Streaming NFL Games

In my last post, I talked about how frustrating it can be when your favorite team is playing a big game, but you can't watch it on TV for any of a variety of reasons. Today I'm going to talk about a solution to this problem, which has allowed me to watch almost all of the Cowboys games this year, even when the game isn't carried in my area, or is broadcast on a channel which we do not receive.

The solution I have found is a piece of software called SopCast. It is a peer-to-peer program for broadcasting normal television broadcasting over the Internet. It works by downloading the SopCast client, logging in, and joining a channel. The channels are similar to regular TV channels, but not as convenient. For example, in my experience it takes about a minute for a channel to start showing video.

The video quality is quite poor. A few weeks ago I was watching a Cowboys game using SopCast when a play was challenged. They showed the replay over and over, but because the video quality was so poor, it was almost impossible to determine the correct outcome of the play (which I am usually an expert at, along with every single other person that has ever seen a play challenged).

Although it's not perfect, SopCast is a much better alternative to following a game than that stupid live GameCast thing that ESPN has. The video does sputter sometimes, and it occasionally freezes, but the audio is pretty resilient, so even if you can't see what's going on, the announcers usually do a pretty good job of filling in the details.

This Sunday the Cowboys play the Minnesota Vikings. Although the game will be carried in other markets, our local affiliate has decided to show the Rams vs. Seahawks game instead. I'm starting to get sleepy just thinking about that matchup, although we'll probably watch at least parts of it because Lacey likes the Rams, and we both love to root against Seattle. My prediction: Rams win their first game of the year in an upset.

So if you find yourself wishing you could watch a game that isn't broadcast on any of your channels, check out SopCast. Once you have it installed, you just need to find the right channel that is broadcasting your game. Lucky for us, there are people out there that have setup a website for finding out which channels you need to watch to see your game. Sometimes they even have regular video streams, so if you're paranoid about p2p software, you just might get lucky and find a direct video stream, although when I tried one to watch the Cowboys vs. Bills game a couple weeks ago, the video would freeze after a couple minutes and would have to be restarted. I eventually switched to the sop feed and had a much better experience.

Wiggle Worm

This baby is moving daily and using every inch of space he's got (or so it feels)! I have been able to feel him moving around from the outside for a few weeks. I also saw my stomach move a little which was pretty cool. It's hard to believe that this little guy is only half-way done growing because of how tight and big my stomach is now! It's so exciting to be able to feel him kicking and moving.

Last Saturday was Rian's last soccer game of the season and it was a little bittersweet. I'm glad to be done being assistant coach even though it's been a fun experience. Rian has really enjoyed playing soccer and I have loved watching him play. I actually watched him on the playground yesterday at school dribbling the ball around all by himself for their entire recess. He's so cute.

What a Game!

Everything went wrong for the Cowboys last night. Romo looked awful, throwing 5 interceptions and losing a fumble. What was supposed to be an easy blowout win for Dallas quickly turned into a nightmare.

But as you probably know, they came back and scored 9 points in the final 20 seconds to win on a field goal as time expired. They improved to 5-0 and are set to play the 5-0 Patriots next Sunday in Dallas.

Looking forward to the game, many people predicted a blowout. I was listening to some pre-game blab on the radio and they were predicting scores like 37-3, or 34-10. But when Buffalo picked off Romo's first pass of the game and returned it for a touchdown, it was obvious this game was not going to be how anyone expected. The announcers on ESPN called it the best game of the season. After the game, some journalists would dub it an instant classic.

I don't know about all of that, but it was a great game -- a game I almost wasn't able to watch because it was broadcast on ESPN, which of course we don't receive on our Over The Air antenna. It was a situation I've found myself in many times over the years: a big, important sporting event which I am unable to watch because it's either broadcast on a channel I don't receive, or our local affiliate chooses to broadcast a different game or program instead of the one I want to see.

This happened a couple of weeks ago when Dallas played Miami. It was a Sunday morning, and the 10 AM game was supposed to be Cowboys vs. Dolphins. I wasn't going to church this day, so I turned on the TV around 9 AM to see all the Fox guys doing their pre-game routine. It ended at 10 AM, but instead of switching over to the Cowboys game, our local Fox affiliate switches to... That 70's Show. That's right. After spending an hour previewing all of the NFL games that day, our Fox affiliate, in all of its infinite wisdom, decides nobody wants to watch the actual football game this Sunday morning. The pre-game show plenty.

Two weeks later it was Cowboys vs. Rams. Lacey likes the Rams; I like the Cowboys. Our local Fox affiliate? They like Seafa^H^Hhawks vs. Cardinals.

So what's a guy to do? Your favorite team is being broadcast on national TV, but your local affiliate isn't interested in carrying the game. Or, it'll cost $50/month just to get a sports channel so you can watch them once a week. In my next post, I'll tell you the solution I've found to this problem that has allowed me to watch every game this year without spending a nickel.