About a week ago I got one of those oversized envelopes from the cable company that mean either the rates are going up or the channel lineup is changing, or both. This one delayed the inevitable for a while by dropping the bad news of rate increases in favor of channel lineup news. (I’m sure the rate increases will come later, they always do).
Much to my delight, the contents of my oversized envelope informed me that I would soon enjoy the NFL Network as a part of my digital tier lineup.
Damn! NFL football 24 hours a day.
What could be better than that?
Thank you, Comcast.
So naturally, the first thing I did this morning was tune in to my new favorite channel. And…the jury is still out. The first program I watched was NFL Total Access, NFL Network’s signature show that actually airs in the evening and was obviously being replayed this morning.
It’s a pretty good show. The Total Access crew includes Rich Eisen, Terrell Davis, and Lincoln Kennedy. It’s an NFL Live-type program with player and coach interviews and action footage. It looks like they’ve got web cams installed in ever team’s complex because the remote interviews have that Live from Iraq stutter-motion quality.
After that was a very good Inside Training Camp program called Jaguars Summer that, obviously, takes you inside an NFL training camp. It was a fascinating account of player progress and the coaches deliberation. The episode I saw was also surprisingly timely, as it discussed the troubles former Pro Bowl sackmaster Hugh Douglas was having making the team and the coaches discussions about whether or not they should cut him. Douglas was cut August 30th; I was watching September 1.
Next they replayed the program I’d just watched.
Great.
After that….drum roll, please: NFL Films Presents…Pop Warner Football! They had the dramatic background music, the professional crew, but it was little league!
They’ve obviously got more time to fill than useable content.
They have some programs I’ve yet to watch but am looking forward to. Playbook is an Xs and Os show that breaks down the game using teams’ own video.
During the season, they will also replay selected games using camera angles you don’t get on the TV broadcasts.
I’m sure I’ll talk more about the NFL Network in the future.