Dealing with sports withdrawal in Baltimore
I was very excited this past weekend when the Yankees came to town to take on the Orioles at Camden Yards. My friend and I went down to the game on Friday night, when tickets for college students are $5 each. Perched up high atop the bleachers on the first base side of the field, we were surrounded by other college students from this area - from Loyola, Towson, UMBC, Maryland - many of whom were, presumably, also from the New York area. This led to about a 65-35 distribution of Orioles to Yankee fans. I found myself comfortably rooting for my home team, without a gigantic backlash. While the Yankees lost the game, it still served as almost a relief from the withdrawal I had been suffering at not being able to see my beloved Yankees in person, or on television, for the first couple of weeks of the season.
But all hope is not lost for those in the same precarious position that I am in. One option for those suffering from sports withdrawal (and who miss their local television provider in general) is the Slingbox. This is a device which enables its users to view their local cable or satellite provider through their home computer. I could be sitting in my room on a Sunday morning, writing a News-Letter column in one window, and watching the defending Super Bowl champion Giants in another. The price tag can get a little steep with this type of technology, but it would also allow you to possibly bypass paying for cable for your dorm room (which may not be so bad, unless you really want to watch the Orioles or Ravens). Another viable option is to watch the games through the league internet feeds. MLB.com can give you access to the local feeds for all major league games, but it does not come cheap either. A third option, for those who live off campus, would be to order a package such as Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket, which offers fans a chance to watch up to fourteen games per week (cable usually has four, two during Sunday afternoon, featuring local teams, which for us is the Ravens and Redskins, and Sunday and Monday night football, which are nationally broadcast). But this package costs over $250 for the whole season.
In the grand scheme of things, this is really not such a big deal. I probably should not be watching sports on television so much, as I have more important things to do here at Hopkins. But at least I'll be prepared when I come back to Hopkins in the fall, around the time football season starts, to watch my teams play. And you can be too.
But all hope is not lost for those in the same precarious position that I am in. One option for those suffering from sports withdrawal (and who miss their local television provider in general) is the Slingbox. This is a device which enables its users to view their local cable or satellite provider through their home computer. I could be sitting in my room on a Sunday morning, writing a News-Letter column in one window, and watching the defending Super Bowl champion Giants in another. The price tag can get a little steep with this type of technology, but it would also allow you to possibly bypass paying for cable for your dorm room (which may not be so bad, unless you really want to watch the Orioles or Ravens). Another viable option is to watch the games through the league internet feeds. MLB.com can give you access to the local feeds for all major league games, but it does not come cheap either. A third option, for those who live off campus, would be to order a package such as Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket, which offers fans a chance to watch up to fourteen games per week (cable usually has four, two during Sunday afternoon, featuring local teams, which for us is the Ravens and Redskins, and Sunday and Monday night football, which are nationally broadcast). But this package costs over $250 for the whole season.
In the grand scheme of things, this is really not such a big deal. I probably should not be watching sports on television so much, as I have more important things to do here at Hopkins. But at least I'll be prepared when I come back to Hopkins in the fall, around the time football season starts, to watch my teams play. And you can be too.
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