[DeltAlum]

Well, I know the producer and his daughter goes to Michigan. Maybe that's who you were seeing. His son goes to Penn State, so maybe you can miss a play there, too.

Kidding.

He's actually a great producer. I used to do NBC NFL football with him. He was Executive Producer of CBS Sports and ran TV production for the Atlanta Olympic games. I don't know who is directing the games, but it was more likely his fault if a play was missed.

Now,

The Big Ten Network is the second of many of its type (they act like the first, but it ain't true) that will be springing up -- I work for the first which covers the Mountain West Conference. We just passed our first anniversary yesterday.

The SEC will probably be next, followed by a lot of others.

The conferences want to control their own destiny in terms of how many games are televised, and what time they're played.

In terms of carriage, we have the same problem as BTN, but in reverse. We are on cable in all of our markets, but don't have a national satellite deal. BTN has the satellite carriage, but very few cable deals.

The truth is that you (global you) probably have more power in this than we do. Call your cable company or satellite provider and request (OK, demand) that they carry our networks instead of 58 alpha numeric channels or shopping services.

Also, just in case you were too young or have very short memories, remember that ESPN and the FSN regionals all had the same problems when they launched. Cable and Satellite systems deal with supply and demand. You demand, and sooner or later they'll supply.

Finally, my youngest sister-in-law in Detroit and her son in Texas are undoubtedly in mourning tonight after the Michigan debacle.

I hope Ann Arbor survives the night without being burned to the ground.