But first.
Another weekend gone by, and another refereeing debacle in a big game. Not sure how John Obi Mikel earned a straight red for a not-so-bad tackle, a decision which completely tipped the game in favor of Man Ure over the Russians. Sad that such a big fixture is marred by a bad call. Like Chelski vs. Liverpool. Like Chelski vs. Blackburn. Like Spurs vs. Man Ure. Seems to be a recurring problem, dunnit?
Packers 3-0, Badgers 3-0. Happy days. The Pack actually looked pretty damn good against a decent San Diego team. I love my Packers and it’s so much easier to breathe on Sundays when they’re playing well. The Badgers are a bit like watching paint dry. They’re a hard team to beat down and don’t flag much as the game wears on, but sheesh. Some scoring would be nice.
Thesis: the DVR makes watching football a pleasure and it ruins footie.
I love my Packers and Badger football teams but I can’t say I love the sport of football. In fact, it’s often quite boring because of the long delays between plays, time outs, and commercials. I can’t spend four hours watching a football game, which makes the DVR awfully handy. That skip-forward button can get you from play to play pretty damn fast. Most plays last what, five seconds? Followed by a half-minute of huddling and replays? The DVR is essential for watching football. Otherwise I find it almost excruciating.
Footie, on the other hand, isn’t the best on the DVR. The problem is that the game really boils down to goals. When you have the power to easily fast forward to search for them, it destroys the texture of the game. Footie is often about momentum and teams often get three, four, five great chances on goal before breaking through and scoring. Skipping ahead to the goal is sort of like skipping to the dessert first in a seven-course meal. There’s something to be said for the experience of everything that comes before it. It’s very unlike football in that way, since the touchdown is often not the most exciting play. I find it very hard on Saturdays and Sundays to watch a recorded footie match from beginning to end. My fingers get antsy on that FF button.
Current Mood: Tarred | 
3 Comments
But after you’ve watched the game, you can go back and watch just the immediate buildup to and the goals. It’s a nice pick-me-up. I’ve watched David Edgar’s equalizer against ManU from last January about 50 times. What can I say? That was the highlight of last season.
If you want scoring, Wisconsin should play Louisville.
Baseball also is excellent on DVR. I can watch much of the game on the lowest fast-forward setting and slow it down to normal speed for the stuff that’s interesting. And I don’t have to listen to the unbearable inanity of the commentators.
Exercise Self Control.
Dr. Phil
Easier said than done, Phil!
A good friend of mine once pointed out that all the top sports in America are highly episodic as play breaks frequently– between pitches, football plays, trips down the court, tennis serves, golf swings. Hockey has tons of stoppages for penalties or infractions. Could you imagine a commercial break in footie every time there was a goal kick or offsides? Sheesh.
I’ve also read some interesting stuff about why soccer may potentially never get major corporate sponsorship in the US because of this issue. Sports grew up and corporate sponsors figured out ways to advertise. In the US, they put commercials on during the million breaks in the game. In the rest of the world, they put corporate names on the shirts. Unfortunately, soccer in the US needs corporate cash survive (who doesn’t need corporate cash to survive) but they can’t get it because of the advertisement issue, because said advertisers don’t like the model used in the rest of the world; and since MLS can’t get that money, the sport can’t grow, and sponsors are less likely to give cash. Vicious circle.