Fic: The Morning Run-Down (November 20th, 2006). Sports Night, gen.
Title: The Morning Run-Down (November 20th, 2006)
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Ensemble gen
Rating: PG
Timeline: November 20th and 21st, 2006
Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even Ian Thorpe. Mores the pity.
Summary: Looking for a story anywhere they can find one. Even if the story is about swimming. ~1000 words. Written for minervacat's Putting The Sports Back In Sports Night challenge.
Dana was running a little behind that day - something about a message from Sam Donovan that required a long-distance phone call - so the run-down meeting was late in starting.
As Dave, Will, Chris, Elliot, and Kim doctored their coffee and jostled for the "good" chair, Dan and Casey balled up sheets of paper and started playing table football.
"First to five?"
"Yeah."
Dan took the first shot. The ball sailed through the uprights created by Casey's hands. "Score! I still can't believe the Cowboys scored fourteen unanswered points to win that game," complained Dan. "The Colts were undefeated! How could they lose, like that, to such a bad team?"
"Score! You just can't believe you bet me fifty that Indy wouldn't go undefeated this year." Casey grinned.
"Score! You want to bet me the same fifty that the Giants kick the holy hell out of Jacksonville tonight?" Dan asked.
"No, I can't," replied Casey. "Miss, dammit!"
"Dan, two, Casey, one. And why not?"
"I owe it to Jeremy."
"Score! What for?"
"Score! We bet on the Grey Cup, and I lost." Casey shook his head.
"Score! Dan four, Casey three," grinned Dan. "Who did you have?"
"I honestly don't remember. Miss!"
Dan took careful aim and flicked the paper ball into the air. "SCORE! That's five, and I win! Who did Jeremy have?"
"The other team, I don't know!"
"Was it the Edmonton Eskimos? Or some kind of Rough Rider?"
"It was the British Columbia Lions against the Montreal Alouettes," said Jeremy, coming through the doorway. "The Lions won, 25-14."
"Where were you? Where's Natalie?"
"She's on her way," explained Jeremy, "and don't mention Sam Donovan, Madagascar, or lemurs, because Dana's right behind her, and --"
"Actually, Dana's right behind you, and so is Natalie," said Dana. "And we've already got the Grey Cup thing slotted for the thirties. What else?"
"Jaromir Jagr scored his 600th regular season career goal on Saturday. He plays again tonight, and if he scores again, he'll tie Jari Kurri for most NHL regular season career points by a European-born player," suggested Jeremy.
"And he's playing the Hurricanes, so it's a big game. We'll have the highlights in the top of the show for sure." Dana turned to Dave. "We'll need a graphic for the top five or ten European-born scoring leaders."
"No problem," said Dave.
"What else?"
"National League MVP gets announced today," said Casey.
"Any chance it's not Albert Pujols?" asked Dana.
"It could be Ryan Howard," replied Jeremy.
"It's not Ryan Howard."
"It could be Ryan Howard."
"I think it's Pujols."
"I can't vote for a guy whose name is pronounced 'poo-holes'," said Casey. "I just can't do it."
"I still think it's Howard."
"Well, we'll see. What else?"
Dan raised his hand.
"Yes, Dan?"
"I got an email from a guy I know in Australia. He says that Ian Thorpe is about to announce his retirement."
"Is it for real?" asked Dana.
"He thinks so, but he won't let me quote him."
"Who's his source?"
"A Brazilian water polo player."
Casey stared at Dan in silence, then let out a guffaw of laughter. "A what?"
"A Brazilian water polo player."
"A Brazilian water polo player is the source?"
Dan nodded. "What's wrong with that? They have water in Brazil, right?"
"You don't know?"
"After the whole France-Spain thing, I always want to check."
"I'm just saying. Someone who plays water polo for a living is the source on this?"
"Water polo can be very demanding," said Dan.
"Yeah, right," said Casey.
"They do it at the Olympics!"
"They play PING PONG at the Olympics, Dan," said Casey.
"Guy I knew at Dartmouth almost drowned once, playing water polo."
Casey raised an eyebrow. He'd been doing that a lot lately, mostly because it annoyed Natalie. Dan laughed.
"No, it's true," protested Dan.
"The only thing that could make me watch water polo --"
"Other than the fact that it's your JOB," interrupted Dana, glaring at him.
"-- Yes, obviously," grinned Casey, "other than that, the only thing that could make me watch water polo is the chance of accidental nudity. Remember that girl at the Olympics almost got her bathing suit ripped off during a game? It was on the Internet."
"I remember," said Dan, grinning. He saw Dana's face and got serious. "Didn't you get the memo about not calling them girls? They prefer to be called women."
"We prefer," said Dana, "not to be talked about as if we're not standing right here, and we prefer to stay on topic. If Ian Thorpe is retiring, we should mention it."
"And Ian Thorpe is?" asked Chris.
Dan raised both of his eyebrows at Chris. "Ian Thorpe? Five-time Olympic champion in swimming, won the so-called "Race of the Century" at Athens? Between him and Phelps and Pieter van den Hoogenband? THAT Ian Thorpe!"
"I love him!" exclaimed Natalie.
"Really?" said Dan. "I didn't realize you were a Thorpedo fan, Natalie."
"No, the other guy! Pieter van den Bagel Buns! He's got this floppy brown hair and this great smile? He's adorable! And he has a very cute accent, because he's from Denmark."
"I think he's from Belgium," corrected Will.
"Are you sure?" asked Natalie. "I thought he was Danish. The Great Dane, that's his nickname."
"He's from Holland!" said Jeremy.
"No, he’s not, he’s Dutch, not ... whatever you are if you’re from Holland."
"If you’re from Holland, you’re DUTCH!" shouted Jeremy, throwing his arms into the air. "And his nickname is the Flying Dutchman!"
"Sorry," said Natalie.
"Can we get back to the Ian Thorpe thing?" asked Dana. "Dan, talk to your friend, see if you can get a better source than a Brazilian water polo player, and we'll do 30 seconds on it before the last C-break."
* * * * *
"That's the soccer news. Now over to my partner, Dan Rydell."
"Thanks, Casey. In swimming news, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe announced his retirement from competitive swimming on Tuesday, at the age of 24. At the press conference, the winner of five Olympic, eleven World Championship, and ten Commonwealth gold medals said that breaking records wasn't as inspiring as it should have been."
Dan looked into camera one. "We at Sports Night wish him all the best in his future endeavours. It was a pleasure to watch you swim." He nodded. "We'll be right back."
Author's notes: As grandiose as it sounds, this is for Ian Thorpe. It was truly a pleasure to watch you swim. And walk. And breathe. (By the way, the Brazilian water polo-playing friend thing? Totally true.) Thanks to pescana, for telling me about Pieter's various nicknames from Trash and M. Giant. Thanks to Sars for the 'poo-holes' thing. With love and thanks to marginalia for encouragement and hand-holding, and suggesting Madagascar, and for iseult_variante, who shares the Ian love liek whoa. And for minervacat, whose challenge it was in the first place. Thanks.
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Ensemble gen
Rating: PG
Timeline: November 20th and 21st, 2006
Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even Ian Thorpe. Mores the pity.
Summary: Looking for a story anywhere they can find one. Even if the story is about swimming. ~1000 words. Written for minervacat's Putting The Sports Back In Sports Night challenge.
Dana was running a little behind that day - something about a message from Sam Donovan that required a long-distance phone call - so the run-down meeting was late in starting.
As Dave, Will, Chris, Elliot, and Kim doctored their coffee and jostled for the "good" chair, Dan and Casey balled up sheets of paper and started playing table football.
"First to five?"
"Yeah."
Dan took the first shot. The ball sailed through the uprights created by Casey's hands. "Score! I still can't believe the Cowboys scored fourteen unanswered points to win that game," complained Dan. "The Colts were undefeated! How could they lose, like that, to such a bad team?"
"Score! You just can't believe you bet me fifty that Indy wouldn't go undefeated this year." Casey grinned.
"Score! You want to bet me the same fifty that the Giants kick the holy hell out of Jacksonville tonight?" Dan asked.
"No, I can't," replied Casey. "Miss, dammit!"
"Dan, two, Casey, one. And why not?"
"I owe it to Jeremy."
"Score! What for?"
"Score! We bet on the Grey Cup, and I lost." Casey shook his head.
"Score! Dan four, Casey three," grinned Dan. "Who did you have?"
"I honestly don't remember. Miss!"
Dan took careful aim and flicked the paper ball into the air. "SCORE! That's five, and I win! Who did Jeremy have?"
"The other team, I don't know!"
"Was it the Edmonton Eskimos? Or some kind of Rough Rider?"
"It was the British Columbia Lions against the Montreal Alouettes," said Jeremy, coming through the doorway. "The Lions won, 25-14."
"Where were you? Where's Natalie?"
"She's on her way," explained Jeremy, "and don't mention Sam Donovan, Madagascar, or lemurs, because Dana's right behind her, and --"
"Actually, Dana's right behind you, and so is Natalie," said Dana. "And we've already got the Grey Cup thing slotted for the thirties. What else?"
"Jaromir Jagr scored his 600th regular season career goal on Saturday. He plays again tonight, and if he scores again, he'll tie Jari Kurri for most NHL regular season career points by a European-born player," suggested Jeremy.
"And he's playing the Hurricanes, so it's a big game. We'll have the highlights in the top of the show for sure." Dana turned to Dave. "We'll need a graphic for the top five or ten European-born scoring leaders."
"No problem," said Dave.
"What else?"
"National League MVP gets announced today," said Casey.
"Any chance it's not Albert Pujols?" asked Dana.
"It could be Ryan Howard," replied Jeremy.
"It's not Ryan Howard."
"It could be Ryan Howard."
"I think it's Pujols."
"I can't vote for a guy whose name is pronounced 'poo-holes'," said Casey. "I just can't do it."
"I still think it's Howard."
"Well, we'll see. What else?"
Dan raised his hand.
"Yes, Dan?"
"I got an email from a guy I know in Australia. He says that Ian Thorpe is about to announce his retirement."
"Is it for real?" asked Dana.
"He thinks so, but he won't let me quote him."
"Who's his source?"
"A Brazilian water polo player."
Casey stared at Dan in silence, then let out a guffaw of laughter. "A what?"
"A Brazilian water polo player."
"A Brazilian water polo player is the source?"
Dan nodded. "What's wrong with that? They have water in Brazil, right?"
"You don't know?"
"After the whole France-Spain thing, I always want to check."
"I'm just saying. Someone who plays water polo for a living is the source on this?"
"Water polo can be very demanding," said Dan.
"Yeah, right," said Casey.
"They do it at the Olympics!"
"They play PING PONG at the Olympics, Dan," said Casey.
"Guy I knew at Dartmouth almost drowned once, playing water polo."
Casey raised an eyebrow. He'd been doing that a lot lately, mostly because it annoyed Natalie. Dan laughed.
"No, it's true," protested Dan.
"The only thing that could make me watch water polo --"
"Other than the fact that it's your JOB," interrupted Dana, glaring at him.
"-- Yes, obviously," grinned Casey, "other than that, the only thing that could make me watch water polo is the chance of accidental nudity. Remember that girl at the Olympics almost got her bathing suit ripped off during a game? It was on the Internet."
"I remember," said Dan, grinning. He saw Dana's face and got serious. "Didn't you get the memo about not calling them girls? They prefer to be called women."
"We prefer," said Dana, "not to be talked about as if we're not standing right here, and we prefer to stay on topic. If Ian Thorpe is retiring, we should mention it."
"And Ian Thorpe is?" asked Chris.
Dan raised both of his eyebrows at Chris. "Ian Thorpe? Five-time Olympic champion in swimming, won the so-called "Race of the Century" at Athens? Between him and Phelps and Pieter van den Hoogenband? THAT Ian Thorpe!"
"I love him!" exclaimed Natalie.
"Really?" said Dan. "I didn't realize you were a Thorpedo fan, Natalie."
"No, the other guy! Pieter van den Bagel Buns! He's got this floppy brown hair and this great smile? He's adorable! And he has a very cute accent, because he's from Denmark."
"I think he's from Belgium," corrected Will.
"Are you sure?" asked Natalie. "I thought he was Danish. The Great Dane, that's his nickname."
"He's from Holland!" said Jeremy.
"No, he’s not, he’s Dutch, not ... whatever you are if you’re from Holland."
"If you’re from Holland, you’re DUTCH!" shouted Jeremy, throwing his arms into the air. "And his nickname is the Flying Dutchman!"
"Sorry," said Natalie.
"Can we get back to the Ian Thorpe thing?" asked Dana. "Dan, talk to your friend, see if you can get a better source than a Brazilian water polo player, and we'll do 30 seconds on it before the last C-break."
* * * * *
"That's the soccer news. Now over to my partner, Dan Rydell."
"Thanks, Casey. In swimming news, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe announced his retirement from competitive swimming on Tuesday, at the age of 24. At the press conference, the winner of five Olympic, eleven World Championship, and ten Commonwealth gold medals said that breaking records wasn't as inspiring as it should have been."
Dan looked into camera one. "We at Sports Night wish him all the best in his future endeavours. It was a pleasure to watch you swim." He nodded. "We'll be right back."
Author's notes: As grandiose as it sounds, this is for Ian Thorpe. It was truly a pleasure to watch you swim. And walk. And breathe. (By the way, the Brazilian water polo-playing friend thing? Totally true.) Thanks to pescana, for telling me about Pieter's various nicknames from Trash and M. Giant. Thanks to Sars for the 'poo-holes' thing. With love and thanks to marginalia for encouragement and hand-holding, and suggesting Madagascar, and for iseult_variante, who shares the Ian love liek whoa. And for minervacat, whose challenge it was in the first place. Thanks.