack]

At least today's game won't just be on WGN, ESPN2 will carry the game.

[Boz]

Sept 29, 2008 11:16:18 GMT -5 vcjack said:

At least today's game won't just be on WGN, ESPN2 will carry the game.

Then where the hell am I going to watch poker??

Stupid baseball.

;D

You'll have some difficulty getting too much sympathy from me on this one though, since I always have to pay extra to watch my favorite sport.

But you're right; MLB and ESPN should have worked together and gotten rid of all regular programming yesterday in favor of the games that mattered.

[hifigator]

On the larger scale, I hate the monopolizing that ESPN routinely does. I understand that they pay a lot of money for the rights to certain games/conferences or even leagues. But I still think the fan in me should be able to watch whatever game I choose. I understand that there might be some fee attached to this privilege, but there should be a better option than buying the entire season of one sport.

I know it happens for NCAA basketbally often. I think it is Wednesday where ESPN has the National rights. Back some years ago, you could still watch your local team regardless. Now you don't always have that option. ESPN has the rights to college basketball, and I am forced to watch Duke-Maryland, instead of Florida-Bama or somthing. That stinks. As for the Chicago games, I am kind of surprised that WGN wouldn't pick up all the Cubs and White Sox games last weekend if they were available to them.

[vcjack]

Well it looks like God is more ameable to change than the MLB


Alexi Ramirez is a Cuban God


See Mets, THATS how you force a tiebreaker