I am not saying this thing doesn't bother me but if this is one of my biggest gripes in my life then I should feel blessed. I will keep up with the situation but will not debate anyone. There are way too many more important things in life than watching a sports team. Sometimes I get a little carried away and lose perspective then the Lord opens my eyes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Isgur doesn’t say Crane wrong in rejecting Comcast carriage deals: “I think they (Comcast) were presenting rotten business deals to him.”</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/430753172143865856">February 4, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Same here... at this point, I'm in this to more get a rise out of G'ville and wonder why he keeps saying contradicting statements, and seeing the blind Crane hatred is comical. Can't really see who he's rooting for... the lawyers? the judge? Because its clear that he cares more about Crane losing than getting the games on as fast as possible.
Is this the link you are looking for? "On Tuesday, Judge Isgur stated that Comcast presented the Astros with “rotten business deals” and that we made sound business decisions in rejecting them." http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/02/07/astros-appeal-comcast-sportsnet-bankruptcy-ruling/ EDIT: Posted as the other link was posted.
Thanks for the apology... because again, it directly contradicts what you said about citing the years of losses argument as "idiotic". Show me where there have been other/better rejected deals out there.
Actually I'm rooting for this to be played by the rules and fair to all parties involved. Hopefully now they can all negotiate in good faith and get this over with.
Great.... how righteous... because companies like Comcast, direcTV and dish network have always played fair and always played by the rules. Good faith negotiations? The time for that was back when the company was first formed, and the veto power was agreed to be given to all parties. As far as "getting it over with"... you better strap on a diaper as nobody can provide a reasonable end-game scenario that doesn't involve either buyouts, or a boat-load of more litigation.
And again....Isgur never said there was nothing but bad deals out there... He sent Crane out to look for them after Crane assured him that he could get a good deal.
The bankruptcy proceeding isn't what's holding things up, the fact that the parties can't reach a consensual resolution is. They got into the court because the parties can't agree after many months of negotiating out of court and the the station ran out of money. I think the proceeding was more or less inevitable given the parties' positions and unwillingness to resolve it consensually. They'd be suing each other in some other setting if not for the bankruptcy court with the difference being maybe Comcast would front some money to make the media rights payments and to keep things going while it fights with the Astros. M Chapter 11 is a pretty expensive process, parties don't end up here if they could have settled things outside of chapter 11. Yes, we are going to end up with either the Astros being forced into a buyout or being able to terminate the media rights contract at the end of the chapter 11. But the fact is the parties could not have reached either one of these points without getting into chapter 11. Kind of like any litigation-- parties end up with one of the results that they could have negotiated for without spending the court's time or the money for attorneys, but sometimes parties just can't get there without some authority telling them what to do.
So...Since you have a hard on for Comcast, you think it's ok for Crane to not play by the rules? That's a silly point to make. Maybe the buyout is what needs to happen. Fine by me.
The Rockets also were sent out there... nobody found anything. Can you tell me where the good deals are?
I think Comcast can withstand never having the channel getting widespread distribution... hell, a part of them may PREFER it, as they can offer "exclusive" content that satellite companies can't (like DTV can with NFL Sunday Ticket). They're already the majority pay TV provider in this market... and are on the verge of enlarging their foot-print state-wide with possible mergers. The sports teams as owners of the channel, however, cannot withstand that. And this is all coming form a long-time Comcast subscriber... who has access to the games right now. I just don't see them getting widespread distribution, and I think this is all a colossal waste of time.
Was CSN not in breach of contract when they stopped paying the Astros rights fees? Wouldn't that have allowed them to terminate the contract back then? Also, sounds like they had a buyout on the table, but the Rockets wanted the same deal for which Comcast refused. Would chapter 11 resolve that as well?
Judge Isgur said no, just a few weeks ago. Did you miss that? You guys need to get internet or TV at the slumber party.
And neither Crane nor the Rockets could find a good deal when the judge gave them the go ahead to look.
That was after the bankruptcy was already filed, and that's all the judge was asked to rule on. I'm talking about before that... when the breach was committed by CSN. Their contract states that the Astros should have been allowed to terminate the agreement. This could have all been done with. Again... congrats on rooting for the litigation. In the end, they could likely end up terminating the media rights fee agreement anyways.
