This is the worst yet.

Most of the first four years here in the UAE, we were able to see some college football. We had access to ESPN and ESPN America, which showed a bit of the college game.  Pretty much all the games that ran on ESPN in the U.S., and it was a kind of treat to flip over there … and see Wisconsin and Penn State. Almost anyone, actually.

I have a clear memory of waking early and watching the whole of USC at Oregon, two years ago, and being quite pleased with the outcome. (Oregon, 19 consecutive Pac-10 victories? That’s wrong.)

But even then, I could vouch for how difficult it is to keep track of college football from this side of the world.

With ESPN having abandoned the region, in a retreat from the whole of the eastern hemisphere (a strange decision addressed in this story by my former colleague Gregg Patton) … we are scrambling to see any American sports.

Particularly college football, which is considered a bizarre concept in most of the world. Remember, most universities on the planet somehow do without an athletic program.

The UAE’s American expat network is discussing this. One colleague suggested a virtual private network (VPN), and then logging on to ESPN3.

My experience has been that ESPN wants money before it allows you to see the 3 … but I will investigate.

Anyway, UCLA apparently is pretty good, which seems hard to fathom, and USC isn’t bad. Johnny Manziel appears to be a meltdown in process (he was not quite under control in the limited time he saw in Texas A&M’s game with Rice), and the SEC will play about 20 games of impressive ferocity and low scores.

I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it. Not sure I will be able to.

For now, I’m following this in retro fashion — via newspapers and video clips.