I just want to watch Jackets playoff hockey!

Please help.

I was unable to get a straight answer from Dish Network.
I was unable to get a straight answer from Fox Sports Ohio.

It is 12:39 am.  I'm supposed to be sleeping.  Big day at work tomorrow.  But instead I am sitting at my computer, stewing.  I was unable to watch the Blue Jackets Game 3 playoff game on TV on Monday.  Now it seems I may be unable to watch tonight's as well.

I live in Troy, Ohio.  Just north of Dayton.  I am not a wealthy man by any means.  I cannot afford to attend NHL games very often but I do drive the 90 minutes to Columbus a few times a year to enjoy a Blue Jackets game at Nationwide Arena.  When I can't see them in person, one of my favorite things to do is to relax in front of the TV with my two boys and watch the Jackets on our regional Fox Sports station.  We watch so much, that they have memorized the commercials!  Proven here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vipvWVQ3-t0

I am a Dish Network subscriber and pay an additional $5 per month for the Fox Sports regional sports package.  I do this for one reason and one reason only: to watch my beloved Blue Jackets.  I do not watch the Reds or Xavier or any other sports team.  I pay those few dollars extra every month for the CBJ.

I am ecstatic that my team is finally back in the playoffs.  Unable to watch Game 2 on Saturday night due to work, I was looking forward to watching Game 3 on Monday.  Fox Sports televised the game in my area (DirecTv customers were able to watch)...yet I was unable to watch.

You see, I actually have Fox Sports Cincinnati (a division of Fox Sports Ohio, I think).  Throughout the season I was able to watch every game on this station.  When there was a conflict with another team, I would always be able to find the game on an alternate channel.  But not Monday.  With the Reds playing that evening, I found myself searching for the alternate channel.  To my complete and utter frustration, the Reds game was also on the alternate channel.  That made no sense to me.

Was this a mistake?  I'm not so sure.  I contacted Dish Network and was told it was a programming decision by Fox Sports Ohio.  But the Fox Sports Ohio web site indicated that I still should be able to watch the game in my area as proven here: http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/channel-information-for-monday-april-21-blue-jackets-and-reds-041714

So right before bed tonight I checked my Dish Network guide.  The Reds game for tonight starts at 7pm and is televised on Fox Sports Cincinnati.  So I searched the alternate channels.  NO BLUE JACKETS GAME.
I find this very disturbing.  I have been able to watch every Blue Jackets game on Fox Sports this season.  Now they are in the playoffs and suddenly I cannot watch???  Sure it's on the NBC Sports network but I don't get that channel.  That package would cost me an additional $10 per month.  I'm already spending $5 for Fox Sports...a channel on which I SHOULD be able to watch the Jackets.

But the bigger issue is this: EVERYONE in this part of Ohio and Cincinnati should be able to watch the Jackets game.  And EVERYONE who has Dish Network and the same package as me CANNOT.  From a marketing perspective, this is horrible.  The Blue Jackets organization should want everyone in the state with access to FSOhio to be able to see the Blue Jackets in the playoffs.  This is the perfect way to promote the game and hook new fans.

In comparison, DirecTv (from which I recently switched) offers both FSOhio AND FSCincinnati as part of its regional sports package.  Dish Network should follow suit. Or whoever is in charge.  Dish Network?  Fox Sports?  Blue Jackets?

I don't want to watch a choppy, illegal Internet feed.  I don't want to go to a bar.  I just want to sit on the couch with my two boys and watch the Jackets.  Is that too much to ask?  I should be able to do it.  I've been able to do it all year.  Why has it changed now when it matters most?

Please help!  Someone must know something!

Signed,
whalerjacket

I Can't Watch the Jackets Playoff Game

Tonight I cannot watch my beloved Blue Jackets play in their Game 3 matchup against Pittsburgh.  I emailed Dish Network to complain.  Here is what I wrote.  Bet I get some kind of generic response with no resolution.

Hello.  I pay $5 extra per month so that I can have the regional sports network package with Dish Network.  I do that for one reason only: so I can watch the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey games.  That's it.  I do not watch the Cincinnati Reds or any other Ohio sports on that channel.

So I was quite angry when I was unable to watch the Blue Jackets PLAYOFF hockey game tonight (Monday, April 21).  The Cincinnati Reds game was on Fox Sports Cincinnati.  Usually when such a programming conflict occurs, I can switch to an alternate regional programming channel for the hockey game.  Instead, the Reds were on that channel too.  When I contacted Dish Network to inquire about this, I was told this was a Fox Sports issue.  The Fox Sports web site seems to indicate otherwise.

I live in the Dayton, Ohio area.  When I visited the Fox Sports Ohio web site, it says that tonight's Blue Jackets game is in fact televised on Dish Network IN THE DAYTON AREA.  The following link clearly shows that as a Dish Network customer, I should be able to watch the game on FSOhio.  

http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/channel-information-for-monday-april-21-blue-jackets-and-reds-041714

The problem is that I do not have FSOhio.  I only have FSCincinnati.

I would like to voice my displeasure with this.  I recently switched to Dish Network from DirecTV.  When I was with DirecTV I had BOTH FSCincinnati AND FSOhio.  Clearly the Fox Sports Ohio web site operates under the assumption that Dish Network offers both channels to their subscribers.

I would appreciate a response as I am currently second-guessing my decision to switch from DirecTV.  I would like to know how I can help initiate a change so that Dish Network carries both Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Cincinnati just like DirecTV.

For the record, the game is also televised on NBCSports Network.  However I do not wish to pay an additional $10 a month to upgrade my package to include that channel when I already pay the $5 per month to receive the regional sports network package.

Trading Gaborik: Mistake

I am writing this entry with the understanding that perceptions can change.  I may very well look back on this entry in a year or two (or even at the end of this season) and say "what was I thinking?"  With that in mind, let me flat out say: trading Marian Gaborik for Matt Frattin was a poor decision.

As I write this, the Blue Jackets' offense is practically non-existent and the power play is in an 0-for-30-something slump.  You know what would help with that?  A proven NHL goal scorer.

It comes down to this question really, Blue Jackets fans: would your rather have, right now at this moment, Marian Gaborik on the ice or Matt Frattin in the press box?  At this juncture I think the answer is obvious. Many will argue that Gaborik would have been lost at the end of the season so the Jackets did the right thing to get something for him.

But is having Matt Frattin on the roster in the summer better than having a playoff berth in the spring? If I were Jarmo, I would have kept Gaborik on the team as a potent roster option.  Instead, we traded him for a guy who sits in the press box every night.  Gaborik would have helped this team, simply put.  I don't think keeping him on the team would have hurt.  If the Jackets can't find some offense soon they'll be finding themselves on the golf course in mid-April again.

Let's pretend we kept Gaborik and made the playoffs.  Then Gaborik walked.  The positives of making the playoffs would outweigh the negatives of losing him for nothing.  Seriously, would any of you Jackets fans be THAT upset if the Jackets chose not to re-sign him this summer?  I would have given it a big fat "oh well" and moved on.  Because you know what? We traded him for practically nothing anyway.

This was not addition by subtraction.  We lost a goal scorer and right now we need goals.  I was skeptical when the trade was made.  Now my worst fears are being realized.  Maybe I'm jumping the gun and things will turn around.  But things don't look so hot right now.

I am not saying that Gaborik would have solved all our problems with the offense, but he could not have made it worse than what we've recently seen on the ice. I've heard fans say he didn't fit into the gritty style the Jackets play.  Well, I hate to say it, but that gritty style is not putting pucks in the net right now.  We need all the help we can get.

So I hope I am wrong and the Jackets get hot and make the playoffs for only the second time in their history.  But if they don't, and we fans start talking about where things went wrong, the conversation should start with the Gaborik trade.