American Football

[steelepulse]

0-0 game, guess I'll wander on down the road after halftime to catch the 2nd half.

[patsfangr]

That was a great final 2 minutes of the first half! In fact, it was a great half of football. Some outstanding defensive play BEFORE those last 2 minutes, with a few very good offensive plays mixed in. Then the collapse of the pass D by both teams. Dontcha just LOVE the "prevent" defence?! ;-)

If Polamalu can't return, the Titans may have a lot more offensive success in the second half. Palamalu was having an "exciting" game, between his great plays and his 15-yard penalties. He's a very important force against both the run and the pass for the Steelers.

[bonobo]

OK, dumb me.  I upgraded to Platinum so I could watch the Chargers/Raiders game on Tuesday morning, and now I see that there are two Monday night games in the US. So I supposed it will be the Patriots/BIlls being shown on ASN?  Does anyone know for sure?

[qwunk89]

hey patsfangr, sent your email to true

EVERYONE send it out when you get a chance; lets flood them with the request and see if we can get something done. thanks.

[Calico]

The Muslim Quarterback

The coach had put together the perfect team for the Detroit Lions. The only thing that was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl win.

Then one night while watching CNN he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a 15th story window 100 yards away.

KABOOM!

He threw another hand-grenade 75 yards away, right into a chimney.

KA-BLOOEY!

Then he threw another at a passing car going 90 mph.

BULLS-EYE!

"I've got to get this guy!" Coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!"

So, he brings him to the States and teaches him the great game of football. And the Lions go on to win the Super Bowl. The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football, and when the coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants is to call his mother.

"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!"

"I don't want to talk to you, the old Muslim woman says. "You are not my son!"

"I don't think you understand, Mother," the young man pleads. "I've won the greatest sporting event in the world. I'm here among thousands of my adoring fans."

"No! Let me tell you!" his mother retorts. "At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!"

The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says, "I will never forgive you for making us move to Detroit!

Edited September 11, 2009 by Calico

[patsfangr]

What a great day of college football! I watched 3 games today. I started the day with the live broadcast of USC's 18-15, come from behind win over Ohio State. That was followed by the live broadcast of Oregon's exciting 38-36 victory over Purdue. Finally, I "cooled down" by watching Penn State methodically dispatch Syracuse, 28-7.

The USC game was the big one for me. Living in So Cal for most of my last 30 years in the USA, I'm a hard core USC fan. The fact that they're coached by former Patriots coach, Pete Carroll, doesn't hurt either. That was an exciting game; but frustrating for a USC fan, as their freshman QB, Barkley, is clearly in a "learning" mode. He engineered a great drive to pull out the game in the end; and that's got to have helped him grow a lot.

It's going to be great to have this much NCAA football this season. It looks like ESPN will have at least one live broadcast on Sunday mornings; and I'm sure we can count on ASN for both live and replayed games all day Sunday. There will also be replays on both of those channels at various times during the week.

We finally have just about all the football, both college and pro, that we could get in the USA. FANTASTIC!

[anothertorres]

TV lineups for this week:

American Football 2009/2010

ฤดูกาลใหม่ปีนี้จะ เริ่มเปิดฉากแข่งขันกันตั้งแต่เดือนกันยายนเป็นต้นไป จนถึงสิ้นเดือนธันวาคม รวมทั้งหมด 17 สัปดาห์ หลังจากนั้นจะเป็นรอบเพลย์ออฟในเดือนมกราคม 2010

สำหรับฤดูกาลที่ แล้ว นับเป็นความสำเร็จอันยิ่งใหญ่ของ พิตต์สเบิร์ก สตีลเลอร์ส ที่สามารถคว้าแชมป์ซูเปอร์โบวล์ไปครองเป็นสมัยที่ 6 ซึ่งเป็นทีมแรกที่ทำสถิตินี้ได้

Fri.11 Tennessee@Pittsburgh 07.30 (ASN : 40)

Mon.14 Philadephia@Carolina 00.00 (TrueSport 3 : 61/ASN : 40)

Mon.14 Washington@NY Giants 03.15 (TrueSport 3 : 61/ASN : 40)

Mon.14 Chicago@Green Bay 07.00 (ASN : 40)

Tue.15 Buffalo@New England 06.00 (ASN : 40)

Tue.15 San Diego@Oakland 09.15 (ASN : 40)

!GO BILLS!

[anothertorres]

note the MNF lineup as there are 2 MNF games this week:

Tue.15 Buffalo@New England 06.00 (ASN : 40)

Tue.15 San Diego@Oakland 09.15 (ASN : 40)

bills.

[Old Man River]

T.O. who?

[jfchandler]

Well, it's now noon on Monday BKK time, and it was a long, and sometimes challenging, night of football... I'm pretty happy about the first week and all the games available on ASN, but watching here was not without its glitches.

Here's a recap of a few things that may be of interest to others. Likewise, like to hear about your approach to these things.

1. I wasn't especially interested in the Philadelphia vs. Carolina game broadcast on ASN at midnight, and I knew I could watch it later on one of their ASN replays. So I went online looking for a good broadcast of the Minnesota vs. Cleveland game to see how Favre was doing to open the season.

Tried a variety of JustinTV sites, and watched there for a bit, but repeatedly got cut off on various feeds due to one of two different problems: a] the stream would halt midbroadcast and then pop up with a message saying content removed due to copyright violation; and/or b] the feed would stop with the message saying the streams limit had been reached for the country where you are viewing (Thailand).

So then, I tried the familiar MyP2P.eu site, and found most of the streams there are now using a player/downloader called StreamTorrent... Installed that and tried it on maybe 3-4 different streams, and each time, never got a consistent, ongoing feed because of repeated rebuffering.... Finally gave up on that.

Then toward the end of the game, I tried the TVUPlayer software, which turned out to work GREAT.... If you install that player, and select the appropriate U.S. channels as your favorites, they are carrying several different FOX network local channels. Last night, I found KTVU (the SF Bay Area outlet) and they had a steady, great stream all night. The TVU Player gave me a better broadcast than anything else I've found online, meaning error free, no cut-outs, and good quality. Because you can choose from several different Fox local channels, chances are pretty good that one or more of them will be broadcasting the alternate games (as opposed to the main Fox network game picked up by ASN).

2. By the time 3 am rolled around, I wanted to watch the Washington vs. NY Giants game on ASN, but I even more wanted to watch my hometown SF 49ers vs. Super Bowl contender Cardinals. And sure enough, even though ASN didn't choose to carry that SF game last night (though they will show it later this week), the Fox affiliate in SF carried it, and I watched the whole game via TVU just perfect... not a single interruptions or flaw.

3. Then by the time the 7 am supposed Chicago vs. Green Bay game rolled around, I was ready for the NBC network broadcast on two sources: waiting for ASN to cut into coverage of the game on my TV, and online via the NBC Sports web site to catch the online streaming version. For some reason, ASN was showing car racing and canned football stuff from 7 am onwards... So I watched the game online, and periodically kept checking the TV to see if ASN has begun their broadcast. I gave up on ASN after the first quarter, and watched the remainder of the game via NBC's web site, which likewise gave a very good clean broadcast to my home (via a 4 mb True DSL connection). Toward the very end of the game, I did check back on ASN, and found they had finally gotten the game broadcast, though not sure how far into the game they were late.

Lastly, before everything began last night, I went out to FortuneTown yesterday and spent 120 baht to buy a video cable with S-Video on one end and RCA video on the other. Last night, for the first time, I hooked up the TV out/S Video jack on my laptop PC with one of my TV's secondary video input jacks, and fed the online broadcasts to my TV via that cable. Picture quality and motion were great... never would have known it wasnt regular broadcast TV.

My laptop has a 14 in. screen, and my desktop has a 19 inch screen. But it's so much nicer to watch the online feed on my bigger home TV.

Summary:

JustinTV - F

MyP2P.eu - F

ASN - B

TVU - A

NBC Sunday night online - A

Then after Monday Night Football finishes Tues morning, it's time to settle in with NFL Game Rewind and give that online game video, commercial-free puppy a good test run...

Edited September 14, 2009 by jfchandler

[Calico]

Well, Delhomme picked up right where he left off last year. But as Mike Tanier noted, Delhomme enjoys the same job security as a Supreme Court Justice. Yay Panthers.

[Old Man River]

Well, Delhomme picked up right where he left off last year. But as Mike Tanier noted, Delhomme enjoys the same job security as a Supreme Court Justice. Yay Panthers.

I am impressed. Although the Panthers got killed, you didn't automatically switch to one of your many other teams. There is hope for you yet.

BTW, the Bucs must really be bad the way the Cowboys manhandled them (according to what I have read).

[patsfangr]

THREE CHEERS FOR ASN!!

Check this out, guys: http://www.asn.tv/eng/scheduling090916.html

They have INCREASED the span of their schedule viewing tool to TWO WEEKS! We now have visibility of the upcoming games to be broadcast at least a week before they are played!

I don't know if it was the result of my request/suggestion; or if they got similar requests from many others. I DON'T CARE! All I know is that we now have the advance notice that I wanted.

THIS NETWORK IS FANTASTIC!!

[patsfangr]

THREE CHEERS FOR ASN!!

Check this out, guys: http://www.asn.tv/eng/scheduling090916.html

They have INCREASED the span of their schedule viewing tool to TWO WEEKS! We now have visibility of the upcoming games to be broadcast at least a week before they are played!

I don't know if it was the result of my request/suggestion; or if they got similar requests from many others. I DON'T CARE! All I know is that we now have the advance notice that I wanted.

THIS NETWORK IS FANTASTIC!!

By the way, I used their "Contact Us" link to send them a "THANK YOU!" note for this change. Please take just a minute to do the same. We really need to let folks know when they give us a positive change. Reinforcement DOES matter!

[jfchandler]

Two updates to add here:

1. In looking at ASN's online web schedule for the coming two weeks, they also appear to have heeded my ASN forum comment to them about the previously crazy scheduling of their NFL Total Access show. Now, it's scheduled most days in the coming weeks for 6 pm Thailand time (7 pm Singapore time on their web site), with a couple of exceptions. That's a pretty decent regular time slot, if they can keep to it... Football for dinner...anyone???

2. Even with ASN's substantial NFL coverage, I'm really enjoying my purchase of NFL Game Rewind, which gives you commercial-free full-game streaming video of every NFL regular season game on demand. The only catch is, to purchase a $49.99 season pass to Game Rewind, you need to access this NFL web site and view the content via a U.S. IP address (it's not accessible to IP addresses in Thailand).

True to the NFL's prior promise, based on the first week of the 2009 season, they had all the video of all the Sunday games up online within 24 hours after their initial broadcast. They're using the same technology as the NFL's other video services, that is, an Adobe Flash-based video player. But you really gotta focus and pay attention with Game Rewind, because an archived regular game webcast without the half-time content and all the commercial/timeout breaks runs only about 75 minutes.

Originally I had some lagging/buffering problems, but then I switched server addresses for the VPN service I use, and the download stream speed increased nicely, making the NFL Video run smoothly via a True 4 mb connection. As I mentioned above, I'm playing the Game Rewind games off my Core Duo laptop, with its video output via S-Video cable to my television. And it plays great. The NFL says their feed is HD... Not sure about that, but it shows fine on a non-HD TV.

[lukeskywalker]

OK, check this out. I downgraded from Golf to Silver for the ASN and I paid 3 months in advance (like 2,800) baht. I turn on my TV today (the day the change is supposed to take place and I have the Platinum package!). I now have every channel (including ASN). So I don't know how this happened but you can bet I wont be calling True to complain about thing to bring attention to my account!! Would be really sweet if I can keep getting Plat. for the price of Silver!!! Nah..too good to be true but here's to hoping!!

Also, I was flipping through and am now (at 5 p.m.) watching WSH vs NYG on True Sport 4. I thought only ASN was going to show NFL? I dunno but I'm enjoying at will enjoy the 2 replay games tonight on ASN.

[patsfangr]

Two updates to add here:

1. In looking at ASN's online web schedule for the coming two weeks, they also appear to have heeded my ASN forum comment to them about the previously crazy scheduling of their NFL Total Access show. Now, it's scheduled most days in the coming weeks for 6 pm Thailand time (7 pm Singapore time on their web site), with a couple of exceptions. That's a pretty decent regular time slot, if they can keep to it... Football for dinner...anyone???

2. Even with ASN's substantial NFL coverage, I'm really enjoying my purchase of NFL Game Rewind, which gives you commercial-free full-game streaming video of every NFL regular season game on demand. The only catch is, to purchase a $49.99 season pass to Game Rewind, you need to access this NFL web site and view the content via a U.S. IP address (it's not accessible to IP addresses in Thailand).

True to the NFL's prior promise, based on the first week of the 2009 season, they had all the video of all the Sunday games up online within 24 hours after their initial broadcast. They're using the same technology as the NFL's other video services, that is, an Adobe Flash-based video player. But you really gotta focus and pay attention with Game Rewind, because an archived regular game webcast without the half-time content and all the commercial/timeout breaks runs only about 75 minutes.

Originally I had some lagging/buffering problems, but then I switched server addresses for the VPN service I use, and the download stream speed increased nicely, making the NFL Video run smoothly via a True 4 mb connection. As I mentioned above, I'm playing the Game Rewind games off my Core Duo laptop, with its video output via S-Video cable to my television. And it plays great. The NFL says their feed is HD... Not sure about that, but it shows fine on a non-HD TV.

I can't let you take full credit for the re-scheduling of 'Total Access', JF. I also wrote them about that, suggesting a more or less permanent afternoon slot, back in August.

As I continue to point out here, the more of us that write to them for changes that we want, as well as with "Thank you" notes of appreciation for good moves; the more likely it is that we'll get positive results. So please keep communicating with them. And, for those who haven't been doing so, please join in on significant issues.

I have opted for the much more expensive 'NFL Game Pass' for the past two seasons, rather than the 'Game Rewind' service. I'm far too addicted to my Patriots to EVER miss watching them 'live', whether broadcast by ASN, or viewed via the 'Game Pass' internet service (which I switch to my big screen TV for viewing of games). The quality of 'Game Pass' is fantastic, as long as my "iffy" CAT signal holds over about 500kbps. It's nearly always strong for the midnight to 06:00 time slot. The afternoons are less reliable for steady high speed; as CAT applies priority to its "guaranteed" high speed corporate subscribers. The rest of us get "the best of what's left" - sometimes no problem, sometimes very low speeds. What 'Game Pass' provides outside of live games is the same "on demand" replays of all games you get from 'Game Rewind', plus live 'NFL Network' broadcast, or optional replays of various NFL Network programs, like 'Game Day' and 'NFL Playbook'.

But 'Game Pass' is not for everybody. It costs $239 per year. For a hopeless addict like me, that's OK. It comes out to $14 per NFL week; and that's a cheap price, to me, for my #1 entertainment source. It's about the same, in fact, as I paid for 'NFL Sunday Ticket' back in the USA, which provided those same options.

JF, I envy you your True 4 mb connection. I checked with them, but it's not available in my area! I'm stuck with CAT for the time being.

[jfchandler]

One of the significant differences between NFL GamePass and GameRewind is that GamePass, far more expensive at $240, is marketed specifically at out-of-the-U.S. folks, whereas GameRewind, far less expensive at $50 for the full season, is marketed only to folks in the U.S., (or at least with access to a U.S. IP address).

I'm not strongly beholden to any particular team... So for me, it's enough to watch whatever games ASN is offering live on regular TV, and then catch the other games I want later on Monday or thru the remainder of the week via GameRewind.

About the issue of Internet speed, the True DSL I have in BKK is listed/advertised at 4 mb... But of course, it doesn't work that way in reality. After TrueVisions added ASN, I downgraded my Gold cable package to silver to get ASN, and upped my True DSL from 2 mb to 4 mb...

This past week, I ran a bunch of DSL speed tests, both local and international, to see how my connection was faring. The speed numbers were all over the place, even when run at the same time among different test web sites.

At 6 pm tonight, DSL Reports was showing a download speed of 878 Kbps from Los Angeles and 500 Kbps from New York. Fortunately, both of those speeds are pretty much sufficient for accessing NFL video feeds. But SpeedTest.net at the same time was showing a local in Thailand speed of 4.4 Mbps...And the ThaiVisa test was showing 2.3 Mbps...

Of course, for accessing GameRewind, your native speeds are likely to be further constrained by whatever approach you're taking to access a U.S. IP address.

[qwunk89]

great job on the schedule! one question though . . why does it have the first game listed as starting at 1am instead of midnight? just an error? NEVERMIND, just realized the schedule is in Singapore time and one hour different (thanks, jchandler) . . guess that explains why everything was an hour off last week

eagles on again! woot! maybe i won't have to shell out for nfl gamepass if this keeps up . .

Edited September 17, 2009 by qwunk89

[qwunk89]

patsfangr,

just wanted to see how amped you were after the pats comeback . . some sweet passes from brady to watson; the last backshoulder spot especially. although, you shouldn't have gotten the ball back like that . . but still, what a comeback to start the season.

also, did anyone see washington run the fake field goal to end the half? watching tom coughlin's reaction was classic . . why is watching him getting angry or frustrated so fulfilling and entertaining?

[patsfangr]

patsfangr,

just wanted to see how amped you were after the pats comeback . . some sweet passes from brady to watson; the last backshoulder spot especially. although, you shouldn't have gotten the ball back like that . . but still, what a comeback to start the season.

also, did anyone see washington run the fake field goal to end the half? watching tom coughlin's reaction was classic . . why is watching him getting angry or frustrated so fulfilling and entertaining?

I nearly had a heart attack watching it, Q. I'm watching the replay on ASN right now, just to make sure it wasn't a dream! :-)

Brady was clearly rusty for the first half or so. He wasn't following through firmly; and he wasn't showing his usual mobility in the pocket. But his progress during the second half was obvious. He looked like the old Brady. Those last two drives were vintage Brady!

The Buffalo KR made foolish mental mistakes. First he should have known that he was in the end zone, which he said he did not. That's his job! Had he known he was in the EZ, he should have knelt down, and given his team the ball at the 20, with less than 2 mintues left. Best case, they get one first down, and run out the clock. Worst case, they punt to the Patriots, leaving them somewhere inside their 30, with less than a minute left.

Second, even after taking it out, the KR should have dropped and cradled the ball as soon as he crossed the 20, resulting in the same scenario as above. He has to know that, in that situation, the opponent is going to have the first man stand him up, and the second go for the strip. That's the way the game is played.

But, once that fumble was recovered (by the Patriots KICKER, by the way!), there was no doubt in my mind that Brady would get us the win!

WHAT A FINISH!

Heck of a battle coming up in New Yawk this weekend. The Jets and Pats always get after it. It will be a bloodbath. BB will do all he can to rattle the rookie QB; but Sanchez has a lot of big crowd /big game experience from USC; and looked very good last week. Should be a great game. Not 'live' on ASN, although they're showing a replay Monday night. I'll be using 'NFL Game Pass' to watch it 'live' at midnight!

[kuma]

great job on the schedule! one question though . . why does it have the first game listed as starting at 1am instead of midnight? just an error? NEVERMIND, just realized the schedule is in Singapore time and one hour different (thanks, jchandler) . . guess that explains why everything was an hour off last week

eagles on again! woot! maybe i won't have to shell out for nfl gamepass if this keeps up . .

This past week was the best for football in all my years here - finally some decent coverage.

So this week looks to be almost as good - just no Bears game

20th - 18:00 total access - ASN; 17:30 NFL Game Day - True 4 (64?)

21st - 17:00 sea v sf; 20:00 nyg v dal; 23:00 cle v den (times listed are for working stiffs like me that cannot stay up all night) - all on ASN. True 4 (64?) has 19:00 no v phi; 21:30 sea v sf

22nd - 19:00 ind v mia - ASN

23rd 22:00 cle v den - ASN

24th 22:00 no v phi - ASN

25th 22:00 sea v sf - ASN

So lots of chances to catch the games - just need to stay in a nfl void and not see the scores.

Now if only i had the bandwidth for the online streaming....

[Calico]

It's been said that Jake Delhomme has the same job security as a Supreme Court Justice. The Charlotte Observer noted that he's in playoff form. Ah well. Still my team. If I can cheer for my hometown Bucs through 25 consecutive losses, I can certainly cheer for my hometown Panthers with a turnover machine back there. At least Weinke's outta there.

Thanks to whoever mentioned TVU. It's my sole source of game coverage besides the websites. Take that, True UBC.

(Oh, and Pinky's turns on the games on Monday mornings, as well as having great burgers.)

[jfchandler]

That was me...re posting on TVU... Thanks for the thanks...

Now that Fox is carrying a lot of NFL games, and TVU has a good connection with a lot of Fox network local channels, it's a good alternative when the game you desire may not be shown on ASN, or you're not a True subscriber who gets ASN... Cheers!

And TVU doesn't seem to have the buffering and copyright problems that plague some other online resources for NFL game coverage....

[patsfangr]

It's been said that Jake Delhomme has the same job security as a Supreme Court Justice. The Charlotte Observer noted that he's in playoff form. Ah well. Still my team. If I can cheer for my hometown Bucs through 25 consecutive losses, I can certainly cheer for my hometown Panthers with a turnover machine back there. At least Weinke's outta there.

Thanks to whoever mentioned TVU. It's my sole source of game coverage besides the websites. Take that, True UBC.

(Oh, and Pinky's turns on the games on Monday mornings, as well as having great burgers.)

That was painful to watch, Calico. As I said before, I root for the Panthers when I'm not rooting for my Patriots. Things don't look good for them this season. But a bad start isn't always the end of the season. In 2003, the New England Patriots first game was a 0-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Their last regular season game was a 31-0 win over those same Bills. Their last game of the season was a win in Super Bowl 38 over ... OOPS! Sorry about that! :-)

[qwunk89]

can anyone say how TVU player compares with NFL gamepass (picture quality) . . obviously gamepass is better, but with the same intenet connection are they close?

Edited September 20, 2009 by qwunk89

[jfchandler]

The NFL feed claims to be HD quality.... I don't use an HD TV, so I can't speak to that...

On a regular television monitor, in my experience, I'd say they are pretty close in quality in terms of what I see at home...

One big difference, of course, is the NFL you pay for...and TVU is free. With NFL, you get what service/games you pay for... With TVU, you get whatever local channels TVU happens to be carrying...

Both obviously are no better than whatever speed your Internet connection can handle.

[kuma]

well i will not be a spoiler yet as many may have not seen the game but the nyg / dal game was great and what a fitting finish!!!!!!!! YES I LOVE IT

[jfchandler]

I can't be the only one who was awake at 3 am to 3:45 am Monday to catch it...

For the second straight week, ASN somehow managed to botch airing the beginning of the Sunday afternoon (second) game. This week, they didn't cut into the game until a couple of minutes into the second quarter. Last week, the season opener, they were about a half hour late to begin showing the second game.

I happened to catch part of the repeat airing of the second game later on Monday (yesterday), and it looked like their repeat airings likewise omitted the entire first quarter, the same as the original live airing.

In neither case, was it due to the first live broadcast game running beyond its timeslot and them not wanting to cut away from the ending of the first game. In both cases, the first game had already ended, and they spent a half hour or more showing canned NFL footage before they began (late) airing the second game already in progress.

Gotta wonder, what the H is going on with them in that kind of situation.

[Old Man River]

well i will not be a spoiler yet as many may have not seen the game but the nyg / dal game was great and what a fitting finish!!!!!!!! YES I LOVE IT

OK, I am open about being a Cowboy fan. What team do you root for given your enjoyment at the Cowboys last second loss. Remember, it is early in the season so you can pick any team you want, but since it is early in the season, you will be "stuck" with that team. YES I LOVE It.