John_Pakey
Contributor

Offline, last online: Aug 12 2008, 20:41 PM

We've just had our TV replaced on the sports desk here at Echo Towers.

For several weeks we've been without our little window into the world of breaking sport news and Georgie Thompson.

They were hard times as we wrangled with the powers that be to get a new one. It wasn't until my colleague Mark Whiley threatened strike action that things finally changed and a couple of days ago the handyman finally struggled to plug a new one in.

We had it there ready for all the January transfer window news, that just wasn't happening and for a while - aside from Georgie Thompson - the only interest we had was watching the depressed look of the poor reporter who had been stuck outside St James' Park.

We wondered what sort of miserable life he must be having, spending the majority of his day living out of the back of a Ford Transit suffering the cold north east weather with only the suduko puzzle in the paper to keep his mind active.

As the days ticked by he was gradually losing the will to live as behind him St James' Park looked like a grey lifeless backdrop, with not a soul in sight, let alone anyone who could take over this club which seems to be in self destruct.

There was only one man who could break this dull lifeless scene.

Only one man could bring light and happiness into this corner of the world.

Only one man could finally make the poor reporter stuck up on Tyneside eating a diet of takeaways for the last few days finally feel that there was a point to his life.

Kevin Keegan.

Sky Sports News then pretty much exploded into life as they forgot all about Fabio Capello's tax investigation and went full pelt Keegan madness as the man who had failed to achieve anything there in the first place returned.

The old clips were dug out, the best moments of his career were dragged up from the depths of the archive to remind us what a character and asset he is to the game.

All of a sudden St James' Park turned from a grey wasteland into a black and white seething mass of people.

The reporter was at action stations, the suduko long forgotten, he was out there interviewing those strange fans that just appear from nowhere when something BIG happens at these clubs - if I was a more cynical man I might go as far to suggest that Sky Sports have these people lined up in another transit van parked round the corner.

Suddenly every Harry Nobody who had ever played for Newcastle was chipping in their bit too. Phone interview after phone interview with the great players such as Warren Barton and Steve Watson came up.

It was tabloid TV at its best, but I loved it. I absolutely loved it, as our friend Kevin would say.

We could all take the cynical view here on how full on Sky Sports News coverage of Keegan's appointment was, and how it could be considered overkill, but they had ever base covered. While over on Setanta Sports News there was something about Plymouth trying to sign someone from Exeter or something, I don't remember, it was that uninteresting.

You really wonder what the point of Setanta Sports News is.

Nothing can beat the beast that is Sky Sports News, a team so dedicated that they leave a reporter stuck up in Newcastle, waiting, just waiting.

It is much like angling. You stick around long enough, you're going to get that bigger fish, and while Sky Sports News reeled in a prize winning beauty in the north east Setanta Sport hadn't even got their rod out. Admittedly it looks like Sky have much flashier fishing tackle and more rods out there to hook the big ones than Setanta, but if you're going to battle against the big ones you've got to make sure you match your competitor.

And with that, you know now that when King Kev leaves Newcastle - again - it will be our friends at Sky that will be there first, and Setanta, well? Does anyone know the latest goings on with the Scottish Third Division?[/b]


 

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