Funny moments, problems and successes of the Pac-12 Network launch

It's hard to believe that everything will go perfectly as planned when launching, you know, an entire broadcasting network. Such was the case with the launch of the Pac-12 Network on Wednesday evening.

We're here to nitpick. Most of any blame will go to the cable and satellite providers that either haven't signed on or have limited the availability of the network.

Only today we learned that viewers on Cox, which has reached a deal with the Pac-12, won't be getting the national Pac-12 Network channel. That brought us to say, "Uh, then what's the point?" Luckily those in Arizona with Cox will indeed receive the Arizona regional network, which eases concerns about what football and hoops games will be showing. Still, it's nonetheless weird.

John Wilner reported the same as Ted Miller, and added that it's the same case in parts of California. By county, only regional variations of the network are available. Those odd-ball restrictions occur in Orange, Palos Verdes, Santa Barbara and San Diego counties.

There are also weird exceptions to the rules about the "Pac-12 footprint" defined by the cable companies. Those lucky enough to live in random (or is there a true thought process behind it?) places like Las Vegas, Kansas, Arkansas and Omaha will get the Pac-12 Networks national channel. Again, Arizona ... uh, won't.

And of course, DirecTV and DISH Network viewers are out of the whole loop for the time being.

Still confused? A channel finder and more Twitter reaction is after the jump.

• Take a look at a channel finder if you're still flipping through your TV stations to find the channel.
• Check out Pac-12 Now, an online component to Wednesday's launch. You'll need your cable TV subscription information to log in.
• It should be noted that Cox subscribers in Tucson complained of not being able to view the HD Pac-12 channel. In Arizona, Channel 75 is the standard def while 1075 should be where the HD channel will be broadcasted upon. In Chandler, the HD channel appears to be working for me.
• The Pac-12 Network debuted by talking about Olympic sports. While they're going to push it -- and I'm glad they are -- it was safe to say the sooner they got to interviewing Matt Barkley, the better. Football is still the thing around these here parts, I'd reckon.
• Be patient. Like I said, it's hard to expect everything to fall into place when there are so many moving parts to such a launch. Between the four major cable networks, satellites providers, digital platform (using digital publishing help from OOYALA), it is important to keep perspective. Like Kyle Kensing wrote in the this morning's column YOU WILL, IN SOME WAY, HAVE WEST COAST COLLEGE SPORTS NEWS ALL THE TIME.
• I missed this, but apparently Rick Neuheisel is going to be awesome -- or very annoying. the former UCLA coach said that it's tougher to win the Pac-12 than the SEC. He also thinks UW has a chance to beat LSU IN BATON ROUGE. The problem? He is yelling a lot. But I'll take him over Tebow talk and Skip Bayless anyday.