This is a great country. Its greatness exists on so many levels, but I will concentrate on one aspect in today's column -- sports television. Yes, that is right, the savior of all those sports nuts like myself, who not only enjoy procrastination, but also live for the excitement and emotion that is sports on TV.
Of course, no one can argue with attending a game firsthand. There is nothing like going to a ballgame. However, when that is impossible, televised sports are the best alternative. For example, it isn't really feasible for me to catch a rugby match in Ireland, an English Premier League soccer game, a hockey game in Toronto, and the world's strongest man competition live from Barbados all in one day. However, thanks to the wonders of satellite TV and digital cable, I can view all of these exhibitions of athletic mastery from the comfort of my own couch.
It used to be that the sports fan had few options. If a game was not chosen for coverage by one of the major networks, there was no way for the average fan to see the game. With the birth of sports television with ESPN in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new dawn in the age of sports fandom began. Now, not only was there an outlet for Joe Sportsfan to get all his sports news without reading the sports pages, there was also a place where he could see games he would not have otherwise seen.
Obviously, this was a big breakthrough. A Duke basketball fan living in California would no longer have to wait until the next day to check the score in the sports page. He could actually see the game on ESPN. What better way to follow a team than to watch its games on TV?
This seems like an obvious statement, but at the time it was an extraordinary breakthrough, along the lines of the printing press or the telegraph. Well maybe not that important, but at least as important as the light bulb.
Even more important has been the growth of all-sports TV since the inception of ESPN. With the growth in popularity of cable, and more importantly, sports on cable, came the birth of new sports networks. In short, the market responded to the sports fan's unquenchable thirst for sports news and games. ESPN added a second channel in 1993, and a few years later ESPN Classic was added to the ever-expanding menu of sports entrees.
Both of these channels were focused on a specific niche that had gone unanswered. ESPN2 allowed for more programming of less popular sports, like the aforementioned world's strongest man competition. The Deuce also provided additional coverage of pro hockey and college sports.
ESPN Classic became a favorite on the remote almost as soon as it was introduced. With its broadcast of classic games in sports history, the channel became a necessity for any sports buff. As long as I live, I will never be able to get enough of Doug Flutie's miracle Hail Mary to Gerard Phelan against Miami, Christian Laettner's famous buzzerbeater against Kentucky in the NCAA tourney, or Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Well maybe I have had enough of that last one. Nevertheless, ESPN Classic is perfect for those few days when no interesting games are on.
In addition to ESPN, several other competitors have sprung up, the most notable being Fox Sports Net. Fox Sports has also come up with the brilliant idea of breaking their coverage down into regions. So by watching Fox Sports New England, I can cut out the useless L.A. Clippers scores, and concentrate on my beloved Red Sox and Bruins. This is sports television at its finest.
For those of you lucky enough to have a satellite system or digital cable, the options are seemingly endless. You could basically watch any game in any sport you want at any given time. Now, this doesn't just apply to the major sports either. For the sports fan with more exotic tastes like Aussie Rules Football, cricket, or Formula One racing, there are channels that bring this fare to you. Ah, the wonders of technology.
Some may complain about saturation of the sports television market. They ask, how many channels devoted to fly fishing are necessary? I say, as many as the public wants. If the audience wants more fly fishing, give it to them. People have diverse tastes in TV, and if there is enough of a call for a particular sport, there should be a channel. I am all for diversity in sports programming. It has made me a well-rounded sports fan. But that's enough of my gushing over sports television, it's about time for me to get my daily golf lesson -- on the Golf Channel.
