I only follow a few sports teams, but for the teams I do follow, Sportacular (that's the iTunes link for the free version, and here's the paid version, sans ads) is definitely my app of choice. For nearly every professional sport you can think of, the app will track scores, plays, schedules, standings, and anything else you need to know about everything from NFL to college football to the English Premier League and the PGA.

Right after iPhone OS 3.0 came out, the developer added in push notifications, and now I've got push updates coming whenever the Cubs have a game starting and ending (or at least, when they did -- there's always next year) and whenever a Bears quarter ends. Sportacular even has a few social features happening -- you can make picks and discuss each game with other fans using your Facebook login, as well as read news and updates about each team in the games you check out.

The app was updated to version 1.6 last night, and the new features include better game pages for NFL and NCAA football, and option to manage and track your fantasy football team in conjunction with their fantasy football app on Facebook. The one bummer I have is that they don't have actual media of the games -- for that, you'll probably have to go for an official app. But especially as a free download (the ads are definitely non-intrusive), Sportacular is really impressive with everything it does to help you track your favorite sports and teams.

DirecTV, which I love dearly and which supplies signal to eight screens in my house, has just announced the NFL Mobile app [iTunes link] which doesn't go live until September 13th (although you can download it now). Once working, the app will let you watch live streams of all NFL Sunday Ticket football games, including the Red Zone channel. The Red Zone channel changes from game to game as the ball gets inside an opponent's 20 yard line while a narrator explains just what's going on.

The app also will display scores, statistics for players and teams, as well as video clips and highlights from each game. So far there has been no word as to whether video streaming will be available on 3G as well as Wi-Fi, but we'll know soon enough.

This is wonderful news for football fans who are already jonesing during pre-season, but it's not all hearts and flowers. For the privilege of using this free app, you need to plunk down $379.95 for programming. The NFL Season Ticket will run you $299.95 but that's not good enough to run the app. Additionally you'll need to toss in another $80 to buy the SuperFan package which gives you games in high-definition, stats and the Red Zone Channel, making the NFL Mobile app the most expensive free app in the world.

As I haven't seen the streaming yet, I can't comment on how good it might be, but I'm very encouraged due to the amazing implementation of the DirecTV Scheduling app [iTunes link], that Mel Martin covered upon its release.

I really love this app. It's much easier to use than the often arcane DirecTV web site for scheduling programs. Searching for programs is a snap. Just type in a few letters and all matches come right up. From there you can decide which receiver you would like to have record the show, set the recording, and even record a season pass which grabs every instance of the show according to rules you set up. Rules include recording only new shows, new and repeats, etc. It can also be set to 'record if possible' meaning that if shows are already set at that time they have precedence over your request, or to 'definitely record' which gives your newly searched show precedence over your record queue.

The only glitch I found isn't in the app, but most likely in the DirecTV system itself. If you have a DirecTV box running the TiVo OS, you cannot record season passes. My DirecTV 10-250 is one of these, but it's getting long in the tooth and doesn't record hi-definition shows from the MPEG-4 transponder in any event. More modern DirecTV OS machines like my DirecTV 20-700 will record season passes and anything else you can throw at it.

If you have DirecTV and an iPhone or iPod touch, you need to go and download the DirecTV app. With all the added functionality, you'll feel much better about paying your monthly bill.

Here are some pictures of both apps.

As I write this, there are 12 excruciatingly long days until the start of the 2007 NFL football season. This year, the best-dressed Macs will have spiffy new dashboard widgets to help us follow our fantasy picks, favorite teams, league stats, and every game nuance we can think of. Here are the top five widgets every football fan needs to have:

• NFL Kickoff 2007 Countdown 4.0 - If you need to know right down to the nanosecond how long it is before kickoff, this widget is for you. Okay, it doesn't offer quite that much detail, but it will get you within the minute range. The rest you can figure out on your own.

• WagerWidget - If you like a friendly bet to go with your game, the WagerWidget gives you point spreads, odds updates, and other tips you might need to know before you make that call to Johnny NoFingers.

• Apple's widget directory - There's all sorts of goodies lurking here, like news feeds for the Cowboys and Raiders.

• Fantasy Control - If you've got a fantasy football team of your own, than this you need this. It offers real-time news and analysis for teams all across the league. (NOTE: Requires the Yahoo Widget installer for Mac)

• Football Widget 1.1.2 - The granddaddy of all widgets, this cool tool keeps you up to date on everything you need to know: Current scores, previous weeks' results, conference standings and more.
  

• Sky Sports Football News Widget - In the interest of fairness, this one's for the Brits among us. I hear your teams play football with their actual feet. What's up with that?

If you want to relive that abysmal game for only $1.99US (it's a 22 minute video), just click here to be taken to the iTunes Store.

Now that the season is over, I wonder if that's the end of NFL content in iTunes? The Pro Bowl will be played this weekend, and the NFL Network (which has been providing content all along) will continue to broadcast, of course.

Oh, who am I kidding? Football is over. Darnit.

Apple has fostered a relationship with the NFL this year, posting game and team highlights, as well as NFL network programming, to the iTunes Store all season long. We're sure that Superbowl Highlights will also be added, but until then you can relive Superbowls past through the eyes of the players and coaches who were on the field in a new series of videos [iTunes link].

I'll be rooting for the Bears this year, only because the Colts eliminated my beloved Patriots. Maybe I'll just relive the Pats' 2004 season.

[Via Infinite Loop]

Oh, yes I am. If you like a little NFL mixed in with you OS X, check out 2006 NFL by Kelly Phillips. It's a Dashboard widget that breaks down every game of the 2006 NFL season. Flip it over, and get each team's win/loss record, sorted by conference and division.

If you just want to focus on a single team, Kelly has got you covered. There is a Dashboard widget available for every individual NFL team as well. Check them out if football is your thing.

Finally, let me add...Go, Pats!

According to Market Watch, the NFL's internet licensing deal expires in May, and they've gone shopping for a replacement. They're supposedly in talks with several vendors, including Apple. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that they're "...wide open" to all sorts of possibilities, which probably means they're waiting to see who has the biggest bank account.

The college bowl games did well when they were made available in the iTMS earlier this year, and I believe that the CSTV programs [iTunes link] are also popular. So maybe Apple has a chance. I'm certain their pockets are deep enough.

[Via Tunevision]