The Best and Worst of 2008

[danielmak]

I think Gutbomb started a similar thread last year and it was interesting to see what other people thought, so now that we are almost a week into the new year, I figured I'd follow his lead.

Best:

1. Even more football on satellite TV. The quantity of games continues to grow (e.g., very few CL games not shown, increased coverage of FA Cup and not ppv, every CONMEBOL qualifier on TV).
2. ESPN's coverage of EURO 2008. They made smart choices with announcers and always have the best quality image of any football station in the US.
3. Podcasts: Danny Baker's 606, BBC World Football (both the phone in and the documentary programming), Guardian Podcast, and ESPN's podcast.
4. Although I wish they would use more feed announcers, GOL has a ton of la liga games. Similarly, FSC has really done much better with Serie A than Gol because we get games that aren't just Juve or Milan.

Worst:

1. Setanta completely destroyed the best show *about* football: Football Matters. What was a thoughtful discussion of European football has been replaced with an unwatchable live audience studio show.
2. ESPN editing games. At first this was just happening with Deportes cutting 5 minutes from the second half of delayed games yet filling 5 minutes up front with highlights of previous rounds or showing an empty field for 10 minutes before a CONMEBOL qualifier begins as announcer ramble on but then cutting 6 minutes from the second half. However, ESPN Classic has done the same thing this year: cutting stoppage time of Juve-Real (or Real-Juve--can't remember which leg). I know they need the commercial time during pre-game, half-time, and post-game but they could just chop some of the highlight stuff, show more commercials, and show the games in full.
3. TyC offers a ton of Argentina league games, but god forbid they actually send out a schedule to DirecTV so we know what is going to air. The on-screen guide will just list the league and that's it. This is minor compared to #1 and #2 but still an irritant.

[TarheelJTK]

Best:

1. ESPN's coverage of EURO 2008. There was very little to complain about and a lot to praise. It seems that under their new leadership ESPN might have finally figured out how to handle a major soccer event.

2. FSC's coverage of both the Premier League and Serie A. We get a lot of the best games of the Premier League/Serie A on FSC while still getting a good variety.

Worst:

1. Ray Hudson/the other guys he works with on GolTV. I really don't like the fact that GolTV insists on using it's own people to cover La Liga. I frequently switch over to the Spanish language feed.

2. GolTV's lack of coverage of the Bundesliga. Too many games are not covered live even though there are no other games interfering at that time on the channel. They also no longer show the Friday afternoon game.

3. Comcast's inability to set up the schedule for GolTV more than 12 hours in advance.

[Kryptonite]

Best:

ESPN with Euro 2008. Most of the games were in HD. (I think there were a few on ESPN Classic.)

MLS Cup coverage. It seems like usually they cut away with very little or no trophy presentation coverage. MLS Cup 2008 seemed to have more trophy coverage than usual.

ESPN360.com. Between that, ESPN2, and ESPN Classic, I can watch a gaggle of Champions League games. It's like having a mini-pub.

HDNet is excellent. They need more games.

MLSnet.com's streaming service is some of the best $20/year i've ever spent, even though I hardly use it.

Sirius Satellite Radio. They have a gaggle of EPL games every weekend games are played, and in the past have had games on weekdays. I believe they also have Champions League games. They also aired ESPN's audio of Euro 2008. They mysteriously dropped Celtic FC matches, though.


Worst:
Julie Foudy. I'm sure she was a good player, but PLEASE keep her away from men's soccer in 2009. And please keep her away from any HD coverage. While i'm on it, maybe she could get a new hairstyle? I'll take most anyone current over her. Rob Stone, JP Dellacamera, Eric Wynalda even.

This isn't bad, but I would like to see a few USMNT games this year in HD. Just one? I'll still take ESPN2 SD or ESPN Classic over the 2001 hex where one game was on PPV.

[7spencer7]

Best: ESPN's coverage of Euro 2008. Very very good, and I hope it means there is going to be an improvement with future international tournaments.

ESPN/Setanta's continued comprehensive coverage of the UEFA Champions League. So many games on TV it seems there are only 2-3 games not on on matchdays, as opposed to just a couple years ago when only 2 games were shown.

ESPN SoccerNet PressPass FINALLY being shown in the states. It's a good discussion show!

Fox Soccer Report's new anchor Terri Leigh. She's so dreamy!

ESPN360. So many different games to watch both live and on demand from leagues I never even thought of watching before like Japan and Russia.

Worst: GolTV being dropped from Dish Network. Even though I have DirecTV which has all the soccer I could ever want, it really sucks that Dish viewers once again got screwed by Charlie Ergen (Dish Network CEO that is notorious for screwing over the viewers in these contract disputes)

The loss of American Soccer on GolTV. Sure it wasn't the best show, but it was pretty much the only decent discussion show about american soccer. It's left a void that's being filled with filler crap, which brings me to my next one...


The decline in quality programming on GolTV. Shit imports like "The Art of Football", the banal inane Soccer Cam (seriously, does ANYONE watch this?) Fewer german games, and an overall public access feel.

Fox Soccer Report's new virtual set. I am not against all virtual sets, but why do they have to create such a busy, cluttered, and overall ugly backdrop. Less is more, FSR guys. I'm sure you can come up with something muted and tasteful.

[Kryptonite]

ESPN/Setanta's continued comprehensive coverage of the UEFA Champions League. So many games on TV it seems there are only 2-3 games not on on matchdays, as opposed to just a couple years ago when only 2 games were shown.

Yes.

Between ESPN360, ESPN2, and ESPN Classic which I have at home, there's so many games, it feels like i'm at my own pub.

[Chims]

Best:
- FSC's coverage of Serie A: Usually 4 games per weekend and a good variety of teams to watch. Outstanding.
- FSC's coverage of the CONCACAF Champions League: Some don't take much stock in this competition, but I've been very impressed with the amount of games that they've shown. A great addition to their lineup and a good way to become familiar with soccer in the region.
- NBC's Olympic soccer channel: I wasn't able to get this (one of the few w/o HD), but it sounded great.
- In general, the amount of soccer available is incredible. I don't always like the announcers or the quality of coverage, but after being in the cable/satellite wilderness for 18 months, when we got FIOS in July it just seemed like there were a lot more games available now (especially with ESPN360).

Worst:
- GolTV's downgrades: I'm disappointed in their Bundesliga coverage (no Friday matches, or hardly ever), and as others have mentioned, some of their new "filler" shows (like Soccer Cam) are utterly awful. Just a personal preference, but I just can't stand Ray Hudson or really any of the GolTV in-house guys.

[blackhornet]

GolTV's downgrades: I'm disappointed in their Bundesliga coverage (no Friday matches, or hardly ever), and as others have mentioned, some of their new "filler" shows (like Soccer Cam) are utterly awful. Just a personal preference, but I just can't stand Ray Hudson or really any of the GolTV in-house guys.Perhaps this is a precursor to some kind of merger/sale.