5/28 Cubs (Lester) @ Astros (Martin) ABC 7:10 Central

[Brian707]

The Cubs are on a bit of a tailspin lately (5-8), The Vaunted Brewers are only 1/2 GB.

 

Lester has looked like absolute horsefeathers lately.

 

 

 

Hopefully there will be Dongs against Corbin Martin(Never really heard of this guy)

 

 

 

NSFW

 

 

 

[CyHawk_Cub]

Cubs win 10-8

[Old Style]

horsefeathers MLB and their stupid horsefeathering blackout rules. I live 4+ hours away from Houston but their games are blacked out for me and they are not carried on local TV so I will not get to watch any of these games against the Astros.

[Derwood]

horsefeathers MLB and their stupid horsefeathering blackout rules. I live 4+ hours away from Houston but their games are blacked out for me and they are not carried on local TV so I will not get to watch any of these games against the Astros.

 

I have the same thing with games against the Pirates. MLB needs to join the 21st century

[UMFan83]

Man I wish we had just 1 starter who I could get excited about starting. Don't get me wrong, I don't dread any of our starters pitching except maybe Darvish and all of them are capable of having good even great starts, but we don't have that ace who you feel confident is going to give you a great start most nights. This year every day I see the starter and think 'ok cool'

[entbird79]

horsefeathers MLB and their stupid horsefeathering blackout rules. I live 4+ hours away from Houston but their games are blacked out for me and they are not carried on local TV so I will not get to watch any of these games against the Astros.

 

Try living in Iowa. Apparently we're too close to the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals, and Royals.

 

[Andy]

Man I wish we had just 1 starter who I could get excited about starting. Don't get me wrong, I don't dread any of our starters pitching except maybe Darvish and all of them are capable of having good even great starts, but we don't have that ace who you feel confident is going to give you a great start most nights. This year every day I see the starter and think 'ok cool'

Hendricks is that guy for me, although admittedly it doesn't always work out so great.

[Omar]

horsefeathers MLB and their stupid horsefeathering blackout rules. I live 4+ hours away from Houston but their games are blacked out for me and they are not carried on local TV so I will not get to watch any of these games against the Astros.

 

Try living in Iowa. Apparently we're too close to the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals, and Royals.

 

 

They don't want to divert your attention from the Iowa Cubs.

[abohnhoff]

horsefeathers MLB and their stupid horsefeathering blackout rules. I live 4+ hours away from Houston but their games are blacked out for me and they are not carried on local TV so I will not get to watch any of these games against the Astros.

 

Try living in Iowa. Apparently we're too close to the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals, and Royals.

 

 

They don't want to divert your attention from the Iowa Cubs.

 

How insanely arbitrary is it to use state boundaries? Easternmost Montana to Seattle, WA is over 1000 miles. I am a GIS analyst, I could draw up some buffers for them pretty quickly.

[Derwood]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts? What exactly are the blackout rules protecting?

[jersey cubs fan]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts? What exactly are the blackout rules protecting?

 

They are protecting the demand for subscriptions to the networks that pay to air the game.

[abohnhoff]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts? What exactly are the blackout rules protecting?

 

They are protecting the demand for subscriptions to the networks that pay to air the game.

 

Do the fine people of Iowa have the ability to subscribe to 6 different regional networks? These days people are more likely to use a service like VPN or reddit game streams instead of signing up for cable. If anything, MLB is screwing themselves by taking money out of their own pocket. The puzzling aspect of the MLB blackout rule is there doesnt seem to be any metrics behind the arbitrary boundaries.

[Derwood]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts? What exactly are the blackout rules protecting?

 

They are protecting the demand for subscriptions to the networks that pay to air the game.

 

So they want you to buy MLB.tv AND the local network? I see.

 

Though it doesn't answer why they blackout markets where the regional networks are unavailable

[Omar]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts?

 

When there's a commercial break on MLB.TV, there is just a blank MLB.TV graphic that shows on the screen.

 

Maybe if they showed the actual commercials, it'd be more convincing to get rid of blackout restrictions.

[Schwarber Fan]

Baez DHing again. Has to still be dealing with that foot injury. Not great, Bob.

[entbird79]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts? What exactly are the blackout rules protecting?

 

They are protecting the demand for subscriptions to the networks that pay to air the game.

 

Do the fine people of Iowa have the ability to subscribe to 6 different regional networks? These days people are more likely to use a service like VPN or reddit game streams instead of signing up for cable. If anything, MLB is screwing themselves by taking money out of their own pocket. The puzzling aspect of the MLB blackout rule is there doesnt seem to be any metrics behind the arbitrary boundaries.

 

I'm in NBC Sports Chicago area, which I would get if I subscribed to a cable/satellite package (I don't as is being discussed in the cut the cord thread).

 

I do have an over the air channel which plays the WGN games on one of their alternate ABC channels. I'm sure that will change going forward.

 

I cannot however get Cubs games by signing up with mlb.tv. The sales guy laughed when he heard that I live in Iowa (presumably for a multitude of reasons)

[squally1313]

While I'd prefer to never play the Astros, this whole DH thing is nice right now given the state of disrepair seemingly half our roster is in. Let's hope the Baez/KB/Bote/etc. issues clear up soon.

[WoodRules]

The main questions is this: how is it better for advertisers on the regional networks to have FEWER eyeballs on the broadcasts?

 

When there's a commercial break on MLB.TV, there is just a blank MLB.TV graphic that shows on the screen.

 

Maybe if they showed the actual commercials, it'd be more convincing to get rid of blackout restrictions.

 

 

This what I don't understand. Why can't MLB.TV just show me the commercials I would normally see? I cancelled my Directv last year and, I haven't been able to watch a single game this year because of the blackouts.

[PackLandVA]

This Astro’s lineup looks like a “we can beat the Cubs with one arm tied behind our back” type of lineup.

[TMan92]

Our starting pitching has caught a case of the bullpens

[Schwarber Fan]

So, this series will get written off as “it was the Astros,” but even when you consider this is without their three best hitters, this team has a serious pitching problem.

[UMFan83]

This Astro’s lineup looks like a “we can beat the Cubs with one arm tied behind our back” type of lineup.

 

Sounds like it’s working so far

[Bryants Disco Ball]

So, this series will get written off as “it was the Astros,” but even when you consider this is without their three best hitters, this team has a serious pitching problem.

 

So you've already written the final two chapters of this series after the second inning of Game 2?

 

That's fine. But just confirming.

[PackLandVA]

A have this urge to find Chili and punch him.

[Schwarber Fan]

So, this series will get written off as “it was the Astros,” but even when you consider this is without their three best hitters, this team has a serious pitching problem.

 

So you've already written the final two chapters of this series after the second inning of Game 2?

 

That's fine. But just confirming.

 

First inning*