Showing posts with label mlb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mlb. Show all posts

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Yankees Games To Be Shown Online, In-Market

Not via MLB.tv, though. From Neil Best, via the Sports Business Journal:
The New York Yankees will become the first MLB team to have its games streamed live online within its home market, thanks to a landmark carriage deal YES Network signed with Cablevision earlier this spring.

The streamed games will begin later this season and will be available via subscription to Cablevision’s TV and broadband customers who subscribe to a tier that carries the YES Network, according to several baseball and cable industry sources.

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The pact also marks the first major effort within baseball for in-market streaming — an issue that has troubled the industry for years. Several clubs that hold equity interest in regional sports networks, such as the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, have pressed for in-market streaming to complement MLB.TV’s out-of-market online video package.
Even if you don't have Cablevision, this is interesting news. Although three-way negotiations are rarely simple, I've never understood why teams, networks and the MLB couldn't agree on a revenue split for streaming the games over the internet. It's a legitimate untapped resource. Especially during day games, there are lots of people trapped at work who would love to be able to watch the game but have no access to a TV. Provided the commercials are still present during the broadcast, more eyes means more money, right?

Kudos to the Yankees and Cablevision for finally ironing this out. It seems inevitable that this will move beyond just Cablevision and just NYC to larger cable companies and throughout the MLB.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Fack Youk 2009 MLB Predictions

Ladies and Gentlemen, Happy Opening Day!

Below are the 2009 MLB Predictions from the Fack Youk team.


Brendan


AL East: Sox
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Rays

ALDS: Sox over Tigers in 4
ALDS: Angels over Rays in 5
ALCS: Sox over Angels in 7

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Reds

NLDS: Mets over Reds in 3
NLDS: Cubs over Dodgers in 5
NLCS: Mets over Cubs in 6

World Series: Sox over Mets in 6

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL MVP: David Wright
NL Cy Young: Yovanni Galladro


Jay


AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Red Sox

ALDS: Yankees over Indians in 5
ALDS: Angels over Red Sox in 4
ALCS: Yankees over Angels in 6


NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Braves

NLDS: Cubs over Mets in 5
NLDS: Braves over Dodgers in 5
NLCS: Cubs over Braves in 6

World Series: Yankees over Cubs in 6

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez
NL Cy Young: Santana


Joe


AL East: Sox
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Yankees

ALDS: Sox over Twins in 4
ALDS: Yankees over Angels in 5
ALCS: Yankees over Sox in 6


NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Phillies

NLDS: Mets over Cardinals in 5
NLDS: Phillies over Dodgers in 5
NLCS: Phillies over Mets in 7

World Series: Yankees over Phillies in 6

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira
AL Cy Young: Jon Lester

NL MVP: Manny Ramirez
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb

John

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Sox

ALDS: Yankees over Tigers in 4
ALDS: Sox over Angels in 5
ALCS: Yankees over Sox in 6

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Cubs

NLDS: Cards over Braves in 5
NLDS: Cubs over Dodgers in 5
NLCS: Cubs over Cards in 7

World Series: Yankees over Cubs in 4

AL MVP: Derek Jeter
AL Cy Young: Chien-Ming Wang

NL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana

Number of Red Sox to come out of the closet: 26


Matt


AL East: Yanks
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Sox

ALDS: Yanks over Twins in 5
ALDS: Sox over Angels in 5
ALCS: Yankees over Sox in 5

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Diamondbacks
NL Wild Card: Phillies

NLDS: Mets over D'backs in 5
NLDS: Phillies over Cubs in 5
NLCS: Mets over Phillies in 7

World Series: Yankees over Mets in 6

AL MVP: Longoria
AL Cy Young: Sabathia

NL MVP: Manny
NL Cy Young: Santana


Will


AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Rays

ALDS: Yankees over Indians in 5
ALDS: Angels over Rays in 4

ALCS: Yankees over Angels in 6


NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Mets

NLDS: Cubs over Mets in 4
NLDS: Dodgers over Braves in 5
NLCS: Dodgers over Cubs in 6

World Series: Yankees over Dodgers in 5

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira (Homer Alert)
AL Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia (Homer Alert)

NL MVP: Ryan Howard
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana

Thursday, April 2, 2009

"A Night With Donald Fehr"

Last night, Simon On Sports was lucky enough to have Donald Fehr drop by his MBA Class. Fehr gave a talk for the first 45 minutes of the class and then opened the floor for questions the rest of the way. Reading through Simon's post, it seems as through Fehr let down his guard a touch and was willing to hint at his personal opinons on the Draft, and the differences between the MLBPA & NFLPA (among other things):
Someone asked [Fehr] about why the MLBPA has been more successful than the NFLPA. He at first gave a politically correct answer like "I don't think it's really fair to judge the decisions that were made when not in the room." Then he elaborated saying that the MLBPA was run by former Steel Worker Union Lead Marvin Miller, whereas the NFLPA was not. The easy to read chapters behind that are, there is no god damn way he ever would have agreed to the bullshit the NFL players are subjected to.
Fehr also elaborated on the differences between the revenue structure of the MLB and NFL and the reasons why a salary cap makes far more sense for the NFL. Check out the whole entry, as it is a unique account of a pretty high-profile guy in a pretty low-key situation.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Diamonds

It's only natural that comparisons between baseball and football start to pop up this time of year. In recent years, Hardball and Pigskin have begun to separate themselves as the two most popular sports in the US, and writers are looking for a way to transition from the Super Bowl into Spring Training. As you may have noticed, all of the contributors on this blog are big fans of both sports.

Via IIATMS, Richard Justice gives 10 "reasons" why baseball is better than football. If they were good, I probably wouldn't have bothered to write this post.

2. Skill level

Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Throwing a baseball from 60 feet, 6 inches is the second-hardest thing. The NFL has some phenomenal athletes. None of them is[sic] as gifted as Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt.

I would say getting past a guy who runs a 4.4 40 yard dash and catching a 45MPH pass in the corner of the endzone while still dragging both of your feet on the ground is probably harder than either of those things. This is just a dumb argument made by average-sized white people to explain to themselves that if they only were born with more skill, they could have cracked the Bigs. And Lance Berkman is a fat shit. If we are talking about being "gifted" Justin Tuck is Christmas and Lance Berkman is Easter.

3. Diamonds - It's[sic] still one of God's greatest creations. It's perfection on every level. Next time you walk into Minute Maid Park, take a moment to appreciate it. From the perfectly trimmed grass to the raked infield dirt to the chalked lines, it's about the base[sic] place on earth to spend a few hours. No matter how bad a day I've had, stress flows from me when I see a big league diamond.

Actual diamonds may or may not be "God's creation", but a baseball diamond is most certainly man's creation, unless there are some naturally-formed infields along a deserted stretch of the Chilean coastline no one has ever told me about. And you really picked Minute Maid Park, the same place with a fucking ramp in centerfield?

4. Ballparks - Baseball's worst parks are better than football's best. If you've ever spent an evening at Dodger Stadium, you'd understand. It's both tranquil and energizing if one place can be both. If you're really lucky, you'll someday stand on the right-field concourse at AT&T Park and admire the view of the bay, the odor of garlic fries, the majesty of the place.

So the HHH Metrodome or fucking Tropicana Field are better than Gillette Stadium or Qwest Field? Football stadiums sell out almost every game all season long, with crowds of about 70,000 people. I like baseball's venues better too, and hardly ever go to football games, but that is some ham-handed hyperbole. And I'm not quite sure "the odor of garlic fries" at one place really factors into a comparison between roughly 60 stadiums. There are probably NFL stadiums that have pretty good culinary options as well.

And you really put those two back to back? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you probably could have combined "Ball Park" and "Diamonds" (part of a ballpark) into one point.

7. Cheerleaders - Football has 'em. Baseball doesn't.

Rich... you're making the case for baseball, remember? Are the cheerleaders so offensive that you can't stand the 12 second clips they show of them coming in and out of commercials? And not every football team "has 'em"; the Giants don't. I'll take cheerleaders over fucking Cotton Eyed Joey twelve times out of ten.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

List of Things to Do Before Pitchers and Catchers Report

All of us here at Fack Youk have entered the dreadful “Dark Ages”—the time between when our favorite NFL team has been knocked out of the Playoffs and when Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training (February 14th for Los Yankees).

Here is a non-prioritized list of what to do during these difficult times.

1. NCAA Hoops.
2. Be productive at work/school
3. Take over the blogosphere
4. Deliver an ultimatum to Andy Pettitte and the Yankees to get their act together for the sake of #27.
5. “Get the things on my nuts looked at” (Will)
6. Not watch the Knicks. Ever.
7. Drink. Heavily.
8. Cuse basketball
9. “Playoffs?! Are you kidding me?!”
10. Mass Suicide
11. BC Hockey
12. Exercise…
13. Not call the girl from the East Village with the dumb hat (Jay)
14. Fantasy Baseball Research
15. Pretend to like hockey
16. Watch 24.
17. Damn, no NASCAR either? WTF?!
18. Leave the city of Philadelphia if the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl (Cliff)
19. Get a job
20. Catch up on writing hate mail to various teams, coaches and players
21. Yoga
22. Create voodoo dolls of various coaches and players
23. Watch illegally downloaded movies
24. Hate the fat slob you have become over the Holidays
25. Snowboarding
26. FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
27. Hit up The Latin Quarter or the buffett at HeadQuarters
28. Imagine various scenarios in which Donovan McNabb gets gobbled up by a road grater.
29. Mock NFL Drafts.
30. 4 months until the WNBA!!!!!!!
31. English Premier League/Primera Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga
32. File for Unemployment
33. Travel
34. Attend Rehab/AA meetings
35. Try to replace sporting events with concerts
36. Drink. Heavily.
37. American Idol!
38. Debate Super Bowl Commercials
39. The (hopefully) Stephon Marbury led Celtics.
40. Stalk people on Facebook
41. Wait for SI Swimsuit Issue
42. Extreme Beer Fest in Boston 2/20 and 2/21
43. Watch Seinfeld reruns
44. Punch brick walls
45. Marathon session of NBA 2K9 on XBox Live
46. Start Ponzi Scheme
47. Get laid (not likely)
48. Pray for Snow Days
49. Move out of parents basement (also not likely)
50. Drink. Heavily.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Baseball's Real Anti-Christ Dies

Carl Pohlad, billionaire, cheapskate and worst owner in the MLB died yesterday. According to 2008 rankings by Forbes.com, Pohlad’s net worth of $3.6 billion was 102nd in the nation. Still, his teams often had some of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called Pohlad “a true leader in our sport for the past 25 years.”
“Since the day Carl Pohlad entered Major League Baseball, he made significant contributions to our game,” Selig said. “His devotion to the Minnesota Twins, the Twin Cities and Major League Baseball was remarkable. In my long career, I have never met a more loyal and caring human being.
Gotta love Selig's crap.

Significant contributions to baseball? Name one.

Loyal? Twins fans hated him.

Caring? Put your money where your mouth is.

“I live and die by every pitch,” Pohlad once told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “I want so badly for them to win. ... If it isn’t competitive and you don’t have a team with character, it won’t be any fun.”

Pohlad had volunteered his team as a contraction candidate in return for a $150 million buyout from his fellow owners.

The Twins got the go-ahead from the state in 2006 for a $522 million stadium paid for mostly by a county sales tax. Pohlad's contribution was about $130 million.

Instead of putting revenue sharing money back into the organization, Pohlad pocketed it.

Twins fans should be rejoicing right now. There can be no worse owner than Pohlad.

Everybody loves to criticize the Steinbrenner family for their spending. But as Jay has previously stated, they put a quality product on the field for they fans, are not afraid to spend the extra few bucks and spends THEIR money, not the public's, on their ball team.

Contrary to what everybody says, this is a great day for baseball.