Sporting With Egon 04.12.03
Created | Updated Dec 4, 2003
Egon is away due to a family bereavement, so here is several with the sport news.
Well, and let's see... It's football (Amfoot) to the forefront of American newspaper coverage with some of us die-hard baseball fans scrambling for the latest rumors on which free agent's agent is meeting which team's general manager, but one big logjam was settled last week, as Arizona's ace pitcher Curt Schilling agreed to a trade to the Boston Red Sox (for some $12-$13 million a season), thus setting the high standard for the bidding. Newspapers and sports news internet sites are a-buzz, each trying to get the 'beat' on the story, if even by minutes. It's nearly impossible for traditional newspapers (the kind delivered to our paperboxes) so a major source of up-to-the-minute doings are the old newspaper standby, the Associated Press wire service.
Back in the days of old, the teletype machines were THE most up-to-date source of breaking news, in the world of politics, war or sport. Now that all but the smallest papers have internet sites linked to the AP, it's not uncommon for a report in Los Angeles to start "According to this morning's Boston Globe...." long before the printing press in Boston rolls.
So newspapers have adapted, using internet websites - as has the weekly h2g2 Post. Sure, there are deadlines in production of an on-line weekly newspaper, but Shazz, Greebo T. Cat and the rest of the Post Crew will be celebrating once this issue gets 'put to bed,' as we said in the dark, old days of the 70's, as simple word processors were an advance on Underwood typewriters and carbon paper copies.
Anyone who worked for a newspaper knows the feeling of the whole building starting to shake when the presses roll off their first few copies, and the scramble for the 'bulldog' edition to come rolling out, and the frantic re-adjusting by the ink-stained pressmen, as those of us in ties huddled in a corner to see how our words appeared on the printed page, to be read by hundreds (or thousands) of our friends, family and neighbors.
Now it's all a mouse-click away, but I've been known to walk by the local newspaper building on a late summer's eve to hear the heartbeat of the printing press, because that's what it was, back in the 70's, when radio and teevee were still 'ripping and reading' the latest stories off the AP, the UPI, the Reuters teletype machines.
From Gutenberg's printing press, to Benjamin Frankin's 'Poor Richard's Almanac' and today's point-and-click, newspapers in one form or another provide us a view outside of ourselves... you can imagine my immediate satisfaction and identification at clicking a few keys to find h2g2 and the Post a year or so ago. All I can say is thanks... thanks for all the fish (and fish-wrappers), Douglas Adams, and to all its intrepid correspondents.
Oh yeah, I was supposed to be writing about American Sports, wasn't I?
So, Amfoot prevails in the American news, and this week's games include at least seven critical contests out of the 16 scheduled1. Starting out, in the 1 PM EST games we have Indianapolis at Tennesee for the division lead in the American South, Cincinnati at Baltimore for the lead in the American North, Dallas at Philadelphia in the National East, plus Seattle at Minnesota, which affects both the National West and North. In the 4 PM EST games, we have Miami at New England and Kansas City at Denver. In the National Monday Night Football game, televised nationally at 9 PM EST (far too late for next week's Post deadlines) the 9-3 St. Louis Rams take on the woeful but beloved Cleveland Browns, who are out of any possible playoff race with a 4-8 mark.
To start: the Indy Colts at 9-3 at the Tennessee (9-2 going into the Monday night game 01.12.03, past my deadline) Titans for the division lead AND the playoff wild card. Two good quarterbacks in the Colts' Peyton Manning and the Titans' Steve McNair, with the winner atop the division and the loser leading the wild card playoff race. That's one I'll try to watch, but it's more likely I'll see the Cincinnati Bengals at the Baltimore Ravens, two teams who have overcome adversity to be at 7-5 (three games ahead of the beloved, if inept, Cleveland Browns) in the Amwerican Central. The loser of that one gets a serious blow to its playoff chances.
On the other teevee network, it's a tossup between the 8-4 Dallas Cowboys at the 9-3 Philadelphia Eagles, featuring Dallas coach Bill Parcells against the Iggles quarterback Donovan McNabb, and the Seahawks (8-4 Seattle) at Vikings (7-5, but atop the National North.) Either game will bear watching, whichever my local station chooses to televise.
The Miami (8-4 Dolphins) at New England (10-2 Patriots) game is probably the best bet at 4 PM EST, but the NFL-leading 11-1 Kansas City Chiefs at the 7-5 Denver Broncos is another division rivalry where anything can happen.
As for the Monday Night game, the 9-3 Rams are coming off a 48-17 thumping of Minnesota behind three touchdown runs by Marshall Faulk and the Browns at 4-8, off a 34-7 embarassment in Seattle. It could get ugly on national teevee.
So that's all from the shores of the Great Lake named Erie, where was have a 'lake effect snow advisory' for a possible three inches of the white stuff and a good chance for an overnight ice storm. Brrr...
See you in sports and happy birthday to the h2g2 Post...
