500 Channels of Crap

I've previously argued against cable.  Yelena & I have lived in the City for seven years without a television.  When we first moved in, we bought extended basic cable, which gave us 70 channels of crap.  There was never anything on.  Since then, we've satisfied our TV needs with a combination of Hulu, network websites (ABC, CBS, and Fox), Blockbuster Online, and other methods of dubious legality.

Now, we've got cable again.  And this time it's Digital with a capital D, which means 500 channels of crap.  But as hockey enters the preseason and baseball enters the postseason, I'm suddenly glad I have it.

Sports games are the hardest things to get if you don't have cable.  Occasionally Yahoo Sports would stream a game.  There's also atdhe.net, where altruistic souls will take their own cable and stream it over the internet.  I'm not sure if that's entirely legal, but considering I'm watching the ads too I don't think it's entirely illegal.  That being said, the quality is usually crap, and often no one feels like streaming the game I want to watch.

But now I'm being enveloped in the warm folds of Comcast.  This very evening, I was able to watch the Giants, the Sharks (local game - no blackout), and the Oilers at Calgary (only broadcast in Canada).  Crystal clear digital signal.

I still rely heavily on Hulu, but Yelena and I have made a ritual out of watch live episodes of Glee and So You Think You Can Dance.  (The latter lets you vote if you watch it live.)

Most of the time, it's still 500 channels of crap.  It was installed on a Friday, and that weekend, rather than sitting on our asses all weekend, we went camping.  I'm proud of that.  But every once in a while, my digital cable delivers a level of entertainment which I cannot match any other way; a level of entertainment which I desire.

J<

(And yes, when nothing else is on, I watch Cops.)