Football's Biggest Night - in Texas

While we are waiting around for another couple of weeks for the rest of the networks to kick off the Fall Season, football is kicking into high gear already. Tonight is the start of the NFL season with a special Thursday game between the Steelers (sans Ben Roethlisberger) and the Dolphins.

But in my neck of the Hill Country, the game of the year, (at least until the OU death match) - the one that I'm sure is helping to sell pickup truck loads of HDTVs in Longhorn and Buckeye country – is Saturday night's Ohio State vs. Texas shootout on ABC in HD. Try as they might, they will only be able to shoehorn 85,000 fans into the stadium. The rest of us will stay home and watch it on the biggest screen TV available.

Why is this important in the HD World? Sports fans buy HDTVs (despite the manufacturers' disappointment with the World Cup effect). More HDTV sales should sustain the momentum for more HD programs and continued research and development on HD technology. So even though you would rather watch Grey's Anatomy's Meredith & McDreamy over the Manning brothers' duel, begrudge a nod to the sporting world.

Of course, if you feel pretty, and Maria Sharapova overcomes Amelie Mauresmo in the U.S. Open semifinal; you can see her in glorious HD on Saturday night in the finals. And granted, the men's side of the tournament has been drained of the high drama of Andre Agassi's last battles in his great career, but we could still see Andy Roddick and Roger Federer in the Men's finals on Sunday afternoon.

So until the Gilmore Girl's WB network merges with Veronica Mars' UPN to form the new CW, we'll have to happily settle for new episodes of House, Bones, and Prison Break, and oodles of football.

Also, next week, we will be attending the CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) Expo and reporting back to you on the latest in the HD World.

Stay tuned,

Dick De Jong
Editor