Octopus Overlords

Some huge games in the Pac-12 may be blacked out for much of the nation this weekend:

For millions of Dish Network and Sling subscribers, local Fox channels went dark Thursday in 16 markets across 23 states along with select cable networks.

The outage comes after the satellite and streaming service and Fox Corporation failed to reach a new agreement.

The cable networks off air include FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes.

Per Jon Wilner:

USC-Washington is on FOX at 12:30, while Utah-Washington State is on FS1 at 7:30.

People around here are PISSED about this. There are tons of them who switched to Dish specifically to get Utah games (because P12 Network isn't available on Direct TV) and now this comes completely out of the blue.

One of the few times I can say I'm glad I stuck with Comcast, I suppose.

YouTube TV free trial. It has Fox, FSN, FS1, BTN, the ESPNs and all their conference channels...

The same thing happened to me. The reason I bought sling was to watch the local baseball team. Guess which channel starting playing hardball with the providers? Most local providers lost them halfway through August. I still haven't cancelled sling, but I can see it happening now.
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Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:10 pm People around here are PISSED about this. There are tons of them who switched to Dish specifically to get Utah games (because P12 Network isn't available on Direct TV) and now this comes completely out of the blue.

One of the few times I can say I'm glad I stuck with Comcast, I suppose.

Yea, I have Comcast.

I think we have two local channels that are currently off Dish. That has to suck.

Down goes Cal.

The cannibalization of the Pac-12 is now complete, and it’s not even 5 weeks into the season.

You know what would be cool? If OU didn't have the Heisman winning qb EVERY. DAMN. YEAR. Good grief. Hurts' qb rating has been 245 OR GREATER 4 consecutive games. You can't even do that in a video game.

For the first time all year, Auburn looked really good. With touchdowns on 6 of our first 7 drives, we put the game away in a hurry. Not to mention that we held the SEC's top rusher under 50 yards. And our Freshman QB is starting to get the hang of it.

But now we don't play another home game until November, with stops in the Swamp and Death Valley. In fact, in our last 7 games we play the 2nd,3rd,4th and 9th ranked teams in the country.

Everyone should get the opportunity to play Rutger after a tough loss.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:54 am Everyone should get the opportunity to play Rutger after a tough loss.

Just a single Rutger, not even the whole team.

Can it be Hauer?

Jaymann wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:28 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:54 am Everyone should get the opportunity to play Rutger after a tough loss.

Just a single Rutger, not even the whole team.

There's a longstanding joke in some parts of the online college football universe that Rutger needs to earn the S before people will use it.

Michigan looking pretty impressive...on defense anyway.

After that fumble recovery by Auburn at the end of the first quarter, I could hear Keith Jackson saying, "Rumblin', bumblin', stumblin'..."

This Aub/Fla game is all about bad offense, but I’m sure it’ll get spun as another dominant SEC defensive performance.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 6:25 pm This Aub/Fla game is all about bad offense, but I’m sure it’ll get spun as another dominant SEC defensive performance.

Not as bad as the Michigan game tho. I felt like I was watching a Bo Schembechler team from 1978.

And as much as I hate doing it I think you have to cut FL, at least, a little slack since they are going with their backup qb. But, yeah I totally agree with your larger point about the SEC bias.

Ok, I take back everything I said about Iowa State, Texas, and most importantly, my TCU Horned Frogs. We got GAMED by Campbell and Co. today. We might not win another game.

The Pac-12 makes no damn sense at all this year. I would have said Washington was the best team after they manhandled USC last week, but then they go out and get manhandled themselves against Stanford...a team who barely squeaked by Oregon State the previous week and who was playing their third string QB

Speaking of Oregon State, they’re certainly exhibiting some signs of life, taking down UCLA at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are a freaking mess, and Chip Kelly looks completely lost out there. I thought he might wake up a sleeping giant in LA, but now I wonder if he’ll last the season.

I have no damn idea who is good and who isn’t in this league.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 6:25 pm This Aub/Fla game is all about bad offense, but I’m sure it’ll get spun as another dominant SEC defensive performance.

Only by the fans of those teams...

I have been baffled by the Bo Nix love this year, he has 1 good throw and then 5 bad throws. This is still the same Malzahn offense that pretty much everyone figured out years ago, he finally ran into a team with a stout defense. Fla offense has actually been better with the backup QB playing.

It's funny that the 2 teams that usually are tops in defense, Bama and LSU are looking more like a Big 12 team, explosive offensive and bad defense. Bama's has been decimated by injuries, all those freshmen are out of position a lot, I hope they can learn before they face better teams.

Lassr wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:16 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 6:25 pm This Aub/Fla game is all about bad offense, but I’m sure it’ll get spun as another dominant SEC defensive performance.

I have been baffled by the Bo Nix love this year, he has 1 good throw and then 5 bad throws.

I made that original comment right after Nix completely missed a wide open receiver in the end zone, then threw a terrible INT on the next.

So yeah, I agree with you in being baffled by the love. He balled out against Oregon (of course), and has been mediocre (at best) since.

While Auburn did look good last week, that was their only good performance of the year. Their defense is awesome and their offense is horrendous, as I've already posted (Though they were good enough to beat Oregon ). And I've also posted that Auburn is the most overrated team in the AP top 10. Auburn fans have been dying to get rid of their head coach, who is dreadfully inconsistent, so this outcome wasn't totally unexpected.

But, yeah, keep bashing Auburn and SEC fans if it helps ease the pain of your own conference's troubles.

My comment wasn't about either Auburn or SEC fans.

It was about the national media who will fawn over not being able to hit wide open receivers and a truckload of turnovers as "dominating defense", when you know damn well that same performance in literally any other conference would be called out as exactly what it was: sloppy offense with a shitload of mental mistakes.

When I opened ESPN's CFB page last night, the first three tweets - all from national ESPN writers - were talking about Florida moving up in the polls due to their "overwhelming defensive performance". It was amusing...they all apparently watched a very different game than I did.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 12:26 pm ...It was about the national media who will fawn over not being able to hit wide open receivers and a truckload of turnovers as "dominating defense", when you know damn well that same performance in literally any other conference would be called out as exactly what it was: sloppy offense with a shitload of mental mistakes.

When I opened ESPN's CFB page last night, the first three tweets - all from national ESPN writers - were talking about Florida moving up in the polls due to their "overwhelming defensive performance". It was amusing...they all apparently watched a very different game than I did.

Did you think that maybe the media is biased towards the SEC because, coming into Saturday, they had 5 of the top 10 teams, and that the SEC has several high-profile wins against contenders in the other conferences, like Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame? And though Florida's win over Auburn was sloppy, it was still a huge win, just like Auburn's sloppy win over Oregon earlier in the year.

The national media is not showing SEC bias. The Big 12, the Big 10, and Clemson also get lots of favorable press. On the other hand, the national media are definitely showing some anti Pac-12 bias, starting with the build up to Oregon's game with Auburn where they stated that an Oregon loss would basically end the Pac-12's chance to make the playoff. And right now your best team (Oregon) would be the sixth best team in the SEC this year, so naturally the Pac-12 will suffer in any comparisons with the SEC. But ultimately the Pac-12's problem (IMHO) is that it is a conference where the University Presidents are much more concerned about Academics than sports, especially an expensive all-male sport like College Football.

For the record, I was only talking about the national feedback from the one SEC game yesterday that I happened to watch, not a broader treatise about the state of conference perception. No one's arguing that the P12 is a mess this year...I said as much already this morning.

Anyhoo...Utah moved up to 15th today, which is a uniquely tenuous position this year. For the past three weeks, the #15 team has lost to an unranked team.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 2:45 pm For the record, I was only talking about the national feedback from the one SEC game yesterday that I happened to watch, not a broader treatise about the state of conference perception. No one's arguing that the P12 is a mess this year...I said as much already this morning.

Anyhoo...Utah moved up to 15th today, which is a uniquely tenuous position this year. For the past three weeks, the #15 team has lost to an unranked team.

For what it's worth, Utah gets a lot of respect in SEC land. Most of the local talking heads had Utah in the playoff in their pre-season predictions. It's amazing what beating Alabama will do for your reputation down here.

I have seen TV pundits put Auburn in the playoffs, I think yesterday put a big time end to that.

Well, with our wins over Oregon and Texas A&M, and with LSU, Alabama, and Georgia left on our schedule, we can afford a loss better than just about anyone, so technically we're still very much alive in the playoff hunt. But realistically, there's no way in hell Auburn will win those three games, and we'll be very fortunate to win one of them. So, yes, our playoff run is over but it was highly unlikely we would've still been in contention in November in the first place.

Apollo wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 8:55 pm Well, with our wins over Oregon and Texas A&M, and with LSU, Alabama, and Georgia left on our schedule, we can afford a loss better than just about anyone, so technically we're still very much alive in the playoff hunt. But realistically, there's no way in hell Auburn will win those three games, and we'll be very fortunate to win one of them. So, yes, our playoff run is over but it was highly unlikely we would've still been in contention in November in the first place.

During the game they showed the schedule and that was what I thought. Maybe they get by LSU or Alabama but not both. And LSU does look a lot better this year.

Wondering when we just go to straight flag football.

GungHo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 2:25 pm Wondering when we just go to straight flag football.

This about the Texas player getting ejected? Looked pretty obvious and blatant to me.

I like Hurts, but wow does he ever make some bad decisions when pressured. Already has one pick in the end zone, should have just had another.

Georgia gets tomahawk chopped!

Michigan keeps rolling along.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 2:27 pm

GungHo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 2:25 pm Wondering when we just go to straight flag football.

This about the Texas player getting ejected? Looked pretty obvious and blatant to me.

I like Hurts, but wow does he ever make some bad decisions when pressured. Already has one pick in the end zone, should have just had another.

As blatant and obvious as the 2 ou targeting infractions that weren't called?
And I'm not disagreeing with the call I'm calling out the rule itself. It's football.

Here’s the play.



You can’t put the crown of your helmet into a player that had gone into a slide. That was just a bonehead play.

I didn’t see the whole game, so I can’t speak to the OU hits for comparison.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 7:01 pm Here’s the play.



You can’t put the crown of your helmet into a player that had gone into a slide. That was just a bonehead play.

I didn’t see the whole game, so I can’t speak to the OU hits for comparison.

Oh yeah I agree it's targeting. I'm not arguing the call. It's the rule I hate. It's football. The helmet is part of football. Tackling is part of football. Sliding bc you're scared of getting tackled is also, unfortunately, part of football though it shouldn't be.

Gotcha, I misunderstood your point. While I agree that they're generally too quick to throw flags, I also see why they're doing so.

Utah rolled through Oregon State pretty easily, setting up a big showdown against ASU next weekend. That's gonna be a fun game.

Man, Wisconsin is a beast!

The two games I'm now looking forward to the most are Alabama-LSU and Wisconsin-Ohio State.

Wait WHAT?!!!

UCLA won last night!


Forgot to watch.

Thursday football sucks unless there's a turkey on the menu.

Lorini wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 10:08 am Wait WHAT?!!!

UCLA won last night!


Forgot to watch.

“The Pac-12 makes no goddamn sense at all - Volume 386”

I’m really nervous about the Utah/ASU game tomorrow. I think Utah’s probably a better team, but ASU’s had our number ever since we’ve been in the conference.

Great game by Oregon - down by 14 in the second half to Washington and came back to win to keep their slim championship hopes alive.