I was lying around the house on my New Year's Day off, flipping between Bowl games, Marquette vs. Villanova basketball (go Golden Eagles!) and watching the snow fly outside. And then I decided to go a,little further up on the channel guide provided by my friendly cable operator.

And there is was, airing teasers, promos and general good thoughts on this winter day – the MBL Network was going live at 5 p.m., and I didn't need to pay some ridiculous price to have the package added to my cable lineup.

The teasers they had from the previous season' highlights, upcoming programming tidbits and what they will be offering once baseball kicks off in April have me quite excited. No longer do I have to wade through ESPN's home run calls and other nonsense as I await my baseball highlights. They will all be here on the MLB Network, whenever I want them.

So the debut night's programming was a bit, well, repetitive, highlighting the offseason moves (not many) and again touting all that the network will offer in the months ahead. But then they shows Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series - and that was pretty cool. How often can you see complete games from the 1950s on your TV schedule?

I even got my wife to watch it. It was amusing to see the limited camera angles, almost zero commentary and how you couldn't really hear the crowd. It was definitely a different time.

So I'm hoping the MLB Network will offer more goodies like that in the future as I await the season to start. I know it's only January, but to think of baseball on these snowy days and cold nights is just the right remedy.

Tune in and check it out for yourself.