I was getting ready to write about Dish Network dropping the various Comcast SportsNets (Bay Area, California, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington). As I did a cursory check to see if there was anything new, I saw a new page when I went to the IWANTCSNBA.com website:
IWANTCSNBA.com page accessed at 8:45 PM PT
A check of the sites for CSN California and CSN Chicago produced the same results. NBC Sports is negotiating the channels as a package, though with different monthly subscriber fees for each.
So I suppose cooler heads have prevailed for now. There has been no official statement from either Comcast or Dish regarding the previous impasse, nor an indicator of whether there has been any legitimate progress. Dish covers approximately 500,000 households throughout Northern California, and while it generally appeals to many who prefer not to pay excessively for sports – especially potential cordcutters – many fans of the Warriors have recently expressed their displeasure at the possible CSNBA drop by Dish. CSNCA, which carries the A’s and Sharks, would also be affected.
The satellite provider has told some customers that the extension would run another three weeks. Dish and CBS reached a similar extension before Thanksgiving over the carriage of CBS-owned local stations, including San Francisco’s KPIX-5 and Los Angeles’ KCBS-2.
newballpark.org 
OT R.M., but perhaps it’s time for you to address (again) all the idiots (see Scott Ostler) claiming Wolff/Fisher are making loads of “profit” and are being cheap re keeping players. It’s all very simple: allow the A’s to build a new ballpark in $an Jo$e and Donaldson-like stories are no more…
ML, I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the Ostler piece “Hope Isn’t Budgeted in A’s Bottom Line.” I know there are many diehards on this site who will root for the A’s for eternity, no matter how many of their favorite players get traded. I used to have such pride in being an A’s supporter and gradually Billy Beane and the current ownership wore away at my fan-thusiasm. This has little to do with the desire of the ownership group to move out of Oakland. Many fans I know feel like the A’s have become akin to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team (except without the titles in recent years). No real talent stays for too long–they’re off to something/somewhere bigger and better where they’ll be paid. Perhaps attendance and ratings data won’t back me up, but the revolving door of players appears to have had a negative impact on the fans in the middle–those who fall in between “green-and-gold season ticket diehards” and the “super casual” fans who watch less than 10 games a year on TV or in person. While the Raiders, 49ers, Warriors, and Giants owners certainly have their faults, I don’t doubt their desire to field a winning team. With the A’s, I think many in the Bay Area wonder if winning is actually important to Fisher and Wolff. Even if the A’s do build a new stadium in the Bay Area in the near future, this ownership will be viewed skeptically. They have burned too many bridges.
The A’s have made the playoffs 8 out of 17 years since BB took over as GM – calling that “not dedicated to winning” is nuts. Ostler is a 100% giants homer (you also must be – since most A’s fans are aware of that Ostler is a Giants homer) Considering Ostler can be an objective source about the A’s is silly. If you giants fans don’t like the A’s – you have an option: follow the giants and mind your own business
All of this is off-topic, but I frequently see Facebook posts from people who expect the A’s owners to lose money running the team. We find out about John Fischer’s net worth, etc. If the A’s only generate $100 million in revenue and it takes $150 million to field a team that can win the World Series, these fans expect Wolff and Fischer to withdraw $50 million from their personal bank accounts to make up the difference.
@ pjk definitely – spending 1 bil. for a new stadium (out of their own pocket) is lots of dough – even for a billionaire) Also, the A’s don’t receive the $150- $330 mil. annually media rights deals that the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, etc. receive. – and cannot spend $20 mil. up and up annually for high priced FAs – as those teams can. The criticism that the A’s and BB (from mostly giants fans) receive is ridiculous.
I’m NOT a Giants homer, duffer. I’m an A’s fan who has had enough of Beane’s lack of loyalty and the ownership’s crying poor. Do you enjoy seeing every player you have a rooting interest in traded away? You probably are one of those stat geeks who only cares about the mathematics of baseball and has no passion for individual players. You know why I became a rabid A’s fan as a child? Because of Rickey, Eck, and Stew. Guys from the East Bay who played for the local team and who stuck around for many years and weren’t traded away as soon as they got a little pricey. Talk all the smack you want about Scott Ostler but his column today rings true for many an A’s fan. Simply making the playoffs is not the hallmark of a great organization. We have won ONE playoff series in the Beane era. Instead of pushing ahead, we rebuild. Ten years from now will ML still be running this blog and talking about rumors for a new stadium? Will the A’s go deep in the playoffs? Will Eric Chavez’s $66 million contract still be the largest handed out in team history?
@stomper – when the team makes the playoffs 8 out of 17 years (way better than most MLB teams including the Giants) arguing that the A’s are not dedicated to winning is lunacy. Besides, the Giants have been lucky – they had no business winning the 2014 or 2012 WS. Many teams, including the A’s have been a more rounded, better team that the giants. Give the giants credit for their outstanding bullpen and incredibly luck. – little else though. 88-74 W-L in the inferior NL (when 9 of the 15 NL teams finished under ,500 – and 6 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West – is not impressive. Keep in mind that it’s estimated that a typical triple A team would win 50-55 games in playing a 162 MLB schedule. Theoretically a .500 team (or even a triple A team )could get enough lucky bounces, and get hot at the right time and win the WS. (this is what likely occured wit the Giants. Claiming that the Giants are more dedicated to winning than the A’s because they won a few lucky WS titles is incorrect.
It’s more than just money. Free agents don’t want to play in crappy facilities for a small market team with little to no national exposure. For example the A’s supposedly offered Adrian Beltre more than any other team and he said no.
Because it’s harder for the A’s to fill in gaps in their roster via free agency they have to take a different approach.
Building from within can be a crap shoot. Sure you can get some superstars this way but it’s next to impossible to time things right to have enough good young players peeking at the right time to win. This is why you have teams like the Pirates and Royals that were bad for so long.
The A’s are following a different script that seems to value long term potential in quantity over short term quality. It just increases the odds that they’ll get the right mix.
@duffer. You’re making all us A’s fans look ignorant when you say the Giants World Series titles are lucky. They have an incredible manager, loads of talent, and they play like a real team. To Billy Beane, chemistry is not quantifiable in a spreadsheet, so he puts no value into keeping a team together. To argue that the A’s have been the better team over the last 15 years in the real lunacy. Giants have been to 4 World Series and have won 3. A’s have a playoff series record of 1-8, including the WC game.
Also, Stomper – are you sure you aren’t a Giants fan pretending to be an A’s fan? Most A’s fans aren’t so complimentary about the Giants – And outside of SF – the giants are not well liked. With an ESPN poll (with over 80,000 responses – quite a few) 81% of the fans were rooting for the Royals over the Giants. Even in California – 60% were rooting for the Royals, evidently, the Giants are not well received even in their home state.
@Stomper – luck is the only explanation for the giants – or that Bochy is an excellent hypnotist and hypnotizes each of their players before each playoff game and convinces them that the Giants are all time best MLB team.
When the A’s have been to the playoffs 8 out of 17 years since Beane took over ( also working with a lower tier budget) – blaming BB for anything and claiming that the A’s are not dedicated to winning is nuts.
@duffer – We’ll agree to disagree. I am truly an A’s fan and I have been my entire life, but I respect the Giants’ success in recent years. Unlike some fans, I can actually give respect where it’s due. The Giants are a very well run organization and that’s not really debatable. It’s only disputed if you’re looking at them through green and gold tinted lenses with blinders on…If you’re not a true Giants fan, obviously you were rooting for an underdog story like the out-of-nowhere Royals this WS and you don’t want a team other than your own to be solidified as a dynasty with 3 championships in 5 years…I guess Beane can do no wrong in your eyes as long as the A’s have a winning regular season record. It sounds like you’re not bitter at all that we’ve traded away all our exciting players. I wouldn’t advise you to buy your kid a Billy Butler or Josh Lawrie jersey–we know they won’t be here for long!