EuroCup 2008

Let's just say papa wasn't happy for a while. During the Germany-Turkey game, the picture disappeared. It was obviously an issue with the feed, but the mind-boggling part was that the ESPN announcers weren't talking about the game as it was unfolding. It led me to believe that they were not actually in the stadium or that they lack the ability to verbally describe a sporting event. In this case it would have involved a lot of "the ball is tapped around at midfield. A stab is made towards the penalty area, but another sloppy pass made it a fruitless effort." Throw in some names and I would have been happy.
Also, they were able to show the fanzone and the fans' reactions therein, so the fanzone was obviously getting a feed. Why not have a camera aimed at the fanzone screen?
Blech. It was frustrating. And then they came back and a goal had been scored by Germany and out again and back in for some cheering for a goal by Turkey. GrrGrrGrr.
And ESPN is TERRIBLE at giving replays. They're cut way too short. All you see is the 0.214 seconds leading up to the ball crossing the goal line. Nothing of the lead-up. Amateurs.

Before the game, I had asked the kids what they wanted for dinner and they offered their usual overpriced suggestion: Hibachi! And I promptly shot it down, of course.
But then, during all the outage frustration, I figured: let's have someone at least have an enjoyable afternoon. So I said: "Tell you what. If Germany wins, we're having hibachi." See, it was tied at that point (two minutes before the end of the game) and I was trying to prep them for overtime. They're still learning about game-watching patience.
But then everyone won. (Except the Turkish team. Everyone in our apartment, I mean.)