Alone Online Again

At 6:50 Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed to find our home match against Wigan. Somewhere. It wasn`t on television – at least not at my house. It wasn`t at my local pub. And the only links to online viewing were spotty at best. I was able to catch KJ`s goal before the link froze up again, and I finally found a link to online radio by the 80th minute. By then, I was so irritated at my repeated failure to see the match that my wife banished me and my computer to the bedroom.

I know I`m not unique. There are plenty of exiles far and wide who probably struggle with the same thing I`m writing about here. It`s bad enough when games aren`t on anywhere. But somehow it`s worse when I`m able to start at Ready To Go, find a link for an online broadcast, and click said link, only to have it sputter to a stop after a couple minutes. I probably should plunk down the cash and subscribe to SAFC TV and quit whining. But I`m lazy. And cheap!

But at least that`s a possibility now.

Seasons past, when we were down a division, it was Crabbers and Rowell online. And that was it. Nobody broadcast CCC matches unless it was at season`s end and the promotion spots were up-for-grabs or if we`d somehow made it to an FA Cup semifinal. That was an incredibly isolating time – a time when I really marveled at the Internet and its power to bring me closer to a community that I was so far away from. Without it, I`d not have been able to follow the Lads at all. There are no current newspapers over here offering daily stories about English football. Hell, at one point, the only television sports program covering footy was a 1ame ESPN broadcast that a buddy of mine recorded on VHS so we could watch it in the afternoon. And that was hardly day-to-day reportage.

So when I`m able to sit in my own home now and watch the lads on the television, I am a happy man indeed. And it`s an oftener occurrence than it`s ever been, honestly. Which is all the more reason it remains paramount that we are not relegated this season. I`m really tired of having to work so hard at it anymore. Does that make me a plastic fan? I don`t think so. I just want – for so many reasons, including this one – for Sunderland to stay in the Premiership for a longer stretch this time. I`m tired of relegations. I`m tired of putting up with less-than-stellar players. I`m tired of the ‘yo-yo` label.

And above all, I`m tired of watching and listening to matches on my computer. Yes, I know it`s the future and all that, but I just want to watch the lads on TV like those lucky Chelsea or ManUnited supporters do every bleedin` week. It`s just not fair.

As to the Wigan game, I have no idea. We looked good when KJ scored. That`s all I saw, and the Bet365 commentator online was so neutral a voice that I honestly couldn`t tell you how we played from where I was listening. On my computer. In solitude. Blah.

Ha`way the lads.