A Few Weeks Without Cable Sports...How It's Going

Back in the day, when we couldn't afford cable, I regularly missed many things, movies, TV shows, and especially sporting events. Life went on, of course. I'd read about it the next day in the newspapers (we could afford those...), and my friends and I would talk about the games at school/work.

Then, I got a job with the cable company. I worked there for two years.

And we got hooked.

There were times in the past thirty years when we didn't have cable, but we'd find a way to hook it back up. Then, when life revolved around the internet to the point where it became as necessary as electricity and water--okay, almost as necessary--we picked up cable with our internet. That's how we've lived for decades. Our kids have not known a time when we didn't have cable.

All that changed last month.

We bit the bullet and cut the cord.

Overall, I'm pleased. We were paying for so much for things we never watched. We spent hundreds, no...thousands of dollars over the years for entertainment we never watched, shows ignored. A few years ago, I drastically reduced my viewing time for sports. I thought this would help in the transition. It has, of course, but what I didn't realize is how I was watching sports.

I hardly watched the games on a TV set. I streamed them on my laptop. It was the perfect situation. I could sit in the main room with my wife and watch movies or TV shows, while the game streamed silent on my computer. If the game got interesting, I'd pay more attention. If not, no big deal. Now, without cable, or a streaming service, you can't watch much at all on a computer.

We have good antenna signal strength so there's games on Saturdays--especially college sports--I could see, but I'd be in another room. Last Saturday, I was in another room semi-watching the games. Didn't like that very much. I need to figure out a way to get the antenna signal to play on the laptop so I can semi-watch what I like. I've read you can do it somehow. Then again, maybe it's best if I just revert back to an earlier time, when cable was for the elites and the rest of us enjoyed a game on those rare occasions, making the experience that better.

No, I didn't watch any of the college football home teams play today...

Probably for the best.