When I received the participation, at least three months ago, I didn’t pay much attention to it. A friend who gets married on the evening of 11 July 2021. Think of the heat, not the final of a European Championship. And let’s face it, even if I had been the most avid of the Azzurri fans, and if I had long ago marked the date on the calendar, I would not have worried: no one believed Italy in the final, Mancini also said. But after the semifinal won with Spain, a little for fun and a little to test the ground, I write to the bride: “Are you preparing a big screen?”. She replies that they do not have many alternatives: better a collective vision, at this point, of the faces lost in the smartphone or tablet placed on the bottles on the tables. This was the idea. But he hadn’t come to terms with the limitations of technology.
Arriving at the reception, the first surprise: the structure cannot count on a Sky decoder or digital terrestrial, so the two large TVs placed for the guests will rely on the internet connection. It seems like a good solution, after all: we live in the age of streaming, of unlimited Giga, of platforms that offer all kinds of content on the go. RaiPlay on the one hand, just register, Sky Go on the other, you just need a Sky subscription.
As the last season of Serie A taught us, with the criticisms of Dazn when the signal crashed unexpectedly, streaming has a big problem: the quality of the connection. It also depends on who transmits the images, but for an ideal use you need (at least) 4G coverage.
In the place where the reception took place, the network was good. So the nightmare of the spinning wheel, symbol of the infinite buffering that may not be successful, did not exist. If anything, the problem was another, which grips the streaming every time you follow a live sporting event: the delay of the video in short, is the slight delay that is felt compared to the same event watched on a traditional TV. Generally speaking, we are talking about 30 seconds, which in the case of a football match are an eternity: a team may have scored while the spectators of a live stream are still witnessing the postponement of the goalkeeper who initiated the action. It is a not insignificant problem, which in the course of the European Championships has also produced viral videos, with fans playing treacherous tricks on their neighbors a few seconds late, pretending cheers or shouts of disappointment for non-existent goals scored or missed.
Euro2020, the fans watch the game on a delayed basis: the neighbor makes fun of them celebrating non-existent goals
In my case, I was quite peaceful. In the absence of digital terrestrial or pay TV, at least from this point of view I could feel comfortable. Both televisions on RaiPlay and at 9 pm we start. After a few minutes, in the general confusion created by those who watch the game and by those who, rightly, also celebrate the spouses, some guests placed in the most unhappy positions, compared to the screens, have drawn the trump card: smartphones or tablets on which they have started watching the game with Sky Go.
From the screams of approval / disapproval, I immediately understand one thing: I am ahead of most of the people who are following the final on Rai Play. A few more minutes pass and I understand another: those who watch Italy on Sky Go on the tablet are even further ahead than those who are watching it – always with Sky Go – on their smartphone.
As you can imagine, the effect of this delayed triple is disastrous. Whoever has the tablet wins over everyone, and when Italy scores a grotesque and at the same time hilarious scene is consumed: the other guests do not resign themselves to the immediate exultation, they wait their turn staring at the TV. And so many seconds go by that someone, in fact, believes in a joke.
Instead Bonucci scored, it’s all true, and after 90 ‘and extra time we go to penalties. In the moment of maximum tension, and for the very nature of the penalties that are fought alternately with a significant dead time between one and the other, the delay illustrated so far produces the greatest confusion.
The open space where the tables have been set up is crossed by continuous cheers and strangled shouts, for a marked or saved penalty. And with three different signs no one understands anything anymore: if we are winning, if we are desperate, if it is all over and you are still there to suffer. In the end, the twist, really unexpected. The English Saka, the one to whom Donnarumma will parry the shot by handing us the cup, has not even started his walk towards the spot. The distant voice of a guest, on the edge of the reception, breaks the deathly silence: “We are champions, we have won! We won!”.
Nobody believes him. It is too far ahead even for those who are following the penalty lottery on tablets. I understand this from their expression. But the elderly gentleman approaches and insists: “We have won!”. I also do not take it seriously, I have my hands over my ears in an attempt (in vain) to cover up any screams and enjoy the triumph live.
But then, when he is one step away, I understand that he is right, that he is telling the truth. He has an old radio in his hand. Don’t beat that one. England, on the other hand, and the Wembley stadium is all a tricolor. The bride waves the flag, she is celebrated doubly on a July night when we never thought of winning a European championship and certainly never would have thought of looking at it like that.
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