This morning there are lots of unique slices of life that again show how sports captures the moment, lifts the spirit and creates such contrasts with everyday life. Let's start in the Far East, where the Red Sox and A's have headed to open the MLB season. This morning (Saturday) on Yahoo Sports Jeff Passan has a great story on the cultural differences and similarities the Sox experienced during the first exhibition game earlier. What makes the story significant is not just the facts themselves…it is the fact that it again shows with the 24/7 world we are living in that pieces like this, filed in real time, gives us access to events where we would have had to wait a day to read about or experience online before the new media boom. It's great to have the instant update, and even those in Philly who may have gotten the early editions of today's Inquirer may have missed Bob Ford's great column on Villanova's late night win, but they can get it on philly.com. Speaking of instant, some instant heros came out of yesterday's upset-laded Friday…some of the good reading includes Joe Henderson's column in the Tampa Tribune on Upset City, Mark McGuire's Albany Times Union column on Siena's big win, and Ben Bolch's feature in the LA Times on UNLV walk-on Rene Rougeau, all great pieces about capturing the moments of the first round. Another first round business story worth reading is Darren Rovell's Friday blog on the average cost per player of Duke's win…will be interesting to see how universities are able to merchandise the upset-laden Friday as things move on.
Lastly, two other non hoops or baseball pieces of note…first Alex Marvez has a solid column on Foxsports.com on the lack of outdoor professional spring football for the first time since 1994 (a sign that football interest and demand is plateaued or is there a missed opportunit.) and a must read Olympic story for the weekend is the AP piece on the Chinese government barring shots from Tiananmen Square during the Beijing Olympics, yet more issues for the political sports mix that will be coming with this summer's event. Have a happy, healthy and safe Easter Weekend.
