I promised not to opine about the state of negotiations or non-negotiations between the NFL Network and cable companies in the paper any longer. Well, that leaves me with this space.

With the Patriots on the verge of making history with the first 16-0 undefeated season, only a few flies on the proverbial wall will get to see it. By the way, if there are flies on the wall of your favorite sports bar while you are watching this game this time if year, here's a tip: you may want to leave.

The NFL Network will have the Patriots-Giants game this coming weekend and all the ranting, raving and rumbling has begun. "How could the NFL do this? Money grubbing weasels. These were always free games before!!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard them all. I've read them all in my emails and I've been snapped at by more than a few readers. This is two multi-billion dollar industries battling it out to see which has the most power.

Until the advent of the NFLN, the league has been virtually beyond reproach with respect to business dealings. The cable companies who aren't carrying the network…ummmm…well, I don't know about you guys, but until I switched a few months ago, I could always count on a substantive increase in my bill every year. It got to the point where I was paying $130 a month for cable alone. And don't say I could reduce my packages. In my line of work, everything I had was essential do performing my job.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must have a screw loose if he thinks the likes of Time Warner will budge from its current stance. Personally, I think the NFLN's placement demand (carriage on a digital basic tier) is reasonable. Although it's per subscriber fee (over a buck) may be a bit less so. But you'd think there could be some middle ground reached here.

I don't think so before 2010. Why then? Well, the NFL still has a crown jewel that the cable companies would LOVE to get their miserly, grubby little paws on - the NFL Sunday Ticket. That's the ONE. And DirecTV has the exclusive on that package of out-of-market games until - you guessed it - 2010.

So where's that leave the loyal football fan and consumers? Well, you can join the flies in the local watering hole, pray your buddy invites you over or, like numerous individuals, just switch. Customers will have to decide the worth of pro football in their lives.

As for me, I will be able to relax in comfort and warmth Saturday just to see if these Patriots make history in the way that other New Englanders did some 231 years ago.