Exhibit #5,273: Biggio was hopping mad about an order that came down from the league office prior to the game, asking that he remove his Sunshine Kids pin from his Spring Training cap.... "For 20 years I've been wearing it," Biggio said. "Obviously, I'm not a disrespectful person, and I'm not disrespecting the game. I've been wearing this pin for 20 years, and it puts smiles on 20-something-thousand cancer patients. "A lot of the bubble-gum card pictures are taken during Spring Training. The kids see it, and it makes them feel good. That's why I do it. "I just felt it was pretty stupid. I'm the last person that's going to disrespect the game. I don't ask to wear it during the season, because that's not right. I wear it before the game, but when the games start during the regular season, I wear the regular hat. That's the way it's supposed to be."
Ok, I'm seriously thinking about getting Jiggy with it and doing the happy dance again. This is a sweet day. MLB and InDemand (cable) Reach Agreement!
Baseball inks cable TV deal Jeff Richgels The Capital Times April 5, 2007 Charter Communications is on deck. After negotiations that went into extra innings, Major League Baseball has reached a deal with a consortium of the three largest cable providers for its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games. The deal with iN Demand, which is owned by affiliates of Time Warner, Comcast and Cox, does not cover Charter, the cable provider for the Madison area. But the "Extra Innings" package will be made available to other carriers like Charter, so long as they join iN Demand in agreeing to carry the MLB Channel set to launch in 2009. That could make a deal no simple infield fly, based on Charter's contentious negotiating history with the NFL Network. That's because baseball is demanding that the MLB Channel be carried on a regular cable tier such as Charter's Expanded Basic, rather than a digital tier. That same issue resulted in a nasty stalemate between Charter and NFL Network last season. Charter today declined to answer questions regarding the negotiations. "We were delighted that an agreement between iN Demand and MLB was reached," Charter regional spokesman John Miller said in an e-mail to The Capital Times. "As a result, our programming staff is now discussing carriage issues and contract parameters with iN Demand regarding MLB Extra Innings." Baseball estimated the iN Demand deal guarantees MLB Channel will debut in at least 40 million homes. Having the MLB Channel on a regular cable tier "provides both the financial stability and the exposure to ensure a successful launch of the channel and bring the game to as many fans as possible," baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said. Baseball and iN Demand reached an agreement in principle for a seven-year contract Wednesday under intense political pressure. Baseball had announced an exclusive $700 million, seven-year agreement with DirecTV on March 8, but viewers without DirecTV who would have lost access to the games complained. "The concern expressed by our fans who would have been forced to switch to alternative carriers or were unable to switch was something we tried to be responsive to," DuPuy said. Sen. John Kerry had asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the original deal, and during a hearing last week in Washington he pushed baseball to resume talks with iN Demand. While baseball had set a March 31 deadline, the sides kept negotiating and announced the deal Wednesday night, an agreement that still must be finalized. "All we ever wanted was a victory for the fans, and this outcome is a big step forward," Kerry said in a statement. "Everyone kept talking and pressing until we had a deal that protects the rights of most fans to follow their hometown team." IN Demand began making games available to cable systems starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set. "I'm exhausted but happy," Jacobson said. "We always needed to feel like we were treated fairly relative to the other distributor. We felt like got our fair share." As part of the agreement, iN Demand and DirecTV each will receive about 16 percent equity in the new network, a person familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasn't announced. Under the original agreement, DirecTV was to be a 20 percent owner. Because of the new deal, DirecTV will pay less than it would have under the original agreement. Baseball said it is willing to resume negotiate with Echostar's Dish Network, the other satellite provider, but DirecTV president Chase Carey said he anticipated for now that his company would be an exclusive satellite carrier. The Associated Press contributed to this report. http://www.madison.com/tct/business/index.php?ntid=128061&ntpid=0
