MLB.tv Suks

Two outs, bottom of the ninth, we are leading by a run, Capps has a 3-2 count on their cleanup hitter and..

.. my MLB.tv screen goes black.

This happens all the time.

My cable company's phone service via the Internet doesn't break as often as I get booted from a live MLB.tv game, so what the heck is MLBAM's problem and why in the world can't they get it straightened out?

At first I thought it was connectivity issues between my office's six-meg connection and BAM's distribution servers. That turned out to be the case only twice in 42 dumps from MLB.tv I've had just in the second half. To be fair, connectivity can clear up in an instant so perhaps it was more often than that along the way - but my traceroutes never found that to be the case.

Then I started seeing routine problems with BAM's login servers that required ridiculous wait times, they failed DNS requests, and at times the login server wasn't even online to answer like they only had a one-way connection to one login server and it was being booted or something. (perhaps firewall issues?)

Other times the distribution servers that handle the streams just dropped the feed as if they were needing to switch from one archive drive to another or something. One minute you are watching the game and the next minute your screen goes blank and the stream stops. That happens a lot.

And other times it seems it is being done on purpose - especially those times when a second before the big pitch the feed drops. Man, that's the most frustrating thing to have happen - and the timing is what bothers me the most. Sure, it's a coincidence, but it still makes you wonder if some other team's fan in the BAM distribution room loves teasing Pirates fans. LoL

In Tuesday's game, one of the many drops happened with Bay at the plate in the 9th with the Pirates down a run. When I was able to finally reconnect, the game was over. Ugghh...

Go to MLB.tv and replay the feed and it's perfect because it's an archived stream straight from the ballpark and before we see it encoded. But watch a live Pirates game and there is a 3-2 chance your going to get dumped at least once during the feed.

At $119, or 77 cents per available game, that suks.

If I was a computer novice I would chock it all up to my own problems, but I streamed live video of one of the state's Supreme Court hearings in the mid 90's so I've been around the corner a few times with the technology so that's why I'm speaking out. It can be a better product.. it should be better.

And have you tried to watch Gameday lately? It's a joke.. for example, they had a Comcast advertisement running in the bottom right hand corner of the product featuring an orange butterfly flapping his wings like he's on steroids. And no, the flapping never stopped. It's the most annoying thing I've ever seen. You can be sure I'll never buy anything with Comcast's name on it. LoL

God forbid you load memory hog Mosaic. It took over my computer and I immediately removed it.

As much money as MLBAM has flowing into it's pockets, they can afford to go hire competent professionals that have a clue to get all this under control. Forcing us to pay big money while BAM seemingly beta tests on us - much like they did with the late rollout of Mosaic this year - is really demeaning.

But for now, I recommend paying as little as possible for MLB.tv's Pirates games because the heartaches just aren't worth it. Plus, I openly wonder if fans in the larger markets are even having the same problems?

I WANT to be a good boy in the MLB family with my little blog here and all, and I am pleased at how MLB's services have evolved, but sometimes they need a fire put under them because they are stalled. The MLB.tv offering is one area they have stalled in.

If you have a high speed connection, you can watch this video that shows a few of my frustrations.