Cutting the Cord

I made a decision last week that I never thought I'd make. I cancelled my DirecTV service. When I was younger, I thought cable was the one amenity I would pay any amount of money for. I worked in TV for 14 years and it was a big part of my life. But after a big jump in my DirecTV bill, my practical side took over.

I was very happy to switch from Comcast to DirecTV when I bought my townhouse. The main reason was because DirecTV offered MASN, which shows Washington Nationals games. For years I had no option to watch Nationals games, because Comcast didn't offer MASN and I lived in the Nationals home market, meaning the games would be blacked out if I bought the MLB Extra Inning package.

I really didn't have any complaints with DirecTV, other than the fact that it occasionally went out when it rained. But they do what a lot of companies do - offer you great deals for the first year or two, then jack up the prices. When my deal ran out, my bill went from less than $100 to $170. I can't justify paying $170 a month just for satellite TV. Their selling point is that you get upwards of 200 channels, but who actually needs that many? How many channels do you watch on a regular basis? 10? 15?

So yesterday I packed up all the DirecTV equipment (which was a lot more time-consuming and labor-intensive than I thought it would be) and shipped it back to them. I decided to get YouTube TV. It's $45 a month. And so far it looks like it has just about anything I would want to watch. Except MASN. Looks like I'm back where I started (but with a little more money in my wallet!).

True Detective

When True Detective season one came around, there wasn't much like it. A complicated crime story told over eight hours. Now this type of mini-series is everywhere. It's hard to replicate the success that first season had, but Nic Pizzolatto tried.

I just finished watching season three. It's interesting how the True Detective arc has gone. The first season was almost universally praised (rightfully so). The second season was largely panned. And the third season feels like it just came and went without much buzz. That's a bit unfair, because it's still quality television.

The story centered around Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and his quest to figure out what happened to a boy and girl who went missing in small-town Arkansas. But it's also the study of a marriage, a work partnership, and a man's fight to hold onto his memories. The story unfolds in three main timelines. One of the best aspects of the series is how it ages the characters. It's pretty clear 98% of the time which timeline we are in.

Roland West and Wayne Hays (HBO)

I will say, I didn't have the same reaction to this season as I did for season one. Sometimes the timeline changes felt overly complicated, and I didn't feel myself as plugged in to the main mystery. But the series ended on a high note. The last episode was probably the strongest one. You think it's going in one direction, then it pivots. There is an agonizing scene where Hays has figured out where the girl is but can't remember why he went to her house. Ali and Stephen Dorff (who plays Hays' partner Roland West) are outstanding throughout.

The way the TV landscape is now, it's hard to figure out what is really worth your time. There are so many shows on so many different channels or streaming services. If you are going to invest eight hours in something, you want it to be good. I consider True Detective season three a good investment. Now comes the hard part - figuring out what to watch next.

Checking Out

It happened this weekend. Twice in fact. The football teams I have rooted for through thick and thin lost badly. And I shrugged. Found myself largely disinterested.

Let me take you back to the early 90s. My family had season tickets to RFK Stadium, and I got to go to at least one game a year to see our beloved Redskins. This was back when they were really good, before a prolonged decline. We had seats in the mezzanine. The short wall in front of us was made of whatever material allowed it to make maximum noise when we kicked and hit it. That was back when going to NFL games was fun.

I don't remember the last Redskins game I went to. Maybe 2013? Our season tickets went with us to FedEx Field, but we eventually gave them up. For many reasons. But I still structured my fall weekends around watching the Redskins and Hokies. That has changed too.

Part of that is just life getting in the way. I'm preparing to get married in a couple months and spending time with my fiancée is more important. But another reason is that my two favorite teams have just become completely unwatchable. The Redskins are 0-4, coming off a 24-3 loss to the bad New York Giants where the offense couldn't move the ball and the defense couldn't stop falling down or committing penalties. The Hokies are 2-2 and haven't looked good in any game. What's worse is there's no real hope that it's going to get better in either case, at least any time soon.

There are five stages of grief, but I'm not sure how many stages there are of fandom for a bad team. I know at some point it moves from anger to apathy, and that's where I am now. I haven't made it through one full Redskins game this year and have watched two of the four Hokie games. And I don't know how many more I'm going to invest time into watching. Someone please let me know when my beloved teams return.