As predicted New Jersey got soaked yesterday and Cape May wasn't spared from the deluge. Thankfully I installed the gutter guards and tarped the roof just the day before. Sunday saw several fall harvesty type events cancelled so there wan't much to do except ride out the rain, sit on the couch, and eat. It's Week 5 in the NFL and it was a great rainy day to watch the games, that's if you can.
Years ago watching TV was easy, that was before cable came around. Then your options were the basic channels, and then cable came, which had basic, or more than basic options. It was, and still is, pay to play. You the more you pay, the more options you had. Then it all changed, at least going the legal and non-pirating route. Even back then people found ways to steal TV access, and it's still around. Playing by the rules can be frustrating and expensive, and leave you without access if you don't pony up the cash for all the options to watch that one thing you're looking for.
I got sick and tired paying for internet and cable through Verizon last year and opted to go the Internet-Roku route. I thought that would give me what I wanted but in the end was left with no local programming and re-runs for every television show I watched in my youth. To watch anything recent we had to pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime, which from time to time would include some of the NFL games for the week. I signed up for some of the NFL packages last fall but wasn't able to see the games I wanted, when I wanted. I guess I just wasn't paying enough.
So recently, with our move, I went with Starlink as our internet provider. I signed up for the home service and ROAM as well. The home service covers Sun City and ROAM I take on the road for Cape May and The Fly Barn. Both of those services costs me $100 per month. The other day we bought a new TV for Cape May. It's a 45-inch Smart TV which somehow has lots of channels built in including access to the several streaming services that are out there. I'm amazed it cost us $128 from WalMart. I remember when TV's that size ran well over $1,000. But, in the end, there's still no live local programming.
With the rain coming down in buckets and a full day of NFL games being broadcast it was a perfect day to watch, if you had access. It started with the Eagles-Jaquars game at 9am and finished with the Falcons-Ravens game on Sunday night. Yesterday morning I turned on the new TV and tried to figure out how to watch the game being broadcast from London. I quickly got frustrated as no matter where I turned it led me to one of the streaming apps. So we were left to either go somewhere or listen to it on Sirius radio, another service which I pay for. Since we are in Eagles territory down here several bars opened early but we weren't into that so we headed to the diner where we watched it for a bit before heading back home. Then came the big decision, "Should I pay or should I go", think of the song by the Clash from the 1982 song.
I remember settling into the couch in our friends house in Long Island. The Man-Cave is nestled in their basement and sports a huge screen TV, which when it's on, has access to just about everything you could ever want to see. That's when I learned about You Tube TV, which, I think, is the one-stop shopping place for access to everything and anything, including the NFL. So yesterday I went and checked it out. That subscription runs $89.95 a month, well maybe.
Now I have been frustrated during more weeks then I can count when I sit down to watch only to see that Netflix has this game, Amazon the other, and Hulu and Paramount the rest. Yes, some of the local games are on but I didn't have access. As I looked around You Tube TV they had a trial subscription before the full rate kicks in, but then there was all the add-on access. Things like NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL Red Zone which I don't know what they cover, and for how much. In the end Sunday Ticket costs $75 a month, but does it just cover Sunday's games? What about Monday and Thursday Night Football?
So I signed up for the free trial and took the Sunday Ticket option. Is that the right move? Am I double spending for the same access? Will I have have all-access? And, how much will I be spending a month?
Basically they got you by the balls. Out are the days of TV's and antennas and the only way is to pay, handsomely. Let's say your internet/cable/streaming services run you $200 a month, that's $2,400 a year, to watch TV, well to be on the computer as well. There's a ton of people out there, like me, that sign up for things, like trial memberships, only to forget and wind up being charged each month for years, without even knowing.
There were some really good games on yesterday, some with exciting and bizarre endings, and I got to watch them all, and I did. 14 hours of NFL, sitting there like a fat loser eating everything and anything I could get my hands on. Tonight it's the Bills and Rams and I hope I get it somewhere I'm, paying for. And of course since my searches are being tracked now I'm getting deluged with other options to watch the NFL, below is just one of them.
They're already selling access to the Super Bowl and have added Pat McAfee to the weekly access. Who's Pat McAfee and why would I want to watch him? I wish we could just go back to the good old days, or nights. I remember turning on the TV and watching John Madden and Pat Sumerall, and then
Al Michaels, above, announce the games, on free TV. Imagine that kids of today.