That should come into play locally this evening when fans give the remote a serious workout, clicking between the two games at 8 o'clock -- Vikings-Steelers on NBC and Dodgers-Pirates on ESPN.
Even though it's one of 162, the baseball game has more significance, but this is (sort of) NFL football after a six-month drought. Never mind that Ben Roethlisberger and anybody else with a recognizable name will be watching from the sideline, this almost looks like the stuff we long for on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
This is perfect for the people who like to play scout and tout some obscure free agent as a dark horse.
NBC gets a show with anonymous guys in recognizable NFL uniforms. It's not quite reality TV, but it's good enough to sell to advertisers. Coaches get video evidence to confirm which players they will soon send packing. Those long shot dreamers get DVR evidence that they once wore a Steelers uniform and may even have had their name called on national TV by Al Michaels.
For fans, it's a chance to work out the regular season tailgating routine. Sept. 10 will be here before you know it, and that one in Foxboro counts, with or without Tom Brady.
Meanwhile, the Pirates are kicking off a streak of three straight Sundays on national TV. Between tonight's game and the Aug. 23 home date against the Giants, next Sunday afternoon's game in New York has been selected by TBS.
There are a lot of ways to validate the Pirates' turnaround, but this may be the most significant: Soon people in other places will complain that they're on TV too much.
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--UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Steelers' main preseason priority is fixing the defense.
The offense is good enough to win the Super Bowl. The defense might be an impediment to winning both regular season games against Cleveland.
There's a question of how different the defense might be with Keith Butler replacing Dick LeBeau as coordinator, and with Mike Tomlin taking a bigger role.
The preseason will probably offer few clues about how significant the changes might be since coaches hate to offer opponents anything substantial from exhibition games.
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--ON THE SPOT
Giving credit where it's due, Root Sports hustled last Sunday to get thorough post-game coverage of the dustup between the Reds and Pirates.
They leaned on their Cincinnati counterparts to get comments from Bryan Price, Marlon Byrd and Brandon Phillips on the air. Viewers were waiting to see the fallout from the incidents, and Root covered the story well.
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--HOT ROD
Rowdy Roddy Piper, who died recently, was second in importance only to Hulk Hogan in executing Vince McMahon's plan to turn wrestling into mainstream entertainment.
Piper had a gift for oratory and the ability to incite people to buy tickets or pay-per-views. That skill is gold in the wrestling business.
Unfortunately, the lifestyle a lot of the performers in the 1980s practiced wasn't conducive to longevity, and Piper is gone at 61.
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--HONORING JOE
Nice to see the Larry Bruno Foundation honor late sportswriter Joe Tronzo, who had a 60-year career in newspapers.
Joe started writing when he was 12, and always had a soft spot for kids who wanted to work in the newspaper business. He'd find things for them to cover when most of their peers were focused on delivering papers. A lot of people who went on to careers in media owe their start to Joe.
Joe believed there was no higher journalistic calling than getting as many names as possible in the paper. Once when a Beaver Falls basketball game was interrupted briefly by a leaky ceiling, Joe dutifully reported the names of the student managers who mopped up the water.
He had a lot of stories and loved to tell them, especially the ones about his budget-minded bosses at the old News-Tribune. He was a character, and his heart was always in the right place as he often organized and promoted youth league sports.
One of Joe's many quirks was his habit of randomly asking co-workers, "Hey, do you like old Joe?"
Sure did.
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