By Matt Thompson
News-Sun Sports Writer

 
       So you were stuck in a Karoake bar the entire night with your
mother-in-law and the intoxicated crew of a U.S. Naval Destroyer. Bad enough
you had to listen to 22 horrifying renditions of the Village Peoples' In the
Navy.
      What's worse ... you missed the big game.
      Sure, you could get the score from any number of bottom-crawlers on any
number of cable channels ... but what really  happened? The late news was on
half an hour ago, ESPN is showing some crummy jai alai match, and the
newspaper doesn't arrive until morning.
      If you own a computer, wait no more. Grab your surfboard and dial up a
WWW address. Feed that sports addiction.
      Log onto any number of sports news servers and read a detailed account
... many times the same account that'll cross your breakfast table on the
front page of sports in seven hours. Not enough? Perhaps download a few
seconds of highlights for numerous viewings. Still not satisfied? How about
downloading the entire game in digitized form, reliving the play-by-play in
all its animated glory.
      The age of the internet is truly upon us.
      And sports may never be the same.

     Dah Dah Dah ... Dah Dah Dah
      Today, the Web's main sports use is in providing information, statistics
and results, much as the newspaper traditionally has over the years _ only
faster.
      The Web combines the speed of broadcast with the selectivity of the
newspaper. In other words, you don't have to listen to all the stuff you don't
care about to get the Reds' score. And if you want to know specifically how
Barry Larkin did at the plate, you can check the box score almost immediately
after the game is over.
      Numerous news agencies have rushed to fill this demand _ none more
effectively than ESPN, which joined forces with Seattle-based Starwave
Corporation to launch ESPNet SportsZone in March, 1995. It's currently the
industry leader, receiving up to 10 million hits a day from 200,000 people
perusing up to 60,000 pages of information from the NFL to the East Coast
Hockey League.
      Visitors can also use RealAudio software _ enabling listeners with a
fast enough modem to listen in live to broadcast events _ to hear the NBA or
the Fabulous Sports Babe  talk show at the ESPN site.
      That sort of selection has helped ESPN separate itself from a slew of
competitors, including
     Fox Sports, USA Today, The Grandstand, etc. More recently, SportsLine USA
has begun a serious push to steal market share, and Microsoft and NBC are
planning a July launch of an Internet site.
      None of this worries ESPNet, spokesman Dave Nagle insists.
      ``In the old days, we were the little guy,'' Nagle said. ``Now, we're
the target of other competitors.''
      And what was once a little fish in the then-little world of cable TV is
now the biggest fish in the rapidly-expanding ocean of the World Wide Web.

     The Big Guys
      It took the Big Four practically no time at all to realize the
possibilities on the Web, with the NFL becoming the first on the Net with NFL
Sidelines, launched to coincide with the April 1995 NFL draft.
      Major League Baseball set up its first ``At Bat'' site shortly
thereafter, with the NHL's Open Net hard on its heels.
      The NBA debuted NBA.com late in the year, making it unanimous _ the
Internet is the place to be for sports.
      ``There's so much wonderful opportunity to this whole advent of
communication,'' said Michael Bernstein, VP of Business Development and New
Ventures for major league baseball. ``We're exploring it, still making
progress and still learning ways to develop it.''
      And still looking for ways to make money off of it. Though baseball, for
example, is charging up to $10,000 a month for an interactive advertisement on
its web page, the league's still a long way from making money.
      ``We've spent hundreds of thousands this year alone,'' said Bernstein.
``But we think as more and more people make it a part of their daily lives,
revenue-generating opportunities exist.''
      All the ``official'' league sites include results, news and splashy
graphics. Some offer home shopping, with users able to go into ``clubhouses''
to buy jerseys, t-shirts, or other official merchandise.
      Bernstein foresees the day when you will be able to listen to your
favorite team over baseball's website. ``We will get involved with realtime
audio delivery of games, and other realtime ventures.''
      The interest is certainly there. The website the NFL and NBC established
for Super Bowl XXX last January registered more than 7 million hits during its
broadcast of the game. For the month, the site was accessed more than 30
million times.
       And the sky's no longer the limit for what comes next.

     A different spotlight
      Don't envy Nick Gandy. He's got a truly tough job.
      As media relations director for the Arena Football League, it's Gandy's
duty to try to get coverage for a league that's short on attention, if not
respect.
      Despite the fact his league was fairly established and had a national
television contract (ESPN), Gandy was having trouble getting results and news
items out to the 10-year-old league's relatively-small, yet loyal following.
      So he turned to the Web.
      ``That's exactly why I wanted to have (a website),'' Gandy said.
``Because we don't  get (coverage) through traditional means, scores in the
newspaper and things like that.
      ``Now I'm getting a lot of thank-yous e-mail from people, saying this is
what they'd been hoping for.''
      As a relatively cheap method of mass communication (the AFL paid $2,500
in set-up fees and shells out an average of $650 a month in site maintenance)
the Web seems a perfect place for the fledgling or cult league to establish a
presence.
      NASCAR, Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew, both CART and the Indy
Racing League, and many minor hockey leagues (including the East Coast and
International) have web sites to provide the kind of in-depth fan info that's
hard to get from the local paper.
      And that's not including the vast groundswell of fan-designed and
supported sites, ``unofficially'' dedicated to teams from the Cincinnati Reds
to the Dayton Flyers to the ECHL's Dayton Bombers.
      These fans sometimes set up ``mailing lists,'' in which a computer
``broadcasts'' e-mails sent from one fan to an entire group of them.
      For a displaced fan, perhaps thousands of miles from home and without
local media coverage of their favorite team, any scrap of information can make
things easier.
      ``Any information these people can get, they grab to their breasts,''
said Doug Hauschild, sports information director at the University of Dayton.
      And the Web makes that possible.
 
     The Hoosier Fan
      Mark Cuban felt like he was trapped behind enemy lines.
      Educated at Indiana University and transplanted to Dallas, Texas, Cuban
was a Big Ten fan trapped in Southwestern Conference Country.
      So when he heard about RealAudio, and set about establishing AudioNet,
the first Internet ``network,'' with partner Todd Wagner, sports was a big
part of what he had in mind.
      Today Dallas-based AudioNet _ which went on-line in September of 1995 _
averages 500,000 hits a day and 25,000 listeners, ``broadcasting'' live sports
action from over 50 colleges and universities and professional teams in
baseball and hockey.
      Are you a Duke graduate missing out on Blue Devil basketball? With the
click of a mouse button you could hear the action from Cameron as it happens.
      The site also provides music and traditional talk shows, but sports is
its main staple.
      ``We're the cure for homesickness,'' said Cuban, who cured his own case
by securing the rights to IU basketball games shortly after launching
AudioNet. ``We get e-mails from people in Singapore, who say all they have to
do is hook their computer up to their stereo, pull on their IU jersey, and
it's like they're back in Bloomington.''
      AudioNet generally provides local radio stations with the hardware and
software to broadcast on the web, then provides a 24-hour link on the AudioNet
homepage.
      ``We put up all the money to do the broadcasting, and they provide the
rights,'' said Cuban, who says he's currently working to secure rights to Ohio
State athletics from WBNS in Columbus.
      And AudioNet is by no means the only outlet for sports broadcasted over
the Internet. The NFL broadcast Super Bowl XXX and some World League games on
RealAudio and ESPN has regular NBA games available on the Web.
      Closer to home, Wittenberg and the University of Dayton are toying with
the idea of broadcasting on the Net.
      It's really only a matter of time.

     What's next?
      AudioNet is also poised to take the next step ... video.
      ``We could do it right now,'' he said casually. ``There's just not
enough bandwidth into the home as it is.''
      For the next step to fall, however, the United States will have to be
rewired, literally. High-speed cable connections would allow full-motion video
and sound to be transmitted in a quality vastly improved over the type
transmitted over today's phone lines.
      And Cuban, for one, sees that occuring within the next few years.
``Could be two years away (when) it'll start to happen,'' he said.
      His predictions include a computer server in every home controlling
everything from the thermostat to the family shopping, with the ability to
summon any program or sporting event on your television or stereo with the
push of a button.
      Crudely-animated baseball games _ using slightly-delayed statistics
straight from the ballparks _ are already available on several sites. The
prospect of those images improving to television quality _ or even better _ in
the near future raises some uncomfortable questions about where sports are
headed.
      ``The Internet is a new mass medium,'' baseball's Bernstein says after a
cautious pause. ``Some of these issues do impact the way sporting events are
broadcast. We need to take our time and examine those issues.''
      While they're examining, however, the typical sports fan will just be
having fun.
      ``My personal feeling is we have not seen the real killer  application
on the Internet yet,'' Cuban said. ``We haven't seen things to really  freak
us out. We just have to be ready to change.''
      And fast. Not that we have much of a choice.
 

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Web gives schools equal footing

     Wittenberg Tigers in Cyberspace?
      It's a reality. There are also Dayton Flyers, Wright State Raiders, Ohio
State Buckeyes and Cedarville Yellow Jackets floating around out there.
      Area colleges are venturing out onto the World Wide Web, and though most
efforts are in the (extremely) early stages, it should be easier than ever to
get specific information on your favorite college team _ no matter how small
the school may be.
      ``Things are fairly basic right now,'' Wittenberg sports information
director Alan Aldinger said of the Tigers' website. ``We've got last year's
results, some stats for some sports, and I put some press releases on it.
      ``During next season, we're going to experiment with a lot of other
things.''
      Nearly instant Tiger statistics _ composite and game-by-game _ available
shortly after the final buzzer are likely innovations for this year's football
and basketball seasons.
      Further down the road, Aldinger said the school is considering more
in-depth coverage for other sports, and perhaps even _ someday _ play-by-play
action broadcast over the Web using RealAudio technology.
      ``It's not cheap and there's a question as to the benefit of it,''
Aldinger said, ``but perhaps the technology will come down in price. It might
be worth our while.''
      Wittenberg University went fully on-line at the end of May, and Witt's
athletic department got a corner of the WU home page to call its own.
      Already the site _ which as a whole received over 30,000 hits over a
recent 14-day period _ has brought some upbeat feedback from grateful Tiger
fans across the country.
      ``We've got some good reaction from alumni and prospective students,''
Aldinger said. ``The parents, as well, who live a distance away and can't
always get to games or find out very quickly what the results are.''
      Cedarville has been fully wired for several years now, but beginning
this fall fans will have full access to varsity sports results for the first
time.
      And that, according to Cedarville SID Mark Womack, will make life easier
for the large number of alumni living far away from campus.
      ``We have a lot of students and athletes that are from out of state,
over 50 percent,'' Womack said. ``We've had a lot of interest (in starting an
athletics site) from alumni and other people.''
      Womack said the first version of the site will have results, schedules,
features on some of the school's prominent athletes and ticket information for
men's basketball.
      ``We're going to start out that way, with the real basic information,''
Womack said.
      The school already has a weekly update show running on its radio station
and a Yellow Jacket Sportsline in place _ simply a local line people can call
to listen to a recording on how Cedarville's teams have been doing. Womack
said the phone line averages 3,000 calls a year.
      The Internet is a natural next step.
      ``This is something I definitely want to do,'' said Womack, who expects
to do a lot of the basic update work himself.
      The University of Dayton has been up and running since 1994, and up
until now has provided little more than stats and small news items.
      ``That seems to be the thing people are asking for most,'' said UD SID
Doug Hauschild. ``As we get into it, I think our coaches _ like all coaches _
are always looking for an edge, and they might try to see if there's some way
to use it for recruiting.''
      Hauschild said the school's cross country coaches have already
established an independent site promoting the program _ and the site has
generated interest among some recruits.
      The school has also been toying with the idea of RealAudio broadcasts.
      ``Our campus station (WDCR) is looking into doing that, but basically on
a delayed basis,'' Hauschild said. ``My understanding is RealAudio is probably
ahead of the technology most people have to receive it, but it's a great
concept.''
      The school also has a bulletin board system, so fans from all over can
exchange info on the Flyers.
      ``It's not a chat room, but it's pretty nice for the expatriot fans who
can't get any information at all,'' Hauschild said. ``These people are so
starved for information.''
      Wright State also has a site breaking down basketball results
game-by-game (including box scores) and providing previews and schedules for
next season.
      Ohio State has numerous pages, many established and updated by fans. Its
``official'' athletic pages include stats, rosters, and schedules for every
varsity sport _ even the more obscure ones.
      Few _ if any _ high schools have established official sites, although
the Ohio High School Athletic Association went on-line a month ago.
      Deborah B. Moore, assistant commissioner of the OHSAA, said the site
mainly contains administrative information, though down the road it may
include results and a bulletin board including board minutes downloaded
immediately after meetings.
      ``There's a hundred things we're gonna use it for,'' Moore said.
      Visitors can download tournament results, excerpts from the OHSAA
handbook, and a list of schools participating in the Association.

---

Intimate details about Claymores

      The real strength to the Internet isn't really in its mainstream sports
coverage ... after all, just about every daily newspaper has NFL, NBA and
baseball coverage in it all the time.
      Rather, the real strength lies in the vast diversity of sports and
sports teams the Internet and the World Wide Web gives you access to. No
matter how far away you are, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the
people around you, you can dig up facts so trivial it's almost scary in no
time at all.
      For example ...
      Let's say you're a Glasgow expatriate, stuck in a foreign country,
surrounded by people who couldn't care less about your beloved Claymores.
      The Scottish Claymores, after all, are the World League of American
Football champions ... but not so you'd really notice here in the states.
You're lucky if the local paper prints the WLAF standings, let alone any
in-depth coverage of your team or your league.
      But fear not, my Scottish friend. Thanks to the Internet, you can get
your Claymore fix with a minimum of clicks.
      Within minutes, you can find out everything you've ever wanted to know
about the Scottish Claymores ... perhaps even some things you didn't.
      For example, at the Claymore home page (http://www.claymores.co.uk) you
can find out the scores, statistics and highlights of any game played by the
Claymores this season.
      But wait, there's more.
      For example, not only can you find out Claymore's head coach is Jim
Criner, you can also discover he's a ``world class'' fly fisherman. Need his
career coaching history? It's right there. Yeah, he was  that guy who coached
at Boise State back in the early 80's, wasn't he? Thought that name sounded
familiar.
      You can learn all about third-string split end Jukka-Pekka Nummi, a
Finnish native who's never played a day of college ball in his life.
      Or about starting wide receiver Scott Couper. Did you know he finished
up his PhD in Organo Metallic and Polymer Chemistry this season ... earning
the Scottish native the nickname ``Dr. Scoups?''
      And don't forget the Claymore cheerleaders _ officially dubbed the ...
``Claymore Cheerleaders.'' (OK, they lose points for creativity, but they're
``Shexy, Shizzling and Shcottish,'' according to an on-screen quote attributed
to _ naturally enough _ Sean Connery.)
      Here you can find bios on everyone, including 24-year-old Claire Banks,
a Glasgow University law student who once worked three months in ``a musical
theme park in Nashville, Tenn.'' Gillian Gibson, 18, a Tae Kwon Do enthusiast
whose mother was in labor for 12 hours before giving birth to her. (No word on
how long it took to deliver her 21-year-old sister, Tracey, who is also on the
squad.)
      There's even some words of wisdom from 24-year-old Siobhan Ring, who
says the best advice she ever received was ``Try everything once, except
incest and Scottish folk dancing.'' (Which raises the uncomfortable question:
What passes for Scottish folk dancing these days?)
      And of course, there's some stuff about football games and such ... but
with all this other stuff going on, who's got time?

---

Published: 07/07/96