Manchester United’s Matchtracker Jeff Reichman Computer Science 30 George Washington University

My Favorite Soccer Team Manchester United

But there’s a problem… DC Manchester miles

The Solution The MU Website along with websites such as ESPN’s website, espn.com, and CBS’s sports website, sportline.com,created web pages with up-to- the-minute game information and live commentary. The MU Website along with websites such as ESPN’s website, espn.com, and CBS’s sports website, sportline.com,created web pages with up-to- the-minute game information and live commentary.

Manchester United’s Matchcenter This is the homepage of the Matchcenter. Matchcenter is the starting point for the Manchester United’s live stats and commentary page. This page can direct you to an archived game as well as give you stats, weather, odds, and a countdown for upcoming games.

Matchtracker

Matchtracker Options Match Stats Matchtracker provides a wealth of information. Its particularly useful for all of the live, game statistics it will provide to the user. Matchtracker offers you everything from who scored the goals to how many shots on goal have been taken to the number of throw-ins for each team. There are eleven total statistical categories included in the matchtracker and are update in-game and live. All statistics are current.

Matchtracker Options Commentary On the right side of Matchtracker is a written commentary to compliment a live audio version that can be streamed using Real Player. Not only does the commentary let you know what happened and the minute that it happened, but it also gives for a small graphic to symbolize the action. There is a small delay between Real Player and the streaming commentary however, but it is due to the uploading of the text from the base computer to yours.

Matchtracker Options Teams If you were to click on the teams icon on the bottom of Matchtracker it would take you to this screen, thus covering the match statistics. Here, you can browse through the teams that are on the field as well as look over the benches of both teams. Usually provided in this section is the player’s birth date, number on their uniform, and the position that they are playing.

Matchtracker Options Score, Possession, Teams Probably the most important part of the idea of conveying a game live to your computer is knowing the score. At the left center of matchtracker it displays the score, the teams playing, and the percent of possession each team has had. The possession statistic is updated every five minutes.

MU Radio On the bottom, right hand corner of Matchtracker is the icon for MU Radio. This icon connects for to 105.4, streaming audio coverage of the game with no delay. Century is Manchester United’s broadcast partner and the official radio station of the organization. The audio coverage is very comprehensive and plays through either Window’s Media Player or Real Player. On the pop-up box that appears, it gives you the option to stop or play the audio and volume options as well.

MU Pictures This is the newest feature of Manchester United’s Matchtracker. This is not streaming video of the game however, it is simply photographs uploaded onto this webpage every two to three minutes. The webpage refreshes itself every time there is a new photo. MU hired a photographer to take digital pictures throughout the game that could be seen on your computer.

Other Sites espn.com ESPN also provides live game coverage for many sports including NBA basketball, NHL hockey, and MLB baseball. It provides live statistics as well as scoring and important developments in the game. Seen here is ESPN’s Gamecast of the basketball game between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves on March 30, 2003.

Other Sites sportsline.com CBS’s Sportsline also provides live game coverage for the sports covered by ESPN and also college basketball, golf, and tennis. However, Sportsline is not quite as in-depth as ESPN, it only provides the scored, updates on every play, and some statistical information. On one page you can view every basketball game for the night and keep track of the entire league.

Other Sites soccernet.com Soccernet, ESPN’s soccer specific website, also provides a service similar to the Matchtracker. It gives you streaming commentary, no audio, of important soccer matches. They usually offer about one or two per week. They also offer up-to-the minute scores of every soccer match in a particular game, however no other information is provided. Soccernet does not provide the statistical nor the pictorial information that Matchtracker provides.

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