Bing National Tailgating Championship to Decide America’s Top Tailgaters
Regional competitions held throughout the country with national champion crowned Feb. 3 in Dallas/Fort Worth during the biggest week in football.
Brats versus burgers; team jersey versus winter coat; early departure versus post-game party in the parking lot— all are important game-day decisions for football fans and tailgaters this time of year. Today, Bing, the Decision Engine from Microsoft Corp. that provides football fans with everything they need to make these vital game-day choices, is introducing a new competition that will celebrate tailgating and crown the team that makes the best tailgating decisions in four key categories: cooking, sports trivia, parking lot athletics and team spirit.
The Tailgating Institute of America (TIA), led by nationally recognized Commissioner of Tailgating Joe Cahn, will host the competition. Local panels of judges will determine winners in six regional competitions, with the regional winners traveling to compete in Dallas/Fort Worth on Feb. 3 for the championship title. All competitions will take place in major football stadiums on game days in the following cities (all times local): Read more
Rugby European Championship in Hannover
On 11 and 12 July 2009, Hannover Will be the Venue for the Sevens European Championship for the Second Time
Following last year’s successful event, which was attended by about 26,000 visitors, the European Rugby Association FIRA-AER awarded the men’s Sevens European Championship to the provincial capital of Lower Saxony for the second time in a row. And this year, for the first time, women, too, will be chasing a title of their own.
Under the motto “Rugby, family and friends”, the best European teams will be competing for the European title in the AWD Arena during the course of the two-day tournament. Matches are divided into two halves of seven minutes each and the play is fast- moving and easy to follow – ideal conditions for spectators to experience everything up close.
Altogether ten teams will start, with the men’s teams having to earn their participation in the European Championship through qualifying competitions taking place in the run-up to the event. Currently, in addition to hosts Germany, the European champions Portugal, France, Spain, Georgia and Romania have all secured their places. On the women’s side, the reigning European champions, England, as well as France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Russia, Moldova, Sweden, Portugal and hosts Germany, will be taking part.
Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG) is supporting the city’s great rugby event with posters and fliers, distributed as supplements in various newspapers, and is also offering an attractive package, which combines a visit to the tournament with an overnight stay in the city centre.
Spectators who need a break from all that high-performance sport can enjoy the biggest Schutzenfest (marksmen’s festival) in the world, which takes place on the neighbouring fairground. The funfair is an official fringe event of the Sevens European Championship. The stadium can be revisited with a valid entrance ticket at any time, as the tickets are good for both days and all matches in the AWD Arena and Sports Park.
For further information, visit http://www.hannover.de/rugby
iStreamPlanet selected to create and manage live webcast experience of The Championships 2009 at Wimbledon
iStreamPlanet chosen by Microsoft to spearhead content acquisition, encoding, origination point of distribution, file-based transcoding, content management and developing the media player experience.
iStreamPlanet, a provider of digital media strategy, services and software applications, announced today that it has been selected by Microsoft Corp. to help deliver Wimbledon Live, providing live streaming and on-demand access to The Championships. iStreamPlanet will manage the encoding of the live content as well as design and deploy a custom Microsoft Silverlight-based media experience, which will leverage the latest Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS) Smooth Streaming technology. Additionally, iStream’s digital asset management product, iStream Director (http://www.istreamplanet.com/Director.aspx) will manage all the file-based transcoding for match replays and highlights. iStream will combine efforts with content delivery network (CDN) partner Akamai to provide the media delivery, and encoding partner Inlet Technologies to provide the encoding technology for this historic annual event. This will be the first time a US audience will have the opportunity to view a live event in high-definition (HD) quality video with IIS Smooth Streaming.
“Microsoft looks forward to working with iStreamPlanet to bring tennis fans a high-quality viewing experience with Wimbledon Live,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. “IIS Smooth Streaming provides end users an uninterrupted HD-quality viewing experience, allowing tennis fans to view and engage in Wimbledon Live online in a way they’ve never been able to before.”
Building upon their existing iStream Managed Webcasting service, iStream will manage the content acquisition, encoding, and delivery, from their Webcast Operation Center in Las Vegas. Once iStreamPlanet acquires the audio and video content from the satellite, it will use its fully customized, end-to-end workflow which utilizes iStream Director and Inlet’s encoding technology, to encode the live-event footage into the IIS Smooth Streaming format. iStream Director, iStreamPlanet’s award-winning digital asset management product (http://www.istreamplanet.com/DRM.aspx), will also be used to manage all the file-based transcoding for match replays and highlights. Additionally, viewers will experience the latest Silverlight solution in the iStream Player(R) (http://www.istreamplanet.com/Player.aspx) which features IIS Smooth Streaming DVR capability for pausing and rewinding the live HD-quality video, including instant replays. It also includes integrated video and companion ads, and on-demand video highlights and match replays.
“The most exciting part of this project is to have iStreamPlanet be one of the first to show off this game-changing technology, as well as having the opportunity to continue innovating around Microsoft’s IIS Smooth Streaming Platform for future globally viewed events,” said Mio Babic, founder and CEO of iStreamPlanet.
Source: iStreamPlanet
Countdown: 100 Days Before Senior Games 2009 Launch
In exactly 100 days, the Senior Games 2009 start in the Province of Zeeland. The first European edition of this international sports event for people over fifty will take place September 7-12, 2009.
A 100 year old participant!
More than 1,500 participants have entered to participate in 22 sports from the main programme of the Senior Games 2009. The oldest participant so far is 100-year-old American Roger Gentilhomme. In September, he will be vying for the Senior Games championship in tennis and bowling.
World’s best
Several former national, European, and world champions have entered the Senior Games, including former Olympic participant, world champion, and multiple European champion of the triathlon and duathlon, Rob Barel. In addition to the triathlon, this 51-year-old triathlete has also entered mountain biking, track and field, and swimming competitions. “I think it will all be great fun. Let’s see if I can relive the Olympic feeling from Sydney again,” says Barel.
23 nationalities
Four months before the kick-off of the Senior Games, the organization can count on the participation of sportsmen and women from at least 23 different countries. In addition to Dutch participants, European participants from Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Norway, Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, and Hungary have entered. Furthermore, there are participants from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, and Uzbekistan.
Who wants to participate?
As many as 3,000 participants over fifty are expected to compete against each other for the highest attainable goal in this sporting event. Participants can enter for the disciplines from the main programme until August 1, 2009, as long as these events have not been fully booked up. Go to http://www.seniorgames2009.com.
Recreational sports programme
At least 1,000 participants are expected to enter the recreational programme.
The one-day to four-day cycling and walking tours are open to participants of all ages. Special diving, Nordic walking and line dance courses are offered to people over fifty. Entry for these sports closes on September 1.
Senior Games for everyone
A venue will be set up in Sportpunt Zeeland in Goes where there will be several activities such as presentations, sports clinics, demonstrations, live music, an international korfball match, the “WielerSportCultuur” exhibit about the cycling sports culture, and a sports health forum. On Thursday evening, the Celebration of the Athletes will be held. This is a party for all sportsmen and sportswoman, their families, the volunteers, the sponsors and other interested parties.
Source: Senior Games 2009
CBSSports.com Brings NCAA March Madness on Demand to the iPhone and iPod Touch
Full Featured Experience for iPhone and iPod touch Delivers Live Video of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship
CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, announced they have launched an NCAA March Madness on Demand application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will provide fans live streaming video and audio from the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, beginning Thursday, March 19 and continuing all the way through the Men’s Final Four(R) from Detroit, MI.
Developed by CBS Sports Mobile with partner MobiTV, the application uses MobiTV’s streaming technology to deliver live video over a Wi-Fi connection. The NCAA March Madness on Demand iPhone and iPod touch application will provide live video of all 63 games from the first round of the tournament through the semifinal and final games of the Men’s Final Four, as well as access to tournament brackets updated in real-time with up-to-the minute scores, and the ability to click directly from brackets into live video. It will also provide exclusive CBSSports.com Edge Matchup game previews, including team breakdowns and matchup comparisons to prepare fans for each step on the Road to the Final Four(R).
During live game action, NCAA March Madness on Demand application users can access in-game box scores and player stats — even as an overlay on top of the video. Following each game, they can also view a full tournament scoreboard, including game recaps, player and team stats and video highlights of every tournament game. All games from the Final Four will also be available for $1.99 each on Apple’s iTunes Store the day after they are completed.
The NCAA March Madness on Demand application is now available for $4.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.
The NCAA March Madness on Demand application is the latest in a series of applications that CBS has made available for iPhone and iPod touch users. The recently launched TV.com app along with the CBS EyeMobile and Last.FM applications allow iPhone and iPod touch users to access some of the world’s best content. All CBS applications are available from the Apple App Store.
NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) is the Emmy award-winning video player that provides live streaming video and audio of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Since its inception in 2003, MMOD traditionally provided live video of the first 56 games, starting with the first round, of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as they were broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts. Beginning in 2008, MMOD started showing all 63 games, from the first round of the tournament through the semifinal and final games of the Men’s Final Four making it the only major sporting event that is broadcast live and in its entirety for free on the Internet.
NCAA March Madness on Demand’s standard video player will launch on March 10 with historical highlights from past NCAA tournaments and be available at NCAA.com (ncaa.com/mmod) as well as via NCAA March Madness on Demand links on CBSSports.com.
Click here to view images of the NCAA March Madness on Demand application for the iPhone and iPod touch:
Image 1 (http://images.cbssports.com/images/info/ir/2009/mmodappvideo.jpg)
Image 2 (http://images.cbssports.com/images/info/ir/2009/mmodappgames.jpg)
Image 3 (http://images.cbssports.com/images/info/ir/2009/mmodappbracket.jpg)
* NCAA March Madness on Demand will not show the Opening Round Game on March 17.
Source: CBS Interactive