Insight Makes The Deal

Well, with the opening game of the season less than 72 hours away, sold out, and being broadcast only on the previously mentioned Big Ten Network, it's getting down to crunch time. Come Saturday there are going to be a lot of pissed off Buckeye Fans...

BUT... less than there would've been as of yesterday.

Big Ten Network, Insight reach deal

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 4:20 PM

By Bob Baptist

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Big Ten Network and Insight Communications reached agreement on a contract today, clearing the way for Insight cable subscribers in central Ohio to watch Ohio State's season-opening football game Saturday in the comfort of their homes.

Ohio State will open the 2007 season against Youngstown State at noon in Ohio Stadium. The game is one of an anticipated three or four Buckeyes games, including Sept. 8 against Akron, that will be carried on the new network.

Insight will carry the Big Ten Network as part of its "classic" service package when the network launches programming at 8 p.m. Thursday. In central Ohio, the network will be available on Channel 24 to subscribers without set-top converters and on Channel 26 to those with converters, Insight spokesman Bob Lau said.

(Check the Full Article)

Yes, that's right - Insight and the Big Ten Network came to an agreement, and the 2nd largest cable company in Columbus WILL be carrying the new network when it kicks off tomorrow night, and therefore WILL be showing the game on Saturday. And it's even going to be on the basic service ("classic") tier... which seems to me like Insight gave-in somewhat on that. Personally, I've placed most of the blame on the Big Ten & the network from the beginning, as the whole nonsense that it has to be on the classic service is just stupid. A sports add-on or special sports package (which we already have... with ESPNU, CSTV, etc.) is the perfect place for a new niche channel like this - there's no reason everyone should have to "pay" for it (even if the cost is hidden in their regular cable bill and not itemized).

But... in Columbus (and Evansville, IN apparently), Insight gave-in, while in other areas it'll be on the sports tier where it belongs. From their previous "use this to send a complaint to the Big Ten Network" site, there's a little more detail:

We believe that the compromise we have reached with The Big Ten Network is a good one. We are carrying the channel as part of our Classic service in the communities we serve in Columbus, Ohio and Evansville, Indiana which are in the heart of Big Ten territory. In the rest of our cable systems, which are located primarily in Big East and SEC territory, we will provide the channel on our Digital 2.0 tier alongside our other specialized sports programming. These additional areas include all of our Kentuckiana communities in and around Louisville as well as Lexington, Bowling Green and Northern Kentucky markets.

So... win one for the bad guys, I guess. But hey, at least we get to watch the game! Bonus!

It's That Time Of Year

Sanity returned to the world this past Sunday, as football is officially back in season. That long, HORRIBLE drought between the NBA finals and the return of real sports is over. It's a shame it had to come back with the f'ing STEELERS winning a game, but hey - at least Santonio Holmes landed one of those TDs. Oh, and Brady finally got an f'ing deal signed. So, yeah... get your ass to camp, son. I'm guessing even with the late start, he'll make an appearance in at least one of the preseason games, probably multiple.

Of course, we all know preseason NFL is garbage -- but at least it's there while we wait the next 3 weeks or so until the College Football season kicks back into gear. The teams started camp this week, and I have faith in Tressel and the rest of the coaching team to field a strong bunch again this year. I know there's a LOT of questions on the offense, and based on past experience, I wouldn't be surprised if Tressel fell into a 2 QB system before deciding who the clear starter is (though I HOPE that doesn't happen), but meanwhile, those first four games should be a good warm-up. The schedule feels fairly week this year, especially to start. I mean seriously, a I-AA?? I know it's Tressel's old school, but STILL. Check out the helmets of the first four games this year, IN ORDER:

I mean seriously, was that intentional commentary by the scheduling committee? Washington could end up being a tough game, but the others? Well, the helmets say it all.

Of course, unless you have tickets or DirectTV, you're probably not going to be able to watch those games anyway, thanks to these assholes. I love how they're playing up the conflict to be a problem with the cable providers, completely glossing over the ridiculous price and placement demands they're making of these places for a TOTALLY NEW, UNPROVEN entity. I mean seriously, do they really expect this to get ANY worthwhile numbers outside of college football & basketball season? It's not like they're going to have the rights to show bowl games or NCAA tournament games on there....

I'll leave ya with a bit o' non-football related content. Saw this video today from the folks behind a couple quality webcomics I read. It's one of the characters from Looking For Group, with a fun little Disney parody song:

We Live In Interesting Times

Per the "Ancient Chinese Curse" that wasn't.

An exciting day today, complete with bomb scare, evacuation, business continuity planning put to the test, random filtered details, sketchy news coverage, and eventually a return to normal by lunch time! Can't beat that.

In the end, it apparently was a misplaced or forgotten briefcase with someone's repair kit of some kind. It got blown up by the bomb squad to be on the safe side.

News coverage:

---The local NBC affiliate has my favorite quote in their article:

Police evacuated the building, along with Grease Hall and a journalism building. Police created a perimeter of yellow tape, as students and staff gathered to watch the investigation.

GREASE Hall! Looks like someone wasn't paying close enough attention to the spellcheck! :)

NBC appears to have the most complete/informed post-event wrap-up.

---10 TV (CBS affiliate) has it's own coverage, which was also reproduced by the Dispatch. I have to call them on a possible exaggeration - it mentions "several hundred" people standing around outside the buildings. Now, I suppose it's possible the crowds died down after I left the scene, but I definitely wouldn't call the crowd that I saw "several hundred".

---News Center (ABC & FOX local news) had to get in on the misspelling game in their article:

Baker Systems Engineering building as well as nearby Drees Lab and Campbell Hall were evacuated during the incident. No one was hurt and students and faculty were allowed to return to the buildings within a short time.

Not quite as fun as "Grease Hall", but still missing the trailing "E" there. They also mention Campbell Hall has having been evacuated, but everything I heard pointed to Journalism being the only building on the other side of Neil evacuated...

---Mykola Bilokonsky actually has some really good coverage on his Newsvine page, though he also mentions Campbell Hall being evacuated... *shrug* What he's got is definitely more personal & more interesting than the short pieces the big money sources offer.

---There is currently no mention of this on The Lantern or UWeekly pages -- though I'm sure it'll be the front page of the Lantern tomorrow (what else is there to talk about all Summer), and I'd be pretty shocked if Corey Spring doesn't get his blog-on about it ....

Best News I've Heard All Day

Well, thankfully (as far as I know) so far I've managed to avoid all the personal information/social security breaches, including all the credit card company leaks, OSU leaks, etc. But when the story broke last week of the backup tape with the personal information and social security numbers for all state employees and their dependents I figured it'd finally happened to me too.

I know several folks who have had their information compromised, and have been acquainted with some folks who have actually had their identities stolen. It can be a painful process getting everything cleaned up. Prevention & remediation plans are underway in pretty much every sector at this point to try and stem the tide, but it seems like there's still SO much to be done.

So anyways, the good news... I've been digging through all the news reports of this State leak since it first came out, and thankfully saw the news I was looking for today:

But the state has confirmed that the tape contains the names and Social Security numbers of all 64,467 non-university state employees. If they were enrolled in the state's pharmacy-benefits management program, their address and phone numbers also are included, as well as the names and Social Security numbers of 75,532 dependents.

Read the full story here. Emphasis added by me (the good news in question).

So one more break. Don't know how long it'll last, but good news for me and many of my friends and family for now at least. If you were one of the state employees who WERE affected (or a family member of), I'm assuming you'll be getting a letter in the mail soon (if you haven't already), and I'd strongly recommend taking advantage of the ID protection services they're offering. See the State Employee Identity Protection website for more info.

Ron Lewis Made My Baby Cry

Well, I made Evie cry. but it was in reaction to Ron Lewis's 3 that tied the OSU-Xavier game on Saturday to send things into OT. After being down 11 with about 6 minutes left, and still being down a chunk with TWO minutes left, I'd pretty much written this one off. I definitely have to give that team credit - they rallied hard, and fought their way back. Even after I thought it was finally over (Butler misses the 3, and Xavier goes to the line with a chance to go up by FOUR)... the second free throw rolls off the rim, Harris grabs the rebound, and they drive down the court in time for Lewis to throw up the HUGE shot.

There's also video of it (official even!) over on YouTube. You have to click the link though - "embedding is disabled by request". I guess CBS and/or the NCAA doesn't want you watching their content without seeing their logos and such, despite them being littered through the video too.

But anyway, the game -- it was awesome. How could I NOT stand up and shout? Well, unfortunately Evie wasn't really ready for the standing and the loudness, and started crying... :( We got her all settled down fast enough, but I still feel bad.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes went on a tear in overtime, and made it into the Sweet 16! Teed up for a rematch with Tennessee -- hopefully it's a good one!

Men's BBall: Big Ten Champions!

The "Thad Five" (and the rest of the bball Buckeyes, of course) scored a tough win today at home against the Wisconsin Badgers to lock up the outright regular season Big Ten title for the second year in a row today. It was a seriously tight game, coming down to the last minute with Ron Lewis scoring an awesome flyover block to stop Wisconsin's last minute game-winning shot.

One more regular season game to go (at Michigan), but the outright title is secured, as is (most likely) the #1 NCAA tournament seed in the Midwest... so a little bit of celebration (and some net-cutting) is well earned.

It's been a heck of a fun season to watch - and it's not even March yet!

The Meltdown, The Showdown,, The Good TV

For the 2nd day in a row the weather's been decently above freezing, which means all the snow is melting away. Nowhere near all gone yet, but it's going fast, and it's made things wet and nasty. Personally, as long as the roads are relatively clear and safe, I'd rather it stay nice and white off the road - a nice coating of snow just makes Winter feel like... well Winter. Though I have to admit it sure is nice to open the door & let the dogs out without feeling like I need to put on a coat.

Good news in the College BBall world tonight, as Michigan State upset Wisconsin (who was either #1 or #2 depending on which poll you look at). This leaves OSU a half-game ahead in the conference standings, with the opportunity to pull a full game ahead assuming we can get the job done against Penn State tomorrow night. It also both adds and subtracts a little sizzle from the big Wisconsin-OSU rematch coming up this weekend... on one hand, though the polls won't refresh before then, it's not really #1 vs. #2 anymore... but on the other hand, Wisconsin will be looking to get out some frustrations. OSU will still be looking for payback for the loss in Madison. Should be a good time - hopefully the team stays focused and plays strong!

Drew Nietzel, SUPER SPARTY!

In unrelated news, it's worth mentioning that Heroes is f-ing AWESOME. Not that it ever fell all that far, but this week's episode has flung it right back into position as possibly the best show currently on television. I mean seriously, that ROCKS. And next week's episode looks really promising. At the same time 24 remains excellent as well. The formula/repetitive nature of things is beginning to bog things down a bit, but the surprise reveal/appearance at the end of this week's ep is more than enough to leave me wanting more. And of course, there's LOST - which before the midseason extended hiatus had been on quite the slide in my opinion - just treading water/churning gears without moving forward at all - no character development, no mystery progress, no nothing. Just a little soap opera-action. Since the return, both episodes have been MUCH better, with this past week's Desmond-centric episode REALLY getting things back to what I love about the show. A lot of fun stuff there, and yes, still more mysteries introduced, but enough of a teaser-answer there and some really intriguing new questions.

Oh, and finally - in a bit of good news, they finally put the remainder of Day Break on the ABC web site. Go watch it while you still can!

Holy Crap x2! A second OSU Snow Day!

I guess when hell's already frozen over, it doesn't take as much to stay that way - and since my theory was disproven, there's no need to keep up any pretenses - OSU is closed again today - ALL DAY TODAY!

Snow Day!

2-14-2007

Ohio State Columbus campus remains closed today

Classes are cancelled on Ohio State's Columbus campus on Wednesday (2/14).

College and administrative units are also closed.

The Ohio State University Medical Center and other essential services (such as police, residence halls) will remain open.

This message applies to the Columbus campus only. Decisions relating to regional campuses will be based on local conditions.

more

Holy Crap! OSU Snow Day

Sadly, my theory that each OSU President only cancels classes once during their tenure has been disproven -- President Holbrook cancelled classes at OSU main campus today beginning at 1:30pm !

And even better - we got to leave, as apparently we're not considered essential staff in this case. Woohoo!!

Check it out.

Holy Ridiculous Freezeosity

So it's around 11 degrees outside at the moment -- up from a whopping 1 degree this morning (pre-windchill!!). It's so cold most of the area schools are canceled today. I'd say I wished OSU was closed as well, but since we're considered a critical service, we'd still have to be at work anyway, so OSU might as well be open. It's so cold out that the car (which was in the parking garage all day) radio display was noticeably slow in refreshing when changing stations/volume/etc.

Not that I would've minded a day off today - even though it wasn't a late game, it'd still be nice to have a day off to relax and recover after the Super Bowl. Not as bad as working the day after Christmas (by a longshot), but hey, I wouldn't be upset if this guy gets his wish. (He actually got on the radio at least twice last week in Columbus, and I'm sure he got other gigs elsewhere too - hope those web page ads pay well).

Speaking of the Super Bowl, I did watch the whole game. My parents came over, we cooked up some "football snacks" (fondue, lit'l smokies in BBQ sauce, meats, cheeses, etc. - tasty!), and just hung out. I'm surprised no one I know had (or at least invited me to) a Super Bowl party, but I guess I could've taken the initiative there too, and I know a lot of folks were just done with football for the year after the National Championship traveshamockery. The ads were pretty disappointing overall - not really bad, but nothing really GREAT either. I guess the Blockbuster ad with the mouse was probably my favorite, and the Budweiser Rock-Paper-Scissors thing. The halftime show wasn't bad either - I thought Prince did a good enough job. Very showy, especially for the rain. My big complaint there is I really didn't like his "All Along The Watchtower"... that just sounded bad.

And now enters the long drought that is known as the football off-season. At least Buckeye Basketball is doing well this year, picking up a big win at MSU Saturday. Mike Conley Jr. is just scary-good. And of course that Oden guy makes a few plays here and there too. The Cavs...well they're not BAD, but they've stumbled quite a bit from having a East-leading record a month or so ago. Hopefully they turn things back around firm-back-up on the winning ways.

Not much else going on at the moment... have to take Amy's car into the shop AGAIN today, as the ABS warning light is on, and this is a bad time of year for her ABS to not be working properly. Hopefully it's a warranty-covered fix... but it'd be even better if our cars would just WORK...

Is it Friday yet?

To say I'm having a bad week would be an understatement.

I started coming down with a cold sometime over the weekend. A coworker was showing symptoms on Thursday, so I suspect he's to blame for this particular infection. It started out slow enough that I thought I was going to get by without any major symptoms, but the decline continued and I hit condition critical last night. I'm NyQuil/DayQuilling through the day today - hopefully it's a short one.

Then there was the OSU football debacle Monday night. Yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say about that. At least it was a good time hanging out with everyone BEFORE the game massacre started. Chris has some pics up over at his site.

Unfortunately OSU sports let-downs weren't through yet, as last night the men's basketball team dropped a tough one to Wisconsin. This SHOULD'VE been a blowout as well, but the team managed a rally near the end... which fell a bit short. So far the basketball team has only beaten people we're "supposed" to beat. For a team sporting the supposed greatest college basketball player in all creation and even some fictional worlds, that's not that impressive. Hopefully as Oden continues to get healthy, they'll continue to refine the game around him and everyone will settle into the proper roles.

Coach Matta can't believe the week I'm having either!

So that brings us to last night - my cold is on full-bore and I can't get to sleep worth crap, so I take a shot of the good ol' big Fing Q, original green death flavor. It does it's job and I finally get to sleep - only to get woken up at ~1:50 or so by work. (I'm on call this week). I pursue the issue for the next hour or so and end up getting BACK to sleep shortly after 3. Alarm goes off at 5:30, I zombie-walk through the motions, discover WINTER HAS FINALLY ARRIVED (the first noticeable snow of the year on January 10th? Are you kidding me? Well, at least it looked thin enough to not bother shoveling the drive.

I've been fighting off dozing through the morning. Wish me luck.