There is electricity in the air today that only comes but once a year, no it’s obviously not Christmas, it is the first Saturday of the 2009 college football season. In my house however, the feeling is similar to Christmas morning. Even our dog is excited. When she saw me pull out her Auburn jersey this morning, her eyes brightened, her ears perked and she immediately sat down to get dressed. (No, I am not one of those people who dress their dog for every occasion; the AU jersey and a parka for really cold weather are her only clothes).
My fan was practically vibrating with happiness this morning. I think his grin was putting out 60 watts. I love seeing my fan excited and happy. There is nothing like a full day of his recliner, his big screen and college football to put my fan in a good mood.
My response to the season was to make a batch of my mom’s fabulous beef stew. It took the bulk of the day, but the house smells great and we will have tasty vitals all weekend.
Today is not the official start of college football. The 2009 college football season actually started on Thursday. Thursday night, one of my dear friends who is not only married to a football fan, but a fan herself, called to celebrate the first half time liquor run of the season. Yes, we take our tailgating rather seriously in the south and if you are inclined to enjoy an adult beverage, I highly recommend you stock up on your beverage of choice for watching football with your fan. If your fan enjoys adult beverages during games, having an extra secret stock of their preferred beverage could make you the MVP of the game.
As the ESPN college football coverage started this morning, my fan had the comment of the day, “the first Saturday of college football, this is why we bought a big TV.” It’s true; we bought our 50” plasma for football season. BTW if you are buying a big screen for sports watching, don’t by plasma; after only a quarter of play we have the score bar burned into the screen. After a single day of football, we have to run the burn in protection sequence for several hours in order to prevent damage.
The AU game was not on a channel we had in our current cable package. My fan checked it out and it was only $5 more a month to add all of the channels we would need for access to all SEC games for the season. This may very well be the best $60 we spend all season.
If you are living with your fan and they come to you about wanting to add channels to your coverage in order to see the games, I recommend you consider the following things beyond the initial cost of the package:
1. If they can watch the games at home, they will be less likely to go to the local sports bar.
2. They will be eating and drinking at home, you eliminate the bar and food bill from the sports bar.
3. If your fan is at home no one has to worry about a designated driver.
4. You get to spend time with your fan in the comfort of your own home.
5. If you are a social bug, it will be easier to turn games into social events if you have access to games that your friends do not.
If you are not living with your fan, but want them to spend more time with you on the weekends (especially if you own a bigger TV than they do) you may consider purchasing the package that has all of their team’s games. I would talk to your fan before you purchase, but consider the following:
1. You get to spend more time with your fan in your own home.
2. If you get bored you have access to all of your own sources of entertainment.
3. All of the financial benefits listed above.
Another feature that we added late in the last season was a DVR. This allows your fan to:
1. Rewind a live game
2. Tape a game and watch it later
3. Pause a live game
4. Fast forward through some of the time-outs and commentary
5. Did I mention tape a game and watch it later?
6. Fast forward through commercials
My fan’s comment: “Bear in mind that if your fan tapes a game and watches it later, they will not want to hear scores or see highlights of that game. You will be enlisted to help prevent your fan from hearing or seeing anything about the game.”
A DVR also allows you:
1. Not to miss a show you want to see because there is a game on
2. Record other shows you want to see
3. Fast forward through commercials
4. Pause live television
So, how was your first Saturday of the 2009 college football season? Write in and let me know.
Excellent post! We don’t have the package, but I’m hoping we’ll get it for next year. It’ll be especially great since we have a little one – we don’t have to load her and all her stuff up to watch the game at someone else’s house; just stay home and have all our friends come to us. Now, someone pass the cheese dip and grab me a cold one!