March Madness

[track61]

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like ASN is broadcasting most all of the NCAA Basketball playoffs. Pretty good news for yours truly who happens to bellieve that sweet sixteen weekend is the best sporting event on the planet. Go??? Jayhawks maybe?

[gotlost]

Be 100% sure. ASN is broadcasting all games of March Madness.

[sokal]

I never understood the interest in college sports. They are not the best players in the world like the pro leagues, seems like a bunch of jocks cashing in on their 15 minuts of fame. I only pay attention to the best in the world.

[jazzbo]

I never understood the interest in college sports. Right... Your ignorance is palpable.

[track61]

Didn't realize this was a poll.

[jazzbo]

BTW many of the games are broadcast on the NCAA Radio Network via WestwoodOne ... find yourself a streaming station... I am listening right now. (#3 Georgetown vs. #14 Ohio) 48-36 Ohio Bobcats at the half -- UPSET?? former G'town Coach John Thompson is the radio analyst

Edited March 19, 2010 by jazzbo

[jazzbo]

http://mmod.ncaa.com -- free streaming video

[mauiguy90]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

[jazzbo]

One of the great things about watching college sports -- especially at the championship level -- is that you may very well BE watching the best in the world... you just don't know it.

After all, who, watching Joe Montana as the Quarterback at Notre Dame in 1979 (Cotton Bowl), would have thought that this is the person who may become the greatest NFL QB ever?

"... In the 1979 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Montana in the third round with the 82nd overall pick." via Wikipedia

[Old Man River]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

Actually, kudos to Truevisions for bringing ASN into Thailand. It is ASN that has been bringing us the NFL games, NCAA football, NHL, college basketball etc. It is great.

[track61]

"BTW many of the games are broadcast on the NCAA Radio Network via WestwoodOne" This is what I have done for the last 3 years as my internet connection isn't fast enough to support the streaming. If yours is this is probably better than TV since ALL the games are on and you can choose the one you want to watch. Thompson works a region and will eventually do the finals as well..like him much better as an analyst than coach.

BTW until TRUE decided to switch to ESPN China (to save a couple bucks I guess), the tournament was broadcast here. So was MLB not just Yankee ball. NCAA's and MLB is still on the real ESPN International, the one that goes to most markets, you know those willing to pay an extra buck or two for their subscribers. Last year while ESPN Int'l was showing sweet sixteen weekend TRUE was showing re-runs of the 2008 Big Ten gymnastics championships. So I wouldn't throw too many kudos to TRUE, someone over just finally woke up to another way to reel in around 600 more baht from their farang subscribers, but I can't say I'm not pleased they did.

[track61]

BTWm this is the link to March Madness on Demand where you can choose what game to watch: http://mmod.ncaa.com/?tag=pageRow;pageContainer

[jfchandler]

I tried both ASN on TrueVisions and the Internet streaming feed from the NCAA web site this morning... Nice to have that kind of choice...

The disadvantage--and advantage--of ASN is they're only showing one game at a time, of course, and spreading them out over time.

The advantage of the NCAA web feed is that it's carrying all the games live, as they happen, meaning they're streaming multiple games simultaneously. And if the speed of your Internet connection will support the stream, you get the luxury of picking which of many games you want to see at that time, (e.g., your favorite teams/schools).

It's also nice that, unlike a lot of other professional sports content from the U.S. fed via the Internet, the NCAA web feed is NOT limited to those with U.S. IP addresses, meaning those in Thailand can see it on their PCs without having to jury-rig their Internet address.

It also seemed that the NCAA web feed ran quite smoothly to my home in BKK, meaning that they seem to be using a video web stream that isn't requiring all that high of a bandwith.

http://mmod.ncaa.com -- free streaming video

[jfchandler]

By the way, here's ASN's Saturday broadcast schedule for the MM...

(Remember, if you look at the ASN web site, the times listed there are ONE HOUR LATER than Thailand time. The times I've listed below are the correct times for Thailand time).

11:00 pm Fri MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - TEMPLE @ CORNELL (FLEX FEED)

1:30 am MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - PITTSBURGH VS OAKLAND (FLEX FEED)

4:00 am MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - TENNESSEE VS SAN DIEGO STATE FIRST AIR

6:00 am MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - MICHIGAN STATE VS NEW MEXICO STATE (FLEX FEED)

8:30 am MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - SYRACUSE VS VERMONT (FLEX FEED)

11:00 am MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - TEMPLE @ CORNELL

13:00 pm MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - PITTSBURGH VS OAKLAND

15:00 pm MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - TENNESSEE VS SAN DIEGO STATE FIRST AIR

17:00 pm MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - MICHIGAN STATE VS NEW MEXICO STATE

19:00 pm MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - MARYLAND VS HOUSTON FIRST AIR

21:00 pm MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND - CALIFORNIA VS LOUISVILLE FIRST AIR

[track61]

Go Jayhawks??? They went, thanks to No. Iowa, perfect example why this is the best sporting event in the U.S. WOW

[mauiguy90]

Jayhawks are gone, huh...guess Obama will be disappointed.

My pick is the Syracuse Orangemen. I like Jim Boeheim and a friend of mine is from upstate New York. Plus I like the color--Go ORANGE!!! Hope they don't lose before the weekend is up!

Go Jayhawks??? They went, thanks to No. Iowa, perfect example why this is the best sporting event in the U.S. WOW

[track61]

Think about it, NOI beat Kan. Is there a more perfect team than NOI for folks in Thailand to root for? Makes this a Thai relevant thread, right?

[mauiguy90]

Northern Iowa is the star of the tournament now! Yep, they beat Kansas, which is quite an amazing feat. Let's see what happens this weekend.

My pick, the Syracuse Orangemen got squished. The Butler did it!!!

Think about it, NOI beat Kan. Is there a more perfect team than NOI for folks in Thailand to root for? Makes this a Thai relevant thread, right?

Edited March 26, 2010 by mauiguy90

[Barista]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

Actually, kudos to Truevisions for bringing ASN into Thailand. It is ASN that has been bringing us the NFL games, NCAA football, NHL, college basketball etc. It is great.

I have to get this ASN channel on Truevision everybody is talking about. Sounds great! So far I've been following the tournament through internet streaming which works fine too, but I would love to have it on the flat screen.

Tonight, or rather tomorrow morning, is tip off for final. What an amazing end to a great tournament if Butler would win the championship.

[jfchandler]

Info about TrueVisions cable TV packages is available here....

They must have a monkey making their programming decisions, because some of their packaging makes absolutely no sense. For example, the ASN sports network is available only on the Platinum package (the most expensive), but not on the Gold Package (the 2nd most expensive at about 1500 baht per month), but then is part of the Silver Package, which just had a price reduction from 750 now down to 590 baht per month.

For almost triple the price, Gold just isn't worth it.... It does add CNN and CNBC and HBO, but the CNN version is the International feed, not the U.S. one. You don't get ASN. And to me, inexplicably, you don't get either the E Entertainment Channel or StarWorld, which carries a lot of U.S. programming. Both E and StarWorld are, however, part of the Silver Package.

And of course, TrueVisions has almost no ala carte options... So even if you wanted to pay extra to add ASN to a package that doesn't include it, at least for now...you cannot.

[Old Man River]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

Actually, kudos to Truevisions for bringing ASN into Thailand. It is ASN that has been bringing us the NFL games, NCAA football, NHL, college basketball etc. It is great.

I have to get this ASN channel on Truevision everybody is talking about. Sounds great! So far I've been following the tournament through internet streaming which works fine too, but I would love to have it on the flat screen.

Tonight, or rather tomorrow morning, is tip off for final. What an amazing end to a great tournament if Butler would win the championship.

Although Butler lost, it was an amazing game. If they played again tomorrow the game would be a toss up again. It was a thriller.

[Barista]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

Actually, kudos to Truevisions for bringing ASN into Thailand. It is ASN that has been bringing us the NFL games, NCAA football, NHL, college basketball etc. It is great.

I have to get this ASN channel on Truevision everybody is talking about. Sounds great! So far I've been following the tournament through internet streaming which works fine too, but I would love to have it on the flat screen.

Tonight, or rather tomorrow morning, is tip off for final. What an amazing end to a great tournament if Butler would win the championship.

Although Butler lost, it was an amazing game. If they played again tomorrow the game would be a toss up again. It was a thriller.

Agreed! It was a great game for any basketball fan. And if Hayward's last second shoot from half court had gone in, it would probably gone down as the most historic championship of all time. Not to say that Duke didn't deserve their win - they did, but what an impressive team effort and coaching Butler displayed throughout the tournament. I can't wait to see coach Stevens, Gordon Heyward & teammates in action again next season.

[mauiguy90]

Yep, March Madness is here in Bangkok for the first time ever! Kudos to Truevisions who finally realized how popular the NCAA Basketball tournament is. Its more popular than the NBA playoffs because of the intensity of the competition and the ferocity of the fans.

Actually, kudos to Truevisions for bringing ASN into Thailand. It is ASN that has been bringing us the NFL games, NCAA football, NHL, college basketball etc. It is great.

I have to get this ASN channel on Truevision everybody is talking about. Sounds great! So far I've been following the tournament through internet streaming which works fine too, but I would love to have it on the flat screen.

Tonight, or rather tomorrow morning, is tip off for final. What an amazing end to a great tournament if Butler would win the championship.

Hope that you got ASN before the final since I don't think the CBS video broadcast was streamed locally. Again, many thanks to Truevisions for the great coverage of March Madness. Like others, I wrote them a letter requesting coverage but never believed there would be a positive response. Have to send them a letter of thanks now!

Anyone who enjoyed the program should write to:

Truevisions Attn: Kantima Kunjara, Director for Communications

Chulathai Salidupta, Senior Manager for Programming

c/o [email protected] to let them know so we can have continued coverage next year.

Edited April 7, 2010 by mauiguy90