Keep reading, I channel my inner-Andy Rooney!
Lots and lots and lots of sports and most I cannot watch! I don’t know about anyone else (or maybe I’m just too cheap to upgrade to the extended sports package on my monthly cable service) but I’m getting a little tired of missing great football stories and now local basketball games. Last week the NFL’s only two undefeated teams were in action and I could not watch because I don’t get the NFL Network. Yes, I guess I could have gone to a sports bar to watch Peyton Manning duel it out with the Jacksonville Jaguars but I just don’t feel like I should have to do that. Shouldn’t the NFL work with Charter Cable to get me the NFL Network free of charge? Apparently I missed a really good game after I checked out the highlights on ESPN. Oh well. Then I missed another great game on Saturday night when the Dallas Cowboys jumped out to an early lead on the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints then had to hold on when Drew Brees nearly rallied the Saints all the way back. And I missed it all because I haven’t upgraded my cable service. I guess I’m in the minority here but I think all of the NFL should be on basic cable. The NFLN play-by-play crew is NOT very good (I have seen them in action) so folks cannot point to me that I should get it for the professional crew.
Then Saturday night, while I was also NOT watching the Saints/Cowboys, I had to follow the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball team take on Illinois on the internet in thirty second spurts because ESPNU to me stands for ESPNUnavailable. I guess I could have made the venture down to Duluth for the game at Gwinnett Arena, but I was hoping to catch the game on television. Nope. That wasn’t happening. Kudos though to Mark Fox for getting a big-time win over a previously ranked Illini team in a surprisingly hostile environment.
Perhaps next year I will spring for the NFL Red Zone package. I have heard rave reviews from friends and family, and now I have one of the writers from Sports Illustrated singing its praises to me. The NFL Red Zone is in essence one guy sitting in a room with all of the games in front of him and he is giving you commentary on what is going on in them and then he sends you to a game if a team is about to score or just completed a big play. He also turns over the sound to the local play-by-play crew. It sounds pretty cool and perhaps next year I’ll purchase that (mainly so I don’t get any commercials) while I try and follow all of the games.
Speaking on NFL coverage, with Dallas’ win over New Orleans last Saturday, the Atlanta Falcons playoff chances ended. I guess FOX sensed this might happen so I guess Atlanta got the D-team assignment. It was nice to see Laura Okmin again though. I used to enjoy her work on the Braves postgame show on Fox Sports Net. Okmin has moved on to the big time with FOX as she has also been involved in the network’s college football BCS coverage.
The University of Georgia is still searching for a new defensive coordinator and the AJC is all over it, sort of. Seemingly everyday a columnist or beat writer has thrown out a name to be included in head coach Mark Richt’s search. Last week Mark Bradley nominated Manny Diaz of Middle Tennessee State AND UNC’s Everett Withers. This is AFTER he wanted Ellis Johnson from South Carolina or Kirby Smart of Alabama. Then we had the drama of Vic Koenning possibly leaving Illinois before ever coaching a game, and the back-and-forth updates were given to us by Tim Tucker. In one of his updates, Tucker uses Twitter as a source. Umm, guys, I know you are trying to bring us the story, but Coach Mark Richt said that the search would last until January, so how about we stop digging for stuff, especially when scanning Twitter posts or Tweets for info and just wait on the man? I guess it is just weird to live in a world where Twitter is now a news outlet. Crud, did I just sound like Andy Rooney? Scratch what I just said!
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