Many viewers, listeners came true

It was the day before Christmas, and all through the newsroom, those who still had Yuletide tasks yet to perform were feeling a sense of doom.

But that’s a story for another time, when nerves aren’t as frayed and frazzled and people can laugh about those things.

A Christmas Eve TV-radio-Internet sports column is usually a good chance to work up a Christmas wish list for anyone even remotely (Get it? Remote.) connected to the broadcast sports realm. Instead, this year seemed a good chance to do something different: A review of last year’s list just to see how those who made it onto said list fared in regard to the wish offered for them – in the order it appeared.

. All the cable television subscribers – and those in the rest of the country, for that matter – are still waiting for that historic day when their bills freeze at their current amounts and slow the pace of rapidly rising rates. An outright rate reduction? We’re talking Christmas here … Not April Fools’ Day.

. Loyal Boston Red Sox fans got their summer of success and excitement – most of it good – as well as a memorable fall in which the Olde Towne Team did claim the World Series trophy while they listened to the radio, viewed the TV, or gritted their teeth while watching it in person.

. Wayne Harvey is still on the periphery of the sportscasting realm, but not involved in anything substantial or full time at this time. It would be nice to see the former WLBZ-TV (Channel 2) sports director back at some point, but don’t hold your breath.

. The Bangor Lumberjacks baseball team had expanded coverage of all home regular-season and playoff games plus road playoff games by the Lighthouse Sports Network (Bangor’s WHCF 88.5 FM and Lincoln’s WHMX 105.7 FM), but still not for the regular-season road games. An offseason of flux and uncertainty one year later could result in even more coverage, or none at all, next spring and summer.

. Fervent Maine high school basketball fans are still wistfully looking back at the days when television coverage of the Eastern Maine Tournament included the Class A quarterfinals. Even though Maine Public Broadcasting Service (Maine PBS) has added A semifinals after a year without them, there is still a noticeable gap, but with the Eastern A ranks shrinking, it may not be as noticeable with the passing of time.

. New York Giants fans did receive an end to their team’s 4-12 season, but whether it was quick and merciful is up to them. The Giants started off 4-4, but lost their last eight games and things aren’t much cheerier a year later as the 5-9 Giants are trying to avoid losing nine straight this year.

. New England Patriots fans got another long and glorious ride through the NFL playoffs with a 15-game win streak and their second Super Bowl championship in three years. That streak would continue through the first six weeks of the 2004-05 regular season and become an NFL-record 21 straight.

. Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi is still waiting, and will have to wait until his retirement from the NFL before he can land that lucrative endorsement deal from the Samuel Adams brewery in Boston.

. There’s no word on whether ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman received his family-size box of cough drops, some Listerine, and a bottle of Cepacol for the sore throat and laryngitis he gives himself every winter because of his unnecessary and distracting shouting he does during ESPN Primetime NFL highlights shows.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net