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I moved to Mexico a few years back and thought that by and large I would get to see a few matches on the TV and, apart from not seeing the new stadium, I thought I could just about cope with my lack of Arsenal activity.
I live in a really remote location (Huatulco, Oaxaca) which, means that there are no Brit bars anywhere in sight. Ok, so there is internet and surely someone must have Sky?
Ok so I joined Arsenal TV, signed up to a few Satellite programmes on my computer and ... well, I should see some action right?
For anyone who has never used the internet to view a match, I can only akin this to having your nails removed one by one.
So I sit in my office whilst I should be working and search for online access to that Valhalla of watching Arsenal play live.
Arsenal TV ?, Well I sign up and give it a go but sorry, it is nowhere near as good as watching 'Match of the day' with your slippers on with a bottle in your hand I can tell you. There are no close ups (if the match is allowed to be viewed live at all, in which case you get to listen to a radio broadcast of the match). The crowd noise is very low (even taking into account our notoriously quiet fans) leading to no atmosphere.
There are downloadable programmes such as ‘Afreeca’ that enable you to watch some dodgy Turkish TV station via Satellite. "... buffering 2%" is most of the match you will see. Very frustrating, akin to voting for an honest man ... impossible to do.
Ok, so there must be a sports bar around right? No, but some bars have TV. So this has to work?, except that all the UK matches (except the evening ones) are in the morning here ... no bar is open. Well thank god for the UEFA CL. Finally something is allowed to be viewed in the afternoon. So I check with ESPN.com to check the schedule for Latin America. It says 1.45pm, so off I go to a local hotel with a great set up sound and vision wise. I sit down, get hold of the remote from the barman and order a beer.
1.45pm I am now watching Liverpool v Anderlecht or some similar football atrocity and NOT Arsenal v Real Madrid. What happened? Well, the listings for ESPN Latin America are complete bol-lox. So ok, I cannot see it live (nuts) so I will just search the listing on the TV that will tell me the time for the re run right? No, because cable does not have a menu here only Sky and this bar does not have Sky. So literally, I have to sit for a couple of hours moving between ESPN 1 & ESPN 2 waiting to see it pop up. Well it did eventually but not until after been subjected to 90+ mins of Peter Crouches lanky ass missing the goal a lot.
So what about give up on the images and just go for Radio? Ok, Five live, Capitol Gold they all have live Arsenal matches occasionally don't they. Yes, they do but, 5 live is only for UK listeners only (the damn web page can tell that I am NOT in the UK - same goes for Capitol Gold).
SKY TV is appalling here in Mexico, you cannot imagine. It only has ‘The Simpsons’ in Spanish. The voices are totally unappealing, Bart sounds like a 47 year old docker.
I am now investigating DIRECTV. A friend has to live in the states, sign up, then ask for an extra set (for his bedroom TV for example) I then run away to Mexico with the extra set and buy a dodgy Mexican satellite dish. To achieve this you really have to have a good friend. I will let you know if I succeed.
P.S. I went to LA the other day and sat down in front of the TV with a mate of mine to watch Arsenal play ‘live’ finally. It has been a long, long time since I saw any actual live action and who we playing? … bloody Bolton. It only gets worse.
Well. No one said it is easy being an Arsenal fan. Character building I suppose.
I live in a really remote location (Huatulco, Oaxaca) which, means that there are no Brit bars anywhere in sight. Ok, so there is internet and surely someone must have Sky?
Ok so I joined Arsenal TV, signed up to a few Satellite programmes on my computer and ... well, I should see some action right?
For anyone who has never used the internet to view a match, I can only akin this to having your nails removed one by one.
So I sit in my office whilst I should be working and search for online access to that Valhalla of watching Arsenal play live.
Arsenal TV ?, Well I sign up and give it a go but sorry, it is nowhere near as good as watching 'Match of the day' with your slippers on with a bottle in your hand I can tell you. There are no close ups (if the match is allowed to be viewed live at all, in which case you get to listen to a radio broadcast of the match). The crowd noise is very low (even taking into account our notoriously quiet fans) leading to no atmosphere.
There are downloadable programmes such as ‘Afreeca’ that enable you to watch some dodgy Turkish TV station via Satellite. "... buffering 2%" is most of the match you will see. Very frustrating, akin to voting for an honest man ... impossible to do.
Ok, so there must be a sports bar around right? No, but some bars have TV. So this has to work?, except that all the UK matches (except the evening ones) are in the morning here ... no bar is open. Well thank god for the UEFA CL. Finally something is allowed to be viewed in the afternoon. So I check with ESPN.com to check the schedule for Latin America. It says 1.45pm, so off I go to a local hotel with a great set up sound and vision wise. I sit down, get hold of the remote from the barman and order a beer.
1.45pm I am now watching Liverpool v Anderlecht or some similar football atrocity and NOT Arsenal v Real Madrid. What happened? Well, the listings for ESPN Latin America are complete bol-lox. So ok, I cannot see it live (nuts) so I will just search the listing on the TV that will tell me the time for the re run right? No, because cable does not have a menu here only Sky and this bar does not have Sky. So literally, I have to sit for a couple of hours moving between ESPN 1 & ESPN 2 waiting to see it pop up. Well it did eventually but not until after been subjected to 90+ mins of Peter Crouches lanky ass missing the goal a lot.
So what about give up on the images and just go for Radio? Ok, Five live, Capitol Gold they all have live Arsenal matches occasionally don't they. Yes, they do but, 5 live is only for UK listeners only (the damn web page can tell that I am NOT in the UK - same goes for Capitol Gold).
SKY TV is appalling here in Mexico, you cannot imagine. It only has ‘The Simpsons’ in Spanish. The voices are totally unappealing, Bart sounds like a 47 year old docker.
I am now investigating DIRECTV. A friend has to live in the states, sign up, then ask for an extra set (for his bedroom TV for example) I then run away to Mexico with the extra set and buy a dodgy Mexican satellite dish. To achieve this you really have to have a good friend. I will let you know if I succeed.
P.S. I went to LA the other day and sat down in front of the TV with a mate of mine to watch Arsenal play ‘live’ finally. It has been a long, long time since I saw any actual live action and who we playing? … bloody Bolton. It only gets worse.
Well. No one said it is easy being an Arsenal fan. Character building I suppose.
