Sports Archive

  • First 3D baseball game ever will air on DirecTV in July

    First 3D baseball game ever will air on DirecTV in July

    Listen, it's all well and good that DirecTV gets to make these grandiloquent announcements that it's going to offer this or that sport in 3D—today's news is that DirecTV will be the first TV provider to show a Major League Baseball game in 3D with this July 10 and July 11's Yankees-Mariners clash on the YES Network—but I have one question: why in God's name is Fox Soccer Channel still shown in standard definition? That's right, four years after I purchased my first HDTV specifically so I could watch ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD coverage of the World Cup, I'm still staring at SD coverage on FSC with DirecTV. It's all a little bit stupid.

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  • What could be better than watching MLB games on your PS3?

    What could be better than watching MLB games on your PS3?

    Back in my day a video game console was a video game console. Now? They're all over the place. The latest example: Sony has inked a deal with Major League Baseball to bring live baseball games to a PS3 near you.

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  • Only one game per matchday will be in 3D during the World Cup

    Only one game per matchday will be in 3D during the World Cup

    More info on Sony and FIFA's plan to bring us the World Cup in 3D. It turns out that Sony will only film one game per matchday in 3D. That's for all 25 days of the tournament, so if multiple games are played on the same day only one game, presumably the highest profile, will get the 3D treatment.

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  • DirecTV will launch 3D capability in June, including ESPN 3D

    DirecTV will launch 3D capability in June, including ESPN 3D

    DirecTV will be among the first television providers to offer ESPN 3D. The channel launches this June, and DirecTV will place it alongside two other 3D channels, a 24/7 pay-per-view channel and a movies on-demand channel.

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  • UFC (along with SpikeTV) embraces the Internet, launches Ultimate Fighter Web site: Full streaming episodes, Twitter & Facebook integration

    UFC (along with SpikeTV) embraces the Internet, launches Ultimate Fighter Web site: Full streaming episodes, Twitter & Facebook integration

    All that talk of UFCnot “getting” the Internet? Yeah, it's time to put that idea to rest. The company's longtime TV partner, SpikeTV, launched ultimatefighter.com earlier today, a place where mixed martial arts fans can watch the entire Ultimate Fighter library online. For free. Let that sink in—still think Dana White hates the Internet? In addition to serving up all 231 fights in the show's history, fans can also interact with each other on social networking services like Twitterand Facebook. Not a bad job, really.

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  • Video: EA Sports MMA trailer (but where’s Fedor?)

    Video: EA Sports MMA trailer (but where’s Fedor?)

    Man, two new trailers in the same day. Our cup runneth over, and so forth! Anyhow, here’s the newest trailer of EA Sports MMA, which should hit stores “late 2010.” That’s all in-game footage, too, so no smoke and mirrors nonsense. Featured prominently are Bobby Lashely, Brett Rogers, King Mo, and Nick Diaz (!). Where’s Fedor? [...]

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  • FIFA explains why it’s so anti-technology: Wants to keep things equal, maintain human element

    FIFA explains why it’s so anti-technology: Wants to keep things equal, maintain human element

    Sepp Blatter (left), the FIFA president, has explained why there won't be goal-line technology at this year's World Cup, saying he wants the sport to maintain a "human element" and that all levels of soccer, from 6-year-old kids to open-goal-missing Gonzalo Higuaín of Real Madrid, need to be played with the same rules. Whatever you say, Sepp. I hope for your sake a Spain or Italy or Brazil don't get knocked out of the tournament because of a controversial coal; you won't hear the end of it.

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  • Ring of Honor figures out the Internet, launches video download store to discourage BitTorrent piracy

    Ring of Honor figures out the Internet, launches video download store to discourage BitTorrent piracy

    Credit to Ring of Honor, the professional wrestling promotion, for embracing the Internet era. The promotion has launched a new download store that makes its extensive video library only a $10 download away. A legal download, mind you. It's all a fan could ever ask for.

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  • Final Four to be shown in 3D theaters

    Final Four to be shown in 3D theaters

    Mark Cuban and Bud Mayo have been pushing the current generation of 3D long before the current generation of 3D had even been pitched as the next big thing to consumers by TV manufacturers. Cuban and Mayo (sounds like a delicious sandwich) aren’t trying to get you to watch 3D television in your home, though. They actually want you to leave the house. And you’ll be able to do just that if you live near one of the Cinedigm-fitted 3D theaters that’ll be showing the semi-finals and championship game for the NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament in early April.

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  • Why are we so afraid of technology ‘ruining’ soccer? It’s not like technology hasn’t been all over the sport since its inception.

    Why are we so afraid of technology ‘ruining’ soccer? It’s not like technology hasn’t been all over the sport since its inception.

    There's a myth out there that technology will ruin soccer, what Pelé (and others) once called "the beautiful game." Let me ask you something: is this Cristiano Ronaldo free kick any less beautiful because he's wearing the latest Nike boots? Do you have any idea how many hours are spent developing the technology that's built into things like the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II? Rest assured that Nike pays top-tier engineers a handsome wage to ensure that its boots are state-of-the-art. Should we take away Gonzalo Higauaín's goal against Germany because he's wearing Adidas TechFit? Or maybe we should cancel the World Cup altogether because players will be kicking around the Jabulani, a ball that Adidas' engineers had been working on since the day after World Cup 2006? This fear of technology "ruining" soccer is not only unfounded, but it's simply ignorant of the fact that technology has always been part of the beautiful game, and it always will be. Arguing that the sport needs to be kept "pure" should result in a direct red card. (See what I did there?)

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  • FIFA officially rules out using goal line technology at this year’s World Cup. In other news, FIFA is dumb.

    FIFA officially rules out using goal line technology at this year’s World Cup. In other news, FIFA is dumb.

    Is FIFA the worst organization on the planet? I'd say so. World soccer bigwigs have concluded a meeting in Zurich, and they've decided against implementing goal line technology at this year's World Cup. Yes, why would you want to introduce a legitimately helpful technology into a sport that so desperately needs it? Ridiculous.

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  • Germany’s 1st 3D broadcast happens next week. It’s a soccer match, as it should be.

    Germany’s 1st 3D broadcast happens next week. It’s a soccer match, as it should be.

    I need to move to Europe for several reasons, but the one that's relevant right now? 3D broadcasts of top-tier football ("soccer") leagues. Sky Deutschland has announced that it will broadcast the March 14 match between Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg (that's the second place team versus the fourth place team). Lucky devils.

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  • Nike Sense technology automatically adjusts stud length in your soccer boots. Hey, if it’s good enough for Cristiano Ronaldo!

    Nike Sense technology automatically adjusts stud length in your soccer boots. Hey, if it’s good enough for Cristiano Ronaldo!

    Fortune smiled upon me a few days ago, giving me the chance to check out Adidas' new equipment that'll be used during the World Cup. It was fun. Nike, on the other hand? Well, apparently the company hates us for reasons I'll never understand, so I had to find out about its new boots, also to be used in the World Cup, via some other site. I mean, come on!

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  • Muitos brasileiros estam comprando televisões especificamente para A Copa do Mundo

    Muitos brasileiros estam comprando televisões especificamente para A Copa do Mundo

    Bom-dia, amigos! É Nicholas com uma conta do Brasil! Vocês sabem que A Copa do Mundo inicia em junho, mas sabiam que muitos brasileiros estam a comprar televisões especficamente para o torneio? Uma firma, DisplaySearch, diz que carragamentos dos LCD TVs vai subir 68% neste ano no país. É claro que todo o Brasil quer ver A Seleção conquistar a copa!

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  • Apparently the entire NBA consists of gamers

    Apparently the entire NBA consists of gamers

    Kobe Bryant: huge nerd. Granted, he's probably the best basketball player since Michael Jordan—LeBron would really benefit from winning a ring or two—but if you're traveling the country armed with a fully portable Xbox 360 and customized PSP, then yeah, you're a huge nerd. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

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