The Lakers right now are "unwatchable, but most folks in the greater Los Angeles area have no choice but to pay for such programming" on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, and with the recent debut of SportsNet LA, it is "the Dodgers’ turn to play everyone for a fool," according to T.J. Simers of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Simers writes, "Call it a cable bill if you like, but aren’t fees to watch the Dodgers and Lakers just another clever way of collecting public money for the welfare of our billionaire sports owners? ... Why isn’t there revolt in the streets at the thought of having to pay $8 or $9 a month for the rest of our TV viewing lives to tune in the Dodgers and Lakers?" Simers: "We're told it’s a good thing the Lakers have their own network because we can get a behind-the-scenes look at how they prepare to lose." Simers wrote of the Dodgers' SportsNet LA, "Do you want to pay for something that was previously free?" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 3/4). In California, Jim Alexander asks if Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten is "paying attention" to Dodger fans' complaints about difficulty accessing SportsNet LA due to limited distribution. Alexander: "This is your fan base that you're messing with." By taking fans' passion "for granted you're sending a dangerous message ... and it's not 'call your local cable/satellite operator'" (Riverside PRESS-ENTERPRISE, 3/4).
