What's the line from the movie "Network?"

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

I'm mad as hell because of the networks, but I still have to take it. The networks leave me little choice.

Either put up with them or stop watching sports on TV. I'm not ready to do the latter, so I'm stuck with the former.

Television has controlled professional and major college sports for quite some time, and that control is affecting the quality of the games, as well as the ability of the public to watch them.

For example ...

• The Colorado Rockies clinched the National League pennant at 1:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The game didn't start until after 10 p.m. Monday because, for goodness' sake, it couldn't clash with the American League Championship Series game airing on another network earlier.

One of those games could have started at 4 p.m., the other at 7:30 p.m. so this side of the country could actually watch the Rockies' amazing postseason story unfold.

Daytime baseball in October?Can't have that. Kids might be able to see it. Gotta take care of those ratings, don't you know.

• Taking a weeklong break between the league championship series and the World Series. Why not?It's downright balmy in Denver, Cleveland and Boston around Halloween.

Heaven forbid if the World Series begins on a Saturday — like it has for decades — because the networks don't want to run the risk of Games 6 and 7 going up against college football and the NFL.

Having the World Series competing against football during one weekend is bad enough. To risk doing so on consecutive weekends?Can't have it.

• Speaking of the NFL, how about the network camera delay during the New Orleans-Seattle game last Sunday night?The cable running above the playing field, holding the network's above-field camera, snapped, causing said camera to crash onto the field.

The camera didn't miss Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck by much — that would have been a strange injury to explain — and delayed the game for 20 minutes.

Do we really need that camera to enhance our viewing?No. Will we see that camera again?Most definitely.

• When a baseball player is leading off first base, I don't need a graphic placed at his feet showing how far off the bag he is. I don't need a laser beam telling me whether a pitch is a strike, either.

• Use of instant replay to determine the outcome of plays?Don't get me started. That system always has been and always will be a joke.

Why do coaches have to worry about tossing a red flag to challenge a call?They have enough to worry about without trying to decide if the officials are doing their jobs.

• Why do basketball officials need to look at the monitor to decide if a player got off a shot before the buzzer? Don't they have eyes and ears of their own?

Ahh, what would sports do without the electronic eye?

I'd love to find out.