Things I Like: Universal Sports (and UniversalSports.com)

If you're a Track & Field fan, you probably already know Universal Sports. If you don't, it may be because Universal Sports is not offered in your area. Living in Raleigh for the past 10 years, I've been lucky enough to tune into Universal Sports on television for every Diamond League meet, Tour de France race and if it's your thing, beach volleyball match (Complete listings here).

One thing that everyone (in the United States at least) has access to is UniversalSports.com (in particular, their Track & Field page). What started as a way to follow my friend, Gary Kikaya, run abroad during the Golden League days, quickly turned into THE way to watch professional Track & Field. What they offer on UniversalSports.com that they don't offer on television is live coverage of Diamond League meets. They also have the British television crew working the live coverage with the popular Tim Hutchings making many of the calls.  There is also another excellent feature this year on the website that has Ato Boldon, who headlines the American television coverage, doing a "Cooldown," which is a post meet recap and Q&A. Check it out here. Ato is excellent at what he does and is a must follow if you are on Twitter.

When you need more coverage, Ato's got you

What annoys me most about the Olympics is the lack of live coverage. With all this in mind, those wanting live coverage of the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Korea, Universal Sports is offering complete coverage of the meet for only $14.99. With NBC getting the rights to the next few Olympics, I am hoping they use this outlet to show the events as they were supposed to be!

Also, check out Universal Sports on Twitter and Facebook.

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