I'm BLUE Dammit!

First I want to say, Yay Hokies!

Secondly, I would like to say, BOO ADELPHIA!

Or perhaps, BOO ESPN since they seem to be in disagreement about who is to blame for our lack of Hokie watching on Saturday. I swear there is some sort of curse attached to us and ESPN Gameplan…it never seems to work out. Some of you might remember what happened last year for the Georgia Tech game. Well, in the same fashion, J and I were left, munchies in hand, with no Hokies in sight.

How is this Adelphia/ESPNs fault? Allow me share.

First, like a responsible sports fan, I checked the internet to be sure it was “AVAILABLE IN MY AREA” which is what the issue was last year. This is what I saw.
I have helped those who might not know where I live by highlighting it with the red circle. BLUE, right? In fact, my circle obscures it, but the entire state of Vermont is blue.

I call Adelphia, and after 20 minutes of them trying to get their computers to work, and making sure it was football and not NASCAR I wanted, she said I was all set. Since it took so long we decide to go ahead and get the whole season, so everytime Vermont decides the other VT isn’t important, I don’t have to go through that phone call again. A whopping $125! But worth it for my Hokies.

So we get ready, gather snacks, adorn ourselves in maroon and orange and tune to channel 502... and wait. 11:58. Ok 2 more minutes. 12:00. Blank screen. 12:05. Ok, I’m getting worried. I check the other Gameplan stations and they are all good, except for the BC game. I check the blackout map. Sure enought, it says it's blacked out because it’s on ESPN2…I go to ESPN2 and there is BC. Ok, so the only other Gameplan station displaying the scary dark screen, like the one Tech is supposed to be on, is for a game that is blacked out. This can't be good.

So I call. I explain that we live in the BLUE, not the BLACK, yet there are no Hokies. Where are the Hokies? I’m not sure she really understood the concept of a blackout, but she wanted to help. She took my word for it that we SHOULD be seeing the game, so she had us do a few unplug this and turn that off
things to get our cable box to reset. But nothing. No Hokies. Then she checks a list, and the list says the game is blacked out in our area.

Though this is completely contradictory to the visual indicators given on the internet, I must admit defeat. Disappointed, I solemnly asked for a refund.

To this she said, NO. No refund. "We do not give refunds for Gameplan."

EXCUSE ME!? Um, I just paid $125 to watch a game that is not on my TV!! Either give me my Hokies or give me my money! She still refused. So J got on the phone.

He didn’t get much further, so he asked to speak to a supervisor.

Cable lady: It appears that game is blacked out in your area.

J: Not according to the map.

Cable lady: That is ESPNs map.

J: Yes, and we ordered ESPN Gameplan.

Cable lady: We cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of ESPNs map.

This went back and forth for a while. I don't feel like going over all the reasonable and well articulated points J asserted, but I glowed with adoration of his firm yet professional tone and his ability to keep from using expletives. In the end, they gave us the day for free. I actually did watch the Ohio State game for a while, and a few others, so I guess that was ok. Hopefully Gameplan will come in useful in the future. If not for Hokie games directly, perhaps for important ACC implications or ranking effecting games. God, I'm annoyed just by typing this. END TOPIC!

Oh, and we built the crib! It's very pretty. Perhaps building a complicated, instruction intense piece of furniture was not the best idea after the mood altering Aldephia experience. But we got through it. J only called it a "Piece of Crap" twice!