DCTribefan
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2019
- Messages
- 11,621
- Reaction score
- 10,405
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- 123
Buxton a man on a mission today while Tito looking bewildered in dugout.
I'm on the east side and I can't think of a time I couldn't watch it when it was broadcast nationally.I think ESPN games of the week still adhere to local blackouts. Again, I think.
Tbh, most of the time, I'll turn the TV on but have it on mute and put Hammy with the radio broadcast on.Rankings of AL Central broadcast teams.
Rating MLB play-by-play and color analysts: The AL Central
Chicago's Jason Benetti and color analyst Steve Stone are the class of the AL Central MLB booths. KC's Rex Hudler and Detroit's Kirk Gibson need help.calltothepen.com
The Indians’ team of Matt Underwood and Rick Manning is solid, professional, and experienced. Its shortcoming is the absence of an easy sense of excitement that would give casual viewers as well as hardcore fans a reason to tune in and stay tuned in.
They are a veteran and seamless pair, having worked together since 2008. Both of course go back farther than that. Underwood has worked in various capacities with the Indians for more than two decades, and Manning is in his 31st season in the color chair following 13 seasons as an MLB outfielder, most of those in Cleveland.
The Indians duo is the epitome of professionalism, sometimes almost to a fault. Their mutual tenure underscores the rapport they have built with one another and also with their viewing audience.
What is missing is any sense of awareness that they are concurrently providing both a report and entertainment. They would rank higher if they more frequently conveyed the sense that they were having a hell of a good time.
Listening to Manning, one gets the feeling that he has that quality in him, and one wishes it would show through more steadily.
I can't think of an evaluation that misses the mark more than this one. "Professionalism" that needs to generate more excitement? How about "preparation" that generates some real insight? This is a bored couple that quarrels more out of habit than passion. Manning mails it in and Underwood struggles to remain relevant.The Indians duo is the epitome of professionalism, sometimes almost to a fault. Their mutual tenure underscores the rapport they have built with one another and also with their viewing audience.
Since I seldom watch an out of town TV broadcast of the Indians, I have no way of comparing, but I dont mind our team of Underwood, Manning, and Knott.
Unlike others, I enjoy Manning, more of an old school guy, like me. Knott does the organizational prep.
On the radio side, I love Hammy. I like the histrionics and don't mind the criticism. Anybody who doesn't like his criticizing must have hated Joe Tait.
Rosey kinda lulls me to sleep. I liked it much better when we had Hegan and Herbie, former players. Herbie got a lot of things wrong...lol....but after listening to him for a while, you understood that a drive to left had a 25% chance of being caught by Omar.
Herbie was loveable, and in a local broadcast, I prefer loveable to professional in my radio broadcast. Baseball is supposed to be fun, and Indians baseball should be about the Indians. Herbie was both.
Regional sports streaming drama: Sinclair‘s chances of launching a regional sports streaming service next year are looking dicey in light of comments by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. Speaking at an industry conference, Manfred claimed that Sinclair doesn’t have enough local streaming rights to make such a service viable, nor does it have rights around gambling, which Sinclair has pitched as the centerpiece of the whole endeavor. He added that for any service that does let people stream in-market baseball games, MLB wants to "own and control the platform." |
Of course, that could all be sabre rattling—or, dare I say, hardball—on Manfred's part as the two sides try to work out a deal. But the fact that this is all spilling out in public shows how frantic the situation has become. The regional sports business is collapsing, Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group is reportedly in danger of bankruptcy, and yet the only way cord cutters can watch Sinclair's channels is through DirecTV Stream, a service so unconfident in itself that it makes cancellation needlessly difficult. This is an untenable situation, but at least there's some entertainment value in watching it all play out. |
Chances you can stream Guardians games next season appear to be dwindling.
Regional sports streaming drama: Sinclair‘s chances of launching a regional sports streaming service next year are looking dicey in light of comments by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. Speaking at an industry conference, Manfred claimed that Sinclair doesn’t have enough local streaming rights to make such a service viable, nor does it have rights around gambling, which Sinclair has pitched as the centerpiece of the whole endeavor. He added that for any service that does let people stream in-market baseball games, MLB wants to "own and control the platform."
Of course, that could all be sabre rattling—or, dare I say, hardball—on Manfred's part as the two sides try to work out a deal. But the fact that this is all spilling out in public shows how frantic the situation has become. The regional sports business is collapsing, Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group is reportedly in danger of bankruptcy, and yet the only way cord cutters can watch Sinclair's channels is through DirecTV Stream, a service so unconfident in itself that it makes cancellation needlessly difficult. This is an untenable situation, but at least there's some entertainment value in watching it all play out.
I really feel sorry for a lot of fans under the current system... Doesn't Vegas have like 6 blacked out teams? Something has to change, everyone knows it but not before every attempt by every party to squeeze every penny out of everyone happens first.
There is a simpler solution.. people that buy the MLB Ticket or streaming or whatever.. can buy and see everything.. If not, then MLB can keep their business model limited to the few people who buy it.. The subscription rate doesn't pay the bills..the advertisements and promotions do.. and that takes volume.. It would be a cold day in hell before any MLB service would extract a nickel if their continuing business model excludes any games from a paying subscriber..I keep saying MLB.tv has to have two choices, one that they only get MLB clips, MLB Network and all the games of a Chosen team not blacked out regardless of location and another one that's all MLB teams but with regional blackouts.
There is a simpler solution.. people that buy the MLB Ticket or streaming or whatever.. can buy and see everything.. If not, then MLB can keep their business model limited to the few people who buy it.. The subscription rate doesn't pay the bills..the advertisements and promotions do.. and that takes volume.. It would be a cold day in hell before any MLB service would extract a nickel if their continuing business model excludes any games from a paying subscriber..