By 
Everyone has a happy place. For some, it’s somewhere quiet — a moonlit beach, maybe. For others, it’s in the thick of things — at the front of a gig, or free soloing the Eiger, or something equally daft.
I’d probably say something similar. One day, I might yearn for a higgledy-piggledy pub in the Lake District; the next, BASE jumping from Kilimanjaro. But I know where my actual happy place is. It’s the right-hand seat of my sofa, 20 minutes before a major sporting event. And if you’re completely honest, it’s probably yours too.
Before you ask, yes, I love going to watch live sport. I was at Lord’s last month for that international diplomatic incident between Jonny Bairstow and Alex Carey. I saw a grown man holding an inflatable kangaroo cackle in the faces of two England fans booing him. It was ace.
But watching from home might have been simpler. For one thing, I missed that actual diplomatic incident because I was asking my mate for more crisps. At home with Sky Glass, I’d have been able to pause, rewind and fume at my leisure.
Let’s be blunt, the days your granddad told you about — when he could get the omnibus to see his local team, pick up pie and chips, sink several pints of mild and still have change from a threepenny bit — are long gone. Investing in the best TV to watch live sport on is far more sensible than chucking fifties at stay-away chairmen.
That mysterious cabal of non-specific businessmen won’t change the channel for you – like you can with Sky Glass’s instant voice command – and good luck getting them to record your fave shows. Glass, on the other hand: couldn’t be easier. It can find that sports match you're desperate to watch in an instant and with the press of a button, a show is added to your personal playlist. Plus, it’s all saved on the cloud so you’ll never run out of storage. It really is smarter than a smart TV.
My early memories of watching sport on TV are all coloured with cathode ray fuzz, the 1998 World Cup bleached-out and tinted by Provençal sun and Tim Henman’s frantic fist pumping trapped behind lines of static.
Now though, watching at home is an immersive experience. Ultra HD has changed the game, quite literally. I got a new TV just before the Euros in 2021 and spent a month slack-jawed at being able to count the hairs on Kalvin Phillips’ chin.
The 4K clarity of Sky Glass is yet another quantum leap. With its Auto Enhance tech to optimise picture and sound, it’s comfortably the best TV to watch sport on. In fact, switch to Sports Mode and you’ll get extra sharp, vivid colours and immersive sound. The picture quality is so good, we’re merely months away from going beyond pin-sharp resolution to being able to hear Scott McTominay’s innermost thoughts through those six Dolby Atmos® speakers. Don’t say you’re not a little bit interested.
Under it all though, live sport is a safe way to fire off emotions that don’t fit anywhere else. When Jos Buttler ran out Martin Guptill to win the Cricket World Cup for England in 2019, I was crouching on the floor of my girlfriend’s parents’ living room. I’ve never contorted myself or made the involuntary noises I made during the super over before or since.
Those intense feelings forge that sense of connection. There aren’t many unpredictable, communal events any more but sport delivers them by the bucketload. Feeling it all yourself is one thing; seeing the faces of your mates and family — which, with Sky Live’s interactive watch-together function, you can do even when you’re apart thanks to the nifty built-in camera — is magic.
When that what-just-happened moment comes — Alessia Russo’s back-heel, Ben Stokes going full Rambo, the unheralded star who takes next year’s Olympics by storm — there’s nothing like it. You can keep your happy places. I’m good on the sofa.
Discover the ideal smarter TV for watching sports at Sky.com/glass
