Dream Streams

MLB's site is changing the way fans watch their teams

In addition to arm strength and the ability to turn on a 95-mph fastball, one thing that used to separate big leaguers from the rest of us was access to video of anything they ever did on the field. Since at least the 1980s, a hitter who wondered how he fared against lefties named Randy on Tuesday nights needed only ask to have a custom-made highlight reel appear in his locker. Fans can now do the same, thanks to the MLB.tv package on MLB.com, one of the coolest tools--and best bargains--on the Web. For $14.95 per month or $74.95 for the whole season, subscribers can watch every game, live or archived, and conduct customized searches of the MLB.tv vaults. (A few clicks calls up, say, every steal of third by Derek Jeter in 2006.) There's also an impressive library of milestones and classic games; Red Sox fans can relive the '78 playoff loss to the Yankees, then brighten up by watching Roger Clemens's 20-strikeout games. And new this year: MLB.tv's Mosaic feature (above), a godsend for fantasy owners. It lets fans watch six games at once, so they can make sure their teams are winning--and the rest of the division is losing.

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AMUSING PARODY
UnflinchingTriumph.com offers a hard look at a man who specializes in hard looks. The site hosts director J.R. McCord's Unflinching Triumph, a hilarious mock documentary about a fictitious Californian named Philip Rockhammer and his quest to win the national staredown championship.

WELCOME NEWS FOR HOCKEY JUNKIES
In November the NHL signed a deal with YouTube permitting the site to host game highlights--meaning that the countless goal collages already on the site will continue to have a home. Alas, MLB and the NFL aren't quite as accommodating. Both leagues forced the video-sharing site to drop copyrighted game footage.

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