The Last Hurrah. Maybe.

It's not the sports page I grew up with. It's not even the sports page from only a few years ago. Not when a first page story is about a pair of guys who kayaked 1,500 miles around an Arctic Circle island, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, are the first to do so.

But it's a new world. It's always a new world, and adapting is the key to survival. And it would seem for a print publication that experts placed on Death Row, the New York Times sports section is doing pretty good. It is equal parts results, and Sports Illustrated.

Take today's story. A teaser for it appears on the front page of the paper, leading to three fairly spectacular color photos. Lengthy text, more pictures and a map follow a few pages later.

Improbably, the two guys are named Turk and Boomer. Apparently their real names, not nicknames. Their last names no less. They are polar opposites in age, one 65, the other 26. There has to be something about spending 104 days circling an Arctic Island under the midnight sun, and what it does to your complexion, because judging by a black and white photo of the two, they both look at least 65. One's preserved, the other fast forwarded.

The island, despite being close to the North Pole, has a population on it. Turk and Boomer arranged for food and supplies at key points that was provided by the residents. It was an Arctic version of mass transit. There's another kayak right behind this one. Turk is the older one, and when their names are said out loud you think you're going to be listening to sports radio. WICE. Maybe that's how they landed on the sports page.

We can't possibly have heard the last of Turk and Boomer. The media will beckon. It has to. Turk, because of his age figures this might be his last hurrah in a life full of adventures, unless of course he's challenged to compete against Boomer on skis. Turk reminds the world he can paddle, and he can ski.

Keep checking the sports page.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com/