When my husband and I first decided to go cable-free, we knew from the start that it was only going to be temporary. The reason? Baseball.
There's no doubt that the Internet has a vast and diverse array of content to offer any viewer, no matter what your interest may be. But when it comes to live sports, the Web still plays second fiddle to TV and radio. There are websites and services offering streaming live sporting events, but for those of us who need assurances that we will be able to watch all 162 Yankee games, the Internet can't compete with good old-fashioned television.
Yes, I'm a Yankees fan. In my defense, it couldn't be helped _ I challenge anyone who marries into a family of die-hard Yankees fans to buck the tide. It would be an understatement to say I was not a baseball fan until I met my husband. To be more precise, my knowledge of baseball was limited to what I learned on the grade-school playing field, where concepts such as the infield fly rule and the designated hitter were not part of our vocabulary.
This wasn't rare, growing up in Oregon. While there are a few minor-league teams scattered around the state, Oregonians focus more on the ups and downs of the Portland Trailblazers and the football rivalry between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University than they do on baseball. But upon becoming a New Yorker just before the 2001 World Series, I found myself drawn to baseball.
As we stayed up late watching the Yankees play the Arizona Diamondbacks, my husband patiently explained the finer points of the game. He taught me how to watch the pitcher instead of waiting around for a hit _ a point that proved especially salient as Arizona pitchers Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson combined for 38.2 innings over the seven-game series. That World Series _ arguably one of the finest of recent years _ was enough to get me hooked on baseball.
So when we contemplated a future without cable, we looked at alternate means of watching or listening to Yankees games we love so much. The first avenue we explored was MLB.com's various offerings, which range from streaming audio broadcasts to high-definition streaming video. The biggest problem? Blackouts. If we wanted to watch every Dodgers game, it would be no problem, but because of baseball's blackout rules, MLB.com says that Yankees (and Mets) games will be subject to blackout in the Oneonta area.
Nevertheless, we were curious enough to give it a shot. We watched some of the sample games MLB.com had on their site as representatives of the various quality levels subscribers could access. They were definitely watchable on the relatively small screen of the computer, but when blown up to TV size, even the high-quality video didn't look too hot to me. I tried to envision watching a whole season of baseball like that _ or, as much as Major League Baseball would allow me to watch in between the blackouts _ and I just couldn't face it.
MLB.com offers a less-expensive option of radio broadcasts, which aren't subject to the same blackout restrictions. While I do enjoy listening to games on the radio, I don't enjoy it as much as watching. Radio announcers can make routine plays sound as exciting as a World Series walk-off, but that's no substitute for watching Joba Chamberlin's screams of victory after striking out the side, or catching a glimpse of Robinson Cano clowning around in the dugout.
There are a few other ways _ some legal, some less so _ to finagle your way to seeing blacked-out games online, but I'd rather not mess with that. Thus, as the spring training countdown begins (T minus 12 days and counting until pitchers and catchers report), my cable-free existence is drawing to a close.
Daily Star Community Editor Emily Popek is chronicling her cable-free lifestyle in "TV 2.0," a weekly column.
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