Blackout Blues

This is something I've been meaning to write up for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. The current blackout policies of MLB are ill-devised and short sighted, meaning that they are pretty much par for the course for MLB.

Living in Sacramento, I am blacked out for the Athletics and the Giants. Sure, I could watch them on cable, but I choose not to have cable, so I'm SOL there. And my situation is nothing compared to the guy in Keokuk. I'm not really sure how MLB thinks that this is helping anyone, including the teams themselves. Going to the Bay area for a game involves about 4-5 hours of travel time (even though I live only 90 miles away) and runs me around $100 including gas, parking, tickets, food, and anything else I'm insane enough to buy at the park. Needless to say, it's not a trip I'm going to make more than once or twice a season. Frankly, the Rivercats are more a threat to my attendance at major league games than MLB TV is.

Since this, and not this is an issue that affects the public interest, I would recommend writing your congressman. If congress is going to make grandstand plays, let's at least try to push them to make one over something that might actually help the average fan.