Watching the sooners abroad...

[47straight]

I will be across the pond for most of the 2006 season. I gots to see me my Sooners.

Anyone got a strategery for watching the games? Are there sports bars in different cities that show american college football? Do I show up at the embassy or consulate every saturday night at 2:30 + 7 hours? I'll be in London during the week, but random places most weekends. That makes it tough. I will have high speed innernet, I think. SO... assuming I cannot watch it live... more realistic options:

1 - member at soonersports.com, with the BB senior commentary, watch the replay?

2 - buy a video iPod, hoping that games will be available like the TV shows are now via iTunes?


TIA

[swardboy]

Well, if we're still cursed with the 11 a.m. kick-off syndrome, you'll see a lot of 6 p.m. London-time games....

[swardboy]

This might be a helpful site:

http://www.nasn.com/content/nasn/cmsint.nsf/content/index-collegefootball

[Scott D]

I'd say contact ouflak.

[TheGodfather889]

Directv maybe?

[GDC]

If you're in the service or know someone who is AFN carries the big games.

[Switzer-lander]

This is a topic I actually know something about, and after many years of trial and error (and lurking on the board), want to share the info.

Here's the deal:

1. Get a Sky satellite package, and pay extra to get NASN (North American Sports Network). You MUST get NASN. We may only get two or three games a year on NASN, but at least one of them is always OU-Texass. Also, check the home page regularly (www.nasn.com) for viewer-choice polls on which game should be shown. When you see those, send out crimson-and-cream alerts to everyone you know so that voter turn-out is high and the right game wins. This is critical. Also, you won't be able to get NASN at hotels or bars on the continent, so make sure you've got a way to record any games on NASN if you're away from home on the weekends (consider geting Sky+ with the recorder built-in).

2. Sign up for the ESPN on-line game day plan, or whatever they call it. Last year was the first time they did it, and it works well. I think I saw three or four games live that way last year. Take a laptop or find a computer and you're in business whether you're in London or Ljubljana.

3. Get the DVD season ticket package through soonersports.com. Delivery times improved dramatically last year. There's nothing like getting those DVDs in the mail once a week during the season, even though it takes seven to ten days to get them after the game (probably less for London). It's a beautiful thing.

4. Sign up for O-Zone on soonersports.com. It won't be your first option for watching games, but there's lots of good content that you won't be able to get elsewhere and a good fall-back for replays. Also, make sure you get the email updates, which are quite helpful for keeping up with the changing game times.

5. Make sure you've got the Yahoo! internet radio subscription. Until NASN came along, this was my only outlet for the games (and took me back to when I was a kid listening to games over the radio, which isn't all bad).

6. When all else fails, have someone you can call who will put the phone up to the radio/TV. I have had to do this on several occasions over the years.

7. Check this forum as many times a day as you can. It's the best source of information on all things OU. Daily Oklahoman etc. are supplements, but this is where it all happens.

I have not found or heard of any sports bars in London that broadcast college football, but if you hear of any, please let me know. Armed Forces broadcasts are an option as long as you know someone who has access, but it's definitely not an option in Switzerland. I also keep hearing rumors that there will be an NASN2 that will be heavy on college sports programming, but don't know if or when that will happen.

There are also some satellite systems in the Middle East that carry ESPN channels, but I doubt you will need to go that far since you will be based in London (but is more relevant to those living elsewhere).

Prepare yourself for getting up at 1:00 a.m. for the night games (it's always worth it!), and enjoy the morning kick-offs that drive everyone else nuts. Boomer Sooner!

[chriscappel]

Just say screw it and stay in Oklahoma...i wish i woulda....i cant get sh!t for games out here

[King Crimson]

buy a slingbox and hook up to someone in OK's TV.....and watch em on yer computer.

[ouflak]

Basically, what Switzer-lander said. A few comments:

You don't get any live broadcasts on OZone of any of the games. Their print is very misleading here and purposely so. No matter how much you would like to interpret their wording to mean 'live broadcast', you will never find any live audio or video of any of the football games. For the basketball, you might get a few of the early unimportant non-conference men's games and that's it. You will never see or hear any conference game live through OZone. The women's game have been better supported and I've actually seen a few of the big games there. Another thing, you need to find the highest broadband connection you can get. OZone refuses to create any low-res versions of their stuff. Even on my very high speed connection this can be very choppy and cut-off for a variety of reasons (heavy internet traffic for example). You can ask, but they are sticking to their guns on this, so unless you can get something super high speed, don't bother with OZone. You're just paying for frustration. You can't download any of the replays to play on your local machine either, which is borderline tragic. When the internet is well-behaved, the replays of the game are usually superb as are the special highlight segments they put together.

Yahoo is excellent. The connection has always been consistent and strong. You will have to use Internet Explorer is you want to use all of the features of the audio stream window. I haven't found a Mozilla-based browser that has everything working. Also sometimes Yahoo will hide the broadcast link if it, for whatever reason, happens to be a free broadcast. You will have to dig around occassionally to find that link. I find this a bit humorous actually.

The NASN package has recently improved a bit in that they are combined with another group of stations (Sentana). Reportedly this was supposed to mean more coverage for more American sports, but so far they haven't really delivered. Well, I'll give them some more time on this before I start squawking too loud, as this merger is only a few months old and I realize they have to make deals well in advance to be able to broadcast these games. Also, if you want to see a specific game, email NASN. You have to do this atleast a week early, but sometimes they will show your request! I've been pleased by this, but also caught off guard. They aren't famous for their fast email replies and I've literally found an OU game on TV while I happened to be surfing during a lull in the action. They have a very strong East-coast bias at NASN in what they put in their schedule. I have a few theories as to why this is. Anyway, we'll see what happes when/if NASN 2 ever sees the light of day, or if they can make the deals to get the Sentana stations some stuff to broadcast. I also get ESPN classic here, but it's a somewhat localized version of the channel.

You will never find any American sport broadcast in any bar whatsoever. You don't have to ask. The answer is no, even if it's an American franchise. The lone exception is the SuperBowl. All they show is Soccer, Rugby, and Crickett in the bars. Go ahead and try though if it makes you feel any better. If you actually find something, post that here and send me a PM.

Also nobody knows or cares to know about college sports in America. But there are quite a few people over here who are fans of the proffessional versions, and many of them are quite knowledgeable and keep up well with their teams, so all is not lost. The proffessional leagues are much much better at marketing.

One other source for live information of the games are the game threads that are running on boards across the country. There have been some lean times when my only source for information has been the game threads. Fortunately, the football game threads here at SoonerFans are typically very well run and nicely updated. ;)

Don't morally question trying to track down a live broadcast through another team's website. I've had to do this. Also, in some desperate moments, I've had to track down some obscure link to a website for an AM station that had internet audio. This has been rare and the quality poor, but you do what you have to do.

Be aware that you most likely won't find any live broadcast of any of the chamionship games anywhere. This is one of the saddest things, but for whatever crazy reason, the NCAA and likewise most teams have made deals so that championship games are very exclusively shown. The result is that shockingly few people, even in the U.S., get to actually view these events live. For me, this is the reverse of common sense. You should really want as many people as possible to see these particular games. The NCAA could learn a LOT about marketing from the NFL, NHL, NBA, etc....

Good luck. Where are you going to be traveling? In one of my prouder-yet-desparation moments, I found an 8 kb broadcast via an AM station whilst in Timisoara, Romania. Things are improving every year as far as the internet is concerned. It's possible your options will be very much expanded for the coming season. Be on the look out.

[sooner13f]

AFN is a pretty good way to go. When I was in Iraq they covered most of the games. Depends on how big the games are and OUs rankings (Im sure they will cover OR, UT, Mizz, and the bowl). NFL is another story unless you are a Patriot Fan or Dallas fan you will be going crazy. Get use to watching highlights.

[Sooner95]

I find that the easiet way for me it to just tune into Bob Barry on the Yahoo broadcasts. When in Korea, AFN was pretty scarce fro FB, not to mention was nearly impossible to watch a live game. I watched the Superbowl at 7am Monday Morning..

Best of luck..

[Chuck Bao]

Thanks, Switzer-lander and ouflak.

I listen to all of the games over Yahoo.

I wasn't aware of the DVD season ticket package through soonersports.com. Even if it arrives a month late, I'd like to see some game footage.

With so many Asians studying in the US, I'm hoping that some day there will be a big enough market in Asia for a college sports channel.

[soonerloyal]

I wasn't aware of the DVD season ticket package through soonersports.com. Even if it arrives a month late, I'd like to see some game footage.

I did a search of soonersports.com for the above-mentioned package, but can't seem to find it. I'd love to buy a few of these to send to some Marines in Iraq. Can someone help me find the information? It's hel* to be old and easily confused.
:O

[Chuck Bao]

I did a search of soonersports.com for the above-mentioned package, but can't seem to find it. I'd love to buy a few of these to send to some Marines in Iraq. Can someone help me find the information? It's hel* to be old and easily confused.
:O

That is such a great idea, Soonerloyal.

It's at Soonersports.com and you need the click on Official OU Athletics Multimedia Store. The link is the following:

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&&ATCLID=177818

Scroll down until you see:


2006 Video Season Ticket
Don't miss a game! Each Monday following a Sooner football game, a DVD will be on its way to your door. Each DVD includes highlights from the game along with complete voice-over from the award-winning Sooner Sports Radio Network broadcast team. The service will cover all 12 regular-season games plus a 2006 season highlight DVD.

• Please notify me when I can sign up for this service



I clicked on the notify thingy. So, I guess they will email me when it is time to sign up. I'm not sure what the cost is.

If it isn't too much and I can pay by credit card, I would be willing to send some Sooner DVDs to our troops.

Thanks for that idea, Soonerloyal.

[yukonsooner]

My kids were in Scotland during the Holiday Bowl. They watched the game the next day at a sports pub. It was broadcast just like a live game.

[arlington]

The DVD package from Soonersports, is that complete game videos with behind the scene stuff or is it just highlights?

[47straight]

Thanks to all, esp Switzer and Flak. I won't have access to the AFN, and I won't have a TV of my own to buy the north american sports package.

I'm willing to settle for delayed video. That is why I am thinking the iPod broadcast, if available for purchase, might be my best bet - if such a thing is available. the DVD option sounds good too, but I worry about the shipping delay.

[Ruuuuuufus]

someone mentioned it before, but you should really look into getting a slingbox set up.

another option, which I believe works on the same principle but I know very little about, is the Sony LocationFree stuff: http://products.sel.sony.com/locationfreetv/flash.html

[47straight]

someone mentioned it before, but you should really look into getting a slingbox set up.

another option, which I believe works on the same principle but I know very little about, is the Sony LocationFree stuff: http://products.sel.sony.com/locationfreetv/flash.html

*Thanks* - I agree that might be an excellent route.