PAC-10 Tourney

Okay, C and R will spare you our rant about the women’s PAC-10 tournament NOT being on TV, because if you are reading about women’s basketball, then you probably feel the same way about women’s basketball, it needs to be seen more to get more people interested. And this is the PAC-10 title tournament! The men’s PAC-10 tourney was on TV, why not the women’s?

Anyhoo, CBS tried to accommodate all us 10 fans be showing it online. After a download of some useless Microsoft product, I was able to get the game streamed online.

It was a weird experience. The audio came in live but the video was delayed by a few minutes. I would hear that Necka was fouled and then be able to watch it 2 minutes later. It was like having a crystal ball to predict what was going to happen in the future. At least CBS was trying. Thanks, I think.

Whenever the video feed would pan into the stands, you could see the empty seats. If this tourney were not moved from San Jose, that arena would have been filled with Stanford fans. Another lesson, if you want more fans in the stands, you can’t throw down a women’s tournament in a town that doesn’t support the local teams. Holding it in the Bay Area, with the strong support for women’s basketball, makes more sense.

For some reason, the camera kept showing people in the audience, and it was the same five people! The microphone was turned on the audience and you could hear the echo of a lone fan shouting, "Go Lindy!"

In honor of the game being streamed in somewhat real time, I will attempt to write in real time. Stanford is up 10-3 but I can’t keep track of what is happening due to this 2 minute delay. Very frustrating.

OMG, this announcer has no idea how to say Necka’s first or last name. It is different each time he says her name. Necka don’t do anything so the announcer can’t butcher your name! The announcer is happy when plain-sounding Sarah Boothe checks in. Unfortunately, this announcer is not a play-by-play man. He just says the player’s names when they do something, like foul or score. So most of the time I am clueless as to what is happening on the floor.

Oh look, there’s the Tree and the Dollies on the video. Hope the Tree doesn’t get in any trouble for dancing in the wrong spot again. My video feed goes out and I have to go back to the website again. Now the video delay is 4-5 minutes from the audio.

Wait, did Jayne just shoot a three? I think the shot clock was winding down. My screen is so tiny I couldn’t tell. Can’t we get video delayed streaming at least full screen? Stanford gets stuck on 17 for a while and Arizona gets to 11. Come on ladies; let’s not get over confident. Pohlen hits a three, and a few minutes later, I can’t tell how long or what the score is anymore, I hear Lindy hits a three. I still haven’t seen the video feed. My feed is still stuck on 22 points. Lindy hits another three and my feed still says 22 points for Stanford, 12 for Arizona.

Lindy hits another three point basket, the third three pointer and I still haven’t seen the first! I am stuck on 22 points!

Okay, this is a ridiculous way to watch any kinda basketball. Saturday’s games are supposed to be televised on Fox Sports Network, and so is Sunday’s championship game. Geez, couldn’t you have shown today’s games?

Okay, now I see Lindys’ first three, to make the video score 25-12, and now Jeanette has hit a three, so I think Stanford has an extra nine. Wait, Jeanette hit another three, so we are up by an extra 12! I think. My feed goes out.

Wait, after re-clicking, now my feed is up to date. It is 37-14, Stanford. Lindy picks up 2 quick fouls within 20 seconds, and that’s not due to lag. The bad news it happened in the final 30 seconds of the half. I see the first foul, Lindy tried to draw a charge and got knocked down. Stanford gets two shots off in the final seconds but they both miss. The halftime score is 37-16 Stanford. Has Jayne scored a point?

The second half starts, with a four minute delay. I watch the PAC-10 logo float on screen as I hear Jill makes a basket. Then a lot of shoe squeaking. Necka, or as the announcer refers to her, Nen-COD-ee-a, makes a basket. I reclick and find four minutes of the second half have gone by and I didn’t see any of it. The score is 44-25. Jayne makes her third foul…where were numbers one and two? Nen-cod-ee-a comes in to replace her.

I think Jill makes a three. Man, either we are bombing the threes or my screen just makes it look like everyone is behind the three point line! Necka makes a basket and then commits a foul and now she is Nem-bob-e-away.

Then my whole Internet goes down, what happened?

After frustrating minutes pressing buttons and clicking, I get it back. There is 3:26 left in the game, score 69-40.

R called to say they looked bad the second half but at least we won. What, is it over? No, she just assumed we had won, as we were up by 25 when she left her office. I ask her if it was frustrating to hear the audio and then watch the delayed video. She answered that both were in sync for her. Darn it, so it was just me experiencing the weird delay.

Then I hear, "Final score, 77-46 Cardinal." My video feed is still going on. Hey, five hundred minutes later I see Grace is in to give rest to the starters and the subs.

Then finally, the game ends on video, 77-46 like the announcer-man said.

Stanford plays again Saturday at 8:30 PM PST time, and this time it is on TV. Thank Goodness!