“But what if I don’t have cable?”
Relax. The National Football League is not about to overlook you in the upcoming season.
NFL Network (Comcast digital cable channel 168) announced on Monday it will carry eight NFL games next fall, starting on Nov. 23, Thanksgiving, when we can watch three games in one day. There goes dinner. The 6 p.m. game will match the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs, but cable and satellite systems that don’t carry NFL Network will be left out.
There is a backup plan. Seth Palansky, an NFL Network spokesman, notes that the game also will be available to local over-the-air channels, like, say, KCNC-Channel 4, which already carries the Broncos’ games. “I’ve already heard from a couple of (Denver) stations,” said Palansky, without naming names. Who wouldn’t be interested?
The catch? Games, five on Thursdays and three on Saturdays, will be available over the air only in teams’ home cities.
NFL Network is jumping in to broadcast games in an attempt to retain control of its product so it can shop it around to the TV networks, Internet, iPods and whatever else lies in the technological future.
For the time being, don’t expect to see much change. “The NFL’s bread and butter is the broadcast games and broad distribution,” said Palansky, noting it’s a $4-billion-a-year payday. “It would be hard to get that at $1.99 downloads on iPods.”
Play ball!
The Colorado Rockies, who I’m just sure are going all the way to the World Series this year, open their season one game at a time, beginning at 2 p.m. Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field (KTVD-Channel 20).
For the fourth year, Drew Goodman teams with George Frazier to give us all the news on baseball’s next big team.
Can’t wait that long? The defending champion Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians play the opening opening-day game (6 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2 and ESPN Radio).
Not the game
College basketball’s play-down ends with the Final Four (4 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Monday, KCNC-Channel 4).
Everybody wants in. CSTV, which doesn’t have the games because they’re carried by CBS, which owns CSTV, nevertheless flooding the airwaves with analyses, pep rallies, news conferences and specials. It all starts at 11 a.m. Friday, runs through Monday.
Around the dial
Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson will attend KKFN, 950-AM’s fan party Monday at The Sports Column in LoDo before the Rockies’ opener. … The Colorado Avalanche play another of their “must-win” games with the Calgary Flames on Friday (7 p.m., Altitude2). … Quotable: “Ah, the college road trip. What better way to spread beer-fueled mayhem?” Homer Simpson.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
