soccer

The Beginning of an Era in Sports Broadcasting

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Sports broadcasters for any sport provide a service that is most appreciated by the new sports fan or those who need some help being guided through the game.

A broadcaster will present information such as starting lineups, in-game stats, and will point out scenarios and strategies the viewer may miss.  However, for those fans who know exactly what they are watching and don’t need any guidance, some broadcasters come off as awkward or annoying.

Announcers such as Joe Buck and Cris Collinsworth have a history of not being a fan favorite because of their monotone voices and lack of joy and charisma.  Former players Bill Russell and Mark Johnson, while phenomenal athletes during their time, were off-cue and not exactly a fans first choice.  And finally, how could anyone forget Bill Russell who did everything from rubbing dirt on himself to taking off his shirt on-air.

To make matters even worse, anyone watching the game while these individuals are announcing can’t do anything about it.  Nobody wants to sit in a silent room while watching the game.

The simple and easy solution I propose is to subscribe to “ESPN+“.  While ESPN may be outdated in many aspects of announcing, this new idea will revolutionize the fan experience and cater to everyone’s needs.  This new streaming service from was recently released on April 12 and offers a lineup of content and live sporting events for just $4.99/month.

How it works and what you get

The first step is to download the ESPN app via your iPad or smartphone or you can log onto ESPN.com and purchase the subscription.  As I said before, you only pay $4.99/month to receive all of the benefits.

With your 5 bucks, you get an array of content among thousands of live sporting events such as the following:

  • MLB – more than 180 games
  • NHL – more than 180 games
  • Boxing – year-round
  • MLS – more than 250 games
  • College Sports – multiple sports such as football, baseball, basketball, and hockey to name a few.
  • PGA – 50 days of coverage
  • Rugby and Cricket – international

Furthermore, the ESPN+ app will provide users with a platform that lets them do everything that revolves around sports.  Any question you have will be solved through this app.

  • Scores, news, highlights
  • live streaming
  • on-demand video library
  • ESPN audio

Believe me when I say that coming from a hardcore sports fan myself that this app will be a game-changer to how to consumer watches sports.  ESPN+ could even save you from an expensive cable bill that you don’t want to pay any more.  If you’re like me, all I use cable or is sporting events and with this app, I would save nearly $95.

Do you all plan on using this app?

Does it satisfy all your sports broadcasting needs or do you think something else should be added?

A Non-Soccer Fan’s Guide To The World Cup

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Mid-June can be pretty rough for sports fans in the United States.  The Stanley Cup Finals and NBA playoffs are wrapping up, the NFL is still in the off-season, and the MLB is past opening day but still too early for the playoffs.

However, once every four years, the World Cup comes around and the first game is this Thursday, June 14.  With nothing else to watch, I’m here to give you a beginner’s guide to the World Cup and how to make it look like you fit in with the soccer super-fan.  And especially since the United States were knocked out, I’ll give information on some other teams that make you sound like a soccer aficionado. Also an Italian head butted another player in the final one time so sometimes it can get crazy.

I think a good spot to start would be describing how the World Cup tournament process works.

32 teams qualify to make the Cup and are put into 8 groups of 4.  This is usually where people get confused.  Just think of it how the NFL puts teams into divisions. So there’s 8 divisions and the goal is to place in the top half after playing every team in your group once.  After that, the remaining 16 are put into a single elimination bracket and eventually there will be a winner.

So the good news is you know how the tournament works.  But the bad news is there’s so many different narratives, stats, history, strategies, and concepts that there’s no hope to learn it all.  However my solution to you is giving a couple open-ended questions that will get any die-hard soccer fan heated.

  1. “Is Messi or Ronaldo better?”

No fan sits in the middle when answering this so it will either 1, give you conversation with someone without having to say a word, so just shake your head and agree since you know nothing about soccer. But also 2, if someone else tunes and disagrees, all hell will break loose and you’ve got debate that you need to know nothing about.

2. “Do you think Messi and Argentina win it all?”

A BIG narrative in soccer is that Messi, while one of the best, can’t pul it together on the national level and win whether it’s the World Cup or Copa America. Just like the first question, asking this question will get a far left or right answer because there’s the chance a Ronaldo fan is listening.  In this case, refer to question as a follow up.

3. “Did you see______’s jerseys?! They look so good!”

To be honest, you don’t even need to look up what the jerseys look like because the super fan already knows.  Just make sure the team you throw in the question is in the tournament.  For some reason, soccer fans think any new jersey that’s released is “sick” no matter how bland or uncoordinated it looks.  Furthermore, I’ve figured out that soccer fans also assume whoever has the best looking jerseys will win the tournament. So whatever team they think has the best looking jersey, say you think they have a really good shot at winning it all and they will surely agree.

So there you have it. A guide for the fan who doesn’t watch soccer so you can look like you know what you’re talking about.  Stick to those questions and you’ll fit right in.

For all the soccer fans reading this, what do you think? Does this sound about right?

Also feel free to comment your own soccer fan clichés or expressions for the beginners out there.