For the first time in many years I will not be watching the Michigan Football opening game on television. Years ago there was limited coverage and there could only be five regular season games broadcast over a two year period. In recent years it has been extremely rare that any Michigan game didn’t get picked up. Then the Big Ten got greedy and formed their own television network, but what good is a television network which most people cannot pick up?
The network has now gone live but very few cable systems carry it. So far they have deals with Direct TV and some small cable systems but not with the major cable systems in the area. One problem is that the Big Ten Network insists that they be carried on the basic cable tier, arguing that cable systems typically carry channels such as The Food Network which have less interest. On the other hand I believe that these networks are less expensive for the cable systems to carry than what the Big Ten Network is asking.
Presumably the Big Ten Network wants to be carried on the basic tier as it will be viewed by more people than would be seen on a tier requiring additional fees. On the other hand, at present the network is seen by only a small percentage of football fans.
With the season underway I’m hoping that this places increased pressure on both the Big Ten Network and cable companies to compromise. The Big Ten Network will have a hard time selling advertising on a network few can see. The cable companies risk loss of customers to Direct TV and any other systems which might pick up the network.
Well, if Michigan keeps losing to I-AA teams, maybe they shouldn’t be on TV, lol
You know what the problem was? That opposing teams had a quarterback named Edwards, a runningback named Richardson, and a receiver named Hillary. I felt like Michigan was playing most of the Democratic field, and was waiting for Obama to enter the game.
More seriously, consideringr that they won the I-AA National Championship two years in a row, I wonder how good Appalachean State is. They very will might be a quality team regardless of being a small I-AA school.
It also didn’t help matters that Hart was out much of the game, and that late in the game they had five scoring drives and came away with only six points.
The game also made a point I’ve often argued during games. It is often foolish to go for the two point conversion under the assumption that there is no benefit to only getting only one point. While that might appear true at the time, as the game progresses the additional point might be crucial. Michigan gave up two point after touchdowns in going for missed two point conversions. At the end of the game those two points sure mattered, considering that they lost by two.
I kid, I kid. Listen App St. would beat both of my alma maters and they’re both D-I.
And going for two only makes sense when you’re down by a lot or up by 12 and you want to get an even 14 points.
And no Thompsons or Romneys on the field? Did they not make the cut?
I wish I could see App State play other Division I teams to have a better idea how good they are. Now they’ll probably have anoher undefeated run through their division and we won’t really know anything more about how they are. At very least they are probably of the caliber of a team in the middle of the big ten (considering that such teams ocassionallly upset Michigan on days Michigan plays poorly or such teams play unusually well). It is possible they might be as good as many of the ranked teams.
When Michigan goes up and down the field but is repeatedly prevented from scoring, how do you really determine if it is because the other team’s defense played well or Michigan played poorly, especially when I could only hear the game and not see it.
There are lots of reasons for going for two in a close game, but the logic behind them is only valid late in the game. Otherwise a point which doesn’t seem to matter at the time often does turn out to matter.
I haven’t looked at the whoe rosters and my account of players is purely based upon names I heard during the game. Perhaps other names were present too.