I Was Skeptical, But Apple Sports Won Me Over

iPhone Sports App

iPhone Sports App: A Convert's Perspective

For years, iPhone users have relied on third-party apps for sports scores and updates. But Apple recently stepped into the game with its own Sports app, and after some initial skepticism, I'm now a convert. The Apple Sports app was introduced on the iPhone on February 21, 2024. I initially tried it back in February, but it lacked customization, so I didn't use it for long. However, I've returned to using the app for the past two months, and I'm enjoying it much more. Apple has made several improvements that enhance usability, including displaying live games I follow on my lock screen and Apple Watch. Adding or removing games from my "followed" list is now a breeze.

While other apps on my phone (e.g., ESPN, MLB, NFL) offer game tracking, I particularly appreciate how Apple Sports displays real-time countdowns on my lock screen and Apple Watch. Often, the countdown is ahead of what I see on TV, giving me a more "live" feel.

Follow a Specific Game

Following a Specific Game

The screenshot shows the games I'm currently following. In this case, there are NFL games and college basketball games. To follow a game on your lock screen or Apple Sports, simply open the game in the app and tap the icon in the upper right corner of the game details. Tapping the icon again unfollows the game.

The ability to display followed games on the lock screen is a relatively recent addition, introduced within the last two or three months. This feature wasn't available at the app's initial launch and has been a game-changer for me. I often close live updates from other apps like NFL or ESPN, relying on Apple Sports for at-a-glance updates.

Followed Game on Lock Screen

Lock Screen Updates

As shown in the screenshots, Apple Sports provides clear updates on the lock screen and Apple Watch. On my Apple Watch, I receive notifications for scores, end of quarters, and halftime/game endings. These notifications can be customized if you only want to see score updates.

Final Thoughts

I am currently using Apple Sports as my primary app for following my teams. I appreciate the real-time updates, which seem faster than those in other apps. Occasionally, a game might not update correctly, requiring me to force-close and restart the app, but this is a minor inconvenience.

I'm optimistic that Apple will continue to update and improve the Apple Sports experience. If you haven't tried it recently, I encourage you to check it out.

March Madness 2023 ESPN Tournament Challenge

It is time to make your selections for March Madness. 

March Madness Hopefuls group is free to play and you can enter up to three entries. There is no password on the group, so hoping it will be an easy process to join your entries, encourage your family and friends to join, and be sure to come back after Selection Sunday to make your entries. 

The directions for joining remain the same from last year. Group is read and can start getting the word out on joining the group. The more people in the group the more fun it is to make your selections. 

1. Visit ESPN which will take you directly to the March Madness Hopefuls.
2. If you are already signed into the ESPN web site, you can immediately create your bracket. If not, sign into the site and then you will be taken to the March Madness Hopefuls group or you can search for March Madness Hopefuls to join.
3. Join the group.
4. Repeat the above process to create additional brackets. In the March Madness Hopefuls bracket, you can have three entries.

Be sure to submit your entries by 10:00 am CST Thursday, March 16. This will make sure you get your entries submitted and have time to get them submitted. First game tips at 11:00 am on Thursday March 16.

If you have any questions or problems, please post a comment to this post.

Good luck and enjoy March Madness!

Final Results of the 2022 ESPN Tournament Challenge in the March Madness Hopefuls Group

What a March Madness we had! All kinds of fun games, late nights, and good memories. The final result helped a number of us in the end with Kansas Jayhawks winning. It will be one week on Monday that KU won the national championship. What a run and what a game! But this update is about the top winners in the March Madness Hopefuls group.

The group saw a number of people rise and fall from the top spot from game-to-game and week-to-week. In the end, we had four that finished in the top three spots. Uncle Charlie won our group with a total score of 1,180 points. Followed by yours truly with 1,140 points. Third place was locked in by Betsy Hoke and Shawn Geil with 1,130 points. 

Uncle Charlie had only one entry to the tournament and it ended up clinching the top spot in our group. Meanwhile, I had three entries in this group alone and a total of seven entries overall. Betsy had three entries in our group and Shawn had two entries. So, Uncle Charlie won our group with only one entry. Nice job!

I am sure we will hear from Uncle Charlie during the off season and into next year when the tournament starts how he won it all. Congrats!

It is so exciting to have people playing in our group and entering multiple entries. It makes the tournament fun as we watch the changing leaders following each upset or after each week ends. What a fun time! We had over 40 entries in the group and the average points scored for our group was 555 points.

Great year and looking forward to next year!

Results of the March Madness Hopefuls! ESPN Tournament Challenge #MarchMadness #results

 

So good to have March Madness again this year! We had a good group participating in the ESPN Tournament Challenge. We had 25+ participate in the selections this year. A wide range of picks started out the tournament. The selected winners ranged from a dozen votes to single votes to win it all.

• Gonzaga (12)
• Illinois (4)
  
• Michigan (3)
• Kansas (2)
• Alabama (1)
  
• Baylor (1)
  
• Iowa (1)
  
• Oklahoma State (1)
  
• Villanova (1)
  
• West Virginia (1)
  

Gonzaga had the most votes with 12 followed by Illinois (4), Michigan (3), and Kansas (2). The remaining teams all had one vote each to win the tournament. For the majority of the rounds, Javier G was at the top of the leader board. Going into the championship game Monday night, Javi was leading the group with the most points. Following the end of the game the winner of the group was Dina H. She was the only one in our group to have Baylor winning.

With a narrow margin of points, Dina H beat out Javi G 1,240 to 1,140. Followed by tsh34081. I am not sure who tsh34081 is but they came in third in our challenge. Congrats to Dina on winning the bracket this year with the only one picking Baylor from our league.

How did Dina compare to the entry winning all of ESPN? The winner of the entire ESPN bracket won with 1,690 points. What a fun tournament to watch. There were some heart breakers, some buzzer beaters, and a lot of efforts to watch in March Madness no one was able to enjoy a year ago. We are so happy to have it back and finish another tournament challenge.

Congrats to the winners, Dina H, Javi G, and tsh34081. 

Fantasy Football Leagues Finish Up and Here are the Current Totals for Leagues I Belong #FantasyFootball #NFL #Results #blog

Fantasy football season comes to an end as the NFL regular season wraps up this week. Many fantasy games completed with the games last week. For everything that happened during the NFL regular season related to COVID-19, it was a fun season. Remembering back to drafts that took place back in early September to changes made to rosters or trades made with other owners, the season was fun. While some games were postponed to be played later, the majority of games went off without a problem or maybe a player or two not able to play because of COVID-19 restrictions.

I play in two different fantasy football leagues. Both are groups of friends of mine that have been playing for a number of years. One is free to play and the other is money league. The money league which is the Chiefs Kingdom Fantasy League, has been playing since 2016 and Beer Gut Fantasy Football League has been playing since 2011. The Beer Gut League has been playing long before 2011, but I was not part of the early leagues and then probably in 2006 - 2009, prior to my starting in that league, they played on another provider. I played a year or two on that other service and we have been on ESPN since 2010.

In the Beer Gut Fantasy Football League, I have won the league twice. I have also had a number of seasons where I have come in last, or almost last, in the league. For a while in Beer Gut Fantasy Football League we would have whomever lost be the commish the next year. A few years ago, we changed this process in this league though as we found that it was better to have one or two people that run the league each year which helps to keep things consistent. The new process has worked much better in the Beer Gut Fantasy Football League. 

No matter the league, fantasy football takes a bit of luck. I am by no means a fantasy beast. I recognize players names, know those that I like and want to draft, but stats or history is not something I follow like others in both leagues that I am a member. Luck plays into the process a great deal where one week I will play someone that gets 20 or 30 points and the next they only get 10 - 15 points the next week where they were expected to get 20 - 25. This is what makes the fantasy football process so much fun to try and put together a roster that gets the maximum points each week. It certainly also has me watching more games because I want to see what the players on my roster are doing each week.

The Chiefs Kingdom Fantasy League we have had five different winners in the five years of existence. Not too shabby! In this league, we do a random draft compared to Beer Gut where we reverse the draft each year where whomever finished last the season before gets the first pick the following year.

If you have not tried fantasy games with your friends, or random people, I encourage you to give it a try. It is a lot of fun and offers an increased interest in that particular sport.

Pig Skin Pick 'em Ready for 2016-2017 Season... Enter Today!

The NFL season starts on September 8. Once again this year, the ESPN Pig Skin Pick 'em will be running week after week during the regular NFL season. Create your entry now to be ready to enter your picks. Then do not forget to enter your picks each week throughout the season.

The password for the league is haverty and the name of the league is Maybe This Season. Feel free to share with others as the more people we have in the pick 'em the more fun it is for everyone. Each person can enter up to two entries.

It is free to play the Pig Skin Pick 'em and you might win prizes from ESPN for playing. Enjoy the season!

The Field is Set with Busted Brackets and Sixteen Teams Hoping for More

What a great four day weekend! I took off work Thursday and Friday to stay home and watch basketball. That's exactly what I did, not leaving the house at all those two days. Saturday and Sunday, was more basketball, but I did leave the house a few times. There were some great games! I sit here watching the end of the Oregon vs St Joseph's game which is another close game.

The forth day of the start of March Madness resulted in more exciting games! It is going to be tough to go back to work tomorrow after enjoying all of this basketball and only thinking basketball the past four days.

There was at least one upset for the day with Wisconsin beating Xavier. Overall, it was a good day to watch basketball and enjoy the great time of the year!

Oh our brackets! Yes, I remember filling out my brackets under a week ago thinking this is the time I fill it out 100% right. Yeah right! I filled out a number of brackets on ESPN and the only one that I have that is over 50% is at 54%. I am not alone though as the majority of the other entries are just as bad. It is not as though I had Michigan State winning it all of necessarily going to the Final Four in all of my brackets, there were simply some major upsets (see post from Saturday).

My favorite from the weekend was when Carrie, my wife, commented following a game ending around 6 or 6:30 today asking me if it was the last game of the day. No, still more games tonight! Best time of the year!

A NCAA game ends… @carrieloulou asks me if it is the last one of the day and that I have been watching for four days straight. Oh dear! 😀

— John Haverty (@havertyj) March 21, 2016

Carrie enjoys basketball, but only prefers the last five minutes of the game and only really watches one team because I watch them. She spent most of her time this weekend on her phone watching Netflix. Sorry Carrie!

The last game of the weekend is over with Oregon winning. The field of sixteen is set. We now wait for Thursday to roll around so we can cheer again.