Letters from NYC

LIVE from Germany, its streaming soccer!

LIVE from Germany it's World Cup '06. Can't be in Germany rooting for your favorite country? Then sit in front of your PC . Yes, the madness, the intensity, the passion of World Cup games can be seen up close and personnal by watching live streaming video into your home.

I've been carefully planning my technical needs for this event for the last 4 months, just so that I could hook up my new laptop to my widescreen tv and WATCH THE MATCHES I WANT, WHEN I WANT TO, AND HOW I CHOOSE TO and not the matches ESPN signs up for and decides to broadcast.

I was so pissed off during the last world cup with both cable and tv coverage, that I decided to cut their cord permanently. My sporting independence begins today!

I, like millions of others who will not be in Germany, have lots of ways of watching the games over the net. Actually, the options are limitless if you have access to a high speed connection.

Online video service ESPN360 will be streaming live a select group of matches they don't broadcast on tv, on the net, offering the most straightforward viewing for fans that are US based. The downside is that although it's available on my broadband, ESPN360 is not available throug some high-speed internet providers like Cox, or Comcast. But me, I'll be in PC heaven as I update 1 server and 8 pc's and watch the games as I work.

If you surf around you'll undoubtedly find matches via foreign network feeds. The most important thing to know is that "GOOOOOOAAAALL!!" is the same in every language. As with everything on the net there's various ways to go:

Download a P2P streaming player from the forum Football Streaming Info, which is stuffed full of links to downloads and tips if you get into technical trouble. TvAnts is a front-runner due to its ease of use -- a big plus is that the channel menu is mostly in English, unlike many of the other players which seem to be in Chinese.

Once you have a player installed, a clear and detailed schedule of the day's games and where to view them can be found at BoxtoBox.

Another option is to use BitTorrent in conjunction with a tracker like the recently reopened PirateBay.org to find recorded games soon after. The upside is that there will probably be some that have been recorded in high definition; the downside is that these will obviously not be live.

Another option is to use BitTorrent in conjunction with a tracker like the recently reopened PirateBay.org to find recorded games. The upside is that there will probably be some that have been recorded in high definition; the downside is that these will obviously not be live.

There's lots of options, go explore and discover them. I won't put them here and because some require advanced tech skills and an indifference to the gray areas of multinational online broadcasting. For those of you who are interested those workarounds can be found at GHacks.net (I'm not hotlinking for obvious reasons).

If this all seems to much to figure out, then hell, just go to your nearest, English, Irish, Scottish pub or the nearest Mexican, Spanish, French, Italian restaurant and enjoy. On second thought, I wouldn't reccommend seeing a match in a restaurant, the truth is you'll be lucky if you get any service as everyone, will more than likely be watching the game. If you loathe the idea of watching the game or being caught up in World Cup fever then you can visit the Living Scotsman for 50 Ways to Avoid the Cup.

Oh and RP, a word with you please.... how the hell did Norway get past Italy, France and Germany for such a high world ranking? Did the King bribe FIFA? Did he send the Queen to sleep with FIFA officials? 'cause that's the only way I can see that ranking!

[And the trash talk begins!]

Posted by Michele at June 9, 2006 08:00 PM