Cup sites bring world of options
By PHIL GULICK
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 18, 1998
 f any sport were built for the World Wide Web, it is the internationally
popular game of soccer, known as football in all countries but
the most disinterested, the U.S. of A.
The Internet has jumped onto the 1998 World Cup pitches in France
with both feet, and its color and flavor are everywhere on the
Web and Internet service providers.
AOL has pleasantly surprised soccer fans with page after page
of World Cup coverage, and its built-in Web browser gets surfers
to the Web for other links. With the keyword "soccer," AOL opens
a world of live chat, features, news stories, team and player
rundowns, venues and the TV schedule. It also links surfers to
powerhouse sportslines, ABC Sports, CBS SportsLine, the Sporting
News, SoccerNet, the United Kingdom and French soccer pages and
others.
SoccerNet features daily news stories, photos, standings, statistics,
venues, a kids' corner and 3D media. The pages can be called up
in Spanish, Dutch or Japanese. Real-time score updates, live chats
with Daily Mail football editor Nigel Clarke and forums and chat
rooms crowd the busy pages. A full gallery of color action shots
also is online.
CBS SportsLine features Soccer LIVE, a graphic depiction of the
action of every match. CBS is offering its World Cup sites free
to non-subscribers, as are most services.
"No goals, no guts for U.S. in opener" is the way MSNBC Sports
summed up the 2-0 loss to Germany on Monday. Its pages are loaded
with color, busy Java applets and tons of features and news. Team
previews hit hard at the United States' lack of punch and chose
Brazil as the team to beat. Another wag picked England to win
it all. Interactive features offer live votes on the eventual
winner and the biggest star.
CNNSI's World Cup site is bare bones, with the usual standings,
schedules, venues and news. Terry Baddoo offers his sharp views
on English soccer hooligans and Phil Jones sees success for England.
A mailbag and bulletin board are open for viewers' opinions.
ESPN SportsZone's home page is much simpler and cleaner than others,
but still loaded with news, features, opinions and links to its
other pages. A venues map offers a look at the stadiums and a
FAQ page answers everything you ever wanted to know about the
World Cup. Pele has a few words of wisdom about viewing the games
and the groups are listed for handy team access.
ABC Sports, available on AOL, sends up an interactive world map
with all teams. Click and you get a full report. The site also
offers a photo lab, film room and slide shows. The first two require
a short program download, but the slide shows provide an intimate
look at the players complete with audio.
Prodigy's WC coverage includes Page One news and features, a scoreboard
and a menu of other subjects that includes links to other WC sites.
There also is an archive of stories, including an interesting
one about China's failure to qualify for the big show.
VRML World, the 3D feature on SoccerNet, is a burgeoning technology
relatively new to the Web. A download of the blaxxun 3D plug-in
is needed, a program specifically designed to showcase the Intel
Pentium II processor (about 20 minutes at 34,000 bps). The plug-in's
performance on other chips is significantly slower. Once loaded,
you are inside a live stadium with a live scoreboard and live
worldwide chat with soccer fans.
All sites are so colorful and well-designed that color printouts
of the pages could be considered for framing as keepsakes.
SURFERS DOT COM: The Negro Leagues Professional Baseball site at majorleaguebaseball.com/nbl/ demonstrates what it was like to play the game before integration,
with bios, leagues and audio and movie clips. ... The Women's
National Basketball Association (WNBA.com) is on the Web again with live scores and live audio of every
game. ... ESPN SportsZone has launched its X Games site at xgames.espn.com. The games open today and run through June 28 in San Diego. All
eight X games, or extreme sports, are covered with video clips,
bios, features and news.
-- Phil Gulick can be reached at Xerxes6@juno.com, aol.com and Xerxes@prodigy.com.
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