The Red Zone Channel

There are good days in the week and bad days, and then there are Sundays, most often the best days. Autumn Sundays are so good because they overcome things like hangovers and looming workdays to become the best days of the week. Today was no exception.

First there was that hangover, thanks to the Miller Lite pitchers duel between Davo and me during the lack of pitchers duel between Scott Kazmir and Josh Beckett.

Like Kazmir, and Beckett, we got bombed, but unlike them, we weren't removed in the fifth inning. Anyway, I pulled myself together enough to head out and watch the NFL games, but this Sunday would be like no other Sundays.

For this Sunday was my first experience with The Red Zone Channel (sound fx: Hallelujah Choir). Perhaps some of you have had the pleasure of RZC before, and maybe others of you are as unfamiliar with RZC as Jason Varitek is with playoff RBI's. Basically its an add-on premium to the DirecTV NFL package; a channel that brings you to whichever game is in the most interesting situation, and then flips when another game becomes relevant. No commercials, so we are spared 31 Frank TV ads and 24 renditions of Bon Jovi's I Love This Town, worth the price of admission alone (but then again you also wouldn't get to see this unbelievable David Fincher Nike Ad that was all over the place Sunday).

There's all sorts of other fun that comes with RZC. If two games are equally close to scoring you get splitscreen red-zone coverage. If four games are equally close, RZC gets Jack Bauer on you

and lights you up on four screens. Also if someone scores from outside of the red zone while you're tuned to a different game, they drop a "Packers/Seahawks Update Coming" graphic on screen, which opens the door to a guessing game of what could be coming. In that case, Charlie Frye pick-six is the safe bet, but the suspense is as much fun as the reveal.

Meanwhile as DirecTV flips you to a new game, you usually even score a sarcastic comment from RZC host Andrew Siciliano, usually a dig at Dan Orlovsky or whoever is trying to defend Andre Johnson (especially at 2:03 in the video). RZC is even a parlay-ers best friend (besides JT O'Sullivan in the fourth quarter, of course) as it flips you across the NFL nation without having to move a thumb.

We were lucky enough yesterday to have a two TV set up, which I would consider ideal. RedZone on the main screen with the best match-up on the deuce. Pair that with a couple PapaJohns pizzas, a leather couch, a room full of sports memorabilia, and five games decided on the last play and Sunday felt more like the weekend and less like the weekends end.