Listen to this....
I got a 36" Vizio HDTV for our bedroom last year (I have a 42" Hitachi that's HDTV, but not flat, in my living room). So, I've got Charter digital cable, right? I never subscribed to the HD service, just never got around to it. Wife would say, "Call them and order it." I'd say, "I will, I just keep forgetting." So, we watched all but one Bama game this year at my house, NOT in HD. (The one we did watch in HD was the Georgia game at my brother's house, who has all the bells and whistles.)
About 3 weeks ago, my brother calls me. He's remodeling his house since like, November, and he's living above his garage. His nice large flat HDTV is sitting on his pool table.

Now, let me say this ..... long digression .... he's got satellite service. He's not using it during the remodel; he's just used an antenna and watched the HD signal from local stations. Well yeeeeeaaarrrrs ago, he discovered that he had cable service running through the coax in his house. He called Charter. They told him he didn't have it.

Well, yeah, he did, and they weren't billing him. He wanted to subscribe and upgrade, ditch the satellite anyway. He later changed his mind. Anyway, they patently denied to him that he had cable. They sent out a tech. The tech said, "Yeah, you've got it. But, I don't feel like fooling with it. Enjoy." He's never gotten a bill. But, he doesn't use it anyway because he's got HD satellite service, etc. So, here he is in the pool room over the garage, and it occurred to him, "Hey, I wonder if that cable is still on." This is like 2 months into his remodel, now. So, he just ran the cable straight into the TV, and whamo....HD signal. ESPN HD, the works. He calls me, says, "Hey, what channel is your ESPN HD on?"
"Ummmm. Remember? I don't have it."
"Well, I do."
"How?"
"Man, I've got all kinds of channels." He starts rattling them off. Things that aren't even on our cable system, now. I'm flummoxed. I said, "Let me call you back." He'd told me he just ran the cable straight to his TV.
So, I went, disconnected from the digital box, straight to my TV. WHAM. HD pictures. All the major networks in HD. ESPN HD. Other channels not on my regular cable like the Catholic network. I lost channels, too, though. So, I use the box, but when I want to watch a game, I just re-connect straight to my TV. That's how I watched the SuperBowl in HD.
All those Bama games I could've watched in HD.

Human government bears the same relation to hell as the church bears to heaven. (David Lipscomb, On Civil Government, 72).