Yankees Chick - News, Rumors, and Opinions on the Bronx Bombers From a Brunette Babe

Being that I live many, many miles from the Bronx (2830.02 according to Mapquest), it should come as no surprise that the ongoing DirecTV soap opera has peaked my interest, as the Yankees Chick requires the Extra Innings package to enjoy all the glorious Yankees action. I have been holding off on signing up with DirecTV for as long as possible in hopes that one of the cable carriers (INDEMAND and EchoStar are the 2 that have been offering the package) will match DirecTV's $700 million offer, but the season opens in 5 days and it's looking like I'm going to have to wrangle one of those heinous dishes onto my roof ASAP.

Since I know that DirecTV is available in my area (approximately 85% of the homes in my neighborhood are equipped with the aforementioned dishes; I am pretty sure the local cable company's thrilling 300 stations of bad music that you must scroll through to get to the HD channels must have irritated them all enough to take a jackhammer to their cable boxes), and the cost is comparable to what I pay for my current cable, the move to satellite would not actually pose any significant inconveniences for me. Making the jump to DirecTV would no doubt be an issue for many baseball afficianados; in particular people for whom the DirecTV subscription will cost more than their current cable costs and many folks who are not "eligible" to use DirecTV (AKA anyone whose landlord will not let them install a dish, or who does not have a landline telephone to connect to, or whose residence that doesn't have a "clear view of the souther sky"....not to mention all the baseball fans living in caves, submarines, and panic rooms!!). Assuming the contract gets finalized and Extra Innings does indeed become exclusive to DirecTV, there are going to be many people who are either shelling out extra money to make the switch or forced to watch or listen to all the games on their computer screen - - - which, of course, equates to a boatload of complaint letters for MLB.

The contract has stirred up a delicious pot of controversy, not just with consumers but with some members of congress. Former-Future-President John Kerry* led a hearing today to make the point that MLB is not serving their fans - - as he pointed out, tax-payers have spent over $3.7 billion to build new ballparks in the past 10 years (thank you, San Diegans... anyone that has gone to a baseball game at Qualcomm and attest to the value of Petco Park) and MLB should be responsive to the uproar it has caused among the fans. MLB's president Bob Dupuy, who attended the meeting, said that MLB would be more than happy to offer the rights to a cable provider had they offered the same contract terms, but that no one had done so. While I don't think the deal and its accompanying complications is necessarily "fair" or "right", I highly doubt pressure from congress could convince MLB to accept a lower bid to keep the fans happy.

As for me, I suppose I'll be giving DirecTV a call in the morning to order my beautiful dish. Perhaps they can paint it to look like a baseball?

*As a side-note, while I appreciate the fact that Kerry is doing his best to respond to the complaints of his constituents, I have to admit that I find it more than just a tad amusing/perturbing that this hearing took only a matter of days to occur while GWB and Cheney's pet project/AKA war has been going on for 4 years now with no justification and no clear sign of an end in sight...ahem.