And yet people STILL want to argue about whether or not Unca Drayton was a good owner. 'They made it to the World Series under Drayton!' they repeat endlessly. The sane response is, they made it to the world series IN SPITE of Unca Drayton, *NOT* BECAUSE of him. Oh well. It's not like we can watch them, good or bad.
I don't think it's that simple in either direction. Drayton was a good owner for a short window. He maintained a high payroll for this market. He was even willing to spend extra, when it could mean the difference in us contending (Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, etc.). He held a good GM in Gerry Hunsicker for a decent amount of time because he didn't get *too* involved in personnel matters, at least at first. He did some good things, and I wouldn't say the World Series came in spite of him. The problem was that he didn't understand the game and building an organization. His solution to everything was to try and make one more impact acquisition (Tejada, Jason Jennings, Kaz Matsui, etc.) at the MLB level, all the while pinching pennies on draft picks, scouting and player development. When it was clear the team needed to rebuild, he held onto icons (Oswalt/Berkman) way too long and allowed their trade value to dwindle, all in the hopes of one last fluke-ish run in a weak NL Central. He was a good owner for that 10-year contending window, but he didn't understand the game well enough to know "when to say when" on building for the next generation. Instead, he just dug the hole deeper. Anyway, I know we're off topic, so hopefully we have CSN news soon. Crane usually meets with the media during batting practice, which generally occurs between 5 and 6...
He also HOPED nobody would catch his company engaged in war profiteering, but the Department of Justice did. Heck, he HOPED that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wouldn't notice that his company deliberately payed female and minority employees less than white men who did similar work and didn't investigate employee complaints of sexual harassment (but DID destroy evidence!), but that happened, too. Gosh, I bet he even HOPED he could buy the Astros for cheap without ****ting on their National League legacy, but look how that turned out. Basically, Jim Crane HOPES for all kinds **** that doesn't happen. I HOPE he doesn't own the team long.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Unless there's a last-minute change, word in Astroland is no imminent change to CSNHouston talks in advance of tonight's game vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Rangers">#Rangers</a>.</p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronAstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronAstros/status/319200847957467136">April 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Go Figure. I do have a question though.. IF this deal gets done soon and lets say both the Astros and Rockets are playing at the same time, who will be shown on TV?
I had the same question. Apparently they have an alternate channel, so you can pick which one you want to watch.
With these two games being on FSSW, is the real pressure going to be put off until Friday? I'm thinking that might be the real time where we'll see whether the Astros cave or not.
LOL, Chandler Parsons couldn't watch the Rockets last night because he doesn't have CSN Houston. Guess he was really serious when he said "I Want My CSN Houston" in that commercial.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a>' Crane says CSNHouston talks in a "standstill."</p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronAstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronAstros/status/319213586788515841">April 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Houston">#Houston</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a>' Crane said there was a "little movement" Monday with CSNH talks but no breakthrough today; no deal imminent. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Rockets">#Rockets</a></p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronAstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronAstros/status/319214278504759297">April 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
CEO Tad Brown is a joke I just listened to an hour long interview with Morey and Tad Brown, and over the course of the final 30 min (the tad brown section) I have grown to hate this man, and I work exclusively with CEOs and executives as a management consultant. He disrespects the fans of Houston by blowing hot air up our asses and talking circles around the issues like we are too incompetent to decipher the fact that he’s giving us zero information. Two fans asked FANTASTIC questions regarding tv coverage and new jerseys for next season and he talked on and on and on and basically provided no new information. After spewing on for 25 minutes about the current state of the tv coverage fiasco, the first fan actually called him out on it by stating “No offense or anything and I don’t mean to be rude but you were talkin about daryl glazing over (the 25 speech), well im glazing over too and I don’t know if you are a politician or what but hes been running for 25 min and he’s yet to answer a question.” Tad brown replies with the following 11 words: “It’s up to all of us to get it ironed out.” Mr. Brown, with only 8 games left, I think it’s pretty freaking clear that the major cable providers have chosen not to agree to your terms and have been willing to forgo the 2012/13 rockets season rather than give in to your demands. These cable providers have explicitly decided that they will not negotiate with terrorists who are trying to strong-arm a deal through a position of leverage. Stop putting the onus on the fans to demand change; the onus is on you and you have a responsibility to provide team coverage to the local fans that sustain you. In response to the jersey question: “We look at uh, new licensing agreements every year. We’ve have had some discussions about some alternates, um, I think you’ve saw the bold-colored uni’s that were brought out for the Christmas day game, I think you might see some…some opportunities, depending on what the league wants to do with that next year. Unfortunately some of these things that affect the local fans as far as jerseys and availability like that are driven internationally and nationally by the league and their licensing deals and um, we try to have as much input to bring creative fresh designs in whenever possible and we are always looking to do that.” – Tad Brown What the heck…first off this guy makes it seem like a league-wide issue, as if every team is under the same constraints and that his hands are tied due to “licensing agreements”, when in reality many teams like the Heat have like 5 alternate jerseys which change every year and the rockets have had 1 over the past ELEVEN years. I don’t want to hear you talk about the Christmas uni’s because 1. They were ugly as hell and 2. They are special occasion jerseys that teams get ON TOP OF their normal array of ever-changing normal jerseys as well as supplemental alternative jerseys. Unfortunately the availability of jerseys to the local fans is driven internationally and nationally by the league??? What does this even mean…if we are keeping our red jerseys with the Asian-friendly font because of our Chinese fans, just say so but stop bs-ing us. Please explain to me how you constantly add fresh designs whenever possible when our jersey has not been updated in over a decade??? Teams like the warriors, nets, wizards, cavs, knicks, suns, jazz, bucks, hell even the spurs are able to update their everyday jerseys as well as add new alternatives, but we cant due to the complex licensing agreements? The only teams that don’t update their jerseys are the ones with classics like the lakers, bulls, Celtics, and even they get a myriad of fun alternatives to keep it fresh. What utter nonsense spoken from the mouth of our CEO.
Excerpts from a media interview Tuesday with Astros owner Jim Crane at Minute Maid Park. Crane on the status of CSN Houston talks: Right now, we're kind of in a standstill. Nothing got done today. ... We're in constant talks with them, so hopefully something will break. We need the fans to send in their complaints. It'll never hurt to put a little pressure on them; to switch networks or switch carriers. That's where the pressure is. Frustration with blackout: It's certainly frustrating. We want our fans to see the game, that's the bottom line. The fans pay the bills, so we want them to get out here and we want them to watch the games when they're not out here. Do Astros have an offer to end stalemate: There was a little movement (Monday). But it wasn't anywhere near where we needed it to be.
While the stalemate continues between many of Houston’s television carriers and CSN Houston, area baseball fans have two options for tonight’s Rangers-Astros game at Minute Maid Park. The Astros network broadcast will air on Comcast SportsNet Houston, which is available at Channels 39 and 639 on Comcast’s Xfinity cable service and on Consolidated Communications, enTouch, Phonoscope and Coastal Link cable systems. The Rangers broadcast will be available on Fox Sports Southwest, which airs on Xfinity channels 37 and 637 and also is available, unlike CSN Houston, on DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse, Suddenlink and practically every other cable carrier across a five-state region. Major League Baseball divides its broadcast territories differently than does the NBA, and the Astros and Rangers share the five-state area that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and part of New Mexico. Thus, 127 Rangers games on Fox Sports Southwest will air in Houston this season, including games against the Astros. CSN Houston will air 157 Astros games, beginning Tuesday night, as officials with the NBC Sports Group continue to strike carriage deals that would make the channel available to systems that do not carry it at present. Barring an agreement with one or more carriers, the Astros’ game Friday against the A’s will be the first game this season that will not be available to most TV households in the Houston area. Astros owner Jim Crane described talks as “at a standstill” on Tuesday. “Nothing got done today,” Crane said. “We’re in constant talks with them, so hopefully something will break. … It’s certainly frustrating. We want our fans to see the game, that’s the bottom line. The fans pay the bills, so we want them to get out here and we want them to watch the games when they’re not out here.” Crane again said the Astros need to “cut a good deal” to stay competitive with the Rangers and other AL West teams. With full carriage of CSN Houston, the Astros could stand to get an average of $80 million per year in rights fees. They also own a share in the network along with the Rockets.
I think it's more likely to drop a team you can't watch than drop a provider who lowers your rate and provides great service.
