The Soccer thread (Part II)

Can I count my FSC and Sentanta Subscriptions?

 

Maybe Springsteen can as a favor to his son. From his recent show at Old Trafford:

A rocking show by all accounts; Nigel Ford tells us: "Bruce took the stage alongside Clarence and greeted us with the words, 'Good evening Manchester, home of the European champions! We got some celebrating to do!' The Manchester United theme continued later when he revealed that his 18-year-old son doesn't watch American sports, but 'watches soccer all weekend -- and these are his boys. So he's been giving me the low-down on what to say when I tread this hallowed ground.' This didn't endear him to the entire audience by any means, but he was presented with a Man Utd shirt with 'The Boss' inscribed across the shoulders, which the Boss himself seemed pretty pleased with.

 

Just stumbled across this ... Deadspin soccer columnist David Hirshey has been hired by ESPN ...

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/media_people/david_hirshey_continues_second_careerat_espn_86335.asp

 

I just switched to satellite - had it installed last night. I was on cable and had Fox Soccer channel; now with DirecTV I have FSC and Gol TV.

So my question: is Setanta worth the $15 a month? The schedule looks outstanding and I would love to have the rugby and especially Gaelic football. And does anyone have experience with Setanta's online service? I'm not sure which one would be better.

Thanks. I'll hang up and listen.

 

I'm an Anglophile sports freak, so perhaps I'm not the best judge of this ... but Setanta is awesome.

Of course, I really dig GAA and rugby (union and league). I wish they still carried cricket, I'd watch it.

 

I'm a huge Aussie Rules Football fan dating to ESPN's Pleistocene Era (Go Essendon!), and I'd love to have the rest of the BPL not handled by FSC, but there's no way Setanta is worth $15 a month by itself.

Especially when you factor in the fact the entire DirecTV sports package is $12.95 a month.

 

If you're an utter junkie, it might be worth it. Really, though, you could get away with holding off until August and catching the start of the Euro leagues. Having Setanta last summer would've been a must with the Rugby World Cup, but unless they're showing the Euros on their own, you can probably wait.

 

I shut my Setanta off in the summers because I'm not into Rugby and the rest. I have it just for soccer; they show most of the Liverpool games, so I'm stuck.
As for comparing it to "the entire DirecTV sports package," the entire DirecTV sports package is dreck. It gets you Versus for the NHL playoffs, but otherwise might be the biggest rip-off of anything I've ever ordered. They black out just about every major-league sporting event shown on any of the local sports stations (gotta buy the packages for those). And they'll even black out a lot of the college stuff -- without giving you a good reason. I can't tell you how many times one I've bumped up against a college hoops game being blacked out when it's not even part of the FullCourt package.
Setanta might be pricey, but it gives you what it says it's going to give you: the best of the EPL.

 

Agree, Twoback. The package frustrates me no end, especially when I want to watch Red Sox games on NESN that are blacked out.

But $15 for one station? I can't get past that.

If it was $5 or $6, I'd pull the trigger gladly just for the BPL (they show a fair amount of Arsenal games) and Aussie Rules.

 

Looks like Chelsea's got some money coming in from Adrian Mutu.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7440416.stm

 

Is anyone excited about the Euro Cup beginning Saturday? I am stoked. I'm glad ESPN and ESPN Deportes are showing the games, even though their announcers suck. But there is going to be a lot of good soccer. Some of the announcers are saying that this tournament is more exciting than the World Cup. I don't know about that because I think the South American teams add more flair. But it still should be fun to watch.

 

Derek Rae and Adrian Healey do not suck.