Talk about the series here. Please no PBP in this thread. Unless otherwise noted all games are on CSN-H (for about 40% I guess). 6-10 Dallas Keuchel, LHP vs. Hisashi Iwakuma, RHP 9:10 6-11 Bud Norris, RHP vs. Aaron Harang, RHP 9:10 6-12 Jordan Lyles, RHP vs. Jeremy Bonderman, RHP 9:10
Had no idea Bonderman was back in the league, dude looked like he was on his way to ace status back in the day. Back to our winning ways, LWW Iwakumas a beast
That's the one positive I was hoping to take from the move to the AL West. I was looking forward to putting the kis to bed and watching the late games in peace. Oh well...
Yep, this really sucks. If it looked like things would be fixed fairly soon I suppose it might be easier to take. This really looks like a Portland type of situation though, I mean really there has been zero progress on this from day 1
Not like Portland considering the market size difference and Houston has more teams. Gonna have to wait until a team plays that people want to see...the Rockets.
So you do not think people wanted to see the Rockets last year? Ok You are right that the cities are different, no doubt about that. But if you think Direct/dish/att are ready to break on this, i'm not sure what to say
Don't want to take the game thread in the wrong direction, but does anyone really think Direct, Dish or ATT care who the rockets sign? Does anyone really think that is what it is about? Personally I do not. I don't think it is about how horrible the Astros are, or how the Rockets were "thought to be" heading into last year. Trust me, I hope I am wrong and if the Rockets sign Howard a deal gets done. I have just not seen anything to make me think that is going to happen
They definitely care. Having stars and being contenders helps create buzz and excitement. More people will want to watch games, which will help raise the value of the network. You don't see anything, nor do any of us. There is no question being a terrible baseball team, and a mediocre basketball team in recent years with no real stars has hurt our position, and the opposite would help our situation. It doesn't mean that a deal will get done for that sole reason, but it will be beneficial.
Maybe, like I say I hope you are right and I am wrong. I would love to be watching the Astros right now! Local TV ratings for Houston teams has never equaled our status as the nations 3rd biggest city, or 4th or whatever we are. There are definitely a group of die hard fans like us on here, but as a city it's way more take it or leave it than a lot of other cities. This current situation is a perfect example. Even bigger, much bigger, in my opinion is that the way tv and media in general is acquired by the population is changing. These companies are going to be much more reluctant to give out huge dollars to rsn's than they were only a year or so ago. It is very long term deals they are seeking, and I just don't think those companies are going to give in to big money and long terms deals anymore. And if you are right that the talent level of the teams has a big part in driving the deals, the Astros have twice as many games as the Rockets on the channel. There is nothing, other than fans hopes, to show that Crane is going to make sure he builds a long term winner here. Remember, the people making these deals for direct, dish, att and the others are businessmen, not Astros/Rockets fans. I would think they would want to see something that shows a commitment to long term winning, if how good a team is will drive a deal. Trading guys like Altuve, you lone all-star last year, certainly wouldn't help
Carriage agreements are often 20 year deals. The acquisition of one player will not impact the negotiations of such long term arrangements.
If you were going to sign a 20 year deal, would you like to start? A) Teams sucking B) Teams good Edit: Most importantly more people have to want to watch.
Very true. And probably a brand new lone one in 2014, and a new one in 2015, and a new one in 2016 . . .
It is definitely a "right now" world that we live in. So it certainly couldn't hurt for the teams to be better. I just think there is a lot more to it than the current state of these two teams. And like I said earlier, if the current state of the teams ARE a major driving force, the Astros have twice as many games on the station as the Rockets, so if the Astros continue to push back the date of possible competitive baseball by trading away more guys, it certainly won't help get a deal done . . .if in fact, that does matter
True. Would further hurt the team's relationship with the fans. Altuve is popular (at least for Astros player).
