04.21.07

A Masters Dilemma

Posted in tennis, tv at 4:39 pm by danvk

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the world’s #1 and #2 tennis players, are facing off tonight in the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters in Rome. They’ll be on at 5:26 AM Pacific Time, which is OK by me. I’ve woken up at stranger times to watch tennis matches before.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, according to the TV listings, I’d be better off if I lived in Thailand or the Middle East. It’s only being shown live on The Tennis Channel in the US. I thought I got TTC, but it must have been a teaser offer. I get it no more. My only option is to watch it on atpmastersseries.tv.

Their offer must be well thought out, because I’m completely on the fence. I can put up $7.95 and watch the match live in Windows Media Player tomorrow morning, or I can leave it. If the price point were $1 or $2, I’d do this without even thinking. But $8 is a bit steep.

I wish the calculus of live sports were different. I’m sure the ATP Masters Series would do fine if they broadcast all their matches live for free, with advertising. It’s not like you can skip the ads on a live broadcast, and sports programming loses almost all its value once it’s not live. CBS made a bold move to broadcast college basketball free online during March Madness. I wish the ATP Masters Series would do the same, so I wouldn’t have to think about paying my $8…

01.26.07

Australian Open

Posted in tennis at 3:22 am by danvk

Those were two spectacularly bad semifinals. Federer beat Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. Not even close. He won 11 games in a row. Then tonight, Gonzo beats Tommy Haas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Even more of a blowout!

I really thought Roddick would push Fed in the first semifinal, but Federer played a perfect match. So did Gonzo. The final is on at 12:30 AM Saturday (PST)… I hope it’ll be worth staying up for!

(Also worth noting: Wikipedia is a surprisingly good place to track sports events)

11.18.06

Avoiding News in an Immersive World

Posted in personal, tennis at 1:44 am by danvk

Tennis World #1 Roger Federer is playing World #2 Rafael Nadal in a few hours in the Masters Cup semifinals. I assume that Federer will win, but he has a history of bringing out the best in Nadal in a way that he doesn’t with anyone else. It should be a great match, but unfortunately, they’re playing in Shanghai, and no networks in the US are carrying it live. So I have to watch it rebroadcast at 7 PM PST on ESPN2.

I’m going to be really mad if I find out who won before the broadcast. Prime candidates for doing so:

  1. Gmail Web Clips. They’re great, but I had to remove ESPN.com from my set after it ruined two previous matches in this tournament for me.
  2. Wikipedia Watchlist. Not a conventional source of spoilers, but I had at least two late-round Wimbledon matches ruined this way. There’s going to be a flurry of activity on the Federer and Nadal articles today.
  3. Random web surfing. You just never know.
  4. Sports tickers. I’d like to watch the Michigan/OSU game, but I’m terrified.

So no email, wikipedia, web surfing or TV. Hopefully I’ll emerge from under my rock tomorrow in time for the match!

(And since when was Roger one of the sexiest men alive? He’s really not that attractive!)

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