¡Hola, Mun2!

Since my OleOle blog post isn't showing up....

Well, maybe I should say "Hi there, Mun2!", considering that Mun2 usually broadcasts in English.

(Note to self: Watch the Chicas project)

Why am I writing about Mun2? Well, if you're asking that than you obviously aren't aware of the situation concerning the Mexico v United States World Cup Qualifying match on August 12th.

Usually US National Team matches are broadcast on ESPN2 (or sometimes they feel generous and put them on ESPN), at the very least ESPN Classic. But that isn't the case for this match, and that isn't the fault of ESPN actually. Since Mexico is the home team the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (or FEMEXFUT, which is equally a mouthful) controls who owns the rights to broadcast the match and they have a deal with NBC Universal through Telemundo for both rights -- Spanish AND English. This is where it get interesting.

Supposedly NBC outbid Disney (ABC & ESPN) for the World Cup but the USSF had a word with FIFA about how ESPN supports MLS and therefore deserves the rights to the World Cup more than NBC. Needless to say, NBC wasn't, and isn't, happy about this. The rumor is that ESPN approached NBC about buying the English rights so they could show the match, which is expected to be in high demand given the ferocity of the rivalry and the Americans recent Confederations Cup success, NBC said "How about naw?", or something like that.

So, instead of the match being broadcast in English on ESPN it will be broadcast in English on Mun2, Telemundo's baby sister, and I do mean "baby" - Mun2 is in 30 million US homes. Telemundo has yet to decide who will call the match for Mun2.

This has caused a fair bit of controversy in American soccer circles, obviously. Hardly anyone gets Mun2 (though many get Telemundo, who will broadcast the Spanish feed). There's even a petition (linked) to get the match moved to one of NBC's seven-gazillion other networks, namely the USA Network.

People have a right to be angry, but you can't exactly fault NBC. If the World Cup rumors are true they really got screwed. Plus they obviously want people to be more aware of Mun2's existence, it doesn't seem like a bad channel to be honest. It's kind of like MTV.

If you've gotten this far, I love you. Mun2 is on Dish Network 838 and DirecTV 410, I believe the latter requires a subscription to a Spanish language package.

In other news, the doctor says I have bronchitis. Ick.

Jessica Simpson

Gained weight.

The media made fun of her.

This is probably my biggest pet peeve: Men are allowed to gain weight, it's even often celebrated (Actually, men who are underweight are often maligned as "faggots"). But if a woman dares not be waif thin or perfectly toned she gets crucified.

There is nothing, nothing wrong with a woman having curves. In fact many timelessly beautiful women such as Jean Harlow, Jayne Mansfield, and Marylin Monroe would be considered overweight by today's media-driven, status quo-controlled culture.

On the Super Bowl tonight you will see commercials celebrating the right of "real men" to be overweight, and you will see commercials reinforcing a stereotype that only thin females are attractive. NBC would just rather let a beer company tell you that than PETA.

But I won't rant and rave about it. If you're a male and you think women of Jessica Simpson's build aren't up to your standards, you can be that way. More for those of us who do appreciate it. :)