Yams? No, thanks. But pass another helping of piping hot NFL, please.
Today, for the first time in American history, there will be three NFL Thanksgiving Day games on television, starting at 10:30 a.m. with a traditional snoozer, Miami at Detroit, on KCNC-Channel 4.
ThiRs is followed by Tampa Bay-Dallas, another yawner (2:15 p.m., KDVR-Channel 31), and a new game, Denver-Kansas City (6 p.m., KDVR-
Channel 31), marking the debut of the NFL Network’s live game coverage.
Dinner? Try squeezing it in between 5 and 7 a.m., before a high school game featuring Phillipsburg, N.J., and Easton, Pa. (7 a.m., ESPN2). Yes, even high schools have gotten into the act.
NFL Network is exerting more control over what the league sees as its “intellectual property.” The day may come that if you don’t have NFL Network you don’t have pro football.
Congress, expressing concerns about antitrust issues and how this could affect the cost of cable and satellite, looked askance at the possibilities recently when Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., queried NFL executive vice president Jeffrey Pash about the network’s intentions.
This season, NFL Network has live coverage of eight games. More are on the way. It’s called “leverage.” On its website, NFL Network urges visitors to request that their cable carriers – a particular target is Time Warner – add the network. The takeover won’t be complete until the league’s contracts with broadcast networks run out in eight years.
Tonight’s Broncos game is available locally on Channel 31, but if you live elsewhere in Colorado and your cable or satellite provider doesn’t carry NFL Network, you’re toast – unless you can find a friendly tavern.
Final four
Both semifinal games of the Colorado high-school football 5A playoffs air on FSN Rocky Mountain this weekend. Fort Collins-Columbine (7 p.m. Friday) and Mullen-Douglas County (9:30 p.m. Saturday, tape-delayed). Dave Benz does the play-by-
play with Joel Klatt as analyst.
Winners meet Dec. 2, also on FSN.
Around the dial
ESPN will carry 11 races of the Champ Car World Series in 2007. The network estimates the addition will give it 500 hours of coverage of NASCAR, NHRA, Champ Car and IndyCar races on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN on ABC next year … College game of the week: Southern California a 7 1/2-point favorite over Notre Dame in Los Angeles (6 p.m. Saturday, KMGH-Channel 7) … Colorado tries to end its season on an up note when it travels to Lincoln to take on Nebraska (1:30 p.m. Friday, Channel 7) … Quotable: “The importance that our society attaches to sport is incredible. After all, is football a game or a religion? The people of this country have allowed sports to get completely out of hand.” Howard Cosell
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
