As I Get Older, Life Gets Better

It was April 5, 1978. I may have been a particularly tough day at school, or not. That I do not remember.

What I do remember was being tired of reading. I just wanted to rest my mind a bit, but I was not sleepy. I decided to grab my headphones and fire up my stereo. But not music. This time, I would work the dial and find WCCO-AM.

There I was, plopped in my bed, basking in the blue light coming from my stereo tuner. I was listening live to the last game of baseball's Opening Day, Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners. I, a 16-year-old on a Wednesday night in small-town Colorado, had nothing better to do than pull in a night game from the Kingdome. (Go ahead, click on the link and then click on "VIEW GAME" on the top right corner of your screen.)

It was not quite a transistor radio experience that many now talk fondly of. And with headphones, it is pretty tough to do anything but stay flat on your back and stare at the ceiling.

That was then. Now, I can take my phone and watch a late hockey game from the coast.

Last night, it was the Edmonton Oilers at the Los Angeles Kings. In full color and sound.

A much better experience, even though the Kings could have bothered to bring their offense to the Staples Center on Thursday night.

The screen of my iPhone is not the same as the roaring HD big screen in the Lounge, or even the medium HD screen, but it gets the job done when you want to just drop out of sight for a while and watch your game from the comforts of a big bed, big pillows and big blankets (you forgot to mention blankets, Mr. Gabriel).

The NHL's GameCenter Live package allows subscribers to watch games on desktops, laptops, smartphones, iPads and, I assume, other tablets. For those with one TV set dedicated to the locals, the GameCenter Live option allows for more screens for today's modern household, which I assume contains a smartphone and tablet as well as a desktop or laptop, or both. GameCenter Live also serves as a DVR and archive service for games.

On a second note, certain cable providers allow you to turn use your smartphones and tablets to watch all the channels you can get on TV, so long as you are within your house.

Either way, the smartphone as a hockey TV allows you to one up on those who could only get the audio when they sneaked a transistor radio into bed with them to catch the late game. You get video, and in the big picture, that just made life that much better. Much better than the "VIEW GAME" baseball experience, which can be fun, but is not anywhere near the same.