My countdown begins...

[HDBoobToobNoob]

Yes I love watching Sunday Night Football, and MNF, but my true passion for sports lies in the National Hockey League.

Flipping through the ESPN HD schedule I felt a lump build in my throat and a slight burning sensation in the corner of my eyes as I saw the words National Hockey League followed by Dallas at Colorado, 9pm January 15, 2004.

The lump continued to grow as I scrolled further and further down the list and saw...National Hockey League...National Hockey League...National Hockey League. Oh the JOY!!! It was like holding a newborn in my arms for the first time, for this is exactly what it was.

Not only have I never seen a NHL game in HD yet, but I am a huge Colorado Avalanche fan. I have a little less than two months to wait, and it feels like an eternity.

Just wanted to share my joy with you all, I know somewhere, someone feels the same way I do :D :D :D

[bestcaster]

we here in New England already see the Bruins in HD when they are at the Fleetcenter. NESN boradcasts the game in HD and they show it on INHD2 on Comcast.

I must say it looks great, I am not a big hockey fan, but the picture quality makes me watch the game more.

I also see the NBA is broadcasting more and more games in HD as well.

Enjoy.

[sillygoose]

And in Maryland you should be able to watch the Caps lose to your favorite teams on CSN.

[HDBoobToobNoob]

hehe, yah no kidding.

Hey I have a question for you sillygoose. I'm assuming you have Comcast. If not then disregard the question.

My INHD2 channel always says CSNHD, and my CSNHD says CSNHD. So it looks like this

CSNHD - 172
CSNHD - 174 (should be INHD2)

Now unless something is playing on CSNHD it plays INHD2 shows on both, and when something is playing in CSNHD, like Caps or Wizzards, it shows them on both 172 and 174. I called comcast and they didn't know what was happening, couldn't figure it out but the guy was atleast smart enough to think it was coming from their end.

I was just wondering if yours does the same thing?

[leadvocal]

My INHD2 channel always says CSNHD, and my CSNHD says CSNHD. So it looks like this
CSNHD - 172
CSNHD - 174 (should be INHD2)

Yeah, it's been that way for a couple of weeks now. I wonder whats up with that?

[raidbuck]

I think the reason is that Comcast doesn't want to waste an HD channel on the paltry number of games that CSN shows, so they show the CSN games on INHD2.

This will free-up either 172 or 175 for Cinemax-HD or Starz-HD. My understanding from other boards is that Comcast will be adding them before Christmas. Since 172 doesn't show the SD feed of CSN on 7, it really is a good move. While INHD2 does have a pretty picture, the INHD channels have very few original shows and repeats are constant (how many times have you seen Hawaii and Alaska)?

Now, when Comcast gets NBA-TV approval to show INHD NBA games, that will be a lot better.

Rich N.

[sillygoose]

From what I've read raidbuck has it right they are dropping the extra channel for CSN to make room for more HD channels. Although in Montgomery County they have already dropped except they dropped the wrong one. So I only get channel 172 which is labeled as CSN but only plays CSN when the Caps or Wizards are playing otherwise it shows INHD2 but its annoying because there is no way to see the guide info for INHD2.

Oh yeah and Comcast denies there is any problem with NBA-tv and that the blackouts of the NBA games on INHD were no fault of Comcast.

[HDBoobToobNoob]

Hmmmm, thats interesting. I was on the phone with a comcast tech last night and had to explain my scenario 3 different times to 3 different people. No one could understand the problem, they said everything is working fine on their end, we'll have to send a tech out to actually "see" what the problem is. I said, ok, but the problem isnt going to be anything different than I described. All my channels work fine and the CSNHD works fine when there is a game. The problem is lets say there is a Wizzards game on Friday night on CSNHD, but on INHD2 there is a live College Hockey game. I'm going to be an unhappy customer if I can't watch the hockey game because they are showing a CSNHD show on my INHD channel while they are simultaneously showing in on the CSNHD channel. There is no reason to show two of the same thing on two different channels.

Its also good to hear some new HD channels coming to the linup. Although I haven't watch an HD movie yet on HBO, I flip to it cause it looks pretty.

The main channel I would like to see is DiscoveryHD, then I would be a happy camper.