I am at my breaking point!! Wasn’t there a time when Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest? Well, not anymore. The television gurus (or, should I say, ogres) have taken it upon themselves to create mass viewer angina and, I’m pretty certain, even greater internal household turmoil. This past Sunday may have been the worst.
I always DVR “Sunday Morning” on CBS. It comes on at 9:00 AM and my wife and I learn something new and interesting every week. It’s such a relaxing show. We save it for evening viewing at some point during the week, just the two of us. At this point, there is household bliss.
Next up is a full day of NFL football. If I have no real rooting interest in any of the games, like this past Sunday, I turn to NFL Red Zone, so I can just spend the next SEVEN HOURS watching the best plays of all the games. At around the third hour, my wife is no longer talking to me. I see violence in my future. Add to that, NFL Red Zone has no commercials, so even taking a break for just the bodily functions is a cause for undue stress. When to go?
At 7:00 PM, while beginning to finish up the day’s football, I DVR “60 Minutes”. We never miss it. It’s been a favorite for years. But we can’t watch it until NFL Red Zone shows the 66 touchdowns that were scored this past Sunday. By now, my wife is beginning to demonstrate “unsportsmanlike conduct”. At 7:45 PM, NFL Red Zone goes off the air and it’s on to watch “60 Minutes”. Operating the remote from here on becomes a full-time job. Did I eat dinner at some point? I can’t remember, nor can I be bothered because the real tension of the day is coming soon.
Who does the TV scheduling for Sunday night at 9:00 PM? For us, there is HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire (it’s the final season – can’t stop now), Showtime’s “Homeland” (I really worry about Carrie), “The Good Wife” (will Alicia run for office?), The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Theresa and Joe are headed to jail), and (OH NO!!!) the Eagles are playing the Giants on NFL Sunday Night! Besides that, everyone in the family says we should be watching “The Walking Dead”. Video on Demand was invented just for these emergency situations. The choice now is not so much what to watch but when. The choice is between the Eagles game and dealing with some ambulance chaser that my wife will hire to handle the divorce. However, when I come to work on Monday, I will be expected to discuss the Eagles game. After all, as Sports Director, it would be difficult to explain that I didn’t watch the game, but I could go over the legal problems Theresa and Joe are facing on “Real Housewives…” I am not creeping over the edge; I am running full tilt toward my demise!
And the night is not over. After seeing the 500 promos for “The Affair”, I am intrigued enough to set the DVR for the premiere show beginning at 10:00. By 11:00, everything is in the TIVO vault, waiting for another day. Perhaps, Monday night! Oh no, there’s “Monday Night Football” (3.5 hours), “The Voice” (2 hours), and “Dancing with the Stars” (2 hours). Is that a weapon in my wife’s hand? I can’t take it any more…!!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. Philadelphia announced legend Bill Campbell died on Monday, October 6. He called the play-by-play for the four professional teams at the time (Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Warriors). He also was the voice of Big 5 basketball and the Penn Relays. He called the Eagles’ last championship in 1960. He was unceremoniously let go by the Phillies in 1970 and replaced by another legend, Harry Kalas.
2. The Eagles-Giants game on Sunday night drew the worst ratings for Sunday Night Football this season. The audience was down 9% from the previous week. “The Walking Dead” premiered on AMC and had higher ratings watched by 17.3 million people outperforming every other show by 2.5 million adults 18-49. Shocker!
3. The NCAA football rankings have Mississippi State ranked #1 and Florida State #2, with Ole Miss just slightly behind at #3. All three are 6-0. Baylor and Notre Dame are sitting at #4 and #5 with identical 6-0 records. If things stay like this, Notre Dame would not get into the championship playoffs. You know TV wants them there. Notre Dame plays Florida State this Saturday. By the way, ESPN has Ole Miss #2.
4. Fordham, rightfully so, is the highest-ranked Patriot League team in the FCS poll at #13. They are the only Patriot League school with four years of scholarships (the others have two) and it shows by comparison. The Rams’ only loss was to undefeated and #3 Villanova. This past week, Fordham scored 60 points on Penn. #1 North Dakota State has won 30 games in a row, the longest streak of any college team in the nation.
5. Four very good EPC teams met on Friday night and the results indicate that District football will be a tossup. Easton beat Parkland with a blocked punt TD being the big play of the night and Freedom beat Whitehall in overtime. The post-season looks very attractive.
(Last Week – 12-2-1; Seasonal Record – 59-31-1: 66%)
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