NBA Game Time Courtside (Free)
The NBA
Game Time Courtside app is simply fantastic, and a must-have for
basketball fans. There are four main sections: games, conference standings,
videos, and settings. The games section is where most of the action is, and
whether you want stats on your favorite players, charts showing the location of
every shot in the game, or full play-by-play coverage, it’s here.
There’s so much here, in fact, that it can be a little
overwhelming at first — or perhaps that could be my ignorance showing, since
I’m not much of a basketball fan. The best approach to this app is to touch
everything and see what happens. Once you choose a game, you will see a box at
the top of the screen with the basic info and photos of the top players in the
game based on points and rebounds. Tapping those players brings up detailed
stats, for the season and for their career, if you’re interested. You can slide
those player photos to see the other top players for assists, blocks, steals,
etc.
Below that, on the court, you’ll find more players you can
tap for stats, and then four boxes where you can choose from performance zones,
scoring zones, and a shot chart. Just below that is where you can dig into the
full details for the game, including play-by-play commentary, team and player
stats, a recap with quotes, highlights, and notable moments. The last option
with the funny-looking icon is the NBA turnstile, where you can check in and
see what other fans think about the game. The ticker is just below; you can tap
any headline for more information.
The conference standings page is self-explanatory; you can
choose between conference, division, and league standings. The video page is
mostly made up of short game recaps, roughly two minutes each, with a few
highlights for standout moments around the league that are usually around 15-30
seconds, so they’re quick to watch with a lot of info (or fun) packed into each
one. Videos pop up in a small window by default, but a single tap brings them
up to full screen. They aren’t HD quality, but they are good quality and load
quickly. There are currently 97 videos available, with that selection changing
on a regular basis.
Frankly it’s hard to believe that this app is free. There
are ads, but they’re so minimally invasive that it’s hard to complain. During
my testing all I saw was the Sprite logo in the bottom right corner of the
screen, near the ticker, and it fits well since sports and advertising are so
tightly integrated these days. If anything, it serves to make the experience a
little more authentic! In any case, if you have any interest at all in
basketball and haven’t downloaded this app yet, there just might be something
wrong with you. Go get it now.
NBC Sports Talk (Free)
If you’re interested in going behind the game, for news,
talk and analysis rather than scores and stats, NBC
Sports Talk is the app for you. It presents all of the day’s top
stories in a view that should be very familiar to users of the Pulse RSS app —
horizontal columns by sport that you can swipe with your finger. Tap on a photo
or headline to get the full story in a popup window on the right side of the
screen. If you tap on comments, the story will load in Safari, and you can then
scroll down to see the comments.
You can email individual stories if you want to archive them
for your own use or share them with friends. The overall layout is nice, and
though there aren’t any extra features, they aren’t really needed either. There
are a couple of small ads here and there, but nothing obtrusive. If you’re a
fan of sports commentary, or are already a fan of NBC Sports Talk, this is
another no-brainer download.
Nike Football+ Team Edition (Free)
If you don’t read the description closely, you might be
confused when you first open up the Nike
Football+ Team Edition app — it isn’t about American football at all,
but soccer. If you’re a player or a coach looking to improve skills, this app
includes a large variety of drills, with high-quality full-screen videos that
give full explanations of the reasoning behind each drill. Most of the video is
not in English, but is fully subtitled with some English overlays explaining
key points.
There are 41 videos from which to choose, and you can add
particular drills to a customized training program. If you enter basic
information about the players on your team, you can also give each player “The
Ronaldo Test” based on the fastest player in the game, and track their progress
throughout the season.
While aimed primarily at coaches, the video drills can
certainly help any player improve their game on their own. I did experience one
crash while trying to attach a photo to my team’s roster, but other than that
the app performed flawlessly. Videos don’t download until the first time you
access each one, which saves on space if you want to concentrate on just a few
of the drills. If you’re a soccer player or coach, this is a great resource and
definitely worth the free download.
Sports Illustrated (Free, individual issues available via
in-app purchase)
If you’re a Sports Fan, you probably already read Sports
Illustrated, so why would you want it on the iPad? Since subscription
pricing isn’t available, and single issues start at $4.99 (special and double
issues are slightly higher), it’s much more expensive than a print
subscription. However, the app does include some extras you can’t get anywhere
else, such as video, slideshows, interactive features, live news updates, and
audio. You can preview each issue to decide if you want to make the purchase,
which is especially helpful for fans who are only interested in particular
players or sports, and only want to read a few issues each year.
I selected the most recent issue, and it took quite a while
to download, even with Wi-Fi. My patience was rewarded with an excellent
reading experience. Flipping through pages is as easy as swiping your finger
across the screen. There aren’t many ads to distract from the content, which
does make the relatively high single-issue pricing easier to swallow. The few
ads that are included are actually fun, such as the Gatorade G Series Flick
Football ad, which is actually a nice little game that can divert for a few
minutes. Other ads such as for Lexus, AT&T, and Nissan, include video (you
choose to watch, it does not load automatically), interactive features, and
more.
The magazine works in both landscape and portrait mode, with
seamless transitions. A short tap brings up the menu bar at the bottom of the
screen, with quick access to the cover, table of contents, cover flow-style
page viewer, news and scores, the store (where you can purchase additional
issues) and your library of previously purchased issues.
Tapping and holding at any point brings up a selection wheel
that allows you to share the article with friends via Facebook or Twitter,
email it, see related photos and articles, or view player stats. The system is
well implemented and a good example of how traditional media can go to the next
level with useful, relevant enhancements instead of cheap gimmicks.
While subscribers may feel cheated at the prospect of having
to pay for individual issues, the Sports Illustrated app does have plenty to
recommend it. It seems to be especially useful for those who only pick up
occasional issues at the newsstand, since each one is the same price for print
or digital, or for those looking for a quick diversion when they’re on the go
or on the road and need additional reading material. If you can get past the
high single issue prices, you’ll likely enjoy this app.
Sports Illustrated The Football Book ($14.99)
The
Football Book is a special commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated,
much like the large Time-Life magazine/books you sometimes see at newsstands.
It includes vintage photos, stories on historic players and coaches, and cool
interactive features, and is as fun to look at as it is to read. Each
interactive feature is highlighted with instructions where appropriate, so you
know where to tap to hear audio commentary on vintage photos, where to press to
get close-ups, etc. Controls are relatively basic beyond that; a single tap
brings up a menu bar with the cover, the table of contents, and a page viewer
that helps you jump to the specific articles in which you’re interested.
Now that apps are giftable items, the Sports Illustrated
Football Book would make a great gift for your iPad-toting sports fan. Whether
you’re a casual fan or a longtime devoted fan, there’s plenty of interesting
stories and behind-the-scenes facts for you.
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