Dec
30
2011

Roy Halladay Saves Boy From Anaconda While Fishing On The Amazon

According to NESN, Roy Halladay was on a fishing trip in the Amazon with Chris Carpenter, B.J. Ryan and professional fisher Skeet Reese, when he and Reese stumbled upon a local boy being attacked by an anaconda.

Here is what happened according to Reese’s recent blog post:

“Me and Doc Halladay even came across a local, sitting bare naked on a tree by the river. What we were able to figure out is that he was fishing in the river for tropical fish to sell for aquariums when he got attacked by an anaconda.”

“The snake apparently bit him on the ass but he was able to free himself before the snake wrapped him up. Instead the snake wrapped around his motor on the back of his little 14 foot dugout canoe and tore it off the back of his boat. Doc and I helped him gather his gear and flip the boat back over and then towed him home. You could definitely see the bite mark on his ass, but he was able to fight it off; amazing.”

So let me get this straight: The Mets won’t let R.A. Dickey climb Mt. Kilimanjaro but the Phillies will let Roy Halladay wrestle anacondas in the Amazon? Got it.

Share Button

About the Author: Clayton Collier

Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com

80 Comments + Add Comment

  • The Mets never said he couldn’t climb, they said they aren’t happy about it and if he gets hurt while climbing that his contract could be voided.

  • LOL Clayton!

    I wish they had brought the damn thing back to bite Sandy in the ass!

    And lets get one thing clear, you don’t really CLIMB Kilamanjaro…
    You walk the entire way it’s just a very long and steep walk but your hands never have to touch the side of the mountain until it’s time to get into the sleeping bag to go to sleep! LOL

    Funny how they over react to player activities and UNDER REACT to player injuries!
    Me thinks they got their priorities all backwards!

    • I have heard that Metsie, but “climbing a mountain” rolls off the tongue better Lol.

      Also, something I didn’t include in the post. In Skeet Reese’s post, he said that Chris Carpenter “cracked his toe” against the side of a boat and it got all red and swollen. Think the Cardinals will void his contract over that?

      • Yes and even if you walk up Kilamanjaro it sounds much better to tell everyone you climbed it as well! LOL

        I didn’t know that bit about the toe but then again I doubt they void his contract as they aren’t in the position to have thier mascot go to times square with a banjo and Change cup like we are!

        I wonder if the team has thought about charging for Mustard packets and napkins yet.
        All ideas I’m sure they are busy contemplating since they sure aren’t doing anything to get the attendance up this year!
        LOL

        • Lol, Forbes said they’re supposed to increase attendance by 10%, go figure.

          My guess is the Wilpons will have to sell by the end of the 2013 season unless they get $350+ million from a minority owner. They have nearly $1 billion in multiple different loans due by 2014 and 2015. Included in that is the hundreds of millions on Citi Field due in 2014.

          • Well they probably have increased attendance by 10% maybe more….

            At Yankee Stadium!
            lol

            I’m not so sure they will be forced to sell.
            What will happen is they will sell off the few Souvenir Ownerships they are offerring to cover all the MLB debt and some of their Stadium payments and then Sell off most of SNY and some ownership in the stadium to Time Warner and others to pay some more of that stadium debt.

            Only losing big in the Madoff case do they really get forced out.
            And that probably means the earliest is 2013 Way too late to help us compete before 2020!

      • Got to respect the the Fighting Phillies

    • METSIE, WHEN WILL U LEARN THE GM, ANY GM IS MERELY AN EMPLOYEE AND RUMORS OF AUTONOMOUS GMs ARE AS MYTHICAL AS UNICORNS & FAIRIES!

      THE WILPONS, NOT STERLING ENTERPRISES OR ANY OTHER EUPHEMISTIC DESIGNATE DECIDED REYES’ FATE AS WELL AS THE $80M PAYROLL ALLOCATION .

      ALL ALDERSON HAS THE AUTHORITY TO DO IS LIE TO THE PUBLIC BY REFERRING TO A 100-110M PAYROLL ALLOCATION BTW, IT’S ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY WHETHER PHILLIPS, DUQUETTE, MINAYA OR ALDERSON’S NAME WAS STENCILED ON THE DOOR TO THE CORNER OFFICE U MAY RECOLLECT HOW PHILLIPS WAS ORDERED NOT TO RESPOND TO FL’S ATTEMPTS TO TRADE US PIAZZA AT LEAST UNTIL THE MANAGING PARTNER(DOUBLEDAY) OVERRULED THE NON MNGING ONE(F.WILPON).

      THAT SHOULDN’T BE INTERPRETED THAT STEVE PHILLIPS DIDN’T WANT MIKE PIAZZA; NO SANE BASEBALL EXEC COULD EVER CONCEIVE OF BEING THAT INCOMPETANT; ONLY AN OWNER HIDING UNDER HIS DESK WOULD BE THAT DISLOYAL TO HIS FANS SIMPLY OUT OF FEAR OF LOOKING CHEAP DURING THE PLAYER’S UPCOMING CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS.

      • Well I agree but disagree (only somewhat) with what your saying 62.

        I agree that the autonomous GM is much less prevalent these days than it used to be but
        The Braves still have a very autonomous Front Office. I happen to know Malone (who owns Liberty) personally from my dealings with them as they were owners in CourtTV and their ownership of Waterfront communications where just about every network in NYC would transmit thier signals through. And his management style was to hire good people and let them work Call me on the golf course if you need me type of thing!

        Cashen pretty much had autonomy and it wasn’t until Cashen strapped them with Harazin and McIlvane that the Wilpons finally stepped in and made their ‘SKILL SETS” comment.

        As for the Wilpons I agree they set the budget for Sandy. But I do not believe they told him how to spend it. And while we look at the Piazza thing there have been some quotes where Phillips said he didn’t think Piazza was worth it to Doubleday. We can attribute that belief to the Wilpons telling him that if we want but it’s circumstantial at best.

        They were also running things when we created the worst team money could buy as tagee calls it and they also let Omar bring the payroll up to 150 Mil in 2009! So it’s hard to say that they are an ownership NOT willing to spend.

        They have a decent enough reason to reduce the payroll or limit what Sandy can spend, but I do not think they are actively telling Sandy who to sign and not sign.

        Personally I think as many do that Selig told them with no uncertain terms that they should concentrate on paying their debts and that Sandy was going to make all the decisions that they should stay out of!

        I don’t believe the Wilpons are calling the shots here AT ALL!
        I think Sandy has a mandate from Selig to reduce the payroll regardless of the consequences so that if the league has to take the team over half the work is already done!

        Just as Omar had to sell off all his best talent when he managed the Expos!
        Selig just found a way to make that happen BEFORE the league actually assumes ownership so they can’t take any heat when the fans revolt! Which they do seem to be doing with the exception of the 4-6 Sandy supporters who think he can do no wrong!

        • +10

          • Expos payroll went from 31 M to 51 M to 43 M while Omar was there. In other words it went up.

            Guys weren’t resigned like Walker and Vlad but the sell off was mostly minor leaguers.

            • Check your facts…

              http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/attend.shtml

              32-35-38-51-41

              Some of those trades like the Irabu trade added some payroll
              How many of those raises were Arbitration?

              • I’m sure plenty of it was but it wouldn’t have been reflected in the payroll if the players had been sold. Not on the Expo payroll anyway.

                38-51-41 in Omar’s 3 years probably wasn’t keeping pace with the competition but it doesn’t reflect a sell off either.

                • First off he was there for 5 years! not 3!

                  Your mr Accuracy right?

                  Second who did he sign to increase that Payroll?
                  Pretty much No ONE!
                  Guererro went from 3.5 Mil when Omar got there to 11.5 Mil!
                  ALL of it Arbitration!
                  Nearly HALF of that Increase in Payroll went to VG alone!

                  Jose Vidro made 340K in 2000, Was making 7 Mil in 2004!
                  Another 6.7 Mil in Arbitration increases!

                  Javy Vasquez got paid 280K in 2000! He was making 6 Mil in 2003 and traded before he made 9 Mil!
                  Add another 5.7 Mil due to Arbitration!

                  This is a CLASSIC example of how drafting and owning exclusivity does not GUARANTEE that your saving money!
                  And it also shows how even if you have them if you have not solved the fan Support issues in a meaningful way you STILL won’t keep them!

                  So ALL of those increases are pretty much due to Arbitration!

                  Not anything Omar could avoid!
                  He had so many GOOD players who would command high Arb awards that the only way to keep salary down was to trade them all in a single year!

                  Something the MLB knew if it happened they would get raked over the coals for forcing Omar to do that!

        • METSIE, CIONTROL CAN BE MANIFESTED IN MANY WAYS. DON’T KID YOURSELF INTO BELEIVING WREN HAS THE AUTONOMY NEEDED TO INK A PUJOLS, REYES, FIELDER IF THAT’S WHOM HE DESIRES. THE BRAVES PAYROLL BUDGET HAS NEVER ALLOWED THAT FREEDOM OF DECISIVNESS.

          METSIE, I HAVE NEVER, EVER ACCUSED OR INFERRED THE WILPONS WOULDN’T SPEND MONEY TO WIN; BUT I WOULD STATE EMPHATICALLY THEY HAVE NEVER, EVER FULLY COMMITTED THEMSELVES & THEIR RESOURCES TO WINNING!

          I HAVE ALWAYS UNDERSTYOOD FRED HAD MORE INTEREST IN HIS OWN IMAGE, THAN TGHE TEAM’S & MUCH LIKE RON PAUL, FRED’S VIEWS ARE MIRED IN A TIMESLOT LONG PASSED

          I HAVE NEVER BELIEVED ANY WILPON (FRED OR JEFF) HAS EVER SELECTED A PLAYER FOR ACQUSITION THOUGH I’VE NO DIFICULTY BELIEVING THEY’VE EACH PLAYED A ROLE IN DISPATCHING PLAYERS OFF THE ROSTER.. PRIMARILY BECAUSE, I DON’T BELIEVE THERE IS AN EXECUTIVE ANYWHERE IN STERLING WITH ENOUGH BASEBALL KNOWLEDGE TO IDENTIFY A NON-MET PLAYER’S NAME WITH A POSITION ASSIGNMENT/NEED. RATHER THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED A SAlARY POARAMETER FOR A POSITION OPENING

          • Mets62 — You speak words of wisdom in your assessment of the shortcomings of the Mets/Sterling management team. They’re very concerned about image and they know little about judging player talent. Their image issue was what got Fred into trouble dedicating Citi to the Dodgers with his Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Jackie was a helluva player but he wasn’t the best Dodgers player and his primary contribution to baseball was as a path breaker. The folks over at MLB have addressed Jackie appropriately in many ways and we don’t need a CitiField mausoleum manufactured by Fred Wilpon.

            • DES, CITI’s CONSTRUCTION IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF EXACTLY HOW UNSAVY & OUT OF TOUVC THE WILPON FATHER & SON ARE, INASMUCH AS FRED STILL LABORS UNDER THE OPINION THERE IS A MYRIAD FORMER BKLYN DODGER & NY GIANT FANS CAPBLE OF BUYING TICKETS TO WATCH THE METS. UNFORTUNATELY, I REPRESENT ONE OF THE LIKELY YOUNGEST STILL AROUND WHO ATTENDED GAMES @ EBBETS & SHEA & I JUST TURNED 62.

              FURTHER COMPOUNDING THE MISPLACED REASONS FOR WILPON INVOLVEMENT IS A C.O.O.(JEFF) WHO CLEARLY DOESN’T LIKE THE GAME; LET ALONE BEGIN TO COMPREHEND IT’S NUANCES BEYOND THE BALANCE SHEET.
              TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE “OUT OF TOUCH” SCENERIO THAT PERMEATES THE FLUSHING OPERATIONS, IN HIS OWN WORDS, FRED DESCRIBES HIS FIRST MEETING PREPARATIONS FOR HIS SITDOWN WITH THE CITIFIELD ARCHITECTS AS HIS GATHERING UP & DUSTING OFF THE ORIGINAL EBBETS’ BLUEPRINTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTING THE STANDARD HE EXPECTED TIO BE CONSTRUCTED OVER 50 YRS AFTER THE WRECKING BALL SWUNG JUST MOMENTS AFTER THE LAST FAN DEPARTED ONTO FLATBUSH AVE.

              PRESENTLY WE’RE BEING LED BY A CEO ENVISIONING RECREATING HIS FEW LOST SHARED MOMENTS BESIDE HIS FATHER ROOTING FOR PEEWEE, JACKIE, DUKE & GIL AND A COO TYRYING TO PLEASE HIS FATHER’S WISHES WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A PEABODY WAYBACK MACHINE.

              IT BRINGS TO MIND IF THE REAL REASON FRED’S INSISTANCE UPON A DINNER MEETING PRIOR TO CONTRACT OFFER TO LATEST F/A TARGET STOPPED IS THAT HAVING SOMEONE CUT UP FRED’S FOOD BECAME TOO EMBARASSING(lol).

              ACCORDING TO MOST REPORTS, JEFF SPENT NEARLY 5 YEARS TOURING THE NEWEST & OLDEST ICONIC BALLFIELDS PRIOR TO PLAN FINALIZATION, THE RESULTING NEED FOR 2 SUCCESSIVE “ALTERING FACELIFTS” IN THE VERY FIRST SUCCESSIVE POST BUILD YEARS IS REMINISCIENT OF EITHER A FEDERAL GOV’T BUILDING PROJECT OR ABJECT INCOMPETANCE.

              WITH OWNERSHIP HELLBENT TO REPLICATE AS CLOSE THEY CAN ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING FRANCHISES IN MLB HISTORY IS IT ANY WIONDER WHY WINNING CONSISTANTLY IS SUCH A CHALLENGE.

              • Mets62 — Nobody was more of a Dodgers fan than I was back in the fifties. I too take Fred and his son to task for misconstruing the significance of the Dodgers and Jackie. The Dodgers were the fabric of society east of the East River in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk and many parts of Jersey, Connecticut and lower New York State. When they left in ’57 they started a downward spiral across America in which cities, teams and ballplayers now have no permanence. To recreate that atmosphere like Fred is trying to do, is the stuff that illusions are made of, not reality. Then we developed teams, but today we buy teams. It’s wool versus polyester. It’s the difference between the real deal and synthetic products. So we have Fred Polyester, troubled owner of the New York Mets.

          • “DON’T KID YOURSELF INTO BELEIVING WREN HAS THE AUTONOMY NEEDED TO INK A PUJOLS, REYES, FIELDER IF THAT’S WHOM HE DESIRES.”

            Well I think the CONTROL in that case is more a matter of Budget than actual MEDDLING!

            I don’t consider giving a manager a Budget to work with as CONTROLING him. A Budget is a normal part of doing business. Budgets do LIMIT your options but it’s not actually telling you who and what to get or not get.

            The Current Budget did not stop us from signing Reyes. Look at his deal he is actually making 1 M less the next two years compared to last year and then it accelerates to an average of 28.5 Mil for the remaining 4 years.

            By the time that big jump kicks in Santana and Bay (43.6 Mil total Salary in 2013) would be in their option buyout years (8.5 Mil 2014). That would leave you 26.1 Mil left over after Reyes’ Raise. That could buy you a Cliff Lee at current rates and by then hopefully attendance has picked up enought to not have to limit ourselves to a 100 Mil Payroll or less.

            Of course by then Wright will take a piece of that but certainly not as much as Reyes got.
            (but who can truly say on that?)

            SO it’s not like the Budget being set so low actually STOPPED Sandy from signing anyone.

            Thats said we have an Owner who unfortunatly thinks he knows a thing or two about baseball.
            And I agree that he may actually MEDDLE in respect to who we sign, resign and trade.

            I’m not there and I can’t say what they did.
            And there ARE some teams who set the budget so low as to handcuff their GMs from doing anything other than trading away players and replacing them with draft picks. But our Budget is not the 30-50 Mil like we see with those teams like the Pirates.

            Bottomline is there is a LOT on blame to go around here.
            Sure the Budget is low but it is not so low we can’t keep anyone who hits above .270 and must trade them!

            I agree they have always fallen short when they DID spend!
            Another Ace Pitcher in 2007-2009 may have helped make those seasons end different.
            And I DEFINITLY believe if we had gone all out to get Halladay 2010 instead of Bay, it wouldn’t have been the disaster it was and last year would have been very very different.

            Attendance in 2010 and 2011 would have been different too! We probably don’t lose 50 and 70 Mil those years!

            SO I agree with you that they spent but probably pulled up one Pitcher too soon whenever they got close to the goal!

            • The Braves are owned by a Corporation, Liberty Media. Their payroll hasn’t had the flexibility that a single private ownership has since the days of Ted Turner.

              End of year payroll is the figure used for revenue sharing and luxury tax calculations. For the last 10 years the Braves have been below 90 M. Just as an example our EOY payroll in 2011 was 142 M.

              The ownership structure in Atlanta is as dependent on revenue as ours is now. Brave fans have been debating back and forth the attendance vs. payroll issue for over a decade now and the way they’ve handled it is through the draft, IFA and trades from the farm combined with the best amateur and professional scouting departments and elite prospect development.

              They haven’t been able to resign many of their stars. Guys like Furcal, Glavine, Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez, JD Drew. but they do usually have a Yuniel Escobar on the way up so they’ll go with a Renteria for a year or two (obtained for nothing from Boston just looking to get rid of him) or an Estrada to tide them over till McCann is ready after losing a Javy Lopez. A Larouche to get them to Freeman or a Melky Cabrerra to buy time. They don’t live with guys either, they non tender them or ship them out.

              They also always find a way to have a big starting three acquired by trade if need be. Hampton, Vazquez, Jurjens, Hudson and a bad contracts kill them a hell of a lot more than it did us since their payroll IS absolute. Guys like Lowe and Kawakami hurt them much more than Castillo and Perez cost us, they just haven’t had to go that route as often as we have.
              Their professional scouting dept finds guys and they make the trades to tide them over and don’t have to overpay in dollars and years because A) they can’t and B) they don’t have to. They got a guy on the way.

              • Oh please, Liberty Media is just as much a malone Family Business as Sterling is!

                I know the guy

                • Sorry early post button…,
                  I have worked with him for over 20 years!

                  And all that spiel about how they are dealing with it has gotten them what exactly?

                  SECOND FIDDLE to the team that was willing to spend and isn’t losing money because they did and fill the stadium!

                  So say what you want about the Braves and their handling of a similar situation!
                  They have had a 90 Mil payroll (if thats actually correct) and it has not resulted in increased attendance!

                  So you can tell us what they have done correctly but in the end the standings say they didn’t succeed! And considering their collapse last year I find it quite funny you continue to use them as an example of what we should be doing!

                  • The Braves haven’t even been able to sell out playoff games and have recently instituted paperless tickets for group sales to avoid having them wind up on the secondary market.

                    That’s how desperate they are to sell tickets through their own box office.

                    Ask Malone about it the next time you see him. The credit card used to pay for the group tickets must be present and swiped on the way in for all tickets used simply to make the stub hubs ect un viable for a pretty small percentage of tickets.

                    Revenue is a big problem in Atlanta and that’s why their payroll has stayed the same for ten years while others has exploded.

                    • “That’s how desperate they are to sell tickets through their own box office.”
                      Yep that because they are just so damn good at building a winner right?

                      Isn’t that what you keep saying?

                      They do a GOOD job and don’t spend build from within and it has been SOOOOOOO SUCCESSFUL that they are now DESPERATE to sell tickets!

                      Say that back to yourself a few times and see if it REALLY makes a ton of sense, Try it tomorrow when the champagne wears off!

                    • Oh Please…Their Enormous Financial Wealth.

                      They ship things! It’s a shipping company!

                      Where pray tell did their ENORMOUS WEALTH come from?

                      BUYING STARS AND PACKING THEM IN!

                      And with those stars came lots of winning as well!

                    • The NYY are the poster boys for large market teams to emulate.

                      They leverage their enormous financial advantages by going overslot, obtaining the best IFA’s and combine an outstanding amateur and professional scouting staff with elite prospect development and use those advantages not just for their own needs but also to extract the best fit talent in trades for guys like O’Neil, Tino, Clemens, Knoblauch, Granderson, and go free agent as well here and there to mixed results.

                      Not just wait until the off season to see “who we can get.”

                  • Their results as a mid market team have been much better than our as a large market team. I don’t think we should do everything the way the Braves do, just more things than we have.

                    Starting in 1997 they had to start shedding and start watching the bottom line, that was behind the Justice Kenny Lofton trade an that’s continued right up to today.

                    As a mid market team their success has been quite a bit better than ours. I don’t see how that could be in dispute.

                    • And I suppose WE are the posterboys for a Large Market team in your UNIVERSE of Have and have Nots Success and Fail right?

                      Tell me again why the Yankees are NOT the Posterboy for how a large market team should operate and we are?

                    • “Well why can’t Malone go above 90 M then?”

                      Well because he is NOT in Atlanta he lives in New jersey!
                      And he is not as interested in that team as most Owners are!

                      Why has he kept Payroll at 90 Mil? Because that is what the attendance supports.
                      If he was more interested in making money with the Braves he would put some cash into it and sign a few guys who could get Attendance back to their levels in the early 90s!

                      But as I pointed out he is not that motivated!

                      “The Wilpon’s own 67% of SNY. Why can’t they tap into that?”
                      Well thats because of the nature of the deal. They really can’t sell even a part of their holdings to anyone but Time Warner (and there is one other Partner may even be Liberty for all I know)

                      When you start a Network from scratch you usually do so with a CARRIER like Time Warner, Comcast, DirectTV (Liberty Owned I believe). The Shares are split between the partners with stipulation that nbo partner can cash out without giving the other partners a chance to buy first.
                      They even have clauses that if you make an offer to a Partner to buy them out they can then make a counter offer for more and buy you out instead! This happened to CourtTv who was onced owned by Steven Brill, Time Warner, NBC and Liberty.
                      Brill Tried to buy off Time Warner and Time Warner made a counter offer he could not meet and as a result lost the network he started!

                      I don’t know the particulars of the SNY deal and partnership but those types of things are standard operating procedure for most TV network startups! They get those terms because a new network with no distribution can not make any money so the carriers have you over a barrel!

                      And that would preclude ANY success or profits from helping the Mets (Sterling) in any way! Since no sales are permitted to anyone but your partners and it is unlikely they can even sell to them until after a certain amount of time passes, debts are paid and Profitiability is secure so that is NOT something that can help the Wilpons, Mets or Sterling.

                      This is the one area where Boras was dead wrong, Even if they are making money with SNY (and reports seem to suggest they are profitable) That will NEVER help the mets pay the bills all it might do is allow them to get more money whenever the rights come up fopr renewal and only if their two partners (who are probably equal in shares with the Wilpons) agree to pay that fee.

                      SO SNY is a non factor here.
                      The Stadium has it’s own debts and problems that only Attendance can fix!
                      So the bottom line here is the REAL solution to all of their problems is to get more people into the stands that pay off all the debts and if it means investing another 30-40 Mil they will male way more than that to pay bills they won’t make with lower attendance.

                      Will increasing attendance make the team win more? Depends on WHO you get!
                      But it sure wouldn’t hurt! And if you can do it WHILE drafting well at the same time they could be profitable sooner and make the issue go away!

                      “Liberty has an 11 BILLION dollar EQUITY in their holdings and they tag expenditures to revenue. Somehow I doubt the Wilpon’s have anywhere near that.”
                      Yes Liberty is HUGE!
                      But most of that worth is PAPER not actually Money!
                      It’s value of networks and infrastructure they own and operate but it is not cold hard cash like that needed to be able to infuse into a baseball team!

                    • Well why can’t Malone go above 90 M then?

                      He’s had the same payroll for 10 years. Essentially he’s lowered payroll by keeping it the same.

                      The Wilpon’s own 67% of SNY. Why can’t they tap into that?

                      Liberty has an 11 BILLION dollar EQUITY in their holdings and they tag expenditures to revenue. Somehow I doubt the Wilpon’s have anywhere near that.

                    • Well how would that help SNY’s bottomline?
                      Would it make more people watch or more people to go to the game?
                      What reason would Time Warner have for agreeing to that investment?

                      Especially considering that it costs roughly 10-20 Mil to start and entire TV Network that can get you .50 cents per subscriber from the cable companies who each control about 50Million subscribers. PLUS advertising!

                      They start off with a 5 Mil profit just on subcriber fees and all the Ad revenue is profit. If the Network takes off it is worth Billions

                      Same reason why Malone doesn’t invest. There are FAR BETTER investments to be made that have a much higher return than anything a baseball team makes!

                      It’s not a Mistake these guys got rich!
                      They made low risk investments for high risk return!

                      And they keep on doing that unless they are like a steinbrenner who makes it his primary business!

                    • Interesting.

                      I didn’t really mean cashing out, I mean’t more like SNY investing in Reyes. Seems like that would have served everyone’s interests. I remember Rose saying Turner could offer him the most, even though he declined it, because of ratings.

                      Wouldn’t a media corporation like Liberty provide cash flow that wouldn’t all “be on paper?”

                      Not really my field of expertise by any wild stretch but I would think that Malone as a business man would make the investment if he felt he had a reasonable expectation of making a buck off it.

                      I can’t imagine unsold World Series and playoff tickets don’t have something to do with that.

                      Anyway I hope the stone passes quickly and without too much pain for all of our sakes.

                      Go Aguilas!

                  • They were desperate to sell tickets when they were in the playoffs. Had unsold seats in the World Series for cryin’ out loud. Did they “suck” then?

                    Totally different market. Totally different ownership structure.

                    • Did the suck? NO!
                      What pray tell does that tell you about how important WINNING is to attendance knowing that?

                      Who did they win with?
                      STARS like the Yankees and Phillies (just as small a market BTW) or kids who no one believed in and therefore waiting until the won the WS before they bought into the program?

                      Their highest attendance was in 1993!
                      WHO pray tell made that possible?

                      Here is a Hint…They SIGNED someone! Someone REALLY GOOD!

                      Who have they signed as good since?

                    • The Market in Atlanta will bear 3.8 Mil even after losing two WS and getting eliminated in the NLCS!

                      SO what’s their excuse lately if they are built so well and are a winning team?

                      They haven’t drawn 3Mil since 2000!
                      Ever wonder why?

                      They won 100+ games and still couldn’t get that Million back!
                      So whats their excuse since they (AS YOU CLAIM) constantly replace and renew/produce new STARS to make the draw?

                    • Winning can only support what the market will bear. In NY that’s not a problem, in Atlanta it is. Obviously. What other conclusion can be drawn from unsold World Series tickets?

                      When Maddox was signed Turner was Chairman and underwrote losses because of TBS. You would think that the Wilpon’s would be able to do the same but they have they have partners in SNY (33%) and I’m sure their are many other differences as well.

                      Totally different ownership and era to name a couple.

                    • Braves best attendance 3.8 M. Mets best attendance 4.0 M. Total difference 200,000 or about 2500 tickets per game. Difference in market? 8,000,000 compared to 420,000. Even splitting it in half to account for the NYY your talking a market size in NY 10 times greater than Atlanta.

                      Kind of proves my point. The Braves are tapped out, hence the modest payroll that hasn’t grown in 10 years (90 M)

                      Unsold playoff and World Series tickets are really all you need to know about demand anyway though, could you ever imagine that in NY?

                    • From ’82 to ’96 the NYY average attendance ranged from 21K to 29K. They had big stars and big payroll. Winfield, Henderson, Gossage, Guidry, Mattingly. Spent a lot on guys like Whitson, Tartabul, Mell Hall but their attendance was very ordinary.

                      Sure the Meadowlands were probably just a negotiating posture, but just as likely it was a real alternative. Turns out the Bronx could support an average of 53K per game.

                      After a decade of going to the post season every year and winning it all 5 times though, not in constant recovery of “the worst teams money could buy.”

                      That was back in the 80′s – mid 90′s.

                  • They haven’t been in the Ship building business in years.

                    They did buy the NYY for just 10 M and played the big box office game to a couple of titles during the infancy of free agency but those titles were way more about Gabe Paul’s trades than free agency. They were also very shrewd business wise. Refurbished stadium they essentially paid no rent for as upgrades and maintenance were subtracted off rental expense and supported increased revenue while we had City workers “maintaining” Shea.

                    We out drew the NYY by plenty in the mid to late 80′s without signing one single free agent. How’d that happen?

                    They got their situation under control from 90-95 and have won a post season berth 16 out of the last 17 years. The revenue that brought in has supported their payroll, plus luxury tax, plus overslot, plus the best IFA’s and the success of those players has paid for additions like CC, Tex and A-Rod rather than paying them and hoping revenue meets projection.

                    The revenue’s already been realized before the players were acquired.

                    When the NYY were losing Steinbrenner was saying he couldn’t draw in the South Bronx, now every game is sold out by April.

                    • So basically you really have NO proof or reason to say the Yankees are a financial Juggernaught that makes them the ONLY team that can spend that much!

                      They haven’t been in thier core business for YEARS!
                      SO they are supporting the TEAM with the ATTENDANCE!
                      And they are getting the ATTENDANCE because they spend!
                      and with it comes the WINS!

                  • Anyway Metsie I’m off to catch the Round Robin and Caribbean World Series in the DR.

                    At least I’ll get to see some exciting baseball in 2012.

                    Hope you have a great 2012 and hopefully things won’t be as bad in Queens as we fear.

                    Happy New Year and all the best.

                    • You too dude, and remember….

                      All things shall pass!

                      Lets just hope thier passing isn’t as painful as a Gall or Kidney Stone!

                • Doesn’t matter if you know him. Has nothing to do with it. Molone is the chaiman of a Corporation, not a sole owner. He sets expenses for all of Liberty’s holding to be in line with revenue’s and has people to answer to, not just family members.

                  The Braves weren’t even the target acquisition when Liberty acquired them and the payroll hasn’t grown in 10 years. That’s a fact.

                  • And Wilpon is the chairman of Sterling, not the SOLE OWNER!

                    What exactly is your point?

                    Malone runs Liberty make no mistake!
                    Maybe even MORE than Wilpon runs Sterling!

                    The only difference between the two is that Malone’s Liberty isn’t in a business that has had a decline and bubble burst!

                    he’s in Media not Real Estate!
                    He can sell a TV network and get full price while Wilpons can sell a Building but they prbably won’t make as much as they spent on it to own it these days!

                    That is the ONLY difference between the two!
                    Any other difference you percieve is just that a perception that isn’t true and doesn’t exist!

                    • Yeah and those public shareholders have ZERO SAY so what really is the difference?

                      Malone controls the vote the board and the decisions!

                      And so do the Wilpons!

                      And maybe they will get some sucker to buy their 4% souvenir stakes so they will be just as much beholden to the 40% of shareholders as Malone is!

                    • Sterling has no shareholders that aren’t members of the Wilpon/Katz clan. Liberty Media does.

                      That’s the difference.

                    • Dude do you own any stocks?

                      40% is just as influential as 0%!

                      NO DIFFERENCE!

                      Whoever owns 51+% does pretty much whatever he wants!
                      The only time Majority Ownership doesn’t pull the strings is when they own LESS than 50% of the company and the other 51% gangs together to throw you out!

                      Malone, Stenbrenners, Wilpons all pretty much personal fifedoms who use the company as their own personal property, shareholders be damned!

                    • Regardless that’s still 40% to 0% as it stands today and has been that way since 2002 and includes 4 pennants and a wild card and just two losing seasons, one of which was just barely under .500 at 79-83.

                      If Malone had autonomy to raise payroll above what revenue supports why doesn’t he? Why would he let Furcal or Andruw Jones go without an offer? Why weren’t the Braves in on Lee, CC or Reyes?

                      When Met GM’s have stated their case Fred has always said yes, even for some of the biggest names in the game. Piazza, Larkin, Griffey Jr., Alomar, Santana, Pedro, That hasn’t been the case in Atlanta.

                      Why is that?

              • T, ONE OF THE MORE INCITEFUL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF TED TURNER’S BRAVES OWNERSHIP WAS HIS DEFT USE OF HIS BRADCASTING PLATFORM(TBS) ENSURING IT AS A STAPLE ON EVERY CARRIER SERVING THE SOUTH AS A BASIC CHAMNNEL.

                AS FOR MOST OF HIS TENURE AS OWNER, THE BRAVES WERE THE SOLE MLB TEAM LOCATED BEWTWEEN BALTIMORE & MIAMI FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE TEXAS BORDER(ONE HELL OF A GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT!) TED TRULY BILLED HIS TEAM AS “AMERICA’S TEAM LONG BEFORE BECOMING MEANINGFULL CONTENDERS IN 1990 BY ESTABLISHING A FAN BASE OF SO WIDE A BREADTH, ONLY A SMALL % OF WHICH HAD RELATIVE EASY ACCESS TO EFFECT GAME ATTENDANCE, THUS PLAYOFF TICKETS THAT MOST TEAM’S WOULD FIND IN GREAT DEMAND WERE UNPURCHASED BY AN AVID BASE SEQUESTED TO THEIR “SEASON TICKETS” LOCATED IN THEIR FAMILY ROOMS ACROSS THE SOUTH THE MOST RABID FANS CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE TO TAKE AN ACCOUNTING OF OVERALL COSTS INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION & LODGINGS MAKING SINGLE GAME PURCHASES AN UNQUESTIONABLE IMPROBABILITY AS FAMILY OUTINGS @ THE BALLPARK NECESITATED LONG HOLIDAY WEEKENDS @ PREMIUM LODGING RATES, IN SEASON!

                • What Turner did was pretty much what WOR did back when they had the Mets Broadcasts.

                  They were both what you would call SUPERSTATIONS who were nothing more than Local Stations who would only buy National Syndication rights so they could broadcast via satelite and generate national ratings.

                  WOR was actually the first station to do this and they were dumb to sell it off to paramount who wanted create their own network for their content and drive up the price of content to the major Networks.

                  It failed badly because the best content they produced was bought by the networks and they were left with the crap the networks didn’t want.
                  Only Star Trek Enterprise was reasonably successful and it didn’t last all that long either.

                  Turner was second to do that and he built a rather impressive empire and financed CNN with the money he made becoming a SuperStation.

                  WGN is now the only station that fits that model anymore.
                  TBS is now a true network and has very little local fare, WOR became paramount and then My9. PIX eventually became the WB Network and WGN is the only real local Super Station left!

                  They still call themselves that in some cases but the truth is there is very little LOCAL about them.

            • METSIE, YOU’RE INTRODUCING AN ARGUEMENT ALDERSON/METS THAT ISN’T RELEVENT TO THE INITIAL TOPIC OF WREN & THE ESTABLISHMENET OF AUTONOMY OR CONTROL; OBVIOUSLY ONE OF EITHER 2 REASONS EXIST FOR REYES’ DEPARTURE 1) ALDERSON’S DEPICTION OF THE PAYROLL BUDGET CONSTRAINT OF 100-110M IS A GROSS EXAGERATION OR THE TRUE FIGURE HE’S BEEN SUPPLIED IS 80M OR 2) ORDERS TO LET REYES WALK IN A MANNER TO TRY TO DEPICT THE PLAYER AS THE VILLAIN NOT OWNERSHIP.(THE SECOND ALTERNATIVE FLIES IN THE FACE OF WILPON TESTAMONIALS OF ‘HANDS OFF’ NON-PLAYER LEVEL, MICRO MANAGEMENT)
              HOWEVER, IN LIGHT OF YOUR CONCURRANCE TO PAYROLL CONTRAINTS IN ATL YOUR USE OF THE WORD AUTOMNOMOUS TO DEPICT WREN’S ABILITIES IS HYPERBOLIC AT MINIMUM; BY & LARGE AUTOBOMOUS GMs WENT EXTINCT WITH THE PASSING OF BRANCH RICKEY!

  • I wonder if the Phillies sent Halladay a letter asking not to go fishing in South America? And if so, did that fact ever go public like the Mets’ letter to Dickey?

    • Only the NY Mets would threaten their best pitcher with a letter about voiding his contract!

      If Dickey were a scrub no letter would be sent!

      We seem to have an aversion for good and effective performers these days!

      • On average,10 people a year die on that mountain. Look it up.

        Plenty others suffer illness and injury like frostbite and altitude sickness.

        Let’s not make light about climbing 19,500 feet. Martina Navratilova had to be rescued off the mountain suffering from pulmonary edema. A pitcher missing a part of a finger faces a weeeeee bit of a problem, don’t you think? This ongoing Wilpon hate has people using every conceivable situation to bash the team. If this was last season and it was Castillo or Perez ascending that mountain, no one would be bashing the Mets for sending the same lettert.

        • Yes but not a single sole had hurt himself falling or climbing.

          Frostbite because they didn’t wear the proper clothing, Altitude Sickness because they didn’t acclimate themselves at each climate change and just kept on going!

          It’s a trek that if you take your time and don’t try to do it in a day is harrowing but not really dangerous!

          • Metsie, no one knows how their vital organs are going to react to that sort of altitude, including the fittest of people. No one can predict unusual storms, unusual cold, falling rocks. People die from these sorts of things, people get hurt, like the 3 Americans who died and the two seriously injured in 2006 from falling rocks and boulders, all from the Colorado Mountain Club. And the man who died three months ago right after texting his wife he reached the summit.

            While the reward far outweighs the risk for many, the fact of the matter is, RA could get hurt or sick no matter how prepared he is. That he’s willing to take that risk makes the Mets very justified in my view, in protecting their rights.

            • If you are going to defend the Mets then tell us why they waited until the last minute to whine. Why didn’t they do so immediately before they got all the good publicity from Dickey’s intentions.

            • LTF no one is saying it’s a walk in the park.
              What you say could happen if you walked accross the street to get a cup of coffee!
              You don’t see MLB front offices writing letters warning their player not to do that!

              It just shows the PETTY nature of this organization!

              Players go Hunting every year and teams don’t write contract void letters because they might actually get shot!

              Either the Mets think this is some sort of cliff scaling exercise or they are merely looking for yet another way to get rid of the contract of a pretty good player!

              I prefer to think the former as it is a common misunderstanding.

              There probably already IS a negligent injury not due to baseball clause in his contract that they merely reminded Dickey of.

              It didn’t need a letter all it really needed was a phone call to remind him it was there in his contract!

              And considering the fact if he dies on the mountain his contract would be voided anyway I just don’t see the point in sending it and making a story out of this!

              My feeling is if they were so worried about having good players available next season they should have worked harder on getting MORE than just Dickey to rely on!

  • Can that Anaconda pitch?

  • Too bad that anaconda wasn’t a Mets fan. Not that I want those guys to get physically hurt, but I’d love to see the Phillies and Halladay get snakebit in 2012.

    • Yeah but maybe they’ll get “squuezed” a little bit in 2012.

  • Can’t compare the Halliday situation to that of R.A. An accident that could occur under conditions out of one’s control differers from one in which the individual willingly indulges in activities placing at risk the services he was contracted to do. Remember Aaron Boone and the stipulation in his contract that he not play basketball? Aaron still went ahead and injured himself, thus nullifying the contractual obligations. Even if the risk is minimal, one can understand the Mets taking this precaution. And it goes both ways. Agents insist on certain contract clauses to protect their clients interests as well.

    This was probably the only smart business move the Wilpons have made in a long, long time. :)

  • I missed the story the where the Mets stopped Dickey.

    • How much do the Mets pay you for your servitude donal? Tell them they could save that money…you don’t help them

  • At first, I saw the headline and I thought I was on “The Onion”…
    hahaha!

  • I think we should find out EXACTLY where they were in the Amazon and maybe get a trip together for Bay, Jeffy, Fred, and Uncle Saul.

  • JLo and Ice Cube could not reached for comment

    • I actually LOL’d at this

      • I’m glad someone got the reference.

  • Why do I have the feeling that if Halladay were a Met he would have arrived jusssst a few seconds to late to have helped the boy.

    • If Halladay were a Met, he’d be too busy rehabbing from shoulder surgery to go fishing in the Amazon.

  • I still have not seen anything that remotely speculates that the Rockies issued a similar warning to Slowey.

    If they have, the difference we have here is RA is on the Mets and currently the media lives to pick apart all things NY Mets.

    If the Rockies haven’t, then you have to wonder….

  • METSIE, FOR SOME REASON THE REPLY BUTTON ON YOUR SNY COMMENT VIS-A-VIS RECOUPING INVESTMENT LOSS @ .50 PER SO I’M FORCED TO ASK THIS IN A FREE FLOATER COMMENT RATHER THAN ATTACHED TO YOUR QUITE INCITEFUL NETWORK INVESTMENTVIEWPOINT, IN LIEU OF THE FACT U SEEM TO POSSESS A KNOWLEDGE LEVEL ON CABLE NETWORK PROGRAMMING THAT IS CONSIDERABLY DEEPER THAN MOST, PERHAPS U CAN ANSWER SOMETHING ABOUT SNY AVAILABILITY THAT’S BEEN NAGGING @ ME FOR THE PAST 3 YRS I’VE RECEIVED IT OVER DIRECTV HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA; SINCE IT APPEARS DIRECTV HAS THE MKT CORNERED WITH EXCLUSIVE SNY AVAILABILITY TO “OUT OF REGIONAL MARKET” SUNSCRIPTIONS WHY IS IT THAT THE MOST POIGNANT, JUICIEST PROGRAMS SCHEDULED ie NOSTALGIC MET’S YEARBOOKS & NETWORK SPECIALS ARE UNAVAILABLE TO OUT OF LOCAL MKT SUBSCRIBERS? YET WE HAVE FULL ACCESS TO ALL THE RELATIVELY BORING ‘BEER MONIES’ & BROADWAY BOXING PALOOKAS WE’D EVER POSSIBLY DESIRE; BUT BE IT A SEAVER MET CAREER REVELRIE OR A D.WRIGHT HIGHSCHOOL REVIEW, OUT OF MKT “PAID” SUBSCRIBERS ARE LOCKED OUT. IN LIGHT OF THE NEED FOR ADDITIUONAL SUCH SUBSCRIPTIONS TO CREATE MORE ‘SNY DEMAND’ THE DESIRABILITY OF THE NETWORK TO POTENTIAL OUT OF MKT VIEWERS IS SEVERELY RESTRICTED BY THIS PROGRAMMING DECISION!

    TO ME, A NOVICE IN CABLE PROGRAMMING RULES, THIS APPEARS TO BE A DECISION THAT WOULD LESSEN POTENTIAL DEMAND FOR NETWORK RECEPTION
    AND NOT ONE MADE TO MAXIMIZE DESIRABILITY.

    METSIE, USING YOUR EDUCATED INCITE WHY WOULD SNY EXCLUDE AN ENTIRE CONSUMER BASE FROM IT’S MOST DESIREABLE PROGRAMMING?

    • METSIE, IN ADDITION TO ALL U’VE LAID OUT AS TO HOW RESTRICTED STERLING IS IN THEIR FLEXIBILITY TO ADJUST FINANCIAL ALLOCATIONS; FEW EVER POINT OUT HOW ONE OF THE FRANCHISE’S MORE LUCRATIVE SOURSE FOR INCOME IS ALSO TARGETED IN AN INFLEXIBLE MANNER ie 400M NAMING RIGHTS AGREEMENT AS IT APPEARS CITI HAS INSURED THEMSELVES OF A RIGHT HIP POCKET TO LEFT HIP POCKET CASH FLOW AS THE 20M ANNUAL ‘FEE’ IS MARKED SOLELY FOR BALLPARK USES INTENTIALLY ENSURING THE MONIES RETURN TO THEM IN FORM OF MORTGAGE PAYMENTS OR “FIXED ASET IMPROVEMENTS,MAINTENANCE NOT IMPROVING ON FIELD PRODUCT PERFORMANCE UPGRADES(PLAYERS)

      • Well if I had to guess those NAMING RIGHTS were part of the prospectus used to lure investment and loans for the stadium.
        So that money would either have to go towards paying back loans/investors or imrpoving the stadium value in some way so that the investors debtors get some benefit from it.

        While it might seem reasonable that investing that money in the team would do that I am sure they are considered different business’ from each other and an improvement in the team does not really mean an improvement to the property itself. Just means quicker profitability for the same property value.

        But I don’t proclaim to know the intimate details of their corporate structure and how they have all their business’ aligned.

    • So your not getting the yearbooks and some other Met Specials down in NC?
      What do you see instead? That would offer some clues to the reason for it!

      I can’t say I know the actual reason for that to happen but I can tell you why it MIGHT happen.

      In a general TV broadcast sense it is usually due to broadcast rights limitations. Broadcast rights are usually sold in two ways, Local re-Broadcast and National. The Local Rights would usually win the day in any conflict in those cases as protection for the “Little Guy” from the big National Networks buying all the same programming and putting them out of business.

      There used to be a time (not sure if it still happens) when TBS used to be blocked out from showing the Braves games in NY (TBS would show a blackout slide) whenever they were playing the Mets on WPIX.

      In those cases the Cable Carrier would do the blocking for the Network in the regions where they were not permitted to broadcast and let you see them in places where there was no conflict. It was easy because all the Cable Companies are really just local networks that take their feed from the national cable company plus whatever local channel fare they carry.

      DirectTV doesn’t really have that capability since Two Satellites (maybe more now) serve the entire east coast and/or much more than just the NYC Area.

      If I had to take a guess as to why your not getting those Yearbooks and Specials it most likely is that SNY does not OWN that content outright and instead are contractually limited to LOCAL NY broadcast only in their syndication deal. Probably because when they bought the rights to it they did not think about their DirectTV distribution or perhaps it cost too much to buy the national broadcast rights. I’m sure they just scrambled to buy as much content as they could to start and fill the broadcast day and maybe did not think fully about the eventual National limitations of what they were buying at the time!
      I’m not sure who produced those yearbooks and specials but I would guess either Cablevision/WOR/WPIX or some outside entity who SNY has to buy rights from to show it.

      Everything on DirectTV must conform to National Broadcast right standards due to the nature of thier distribution so My guess would be that is why SOME programming is blacked out on DirecTV

      And because of that it is highly likely that SNY has a Local Feed and a National Feed that they send out. Just as HBO, NBC and other networks have an east coast west coast feeds for different areas SNY probably has one for NY and one for everyone else.

      So basically the stuff you own is permitted to be broadcast anywhere you want but the stuff you don’t own is limited contractually under your Syndication agreement.
      Thats the most likely reason.

      It could be also that SNY is set up to run as a National Network with Local Affiliates like an NBC is. And those programs are considered LOCAL INSERTION programming like the local news is. An Affiliate in NC would show you their local news while the local NBC news would be shown in NY. The National in those cases essentially goes off the air and the local affiliate takes over the programming.

      Since this system is usually reserved for Over the Air broadcasts only I doubt highly that is the case here though.
      Best explanation I think is the lack of national broadcast rights on those Yearbooks and Specials.
      But I don’t actually work for SNY and I can’t be precise in how their broadcast is set up on the National level or how their programming is acquired or from who.

      • METSIE, UI APPRECIATE YOUR ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE YRBOOKS QUESTION; HOWEVER PURE SNY CREATED SPECIALS i.e. THE DAVID WRIGHT HIGH SCHOOL SPECIAL & THE “ACES” SPECIAL FEATURING BOTH SEAVER & SANTANA BEING INTERVIEWED WERE BOTH “BLACKED-OUT” HERE DESPITE MY PAYIONG A CONSIDERABLE FEE TO GET SNY AMONG THE MISCELLANEOUS SPORTS PR5OGRAMING CHANNELS SUCH AS THE REFIONAL FOX SPORTS PROGRAMMING, SPORTS-SOUTH, MASN, NESN.

        (BTW, TO SEE THE SEAVER/SANTANA BROADCAST, I HAD TO GET MY DAUGHTER TO “TAPE” IT 4 ME THEM MAIL ME THE TAPE)

        AS TO WHAT I GET INSTEAD IT’S A BLUE SCREEN WITH A NOTIFICATION BOX IN THE BOTTOM R-HAND CORNER INFORMING ME THE PROGRAM IS UNAVAILABLE IN MY REGION.
        UNFORTUNTELY JUST AS IN TOO MANY JEFF WILPON CONTROEDL AREAS THE VIABILITY OF “NOT THINKING THINGS THROUGH” & NOT CONSIDERING ALL RAMIFICATIONS IS ALL TOO OFTEN THE MOST VIABLE “CAUSE” TO THE LATEST ADEVERSE EFFECT; BU,OBVIOUSLYT UPPER EXECUTIVE ECHELON PROCESSIES SUCH AS PLANNING ABSTRACTLY WAS NOT AN IMPOORTANT CURRICULUM CRITERIA @ GOOD OLE PALM BEACH CC SINCE SO FEW CHIEF EXECUTIVES RELY SOLELY UPON THE LESSONS LEARNED WHILE ATTAINING THEIR ASSOCIATES DEGREE IN AN UNNAMED MAJOR

        • If I had to guess it is an MLB or MLB Network thing that is causing it.
          Either they claim rights to content about baseball that uses players and their highlights (MLB)
          Or they produced those things in conjunction with the MLB network and MLBN owns the national rights to show that.
          My guess is the former not the latter.
          Sad that you should have to pay for a commerical TV station. But sadly My industry is starting to eat itself out of house and home! Literally out of homes!
          at $150-$200 per month for the average cable bill, people are flocking to things like Hulu and Netflix (when they too aren’t shooting themselves in the foot!) to get their programming!
          What makes it so high are all these commercial networks trying to double dip and demand per subscriber fees from the carrier. Those charges are made based on ALL people on the system not just the ones who want it or subscribe to that network.
          Look at the current issue between Time Warner and MSG/NFL Network. Both are commercial networks who also want a premium per subscriber because they have sports programming they can hold people hostage over. They all want what ESPN gets! But they want a charge AND be a free basic channel to keep the ad revenue high. Double dipping and we consumers are the ones getting dipped in turd!
          I could lose clients for even suggesting this but CONgress (Opposite of PROgress) needs to pass a law that says if you show commercials you can not also ask for a per subscriber fee but get “MUST CARRY” status for the price (to the network) for initial channel infrastructure.
          They will make more money for their commercials since they will be on more systems and if they want a subscriber fee then it should be ala cart subscriptions where they only make the money based on people who subscribe. (Like You).
          Then only people who want to pay for a network actually do pay.
          Unfortunatly the Politicos will NEVER do anything to really PO these Media companies who they need to get elected.
          Well sorry for the rant there but I see my Industry ruining itself over it’s own greed!
          Speaking of which I will be scarce for the next few weeks as I’m off to Vegas to engineer for the Miss America pageant and then going back to Tulsa for a Studio build there.
          So if I seem MIA you know why!
          I will try and ask some friends I know at SNY why it is that you get blacked out and let you know when I get back.

          • THANKS, METSIE, YOU’RE A CLASS GUY.

            ON DIFFERENT TOPIC; BUT RELATED, I’M LIKELY ONE OF THE FEW WHOSE 2012 RECEPTION EXPENSE WILL DEC REASE SIGNIFICANTLY FROM 2011 AS I’VE MADE AN EXECUTIVE DECISION NOT TO PONY UP THE COUPLE OF HUNDRED CLAMS FOR THE BASEBALL PKG THIS YR SINCE I’VE ALEWAYS BEEN MUCH MORE OF A NYM FAN THAN A MLB GENERALIST FAN I CA N THINK OF NO VIEWING MORE EXCITING THAN A MET GAME TRO WATCH WHILE TEAM WAS XIABLE; YET NOTHING AS BORUING TO WAtch thaN A BASEBALL GAME BETWEN TEAMS UI CARE ZERO ABOUT ie KC Vs SEATLE IS ONE I MAY SLIT MY WRISTS OUT OF BOREDOM ON IT’S PURELY A PHENOMENON OF MY UPBRINGING AS A PUREBRED HOMIE

            WHILE I KNOW PURISTS WILL ADAMENTLY STATE THE BEAUTY OF A PERFECTLY TURNED DOUBLEPLAY IS WORTH ADMIRATION, IT’S A DEFINITE “FLAW” IN MY PERSONALITY THAT, I COULDN’T CARE LESS IF I DON’T HAVE A DOG IN THE HUNT.

            I ALSO REFUSE TO ACTUALLY BE CHARGED A TARRIFF TO WATCH MY FAVORITE TEAM DELIBERATELY SC UFFLE TO STAY ABOVE .500 IF WILPONS DON’T CARE WHY SHOUILD I?
            I SEE IT AS TO WHY A DEMOLITION DERBY IS LESS FAN ATTRACTIVE THAN A DAYTONA 500. AS SUCH THEY’LL CERTAINLY HAVE LESS OF MY MONEY TO SPEND WITH MY WIFE GETTING THAT WELL DESERVED HONOR INSTEAD
            PERHAPS I’LL GET TO SAVOR THOSE MUCH FEWER OPORTUNITIES FOR DISAPPOINTMENT BEING AVAILABLE TO ME VIA BRAVES TELECASTS, MLB-NETWORK & ESPN.

            MORE THAN LIKELY I’LL BELESS VISABLE ON THESE BOARDS BECAUSE OF MY LACK OF FIRSTHAND OBSERVATIONS & I’M MUCH LESS INCLINED TO BECOME FULLY INVOLVED RELIANT UPON STATISTICAL DATA INSTEAD OF PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS; BUT REST ASSURED AS SOON AS THIS CURRENT “WITHDRAWN TO LOSE TREND” RUNS IT’S COURSE & PETERS OUT I’LL BE BACK WITYH A VENGEANCE THE MOMENT THE FRONTOFFICE PREFERS TO PARTICIPATE IN IMPROVING INSTEAD OF SHOWING UP TO SIMPLY MOUTH THE WORDS. 50 YRS OF OWNERSHIP BLUNDERS BE IT PAYSON,DeROULETTE, WILPON IS MY SATURATION POINT

  • T, IT ONLY APPEARS AS IF EVERY NYM & STERLING ENTERPRISES BOARD MEMBER IS EITHER A KATZ-WILPON OR WILPON-KATZ; HOWEVER ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LISTING OF STERLING BOARD MEMBERS;
    THOMAS OSTERMAN- EXEC V.P.
    ARTHUR FRIEDMAN – Sr VP
    MARVIN TEPPER – PARTNER
    ALL SEEM TO HAVE ESCAPED HAVING THIR GENETICS SULLIED BY THE INCESTUOUS SNAKE-BALL
    SEE:http://www.sterlingequities.com/about/leadership.php

    I’VE LONG HELD THE OPINION THAT A LACK OF DIVERSE BUSINESS BACKGROUND & INCOME RESOURCES HAS BEEN A BANE ON THE “HOUSE OF STERLING-NY METS

Recent Comments

MMO Mets Chat

Need Tickets To The Mets Game?

Check Out These Great MLB Links!

For wholesale prices on New York Mets gifts and equipment, check these stores out!
Mets Autograph Signings
Mets Fan Apparel
Mets Autographed Baseballs
Baseball Card Supplies
Baseball Equipment
For the best seats and lowest MLB ticket prices, go to PurchaseSeats.com. Get your Mets Tickets now and follow them on the road with Yankees Tickets, Phillies Tickets, Nationals Tickets and Braves Tickets!

Photographs From Gordon Donovan

Advertisement

Advertisement

Google+