My question is this: How will any of you have time to watch the matches. I have a (more than) full-time job, a wife, and a 2 1/2 year old daughter who is more than spoiled. While I would love to get the pay-per-view package, I cannot sit and watch all these matches and desert my family for the length of the tourney. There really is no point to getting the PPV and taping the matches because I'm a BS and Soccernet addict and will spoil the results for myself during the day; And a match is not nearly as fun when you know the result. This problem comes up during the big tournaments which thankfully are rare. There was really no problem with the WC2002 as we were in San Diego and all the matches were played b/w 11:30 P and 6:30 A. So other than being a zombie during the day I was at least present for my job and family. So if there are any other people out there in my predicament, please lend me some advice. One serious issue is that my wife HATES soccer and just doesn't get why I watch.
Right now my plan is to Tivo the matches and watch them when I get home. I have avoided looking up results before, and really its not that hard, IMO.... have a little willpower. Other than that, I can't say what else to do.
I'm not getting the PPV package because, much like you, I won't be able to see a majority of the matches. All the midweek, daytime matches are shot for me, unless I take a day off or something.....and that isn't reasonable. I'll probably go to the pub for a Saturday or Sunday during the tournament. And I'll buy the single game PPV for a game or two that REALLY interest me. You'd have to watch 10 games or more in order for the PPV package to be more cost effecient then just purchasing single games that you are interested in....and that just isn't practical with my schedule. I'll have to make do with the occasional live match on the weekends and 72 hour tape delays on FSW.
I just found another option. The Euro 2004 webcasts through the UEFA website is only 14.95 USD for the entire tournament. That seems like not a bad price for access to all the games over the web. Tom
That's not too shabby......but I'd have to get broadband at home in order to take advantage of that one.
Well, I have DirecTV with Tivo (which we hacked to expand to 135 hours capacity) and my fiancee loves to watch the games with me. We're going to five games in Lisbon (Spain-Portugal, England-Croatia, Germany-Czech Republic, Quarterfinal A1-B2 & Quarterfinal A2-B1) and we decided not to go to Columbus for U.S. MNT-Grenada because it's during the tournament and we'd rather watch on TV than miss watching England-France. As long as I can avoid scores during weekdays at the office (and my boss may get the PPV at the office), we're in good shape for the first two games for each team in group play. Once we get back, we'll want to skim through any of the great games we missed while we were either flying or in the stadium, but using fast forward on Tivo, we can get through them pretty quickly, going double-time. Then the semis and final we'll find a way to maybe watch live. Marrying a woman who isn't into soccer (or is "outright anti-soccer" a better description?) and having a kid sounds like the places you could've planned this better
Yeah, but you know, love is blind! She is not to the extreme of outright anti-soccer but she comes pretty close. She just doesn't get the sport, typical American!
Well, after the group stages, games are $25 each on PPV. So to make the package cost efficient, you only have to watch, say, 2 QF's, the semifinals, final and 3 group-stage matches that are played on the weekends.
What a downer, just checked the site and copied the following: Key is that you get video highlights, not live coverage.
I'm getting the PPV package but I'm not going to watch all the group games. I'm going to watch France's, England's, Netherland's, Spain's, Portugal's, and maybe Italy's group games. Maybe not Italy's their group sucks. I just can't pass up the other ones though--too much talent and the group games can sometimes be the best games of the tournament. The last Euro 2000 tournament had some bad ass games, including that jaw dropping final.
I work full time. But I'll take off for the England matches and other notables. Tournaments like this are too exciting to miss live. Luckily it shouldn't be a problem with the time off.
I have the pass for the Champions League, to be honest with you the quality sucks, bearable but nothing compared to the tv, and also the scores are displayed throughout the site including the link for the delaped match (usually you are able to watch it about 3-4 hours after it airs live might be different for this), and i mentioned it in another thread, lag might be a major problem if too many people subscribe to this service. So if you really want to enjoy euro 2004, dont get the action pass, but if you really have no other choice (I cant even get the ppv) go for it, cheap price and it has a lot of highlights from previous tourneys. As for the original poster, order the ppv, tape it and have some willpower to control yourself from seeing the results. Just like you mentioned during the WC, you can watch the tape at 11am and in the morning...so you will at least have some time with your family.
I'm getting the PPV. I also will take vacation the first week of the tournament so I can see all the games live. There's time for the wife and son after the games! I'm lucky on two accounts; my wife is Mexican and understands the passion. Two, she only has one week of vacation. That means my second week can be taken with her one. Jesus, I can't wait.
Tom, One thing I did was scheduled a business trip to Dublin right during the middle of the tourrnament. That way, the games will be on during the evening for me! It's all about priorities. You know I'm in almost the same situation except we have two kids! I've found my wife tolerates more soccer the more I take care of the kids. I've trained Max to get excited about watching soccer on TV! Two tips... 1) Stop reading the web during the day and deliver more babies. Use the mothers to fill the soccer void during the day. Ask them things like "Do you like the name Thierry or Ruud better for your new son?". "Do you think your new daughter will be able to Bend it Like Beckham?", etc. 2) Come over to my house after work and we'll watch the games together. Bring Pax and we'll hire a babysitter to watch the kids while we watch the games on TiVo. Did I mention we just bought a new HDTV in preparation for the tournament.
1. WILLPOWER - it is not that hard not to look up the scores... maybe if you don't surf the Internet at work you can get home sooner. 2. BACKBONE - stand up to your wife and tell her this only happens every two years, it's not like you're one of those guys who wastes an entire Sunday for I don't know how many months whatching American Football or NASCAR.
Believe me, if you have taped Euro matches waiting at home for you, that will be incentive enough to avoid BS and other soccer sites on match days. It's doable (you'll be shocked at your productivity). I'm in pretty much the same scenario as you, and I'm going to buy the package and watch the tapes at night when the little one goes to bed. There's only about 8 weekdays where the matches are doubled up. So a conservative schedule: Your little girl goes to bed at, say, 9. You start watching at 10. You watch 2 matches and go to bed at 2. That's four or five solid hours of sleep, yes? No problem. And odds are that there are more than a few matches that will a) stink; or b) not be of crucial interest. So you can (heresy alert) fast forward through some of the more tiresome matches. As Bela Karolyi once said: "You can do it!"
Tivo is the answer. I purchased a Tivo/receiver for the World Cup two years ago...where the time difference from Japan/Korea was crazy! You can tape the games and watch at your leisure...even if they are still being taped. The only way to go! Of course, you do have to undergo a "media blackout" especially internet. For the most part you do not have to worry about hearing a score on North American TV or Radio. Enjoy~~~~~~~~~~~~