Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
It’s rare that I disagree with Colin Cowherd on a lot of issues. As he often says, his arguments are reasonable. He’s thought them through. He's also entertaining. In listening to Mr. Cowherd, he sounds like a smart man who “gets it.” However, he’s wrong about “Spygate” and its effects on the National Football League.
Spygate has been one of those topics Mr. Cowherd has beaten into the ground. Either he is very interested in it or his employers want to keep the NFL in the forefront of ESPN Radio programming. ESPN has a vested interest in doing this. However, so does the watching and listening public. We rank football head and shoulders above any sport in terms of viewing and listening habits. As he often says, he is giving us what we want. I wouldn’t mind so much him beating it into the ground. But he’s wrong here just as he was wrong on steroids. However, in pointing this out, there are broader issues to be addresses. First, Spygate.
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So, here we are on the eve of one of the biggest professional football tilts of the season. Apparently, one of the greatest travesties of our time is being committed simultaneously. According to ESPN and others, barely one-third of the nation will be able to watch the Green Bay Packers play the Dallas Cowboys tomorrow night.
That's because the game is being shown on NFL Network. And, because of the deal it has with cable providers, the network is only shown in about 30 million households. And for some reason, because the other 90 million households will not be able to watch the game, a near-crime has been committed.
Did I miss a poll? Was there a sudden swelling in the Packers' and Cowboys' fan base? I know the Cowboys are "America's Team" but they're not, you know, AMERICA'S team. And while the Cheeseheads slice from the Eastern Seaboard to Half Moon Bay, there certainly aren't 90 million of them clamoring for attention. But still, because the NFL Network is showing the game exclusively (save local markets), and it's not being handed out like free cheese, something has gone terribly wrong in pundits' eyes. And, well, that's dumb and for those giving their shallow protests, so are they.
The NFL has expanded nicely from our fall-winter refuge to an all-year spectacle. We can't get enough of it. We love football. Also, we've transitioned from rooting for our own team to cheering on all teams. Blame some of this on fantasy football. Blame the rest on good marketing and merchandising. In any case, we got our first few hits and now we're back to our street corner vendor for more and more. On that, Colin Cowherd made a great point today: the NFL succeeds because, paraphrasing here, it does not whore itself around every network and give every bit of itself away to everyone. The league makes you want more of it.
To hear pundits talk about it, it's like the NFL Network is holding a national treasure hostage. Really? There's no other form of entertainment on Thursday night? And do we have some sort of caveat emptor over that telecast we did not before? We don't. And the people making the most noise are the radio pundits. So, let's do the math: if two-thirds of their listening audience can't see the game, then two-thirds of their audience won't want care when the radio hosts talk about it.
In any case, this is about money; that is, the NFL wants a tidy sum for its channel and its asking a lot per subscriber to do so. (As an aside, the NFL Network was advertising HARD on ESPN Radio today. Almost every break had a promo for the game. Think the network wasn't setting a psychological time bomb in listeners by doing that? "I'm calling my Congressman about the NFL Network, Dammit!")
Chances are if you're a big fan of those teams, you're going to see that game tomorrow night. If you're not a fan, you probably won't, unless you can get to a bar, restaurant or rec room that's got the game running. I'll be watching the game because I can Thursday night. If I couldn't, I'd probably have the ESPN Gamecast on my computer or would have just played with my daughter.
Either way, while my appetite for the NFL is large, I can consume a few snacks in between to keep the hunger down.
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Whatever is illing me is really got a chokehold, so this is my last live blog. I think the Colts will hang on to win a close one.
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... but i missed the play in the kitchen fetching snacks. I heard Jospeh Addai's name. Ah. There's the summary and here's the replay. Wow.
Well, this IS a great game. It should be noted i have no stake in this other than being a fan of football. And the Raiders are currently down 7-0 to Houston. Now, on to cookies and milk ... more during halftime.
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And the first foos comes forth from the lovely Deedee -- nd it's homemade chili! Nothing better and even with my illness, I ate every bite. Now she's off with Annabelle to get ice cream. I have Oreos on deck with a box of Honeycomb. The original meal plan was nachos, by the way, but Deedee mentioned the chili. Can't go wrong there.
Patriots macrhing methodically again. And Bethea picks it off! Now can Manning ride them down the field.
Add "it's getting tight in here" as the second phrase of the night.
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Well, that was certainly inevitible, wasn't it? That drive doesn't bode well for the Colts. The patriots moved cleanly and efficiently down the field. Not a lot of hiccups. Certainly, no drops. Colts had their share of drops on the way to the Vinitieri field goal. In any case ... WAIT!
Peyton Manning commercial!
Anyway, there's cause for the Colts to worry.
Now, as an aside, has any other entity ever used the phrase "ball control issues"? Sportscasters have a lock on that. Back to the couch ...
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And things are going on about as expected. Too many pundits had this a high scoring affair. So far, this is proving otherwise; a back and forth. Funny how CBS shirked off showing the replay of that nonfumble, but then came back and made excuses for it. And you know Bill Belichik wanted that replay; he's a video guy. :-)
Vinitieri makes it 3-0 as we continue to watch from the Tudor Mancave, it should be noted that I'm hauling around either a flu, allergies or the black plague. It's also about 97 degrees in here.
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The Blog returns with a vengence today! I'll be live blogging the Patriots v. Colts from its 4:15 p.m. EST start until its conclusion. I'll be looking for the Patriots' F-You touchdown like everyone else and wondering if Marvin Harrison will play. Will Jim Nance's sport coat have patches? Maybe he'll just wear his Masters jacket.
The only thing that might throw a wrinkle into it is if our CBS affiliate shows another game (???) or an Andy Griffith rerun, which as been known to happen. More as we get closer.
Check in throughout the day!
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I've posted 10 of the 157 I kept (i shot about 200) during the Florida Gators vs. Troy Trojans game Sept. 8 in this photo album. I'll talk about sideline access and the ettiquette of that tomorrow. For now, enjoy the photos.
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With just a four-hour ride to make, I'll be in Gainesville, Fla., for the game between the Florida Gators and the Troy University ... whatever Troy University's mascot is called is called. To be fair to myself, I haven't Wikipedia'd the university yet, but i do remember a lot of officers in the Air Force having earned their degrees and commissions as part of the ROTC program from that school.
In any case, I'll be playing media person, shooting bunches of new sports and people photography. Most of this will be used in a newspaper in Hawaii, with some going elsewhere. I'm not sure where you'll be able to see the pix yet (I've stripped my gallery bare). However, I'll figure that out before I go.
Meanwhile, I owe you a Raiders season preview. I also know Mr. Cowherd is doing the Penn State game Friday, but I'll probably miss a full critique due night-before socializing and reuniting with my buddy, Mark Munsey, after a five-year drought. Speaking of Mark ...
I've been trying to coax him into blogging for several years. This may be the jumping off point. I'll be blogging my adventures via my Blackberry and you'll be able to catch those here. I may also give Mark here. We'll see if he uses it. He drinks a lot. Just sayin'. :-)
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