[NU Sports] The Big 10 monster

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> or tiers.  Bring it on!  I got DirecTV.

:) - I think that last sentence says it all. And ditto
on that as well. It's not just the NFL Sunday Ticket
and now Big Ten Network, but I just prefer it in many
ways over the cable companies I've dealt with in
Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.

Missing a football game will definitely get a lot of
fans to make the switch over, and Comcast will soften
its stance as more customers leave. I know that would
make the choice easy for me if I were in the situation
of cable vs. satellite.

As for the "second tier" comment, I agree that it's
ridiculous for the Big Ten to make a big deal out of
it as being "insulting" ... though I do think it's a
bit erroneous.

Yeah, you're not going to see Michigan-OSU on the Big
Ten network, but there will still be quite a bit of
big games on there. As the Web site points out, they
will rotate picks with ESPN/ESPN2, so even though ABC
will get the first choice, there are weeks where the
#2 game will be on the Big Ten network. The conference
is deep enough that we've had multiple big games in a
week before -- both in hoops and on the gridiron --
and the network will have some major matchups (In
1996, I seem to remember Michigan-NU being on Big Ten
plus because ABC went with another game and ESPN and
ESPN2 had other obligations).

I read an interesting article online (forget where -
sorry) about how the Big Ten Network is looking at the
NFL Network as a guide. The NFLN may not have the
major game of the week either, but it has games that
are still big ones, and is growing rapidly. Also, I
remember ESPN putting the Duke-UNC hoops game on ESPN2
when that network was starting as a way of forcing the
cable companies to pick up the "Deuce" amid growing
requests from fans who wanted to see the game. What's
to stop the Big Ten from moving a couple big games
there in future years to force cable's hand.

It's all posturing, though. Comcast knows its
customers in the midwest will revolt if they can't see
Big Ten football and the politicians know that
rattling a few cages in press conferences will bump
'em up a few points and they won't really have to do
anything. It'll be solved by August.

But like you said, I have DirecTV, so I can just look
forward to all the great things I expect from this
network!:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

PS - Does anyone know if Fitz will get a coach's show
now because they'll likely be re-run on the BTN?

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


 
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