For All the NFLN Complainers Out There...

Being in the greater DC area, I knew I wasn't going to have a local affiliate pick up the NFL Network's broadcast of the Cowboys - Packers game.

There were pretty much three practical options: Go to a friend's or co-worker's place that has the NFL Network, go to a sports bar, or miss the game entirely.

Since option three would probably involve a violent outcome eventually, I went with number two. Since this is DC, I can think of about six places to go without much difficultly, I opted to get a buddy to join me and we had a blast. We enjoyed the game despite the outcome, and we were shaking hands with Cowboy fans at the end of the day with the agreed assumption of "seeing them in January."

Bill Simmons, the "Sports Guy" of ESPN.com's Page 2, agreed in a well-written letter to his past self that doing what he needed to do for the game was actually a good thing.

In 2006, the NFL launched its own network and decided to keep eight Thursday night games for itself, even though most cable systems weren't carrying the NFL Network at the time. A bitter war ensued that was never resolved, leading to the week after Thanksgiving 2007, when the 10-1 Cowboys were hosting the 10-1 Packers -- the first game between two 10-1 teams since 1990 -- and half of America couldn't watch the game from the comfort of home.

Did the "older you" complain about this particular slight? Actually, no. You happened to be working in New York City that day; once you discovered that your hotel room didn't offer the NFL Network, you got off your ass, met up with some friends and watched the game in a crowded sports bar that was screaming on every big play. Ironically, it turned out to be a more entertaining night than just sitting at home (or in this case, a hotel room) and watching the NFL Network. Is it a bad thing to get off your ass every once in awhile? Probably not. Every one's incessant whining about "missing" NFL Network games made you realize that too much time was spent complaining about stupid stuff and far too little time appreciating everything that's happened for sports fans over the past 25 years. If traveling 5-10 minutes to a sports bar or a neighbor's house to watch the Packers-Cowboys game is our biggest dilemma of the sports week, then we must be in pretty good shape in 2007, right?

Amen.

Unlike Jim Doyle who believes his inability to watch the game in the comfort of a taxpayer purchased leather coach in the Governor's Mansion is 'extortion' (Thank you PTI) and some major league whiners I know in GOP circles who called the lack of a national broadcast "ridiculous;" I think the entire populace throwing a giant hissy fit is hilarious.

See, I didn't get cable of any sort until I was 15. It just simply wasn't an option living in rural Manitowoc County. Then my folks got PrimeStar, the first DBS cable service. Before that, I sat there and was that kid in school who looked clueless while everyone else talked about 'that cool thing on MTV.'

(On retrospect, was MTV ever cool.)

The point of my story is this: What the heck ever happened to conservatives being the resourceful ones? The ones who saw a problem, and then found a way around it on their own. It's the liberals who bitch, moan, and whine about problems until one of them forces your tax dollars in some best way to "fix it."

Oh, I'm sure you're saying, "I'm a lifelong Packers fan, make annual pilgrimages to the grave of Vince Lombardi, have season tickets willed to me by my grandfather, this is the biggest game since the last big game, and my cable company should give it to me. If the FCC, the IRS, Dave Hansen, and Karl Marx have to work together to get me that game on MY TV, so be it."

Our price is that low huh? A football game...man, that's sad. I mean, think of the nice capitalism we'd be spreading if you'd go to a locally-owned sports bar; or the friends you could meet.

We're Conservatives after all, be resourceful next time. Get off your rear; leave the whining to Jim Doyle flaks.

But, if you're so hell-bent on staying home...next time; get a Dish.