Top Ten makes my day
Tony Gonzalez
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
It's often the black number '7' that catches my attention.
About four minutes until class begins - maybe 12:56 p.m. - the '7' means I've already missed the first three plays featured by the SportsCenter Top Ten on the big screen in the Knorr Student Center.
But seven plays are better than none. So I linger.
I keep my eyes trained and gravitate to the screen, black notebook in one hand and hot chocolate in the other. It's an odd intensity with which I watch. I imagine myself a running back seeing the holes open and I keep moving.
I juke. I jive. I see play No. 7, then No. 6. If someone blocks my view, I hope for another replay angle. And as I get close enough - still transfixed - the sound of sportscasters making Tenacious D references enter my psyche.
I notice The Oblivious Few who sit in front, unaware of the majesty and wit of a well designed Top Ten list. I feel kindred with the few others who encroach with me, no doubt late for class.
I see an overtime touchdown, then a slam dunk where the defender gets no less than a face full of crotch. Of course, an obligatory and unimpressive hockey goal penetrates the list. Soon, the anticipation has built: What will be the Top Play of the day?
Granted, it might be a lame Barry Bonds' home run. Or any home run, for that matter. Those choices are inexcusable.
And I could be distracted by the gold and white flashes and rotating faux-machine computer graphics which surround the '1.' Those graphics would be more fitting on FOX NFL Sunday alongside robot football player animations.
Gaudy graphics aside (and they really are uncharacteristic), the Top Ten is a work of art and an exercise in the narrative cliff hanger, every time, every day.
Although I've watched SportsCenter so many times that I know their game highlight format and can predict who will win as soon as the highlight reel begins, I am rarely disappointed by the Top Ten. I offer my stack of VHS tapes with recorded Top Tens and Baseball Tonight Web Gems as evidence.
So what will they pick today?
Perhaps an unknown Division III college football squad sent in a home video. Maybe the bed making championships or hot dog eating contest will make an appearance.
Is it possible they'll throw in a historical clip like that one of the Japanese Baseball League left fielder who climbed all the way on top of the fence to rob a home run?
We can only hope.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
About four minutes until class begins - maybe 12:56 p.m. - the '7' means I've already missed the first three plays featured by the SportsCenter Top Ten on the big screen in the Knorr Student Center.
But seven plays are better than none. So I linger.
I keep my eyes trained and gravitate to the screen, black notebook in one hand and hot chocolate in the other. It's an odd intensity with which I watch. I imagine myself a running back seeing the holes open and I keep moving.
I juke. I jive. I see play No. 7, then No. 6. If someone blocks my view, I hope for another replay angle. And as I get close enough - still transfixed - the sound of sportscasters making Tenacious D references enter my psyche.
I notice The Oblivious Few who sit in front, unaware of the majesty and wit of a well designed Top Ten list. I feel kindred with the few others who encroach with me, no doubt late for class.
I see an overtime touchdown, then a slam dunk where the defender gets no less than a face full of crotch. Of course, an obligatory and unimpressive hockey goal penetrates the list. Soon, the anticipation has built: What will be the Top Play of the day?
Granted, it might be a lame Barry Bonds' home run. Or any home run, for that matter. Those choices are inexcusable.
And I could be distracted by the gold and white flashes and rotating faux-machine computer graphics which surround the '1.' Those graphics would be more fitting on FOX NFL Sunday alongside robot football player animations.
Gaudy graphics aside (and they really are uncharacteristic), the Top Ten is a work of art and an exercise in the narrative cliff hanger, every time, every day.
Although I've watched SportsCenter so many times that I know their game highlight format and can predict who will win as soon as the highlight reel begins, I am rarely disappointed by the Top Ten. I offer my stack of VHS tapes with recorded Top Tens and Baseball Tonight Web Gems as evidence.
So what will they pick today?
Perhaps an unknown Division III college football squad sent in a home video. Maybe the bed making championships or hot dog eating contest will make an appearance.
Is it possible they'll throw in a historical clip like that one of the Japanese Baseball League left fielder who climbed all the way on top of the fence to rob a home run?
We can only hope.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
Be the first to comment on this story