This past weekend the Bisons men’s and women’s volleyball teams took on their Trinity Western University (TWU) counterparts for back-to-back home games at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. The Bisons women’s team took the series against TWU, two games to none, while the men’s team split their set of games 1-1. The highlight of the weekend events, for this reporter anyway, wasn’t necessarily the fact that I was able to take in all four of the Bisons home games but the fact that I was able to do so in the comfort of my own home. That’s right ,ladies and gentlemen, the Bison Sports program is officially now offering streaming webcast access to all volleyball (and basketball) home conference games this season for both their men’s and women’s teams.

Now all you Bison sports fans pay close attention because I will not be repeating this: the address to visit in order to watch live streaming Bisons games is Educationcdn.com/schools/bisons/. There you have it, you are now a full-fledged member of the online Bisons sports fan contingent. It feels good, doesn’t it? We of the online variety are a special breed; we take our coffee hot, our news fast, and our streaming content very seriously. We live perpetually in the fast lane, which is why the web 2.0 interface of the Bison webcast appeals to us so much.

Not only can we watch the games from wherever we please, we can also use the chat function to talk up other fans or even the commentators. I was trying it for the first time myself on Friday and I became curious as to whether the webcast for the basketball games was shot from the same camera perspective as was the volleyball games. I typed my question into the chat box and did the commentators answer me? You goddamn better believe they did, live on air too! Have I blown your minds again? Trust me when I say I was dearly afraid this might happen.

I must also warn you that the attraction is not without its faults. This will be the second year that Bison Sports has dabbled in webcast territory and although the effort has been truly valiant, the program as a whole is still finding its legs. Midway through one of this weekend’s men’s volleyball games the chat feed mysteriously went dark and the commentators, admittedly, did not know whether or not the streaming feed was still running. Not ones to be deterred by the malfunctioning interface, however, our brave heroes stormed onward into the breach, not once allowing technical difficulties to get in the way of a good game. For this I salute you Bison webcast commentators.

Getting back to the actual games themselves, the top performance here obviously goes to the Bison women who not only snatched victory from the jaws of defeat Friday night but did so in impressive fashion, recovering from a 0-2 deficit to win the game by a score of 3-2. The following night the women’s team scored another victory in a close game that improved their team record to an impressive 7-2 on the season. Both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams don’t play again until after the winter break when they resume their regular season schedule in early January.

While there is certainly room for improvement, the service that the Bison Sports program is providing here is absolutely commendable. No longer is there any excuse for Internet-savvy fans to miss any Bisons home action as the U of M sports program is reaching out to any and all who may be interested in the Herd, wherever they may be.