I had guessed that Canadian listings would be on the site by today, but they’re not here yet. We have Postal Code instead of ZIP Code everywhere, and the back-end code is just dying to munge on a LetterNumberLetter NumberLetterNumber pattern, but we’re still working on the data. The problem is getting the data increases our TV budget by 50%, but only 5% of our visitors are Canadian.

But Mark, if you get the data, won’t you get more Canadian visitors?

Yes. And that’s the rub. So we’re trying to find a solution including looking for sponsors. If you know anyone send them our way, eh?

Happy Valentine’s Day folks. I’ll be at a bar drinking and watching college basketball—just like last year. If you knew what’s good for you, you’d be doing the same.

xkcd.com

I gotta admit, I’m pretty glad last week is done. Not because of the excessive ball I played this weekend that has every muscle in my body sore, but because we got pub from a lot of websites about our launch, including a review from the Siskel & Ebert of websites: TechCrunch.com. The review was unexpected, so there was a lot of scrambling and IMs full of capital letters that maybe I’ll share sometime. The good news though, is we should hit 150 users tomorrow and people seem to be having fun.

It’s a good application of the community voting model that benefits greatly from the automated analysis of scores to determine interestingness. They also tie it all together by letting you track your watchlist by RSS and iCal feeds, check if your friends are getting a game you aren’t. (more from TechCrunch)

Its a combination of digg and tv guide but focused on sports. Basically people ‘digg’ a sports event that they’re currently watching, and alert others that theres a great game going on. Theres also a decent amount of video and recommended upcoming games. Its a pretty cool idea, and I thought i’d share it with you. (more from Hotfoot)

I really like the concept, how they’ve implemented it, and can’t wait to see what they plan to do with it in the future. (more from RotoNation)

Seemingly like every other week since RUWT? launched, this week will be a big one. We’re pounding the keyboards and the pavement to keep innovating and make sure you never miss a classic. As always, you can drop me a line with questions and feedback at mark@areyouwatchingthis.com.

Having spent over a hundred million dollars building the service from scratch (about $30 million for the commerical alone), it was always a question of “when” and not “if”, ESPN Mobile would make a comeback. Verizon was the provider that ESPN shuttled all its subscribers to when it shuttered its doors, so bringing back ESPN Mobile on Verizon’s network was probably the plan along.

Say it ain’t so. ESPN’s mobile service has returned from the grave and is nursing itself back to health over on Verizon Wireless’ VCAST service — not another MVNO, but a proper mobile content deal. more…

Hey folks, we have a new way for you to show your team pride: You can now put your pic where your passion is.

If you’re a real fan of your team, hop on the bandwagon to have your picture displayed on their home page. And then automagically, all of your favorite teams will be posted on your user profile for the world to see. I just hopped on the Yankees , Knicks (ugh), and the G-men.

Move quickly—users are sorted by who has been on the bandwagon the longest…

Nothing witty to say, just very interesting news. It’s hard not to think about what it might mean for this site. There were lots of rumors about this back in December—looks like they finally got the deal done. This is awesome news for that entire team. Congrats.

Today, Sports Illustrated is announcing the acquisition of FanNation, albeit at a less ridiculous price: “at least” $20 million for both FanNation and an investment in parent company STI. more…