Ahh, the holidays. A great time to mooch wonderful amounts of food from family and strangers. Let’s see, there’s the big meal days at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then you have Memorial, Labor and Independence Days – the barbecue times. Can’t forget the drinking holidays with New Year’s and St. Patrick’s Day. Finally, there’s Halloween, which, together with Easter, make up the sugar-rush holidays. Speaking of rushes, I don’t believe many people around here claim their residence as Chicago, but what do I know?

Not A Remotely Close Estimation

I have a beef. Actually, I’ve had one for a while now, I just haven’t chosen to express it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is Iowa, right? I mean, Des Moines is 30 miles south of here, the Loess Hills are out west, Iowa City plagues us to our east and Mason City is up north.

The closest “major” city is Omaha, with Kansas City and Minneapolis close behind. Out east is Chicago, about six hours from Central Iowa. Considered “the” city in the Midwest.

It’s a great place. I’ve visited there and enjoyed my stays. It’s lively, beautiful and fairly important.

But this is Central Iowa. What do we have in common with Chicago? Apparently, a Fox Sports Net channel.

It seems that cable outlet Mediacom (formerly AT&T Broadband) thinks that the Sears Tower can be seen out your backyard window, so they’ve given us the pleasure of Fox Sports Net Chicago.

I understand there is an affinity for the Bears, Bulls and Cubs by a lot of people. However, there are problems with this.

One being the Iowa State-Nebraska game earlier this year.

Fortunately, there was an out for the cable company, but a game that was supposed to be shown on the Fox Sports affiliate was overrun by the Blackhawks.

Now to me, that ain’t right. This is why I believe a change is necessary. One solution would be to take Fox Sports Net Midwest. One reason: look out east. Quite a few of the cable mediums in the eastern part of the state carry both Chicago and Midwest, giving people a choice of what to watch.

The thing is, THEY’RE CLOSER TO CHICAGO!

So explain to me how it works that we only get the opportunity to hear about the Bears, White Sox and Fire night in and night out. It just doesn’t make sense.

Now, I don’t know if this is the same way that other fans of the Twinkies, Royals, Blues, Cardinals, Wild and countless collegiate teams, but I believe that the sports fans around this area are getting a raw deal.

Absurd Predictions

The games are under way! Last night the National Basketball Association started their 2001-2002 season with 12 matchups. Jordan’s return is now official. The Lakers have started on their three-peat quest. Six former Cyclones will have continued, or begun, their career by the end of tonight’s game slate.

All that said, the league seems in limbo from lack of interest. Hopefully the new rules changes can spark some life into the sport. But I’m not here to dwell on that. It’s time to decide some winners from this bunch. Since the Finals are so far away, I think I’ll just focus on the four divisions.

As I turn to my crystal ball, here’s what I can tell you.

Eastern: Philadelphia got to the promised land last season, but they got kicked out by Shaq and Kobe. Now there’s a sense of hunger with the guys on that team. One thing they’re missing, though, is lovable, high-spirited owner Pat Croce. The letdown will be too much to win the division, but watch out in the playoffs. My vote goes to the Nets because Keith Van Horn will stay healthy this time around.

Central: Two teams have the advantage over all others. Milwaukee has the experience of being in the conference finals, along with all its talent. Toronto can be carried by Vince Carter if need be, and they’ve got backup size in the middle. However, the up-and-comer from last season should rise again. I pick Charlotte to place first, but probably through the conference playoffs.

Midwest: A tough division. Utah has several players that could be placed into one of those old folk roasts. San Antonio has the Heighted Heroes of Duncan and Robinson (Twin Towers doesn’t seem appropriate right now). Minnesota holds an outstanding front court full of youth. But none of these teams can say “My owner is Mark Cuban.” I see the full-fledged nut leading his Dallas Mavericks to the top of this deep division.

Western: It’s not easy being purple and gold, or so say the Lakers. There are teams here that could give the champs a run. However, do Sacramento and Phoenix have the intangibles? Can Portland get along well enough?

Do Seattle or Golden State garner enough talent? Simply, no. That’s why I’m gonna shock the world and say the Clippers will win … their first couple of games. Lakers win by at least seven games.

Maybe I’ll get a Shaq mask and pretend I’m the neighborhood bully tonight. Anyway, Happy Halloween, folks!

Jonathan Lowe is a senior in meteorology from Kansas City, Mo.