Rugby World Cup 2011

**Beast** · Sep-04-2011, 12:37 PM

The Rugby World Cup starts on Friday. It is the seventh incarnation of the event. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch it because I have Armstrong, which carries such important content as the Tennis Channel but won't carry Universal Sports... oh, and makes a page on the guide one channel smaller by running ads, despite the fact that I pay for that ****... **** that...

Anyway, the event will be in New Zealand. USA Eagles looks to improve on their 2007 result of not making it out of the pool stage. Their first match is against Ireland on September 11th.

The defending champion is South Africa Springboks.

**War Machine** · Sep-04-2011, 04:25 PM

Since I've got FIOS, I can watch some of the games. The catch is that, since I'm an ex-Pat, to watch my guys out there, the companies will happily charge me $25 per game. Hmmm.... I might just find a way around this.

When it was announced by NBC/Universal that they had rights to the RWC, they said that they would be showing lots of games. Patently not so on a free-to-air basis.

Yet I still have to put up with that asinine wrist-job Cris Collinsworth on NBC every Sunday evening. There seems little justice in the world.

Ah well...

Hope anyone watching their respective teams' games has a fine old time.

**War Machine** · Sep-04-2011, 04:25 PM

Since I've got FIOS, I can watch some of the games. The catch is that, since I'm an ex-Pat, to watch my guys out there, the companies will happily charge me $25 per game. Hmmm.... I might just find a way around this.

When it was announced by NBC/Universal that they had rights to the RWC, they said that they would be showing lots of games. Patently not so on a free-to-air basis.

Yet I still have to put up with that asinine wrist-job Cris Collinsworth on NBC every Sunday evening. There seems little justice in the world.

Ah well...

Hope anyone watching their respective teams' games has a fine old time.

**Beezy** · Sep-04-2011, 05:11 PM

I caught a match a few years ago on FSN. Just the American games tho. Wonder if they will have them on again? I enjoyed it even though the American team was a joke.

**Beast** · Sep-04-2011, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by War Machine

Since I've got FIOS, I can watch some of the games. The catch is that, since I'm an ex-Pat, to watch my guys out there, the companies will happily charge me $25 per game. Hmmm.... I might just find a way around this.

When it was announced by NBC/Universal that they had rights to the RWC, they said that they would be showing lots of games. Patently not so on a free-to-air basis.

Yet I still have to put up with that asinine wrist-job Cris Collinsworth on NBC every Sunday evening. There seems little justice in the world.

Ah well...

Hope anyone watching their respective teams' games has a fine old time.

American networks need to get their priorities straight. I mean, come on, Notre Dame every freaking week on national TV? I really hope I can see some games "on the low" on the internet.

Originally Posted by Beezy

I caught a match a few years ago on FSN. Just the American games tho. Wonder if they will have them on again? I enjoyed it even though the American team was a joke.

I sure as hell hope so. And yes they were but that's to be expected from a country where rugby is a growing sport.

**War Machine** · Sep-04-2011, 07:14 PM

Given that the RWC is in New Zealand this time, the time differential puts the games up for possible live transmission at, for example, a 21:30 kick off game kicking off at 04:30 Eastern. What the hell is that going to disrupt? It takes less than two hours for a game to unfold, round it up to that two for the punditry and away you go.

As for the US team, they've developed a lot across the last 20 years. World Cup-wise, they're in the same group as Australia, Ireland, Italy and Russia. From their point of view, it could be all uphill, all day.

That, I believe, is one of the downsides as far as the TV Execs are concerned. If the chances of the national team winning are low, there's no point in treating it as anything but a minority sport.

I'm fortunate enough to be a member in a private torrent site and I'm sure they'll post the games that are of primary interest to me. Two RWCs ago, my then Missus became a "Rugby Widow" for two weeks. Three games a day for a fortnight. Watching the games at silly hours as they came in from Australia. Oooooooh yeah!

**Beezy** · Sep-04-2011, 07:52 PM

Yeah it is expected of US. I just thought it was funny that the US was all different shapes and sizes and the africans where all the same dood. Chiseled out of granite.