DuPuy: Opener will be televised – The Wash. Times
Well, we will see about this, won’t we? I heard speculation that Peter Angelo$ is willing to explore the “nuclear option” — an injunction against the Nationals on about the morning of April 4. Of course, a judge has to grant it and if one did, I would hope Bud Selig would pull the plug on all of baseball for a until it gets resolved — if the Nats don’t play, nobody does. That would be really out of character for Selig though.
Anyhow, hopefully Jim Williams of The Wash. Examiner is correct about what could happen. I posted the following in a comment yesterday, because it was not online:
MLB is not interested in the O’s TV network. They do not want the Orioles owning the Nationals’ TV rights.
So, MLB has given the Orioles three choices:
1. Take the total compensation package with the MLB developed regional sports network.
2. Take the compensation package on the table without being part of the regional sports network. That means the Nationals and O’s would have separate TV deals.
3. Take no compensation and let chips fall where they may.
MLB has decided to make it clear that Mr. Angelos does not own the TV rights to all broadcast territory south of Baltimore to North Carolina.
One of the things that gets me about Angelo$ is that no one is saying he loses any TV rights. Both franchises can appear on TV and the only territory that will explicitly be the Nats is District and surrounding counties around the Capital Beltway, but the Orioles can appear on TV here too, so what’s the big deal? I think even Prince William County, Va. is not specifically Nats territory…
Live Online – Potomac Confidential – The Post
Pentagon City, Va.: Thanks for your column on the duplicitous Peter Angelo$ — the more the merrier. It seems to me that his childish tactics will probably ensure that Baltimore fans in the D.C. area will jump ship and favor the Nats exclusively whereas before I could see them liking both. I also find it hard to believe that his whining is not really turning the people of Baltimore off, it has always struck me as a proud city, rugged city that was too tough for this sort of thing. Hopefully, Bud Selig will finally stand up to him and get this resolved soon.
Marc Fisher: Good point–it’s hard to come up with any reason why Angelos would be so willing to antagonize Washington area fans except that he intends to sue and try to get an injunction against the Nationals playing any games. Either the Orioles need DC fans, in which case you’d think Angelos would make peace and get on with the job of competing for fans’ hearts and wallets, or they don’t need DC fans, in which case this is pure venom motivating his negotiations.
That was my question leading off yesterday’s chat. I found that I was not content to bash Angelo$ in one forum, so I posted in Craig Wilson’s chat on USA Today’s Web site as well:
Pentagon City, Va: Have you been following the back and forth between Baltimore’s Peter Angelo$ and Major League Baseball over TV rights for the Washington Nationals? The behavior of Mr. Angelo$ seems bizzare and downright duplicitous.
Craig Wilson: I think you might be right….
Okay, so this was basically me just posting for the sake of making Angelo$ look stupid. Still, anyway that message can get out, particularly to a national audience is worthwhile. Now, if I could only spell properly, I would really have something, wouldn’t I?
Same Old Song: Nats Left Swinging in the Rain – The Post
Oh yeah, it rained in Viera — again.
Viera strikes back – Florida Today
Scott Brown (’94 Journ) takes issue with Marc Fisher’s column about Viera. Predictably, he asks “how cold has it been in D.C. this month?”
