Red Sox-Yankees clash stirred up passions

Last Thursday I was in the lobby of our building when two fellas from the computer services department were leaving the building. They were oblivious to the world because they were deep in conversation.

They weren’t talking about the latest computer virus, or the newest gadget, or politics, or even the weather. What I overhead was “… you know Boston is just going to get swept in the World Series.”

Every weekday, at 10 a.m., I have the opportunity to make an argument for putting a sports story on A-1, the cover of the newspaper. It’s the most valuable real estate we have. Last Wednesday, as the Red Sox and Yankees recovered from Tuesday night’s excitement and prepared for Game 7, I didn’t push for space on A-1 at our 10 o’clock meeting. I think the two computer guys would have.

Perhaps I should have.

The Boston-New York series was historic and it was great TV, but I work in a sports department. I’m supposed to like this stuff. What I didn’t expect was the passion from co-workers. When Johnny Damon hit his grand slam last Wednesday, there was a TV on in the newsroom, one on in the features department and one on in the sports department. Our fourth floor erupted in cheers.

What the Boston-New York series did was bring very casual fans into the fray. Many of those people were not Boston fans, they were mainly anti-New York fans.

A reader called Thursday and just wanted to talk about baseball. He admitted he wasn’t a big Boston fan, just a huge baseball fan and a Yankee hater. “If Osama Bin Laden owned a team and they played the Yankees, I’d root for Osama’s team,” he said.

Wow!

My neighbor was ecstatic. “I hate those damn Yankees,” she told me. “I’m glad we’re going to have someone else win the World Series.”

I told her the Yankees didn’t win it last year. “Well, the year before,” she said. Nope, not then either. “Well, it seems like they win it every year.”

The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter why people were so glued to this sports drama. It only matters that they were. We should reflect that passion.

Yet, I’m still not convinced Yankees-Rex Sox was A-1 material. First, I’m not a big fan of putting game stories on A-1. I like my game stories on the sports page. Second, this was not a big shocking story the next day when the newspaper landed on your porch. Most of you knew the score. Third, this involved two teams from the East. It belonged on the front page of newspapers in Boston and New York.

I feel much more compelled to argue for A-1 space when the story is local and gives the reader something new. I am always pleased, however, just to have the discussion. It reminds me how much passion there is for sports.

Ersatz? Egads!

The Friday before last, Clark Fork was eagerly awaiting a homecoming football game against Post Falls Christian. That afternoon, just hours before kickoff, officials from Post Falls Christian called to inform the Wampus Cats that they could not play.

We reported the cancellation in our Idaho edition and referred to Post Falls Christian as the “ersatz opponent.” Ersatz is not a word I thought I would see in a sports section, but let me save you some time running for the Webster’s New World Dictionary. Synonyms include “fake,” “false,” “artificial” and “unreal.”

Understandably, Post Falls Christian coaches, players and parents were upset. As it turns out, injuries had reduced the team to eight players and two of those players were freshmen barely tipping the scale at 100 pounds. Officials from the school regrettably forfeited for safety reasons.

We owe the team an apology. The reporter did not mean to be malicious, he simply misused the word. Still, the word shouldn’t have been used in a news story in reference to a high school team. I apologize for any undue grief.