The National Football League again displayed its infinite wisdom Wednesday when it announced it would simulcast the NFL Network's telecast of Saturday night's New England-New York Giants game on CBS and NBC.
There are reasons why the NFL is miles ahead of the other professional sports leagues in building and maintaining fans in the 21st Century. This is another. The league knew it had a public-relations nightmare on its hands were it to have New England going for a perfect 16-0 season only on the NFL Network, where at least two-thirds of its fans would miss the game.
So the league said let's turn chicken feathers into chicken salad. Give the game away to the networks, but showcase this meaningful game in prime-time to millions of people getting their first look at the NFL Network. Maybe they'll like it, crave it, storm the cable companies with pitchforks and torches to demand it, and get it. Or switch to satellite TV.
Major League Baseball would never have seen the potential err of its ways, as per usual. The Big Ten Network should have had a giveaway at some point this fall, maybe for its Wisconsin-Ohio State telecast. But the BTN waits and waits for public outrage to reach critical mass and force the cable operators to pay the network/charge consumers what the network wants for its product.
Instead, however, the league has kept a lot of Big Ten teams' fans in the dark. If you don't have a dish, you won't be able to see Saturday night's Southeastern Louisiana-Iowa men's basketball game on your tube.
Not that it matters. The Patriots are going for 16-0 Saturday night. That's what I'll be watching.