Seahawks 11 Vikings 18 -- SeahawksFTW 0 Dish/KCPQ 2

Preseason games are often described as 'meaningless'.  That assessment has never sat well with me.  If you want to call the Pro Bowl meaningless, I'll give you that.  As much as I personally enjoy seeing the best (non-Super Bowl qualified) players in the league kick back, be themselves and compete in skills challenges-- I'm more than willing to admit that it is a meaningless event.

But how can you possibly make the same distinction for the entire preseason?

Yes, the outcome of preseason games has zero effect on your team's post season opportunity.  But outside of that, the preseason is integral in preparing your team for the all-important regular season.

Position battles are decided in the preseason.  For better or worse, teams watch these games closely to determine their depth chart heading into the season.  They watch other teams to see if there might be someone on another roster that could improve their team via trade or free agency.  Preseason ultimately determines who gets tucked away onto the practice squad for future development.

Hell, if you don't think the practice squad is important-- just look at how many former Seahawks are on teams through out the league.  The Chiefs specifically have raided Seattle's practice squad many times.

Whatever your opinion is of the preseason, you have to admit that it is comforting to know that football is back and getting to watch your team play, even in a 'meaningless' game, gets you fired up for the real deal.

For Dish subscribers such as myself-- this preseason has been a nightmare.

Imagine paying for HBO.  Sure, HBO has a wealth of tremendous programming from documentaries to blockbuster films.  While you enjoy the breadth of shows that they offer-- you consider yourself first and foremost a Game of Thrones fan.

Now, imagine you're about a month out from the season premier of  'Thrones' and you discover that HBO is squabbling with the producers of the show about money. The consequence of these two incredibly wealthy entities results in you not being able to watch the show.   You're still paying for HBO, you still have access to a myriad of programming-- but not the show that is the primary factor in your decision to become an HBO subscriber.  You can spend more of your own money to get a device that allows you to watch the show with much poorer quality-- but why should you have to shell out more of your money when you had no role in the quarrel to begin with?  Remember: the two parties that are causing this disruption have PLENTY of money.

This is how Dish customers that are Seahawks fans feel right now.

So, with regard to the Vikings/Seahawks match up this past Thursday, I ordered a set of digital rabbit ears that Amazon failed to deliver on time.  My wife then went to Fry's and purchased the set that the associate recommended to her-- aaaaaand it didn't work.

I hadn't eaten all day, utterly exhausted from moving this week and I was about to put my fist through the TV before I finally found a website that could stream the game just moments before kick off.  We ate and watched the first half of the game but as the stress brought on by the continued uncertainty of whether or not we would be able to watch the game subsided-- I passed out from fatigue around halftime.

Once again, I'm unable to give very detailed analysis and who knows if I'll have things resolved in time for the 3rd preseason game. The preseason matters because it has implications that will carry into the regular season and ultimately the playoffs.

The same can be said for this Dish dispute-- and I'm terrified to think that it could impact the regular season and playoffs for me and tons of other subscribers.