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 Readers, S&T recently experienced an extraordinarily good week of sp ort, consumed across the whole sumptuous shebang of technologies (well some of them at least). Firstly, the new season of Aussie Rules Football kicked off during a very sociable Thursday lunchtime (UK time; 24 March), fortuitously between the Brisbane Lions (home of S&T’s AFL goateed pin-up Jason ‘Lush’ Akermanis) and S&T’s adopted team the St Kilda Saints. Conflicts of interest aside, we were sad that the Saints got beaten by the Lions and also that we couldn’t slobber over Akermanis visually. But we were just so darn grateful to be able to hear radio commentary via the glorious worldwide web, thanks to an Australian-based station (which we won’t name in case we weren’t supposed to be able to get coverage), that we were practically kissing our PC screen in rapture. (Imagine what we may have done if we had access to live video coverage. Actually, probably best if you don’t. Now, where did we put our warranty?).
Less reliable (ironically) was a UK-based local radio station that was unable to deliver internet coverage of S&T's soccer team Exeter City’s Good Friday away match against Northern seaside–based team Morecambe until there was only 10 minutes of play left. As Exeter was in the lead at that point and then conceded a last minute penalty (unfortunately a club speciality), S&T thinks we may have jinxed our boys by spending the match harassing the aforementioned radio station to sort out its audio streaming. Suffice to say, S&T was forced down the rather outmoded route of ‘watching’ the majority of the match on teletext (albeit an online rather than television form) and relying on SMS commentary from its friends at the ground. How 1980s we hear you cry. (Well, for the teletext bit at least).
Fast-forward to Easter Saturday, and the rapturous news that the hoopalicious Phoenix Suns were being hosted by the Miami Heat on UK digital satellite channel Sky Sports’ NBA delayed match of the week. Being able to watch the Sensational Suns on UK television was a thorough treat, although television of course cannot replicate the experience of having seen the magnificent (and NBA season MVP contender) Steve Nash and fellow Suns live and sweaty at Madison Square Garden in January this year. (Drifts off into dreamlike state involving locker room imagery….)
With away trips to watch Exeter City at the three heady 'C's of Canvey Island, Crawley Town and Carlisle United live and in the flesh (as it were), in S&T’s diary at the time of writing, and play-offs excitement building into a veritable cornucopic frenzy, the whole notion of which is the best medium or platform on which to watch one’s sport is now very clear to us.
Live and on location is obviously best (it’s easier to buy ‘a’ beer after all), but other than that, quite frankly, S&T is just happy to be able to track its eclectic mix of teams and sports on whatever device it can. Especially when the technology works.
Doha Asian Games 2006 update  One place where technology needs to work of course, (what with the small matter of having the eyes of the world focusing their attention upon it and whatnot), will be Doha during the 2006 Asian Games. Joint host broadcaster HBS was at SportelAsia in Hong Kong during mid-March, providing an update of how planning and testing is going, alongside fellow technology stalwart TWI. Therefore, S&T was only too happy to put our tofu and noodles to one side to catch up with HBS’ chief executive Francis Tellier to see how things are going. (We like Mr Tellier because he never runs away when we try to speak to him. Not fast enough anyway).
“So far, so good,” he was happy to report. “There are still questions remaining over rights issues, but at SportelAsia, we achieved our ambition to promote the Games to the broadcasters who were present in Hong Kong. We got broadcasters thinking about what they need to do in preparing for he Games and also got some feedback from them. There was a lot of positive progress.”
Timelines are quite tight, continued Tellier, alluding to the late appointment of HBS into the host broadcasting mix, “but we have time to achieve everything. We are currently finalising our plans for recruitment with the aim being to include as many Asian employees as possible, in keeping with the Games.” A date of 27 September 2005 has been set for a World Broadcasters Meeting in Doha, which will be much like a “family gathering”, said Tellier. “We keep it closed to ‘family members’ only so that they can be as honest and straightforward as possible.” If that ends up being anything like a family gathering of S&T’s own nearest and dearest, we would like to suggest that Tellier keeps some Anadin and Band Aids on hand. And hides the remote control.
At the time of speaking, Tellier was shortly about to jet off to Zurich for a meeting with FIFA, in relation to that other wee event HBS is servicing. Namely, the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Readers will be delighted to hear that everything is ticketyboo (forgive the pun - seats are now on sale) in terms of that extravaganza as well.
We now have a nice warm, fuzzy feeling, but that could be due to S&T’s beloved darts finally being recognised as a ‘proper’ sport by governing body Sport England. Olympic status will surely follow… Go arrows!
The new timelord?  One of our favourite stories to emerge from the highly successful SportelAsia relates to Kevin Roberts, editorial director of SportBusiness International. He was sitting having a Guinness in an Irish Bar in Hong Kong (as you do, ‘when in Rome’ after all), when he received a call on his mobile phone from a friend in England, who had just been speaking to another friend who in turn had just been watching Roberts on television in Uganda (are you keeping up?). We know that Roberts is well-travelled, but that’s just taking the communications mick. We hear he is literally one step away from owning his own teleport machine, inspired by the return of timetravelling boffin Dr Who to BBC1 in the UK. First trip on the Roberts itinerary, back to the beginning of the 2004-05 soccer season and poisoning Crystal Palace’s entire English Premiership opposition perhaps? (Roberts being a supporter of said hapless soccer team).
Alas, no teleport machines for S&T to hotfoot it back to London from SportelAsia to sponsor a London-based industry networking event, but merely an old fashioned flying contraption. Not only was it being held on St Patrick’s Day, but also ArkSports’ (S&T’s mummy) second birthday, hence our delight at being involved. Imagine our consternation to be told though, that despite having forked out some considerable beer money for the evening as sole sponsor, we weren’t allowed to bring a certain individual (who for the purposes of this column we shall refer to as ‘Tiger’) and whom was deemed a ‘competitor’ by one of the event organisers and might, gasp, try and make some new business contacts. How thoroughly audacious you cry! A networking event where, heaven forbid, people actually try and do business? It will never catch on surely? S&T wonders whether Sepp Blatter will be banned from Torino 2006 by Jacques Rogge?
After that cliquey rant (apologies for those who haven’t a clue what we are wittering on about; the full story will be released in our memoirs, ‘Confessions of a Technology Temptress’ – working title), S&T would like to unveil the most bizarre request we have received to date (and believe us, there have been one or two). This hails from a schoolboy, simply named 'Neal', who would like S&T’s mummy ArkSports to sponsor, wait for it, a ‘squirrel assault course’ that he is building in his primary school garden. Bless. After we finished laughing, we suggested that he contacts Cadbury’s Whole Nut. Or eats one. (A chocolate bar that is, not a squirrel. S&T is vegetarian after all).
That e-mail gave us almost as good a chortle as the university graduate who wrote to us recently asking for a job. If we were to employ him, apparently, he would forever be in our “dept”. While we would love to think this chap is a master of puns, we sadly think that he is merely a misguided malapropic member of the great unwashed. Shame, as we could do with some of that madcap humour at ArkSports Towers in between smatterings of niche sports.
And on that note of ribaldry, we are signing off for another month and look forward to seeing many of you at SportAccord in Berlin, Germany. Spare FIFA World Cup 2006 tickets anyone?
Rachael Church – Editor Do you have spare tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2006? Well, please don’t resell them on eBay because it is illegal and FIFA will get jolly cross. If you have any comments or feedback on this article or any of the features in S&T, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please e-mail your comments to editor@sportandtechnology.com.
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