Is summer officially here?

As summer is finally upon us Geraint Lewis ponders the role of IT in televised sports.

As I sit in the garden, the smell of burgers on the BBQ drifts across from my neighbours’, Wimbledon has started and we can look forward to the Open Championships in St Andrews in July. While there may be prettier, longer and more difficult courses in the world, the backdrop of the clubhouse, the testing fairways running alongside the beach, the huge greens and the famous ‘Road Hole’ make it my favourite venue.

European golf and golfers will arrive at St Andrews on a (legal) high, following Graeme McDowell’s recent triumph at the US Open, together with a great performance from Lee Westwood at the Masters Tournament and recent wins for a number of European golfers on the US Tour give us a lot of confidence ahead of the Ryder Cup matches at Celtic Manor in September.

However, the Tiger is hiding in the long(ish) grass of the rough, he has won The Open the last two times it was played over the St Andrews course and while much has been made of his recent decline in form, he always seems to be able to raise his game when it comes to The Open and pushes it even higher when the event is being played at ‘The Home of Golf’.

I expect the BBC coverage to be second to none this year with full interactive options available to watch whichever players you want and significant coverage on the BBC Website. Which brings us to the question of how much impact do sporting events have on IT systems?

The recent World Cup Matches were all available online via either the BBC or ITV websites and I am sure that lots of people who were unable or not allowed to watch the matches, made covert arrangements to watch them at their desk. Many companies are introducing web monitoring / filtering software that allows management to monitor which pages users are accessing and for how long. These packages are now sophisticated enough to block access to specific sites at specific times and for specific users. I wonder how many firms used such software to prevent access to the football matches during the world cup; and I wonder if it was it a good idea to do so.

I am sure arguments can be made for both blocking and allowing, as always it depends on the user and their attitude to the system. However, spare a thought for the poor workers without offices, who spend their time travelling around the country, holding their meetings in coffee shops or service stations, no-one made arrangements for them to watch the matches. But I bet they arranged their diary so they could sit in the garden at home to enjoy the matches in the sun.

Is summer here? I hope so!