hellorockview1

I am a sports fan and I do not have a TV package so I can't watch on TV or streaming on my iPad. I would go to the casino or my local Irish pub each week for football and I would go often for NBA and NHL games; and didn't drink at all since I knew I had to drive and I was very sketched by driving with even a .01 BAC. I am more of an introvert and went to these places alone and only spent a couple bucks on a club soda and lime that I would get refilled through the game, which made it way cheaper than spending 100+ bucks a month on a cable package that had all the games. I finally bought the NHL package for my Roku, but local games were still blacked out on the package so I had to go out and watch them.

However, since I stopped drinking a few weeks ago I have seen the whole barber analogy and that hanging out in bars is a bad idea. I have never had the urge to drink in these places when I had to drive but I don't want to think that I am a unique addict either since I still raged on Fridays and Saturdays at home or when my wife was driving.

With all of this in mind, where do you people without cable go to watch sports where you won't be triggered to drink or where you fellow sober community won't advise against going? I am sure as hell not missing the NBA Finals or Stanley Cup games this week.
Besides busting my ass at work or spending time with my wife (who doens't care about sports) I am a total hermit and don't have many friends to watch games with, and none of the ones I do have are sober. I go to meetings but I don't BS with people since I am not social and really have no interest in making any new friends now that I already have to be social at work and it takes everything out of me. Telling a high functioning autistic person who is introverted and drawn within to make friends at meetings isn't going to work. I want what they have but I don't want much else to do with them socially.

Thanks

Soberwolf

What's more important the NBA finals & Stanley cup or your well-being

it's a no brainier sign up to cable by staying sober your unspent money can pay for the cable ?

KissMyTiara

Amazon fire stick? I have one but don't watch sports. I think they have live broadcasts.

Ninjaturtle

Nfl Sunday ticket.

thomas11

Not sure how much you drank, but I'm willing to guess if you did the math, you could afford to pay for it in your home if you stopped drinking alcohol (and the fuel and maintenance over the course of the year on your vehicle. May sound silly, but try the math and see where you are at.

I'm saving about $200 a month on booze and I never went to bars.

hellorockview1

Unfortunately that requires at least a year commitment to a cable package and would cost me north of $1,500+ per year which is way out of my discretionary budget. I'm not taking the roughly $2,500 I spent on booze per year and allotting most of it in to a cable company. It is going to pay off student loans and not be a financial net-negative in society any longer.

Also, I only watch sports on TV and don't want 300 channels of garbage just to watch a few games per week. Any dollar of mine those doesn't go to the talking head news channels or any of the other mindless syndicated fluff on TV is a good thing.

I have had issues with both of the cable companies in the area and have cancelled subscriptions to both vowing not to ever buy packages from them again for both monetary and moral reasons. Of course I still have to use them for the internet which sucks.

YouTube Comcast cancellation calls. These mirror my experience with both of them, and they can burn in hell for all I care after that.

Soberwolf

Going to a bar isn't going to help and I'm pretty sure there is cable for just sports with no other package you seem really against that and sound agitated can you imagine feeling like this in a sports bar

I think this is AV and I'm calling you out on it there is so many ways rather than going to a bar filled with ppl drinking

Is it the FOMO fear of missing out

What is more important.... sports.... or your well-being

Do you have any trusted friends who are watching the game without the drinking ?

At the end of the day make sobriety your priority

Know were here for you friend

hellorockview1

I'm actually looking for an alternative to a sports bar. I don't fear missing drinking as much as I just want to watch finals. If there wasn't alcohol (or pot, my number 1 vice) that would actually be preferred.

And no, I don't have any friends here I can watch a game with that are sober. I moved here for work and have been a hermit besides when I would drink with co-workers. I would usually go out and watch sports by myself, which also gave me hermit time from my wife which I need as she is socially demanding and I can't get time for myself in the house.

JoeCree

Im like you with regards to sports watching and my general disdain to Cable Companies, however you just cant beat them, they own the market.
Try looking at the 1500/yr as your treat for "life enjoyment".. we have to understand and appreciate that there is a cost to our hobbies.
There is no other alternative to the sports bar other than someones house (or a live game), and since you love sports that much i think biting the bullet to get cable is a smart investment.
I also go to a website: sportlemon for watching any and all sporting events around the world. It's streaming live, but you need a good speed internet and some net savvy to navigate the pop ups and clickbait. Also some streams get pulled during the game so you have to click on another link.
For regular season games this is the best option because not every game is on tv, but for playoffs you have networks carrying the game so you dont need to stream it.

doggonecarl

They are broadcasting the games on local radio here. If they aren't where you are, I think you can stream the broadcast on your computer.

Gonnachange

For better or worse I'm also a Comcast customer and use their Xfinity and internet services. I know in the past they have offered introductory terms on some packages so it may be worth your while to give them a call or check on line to see if anything is available that would fit your needs for the playoffs that are now in progress and then cancel.

AnvilheadII

there is a site online which streams every sports game played.....i am struggling to remember the name for you. fizzywig or something. we used it to watch packer games when they aren't televised here in Seattle. let me go do the Google.....

here's one...
VIPBox | VIPBox TV - Sports On Demand Online For Free

ah, here it is
Live Sky Sports 2 Live Stream | Sky Sports 2 Live Streaming

sometimes the streaming is a little hurky jerky, but you may have better computer skills than i!!!

shockozulu

I can't get my local baseball games here thanks to the channel asking too much money from the cable companies. So even the local bars can't show them. I have my laptop hooked up to my TV and stream the games on similar websites as Anvil listed. Even if bars did air the games, I don't think they would ever be a safe place to go.

Rar

When a game (any game) my husband wants to watch which is not on TV, he streams it from the internet. I don't know how he finds it, but apparently it is possible.

PS- I will find out from my husband tomorrow which site he uses to stream.

Wastinglife

Sports are a huge trigger for me. One of my favourite things was to watch sports in a bar and get drunk. Especially during playoffs. I need cable at home or I would be out at bars watching the games and drinking. It saves me money and a lot of regret in the long run. I can watch sports at home alone and not feel triggered but in a bar with other people drinking, no way I couldn't drink.