Len & Bob's baseball blog

Ugh! I'm so sick of this cable TV broadcast stuff. I can never watch the game at my Mom's house if the broadcast is on cable. She has no need for cable, and wouldn't pay the high install fees and ever-increasing monthly rates anyways. I miss the good old days when I always knew where to find the broadcast, WGN! I remember even watching WGN when visiting my grandparents in Arizona as a kid. Personally, I think WGN lost what made it special when half the Cubs broadcasts shifted to cable and it started broadcasting silly stuff from the the WB instead (the CW is equally worthless). What's with the overload of "teen television" these days???? Why can't teens watch cable and leave the good stuff for the rest of us.
Shame on Major League Baseball for furthering this ridiculous trend in the cable industry. I'm tired of paying more and more, but finding less and less of interest. The costs we pay for the most basic of packages isn't worth it. No wonder America is getting fatter by the day. All we do is spend our time channel-surfing for quality programming that's just not there.

That is such a stupid new rule. It is another way for MLB to black out more of its fans. Plus I believe Len and Bob are 100 times better than Joe Morgan and his sidekick or whatever team TBS sends out.

This is really really stupid. Everybody does not have cable. To deny people who are Cub fans who might be on a fixed income and can't afford Cable (seniors and such) of the possibility of watching the NLDS or NLCS is pure stupidity. Besides, MLB and TBS could MAKE money by selling the broadcast to the local over the air station (like WGN). Stupid, Stupid Stupid.

That first guy watching WGN in Arizona was watching on Cable...that kinda puts a crimp in his arguement, dontchathink? #2, as much as I enjoy Len and Bob, and Pat and his sidekick, I relish the opportunity to watch the Cubs on national broadcasts. Morgan usually finds a few ways to put his foot in his mouth and listening to his "sidekick's" skirting the Barry Bonds issue on national TV was a treasure...and who knows, maybe TBS will send out Chip Carey and his Pop.

Despite my disagreements with these comments above, I think all postseason games should be on free TV ...signed, Amigoman

I just want to echo everyone's sentiments here. This is just wrong. I don't blame WGN or the Cubs...it's the MLB "suits" at work. I don't want to hear "Well...it's just good business" It's BAD business. It's about greed, pure and simple...taking away all options and forcing people to have to buy extra programming/pkgs if we want to watch our home team. Same reason WGN online can't broadcast the game live...because MLB wants to remove all the other options so that we are forced to buy a subscription to their MLB.TV (poor quality for viewing a game...it freezes at times and all you're able to see are 'snapshots' instead of live feed), or Gameday Audio, what-have-you. I feel so badly for senior citizen fans and other fans living on a very fixed income. Whoever is able to control any of this within the WGN World/Cubs organization SHOULD do something that would show respect and appreciation for its loyal audience/fans.

I just checked my calendar. It's 2007.

If you don't have cable or a dish by now, I hate to break it to you, you don't love the Cubs enough.

Andy, that was just rude. (And I'm a Cubs fan living in WI and paying out the nose for the satellite package for 7 years now....it was still rude.)

MLB did this because the playoff ratings the last few years have not been good. They've been steadily declining, and they (MLB and the networks) don't wanna pay for it in lost advertising bucks because of poor ratings. That's the bottom line....it sucks, but that's it. It's all about the almighty dollar.

Those ratings numbers reflect crummy teams no one cares about outside their home markets though (hello, St. Louis?)....what's gonna be funny is when the Cubbies go deep into the playoffs and the ratings are through the roof! TBS is about to break the record books!!! :)

I hope MLB and the networks take a bath in lost potential money -- serves 'em right.

what happen to the good old WGN TV ? when you could always watch the cub games,now half the time they have some silly junk for the pre teens..

To put it "nicely", you seemed to have missed the POINT, Andy. Many days the game ISN'T SHOWN on cable/satellite channels that most people have UNLESS you pay for premium pkgs/internet subsriptions. There is a generation of cubs fans out there (how old is the Cubs franchise????) who don't have the luxury SOME people have to BUY, BUY, BUY and/or don't know their way around the internet and computer to enjoy their favorite past-time.

GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!

At least TBS comes with most basic pkgs.

Carrie: Thanks for that insight, Carrie. I wasn't aware of all that.

Now, GO CUBS GO!

I no longer live in the Chicago area, so I don't get WCIU. I do have DirecTV, and our pkg comes with TBS so I'm very happy about that, indeed!

But I just wanted to pass this on to those having issues with being able to watch games on TV.

If you have high-speed internet, MLB.TV is the way to go. It's only about $10 now for a month. I tried it earlier in the season and was so disappointed in the quality that I canceled. Even with a top-of-the-line computer, the video was choppy--probably because of heavy traffic. But rather than miss out on games, I've signed back up and learned some tricks that has helped a lot, such as pressing the pause button to let the feed "catch up", and/or tweaking the buffering speed in RealPlayer. Hope this helps someone!

I live in NC and get WGN on cable. There are many times the Cubs games are not televised on WGN and I cannot get the other Chicago channel on cable. Getting the games on MLB.com isn't an option when they are on during the day when I'm at work. I wish WGN televised more of the games.
GO CUBS GO!

I cancelled my DirecTV subscription last March. It simply got out of control with ever increasing monthly fees. I love the Cubs but detest the WGN for allowing TBS to air the games while we poor people have to by quietly & miss the games. I anxiously waited all season in the hopes the Cubs would make to the playoffs only to be cast aside as a meaningless individual who's dream of watching the Cubs has all but disappeared. The days of free TV are quickly disappearing. I will never again subscribe to "PayTV". It will never control me or my precious dollar. If this pay for sports situation continues to escalate I will simply refrain from watching any sports & quite possibly, quit watching TV altogether... which my not be such a bad thing afterall!!! SHAME ON YOU WGN!!!

This is an addendum to an earlier post I made. Basically, if the "big wigs" think they can pull the old "squeeze play" on us by "forcing" us to pay-to-watch, they are sadly & grossly mistaken. The mere fact that they have the unconscionable nerve to pull something like this merely fortifies my resolve to never have cable again. I've learned to live without it & hopefully many more will discover that it's nothing more than an extravagant luxury that many of us can do without. Let's see, pay for groceries or cable... pay my utility bills or cable... pay for life's' daily necessities or cable... I think the answer is clear, they can all go suck an egg.

What is wrong with these guys? Soriano watcheds catchable balls sail over his head off the wall that he should have caught. Ramirez looks like he doesn't even want to be there. Furthermore, why do the Cubs always throw to 2nd base & then to first when the bases are loaded? Just about every other team would throw home to at least get the lead runner and prevent another run. Put a fork in them - they're DONE!

why don't we hear more from the wimpy sports writter about the cheating patriots stealing records by good honest players and teams. ken from indiana.

Derek Lee needs to close up his stance. By the time he moves his left leg to square-off his left foot is squishing his Doz. eggs and his momentum takes him across the plate. Because he is over 6' 7" he tries to lower himselfto fit the plate.

WGN is NOT the STATION i would watch! BAD STATION!

Bob, you made a rude comment about a fan in the top of the 11th last night ("I'd like to think that guy's an astros fan"). That guy happens to be a good friend of mine who is a long-time Cubs fan. Next time you and Len can't find anything to talk about during an extra-inning game, please be a professional and refrain from insulting the people who ultimately provide your livelihood.

Once again we are left standing in the rain. Greed has prevailed & we are again unable to watch the games unless we have cable. I canceled my subscription last year & truly don't miss much.
I've come to the realization that eventually all sports will be on "pay" tv. I've spoken to many people & they all feel as I do. To hell with cable & satellite & all of the "blood sucking" mega-corporations responsible for this trend... including "good 'ol" WGN!!! You can all take your sports & your "pay-to-watch" crap & stick it. My mission is to convince as many people as possible to cancel their subscriptions. If enough people did this, the industry would come to a screeching halt!!! I will NEVER sign up for "pay" tv again... never! If your smart you'll also sever the ties with "pay" tv. Believe me, it's a great feeling... I feel cleansed. Remember, it's all about greed & big money. Raise the price every year & with nothing in return... just more crap!