sportstv

Over the last 2 decades I've done a mental check: "am I able to watch a soccer game on my mobile device?". For 20 years, that was a pipedream but I realize now watching a live game online is now a reality.

Twenty years ago, in 1991, text messages were the best one could hope for: a text message if the game results were known was fancy.

Later, liveblogs became a real thing and cell phones had the ability to follow those starting about 10 years ago.

It was only three years ago, when I was in the metro after a game when I tried to watch a real-time feed of ESPN, and while it kind of worked, it was choppy and not a good experience.

This weekend, in rural Virginia, I was able to watch a game on my Pixel 3 phone, in very good quality, going through a VPN in the Netherlands (for Dutch commentary). Very cool.

The kids and I went to Elephant & Castle in DC to watch the women's World Cup final, a game between USA and the Netherlands. Our loyalties are divided, obviously, but we dressed up in orange and joined the Dutch crowd cheering for Holland.

It was the first game that the boys saw. They were overwhelmed at times by the noise and the tension but they had a good time. The kids had a lemonade and corn-on-the-cob.

The first half was dominated by team USA but the Dutch kept it at 0-0. In the second half, a penalty kick and a beautiful goal decided the game, 2-0. We clapped for the American goals, and when Nora was in doubt and a little sad, we cheered "USA", "USA" -- an advantage of dual loyalties! The American team was clearly the better one, but it's still sad "we" lost the final.

When we left we saw hello to a Dutch couple that had brought two Nijntje dolls. The kids hugged them and then they received a small stroopwafel for dessert.

Last week's games concluded the 2014 World Cup. On Wednesday afternoon we saw Germany thrashing Brasil -- beating them 7 to 1 in a stunning game.

Sasha, Milan, Wouter and I were in Elephant & Castle where we sadly saw the Netherlands lose to Argentina on penalty kicks. I was quite disappointed.

The Netherlands won 3-0 from Brasil to win the 3rd place, and yesterday Germany won the final.

It was sad to see the Netherlands being eliminated in the semi-finals but this was a terrific World Cup with excellent games. Very enjoyable.

Elephant & Castle, 75 minutes before the game.

Before the game.

Saturday we watched the game between the Netherlands and Costa Rico from Secaucus. When Nora woke up from her nap she watched the last hour of the game on my lap.

The game was exciting, even though the final score before penalty kicks was 0-0. Nora repeated the things we yelled at the TV.

Guus: "Oh, de bal tegen de paal!"
Nora: "Oh, de bal tegen de paal!"
... a few moments later...
Nora: "Waar is de paal?"

She really enjoyed the moment when the game ended and we all jumped up and shouted and clapped.

Today we watched the round of 16 game between Mexico and the Netherlands. Sasha, Milan and I went to Elephant & Castle downtime where we joined Wouter and Candice who had invited us at their table. It was great to watch the match with friends.

Nora was a little disappointed that she couldn't come with us ("Nora ook voetbalwedstrijd?") but she had a nice and relaxing morning with Baba Nadya.

Today is the soccer game between Australia and the Netherlands. It's at lunch time here, and I'll go to Elephant and Castle downtown to watch the game.

This morning Jaap and I went to a bar in Ballston to watch the first Dutch soccer game for the European Championship. We took the rental bikes again; it's about 15 minutes from our home by bike. Part of Wilson Boulevard was closed due to a bicycle race so we drove through Lyon Village.

The game was a disappointment -- Holland lost with 0-1 from the Danes and it is not looking very good for the Dutch right now. Jaap and I had a good time though. Jaap never watches soccer at home but he even wore an orange cap to the game.

We met quite a few people in Frontpage, like Shanti, Petra, Wouter, Candice, and Erik.

Yesterday we went to a Super Bowl party to watch the "big game" with several of Sasha's colleagues. It had been two years since I saw a football game and even though we know the rules fairly well it was fun to hear the expert commentary from folks at the party.

The host supported the New England Patriots, who unfortunately lost in the last few minutes, but it was a fun evening nevertheless. The halftime show with Madonna was marvelously over the top.

Well, that was very disappointing. It was sad to see the Netherlands lose after so many successful games.

On the bright side: we spent part of the weekend together, which was great after two weeks not seeing each other. We watched the game with a large group of Dutch and Spanish supporters in a bar in DC and Mike joined us there (thanks for coming out!). Later I talked with Petra in real live, which was nice.

We walked back past the Embassy of Spain in Georgetown, where we saw a happy crowd of Spanish supporters.

Today I worked remotely, spending most of my day in Starbucks (which now has free WiFi, which is very convenient). I'm back in Durham now.

Tuesday I took the afternoon off -- something I seldom do, but then the Netherlands are seldom in the semi-finals. Petra and Diana hosted a great event at their house to watch the game.

It was an entertaining game to watch, with a nerve-wrecking last few minutes.

Yesterday Germany lost 1-0 from Spain in the other semi-final. It would have been cool to see a replay of the 1974 final. With a different end-result, of course.