1906 . . . back when people read newspapers

The Cubs and White Sox could appear in the playoffs together -- and, who knows, maybe even the World Series for the first time since 1906.

But would newspaper coverage be as flowery as it was back then?

Of that World Series matchup, the Chicago Tribune’s Hugh Fullerton wrote, “A combination pennant pole marking the site of Chicago has served as the Earth’s axis, and around it something less than 200,000 maddened baseball fans are dancing a carmagnole of victory.”

The White Sox prevailed in six games and, in case you’re wondering, a carmagnole is a song-and-dance popularized during the French Revolution.

Nostalgic

The Chicago Daily News on the 1906 Series: “Fans are in full blast. Cheer Chicago and her day. Rooting is intense and noise rules every nook. Bleachers are a howling, joyous mob.”

Trivia time

Who is the only Pacific 10 Conference starting quarterback yet to have a pass intercepted this season?

Lofty experience

A high school football team in Alaska feels on top of the world, the Anchorage Daily News reports, after defeating defending state champion Juneau-Douglas High.

But then the victorious North Pole Patriots really are on top of the world.

Meal deal

Actor-activist Ted Danson, who played a former Boston Red Sox pitcher in the long-running sitcom “Cheers,” says millions of Britons dining on fish and chips may actually be eating an endangered species of North Sea shark called spiny dogfish.

Baseball fans can be thankful Danson is not on this side of the pond, reminding them of what hot dogs are made of.

A big to-Dew

As Brigham Young was pounding UCLA in football Saturday in Provo, Utah, thousands of young fans who know more about 1080s and tailwhips than they do about touchdowns streamed into EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City for the AST Dew Tour.

A Dew Tour-record 63,481 tickets were sold in the four-day stop, and Saturday’s crowd of 25,996 also was a single-day record.

In contrast, the nearby Utah State-Utah football game drew fewer than 20,000 fans. Kids these days.

Pre-printed

Maxim magazine’s October issue lists the 10 “worst teams in college football” and two Pac-10 teams, Stanford and Washington State, are on it. (Clearly this was printed before UCLA’s 59-0 loss to BYU.)

Worst team: Duke.

Reasoning: “They may be college basketball gods, but on the football field the Duke Blue Devils can’t seem to escape the seventh level of hell -- perennial suckiness.”

Darn those early deadlines.

Duke is 2-1 and basking in the glory of a 41-31 victory over Navy.

Trivia answer

Washington’s Jake Locker.

And finally

From Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune: “Green Bay has 72 points so far. Brett Favre and the New York Jets have 30. It looks like the big cheese really was past his expiration date.”

--

[email protected]