With a Slingbox hookup at home, cable's reach is now endless. Photo illustration by Jim Luzzi

If you're a traveling sports fan who hates to miss your home team's games, technology has just thrown you a lifeline. The Slingbox, from Sling Media Inc., a tech firm in San Mateo, Calif., plugs you into your own living room, enabling you to use your laptop to watch every television channel that you get on your home TV. Fred from Philadelphia can sit in a Tokyo hotel room and watch the Phillies on his computer screen, and Harry Kalas's calls will lose nothing in translation.  ... To get immediate access to this complete story you must be a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED magazine subscriber. If you are not currently a subscriber, see below for a special offer.