This weekend, Virginia faced off against Georgia Tech in a great three-game series in Atlanta, Ga. But, unless you were at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, you couldn’t have enjoyed the pair of dramatic ninth-inning performances Saturday, or any of the action Sunday. Even if you have access to every television channel known to man, high-speed wireless internet and great reception on all Charlottesville radio stations, you still couldn’t get your dose of Virginia baseball without paying a hefty sum.
Comcast SportsNet carries some college baseball games on television, but it spreads the wealth amongst top-tier teams and barely covers Virginia baseball. Similarly, Raycom Sports shows a game every now and then but also doesn’t focus on one particular team. Other regional channels across the country, like FOX Sports channels, sometimes broadcast games, but not many. You see, there’s a trend here, and it’s one that is national in scope: It’s hard to watch college baseball on television.
But there are other good options, right? Wrong. Friday’s game was supposed to be webcast by ACC Select, which never seems to work. It costs either $5.95 per game, $12.95 a month, $29.95 for the spring or $99.95 for the year. In other words, it’s not cheap. And it barely ever works. ACC Select is widely criticized as inferior technology to what’s used by ESPN360, MLB.TV and March Madness on Demand. And yet, it’s usually the only option ACC fans have to see games that aren’t on television — not that most of the games are covered. Or that it usually works. So, as you can tell, it’s very difficult to watch ACC baseball, even on the computer.
Well, that’s not so bad, if you can listen to games on the radio, right? True, but you can’t do that, either. The Virginia athletics Web site carries a feature called VPass, which streams audio broadcasts of games on the Internet. It wouldn’t be so bad, except for the price tag: The service is $44.95 for the year. Again, it’s not cheap. Plus, it’s very restrictive for only being an audio broadcast. I could understand staying inside to watch the game, but if the only option is listening, it’s more fun to be able to hear the action while driving in your car or hanging out outside, especially when the weather is as nice as it has been in Charlottesville.
The University should recognize the plight of its fans and find a way to broadcast all baseball games on the radio. It’s cheaper than television and easy enough to do, but it’s enough of a step to please many fans out there who otherwise can’t enjoy Cavalier baseball. All of the school’s football and men’s basketball games can be found live on the airwaves, but that is not the case for baseball. I’m sure there are radio stations that would rather carry Virginia games during the week than some pointless talk shows or hours of the same music they play all week long. And, I’m sure there are capable broadcasters out there that would do play-by-play and color commentary on Cavalier baseball. And, I’m sure the school can make money on the deal.
Powers that be, I ask you this: Whatever happened to being outside during a beautiful Sunday afternoon, grilling burgers and dogs and listening to baseball on the radio? Nobody wants to drag his or her laptop outside and pray for wireless Internet to listen to the game outside. And, students can’t afford to pay the hefty price for the online broadcast of the games in the first place. Come on, Virginia. Help out your die-hard baseball fans. Prove that you are the best school in the ACC and start broadcasting all your baseball games free on the radio.
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