Biased English Commentators

Watching the Liverpool v. Arsenal game was incredibly frustrating, nearly unbearable with English commentary. I'm not 100% sure who was commentating on the game, possibly Derek Rae. If you do know who was commentating, please post their names.

I was completely disgusted at how Liverpool literally put 10 men behind the ball for the entire second half and commentators were hailing it as a brilliant tactical move; one that is an important trait for European competition. Wow. Really? Ironically, if it was Juventus playing, they would have been chewed apart relentlessly. Most other Italian teams also get the same treatment, even if they are not very defensive. They become stereotyped. I remember when Undinese made the Champions League maybe four or five years ago for the first time in who knows how long. They were drawn in the same group as Barcelona. They were destroyed of course. Prior to the matches, Barcelona players were quoted as saying things along the lines of, 'we don't really know much about them, but all Italian teams are tough defensively and it will take a lot from us to breakdown'. That was totally not the case with Udinese at all. But it has become a pre-recorded response to direct towards Italian teams.

The second half of Liverpool and Arsenal was ridiculously boring. Yet, the commentators were absolutely loving it. Three seasons ago when Juventus played Liverpool I can still recall the sneering comments made about the Juventus defense. Comments such as, 'that's no nonsense defending from Cannavaro, booting the ball way down field'. In my memory I have a contrast of another commentator saying the exact same thing about John Terry; however his voice was filled with pride and awe. How does this work? Please explain how Liverpool can completely close up in their own half and be praised for it? Liverpool's defensive mentality that game was so over the top I feel it dwarfs the defensive performances of Italian teams over the last ten years.

Can anyone recall Liverpool v. Chelsea from three seasons ago? How boring was that?

I know everyone will make a point to bring up a point against the A.C. Milan v. Juventus final of 2003. How it was boring and how it was a shame it had to be decided on penalties. I am not a big fan of deciding important matches on penalties, however, where are the fans that hailed a near flawless performances by both teams. A match were neither side were completely taken off guard or fell victim to error or misjudgments?

There is a long history of world class Italian defenders. Does this mean that Italian teams are completely built of central defenders? Of course not. Italy has produced brilliant offensive players in the form of Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti, and Alessandro DelPiero to name a few recent and still active players. Italian encounters may produce fewer goals, but there is less error. Personally, I'd rather see a high quality offensive move result in a goal rather than defensive blunders or goal keeping errors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C0RtpjDceU

Streaming Live Soccer Matches: The How To

For those living in countries that have yet to accept soccer as the world’s game or those living in parts of the world that make watching live matches next to impossible due to time differences, this guide is for you.

The first thing you should know is that the process is quite simple. Yes you will have to download a package of programs and you will also have co-ordinate your viewing with the help of channel guides, but in the end, you will get what you are looking for.

The second most important thing to keep in mind is that this is free. Because of that, imperfections may arise. They are not the end of the world. And if you follow this guide as closely as you can, you will avoid many of the hang-ups that have turned people off the idea of steaming live content.

System Requirements

In order to stream live video content you will need high speed internet and any computer with at least 1.0 Ghz processor and 256 Mb of RAM. These requirements are quite low and any computer purchased within the last 4 years will get the job done.

Next is software. There is an abundant amount of software available to do this job. However, we want to focus on the ones that have comprehensive football/soccer coverage. These programs include: TV Ants, Sopcast, TVU, and PPMate. These programs allow for satellite television to be streamed via the internet on your computer. They also allow for users to stream their own video content from their PC and share it to the rest of the world. The feeds you will be using to watch high profile soccer games will likely come from a satellite television channel, but for some of the more low key matches, it is not unexpected to have some noble person supplying the video feed from his or her home.

Live Matches

I would like to introduce the following sites: www.myp2p.eu and www.allp2ptv.org. The MyP2P website is updated hourly on match days and will provide a list of channels that will be streaming the match of your choice. Obviously, the more popular games will have more channels available, but even the low key matches will have three to four channels available. MyP2P will list and link to the channels and identify which program will be required. It also contains links to all the programs you will need. So in the event that the channel you are seeking requires a program you currently do not have installed, it will be easily accessible from the website. If the program is already installed, clicking the link will automatically launch the program and load the channel for you from within the website. Quite convenient. However, I have noticed a bit of a problem when doing this with the newer versions of Sopcast. Sometimes the program will open but the channel will not automatically load. If this happens, do not panic. Simply right click your mouse over the channel link and select ‘Properties’. A screen will open that will have the channel address written out for you in the form of sop://broker1.sopcast.com:3912/42854, with the numbers of course varying. Simply highlight the text, copy it, and paste it in the Sopcast application under the channel address bar and the problem is solved.

TV Ants will load fine but you must be patient as the channel loads. Sometimes, channels will load and be a little choppy for the first minute or two. If the problem continues, look for another channel. TVU has two soccer channels, GolTV and Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). GolTV is Spanish only and FSC has English commentary, but it isn’t of much quality. The video quality for both channels are always high and reliable.

Viewing Replays

Now, catching live streams may be a problem for some people depending on what part of the world you are living in. There are always replays of high profile matches. But MyP2P will not cut it for this job. This is where www.allp2ptv.org comes into play. All P2P will list all of the matches that are available on any given day. Unlike MyP2P, All P2P is not restricted to live games. It will also list any and all replays of any football/soccer that may be taking place. The problem is that it does not offer the convenient links to the channels and the software like MyP2P does. All P2P only provides the time and channel that the game will be airing on, you have to do the rest. For this job, it is essential to download PPChooser (http://www.ppchooser.com/download.htm).

PPChooser will allow you to choose the channel you wish to view and will launch the appropriate player with the proper channel. Remember, the program needs to be installed ahead of time before using PPChooser. By browsing All P2P, you will find a game that you wish to view. By clicking on the game, it will load a webpage where it will list the channels the game will be viewable from. Run PPChooser. It will list six different channels on the screen for you. Each channel will have anywhere from one to ten different feeds from programs such as TV Ants, Sopcast, TVU, etc. You have the option of choosing which program you would like to view the channel with in most cases. For example, if all All P2P says there is a game you want to see on ESPN China for example, load PPChooser, find ESPN China, click on the program you wish to view the channel with, and you are off and running.

As I mentioned earlier, when you open PPChooser, you will view a list of six channels. These are not the only channels available. At the top of the screen, there is a button called “Custom Channel List”. Click this button, and you will be brought to a screen listing additional channels available. On the left hand side you will have a list of channels in collapsible file tree view, similar to Windows Explorer. On the right hand side, you will have the channel names listed. You will notice that the first six channels that are listed are the same six channels that are listed on the main window of PPChooser. Rearranging the order of these channels by using the up or down function on the top right of the window, you can select which six channels you would like to appear. So, if you are looking for CCTV5 and it is not visible from the main window of PPChooser. Click on the “Custom Channel List”. Find the channel in the right hand side. If it is not listed there, find the channel in the left hand side and simply drag the channel from the left to the right hand side. This will bring the channel over to the right side of the screen. Then, using the ‘Up’ button, bring the channel within the first six channel options. Close the window and return to the main window of PPChooser. The channel should now be listed there. Choose the program with which you would like to view the channel with, and once again, you off and running.

Do not be discouraged. It is easier than you think. And in scenarios where you cannot afford outrageous cable or satellite TV costs, this is a viable option that also provides more freedom in terms of scheduling.