sandinista

worldjockstrap

• TWITTER: I cannot tell you how instrumental Twitter is to my 2014 WC experience!! Granted okay, Twitter is also instrumental to my life experience, but Twitter has also done some really cool things to enhance the WC experience, such as integrate score-keeping into both the app and web interface. More to the point, you can follow #worldcuphairwatch and get good solid commentary in real time, which might be important considering...
• UNIVISION: ... if you're a cable-less poor American like me, Univision is the only free stream available that doesn't involve doing some sketchy legal shit that your IT department will probably stink-eye you for or something. (If you have ESPN and can sign in OR are lucky to live in countries other than the USA: ignore this!) Downside if you're not fluent in Spanish: obvious. Upside: you have Twitter to translate for you, the charming cry of GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL in your ears, and tiny markers for each goal and red/yellow card if you turn on a certain button. Sometimes, it's the small things. IMPORTANT, HOWEVER: after the Group Stages and they're not airing "gratis," as they say, so we might need to get creative after 2 July.
• ESPN RADIO: Paranoid you'll get fired if you're watching? ESPN Radio has a dece stream going of announcers outlining the action. It's not perfect (READ: I would literally give anything to listen to ANY OTHER STATION), but it's okay. If you live in the UK and aren't taking advantage of BBC Radio's coverage, I'm judging you so hard right now it's stupid. Similarly, I'm hoping that our international brothers and sisters have better avenues available to them.
• SB NATION (OR YOUR SPORT E-MAG OF CHOICE): ngl: I adore SB Nation for its wit, candor, beauty, and unabashed catering to the concept of fan culture. I also love SB Nation because they have great interactive coverage for every match. Any decent outlet has a decent play-by-play (hell, even FIFA does), but I really enjoy the people and tone behind SB Nation. But look out there for your outlet of choice – the BBC's is gorgeous, for instance – and you'll probably find something stellar.

How do you accommodate a busy schedule with the Great Global Footy Festival? Natter down in comments! Bonus if you also have great apps to share, because I'm all about that life for real.

sandinista

• VISUAL PLAY-BY-PLAY COURTESY OF NYTIMES.COM GLOBAL: For those of you who can't stream because you're, idk, at the office, The New York Times has a cool widget on the front of its Global Site that splits up the game in an easy graphical format. It shows you how many touch/passes/goals were made at what time, as well as a heat map to see where most of the action has been, a diagram of passes minute-by-minute, and overview graphs of the action. Bonus: their World Cup Coverage ain't that bad, either.
  
• TEXTING WASHINGTON POST FOR UPDATES: According to its Twitter site, you can text "SOCCER" to "98999" if you want results. (This is for another one for the office-stranded set.)