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Some of us (students at uni, mainly) aren’t lucky enough to have satellite TV. On the internet though you can find endless amounts of things to watch, and most of the time you can find streams of other TV channels from across the world. This comes in handy particularly when you can’t get to a bar or a satellite TV for a particular sporting occassion. Hopefully, with this guide, that should be less of a problem from now on. I’m going to show you how to watch football, basketball, american football, ice hockey, tennis and a whole host of other stuff on the net - and its completely free.

First you need your program. Download SopCast (also known as Pcast) by clicking HERE. Also, bookmark www.sopcast.com because you might need to download it again, or update it, and I think it has some TV guides and stuff on there too.

Wait for it to download.

Install it.

Now load up SopCast. Make sure your firewall allows it to access the net. Now you should see this screen…

Click login. It’s the area circled in red.

Now you should see this… when you do click the channels tab

And you should be presented with this…

I feel at this point its important that you know MOST of these channels are of oriental/far eastern origin. Some of them are in chinese. But if you know what you’re looking for, then it’s likely it’ll be in english. But if you’re just flicking through channels you’ll come across a lot of chinese broadcasts. If you can’t speak chinese don’t be alarmed, we’ll come onto how/when to watch games later. So this is the screen where you select the channels. At the top of the list is the sports channels (the primary use for SopCast, I think) but if you scroll down the list you’ll see there’s PLENTY of other stuff from movies to bbc/american tv channels.

When you’ve decided what you want to watch, double click the name. Then the video window should pop out like so…

This video window is where your programme will come up. It will take a minute or two to buffer your programme. And it won’t start smoothly. But if you leave it for a while then it’ll get going, and should be fairly smooth.

Taking a closer look at the video window…

You can see at the bottom left there’s a stop/play button, a volume button and information on buffering. Don’t expect the broadcast to come up until you’re in the 90%s (and that could take a few minutes).

Then you’ve got a whole host of buttons… in the top right…

From left to right;
- The first button hides the channels screen, so that you can watch the broadcast without the list of channels there. Click it again and it brings the channels back.
- The second button is for zoom. It’ll double the size of the screen when you click it, and return it to normal when you click it again.
- The third button adds the channel you’re watching to your ‘favourites’ so you can find it easier in the future.
- The fourth button allows you to record what you’re watching.
- The fifth and final button hides the video screen.

Then in the bottom right…

From left to right again;
- The first button refreshes the picture, so if your broadcast stops press this little button and it’ll restart it again. This can be pretty useful as some of the broadcasts are very stop-start.
- The second button. Well. I don’t know what this does. I don’t use it. I guess ‘FS’ stands for fucking shit. So don’t use this button. Something fucking shit might happen.
- The third button is pretty useful. It loads up what you’re watching in windows media player or whatever you use as default to watch videos (or .wmvs). So if you don’t like the size of the windows, or you just don’t like the video window, you can put the stream in windows media player by clicking this button. When you exit windows media player it’ll go back into the video window! So it’s pretty useful.

Right. Now you need to know where you find out about programmes.

Well, it depends what you want to watch. SopCast pretty much covers everything. And I mean everything. It covers the most random and far-away games of football (or soccer) that you can think of. Most weekends they cover Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Porto (the list goes on… pretty much every major team in Europe). As well as games in South America, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia… seriously. If the game’s on and is of relative interest to the media, then there’s a strong chance you can find it on SopCast. The BEST place for football match listings is the forums of Football4Less, as well as FreeFootball.org, asiaplatetv and MyP2P. Once you’ve found the game, it’s as simple as loading up that channel in the channels list when the game is on. Football4Less is the place to look if you want an obscure game (you’ll have to register) but the other sites cover the major games of the day.

AsiaplateTV and MyP2P are good for NBA, NFL, NHL and Tennis. As an example of the coverage of these sports, they’re covering EVERY NBA playoff game. So that’s 3 or 4 games a day, every day of the week. Like I say, it’s just a case of finding the right channel.

On AsiaplateTV and MyP2P you don’t even have to load SopCast up, you can just find what you’re after and click “Play” under the SopCast column… and it’ll bring it up automatically.

You can even google SopCast TV guide and there’s a strong chance you’ll find a guide to movies, TV shows, etc.

It’s easy once you get used to it. They cover so much sport every day it would be a shame not to share it. Hope this guide has been useful. There’s a host of other similar programs, but SopCast is by far the most user-friendly (and has the best channels as far as I’m concerned). Enjoy!

Mr. T has a message for all the divers out there.

Hello.

Awesomely-awesome rap duo Clipse are making the trans-atlantic trip from their Virginia homes to the shores of the UK. Why? So they can play a six date UK tour in June.

Yeah. That’s right. Clipse. In the UK. Rapping.

Here are five of the six dates for their tour:

Dublin Vicar Street
Wednesday June 13th

Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Friday June 15th

Bristol The Thekla
Wednesday June 20th

London Shepherds Bush Empire
Thursday June 21st

Cambridge Junction
Saturday June 23rd

I don’t know what the other date is.

Clipse are ace. They rap about drugs, guns and bitches. So by default they are heroes of mine. You should go and see them so that they make more money and will tour again next year. I have bought three tickets for the Nottingham gig. Most likely you can find me front row centre being hassled by some young gangsters who make gun noises while using their hands as would-be firearms. I love rap gigs.

Every once in a while I stumble across a site that makes me stop everything I’m doing, and in a moment of madness I’ll claim its “the best thing on the net”. That happened again today. My good friend Toby sent me a link to this website, Jerry Jackson Cart22ns, which I’ve never ever heard of before.

The website is a series of cartoons by wannabe-Disney-animator Jerry Jackson. However there are educational lessons in his humour - such as political correctness, racism and tax returns. My jaw still hurts from all the laughing involved (although all the smiling I did after yesterdays football may have played a part in that as well).

Jerry Jackson Cart22ns - go watch them now. They’re reet good.

Sir Alex Ferguson offered to give Sam Allardyce ‘two big kisses’ after Manchester United were left on the brink of the Barclays Premiership title.

Ferguson’s boys had producing a stunning comeback at Goodison Park to score four goals in the last half hour after slipping two behind to a vibrant Everton.

While United were making their miracle recovery, nearest rivals Chelsea were being held 2-2 at Stamford Bridge, a result that leaves the Old Trafford side five points clear at the top.

If United win at Manchester City, of all places, next weekend and Chelsea fail to match that result at the Emirates against Arsenal, the title will be secured - Ferguson’s ninth Premier League crown.

Ferguson had seen Wayne Rooney produce a man-of-the-match performance against the striker’s former club, scoring one and making one, and the United chief said: ‘I will be giving my old mate Big Sam a hug and a kiss when I see him, maybe two kisses.’

Bolton’s result was the icing on the cake for Ferguson and United, who had looked down and out with Everton two ahead. First, Alan Stubbs blasted home a free-kick and then Manuel Fernandes scored a sensational second.

But United were gifted a lifeline when rookie goalkeeper Iain Turner dropped a corner to allow John O’Shea to score, before Phil Neville stabbed in an own goal.

The former United man is now Everton’s skipper, and you sense he will never be allowed to forget the moment he tipped the title balance towards his old club.

From then on, there was only going to be one winner. Rooney finished superbly to grab the third, before setting up Chris Eagles for an injury-time fourth.

Ferguson was overjoyed, saying: ‘I feel the momentum is back with us, particularly with Chelsea drawing. We have a five-point lead and a superior goal difference, giving us a marvellous chance with three games left.

‘But the most important thing is that my lads are having a real go. If you do that, and with the finishers we have in our side, we are always likely to score. That is a smashing attitude to have at this stage of the season.

‘This result is very significant. We are now away to Manchester City next Saturday lunchtime, having been to Milan for the semi-final, and we know what that can do to players. It is very difficult.

‘Then we have Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, so we cannot count our chickens yet.

‘But I do think the marvellous attitude of our players and the spirit they show is going to keep helping us.

Ferguson added: ‘The game is hard to explain. With what was going on elsewhere, our lead at one stage was down to goal difference, and Everton were leading with two great strikes.

‘But in football that can happen. Their first one was a bit fortunate to take a deflection past Edwin [van der Sar], and their second was an incredible strike.

‘At that point, we were toying with bringing on [Cristiano] Ronaldo - he was carrying an injury. We felt that if we did score we would then bring him on.

‘And we got the break when the young keeper dropped the ball, and John O’Shea put it away. At that point, I felt we had a chance.

‘Bringing on Ronaldo, their focus would be on him. But there would be [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes, [Michael] Carrick, Rooney all to worry about. I felt it was meant to happen.’

For Everton, chasing a UEFA Cup spot, the second-half turnaround was hard to take for boss David Moyes, who claimed the match turned on the howler by Scotland Under-21 cap Turner, recalled from a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and put into the side ahead of former England keeper Richard Wright.

Moyes said: ‘We are gutted after being two up. We gave United a great opportunity to get back into the game.

‘Not only did it hurt us, it gave them a massive lift at a period when we were comfortable. Playing against a very good side, we did a decent job. ‘The keeper’s error was a big turning point in the game. If we had lost to United with their style and attacking ability, which is fantastic, I’d have said, okay.

‘But we gave them two goals. If United had opened us up and scored brilliant goals, the way they can, I’d be the first to say it is hard to stop that.

‘But we could certainly have done something to have stopped those goals. The first one certainly, and the second. We let the goal come across the box for their third and the fourth one could have been avoided by kicking the ball up the park, not giving it to them.

‘For me, the goals were poor all round. I’m disappointed we made it easy for United in the end, they got a slice of luck but it was down to that first goal. ‘I do not think they would have got back into the game had it not been for that first goal.’

What a wonderful day.

United come from 2-0 down to win 4-2 with only thirty minutes left.

Chelsea fail to win at home.

Leeds almost certainly relegated unless they overturn a 9 goal disadvantage away to title-chasing Derby.

York clinched a playoff place in the conference, which means they may be in with a chance of Wembley.

The Premiership is almost United’s again. All we need is 4 points now from remaining 3 games, and thats even if Chelsea win the rest of their games (and they still have to play Arsenal away and United - so unlikely I would say). I couldn’t have had a better day… \o/

One of my favourite things about the internet is reading the quirky and strange daily news stories from around the world. Today I found this:

A Syrian-born airline pilot allegedly tricked a schoolteacher from Haverfordwest into having sex with him by pretending he had to administer ointment on the end of his penis, a jury heard yesterday (Tuesday).

Fadi Sbano, 38, even pretended to know a gynaecologist who advised him on how often to have intercourse with her and whether to thrust “slowly or quickly”. And, on the “doctor’s advice”, he kept a clock on the bedside table to time the sessions.

The teacher put up with the treatment for nine months before telling her doctor.

Huw Rees, prosecuting, told Swansea crown court: “The allegations here are of rape by deception.”

Mr Rees said the pair met while Sbano was based at Gatwick and the teacher was working nearby.

In November, 2000, she discovered a rash of white spots and feared that typhoid, which she contracted on holiday some years before, had returned.

Sbano claimed he was in talks with a gynaecologist who was anxious for a certain cream to be applied, the prosecutor said.

“He (Sbano) suggested he would apply the cream to his penis and apply it inside her.

Mr Rees said the woman found the sessions “Clinical, not at all erotic”. She consented only because she believed it was a proper treatment.

“When the insertions took place, and depending on the instructions of his friend, he would thrust slowly or quickly for anything from one to ten minutes,”

Her doctor told her to find out the identity of Sbano’s gynaecologist friend but he “became evasive and never gave his name” beyond the word “Ibby”.

“It began to dawn on her that he had devised this treatment in order to have sex with her on his terms.”

Mr Rees said “Ibby” was traced but said he knew nothing about the treatment.

Sbano was arrested at Heathrow while attending a pilots’ training facility.

He claimed the woman had invented the entire story about the “treatment”.

Sbano, from Harrow, London, denies nine charges of rape and 11 or obtaining money by deception.

The trial continues.

Surely, when he proposed the idea of inserting the cream she would have stopped him and said “can’t I do this myself? or with a boyfriend/husband? why do you have to use your penis?” and why the hell is she taking medical tips from a pilot anyway? when you combine those two questions you’re left with the conclusion that this woman is an idiot. She should be locked up with the pilot. What a ridiculous trial…

It’s been 21 years since the Chernobyl disaster. I don’t really have much to say on the matter, but I wanted to share a website with you that I’ve had in my favourites for some time now. Chernobyl has always been a curious interest of mine, the fact that it is unpopulated and virtually untouched since its evacuation on April 27th 1986 is mind-boggling to me. Very eerie. I plan to visit it as soon as I head out travelling after uni.

Anyway. The site that I wanted to share with you perfectly captures the ‘ghost town’. It’s the story told through first-hand photos of then and now, as well as stories of what happened that day. If you’re interested in Chernobyl and what happened that day, it makes for compelling reading: KIDDofSPEED - Ghost Town. Also worth a look is Wikipedia’s entry on the disaster.

A big “haha” goes out to Chelsea and all their fans, especially those that bombarded Radio Five Live’s phone-ins on Saturday evening to boast about how United had gifted them the title after failing to beat Middlesborough.

Most rang up and spoke of a 1-point gap between United and Chelsea, making the assumption that they’d already beaten Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Wow. You guys must feel pretty silly now huh? Who has “blown it” now?

As for Mourinho’s bitter comments about United never conceding penalties at Old Trafford, point me to the many penalties that are given against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? Terry dives around blocking shots with his arms, or atleast he used to on a fairly regular basis, and refs used to turn a blind eye to that. Come on Mourinho, lets not get bitter.

Anyway… Cheers Newcastle!

With Manchester United blowing the chance to put the gap between them and Chelsea back to six points yesterday, I’m going to try and focus on the other end of the table in my thoughts until Chelsea’s game today at Newcastle.

The fight for Premiership survival got even more interesting yesterday when West Ham managed another win, Charlton and Sheff Utd drew with each other, while Fulham and Wigan also failed to pick up a win. It was a bad day for Watford especially who were confirmed relegation to the Championship with a 1-1 draw at home to Man City.

But now there’s only 4 points separating West Ham in 19th and Fulham in 15th. Two relegation spots up for grabs between five teams…

15th Fulham (36 pts)
16th Wigan (35 pts)
17th Sheff Utd (35 pts)
—
18th Charlton (33 pts)
19th West Ham (32 pts)
20th Watford (24 pts) Relegated

All played 35 - so there’s three games to go and a possible 9 points remaining.

Middlesborough, Newcastle, Man City and Aston Villa have all passed the sacred 40 point mark so you can assume they’re all safe. Let’s look at the remaining games for the basement clubs.

Fulham
Arsenal (away)
Liverpool (home)
Middlesbrough (away)

The worst run-in of all the teams down there. Just sacked Chris Coleman, and having struggled to beat Reading/Blackburn - they now have the uphill task of facing third and fourth place in the league. If I was a Fulham fan I wouldn’t be feeling too secure because with only 3 points seperating them and Charlton they could be in the drop zone as soon as next weekend. Arsenal away is obviously the most difficult task there, they’ve only lost once at home in the league this year and you wouldn’t expect Fulham to be the team that doubles that statistic. Liverpool at home also leads me to a pesimistic outlook. They’ve a much better chance because Craven Cottage isn’t an easy place to go, especially when Fulham are playing well, but the cynic in me says that they’re not playing well and I’m expecting a draw at best for Fulham. Middlesbrough away is another difficult fixture, although with Middlesbrough’s always erratic and unexpected form they might manage something there. For me, Fulham will be lucky to get 4 points from these games, and I expect them to accumulate 1 or 2 points at best.

Wigan (yes, thats a picture of Dirk Kuyt, i’m too lazy to find a good one of Wigan, so this one of Kuyt celebrating after scoring against Wigan yesterday will do)
West Ham (home)
Middlesbrough (home)
Sheff Utd (away)

I know it’s easy to say that any clubs fate is in their own hands, but for Wigan that couldn’t be more true. Two games against other struggling teams, one of which is at home, and another home game against Middlesbrough (who can be god awful at times) suggests that maximum points from these games isn’t unrealistic, although I would describe it as unlikely. After all, if Wigan were picking up wins at home with ease they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place, would they? At the end of it all, the games against West Ham and Sheff Utd are massive. They can’t be emphasised enough. I can see Wigan getting two wins from those games, but I’m going to be pesimistic as usual and say they’ll grab only one (probably Middlesborough) and a draw. If they do get relegated, they’ll only have themselves to blame.

Sheff Utd
Watford (home)
Aston Villa (away)
Wigan (home)

Similar to Wigan’s run-in, but probably slightly easier. Sheff Utd have Watford and Wigan to play at home, with a tricky away game to Villa, although Villa are only a few places up the table from Neil Warnock’s side. Personally, I think Sheff Utd have played some great football this year, certainly better than all the other sides being mentioned for the drop, and I think they’ll do fine. I expect them to get a win against Watford next week, and then another win along the way. After some bad form lately, they’ve fought hard against fellow strugglers West Ham (won 3-0) and Charlton (came back from 1-0 down to draw 1-1) which isn’t easy when everybody on that pitch is/was playing for their jobs. I think they’ll beat Wigan too. Not sure about Villa, probably a draw is the best they can expect there. But I’ll say there’s 6 points to be won by Warnock’s men. Similar to Wigan, they’ll only have themselves to blame if they get relegated.

Charlton
Blackburn (away)
Tottenham (home)
Liverpool (away)

Probably the second hardest fixtures after Fulham’s. Charlton have got to travel to Ewood Park (never easy, no matter if its Chelsea/Man Utd) and Anfield (Liverpool have lost once at home all season in the league and only conceded 5 goals). They’ve also got to host Tottenham, who are in a scrap themselves, with Everton/Bolton/Portsmouth/Reading for three UEFA cup spaces. I can’t see anything easy about this run of games. Wouldn’t surprise me if they lost every game here, but I expect they’ll get one surprise result, I’m going to be extremely harsh and say they’ll only managed 2 points from those games.

West Ham
Wigan (away)
Bolton (home)
Man Utd (away)

I don’t really know what to say about West Ham. They can beat Arsenal and United at home, but then lose away to Sheff United 3-0. It’s that kind of inconsistency thats seen them slip to 19th in the league. In terms of individual quality they’re the best team facing the drop, and up until the defeat at Sheffield they had some great momentum. I expect West Ham to beat Wigan, although it will be a huge, huge, huge task. They’ve got the form and the players to do it. Just as Charlton will find with Tottenham, West Ham aren’t going to have an easy time hosting Bolton because the race for the UEFA cup is so tight. With half a million pounds difference in prize money between places in the table, even if Bolton know they’ll be in Europe they’ll always want that extra win. That’s going to be another great game to watch. As for Man Utd, they’ve beat them once so why not again? I can’t see them winning at Old Trafford, especially now the title race is so tight and likely to boil down to United beating West Ham on the last day of the season - but if West Ham fail to beat Bolton, they’ll be fighting for their lives. 6 points for West Ham I reckon, they’ve got too much individual quality to fail and I think that with a little bit of pressure that will ring true.

Which leaves me predicting the following…

15th Sheff Utd (41 pts)
16th Wigan (39 pts)
17th West Ham (38 pts)
—
18th Fulham (37 pts)
19th Charlton (35 pts)
20th Watford

I’ve been pretty generous to West Ham, who will do well to get two wins considering the amount to play for for all the teams they’ve yet to face, and rather harsh on Fulham/Wigan. It’s probably more likely that the drop zone will stay as it is with Charlton and West Ham joining Watford in the Championship next year. Six points is just too much to make up in three games for West Ham, they almost certainly won’t get nine, and that suggests that all Fulham/Sheff Utd/Wigan need is a win to match what West Ham can hope to do. And they’re all capable of that. I’ve been pretty harsh on Charlton too. A win or two for Pardew’s side (can’t see them beating Liverpool) would make things so, so interesting.

This is probably the best relegation fight the Premiership has seen for years. I personally want West Ham, Sheff Utd and Charlton (for Pardew’s sake) all to stay up. But I really can’t see West Ham and Charlton both staying up. That would be a great escape. Roll on next weekend.

The NBA playoffs start tonight. The Knicks failed to make the 8th place in the East Conference. Although a few weeks ago their record was identical with the NJ Nets, so they had a chance of any slot between 6th-8th. But they blew it. A god awful finish to the season meant they dropped below both the Magic and the Wizards.

Gash.

It was my first real NBA season with a team to support and I was really hoping New York would make the playoffs. Wouldn’t expect the Knicks to surpass the first round but would have been nice to see them in a series.

I’ve got to admit that I’ve really only been watching the Knicks as trying to keep up on the NBA daily is so time consuming – therefore my knowledge of the other teams has remained sketchy. The ones outside of the especially (I’m looking at you Orlando, Golden State, Utah). But I’m going to be checking up on the games daily and I’m going to enjoy as much of the playoffs as a neutral possibly can:

EAST:
Pistons (1) v Magic (8)
Heat (4) v Bulls (5)
Raptors (3) v Nets (6)
Cavaliers (2) v Wizards (7)

From my limited knowledge of NBA I’ve come to assume that the Pistons and Cavaliers are going to walk their first round ties. The Raptors are making a lot of noise this season but the Nets are a decent team, that’ll probably go the distance. Heat should beat the Bulls – they’ve not had the greatest season but they’re defending champs and they’ve got Wade back now, wouldn’t bet against them whatever the circumstances. Pistons v Heat would (or will) be a great second round series in the East conference.

WEST:
Mavericks (1) v Warriors (8)
Jazz (4) v Rockets (5)
Spurs (3) v Nuggets (6)
Suns (2) v Lakers (7)

The Mavs have been ridiculous this season, can’t see Warriors causing them a problem. I don’t know much about the Jazz, I really don’t, but I’m a big fan of the Rockets – would never bet against a team that has McGrady and Yao Ming in it. Looking forward to seeing how they do. Spurs v Nuggets is a great first round series. Best of the lot in my opinion. Will be watching as much of that series as a British NBA fan can. My head tells me not to bet against the Spurs because they’re packed with quality players – but I really like the Nuggets this year, I hope they go the distance. Suns probably have too strong a team for the Lakers… but if Kobe does his thing then they can beat anyone.

So many good ties, so many good teams. Hoping Nuggets/Rockets go the distance in the West but my money’s on the Suns, and expect them to meet Pistons/Heat in the final.

LeBron and Stoudemire for the MVPs in the East and West respectively?

Keep up with each series on a daily basis with NBA.com’s free highlights!

Love it love it love it.