Here’s To Discontinuing My MLB.tv Subscription And Instead Listening To Every Game On At Bat Or MLB+ Or Whatever They’re Calling It Nowadays
The Mariners are supposed to be good this year for reasons we’re all tired of hearing about. Great, I’m into it. And with my recent relocation to Northern Idaho (which I’ve since learned has a, uh, let’s call it complex, history with white power groups), I figured now would be a great time to jump on the bandwagon and root for Seattle on the side. I’m a sucker for an underdog. And as the Mariners are the only MLB without an appearance in the Series, well, you don’t get much more underdog than that.
Anyway.
Cut to yesterday. All day I’m talking about watching the Mariners take on the Guardians, just PRAYING for the Guards to eat some shit and take a loss, which would serve the double purpose of knocking them down a game in the AL Central, where my beloved Royals are currently stewing in anticipation for their matchup against Atlanta tonight. I spent the day quietly cringing while listening to some podcasts that are about a millimeter away from being removed from the lineup (I can’t be the only one that thinks Trevor Plouffe actually hates Chris Rose), listening to the first inning of the Pirates v Mets game (or as I’ve come to refer to it, The Paul Skenes Titanic Incident), and thinking to myself “man oh man am I glad I bought MLB.tv so I can watch the Mariners game, and any other game I want, tonight!”
Those of you who have run face-first into the shitshow that is MLB.tv know where this is going.
Long story short: blackout. I need to read the fine print. Let’s not kid ourselves though: fine print isn’t what it used to be. If I had a dollar for every time some corporation updated their terms of service via some longwinded email that I nonchalantly deleted I could afford Mariners.tv and wouldn’t be bitching about not being able to watch the game last night.
Allow me to go Has Been Dad Mode again and say, unequivocally, that every game should mean, hear me out, every game. But no, not the case here. Even though the MLB owns the broadcasting rights for 15 teams now (the freaking Mariners included), all of which have a TEAMNAMEHERE.tv identifier, MLB.tv still has blackout restrictions. Make it make sense.
Answer: money. As always.
Also, there was a Capitol One ad plastered on the pitcher’s mound during the D-Backs v Dodgers game last night; on an unrelated note, I’m currently dusting off my Kindle edition of Peter Kropotkin’s The Conquest of Bread and dreaming about Utopia.
Anyway.
That’s all I got for now. There’s a one hundred percent chance I’ll be watching the Royals v Braves game tonight and a decent chance I’ll try to write it up like a real sports journalist. Watch your ass, BBWAA.
Final Notes: TEAMNAMEHERE.tv isn’t a real thing so far as I know, but it actually hyperlinked for some reason. It’s too early to roll the dice on that one though, so I will not be clicking on it. Maybe later. Also, I use Free Use Photos for Bummerism, because I’m a cheap-ass and not being paid for these shenanigans, and for some reason this blog’s photo popped up when I typed in “old fashioned tv.” Of course I had to use it. Enjoy.
