In the twenty-first century, few things could make less century could make less sense than college football fans being blacked out from seeing their hometown team on television. But there's a great possibility for that to happen when the Big Ten Network launches at the end of this month.
Buckeye fans not subscribed to the network could be set to miss the opening games against Akron and Youngstown State. Yes, I'm writing a blog complaining about how I might not get to see OSU play Akron or Youngstown State on TV (in all likelihood I'm going to scalp a ticket to one of these games anyways). But this is the kind of slippery slope that is going to lead to one of these premium networks--be they the Big Ten Network or NFL Network or whomever--that will result in a large percentage of fans missing out on a huge game or performance and result in eighty thousand pissed off phone calls to Time Warner, who were blameless in the first place.
I know it's unlikely, but say Akron or YSU end up fielding a really competitive game against the Buckeyes, similar to how Ball State played Michigan last season. Wouldn't you be glued to the TV set under normal circumstances, monitoring the action like a hostage negotiator? But now there's a chance you'd at the very least have to go extra measures to watch your team(s) play, regardless of how big the game is.
You see, true fandom shouldn't come with a price tag, like with what Boston did with this president of Red Sox Nation thing recently. It doesn't matter where your season tickets are in the Horseshoe, or how many Troy Smith jerseys you have in your closet. You know a true sports fan when you see him and hear him talk, and you get that sense of what it takes to understand the logistics of it all. And yes, only men can be true sports fans. Man law.
Further reading about problems with the Big Ten Network right here.
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