One Man's Opinion--Online Sports Options

Unfortunately, we can't always be in front of a TV to watch our favorite team or our fantasy guys go. I know, I know, I don't like to think about it either but there are those terrible circumstances when it's just not possible. When I was little in the pre-ESPN days I would sit around listening to AM 920 because they had sports updates at :20 and :50 past the hour (I also used to keep score on 3"x5" index cards, too). Thanks to God and internet inventor Al Gore, we've come a long way since then and now have a venerable smorgasboard of options when it comes to following a game online. Today we're going to compare and contrast Yahoo!'s GameChannel, ESPN's GameCast, MLB's GameDay and CBS Sportsline's GameCenter.

Batting Leadoff:
ESPN GameCast
The World Wide Leader provides just about everything you'd want with the GameCast. As you can see here we've got Livan Hernandez already in a spot of trouble in the first, as Coco Crisp has laced a leadoff gapper for a double. ESPN is the only one of these four websites to provide a little baseball icon that gets batted around the pixelated field...really about as close as you can come to actually watching the game, at least from an offensive standpoint.



On Deck:
CBS GameCenter
While CBS lacks the batted ball feature that ESPN offers, it does a nice job of displaying pertinent information in a central manner (really prefer their page layout to ESPN's) and also offers a hot/cold zone for each batter (mental note: check CBS hot/cold zone for Andruw Jones then giggle for 5 minutes). No real complaints except for maybe the generic batter image...I think that guy might play in my rec softball league.



In the Hole:
MLB GameDay
If you have a fantasy pitcher going, GameDay is the place to be. Go on ahead and take a look at the sheer amount of info they give you for that Cliff Lee fastball. Release? Check. Speed? Check. Pitch FX and direction of movement? Check and double check. After a noteworthy play MLB also offers video highlights immediately, which is also greatly appreciated.





In the Ditch:
Yahoo! GameChannel
Despite the fact that they have hands-down the least bells and whistles on their site, I probably spend more time on Yahoo!'s deal than either of the three above, since I primarily use Yahoo! for my fantasy leagues. GameChannel lacks both a detailed pitch analysis and hitter's information as well. Essentially you just get the basics, it's quick and easy and something you can go to get an update but vastly inferior to just about everything else (including the radio).

So there you have it. There are other sites out there, including FoxSports WhateverIt'sCalled but it didn't look too different from Yahoo!'s so I'm not going to bother with it. We've come a long ways since the AM 920 days and I couldn't be any happier.