Fizzle fizzle

As someone who gets only network and a few very assorted and uncontrollable cable channels, I'm used to not expecting too much. At least I have a television, even one that isn't staticy. I remember when my grandmother had a black and white tv in whatever older adults call the room next to the living room that looks kind of the same, except that no one sits there in the evening. Needless to say, I try not to take technology for granted, if only but for a few fleeting moments each year.

With that out of the way, tv sports coverage really blows, despite/especially for something that's come so far. I suppose you could say that about many things in this country, but athletic broadcasts are really high-tech, well-publicized, and there is cash to fill a thousand Oldsmobiles being made by people you will never see, money derived from so many facets of each sport.

For instance, there are 8 nba playoff games this weekend, two of which are on ABC, the rest on cable. It's not like it's a Tuesday! This is part of the problem with a single channel/network gaining rights to broadcast almost all of a given sports' games, but I don't think even that's enough of an excuse.

Basketball alone cannot be singled out. The hockey game on right now? Buffalo vs Boston. I mean, I don't know how this could be more off. Let's not forget baseball, an institution which I feel doesn't let other sports suck by themselves for too long.

I live in Philadelphia, and thus have long accepted I won't get to watch Orioles games on the TV, though the fact that I don't have ESPN is irrelevant here because Baltimore has zero regular season games scheduled so far (ESPN hasn't listed any post-June games).

Today is Saturday, and the only baseball game on network tv all day/night is the FOX "game of the week" at 4: New York Mets vs St Louis Cardinals.

This is just ridiculous to me. Don't get me wrong, I can't help but not have a rooting interest for most baseball games, but I can still find a way to pull for a team in different spots. That's part of the reason sports are so popular in America. I actually don't care for the Phillies or Atlanta, and doubt I'd watch unless they were playing the Nationals, but I do get TBS and there is no Braves game on. I'm a little surprised the Phillies are on CSN, which I certainly don't get. Even devoid of options I wouldn't partake of, why am I supposed to watch a New York vs St Louis game? The Mets (and the Cardinals actually) join a irritatingly growing lists of teams that simply (and often inexplicably) get on national broadcasts way too much:

*I should say I'm happy the Browns probably aren't going to be on much, unlike the 08-09 season.

Dallas Cowboys, New York every single team but the Knicks, Pittsburgh Pirates/Penguins, Chicago White Sox, all Boston teams, the Lakers, NFC North teams and the Kansas City Chiefs

The thing is, if not on a Saturday afternoon in April, then when will I be able to get a real afternoon of interesting sports? The whole schedule seems a lot more diluted than when I was a kid. Even as the most watched sport, the NFL gets away/prospers with having only 2-3 games on tv in a given area, but now that it's spring, complaining about my issues with football just seems spoiled.

The moral of the story is probably that I should stop considering watching sports, and go start a softball team or something, because that seems to be the sport adults play to get exercise. Racquetball isn't something I think I would get into, but maybe I'm underestimating the 'amount of fun : pain of joining a club' ratio.