San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Scott Ostler is always on the lookout for a stuffed shirt to deflate, and he's found quite a few of them mixed up in the "MLB Blackout of Hawaii." Here's what Scott wrote about the many Knuckleheads perpetuating this boneheaded PR disaster:
Scott Ostler, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, September 12, 2009
(09-12) 20:46 PDT -- The Axis is putting the squeeze on Hawaii, shutting that state out of telecasts and Internet feeds of Giants' games.
It's very complicated, but in brief: Five teams (Giants, A's, Dodgers, Angels, Mariners), with approval of MLB, claim Hawaii as home territory for broadcast rights.
I'm not sure why those teams don't also claim Montana, which is actually closer.
Giants' rights-holder Comcast has not reached a deal with Hawaiian cable carriers to carry Giants' games, so the games are blacked out there. Also off-limits: MLB.com game feeds.
Why single out the Giants? Because they are popular in Hawaii, and because they have ignored SOS pleas from their fans on the islands.
In past years, Hawaiian subscribers to MLB.com got Giants' games. Unannounced, that stopped this season. A TV source tells me that those feeds were an in-house error that was detected and corrected this season.
It's all another example of big bidness screwing the fan. As in: NFL blackouts.
Hey, Hawaii: If the Giants make the playoffs, we'll send you results via postcard. Aloha!
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