Nobody ruins my college football season before it starts!!!

Okay, I've got the Mississippi State/LSU game on TV right now—the very first game in this college football season—and I'm too pissed off to enjoy it.

Why? Two reasons: DirecTV, and the Big Ten Network. Reason? Because it seems neither has their shit together.

This is a particularly touchy issue with me right now, because:

1. Two of Penn State's September games are being broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
2. The Big Ten Network surprised everyone by not only coming into existence this summer, but they're going live tonight, two days before the goddamn season even begins! And if it's not already bad enough that this channel is being shoved down our throats (i.e., if we want to see our two September games, we have no other choice than to have this channel), the Big Ten Network it isn't being carried by any of the other major cable carriers, like Comcast.
3. DirecTV is carrying the Big Ten network, but they doesn't seem to be able to give consistent answers on how to actually acquire this channel. I've heard some say they've had to actually sign a contact to purchase it, while some have said they were able to get it automatically by being a DirecTV customer, while others have said they have to pay something like $39 to get the overflow channels, yet even some others have said the overflow channels come automatically.
4. Because I'm the co-chair of the PSU alumni chapter's viewing site committee, it's my responsibility to ensure that all viewing sites are carrying this Saturday's game . . . which just so happens to be on (yup, you guessed it!) the Big Ten Network. So in a worst-case scenario, if for some reason DirecTV falls through on its obligation to carry the suddenly-existing Big Ten Network, then I'm going to have a lot of pissed-off DC-area PSU fans leaving angry voice messages on my phone, wondering why they weren't able to watch the game at their friendly neighborhood viewing site.

I tell ya, this is bullshit I don't need to deal with right before my favorite sports season of the year begins. I do not need DirecTV and the Big Ten Network ruining my college football season just as it's about to start.