Friday, March 12, 2010

Cross your Fingers

Congrats must go to the NTRA for making the decision to live video stream the 2010 season debuts of Rachel Alexandra in the New Orleans Ladies (6:15 pm Eastern) and Zenyatta in the Santa Margarita (6:45 pm Eastern) this Saturday on the web at www.ntra.com.

I also like that it will be more than just the racetrack feed as they will use Randy Moss of ESPN to host the show.

A few caveats that are not readily apparent when you go to the NTRA website. You must first create an account at the NTRA website at what they call "NTRA Inside Track". One thing I hate about the Internet is all the account sign ups you must go through. The computer can never compare to the simplicity of Television. I feel sorry for the guy who jumps on the computer the last minute to watch this and than finds out he has to create an account first in order to see the race.

I also wonder if everyone trying to get on at once around 6 pm on Saturday will slow down the video feed, overload the NTRA servor or freeze people out from logging in.

I guess most people now are comfortable with watching videos on the computer, but for me, watching stuff on TV, especially sporting events, is much more comfortable and communal in nature when watched on TV.

I will go into Saturday expecting to be underwhelmed by the NTRA webcast, but it is something NTRA should have been doing for a while and hopefully I will come away impressed.

1 comment:

Gene Kershner said...

Since the wife got me a HRTV internet subscription for $50 for Xmas, it has been great to not miss any of the races on the Stronach tracks...I'll pass on the NTRA web streaming though...Good Luck!