Chp 591. Split-screen dream comes true

For the past couple of years, as a football Premier League fan, perhaps one of the most exciting times during the entire season is that LAST match of the season when there is still no clear cut winner. Of course this doesn't happen very often, but when it does happen, trust me, it is one of the best adrenalin rushes of the season!

For example, how many of you still remember the 2011-2012 season end? :D I'm sure Manchester United fans will never forget that moment :) As the last round of the season started, ManUtd and ManCity were tied with the same points at the top of the table. While ManUtd was winning their last match against Sunderland 1-0, ManCity was trailing 2-1 against QPR at Full Time! Though Arsenal too won their last match against West Brom that night, we were coming in third anyway, so my sms and WhatsApp messages were flooded with abuses and taunts from ManUtd fans flaunting their "newly achieved" title.

"We're always better than you Arse Anal!!!!"

"Haha pathetic Arsenal, we are the champions of this season!!!"

"Manchester United hi Pathian team a ni, Archhenal ho chu meidil ah in tla vek dawn".

"Beckham a pet goal mawi zia kha in lo hmu em?"

But then suddenly, in that very short remaining Extra Time, while my ManUtd friends were celebrating and downing shots like there's no tomorrow, ManCity went on to score twice to win their match! And so, with a higher "Goal Difference", ManCity clinched the title away from ManUtd in the very last minute!

I replied to all my friends who spammed me that night, trying to educate some of them that Beckham no longer plays for ManUtd, but they had already switched their phones off or blocked me by then. Dayymmm...

Anyway, what I want to talk about in this post is not about football fandom or rivalry, but the way we watched those matches. Since all the matches were taking place at the same time, we had to keep switching between different channels, or wait for the commentator to mention a goal being scored in the other matches. It was then that I wished I had multiple TVs or at least be in a Sports Bar with multiple screens...

But now, I have finally achieved one of my greatest wishes! To be able to watch multiple matches in one screen. Two weeks ago, Arsenal vs Sunderland, ManUtd vs WHU, Spurs vs WBA and Liverpool vs Swansea were taking place at the same time. And so, with my newly acquired broadband connection at home connected to my 32" TV that I'm using as a monitor, I was able to screen all four live matches at the same time!

Oh mannn what an experience indeed!

And as a reclusive and introvert bachelor living alone, I find this setup to be the most perfect and coziest way to spend a Saturday night. Great streaming speed on all four screens, along with great sound on my 5.1 surround sound home-theatre setup, and a glass of Rum+Coke just to set the mood right.

Of course I could use only one sound source and mute the other three because otherwise it would sound like I was watching a match with an Arabic running commentary :D

Not only was this a great experience, but the icing on the cake was the fact that Arsenal won while all the others lost or drew. We climbed up from 4th to 2nd that night :)

Eventually, they removed the ManUtd match and showed Arsenal match instead towards the end :D I ended up watching the same Arsenal match on two different stream channels. Oh man oh man :)

I decided to write about this post because watching an Arsenal match had indeed been a great experience this way. But unfortunately I won't be watching any more matches like this for the rest of this year as I am going home this weekend to home sweet home Mizoram.

Over there, first of all, the internet speed is not good enough to watch a live-streaming match. Secondly, I will be relying on whatever TV channels the service providers will be giving me. Thirdly, our next match against ManCity takes place this coming Tuesday at 1:30 in the morning. Now that may not be too late here in Pune, but in Mizoram that is an unGodly hour!

So yeah, hoping Arsenal can move to first position by the end of this year, and in case the last round of this current season is indecisive again, this is definitely the way I'm going to watch the matches!

So yeah, cheers everyone. :)

Ps. I mentioned I'm a Premier League fan not because I dislike other leagues. Of course La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga etc are exciting as well, but as an Indian viewer, Premier League matches are broadcasted here in India at the perfect time - usually around 8 in the evening, whereas to follow the other leagues, most of their matches take place beyond midnight IST.