The CBS affiliate in Houston, KHOU Channel 11, has been bombarded with protests this week regarding the sports programming line-up for the slate of NFL games scheduled this Sunday. Houston Texan fans are historically well known for such vocal demonstrations and boycotts, mainly because they are all Aggies.
The controversy this week stems around the distribution map for the two late games on CBS: Houston vs. Oakland and New England vs. Indianapolis. Networks are often put in the position of making difficult decisions regarding such coverage, and point out that some group of fans will always be unhappy on gameday, but many in Houston feel that this week CBS has gone too far.
Said one fan, "This is totally unfair. Why can't we get the Colts/Patriots game like every one else? How come Oakland doesn't have to watch this crap? We only have one more win than they do. We barely beat the Dolphins. It just doesn't make any sense."
When asked if he would travel to a sportsbar to observe the game that everyone is calling Superbowl 1/2 and that the rest of the country will be watching, he replied "No, I guess that wouldn't really be fair to my team. We're not supposed to ever lie, cheat, or steal, stuff like that, and that would be like cheating. I'm just going to stream the SopCast on my computer."
A spokesman from the Texans had a different take, noting that the popularity of the Texans was as high as it's ever been and rising halfway through their most successsful season to date. "We're thrilled to be the major CBS late game in parts of Harris County this week. You have guys in Spring, Tomball, Katy... even out in Pearland, who will be watching the Texans this weekend and I think that's a credit to how far we've come as an organization."
One thing is certain, folks gathered around the water coolers in Houston Monday Morning will be having a totally different conversation than the rest of the country- how far they had to drive to see the game.