Ok, I know I haven’t finished publishing the AK trip – sorry about that guys – but I couldn’t let this one go by without a comment – I’m not a big sports fan as many of you know, but how could I not pay attention to the undefeated New England Patriots this year? The 1972 Miami Dolphins had an undefeated season but the regular season was only 14 games then. There are now 16 regular season games and tomorrow the Patriots will face the New York Giants in the last game of regular season play. This will be a historic game for NFL football. Before this week, you would only be able to watch this game if you had the NFL network in your cable lineup, or you lived Boston or Manchester where it will air on WCVB-TV Channel 5 and WMUR-TV Channel 9 respectively.
Many cable companies don’t currently carry the NFL network in their basic package, but do offer the network as an addon. I called Cox Communication and had the NFL network (and NFL-HD) as well as the NBA Channel and about half a dozen other sports channels added for the combined low price of $5 a month. I’m not a sports buff, but for that price, why not?
I know this isn’t what I typically write about, but when my brother-in-law called me to tell me that US Senators have put pressure on the NFL over the NFL network’s broadcast of this (and other) games, I had to blog about it. Yes, you read that correctly, US Senators have decided that this is a matter federal government’s attention. Senators from both sides of the isle contacted the NFL to complain that only about 40% of US households received the NFL Network and threatened to review the NFL’s monopoly exemption if they didn’t make the game more widely available! Can you say EXTORTION?!?!? Talk about abuse of power, here is a prime example. I can’t imagine what would make these senators think such an abuse of their authority acceptable. Do these men have nothing better to do as senators of this nation then to pursue what channel the game is on? Maybe they cannot afford the $5 a month? I’m sure there is a sports bar somewhere inside the beltway that will be airing the game…
Whatever the case, the NFL has backed down for fear of congressional repercussion – the game will now be aired on NBC and CBS as well – which by the way violates their contract with WMUR.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-patriots-giants-tv&prov=ap&type=lgns