One of the most attractive aspects of sport is the fact thatevery event is unique and unpredictable. While other forms of entertainment arepre-determined, it is sports unscripted nature that attracts spectators,viewers and fans in their millions. While there is always a place in thesporting landscape for highlights programmes such as Match of the Day or tripsdown memory lane on ESPN Classic, the live element of sport is so important toit that if it is removed it can diminish the enjoyment that fans take from it.It was always possible to record games using a video recorder, but the advent of Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) andVideo On Demand services such as BBC iPlayer now mean that watching sport “aslive” is easier than ever but it leaves you at the mercy of technology.
The live aspect of sport is so important to me that if Iknow the result or a major incident in a match, my interest wanes. It is theunpredictability that gives me the strength to sit through sometimesexcruciatingly boring passages of play in the hope that something exciting isjust around the corner. The live aspect is also important to me because Icannot cope with just seeing a result afterwards. Watching a football match forninety minutes gives you time to accept the 5-0 thrashing, something thatlooking up the score on the internet does not afford you.
Formula One and American Football are but two sports that cantake place at unsociable hours for British fans and watching them live requiresserious discipline or being nocturnal. Before I acquired a PVR I would eitherhave to watch a repeat, which would leave me in danger of finding out theresult before I viewed the event. Although video recorders were an aptsolution, I found it a complicated and occasionally fruitless procedure whereasnow I can push a button and watch the match at my leisure without fear offinding out the result.
I did this last weekend for the inaugural Korean GP whichwas broadcast on the BBC and woke up eager to view the latest instalment in athrilling climax to the 2010 Formula One season. Sky+ has the useful feature ofbeing able to detect when a programme has been extended and adjusts therecording accordingly. Sadly, as good as Sky+ is, it is unable to account fortorrential rain and the decision of the BBC to switch channels as the raceoverran its original timeslot. As it became apparent that the recording was tooshort, I was furious and I was not alone. I checked BBC iPlayer and althoughPart 1 of the race had been uploaded (the part that had been shown on BBC One),but part 2 (the part shown on BBC Two) had not been. In the end, since I amincapable of insulating myself from the internet and sporting media for longerthan a few hours, I blinked and checked the result and discovered that I hadmissed out an eventful end to the race.
Another example of my new found dependence on technologythwarting me was when I recorded Monday Night Football on ESPN a few weeks ago.Green Bay travelled to Soldier Field to take on Chicago and a tense game wasapproaching a crescendo. Almost exactly at the two minute warning, my recordingended. This time there was no other way to view the final two minutes so Ilooked up the score and saw that the Packers had lost 20-17. The time investedin watching an event only to miss the end feels all the more wasted when theending does not have a happy outcome.
The spread of PVR technology now means that sports fans canenjoy far more of the action ‘as live’ and has certainly changed the way weconsume sport. The technology means that the live and spontaneous nature ofsport isn’t removed and results in much of the attraction is retained. I canimagine that many baseball fans are grateful for that this week, given thatmuch of the World Series will be broadcast while they are asleep.
