BigbadB

I'm pretty sure there are several teams offering OTA broadcasts. But, maybe I'm wrong. It's also not just Comcast. DirecTV aired all of those games, as well. I had DirecTV, but I'm also rural and don't have cable options. But I also wanted the Sunday Ticket package so I can watch any football games I want. When they switched to YouTubeTV, I switched. It was a bonus that they also had NBC Sports Chicago. But as soon as the Sunday Ticket switch happened, YTTV dropped NBCSC. I couldn't get the OTA because I was too far away from Chicago, but then they opened up hubs in neighboring towns to extend the signal. The Peoria IL feed allows me to watch the Hawks and Bulls for free now. But, I'm not surprised by the 78% drop in viewership. I was as loud as anyone that what they were doing was killing their brand, especially before they created their streaming app. But then the streaming app was too expensive to purchase, or maybe I should say the viewing content made it not worth it. I think these CEO's think people love their teams so much that their blind loyalty would uproot their most beloved TV packages and move to wherever the teams moved to. People are a bit more fickle than that. They already have their cable package and streaming apps, and are comfortable with what they have. Meanwhile, Comcast, and cable providers in general, is a dinosaur sitting around waiting for consumers to wise up and look for cheaper tv options. They'd be doing themselves a favor and continue finding ways to work with local regional sports. Maybe even find new local regional sports to air, because they don't really have much to offer that's bigger or better than the other options out there.

Every Bulls fan hated Rodman until he became a Bull. We all still hate Laimbeer, too. And Isaiah Thomas. Hell, I was a huge Thomas fan during the IHSA Championships.

7' centers are shooting 3's at a ridiculous rate in comparison to the good ole days when they shot sky hooks, power slams and battled boards for offensive rebound put backs and such. I get Doncic or Jokic firing it up, but between Vucevic and his 321 attempts, Jalen Smith and his 222, Zach Collins and his 60 and Buzelis and his 266 all just this year, you have more than a 10 3PA a game from guys on the Bulls that are either a Center or more than 6'9" tall. I've seen way too many random other guys that are Centers firing it up like they are George Gervin out there. Meanwhile, when these guys are firing it up there, there is either no one under the hoop for a rebound or the guy is a G or SF who is easily outmatched for a rebound, and given the poor shooting percentages of these guys, there are MANY rebound opportunities. Casual sports fans aren't going to sign up for regular showings of this type of sports. It's just boring. Even if they were all good at making 3's from long distance, it's still going to be boring. Steve Kerr's highest 3 point attempts in his career was 237 and he was basically on the team for only that reason. Jordan's highest was 297 and he only crossed 200 four times in his career. I'm only picking on the Bulls because that's who I know. Outside of watching them and whoever they are playing, I just don't care about NBA anymore. Loved the '70's and '80's and '90's. It's just not that anymore, though.

The problem is there is literally nothing exciting in their product to market. Guys of every shape and size are hurling the ball from beyond the arc and missing most of the time. How many guys average 50% from beyond the arc? Teams average about 35 to 40 attempts a game and not a single team averages better than 39% from 3 point land. The Celtics averaged one 3 point attempt every single minute of a game for an entire season. It's boring. With that said, I still watch the Bulls. And I do know who SGA and Chet are. But if it weren't for free CHSN, I may not even know that. Well, I did play a free NBA fantasy league, too.

The catching tandem of Kelly/Amaya is on pace for 219 RBI. That's not too shabby for the 8/9 spot. Everyone else needs to think about picking up their game a bit.

I’m ready for Shaw again at 3b.

Definitely a rollercoaster of emotions from the 7th and beyond.

Wondering how many people really did turn off their tv.

Normal starting lineup today, except light hitting Brujan gets to be the 5th different starting 3b this year., hitting in the 9 hole. Kelly behind the dish again.

TE may not be a position of need now, but Kmet’s contract is one of the more team friendly cuts at year’s end. There will be some contract extensions forthcoming, or at the very least freeing up money for upgrades next year. Not saying he’s as good as gone, but if they take a TE at 10, the writing could be on the wall.

Was wondering what the corresponding move was going to be. Is Wicks available today to piggyback Rea?

I was reading that wind gusts of 9 to 20 and gusts up to 37 mph are blowing straight out to CF for todays game. Could be big numbers today.

There is some noise that Colston Loveland could be better than Warren. Kiper has Warren going to the Bears at 10 and Loveland to the Colts at 14.

First time I've seen so much hatred for the San Diego Gulls.

They still need to look at these guys in case they do end up trading down. I wouldn't hate it if they dropped back 5-10 spots and secured an extra pick or two. It will be interesting to see who drops to 10 that another team may covet.

So much to dislike about last night's game. But, they somehow snatched victory. I think some guys need to sit down and look at some tape of the crap they are swinging at. The late Amaya at bat was probably the worst at bat of the night. Berti's throws from 3rd base don't bring me comfort.

To me, there will be two 40 man spots open. One for when Steele gets moved to the 60 day DL and one for launching Pearson to the moon. DFA him and hope someone picks him up so that maybe we can get some retaliatory at bats against him later this season. Absolutely no reason to protect him on the 40 man roster at this point.

Plenty of resources to upgrade the rotation. Bummed for Justin.

Some amazing golf yesterday. This pairing should be fun. Especially while Rory ignores the crowd and DeChambeau makes sure he touches hands with every person in the crowd. I still hope Rory wins.

I've watched 'em all. Well, fell asleep in the middle of the 2nd AZ game, but I tried to stay awake for it. Gotta get my money's worth out of the Marquee app. Wife started getting into audio books, so yay. Even watched all of the Masters coverage so far. Already have the overlap (Cubs start and Masters finish) mapped out for tonight. Damn, I'm lazy.

Exactly. I mean, what are we really talking about here? Trading Tucker at the deadline because he wants to test the market instead of accepting whatever offer the Cubs feel like offering, while the Cubs are 10 games in first place and looking like a team that could go deep in the playoffs? If the Cubs traded him at the deadline and then face planted the rest of the season, no one will ever know if they had a chance to win it al or not, and the chances of winning it without him drop dramatically. This team currently has exclusive negotiating rights to sign one of the top 5 players in the game. They traded some talent for that right, while also having a chance to win a World Series this year because of his talent. There are two scenarios going forward that are acceptable: A) Sign him to a lucrative long term deal to make him a Cub for the rest of his playing days B) Ride it out to the playoffs. I don't think we can even include the thought that this team doesn't make playoffs. They are winning this division with one arm tied behind their back. So it's pointless to include C) they are out of the playoffs at the end of June and trade Tucker for a haul when he declares he'll wait out for free agency. If you trade Tucker at the trade deadline while in a playoff race, people will absolutely lose their minds. It's absolutely not even remotely an option. As far as what it would take to sign him, I think 500m will lock it up pre-free agency. If you can negotiate for less, yahoo!

Looks to me like he was going to be out anyway.

This is also not taking into consideration what will be available at the trade deadline, which the Cubs apparently have lots of money available to upgrade where necessary. Assuming PTR coughs it up.

The Cubs have Ryan Brasier, Tyson Miller and Javier Assad on the IL. Then you have Daniel Palencia, Luke Little, Ethan Roberts and Jack Neely in AAA. Ignoring that they are currently playing the top teams in MLB every day, in crappy weather, I don't see the need to sign Robertson at this point. They seem to be winning more games than would normally be expected. Granted, you don't want your bullpen blowing games, but I don't think the bad luck will continue. Hodge's runs were completely flukey. Tucker is not familiar with RF in Wrigley yet. And I'm certainly glad he didn't crash into that wall hard trying to be a hero like Happ the other day. Happ is familiar with his surroundings. To me, Hodge is pitching like a true closer. He's missing bats and his stuff is electric. So a swap of Pressly and Hodge, and maybe even another swap of Pressly and Merriweather might be a better usage of the pen. Pressly seems to be the ground ball pitcher you want to bring in with runners on base in those later innings.

Fun game.