The most problematic fallout from the decision to move the Iowa-Nebraska basketball game from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon was the television situation: the game went from being televised to a national audience on ESPN2 to... well, it was unclear. Now it is clear. And it sucks.
Saturday afternoon’s Iowa-Nebraska game, originally scheduled for Thursday but postponed due to an impending winter storm, will air at 2 p.m. ET on BTN2Go, the Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday.
Ugh.
ESPN wasn't able to air the game on Saturday because they have a host of other games to air on Saturday instead. That's a little annoying, but understandable. And, hey, the Big Ten has its own television network, right? Certainly they could find a way to show the game, right? WRONG.
Sayeth BTN:
The conference office then asked if BTN could come up with a solution so that fans would be able to see the game. As a service to Iowa and Nebraska fans,
/FURIOUS WANKING MOTION
and as a result of a significant logistical effort,
Logistics? Someone call fucking UPS.
BTN has made arrangements to be able to show the game on BTN2Go, the 24/7 mobile version of BTN that is widely available.
/wanks
Q: Why can’t the game be televised?
A: BTN is unable to televise the game because we have live events scheduled for 1 PM & 3 PM ET on Saturday. In addition, a production truck was unavailable to produce the game from Lincoln on short notice.
Yes, I suppose almost four days is "short notice." It's not like television networks that focus on live programming and news-worthy events should be expected to respond quickly to changing circumstances.
Q: Why can’t BTN produce the game as a Student U streamed event?
A: In preparation for the renovation of the Bob Devaney Center, some cabling and equipment has already been removed. This cabling and equipment is necessary in order to produce a Student U event that can air on delay on BTN.
Fucking Nebraska. THE SEASON ISN'T OVER FOR ANOTHER TWO AND A HALF DAMN WEEKS.
Q: What if my television provider doesn’t offer BTN2Go?
A: BTN2Go is widely available, through providers such as DIRECTV, Dish Network Time Warner Cable, Mediacom, Charter, Cox, Verizon FiOS and others. If your television provider does not offer BTN2Go, contact your provider.
Or you could make the game available through video.BTN.com or Hawkeye All-Access for viewers whose providers don't want to be strongarmed into providing this service to their subscribers, to give fans another option to watch the game.
Q: How do I access the game on BTN2Go?
A: Visit www.btn2go.com to watch on your computer, or search for "BTN2Go" in the iTunes App Store or on Google Play for Android devices.
You mean, I can have the privilege of watching a low-quality broadcast streamed from the stadium video board to my 3.5-inch phone screen? WELCOME TO THE FUTURE! I haven't seen a future that sucked this much since Kevin Costner was drinking his own piss.