TV watching strategy

TV watching strategy

For those of us not lucky enough to be going to Africa we have to make tough decisions re watching the games.

Well in 06 i tried watching every game, bad idea. So i'll probably try that again.

lol you guys are all soft. Every year I watch 80-90% of the tour'd'france with most stages coverage not starting till midnight. On the long alp stages I usually arrange a cpl of days off work but my work is used to me being a zombie every July

I took 4 weeks off work. Its bad enough getting up early to watch a single EPL match and then try to get through a 10hr day in the office... no way am I doing that for the entire WC

I'll be in Europe, timing is perfect.

What do I do?
For the last two All Whites games I have 3rd year 3hour exams in the morning at 9am. One is on toxicolgy and medicinal chemistry, the other on synthetic. I am so fkd off that my only 2 mid year exams, which aren't until the third week of exams, are both just hours after the All Whites play. Thankfully we have mysky, but it will be nothing on watching it on live. Obviously I'll have to wear the full all whites kit and scarf to the exam, but that will probably lead to someone mentioning the result. Sh*T

damn i feel for you Drew.

Exams for me also. Bloody mid terms luckily I'm finished by the 17th.

Watching as many games as live as possible.

I usually take time off work, but I've just changed jobs so don't have the days saved up. Plus I the Wellington marathon in the middle of it. Fortunately, I will be in the taper of my training so I will do my training at lunch times in June. For the rest of it, I will basically sleep from 6pm until the first game and then watch the first two matches. Then it's back to bed for a couple of hours, get up watch the third match and go to work. Repeat until weekend, when I sleep a bit during the day too. Hopefully I can ease the burden by working a few days at home too.

For the Bahrain game in Bahrain, i just stayed up all night with my brother and english student(Pompy fan, who ive converted into a 'Nix fan as well.). If I have sports all school on the next day, it can get f*cked, Im staying up all night. anyway I might be in Hawaii at the time, for the Italy game, so hopefully my hotel will have coverage.

Sleep all day.  Party all night.  Never grow old.  Never die.

damn, no strategy for me - just see where the battle between hype and work leaves me at the end of each day/night

new job - so a bit worried that i will need to avoid looking and acting to mental/deranged/sleep deprived

Am seriously thinking about getting a free-to-view decoder for the games on TVNZ 7.

Quite happy with the NZ group games being on in the wee small hours. Loads of V drinks at work the next day can sustain you for a few days.

Will limit myself to the highlights for most of the other group games - this will be a good preparation for the 2nd round through to the finals.

This is probably the first world cup where I've been a football fan for a while before it so I'm pretty excited no idea what I will do but hoping Four Kings will be open?

Kings will be all over it.

Mint. Me and a few mates probably go to the kings I'm thinking since I'm finally nearly 18.

Watched every game of Euro 2008 (cause I paid for Setanta) - killed me. Will definitely be watching every All Whites, Socceroos and Netherlands games this WC. The vuvuzela's will get to me, though..

My mates and I identified that "something" years ago. You've alluded to it. wolfman2010-05-27 13:36:56

My plan is to set up MySky for all the NZ and England games and then feck off to South Africa to watch them live. My have to clear MySky of all the Mickey Mouse, Oso and Wiggles first though.

Will Four Kings or Backbencher be showing the NZ games live? sure most of us will have sky and its a bitch driving etc in the wee hours but for the important games atmosphere is everything

Think Four Kings will be all over it.

BB possibly for the games in the morning.

Furious that I've got an exam a few hours after the Italy game but priorities will win over.... haha.

Other than that will be verging on insomniac territory with a packet of toothpicks to keep my eyes open for games such as Honduras v Switzerland

I'll watch about 80% of the group games. Some games just aren't worth watching (see Messy's post) My last day of work is Friday July 2. about 12 hours before the first 1/4 final. Then its nothing but Playoffs and Limited Edition World Cup Home Brew for the next 10 days

I'd love to see a public screening of the final/All Whites games in the viaduct or a similar location. Does anyone know if anything like this is happening?

6 and a half weeks off work for me. Frank, meet insomnia.

Before I found out I was going I had planned to take a month off and watch the lot.  Ironically I'll see less live matches now that I'm going, but certainly not complaining!

While I'm a working person, i do have one exam at Massey on 9 June, with course restarting the day of the final:  ideal. 

In 1998 i ended up with a nasty bout of tonsilitis about a week after the tournament finished, due to too many late nights followed by early mornings.  Nonetheless, I personally think the games aren't on at totally terrible times.  If one was in Europe and working you have to actively avoid the internet to avoid seeing results of games you wanted to watch in the evening.  At least here you can sleep through and record and watch before work.  anyway we ought to be used to it given champions league is always first thing in the morning - coffee and toast with sport on the couch isn't so bad.  it's worse in australia i think - 4.30am for the main knockout games.  they do get some nice early group stage games, but not that many are that interesting i reckon. 

My strategy:
- group stages, select one game a day to watch, and get up at 6.30 every day to watch it.  It might be live, it might be recorded.  Exceptions:  occasionally worth staying up late for an 11.30pm game, All Whites, the occasional time when there are two games on that are worth seeing, and weekends obviously.  It's not that hard to be ruthless I reckon.  I had France v Switzerland at the last world cup pegged as a dull 0-0 and so it proved....
- round of 16:  even here there is the odd missable game. a day off here and there isn't so bad.  i have learnt that from trying to watch all stages of the tour de france.  it just isn't worth it. back in 1998 there was so little football on tv here that it was imperative to watch as much as possible.  that's not true now. 
- quarters onwards.  just watch.  eddetchon2010-05-06 21:39:34

I will try watch most of them with the help of mysky. Obviously round of 16 onwards all will be consumed.

I love your enthusiasm!

Cheers. Although i'm not sure my body loves it. It's probably more of an addiction than enthusiasm haha.

Fox's huh? Do you think that'll be the place in Aucks with the best atmosphere for NZ games? I don't wanna watch NZ games all alone.

My heart bleeds for you Piney. Honestly, it does.

exactly the same here. was gutted when i checked my exam timetable.

guna just have to mysky it and pray to god nobody mentions the score to me before i watch

You'll know. I always used to notice there were more United/Barca/Inter shirts around Uni after those sides had one in Champions League. Just one mans theory but I find it to be true more often than not

given its likely guna be new zealands highest profile game at the WC i agree it will be damn near impossible to avoid hearing the result

who cares? I'd give up anything for football!