One of the Downfalls

Peter King, the current editor of the NFL section of Sports Illustrated and SI.com, has picked the Bears to win the NFC this year and fall to the Patriots in Superbowl XLIV. I tend to agree that they might go all the way (or close) this year, which pains me because I know I can't watch any of it.

Unless, of course, I bite the bullet and pay out the nose to the money-grubbing NFL.

Consider this: before I left for Korea I paid $119.99 to watch any MLB game I want, live or archived, for the entire year. For those who don't want to do the math, that's 2,430 games that I can watch this year for 120 bucks.

The NFL, on the other hand, wants to charge me $209.99 JUST to watch Bears games. That's almost twice the price for 16 games of football. Of course, I could pay the $30 more and catch all 288 NFL games. But when you break it down, I find it hard to stomach the price disparity (appr. $0.05 per MLB game and $0.83 per NFL game or $13 per game if I just get the Bears option).

Now, I know football is an expensive sport, what with the grossly over-paid athletes and exorbitant, multi-million dollar stadiums. But come on. $210 bucks to watch something online that I could watch at home for free with a hanger sticking out the back of my TV? Sounds a little stupid to me.

The worst part of all of it, of course, is that I'm considering buying it.

Please, oh please, somebody in the Chicago area buy a Slingbox and give me access to it!