We live in a sports void … seriously we do

These days in Pahrump we live in a sports void called Southern Nevada. We are on the border of California, where there are five major league baseball teams, four NFL teams (soon to be three) and a boatload of college teams in every sport. Not to mention, the NBA and NHL teams available. But here the pickings are few and far between.

Things are looking up because we now have two professional teams in the void, but in major league baseball, we only have a minor league team, the Las Vegas 51s.

To make matters worse, if you try to follow your favorite team and they just happen to be a California team, you will find out that you are blocked from seeing those games, not by Major League Baseball but by the teams. I found this out the hard way.

Technology is taking me down memory lane

With all the dang technology you would think that it would be getting better, but instead, it is just the opposite.

I was trying to set up an account with MLB to view all the games. My sister is a bit more tech-savvy than me and she told me that MLB can do it in Pahrump but I wouldn’t be able to get my favorite team, the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Go figure - we can send things to Mars, but I can’t see the Dodgers. She told me it had to do with a blackout for all of Southern Nevada for California teams. What, they think I am going to drive to LA just to see a game? Yeah, not going to happen.

This means I can’t watch my favorite team.

The golden age of radio is now

So instead of being able to watch MLB games and my favorite team, I have to go back to doing what I did as a kid.

If you are an old guy like me, you remember when all the games were on the airwaves for free. Those days are gone. The major networks who used to broadcast those free games point to the high cost of broadcasting the games and now hardly any games are broadcast for free.

The one thing they have improved in radio is reception. Now I don’t have to stand on my head to get the game.

Now mind you, I am not a spokesman for MLB nor is this an ad for the app. I am just letting you know about it because I am fit to be tied. I have really had it with all professional sports, making me work to be a fan, but at least if I can’t watch a game, now I can listen to it thanks to MLB’s “At Bat.” This app allows me to listen to all the games, but of course I just listen to the Dodger games. Like I said, I feel like I am stepping back into the past to listen to games, not watching them.

The At Bat app is great because it will give you standings, lineups, all your stats and video highlights. You can also listen in Spanish or English and choose which announcers you want to listen to. For the whole season it runs about $20.

The leagues and teams just get richer

Of course, baseball is not the only culprit. If they don’t watch out, boxing will price itself out of fans. I mean really, $70 to watch a fight! That is way to much for my liking and wallet. Then there is NFL football. To get all the games I want to watch, I have to get Direct TV and pay for NFL Ticket. Nope, not going to do that either. Been there and went down that road and was not happy.

My solution is radio? Yes, but I am cheap. For the NFL season I have decided to pay $7.99 for TuneIn Premium to listen to my favorite team, the 49ers. I think this will be the road I am going to travel down this upcoming season.

Any suggestions?

These are my solutions to being in a sports void. Mind you, I can pay the money to get out of the void, but that just goes against the grain for me.

I mean you are talking to a guy who is used to getting all this for free. Now they are forcing me to pay for it.

This trend really sucks and just paying for what I am going to do for the NFL season has me angry and the season hasn’t even started. I think fans should be angry.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee @vhee@pvtimes.com