Deseret News | Coming soon, The mtn. in High Definition

Reader comments
Scott Pierce: Coming soon, The mtn. in High Definition — well, sort of

No HD Please | 9:40 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

College football on the MTN is best enjoyed on a 9 inch black and white TV. It's like watching football in the early 1960's. Please don't take that nostalgia away!!!

(Serious, the moon landing came in cleaner than the MTN).

bigutefan | 11:24 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

Dear No HD Please.....you forgot to mention that the MTN is best enjoyed when James Bates is not the commentator, or any of the Cougar former players or ties. Just thought I would add that to your post, for perfection, ha!

KISS THE BABY.. | 12:05 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Mtn.network...listen y'all, I don't and you shouldn't blame the MTN. The real blame goes to the MWC for settling with such a rink-a-dink network!..of all confrences!..this is the confrence,that most of America is dying to see, the country hears a lot about the MWC...thanks to UTAH!...and now this year? With TCU, bot not seeing them play on big time networks,like ESPN or FOX SPORTS..just hurts the confrence and not to mention my eyes! The Mtn. is the worst I've ever seen!

Comments continue below

The Mtn? | 12:05 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

What's the Mtn?

Signed,

The World

gdog3 | 5:20 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

The conference has made countless bad decisions over the years. I say the conference because they are as unidentifiable as their network(s). Yes it's all plural. The Old WAC, the New WAC, the 16 team WAC (TCU included), TCU lost then found, The restored WAC without the WAC (it's now the Mountain West). Across the country, nobody knew what in the Sam Hill the MWC or the WAC was until recently. That all happened just in time for the network that nobody knows about. Is it the Mountain, CSTV, Versus, CBS College Sister Channel, Sports West, KJZZ, and Mickey Mouse TV. Corporate Devil or not, we (whoever we are) should have never left ESPN. Actually we never left, as our good ole' WAC still plays on ESPN all the time. YEAH. Our conference has so much more national TV airtime to look forward to. Lucky we have technicolor and Todd Christiansen break it down. I say this for this reason, we will be able to survey the field in moving pictures. Those of you that get this last part, go ahead and LOL. It will give you a fortuitist bounce.

MTN is a joke | 6:30 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I dont think fans are complaining about HD, I think the MTN has misunderstood... Its the MTN itself that no one likes. It has to be the worst network ever created and whoever agreed in the MWC to it needs to be fired ASAP. It was most likley Jamie Hill our D coordinator, he got the MTN the same time he recruited or DB's... Just terrible pick ups all the way around.

Y Fan | 6:52 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Well, The MTN could be better... a LOT better. Not as near as Espn BUt It's better then nothing. The mtn is better then no game veiwing at all!

TexasCougar | 7:52 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I have read that versus is owned by comcast. I question the use of ironic to describe the actions of comcast. I think the more appropriate term is moronic.

LaVar the Utah Cat | 8:29 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Fans ought to be glad there is a network that even gives a large rodent's hindquarters about teams in the Mountain West. Prior to the mtn, we were fill-in fodder for ESPN and seen by no one anywhere other than Tuesday nights. Once in a blue moon we would see Utah or BYU on Thursday nights. Otherwise - nothing. Now we can see a couple of league games per week. Not the good ones usually, but some games. Why CBSC, Versus, and other networks have the MWC games remains a mystery to me. Will that ever change? That is key to mtn's success - bringing all the MWC games to the mtn network.

The absolute worst | 9:29 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

decision the MWC brass have ever made, was to team up with "the mountain". If you do not happen to live in a 'mountain west county', you still don't get to see any games unless it is on ESPN. The Mountain network is like the little brother who is carrying around his transister radio when everyone else has a giant boom box. We should just send little brother back to his room for few years until he grows up.

Tier-3 | 10:19 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I'd just like to see better commentating, and not necessarily during the game, But what is with these cut outs during games to two terrible commentators sitting on a fake room set? This is football... Take some notes on ESPN, there sets are simple and probably cost less than two guys lounging in arm chairs... Who came up with that? did you hire someone from HGTV or something? Oh, and hire someone who can show every play on tv and not miss them... thanks

Boy howdy! | 10:52 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Wow that's great news. What are they going to film with, a Canon Vixia HF-S11 camcorder? That would be about their speed I'm guessing.

CougInColorado | 10:56 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

How 'bout some actual on-field sound, too. I get crowd sound, James Bates sound (Yikes), and that's about it. Occasionally I can hear the whistle. Let's get some more interns down with those funky mics with the satellite dishes, yo! Let me hear the hitting, the playcalling, etc.

re: Boy howdy | 11:53 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

My guess is they'll use a Flip Mino HD because the HF-S11 is kind of pricey for them. But that will be a lot better than filming it with their cell phones which is what it appears they've been using.

Geez | 12:52 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

As mediocre as the actual game coverage is, the studio commentary shots are even worse. The lets-kick-back-in-leather-armchairs idea isn't working. The guys need to get back behind a desk, do their ties back up, and cover the game as professionally as they can. Hopefully the production values will follow.

Dear Mr. Pierce | 1:12 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

AFA is in the MWC, so I think Gameday's visit to the AFA-Army game does have something to do with the MWC.

jimmy dean | 6:18 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

COX IN AZ HAS THE MTN.AND WILL HAVE MTN HD. GO COUGARS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bear | 10:43 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

None of this is a problem for me...I buy a ticket and see it in person. I don't miss ESPN because I enjoy football on Saturday. Who needs or wanted midweek games - a little tough for those who have to work and travel during the weeks. Also, I sure don't miss 9:00 pm Monday night basketball games either. It is nice that the fans that actually come and support their MWC teams can do it on the traditional day, well minus the couple Thursday night games.

ESPN rules | 7:56 a.m. Nov. 7, 2009

Look at BSU and all their publicity. BYU was stupid for leaving ESPN for the MNT network.

Fire the Commissioner | 9:35 a.m. Nov. 7, 2009

This is peripheral to a larger problem - the poor choices the MWC Conference Commissioner makes.

MWC sports have become a scarcity on channels that people frequent when looking for sports. Games on ESPN during the week are more valuable, even if less numerous, than games televised on obscure channels on Saturdays. On Thursdays, there may be one other game to compete with.

On the East Coast, Versus was channel 603, and The Mountain was channel 200-something. No football fan, or potential recruit, surfs in the mid 200s or 600s and stumbles upon MWC football action.

In January, there were articles pointing out that many voters hadn't seen Utah's football team before the Sugar Bowl. To move forward as a conference, we need the respect of the nation. It helps us in recruiting, scheduling, and in the national polls.

In addition to poor choices regarding television contracts, the MWC bowl situation is no better. By committing our conference champion (unless invited to a BCS bowl) to play a team finishing in the middle of the PAC-10, we are in effect saying that our conference champ would finish about fourth in the PAC-10.

Nice job, Commish!

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