Let's throw a few things out there that might surprise some of you: 1) From roughly 2004-2007, we didn't have a TV. Like, at all. It was somewhat of an experiment. It was kind of nice a lot of times not to have an automatic response at night. Instead of instinctively coming home and turning on the TV, we would actually think about what we wanted to do. Sometimes we would read. Sometimes we would go to a movie. Sometimes we would write. Sometimes we would go somewhere and watch someone else's TV (you know, with their permission and everything. Not just looking through windows. Usually).

2) In the summer of 2007, we got an HD flat screen TV. It's 32 inches, which is a reasonably modest size as such things go. But it was mostly for watching movies. We had only the most basic of cable packages (the local channels and about 15 other ones, none of them sports channels), and the only reason we had that is because it was actually cheaper to have internet + bad cable than just internet. Go figure. There were no HD channels. That's was our set-up for the past three years. We could watch Twins games on Sundays. NFL games weren't a problem. Some other local games would sometimes be on channels we had. All in standard-def. And that was enough.

3) A few months back, we started getting the itch for more. Finally, we told the RBBH that we weren't crazy about how much we were paying for Internet + bad cable and that for a little bit more we could get really awesome satellite TV and the same caliber of internet service. When she asked a month ago what we wanted for our birthday, we told her that the upgrade is what we really wanted.

And so it came to pass that yesterday, Nov. 3, 2010, we entered a new realm. We had satellite TV installed. It took forever, but when you've had limited or no TV for six years, another few hours doesn't really matter. We didn't get the crazy "every single channel" package, but suffice to say we have pretty much every ESPN channel known to man, the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB Networks, a channel devoted only to tennis, FSN, CBS College Sports ... etc. Pretty much all of it in high-definition. It is glorious. And we don't want to abuse it.

That said, two things:

1) The very first thing we saw last night when we turned on the TV? Midway through the second quarter of the Timberwolves/Orlando game on FSN, the Wolves were already down by 35 points. This is what we're paying for? High-def? More like high-don't! (That one's for our friend Jody, who makes the "don't" joke constantly).

2) Overall, we expect to enjoy this immensely. We have the DVR situation, which we've never had. What we're asking for now is some advice: Those of you who have had all these modern marvels for years -- how do you avoid the trappings of all these channels? Does access to DVR and all the sports channels alter the way you watch sports? How can we use all this access for the greater good of this blog?

Your thoughts/expertise in the comments, please!