In a move stirring up some debate, NBC announced last week that it will stream it’s NFL football games this season using Flash video instead of the much ballyhooed Silverlight it used for the Olympics. The streaming service, marking the first time full-length NFL football games have been available in the US over the Internet, made its debut on Thursday during the NFL season opener between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. Besides the video feed, the streaming service also offers the ability to switch camera angles, view picture-in-picture playback, receive live statistics and interact with commentators in real time. If you haven’t gotten your fill of football and Flash this weekend, mosey on over and let us know what you think. Which looks better? The Silverlight version of Michael Phelps swimming for the gold or the Flash version of Brett Favre throwing his first post-unretirement pass as a New York Jet?

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Football commentary goes virtual today when ESPN’s NFL Countdown will debut EA Sport’s new Virtual Playbook technology. A specialized digital studio camera and an adaptation of EA’s Madden NFL video game will combine to create a virtual field filled with virtual players and live commentators. Commentators can use the gaming engine to analyze team strategy, recreate plays, and simulate “what if” scenarios (what if Eli Manning scrambled instead of throwing to David Tyree on 3rd and 5 with 1:15 remaining, would the Giants still have come home winners?). We don’t know but maybe this new Virtual Playbook technology can tell us. Anyway, starting ttoday our NFL football commentary will be reduced elevated to grown men dancing around inside a video game, interacting with virtual players. Kinda freaky, yet really cool.

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