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Here's one for you: live and recorded track meets and cross country races
broadcast on the web.
TrackMeets.com and I2Sports produce the webcasts. Basketball and
hockey dominate the more recent schedule, but check the archives for Track and XC
events, including the October 25, 2003 recording of the Northeast 10 XC
championships. Former Central Mass High School kiddies (Mario Fraioli,
Ryan Agnew, Nate Jenkins, and others) prominently display
their racing prowess in this archived event.
You need a broadband level internet connection and the free MS Media Player. TrackMeets.com recommends 384kbps inbound speed. You can still get something with lower speeds, but it might only be the audio, with no video. I have SDSL, with 768KBps maximum, both ways, with actual throughput usually lower than that, and it proved adequate for keeping the streaming video alive with minimal network congestion re-buffering. Test your speed with the link from broadband.com.
The official information on the web site states that TrackMeets.com, Inc. d.b.a. i2sports is an Internet sports
broadcast corporation located at Syracuse University's CASE Center. It produces
and webcasts LIVE amateur sporting events including track meets, footraces,
field hockey, wrestling, football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming and
diving, lacrosse, soccer, softball and baseball, as well as business and
academic events. TrackMeets.com was the first website to broadcast
LIVE a track meet, and remains the only Internet company to provide full-service
production and LIVE broadcast of amateur athletics.
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The image is pixilated (grainy). In
the sample image on the right, Stonehill's Ryan Agnew has taken the lead with
several U Mass Lowell runners close behind. The audio is clear (although a
bit uninformed at times, such as when the talent could not explain the role of
the 6th and 7th men on a XC team, and thought the 5 mile race was about done
after 18 minutes). But these are minor issues. 