In addition to standard fantasy football — err, actually soccer — options such as Yahoo!, ESPN and the like, FLIP Sports offers a brand new way for Android and iOS users to participate in the biggest sport in the world. FLIP (Fantasy League In-Play) Sports doesn’t require any initial signup fees, league dues or even a multi-hour draft process to select your team. The premise of the app is to use it as a “an engaging & compelling second screen experience.”

If FLIP Sports aimed to make fantasy football/soccer easier, then it certainly succeeded. It helps to have a working knowledge of clubs and rosters, but the app is easy to navigate. After the initial download, just pick what fixture you want to play in.

Once you’ve nailed down which teams you’ll be using, it’s time to pick your lineup. I chose my team late Friday, prior to the real-life lineups being announced, so I gambled and got lucky. Unfortunately I could not tell if the app differentiates between who is in the lineup and who isn’t so I used the Forza widget to cross check lineups. There are certain options within the lineup as you can change the format from the default 2-2-1 formation to a more attacking 2-1-2 lineup. You’re also forced to choose players from both teams — a minimum of two from each club — so no stacking your lineup with all of one side. The match I picked was Arsenal vs. Hull City.

Now with a lineup in hand, it’s time to choose what type of competition you’ll be in. The app is fairly new and none of my friends had it yet, and thus private or head-to-head wasn’t an option. Off to the public league went my chosen lineup. Rather than real money, you wager FLIP Coins. It cost x many to join a public league, y for a head to head, etc. The more people playing, the bigger the pot grows, similar to poker.

As I was reading the rules, a rather annoying screen popped up several times. Despite being on Wi-Fi, the following screen was flashed on my device repeatedly. It’s still a new app, so I’m willing to bend on loading screens, but I do expect things to be cleaned up in the future.

Since one of the ideas of the app is real-time second screen viewing, the instant scoring updates on my lineup was quite nice. Everything from goals to defensive clearances to clean sheets for goalies accumulate points. Negative categories such as yellow and red cards and even things as simple as losing possession of the ball hurt you. Even with negative categories — something I’m not terribly keen on, but I understand the importance of — my team was winning the public league, at least through the first half!

The downside of being a new app shows again, as I was one of only five participants in this fixture. Presuming this app gains traction and popularity, the number of public league players will of course rise. Unfortunately, I was hit with yet another “connection interrupted” screen.

Even with the mild annoyances, I was victorious! I didn’t use the “booster” option, something that gives 2x the points for the chosen player for 10 minutes as I think it’s a bit cheesy to do so. The game stands on its own legs, no need for gimmicks.

Overall FLIP Sports is very fun, though there are some technical glitches to work through. I do hope more people join on as it’s a quick and easy way to root for players other than those on your favorite squad. It isn’t perfect for everything, but if you’re the competitive type looking for a free daily fantasy league, FLIP Sports is perfect for that.

The latest major version of Apple’s mobile software, iOS 8, gained the ability to add widgets to one’s phone or tablet. While the counterparts in the Android world have enjoyed widgets since April 2009, Apple has finally sought fit to allow widgets on their devices. As a user of both major operating systems, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see them on my iPhone. Rather than requiring manually authorization to display information, e.g. opening an app, widgets constantly update information. In particular stock, Bitcoin and sports widgets are all incredibly convenient. The first major sports widget launched on iOS8 is the free Forza Football Widget, and it is everything I could want from a soccer info center.

After the initial download, you’re greeted to a lovely welcome screen and quick start guide.

As you progress throughout the setup, you’re given the choice of which country to pick. You’re able to choose multiple countries to pick and I decided to go with the United States and add South Korea later on.

Once you’ve picked out which nation — and you can add Under-21, womens, etc. — the next set of choices becomes how many leagues would you like to follow. Unsurprisingly the main leagues are auto selected, but you can add or remove as you wish.

Now that everything is picked out, you’ll want to utilize Forza Football as the widget, not just the app. In order to add real time score updates, you’ll have to swipe down on the notification bar of your phone and select “new widget available.”

At this point you can add Forza to any current widgets you may have running.

I’m able to partake in pre-game polls on who will win, a fun feature I didn’t even realize I was missing.

Additionally the push alerts that go off when a team I’m following is great for people like me who tend to be a bit forgetful.

Forza offers a superior football experience. I’ve previously touched on and even praised other soccer apps such as MLS Matchday and Fox Soccer 2Go, however I can’t see myself using those apps with Forza on my phone. For a brand new widget I can’t imagine anything else I’d really want.

While there are some mobile options to be found out there, when it comes to console gaming, there are only a couple series that allows players the full soccer experience. FIFA 15, this year’s iteration of the long running soccer game, has not only undergone a facelift via improvements to the graphics, but also added new leagues, clubs, moves, celebrations and probably most importantly, possession dribbling has been tightened up, as have goalkeepers.

New ball handling and possession additions have brought more goals and more excitement to the game, however it has made 1v1 defending all but impossible. The control and agility moves, such as new cutting and sharper stopping, has wreaked havoc on my old way of defending the ball more than marking the man. Developers at EA have countered this somewhat by adding the new defending feature called “shoulder barge.” It’s pretty straight forward way of defending the attacking player while he is dribbling. You can use a defender to nudge him off of the ball to gain possession and stop the opponent’s attack. Use it too much and you’ll get called for a foul, however it is an immensely important addition. Without it I’d be giving up goals more often than usual. In my very first go around of FIFA 15, I got blasted 6-2 by Manchester City. In my defense I play as QPR — Go Hoops! — but I was blown off the pitch by City’s precision attack.

Another way EA has attempted to offset the vicious attacks that will be brought to you by the new offensive moves is by retooling the goalie AI. Whether or not they come charging off their line to stop a breakaway or go for a ball punch rather than an attempted catch on a corner kick makes all the difference in the world. Watching your goalkeeper give up a cheap goal near post or get chipped after being late coming off his line is mostly a thing of the past. I’ve had several (what I would call) beautiful build ups only to be swatted away by a keeper who I swore I had beat in the upper 90°.

It would be hard to call me a fan of FIFA as an organization — check out this Last Week Tonight piece for a brief reason why, (warning: language) — however their game has now been out for a week and I’m yet to put anything else into my Xbox. Often franchise games get labeled as a simple “re-skins of last year” and while FIFA 15 hasn’t changed any core aspects, the new version doesn’t feel like the same old song ‘n dance.

Speaking of songs and dances, this year’s FIFA has added a ton of new ways to make the game more involved. The all new lineup of goal celebrations may seem like a small detail to some, but don’t count me among that crowd. From classics like the dead fish to new additions such as Eto’o and his old man routine, the celebrations have are incredibly fun. The added “Dynamic Match Presentation” sports unique fan and team reactions including certain post-goal antics that can get 10 men involved.

FIFA 15’s league and club pool has grown as well; for the first time you’re allowed to play as any club in the Turkish Super Lig. A total of 33 various leagues and their clubs are available to pick from, plus 47 national teams. The developers have added enough new options and improved graphics, stadiums and offensive game-play enough to keep casual fans interested. For more die hard type fans such as myself, it was never a question of if I’d get FIFA 15, just how much I would like it. Considering the new attack options and higher frequency of goals, I’m more than happy to recommend this game to anyone.

(Header image via Babo Games)

The smartphone app Snapchat may seem like it should only appeal to over-sharing tweens and dirty little dirty birds, but the company’s higher-ups are hoping that they can gain further traction with sports, leagues and athletes (pause for Brett Favre jokes) with a recent hire.

According to TechCrunch, Snapchat has recently swooped in and stolen Nike’s global director of digital, Eric Toda. Toda brings experience in social media, licensing, and content syndication, among others. Snapchat is most likely hoping to leverage Toda’s skills into cultivating partnerships in the sports world — to help teams and leagues better engage with fans.

This is all possible with Snapchat’s Our Stories feature. Users have the ability to add snaps to their own individual accounts, allowing their friends to view a 24-hour collection of all they wished to share. Our Stories brings in a bigger sense of community, allowing users to add their content to an event-based story that anyone could see. The recent 2014 World Cup was one such event, and fans could post images and video to that stream from the stands in Brazil or their own living rooms.

If Snapchat can work deals with sports entities, the Our Stories feature could widen to include individual games, playoff rounds/tournaments, or just be a place for fans of a certain team to post all their team-related pictures and videos. Fans could post scenes from their seats at the NCAA basketball tournament, videos from the Super Bowl, or clips of them cheering for their team during Game 7 of the World Series for the whole world to see.

Though it’s easy to speculate, exactly what Toda’s roll at Snapchat will be remains to be seen. But Snapchat would be a modern and fairly unobtrusive way for teams to create and cultivate fan engagement. Snapchat has moved on from naughty pics into big time corporate involvement. Sports seems like a logical next step, and it appears to be one Snapchat is trying to take.

(Header photo via Maurizio Pesce)

Part of the problem with the new ability to track so much sports data revolves around what to actually do with it. Which datasets are the wheat, which are the chaff? Even baseball, a sport that has been collecting ostensibly the same numbers for a century, still has dissension in the ranks when it comes to deciding which numbers actually matter. Add in the element of team play (multiple players passing and shooting at once), and it becomes even more difficult for sports like basketball and hockey. Soccer runs into the same trouble as well, though a group called the Qatar Computing Research Institute thinks they may have made some progress.

The group is using a technique called network theory to dissect passing patterns of all the major clubs. As it happens, many of the clubs use the same handful of styles or variations thereof. Barcelona, however, is using a totally different strategy. Known as tiki-taka, the approach focuses on fast, short passes and fast-paced play instead of more traditional, formation-based strategies.

The idea of passing analytics is not new to the world of soccer. There have been studies about field positioning, pass length, etc. But the institute’s new approach looks relational passing — how players are passing to each other — to see if patterns emerge. This is where Barcelona throws everyone else a curve. You can read a breakdown here, and the full study here.

This is a great example of the kind of data we thought un-trackable just a few years ago being brought to light. We always had numbers about goals and penalties and maybe even tackles, but data about styles, techniques and actual gameplay is on a whole other level. And as tracking and computing get better, there should be more research like this coming. What the Qatar Computing Research Institute found is impressive, but it’s most likely a mere sampling of what’s to come.

(Header photo via Börkur Sigurbjörnsson)

Even veritable strangers to the world of soccer like myself know that one thing reigns prevalent over every game — the running. Some players have been tracked running over 9.5 miles in one game. Multiply that by 22 players, and you get a lot of footsteps. The energy corporation Shell is looking to turn those footsteps into storable power with the help of some new technology.

Shell announced today in a press release that they have completed refurbishing a soccer field in the Morro da Mineira community of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that uses 200 specialized tiles buried underground to capture energy of the players running on the field. The energy is stored — along with energy generated by solar panels next to the field — and used to power the flood lights that allow play after dark.

“The pitch proves the potential and power when scientists and entrepreneurs focus their efforts to develop creative and innovative energy solutions,” Andre Araujo, the Shell Brazil Country Chair, explains. “By tapping into the world’s passion and interest in football, we aim to capture the attention of youngsters around the world so they think differently about energy and the opportunity of science studies and careers.”

The technology to achieve such feats was developed by a company called Pavegen. Pavegen’s CEO, Laurence Kemball-Cook, was a finalist of Shell’s LiveWIRE UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011. The project is part of Shell’s Make the Future campaign that hopes to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and engineering.

The price of such a project was not disclosed, but similar implementations have been installed by Pavegen in places like the 2012 Olympics in Sochi and Heathrow Airport in London. While it’s fair to assume that impoverished neighborhoods will not all be getting new decked-out soccer pitches, the idea is certainly an intriguing one. If this technology can become easy and affordable enough to install in even a handful of the thousands of fields in Europe and South America, it may help offset some of the costs and energy consumption of a typical match.

Sports teams all over are looking at ways to conserve resources, to save both money and face with the public. There is no reason that such a thing can’t be installed in a new American football stadium in the near future. They don’t run as much as soccer players, but wouldn’t it be cool to know that your new beer was kept cold with help from your favorite player as he a broke a 40-yard touchdown run?

There’s a lot of talk about energy consumption and conservation going on these days. And while talking heads on cable news continue to yell at each other over the merits of their arguments, it’s nice to see that some people are taking the initiative to work on a solution. I don’t envision a future in which every pee wee soccer game is played on a magic energy-making field, but it’s a nice start.

We are well into the Major League Soccer season — the regular season wraps up October 26 — so if you’re in the market for domestic soccer at a great rate, the MLS Live subscription has recently dropped its price. With only seven weeks remaining in the season the key question seems obvious: is the $25.99 worth not even two months of content?

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the first morning of the weekend in late summer or fall. After a long five days of working, class, or both, one may imagine sleeping in and taking it easy. But not you. You are football fan. You have made the conscious decision to wake up early, prepare food — perhaps even have an adult beverage or two — and watch football.

That’s right, as a football fan you are willing to sacrifice sleep in order to be entertained by the biggest sport in the world. Perhaps more accurately spelled fútbol, the beautiful game has gained popularity here in the United States thanks in no small part to USA’s win against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup, the entirety of the women’s World Cup 2011 — especially the USA/Brazil match — as well as the improbable escape of the men’s team in the so called “Group of Death” in this year’s World Cup. For many casual soccer fans these major events put the sport front and center. Even at the club level, not even a month ago we set a US record for the largest crowd to view a live soccer game when two storied clubs, Manchester United and Real Madrid, faced off against each in the University of Michigan’s Big House.
Read the rest of this entry »

I had big hopes for my Pebble smartwatch. I envisioned a time when I could just leave my phone in my pocket or bag, and go hours and hours without having to dig it out. I could be such an engaging tablemate at restaurants. I could ride public transit and smirk at all the suckers who are glued to their devices. I would be free. Free from distraction, free from the rectangular device that has taken over my life.

Don’t get me wrong, my Pebble works just fine. It does exactly what I wanted and even more. But I am still a servant. I’m still always glancing, always clicking. Only it’s at my wrist instead of my phone. While this is an upgrade of sorts, I have learned to accept and embrace my technology overlords. Everything is still coming to me — every email from my fantasy league, every Google chat from my friends, every text from my wife — it’s just coming in a slightly more convenient way. That is, if you assume glancing at your wrist is more convenient than glancing at your phone

The Pebble has a few useful apps, but its main selling point is notifications. It relies on whatever notifications my iPhone sends me. If the phone gets it, the watch gets it. The usual fare is offered — email, text messages, etc. — but it also works with notifications from nearly any other app. When I go to a ballgame, my watch (via my MLB At the Ballpark app) welcomes me to the field. When a player on my fantasy roster has been put on the DL, my watch (via my fantasy apps) alerts me. When my beloved Astros are about to take the field, my wrist vibrates. The same goes for when they take or give up the lead. It goes on and on. This may sound annoying, but I wouldn’t be honest if I said I didn’t love it. The sports fan in me loves the updates, and the tech geek in me loves that it’s happening on my watch.

But the Pebble is a one-way street for the most part. There’s no communicating back to it. If I miss the scoring alert of the Astros game, I need to pull out my phone. If I want to check my roster to make sure my matchups are correct, out comes the phone. It’s passive. It’s a message from a carrier pigeon. It’s a fortune cookie.

Which is why the news surrounding the new round of wearable devices is so encouraging as a sports fan. Earlier this year, Google announced Android Wear, a platform for running Android apps on third-party wearable hardware, which may be getting a significant update soon. Samsung just announced their line of Gear S watches, which offers both voice and teeny-tiny keyboard input. And, of course, Apple is expected to announce their own line of wearable tech next week. The details are still fuzzy on this device, but the ability to run current iOS apps (or at least modded versions of them) isn’t out of the question. All these devices offer a good deal more of interaction. Finally, there will be a tin can on the other end of the string.

Android Wear can already offer some help for sports fans. The integration with voice search allows the user to just simply ask their watch what the score of the Giants game is. If Apple integrates Siri with it’s watches, it should allow this functionality as well. Android Wear offers pushed notifications much like the Pebble, as well. As wearable technology becomes more common, it’s easy to see tighter integration with fantasy apps, news apps from ESPN or CBS Sports, even the ability to simply pull up scores from across the league without the need for pushed alerts. The ability to change a fantasy roster from your wrist, or send your friend a taunting text after seeing his favorite team’s latest score without the need for digging a phone out of a pocket or purse is on the horizon. Who wouldn’t want to see a towering Giancarlo Stanton home run pushed to their wrist? An injury report from their favorite team at the ready with their phone still tucked away? Is MLB.tv and Sunday Ticket streaming video on a watch that far down the road?

I may be getting carried away, or I could be just scratching the surface. Pebble’s Kickstarter ended in May of 2012. A little over two years later, we’re ready to accept the next great swarm of wearable tech into (and onto) our arms. If things play out more or less as expected, I’ll still have my phone in my bag. That familiar blue glow will be coming from from wrist instead.

(Header photo via Maurizio Pesce)