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DCLonghorn

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  1. Harry Winks, the Europa Conference League, and the sadness of watching players visibly fade

    By Charlie Eccleshare 4h ago

     

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    Athletic article

    Listening to Harry Winks speak so openly about his and Tottenham Hotspur’s struggles after their dreadful 1-0 defeat to Vitesse Arnhem, the overwhelming emotion it stirred up was sadness.

    Winks, talking animatedly and eloquently, clearly had a lot to get off his chest last night. We sometimes think of the players as the last people to feel the disappointment of a team’s defeats, but how could the last couple of years have been anything other than extremely difficult for Winks?

    Spoiler

    Listening to Harry Winks speak so openly about his and Tottenham Hotspur’s struggles after their dreadful 1-0 defeat to Vitesse Arnhem, the overwhelming emotion it stirred up was sadness.

    Winks, talking animatedly and eloquently, clearly had a lot to get off his chest last night. We sometimes think of the players as the last people to feel the disappointment of a team’s defeats, but how could the last couple of years have been anything other than extremely difficult for Winks?

    He has gone from England regular and Champions League final starter, playing under a front-footed manager who rated him highly, to this. Hustling around for what is effectively Spurs’ B team and getting outplayed in Europe’s new third-tier club competition.

    No wonder he looked so upset post-match as he answered questions honestly from the assembled media about where it has all gone wrong.

    “No. No, I can’t,” Winks said when asked to try and explain the decline. He used the word “difficult” 10 times in a press conference that lasted less than six minutes. Two of them were in relation to new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo leaving all 11 of the players who started against Newcastle United on Sunday at home for this trip to the Netherlands, which has led to allegations of a two-tiered Spurs squad.

    “It is tough, yeah,” he said. “We’re meant to be a team. It’s meant to be competition. It’s meant to be competitive. Everybody should be fighting for (a place in the) weekend games, and it’s difficult. Motivation should be everybody fighting for the same cause and the same thing. It’s difficult.”

    Everyone reading this will have their own view on Winks’ personal situation: Everything changed with Mauricio Pochettino’s departure just under two years ago, it’s not being suited to Jose Mourinho and then Nuno’s styles of play, it’s a consequence of the ankle injuries he suffered. Many will simply say it’s down to Winks and his level dropping (it’s worth saying that on Thursday night he was at pains to take responsibility for his performances).

    But perhaps this isn’t really the point. Maybe it’s more about taking a moment to reflect on the disappointment of seeing a team disintegrate and the collateral damage therein.

    Winks wasn’t the only one last night, on an evening when Spurs looked for all the world like a team there for the taking.

    The puffed-up recent Champions League finalists up against an energetic, highly-motivated side who were playing in front of a raucous home crowd — a first sell-out at their ground for seven years.

    Competing with Winks for the most potent symbol of the Tottenham decline over the last couple of years was Dele Alli, the man who, on the club’s previous visit to the Netherlands, set up Lucas Moura’s last-gasp winner against Ajax to send the team into the Champions League final with a sumptuous assist. Now here he was, a shadow of his former self, with those watching left asking: “What’s happened to Dele? What position does he even play any more?” Like Winks, Dele was an England regular not so long ago.

    Then there was Davinson Sanchez, another veteran of that epic Champions League run under Pochettino, who looked similarly devoid of confidence even if his overall performance on the night was not bad.

    There was an excruciating moment towards the end when Winks undercooked a header that put Sanchez in trouble. He was forced into an acrobatic clearance that felt painfully desperate. Ben Davies was also representing the class of 2018-19, still dutifully getting up and down the left flank of a Spurs team that was part future prospects, part weird phantom of a moment in time that has now well and truly passed.

    When Winks was asked about his future, he naturally stopped short of saying he wanted to leave. But after reports surfaced during the recent international break of him wanting a loan move in January, it wasn’t hard to read between the lines when he said: “I love Tottenham, I’ve always made that clear, but I want to play football. And I want to play regular football. The only way to play your best football, get momentum, is when you’re playing regularly.”

    Tottenham will be reluctant to sell a player at a position where they don’t have much cover, and that’s their prerogative. But as Winks spoke to reporters in the media room of Arnhem’s GelreDome, the need for a fresh start was painfully apparent.

    Great personal performances like the one against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu four years ago this month or against Spain in Seville a year later that drew such fulsome praise from Pochettino and England counterpart Gareth Southgate feel further and further away.

    Dele is closer to the first-team picture under Nuno, but it’s similarly hard to imagine him rediscovering his best form anytime soon. Sanchez meanwhile has looked off the pace for some time now.

    Teams evolve, players leave, squads endure “painful rebuilds”. These things happen all the time in football. Perhaps it’s so clearly seeing the rebuild taking place in games like this one that makes Spurs’ current situation so odd.

    The Europa Conference League was supposed to be a chance for Nuno to blood youngsters and keep his fringe players sharp for domestic matters. That remains his intention, and we can debate the merits of resting all 11 of his starters from the weekend to keep them fresh for Sunday’s trip to a West Ham United side who are flying one rung up the ladder in the Europa League another time.

    But the unfortunate reality is that playing in UEFA’s new competition so far has, for Spurs fans, primarily been about the sadness of watching players fading before their eyes.

    “They stuck by me, I stuck by them – and I want to play for Tottenham,” Winks said poignantly last night. “But it is difficult when you get matches here and there, confidence is low and you don’t get that run of games. It is difficult.”

    It is difficult. Not only to be part of, but also to watch.

     

     

  2. I’m seriously thinking about going back to Cox. I’ve deleted and reinstalled YTTV about 1/2 a dozen times because it hangs up.
    No idea if this is relevant, but the only time YTTV hangs up on me is when I use a side loaded video app. Restarting the Shield clears it up for me.
  3. very long thread so my apologies if the question has been answered.  Google fiber is getting rid of their tv service so I need to figure out what to do.  We already have HBO streaming, Prime, and Netflix. Is Youtube TV the way to go to get local network (really only need networks to watch sports).  Can I get espn / lhn on youtube?  if not, how do i get those streaming?  thank you
    YTTV is a great service with a great DVR, but it's not the cheapest. It does not have LHN.
  4. Sunday Night Football Fans with YouTube TV Have A Non-NBCUniversal Answer to Watch: The NFL App

    SEP 29, 2021

    Are you a YouTube TV subscriber worried about the upcoming split between your live TV streaming provider and NBCUniversal? Are you so offended that you wouldn’t even be willing to subscribe to Peacock Premium in order to watch Sunday Night Football games? You may have an option: The NFL App.
    Should YouTube TV lose its NBCUniversal channels, you can watch Sunday Night Football games on your mobile device through the NFL app. Note that the app does not allow casting and thus cannot be watched on a TV through a streaming device.
    Subscribers should not link their carrier with the app.
    If you’re a YouTube TV subscriber and want to watch NFL games on your TV (should the service lose its NBCUniversal channels, of course) the best option would be to sign up for Peacock Premium.

    https://thestreamable.com/news/sunday-night-football-fans-with-youtube-tv-have-a-non-nbcuniversal-answer-to-watch-the-nfl-app

  5. I added the rest of the article, but it's weirder than that. Comcast wanted you to have to watch nbc and all their channels through peacock as a separate app you'd have to download, setup, and open to use.
    I saw that, but can't figure out how that is practical. Peacock doesn't currently show the local NBC feed. So I don't see how they could expect folks to watch that on Peacock. Paramount does show the local channel. Maybe Peacock plans to roll that out.

    Peacock has 20 or so "channels" that look very much like Pluto or other free OTT streamers. But they are specific to Comcast. An EPL channel, a USA channel, NBC News Now, Fallon 24/7, Dateline 24/7, etc... But they are not the real USA channel. It's a Peacock specific USA light channel. It is currently showing a Covert Affairs binge.

    Peacock is a bit of a mashup of a Netflix like interface of content plus their "channels" Pluto like interface and content.

    Following up on my last about Peacock being the better app than Paramount+... Fucking P+ is "currently experiencing some technical difficulties. Please check again later." right before a soccer game I bought this fucking app for. Sports on P+ is real damn sketchy. But they do show the local channel.
  6. Can you go OTA for local and then use Bravo app?  Looks like a lot of their programming is available the day after they air. 
    https://www.bravotv.com/mobile/bravo-now
    For the channel specific apps, you still have to have your providers log in credentials, which right now works with YTTV. But it won't once/if this happens. You've got to pay for the channel is some way to have the credentials to login in to that app. Some of them may let you watch content for free, but most don't. No idea about bravo app specifically.
  7. this x100... if even 2 people sign up for it it will likely crater their shitty service... god knows what will happen if thousands try at once.
    slow is apparently their offering....  just head over to reddit to see all there complaints about stuff not working
    I haven't had any major issues with Peacock. I get it for free from my ISP. The annoying parts of Peacock persist on all the streaming apps that show live sports. Live sports are an afterthought on the menus, unless they put it in the banner. But that's hit or miss. If not in the banner, it's a scavenger hunt to find your event. Paramount is much much shittier than Peacock for sports. It's not uncommon for P+ to not get a live sports stream rolling until 5 minutes into the game. And it's not uncommon for sports to not hit the guide until they start. So there is always a scramble to find your game or even know if it's actually on the app, until it starts. But both P+ and Peac are a pain. ESPN+ is much better, but even with them, I prefer to watch something on YTTV with the DVR and better controls than the same event on the app. I've never watched NFL on Amazon or any Hulu live sports, so no experience there.

    Reminder: Not all sports in the Comcast/NBC universe are streamed on Peacock. Most are, and it seems all football might be, but not all sports. So it's not a full replacement.

    If what is being reported is true, that Comcast wanted to force YTTV to make us all buy/pay extra and use Peacock through YTTV, fuck off Comcast.
  8. Is the NBC thing definitely happening? I haven't gotten an email or anything yet. Does Peacock show all the live sports that are on NBC and NBCSN? If so, I'm covered. 
    I don't think all sports are on Peacock. But I'm guessing/extrapolating.

    The EPL games scheduled for this weekend on NBC or NBCSN don't show up on the Peacock schedule. EPL games on NBC or NBCSN will stream on NBCSports app according to a press release, but that requires a cable log in, which won't work with YTTV creds if this happens.

    But the Notre Game game looks like it will be on both NBC and Peacock.

    This past July, the Tour de France had a different feed with different commentators between NBCSN and Peacock.

    All Sunday NFL games with be on both NBC and Peacock.

    Also, NBCSN is shutting down by end of year. Not sure what that means for NHL, NASCAR, or EPL. Probably more to Peacock, and some to USA.
    • Hook 'Em 1
  9. I need help with YoutubeTV through a Roku.  I'm watching a show, a commercial comes on so I go to the grid out of curiosity, the commercial is over, how do I kill the grid to get back to my show?
    If it's the same UI as NVIDIA/Android TV, press back once, that will take you to the top of the grid, then press up to go to your show title, and press enter/center button.

    If you want the grid to stay on the channel you were looking at, you can press to change to that channel for a second, press down three times and you will see the last show you were watching. Click on that. And the next time you go to the grid, it will be where you left off instead of the top. If you do the easier first option above, you will always start at the top of the grid.

    If this is not the same on a Roku....uh...never mind.
  10. Really?
    Our living room set is a 3 or 4 year old 50” Samsung smart tv. 
    We have only watched the Spectrum cable channels.
     
    If your remote doesn't have buttons for Netflix or whatever, depending on how old it is, you may have a SMART HUB button that looks like a stylized M inside a multi color box. Usually right in the middle of the remote. Hit that and it will take you to your TV's built in apps.

    But fair warning. Samsung is not good about keeping up with updates. The built in apps stop working after a few years when they won't update. My TV is a bit older and none of the apps work anymore.

    Smart TV tall not going away.

  11. I highly recommend a basic smart TV. My mom can barely type an email and thinks her cell phone has to be plugged in to work. 30 minutes to set her up with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and an antenna for local channels. All right there first thing on the Home Screen. The remote even has a Netflix and Amazon button. I haven’t taken another TV or internet call since I set it up. If she can do it, your parents definitely can.
    Very true...at first, but now I'm dealing with a parent with a smart tv that's a few years old that won't update some of the apps. Becomes a bigger son-tech-support nightmare.
  12. Didn’t say it would be easy to do for all. The fact is it’s possible. And in most cases requires no additional subscription or money output. 
     
    my parents aren’t tech savvy either.  I regularly field their calls on phone, internet tv car issues.  Almost every single time I can fix their issues over the phone from 2500 miles away. Changing world.   Adapt. Overcome. They didn’t grow old by not changing to their surroundings. 
    I recommend sharing YTTV with an older parent in another state. Hours or tech support. Heads explode with simple messages saying you aren't in your home area. Ha!
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