Giving up on DirecTV sports packages

I've subscribed to DirecTV's NFL and NBA season passes the past few years, but I won't do it again. The leagues, or the franchise owners, have gotten too greedy. Couldn't watch the Giants-Eagles game yesterday because it was blacked out here -- 3,000 miles away -- due to its being shown on a pay-per-view Fox sports channel. Can't watch the Mavericks-Kings game tonight because it's being shown on a pay-per-view Comcast channel. That never seemed to happen in years past. You subscribe to a league, and you expect to see the games -- without ponying up even more.

A's, 49ers heading to the Valley?

I live on the northern tip of Silicon Valley, which has never had a professional sports team. But now there's a chance the Valley may snag two teams: the San Francisco Giants 49ers are negotiating with Santa Clara, and the Oakland A's are flirting with Fremont, the town to the immediate south.

The lead story in today's San Jose Mercury News was: A's unveil field of tech dreams. 'Ballpark of the Future': Personalized fan experience.  Interesting piece.

Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff on Tuesday unveiled his long-awaited plan to build the baseball park of the future in Fremont, promising high-tech gadgetry for fans and an economic boost for Silicon Valley.

But Wolff kept silent on his plan to finance the $400 million to $500 million price tag for ``Cisco Field'' and his vision for the rest of the adjoining ``ballpark village'' housing and retail development. While the deal hinges largely on a complex private development plan, Wolff didn't rule out asking for some form of public help.

``We're going to make this work,'' Wolff declared at a packed news conference, flanked by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers.

The San Jose-based networking giant would pay $4 million annually for the stadium naming rights, and the company would sell a 143-acre Fremont parcel it now controls to the A's for an undisclosed price.

The new ballpark is not likely to open until 2011, at the earliest. Wolff and Chambers promised it would be the most technologically advanced sports facility in the country, filled with Cisco networking equipment that could allow fans to order up everything from concessions to instant replay at their seats. ...

Rutgers wins showdown

13th-ranked Rutgers (my alma mater) is now 9-0 after beating 3rd-ranked Louisville in football tonight. The last time the Scarlet Knights went undefeated was when I attended, many moons ago. (And, no, I didn't play for them.)

Cardinals win, but the celebration will be short

Too bad the Cardinals beat New York tonight in Game 7. They stand no chance against the Tigers in the World Series. Gutsy performance by the Mets. No other team could have lost three starting players and come this far.

Do the math

Once upon a time I was a newspaper slot editor. From the That Does Not Compute Dept. comes this story from Thursday's New York Times:

Reyes came into the game 8 for 35 (.229) in the postseason, but he went 3 for 4 to raise his average to .333. 

11 for 39 would be an average of .282.

The new Amazin' Mets

Wow, it's finally good to be a New York Mets fan again. (Haven't wavered since I was 10.) Sure, there was the brief flirt with glory when they went to the 2000 World Series. But this Mets team -- 6-1 after Pedro's win tonight -- looks formidable. As the Washington Nationals play-by-play announcer said tonight, "They look like they're doing everything right right now. They're hitting better than anybody else [.312 BA], they're pitching better than anybody else [leading the league at 2.95 ERA], they're playing outstanding defense, plus they have that outstanding speed element. I just don't see a chink in their armor."

I haven't seen a Mets team this good since 20 years ago, when the '86 team went 108-54 and won the division by 21½ games (before winning the Bucky Dent World Series by a stroke of fate). They won't win quite that many games this year, but they could come close.

Bonds' steroid use detailed

SFGate: Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters have chronicled what almost all of us pretty much knew all along: Barry Bonds has been using steroids for many years. The report says Bonds began using steroids after the 1998 season.

Podcast: Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams talk about their new book. Plus, how Bonds' stats improved.

When Bonds breaks Babe Ruth's 714 home-run mark this year, it will not just warrant an asterisk. It will be irrelevant. He cheated -- big-time. No wonder he's been so surly with the press and with the fans.

Oh, Lindsey!

Oh, Lindsey! (Photo by Getty Images)

The 2006 Olympics so far

I've been an Olympics junkie -- both Summer and Winter Games -- from an early age. Don't quite remember Peggy Fleming, but certainly the names Eric Heiden, Katarina Witt, Bonnie Blair, Alberto Tomba, Ingemar Stenmark, Kristi Yamaguchi, Peekaboo Street, Brian Boitano, Bonnie Blair, Dan Jansen and Mike Eruzione (of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team) roll off the tongue.

I'm getting my fill of the NBC network's 416 or so hours of the 2006 Games, and having a TiVo makes the experience infinitely better. It was only eight years ago that I was still fiddling with stacks of VHS tapes.

So far, it's been a less than stellar Olympics for the Americans, with Bode Miller, Daron Rahlves and Apolo Ohno failing to medal and Michelle Kwan withdrawing. Shaun Miller (photo by Mark Duncan of the AP above) all but made up for it with his personality and incomparable skill on the snowboard. In the end, though, nationality is less important than competitive spirit.

Here's a great photo essay of the snowboarding finals by the LA Times.

I'll be traveling to Italy for the first time this May on a long-delayed vacation -- to Tuscany, not Turin (or Torino). But it will be magical all the same. Now I just have to figure out how to store the hundreds of digital photos I'll no doubt take.

Sports Media Watch

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