GET EXCITED - World Cup 2018, now with even more corruption!

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 17 Jul 2006 05:47 pm

^ Spot on BigK, it all comes down to loss of revenue. The sale of players will generate some of the lost income that these clubs need

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 18 Jul 2006 08:59 am

Yep BigK's right ... a report on soccernet says that around 80% of Juve's revenue comes from sponsorship and television rights .... this will most likely disappear with their descent into Serie B ... they could be in serious trouble.

On a positive note ... do you guys think Nedved will actually make the move to Newcastle? He's 33 now, but man it would be cool if he had one good season in the EPL ... I for one would love to see him there.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 18 Jul 2006 12:22 pm

Yeah I read that same report Cardsy.... I think Juve will make it, though there will be some tough times. Key to their survival will be avoiding relegatio n into Serie C. Obviously they won't be able to come up this year, but if they can avoid going down again they'll be in good stead for a return to Serie A in two years time.

I haven't heard any reports linking Nedved with Newcastle! Though he would fit in well in the Black and White stripes, and I would welcome him with open arms. We have a pretty strong midfield already in my opinion, with Parker, Emre, N'Zogbia, Solano, Dyer and Milner. Luque can also play in the midfield. It's up front where we really need to bolster our team, and we also need to sign another quality centre back, and a good left back. We do need to sign at least one midfield player, with Malbranque being the most talked about target, though those murmers have since died down. The problem with Newcastle is that they are linked with so many players. They need to win this next Intertoto match, that will be the catalyst that starts off their run of signings prior to the commencement of the premier league season.

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 18 Jul 2006 01:32 pm

*An Aside*
En-ger-land fans can FUCK OFF.
How many years has it been since 'The Hand of God?'
Some c**t just spat on my lovely new adidas Argentina shirt.
Why? 'Cause I had the AUDACITY to get Diego on it instead of Maxi Rodrigues or Leo Messi.
They should fucking well get over it.

General Chaos · Post by **General Chaos** » 18 Jul 2006 01:35 pm

Did you ZIZOU!! him?

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 18 Jul 2006 01:36 pm

Went fuckin close, man

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 18 Jul 2006 02:04 pm

They actually spat on it! WTF! Man that's wrong!

Oh... you said Argentina. My bad. You're lucky they didn't piss on you as well.

....Kidding... of course. That's disgraceful behaviour.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 18 Jul 2006 02:08 pm

Also as an aside (very marginally linked to the spitting incident)...

It is just me or does Lionel Messi look like the love child of Paul McCartney and Liam Gallagher. He's definately not very Argentinian looking. Good player though. He should be a star in South Africa, along with Spain's Torres and Fabregas.

.. I still can't believe that someone spat on you.. on the street... in Australia?? for wearing an Argentina shirt (or are you in the UK?).

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 18 Jul 2006 02:15 pm

Mate it was in Hobart. (and no it wasn't Chaos or Pet.)
I didn't even get a reply in, I was too shocked.
First bad reaction the Maradona shirt has got, it mostly gets good responses, seeing as it is the '06 Argentina Home shirt, but with 'Maradona' and the number 10 in the same style as all the adidas temas had at the World Cup.
That shit doesn't even happen at AFL games!
Fuckin pommy c**t

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 18 Jul 2006 02:17 pm

Oh, and I see what you mean about Leo not looking like a gaucho, but he's still got some puppy fat on him, which could be a side-effect of the hormone treatment he was on.
Will be the NEXT BIG THING. Mark my words.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 18 Jul 2006 02:57 pm

Him and Cesc Fabregas! Some of Francesc's passes for Arsenal this past season were perfectly weighted for Henry to run onto. Not only is his passing awesome, he is also very good on the ball. I guess Messi is quicker on the ball, so in that respect they're quite different. Both will be awesome players.

It's disgraceful that you were spat on like that. Maybe you should move to Australia, we don't have that kind of treatment here!

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 18 Jul 2006 04:36 pm

But you have far manay more Pommy bastards than us down here!

Faber is more a passer, Leo is more the Waradona type - great finisher who can also create his own shots. Will be awesome to watch him develop at Barca with Buck-Tooth giving him great passes.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 18 Jul 2006 06:24 pm

I wish there was one of those trick/moves videos created of Ronaldinho with his newest trick... the ones he used against Australia.... tread on the ball, and fall.

Yeah they're very different players. I can't stand watching the poor quality of ESPN for the La Liga games, so as a result don't watch that much Spanish football.

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 18 Jul 2006 08:37 pm

Yeah ESPN picture quality is very average, but I love watching the Sunday morning La liga game. I also find if you cross your eyes and/or squint the picture becomes really clear!!

General Chaos · Post by **General Chaos** » 18 Jul 2006 08:55 pm

Oh fuck don't remind me of the shithouse ESPN broadcasts.

WTF is up with that? It's so blurry in some games it is very hard to distinguish teams apart, especially from the standard wide camera angle.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 19 Jul 2006 08:06 am

It's incredibly piss-poor.

To further confirm this, once the Champions League starts up do a flick between SBS digital (or even analogue!) and ESPN. Even on Foxtel the SBS is vastly superior.

It's like you're watching an often viewed VCR recording of a match from 10 years ago. La Liga games are undoubtedly great to watch, but it's a struggle to watch them in such poor quality. I've been meaning for some time to email Foxtel about the poor quality. I'll have a look now and will see if I can find the appropriate details of someone to send an email to.

In the US they have HD ESPN (though they show different sports), surely it wouldn't be asking too much to at least have bearable quality over here.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 19 Jul 2006 08:18 am

Bah! Can't find the details. I found the appropriate person to complain to on a forum a while back, but can't find it again.

So annoying!

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 19 Jul 2006 08:49 am

I read something about it quite a while ago, it has something to do with a poor NTSC to PAL conversion along with an incredibly low bitrate on ESPN on Foxtel.

I don't think much will be done about it unfortunately. You can try the squinting thing though!!

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 19 Jul 2006 08:54 am

I don't expect anything to be done, but would just like to hear what their official comments are. NTSC to PAL conversion would be a nice cop out for them to use. Surely ESPN would convert their broadcast into the native resolution/format of the country that they are sending it to? Don't see the conversions having an adverse affect on DVDs etc that routinely have to be converted to suit their appropriate regions.

Also would like to know if and when we will get ESPN in widescreen. Once you've been spoilt with widescreen sport, watching it in 4:3 is like watching from the end of a tunnel. 16:9 Premier FTW (even though the picture quality still varies quite a bit).

Oh.. and the low bitrate.. well that's Foxtel's responsibility. Sport needs a higher bitrate than other channels due to the fast moving nature.

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 19 Jul 2006 09:02 am

Hey I'm with you BigK, I hate the state ESPN is in at the moment, I'm just letting you know what I've heard. I like you LOVE my soccer with a passion and the fact that ESPN is home to Serie A, Dutch League, Scottish League, La Liga, MLS (but who the fuck watches that anyway) and Champions league makes it that much harder to stomach.

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 19 Jul 2006 01:33 pm

I've emailed ESPN with the following:

ME wrote: Hi,

I enjoy watching ESPN on the Foxtel Digital service in Australia, however I have to say that it has absolutely shocking picture quality, akin to that of an often watched 10 year old video tape. So much so that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between teams in La Liga Football matches, when long shots are used.

I was wondering whether there was an explanation for this horrible quality? Does it have to do with the conversion of the NTSC signal to PAL? Or is to to do with the quality of the Satelite broadcast that Foxtel pays for? Could it also be a bandwidth limitation on Foxtels behalf? Whatever the case this otherwise excellent channel is sometimes hard to watch, simply because of the sub standard image. In this day and age, it is hard to accept such an inferior picture, when the simple changing of channel provides something that is visually vastly superior.

Any explanation that you could provide regarding this would be greatly appreciated. Also if there is plans to upgrade the channel provided to Foxtel that would be also appreciated. Overall I would like to know two things:
(i) Why is the image so poor
(ii) Is there plans to rectify the issue? (or should I take this up with Foxtel?)

In addition is there a widescreen (16:9) feed that could be provided to Australia?

Kind Regards,
John Batman

I'm also about to email the Foxtel head of Marketing with a similar email (obviously with a slant more towards the foxtel end of the bargain!).

DjBigK · Post by **DjBigK** » 19 Jul 2006 01:55 pm

Here is my email to the Foxtel head of Marketing. If I get a reply I will post it here.

Hi XXXXXXX,

I'm writing this message to you in the hope of getting an answer to some of my queries regarding the broadcasting of the ESPN channel on Foxtel Digital. Whilst I enjoy the actual content of the channel, I have to say that I am greatly disappointed with the picture quality. If I had to liken it to anything else, I would say that it is roughly the quality of an oft watched 10 year old video tape. I hope that with your assistance I can come to understand why the picture quality on this channel is so poor. I have also emailed ESPN for their feedback on the quality of the feed provided to Foxtel.

Other sports channels (namely Fox Sports 1 & 2) have vastly superior quality images, and obviously benefit from a greater bandwidth than ESPN. As I am sure you are aware, during fast moving sports (Like Football/Soccer, Basketball etc) bandwidth is cruicially important in maintaining a steady quality of image. The actual bandwidth limitation on ESPN however cannot be the sole cause of the poor quality, as even on still images there is a gulf in quality between ESPN and several other channels (Fox 8, Fox Sports 1 & 2, Movie Channels, FBO, even the lifestyle channel! etc).

I would imagine that the original ESPN source would be in NTSC format, and then converted to PAL, and this could, in theory result in some of the loss of quality that occurs. Certainly though it would not be acceptable to think that this is solely to blame for the horrible picture that the viewer receives. To put this into perspective the image quality is so poor that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two teams whilst watching a Spanish la liga football match (on long shots).

Is there any plans to improve the final picture quality on the ESPN channel, or are the viewers expected to put up with a vastly inferior picture when compared with other channels? If so, what are the planned improvements - better satelite feed from ESPN? Higher bandwidth on Foxtel? Both? In addition is there any plans to broadcast ESPN in 16:9, or is the widescreen option not available, or too expensive for international markets?

I would really appreaciate an honest and detailed response to this email, as I do enjoy the Foxtel service provided. I can, if provided with appropriate evidence understand and live with some of the limitations that come with running a financially viable business, however this limitation in my opinion, and in the opinion of several others with whom I have conversed, is far too great to simply put up with.

Kind Regards,
Peter Robin

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 19 Jul 2006 02:55 pm

Us poor students have to get by on The World Game highlights and dodgy streams/vids off the net! 80's quality images of La Liga would be gold for me...

General Chaos · Post by **General Chaos** » 19 Jul 2006 03:29 pm

Commoner! I spit on you!

Texas · Post by **Texas** » 19 Jul 2006 04:03 pm

Just let me put the Maradona shirt on first...