pool > soccer

The Champions League is the premier club football tournament in Europe, pitting the best teams from leagues throughout the continent against each other. Several years ago, ESPN bought the rights to air Champions League broadcasts in the U.S. Soccer fans hoped this would improve access to the matches, even if on tape delay, and grow the sport here in the U.S.

Instead, ESPN relegates CL matches to ESPN Classic. Fine. They certainly aren’t helping grow the sport, but that isn’t ESPN’s job (apparently that is to ruin all sports and all sports highlights by backing them with Nickleback songs and editing them such that I pass out disoriented before the conclusion of the segment).
Asking the bartender if she could switch to ESPN Classic, she failed, but offered ESPN 2 as an alternative. Unfortunately with sporting events, you are either watching the match or not. CSI: Miami may be a close substitute for CSI: Darfur (those guys have their hands full), but speed billiards are in no way an acceptable substitute for the highest level of European club football.

Clearly, my folly for an interest in the most popular sport in the world.