Sunday, June 13, 2010

How to follow the World Cup

Okay, as you are probably aware, the football World Cup begun this week (real football, not the tame American version).
The World Cup kicked off with a couple of great games and a lot more are to come. But of course you already know this :)

South Africa vs. Mexico was a great start, but Uruguay vs France was a bit of a disappointment.
Argentina vs Nigeria was well played (Argentina really have a strong team) and England vs the USA was a fantastic game. Green failed for England but the match was exciting and both teams played their best.

Today's games (Sunday) weren't that exciting, except for Germany who gave Australia a proper beating.

Tomorrow, Denmark will play their first game (against Holland). I hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

This post (which I meant to post a week ago but didn't have the time to) is about how you can keep track of the World Cup on the go.

If you are using Google Calendar (and I assume other calendars as well), you should add the World Cup 2010 Google Calendar by Ryan Cullen. Not only does it contain all the matches of the Cup with start times (localised to your timezone) and where the game is played, but the author also updates the calendar entries with goals and goal scorers during the game. So you can follow the game directly from your Google calendar.
Which is extremely cool as I have an Android phone with Google calendar as a widget on the home screen :)

If you have an Android phone I also recommend the application '2010 World Cup' by Luke Shan. It is free and contains all the information you could possibly want about the Cup. Teams, players, matches, groups and news, it is all there. You can set match reminders and watch the score in real-time or you can comment on a game or give your prediction for the winner. The application is also updated regularly.

The freaking Vuvuzela
Why hasn't FIFA banned this annoying noise maker from the stadiums? It is way too loud and it drowns out the noise from the fans. Instead of hearing fans cheering and singing, all we get is 'Wooeeeooooeeoooeeeoeeo' at 130dB.

Apparently they are loud enough that the authorities are handing out foam ear protectors for the spectators.
Get off your arses FIFA!

But this isn't going to ruin the World Cup for me, I just turn down the volume :)
And this is also the first World Cup where I can watch all the matches in HD. And believe me, this is something you want. Instead of being able to barely recognise the players when they are far away, you can just read the name of the jersey.
It is really amazing and something I hope the Danish networks will begin using more and make more sports in HD readily available for us all.