Giving In--For Now

I was determined to stand my ground.  

To not give in.  

I was successful throughout college football season.  

Kept telling myself, don’t do it.  Don’t do it.  You can manage.  

Then March rolls around and I decide to go for it.  

I bought one of Sling’s streaming TV packages.  

Yes.  I’m well aware of my pride around being one of the growing number of cord-cutters.  Existing since our relocation to Manhattan without the need for DirecTV, Dish Network or the local cable company service.  Antenna only.  

Why did I break?  

Early in March I looked at the Big 12 men’s basketball schedule.  Saturday March 9 featured K-State at home against Oklahoma.  Last regular season game.  Last home game.  Senior day.  And…if K-State won and Texas Tech lost, the Wildcats take the Big 12 regular season title!  

Geogal and I looked into buying tickets but as soon as we went to the official site we got the “Sold Out” notice.  

So…still wanting to catch the game but not wanting to go the secondary market route or deal with scalpers or spend the afternoon at a sports bar I thought about Sling TV and its ESPN offerings.  

The basketball gods also dangled the carrot of Iowa State hosting Texas Tech earlier in the day.    Promised to be a good game regardless of who wound up in the W column.  

That was enough for me!  Go online and set up the account.  Since I have a smart TV with built-in Roku I was watching additional channels in no time.  

(A couple of advantages to streaming services is that you don’t have to wait for the installer to show up at your residence, nor do you need their equipment.  Saves one the additional fee for “set-top box rental.”)   

Even though I tried to avoid ESPN’s monopoly family of networks the hoop action that day proved too much to resist.  Yes, I was rewarded with the satisfaction of seeing the ‘Cats get an easy victory and Iowa State/Texas Tech giving each over everything they had.  In the end Kansas State ended up sharing the regular season conference title with the Red Raiders but that’s still something to celebrate.  

Then came the conference tournament(s).  Again, having ESPN’s cartel family of networks proved delightful.  

Icing on the college hoops cake?  Being able to watch TBS and TNT on the same Sling package.  March Madness was awesome!  

But now that we’re in the Elite Eight and there’s no Cinderella I figure the Sling service will go bye-bye in the next few days.  (Gotta also like no contract!!)  

All of this provided another lesson:  Don’t be afraid to be flexible, and feel free to enjoy the modern conveniences if it doesn’t break your budget!  

Can’t live under a mass-media rock all the time….

Couple of quick hitters

Is spring just around the corner?  

In my last entry I noted we expected snow and some brutal-cold wind chill temps for Sunday, March 3.  Yes, we got both but since then not only has the sun made some appearances but we also were blessed (or hit, depending on whom you ask) with a fair amount of rain.  The precipitation not only helped eradicate the piles of shoveled/plowed snow from the sides of the roads but also gave the ground a good washing  which did wonders to remedy the dirt-gravel-asphalt sludge left behind by the snowplows.  

Heck, just this morning I noted to Geogal that I’m willing to get out the grill and put some meat over flames this evening.  

Yet because I’ve lived in Kansas for over a decade I’m not being naive about the outdoors.  I am aware that March and April can still bring white stuff and other unusual meteorological occurrences.   

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College hoops is coming to a close and I have my fingers crossed.  Can New Mexico State make it out of the first round this year?  Interesting note:  Some bracketologists have the Aggies going in as a 12 seed, going against a 5 seed for the first Thursday/Friday of the tourney.  Briefly they had Kansas State as said 5-seed, which would have created an odd emotional collision in the Geohouse.  However the pundits are now predicting the Wildcats to be seeded higher.  Maybe.  We’ll just have to wait for tomorrow evening to learn where everyone lands.   

Go Aggies!  After all, you won’t even be invited to the dance unless you win the WAC tournament.  Never mind your great overall win-loss record….

Be Gone, February!

It's now March and everyone around these parts couldn't be happier to see February 2019 turn into history.  

The shortest month of the year was notable for snow, bitter cold temps and even some rain.  To be sure, I'm confident this wet winter will yield significant benefits come growing season and within weeks this part of the country will be a nice shade of green.  

But for now we still have Old Man Winter hanging around.  While yesterday had plenty of sun and temps to melt some of the lingering snow, today is gray, chilly and more snow is in the forecast for overnight tonight.  Following that we can expect brutal cold wind chill to remind us we don't live in Florida or Arizona.  

As I'm continually saying to myself: Remember--this will pass!  Just a few more weeks and the outdoors will be bearable again.  

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I read this article yesterday with just a little feeling of pride.  Little, because I had nothing to do with the resurgence of the Cougars in college sports hierarchy, but positive emotions nonetheless since I resided in Houston in the distant past and am happy to see U of H headed in the right direction.  

Let me explain.  I lived in the Bayou City as a child, from 1974 to 1982.  I cheered on the Astros and rooted for the Oilers.  Anyone who remembers that era of Houston sports knows there was more disappointment than elation.  At the end of the '70s and into the '80s both teams showed promise but sadly neither team reached the point where they could hoist a championship trophy.  (Mainly because of the *!@#!**$! Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Phillies!)  

As I got older I noticed Houston never seemed to get its due, credit or recognition despite great effort.  When I was in my early teens the city became the fourth largest in the country, yet because it wasn't on the eastern seaboard nor was it Chicago or Los Angeles it never was mentioned among the prominent U.S. burgs.  Never mind that NASA's Mission Control was there, or wealth that came along with the oil boom.  

To add insult to injury, Dallas was perpetually the Texas city getting national notice.  Their NFL franchise, unlike the Oilers, was a consistent playoff participant and took home a couple of Lombardi trophies.  Then NFL films gave the Cowboys the moniker "America's Team."  

If that wasn't enough for the Houston faithful to swallow, how about a prime-time soap opera titled "Dallas" becoming the hottest show on the tube?  

Yet times have changed and now Houston can be proud of their Astros, Rockets (back-to-back NBA titles in the '90s) and the Texans are far from being a sad-sack organization.  

So the time seems right for the Cougars to return to national attention.  I'm quite interested to see how Dana Holgerson will fare with the football team.  

Why not dream big?  Wouldn't it be awesome for U of H to be invited to join the Big 12 Conference? But if not that, what about The American becoming a conference with some fearsome football and basketball teams?  

Gotta say the future looks good for southeast Texas.