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Being a Gunner, it's not often I go out of my way to speak highly of Manchester United, but this story is far too good to ignore. We all know that the iPod and products like it are convenient for various reasons. You can bring music along with you, wherever you go, along with video, images and more. As we learned over the weekend though, there's another use that Apple likely never thought of during the iPod's development process.
The Carling Cup final was held on Sunday (sponsored by the popular lager by the same name), which featured Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspurs. Due to a draw at the FT mark, an additional 30 minutes were played, which equated to a 120 minute match. Thanks to a persisting draw (0:0), the game's resolution could only be decided upon by a penalty shootout... the process of each team offering five players to attempt a goal on the opposing team's goalkeeper. All in all, it's never a good way to end a game, but the winner has to be decided somehow.
Picture yourself standing in front a huge football net, with no one else around except the opposing player straight ahead of you. It's tough to predict what that player is going to do, so how do you get the upper-hand? Why, you watch footage of your opponents last shootout on your coach's iPod. Yes, seriously. Man U's alternate GK, Ben Foster, noted how each player took their shots, which gave him an obvious advantage. Sure enough, the game ended 4:1 in Manchester United's favor.
Surprisingly, this practice was actually let to pass by the Football Association, which really impresses me, given they normally seem more than happy to pass out fines liberally. Perhaps we'll be seeing even more of this in the future? Only time will tell.
"I'd been told (that) if O'Hara took a kick...he would probably go to my left," Foster told the Sun, recalling how the information recorded on his iPod helped him out. "It was great; that was exactly what happened, and I managed to get a hand to it." Thanks to Foster's save, the United beat the Spurs 4 to 1 on penalties and, as you're reading this, the players' heads are feeling as if they have been subjected to unsafe decibel levels. The cause, however, will probably have been somewhat liquid.
Source: Technically Incorrect
The Carling Cup final was held on Sunday (sponsored by the popular lager by the same name), which featured Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspurs. Due to a draw at the FT mark, an additional 30 minutes were played, which equated to a 120 minute match. Thanks to a persisting draw (0:0), the game's resolution could only be decided upon by a penalty shootout... the process of each team offering five players to attempt a goal on the opposing team's goalkeeper. All in all, it's never a good way to end a game, but the winner has to be decided somehow.
Picture yourself standing in front a huge football net, with no one else around except the opposing player straight ahead of you. It's tough to predict what that player is going to do, so how do you get the upper-hand? Why, you watch footage of your opponents last shootout on your coach's iPod. Yes, seriously. Man U's alternate GK, Ben Foster, noted how each player took their shots, which gave him an obvious advantage. Sure enough, the game ended 4:1 in Manchester United's favor.
Surprisingly, this practice was actually let to pass by the Football Association, which really impresses me, given they normally seem more than happy to pass out fines liberally. Perhaps we'll be seeing even more of this in the future? Only time will tell.
"I'd been told (that) if O'Hara took a kick...he would probably go to my left," Foster told the Sun, recalling how the information recorded on his iPod helped him out. "It was great; that was exactly what happened, and I managed to get a hand to it." Thanks to Foster's save, the United beat the Spurs 4 to 1 on penalties and, as you're reading this, the players' heads are feeling as if they have been subjected to unsafe decibel levels. The cause, however, will probably have been somewhat liquid.
Source: Technically Incorrect
