One of my half-dozen great regrets about living and working overseas is how difficult it is to see college football. It is by far the most important American sport that has zero exposure overseas. None. You can find some NFL, some NBA, some MLB … but college sports. Nope.

Just not shown on “local” cable.

I could try to sign up for special services, or search for some bandit streaming video … but then we’ve got the issue of the time difference.

So,  if I wanted to pay ESPN360 to see Oregon and Ohio State live in the Rose Bowl … that would be only the start of the task. Then I would have to stay up till something like 6 a.m. UAE time (6 p.m. in California) to see the game end. How is that supposed to work when I have to be in the office at 2 p.m.?

Right. It doesn’t.

Finding a specific game is doable, if you work at, and maybe spend some money. What I miss is sitting there with the remote and toggling between a couple of college bowl games and maybe an NBA game. Without paying something extra or jury-rigging some internet thing …

Maybe if you’re gone from the States long enough, eventually you don’t care anymore.

But I doubt it. A guy I know who has been out the U.S. since the middle 1970s remains a huge Detroit Tigers fan. He kept it up even when following baseball was genuinely difficult (pre-ESPN, pre streaming video) …

So, I guess not being able to watch this stuff is a lingering regret. You never get over it. You just hope to get back to it someday.

I’d love to see the Ohio State band (which immodestly calls itself TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band in the Land) … and I would like to see which variation of goofy uniforms the Ducks will wear. That’s always fun. And I would like to see Oregon win. Pac-10 solidarity.

Maybe next year, in Pasadena.