CSN Houston: Judgement Day

Today’s the day. Arguments in CSN Houston’s involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will be heard at the federal courthouse in downtown Houston.

About a mile from Minute Maid Park, Judge Marvin Isgur will have his hands full sorting out arguments from attorneys representing the Astros, Rockets, Houston Regional Sports Network, and a number of NBC/Comcast subsidiaries. The Astros, hoping to cut ties with the RSN and seek alternative carriers for their games, have asked Judge Isgur to dismiss the case.

The Rockets, only days away from opening their 2013/2014 season, have a different agenda. Houston’s NBA franchise needs to keep the struggling RSN on the air — at least for the time being. The whole thing is pretty confusing for us non-lawyer types. The Chronicle’s David Barron has done a nice job of covering the story and helping us to better understand. Here’s a link to his latest article, posted yesterday.

"This has not been handled well. Everyone thinks the price being asked is above the norm, and the product put on the field (by the Astros) has not been good."

Regardless of who is at fault (I like to spread the blame around to all parties involved), one thing is for sure — we, the fans, are the victims here.

"Awaiting the judge’s decision will be a considerable portion of the Astros’ and Rockets’ fan base, standing by in varying degrees of ill humor to learn when, where or whether they will be able to again see their local teams on their home TVs as they had done for the past 30 years."

Yes, Astros fans will be waiting, patiently, as we have done for the last seven months. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to end up being a long wait.