Sport Lovers,
My name is Ryan, and I had a problem. Still do kind of... It's an ongoing struggle. I knew it but didn't want to admit it.
I watched a lot of sports.
It was background noise for me. It consumed my weekends in the fall. I didn't want to miss a moment... you know, just in case something mind-blowing happened. My roomates, then my wife, then ultimately I realized the frequency with which I watched sports.
So, I tried numerous sports apps to catch highlights and stay up to speed. Maybe I'm just incompetent, but I became frustrated. The ads, the loading time, the app experience, and trying to find a highlight of the game not just random clips. Then, I'd get distracted by a news article or Twitter thread. Then, the talking heads and the opinions were everywhere.
With frustration at an all time high, I came across 'extended highlights' on YouTube.
Finally, the perfect highlight length -- not too long that I might as well have watched the game but not so short I miss the emotional feel of the game. Plus, most of them don't have sports anchors shouting catch phrases over the highlight. (between you and me, I like the catch phrases). One small problem, YouTube is a rabbit hole, and I didn't want to subscribe to a bunch of channels, because notifications are annoying.
So, I created a note on my phone with a list of YouTube links to channels, playlists, etc.
The benefits were immediate -- my time started to free up, I stayed in tune with the games, and I spent more meaningful time with my wife, family, and friends. Even as 'background noise,' I didn't realize how much a distraction sports could be. Mentally, I started to feel calmer.
I don't think there will ever come a day I don't love sports and the emotion it provides. But now, I don't need to catch everything LIVE.
Since it has kind of changed my life, I wanted to stand up this simple website to potentially help others. It's not fancy, but it's FREE -- AD-FREE -- DISTRACTION-FREE. Unless you want to buy me a drink...
If you find it useful or have suggestions, send me a note: hello@watchgamehighlights.com
Want to help others? Let them know. Send them a text via the share button in your browser.
Cheers,
Ryan Schweighart
