regarding recording television

i have seen the future of tv

this isn't exactly DVR related but last night i figured out the future of interactive tv. i'm one of those guys who has no interest in interacting with his tv. i like that it beams images and stories to me and i don't have to do a damn thing. but while watching baseball (free preview of the extra innings package) i realized that there needs to be a way to incorporate the tv images with my computer. i want to be able to hit a button on my remote which turns on an option that lays text over the screen telling me which players on screen are on which fantasy baseball team in my league.

let's say i like mark bellhorn's patience at the plate. ooh, i think, maybe i want to pick him up and put him on my team. i press a button on the remote and on-screen, i learn that he's a free agent. i decide to think about it and i switch to another game where i learn that carl crawford has just stolen another base. i've got to know - who has him on his team? press a button and the screen tells me in a little text box that he's on mooney's team. i decide to watch the game for a bit and i leave the interactive portion up. whenever there's a medium or tight shot of one or two players i'm notified on-screen in a non-obtrusive text box the name of the rotisserie team that players plays on.

the whole thing is a great combination of television coming at me, but also localized and personalized to a hyper-sensitive degree. it's interactive television the way i want it. and the extra-innings package is promoted as a fun extra to have for your fantasy baseball team. making it interactive is the next step and i can't wait for it (would someone with a few technical skills and access to the way television is broadcast (narrowcast?) mind getting on this right away?)

UPDATE (4/12/04): i'm slowly putting the pieces of this together in my mind. one of the key things needed will be the automatic identification of players on the field. i think this can be accomplished easily by stitching some sort of tiny microelectronic transmitter into the clothing of the player. and, obviously, this whole system would also work for football and other sports.

UPDATE (4/13/04): an expansion of this idea just popped into my head. i'd like to be able to add DVR functionality to this process. how fantastic would it be to be able to wake up tomorrow morning and have a randomly accessible, indexed version of a clip show of your fantasy baseball team waiting for you? imagine that you can watch only the innings your pitcher pitched, only the at bats your hitters took. it would be like your own personal "baseball tonight." and then you could also program the box to record all home runs hit by players who haven't been picked up by anyone. the possibilities are endless. the convergence is coming and i am ready to drink the kool-aid.