TO: The ABC/ESPN/ESPN on ABC/ESPABCN College Football Scheduling People
FR: Benjamin Kepple
RE: Not so fast, my friends.
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Dear ABC/ESPN/ESPN on ABC/ESPABCN College Football Scheduling People:
ON FRIDAY NIGHT, I was talking with my Dad about today's upcoming college football schedule and the games we both were planning to watch on the weekend. With the early game -- although I can't really watch it -- I was planning to keep an eye on Wisconsin and Illinois, and root for the Fighting Zooks to beat the Stinkin' Badgers. For the late game, I was definitely looking forward to the Ohio State-Purdue matchup. As for the afternoon game, most of which I would get to watch live, I mentioned just how much I was looking forward to the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma.
Then I went to Every Day Should Be Saturday, which had the coverage maps up for the game, and I noticed that up here in my market, the North Carolina State v. Florida State game had been penciled in.
Surely, I thought to myself, this was some kind of mistake; an inadvertent error that a junior staffer at the network had accidentally made. After all, no one outside North Carolina or Florida would be interested in such a matchup; it would be like airing the Minnesota v. Indiana game in Columbus. North Carolina State is at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, and FSU is stuck right in the middle. As such, the game is inevitably inconsequential, even to Boston College fans, who sit atop the ACC Atlantic.
But after viewing the coverage maps -- and where DOES one find those on-line, anyway? -- I went to check my cable listings, and sure enough, the NCSU-FSU game is being aired NOT ONLY on Boston's ABC affiliate, but Manchester, N.H.'s ABC affiliate as well!
So I must ask: what the hell is wrong with you people?
Why in the name of God would you subject EVERYONE in the greater Boston area to this miserable, wretched, awful, putrid, disgusting game? Jesus Christ, practically everyone else in the country gets to watch the Red River Shootout, and I'm going to be stuck watching godrotting Florida State and godrotting Bobby Bowden and that godrotting tomahawk chop. And that's just if I keep the sound off so I don't go insane from that godrotting war chant the moronic Florida State fans chant ALL THROUGH THE GAME. Even worse, I bet you've somehow figured out a way to get Paul-fricking-Maguire in the broadcast booth for the contest, you rotten scoundrels. I may throw up.
I mean, now I'm going to have to watch -- ugh -- the SEC game on CBS. And I hate the SEC. But it's Tennessee v. Georgia, and I hate Tennessee, so I'm going to have to watch and root for Georgia and its yappy little mascot dog. Knowing my luck, Georgia will get blown out during the first half and I'll really end up in a foul mood and then get to listen to Brent Musburger during the night game. Thanks, ABC! Thanks a lot!
What really burns me up about this whole situation is we have TWO ABC AFFILIATES in the greater Boston area, and BOTH of them are showing this rotten Florida State v. North Carolina State game. Why not mix it up a bit so fans can have a choice? Put the game you have to show on the Boston station and then put the better, national game on the New Hampshire affiliate. This isn't rocket science. For that matter, this isn't high school chemistry. I could only hope ABC's scheduling people would be history for not figuring this out, but we're clearly not dealing with the brightest bulbs in the lamp store here.
Ugh. I am so disgusted right now. I suppose I ought just be happy that I get to watch Ohio State-Purdue during the late game, as I was almost certain I'd end up having to watch Notre Dame-UCLA. Maybe being forced to watch Notre Dame-UCLA would be a good punishment for incompetent schedulers. You think?
Posted by Benjamin Kepple at October 6, 2007 12:01 AM | TrackBack