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Blogs:
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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
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Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Jul 04, 2008
With the baseball season in full swing and the only sport in the spotlight right now, FSN chose the right time to launch its original series Baseball's Golden Age, an entertaining look back at America's pastime.
The premiere episode, which airs at 8 p.m. Sunday, examines the allure of the sport that has been lost to recent generations because of labor strife, the perception — at least in this corner — that the best athletes no longer play baseball and constant questions as to whether some of the game's most hallowed records are tainted by the alleged use of performance enhancing drugs by some superstar players.
In the first episode, the series summarizes the attraction succinctly. Baseball is that rare sport that is better in person than on television. They romanticize the notion of attending the game through comments from Bob Costas, Larry King and others, but baseball is one of those events where sitting, sipping on an overpriced tall cool one, biting a hot dog and cracking open peanuts makes sense and is relaxing.
The pacing feels different in person. Ever try to watch a nonplayoff game on television? Turtle races and watching paint dry come to mind.
One of the more intriguing segments looks at two of baseball's greatest players, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, who were contemporaries for some time. Two greats. Two styles, and the filmmakers highlight them. The best quote comes from the Indians' own Bob Feller, who said sneaking a fastball past Williams was akin to sneaking sunshine past a rooster in the morning.
What's appealing about many of these stories is that you see many of these athletes in glorious color. As narrator Anthony LaPaglia (TV's Without a Trace) states at one point: We only know many of these heroes in black-and-white. Courtesy of home movie footage from ballplayers' family members and fans, DiMaggio and Williams come to life in color. Kudos for that move that adds to the series' aesthetic value.
One curious move, the use of the charismatic LaPaglia, whose voice has an ever-so-slight New York accent. He's a great actor, but he hails from Australia. I guess it shows the international cachet that baseball has nowadays. That's of little matter, though, Baseball's Golden Age proves to be an entertaining half hour that will allow fans to connect to the game's storied past.
Breathe Buckeyes fans
Will it be a case of here we go again? Ohio State released the early part of the Buckeyes' football TV schedule Wednesday, and the Big Ten Network claimed two of the first three games. Those must-see games: the opener Aug. 30 against Youngstown State and the Troy University game on Sept. 20.
I'm sure that plenty of fans are set to go ballistic over this, but I suggest patience more than prayer that Time Warner Cable and BTN will get a deal done. TW is the dominant cable company in Ohio, and it's because of a lack of a deal with them that this state has a lower penetration than surrounding states.
With Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, reaching a deal in recent weeks, it forced TW back to the table. Having talked with folks on both sides, there's something tangible there that hasn't been in the past — optimism.
If I were a betting man, I'd stake some Benjamins on a deal being done before the start of the season.
It could come down to the wire, but life's no fun without a little drama.
Gladiators: a TV hit
Northeast Ohioans yawned whenever the Arena Football League's Gladiators hit the airwaves locally during the regular season. Not so for their first playoff game. The Gladiators scored the highest rating — a 2.5 — for ESPN2 in a local market since the league and the Worldwide Leader's sibling began partnering with the AFL for broadcasts in 2007.
Speaking of ESPN
Congratulations to Racers softball pitcher Angela Tincher. ESPN nominated the former Virginia Tech Hokie for best female college athlete in this year's ESPYs, the channel's yearly awards derby.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net.
With the baseball season in full swing and the only sport in the spotlight right now, FSN chose the right time to launch its original series Baseball's Golden Age, an entertaining look back at America's pastime.
Get the full article here.
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