The Anti-Tivo

The Lakers are doing well in the playoffs - the only time LA feels remotely like a sports town - but I'm finding it frustrating to watch the games at home this year.

My neighbor and his girlfriend are enthusiastic game watchers and cheer loudly at every good Laker play. This is actually great on a night like tonight when I forgot that the game was on; their cheering when I got home sent me right to my TV. The problem is that he must have the direct satellite feed, and is therefore not subject to the normal TV network three second delay, because they cheer about three seconds before every good play happens. While this is fine if I am reading or on the computer - it signals for me to look up and watch - it really ruins it when the game is close and I am already watching intently.

I wish I could sneak over there on game nights and pause his DVR for three seconds to get us aligned in the time-space continuum.