his is what a huge group of Internet addicts wants to know: Will
Tonya Harding take another whack at skating? Who's ahead in college
basketball? Should the national anthem be played at sports
events?Sports enthusiasts, mostly young men with an insatiable appetite
for trivia and a fair bit of time on their hands, are relentlessly surfing
the Net, pushing for faster and ever more detailed sports information.
These devotees have given the ESPNet SportsZone news service, a product of
Starwave of Bellevue, Washington, a shot at the title of most popular
content site on the Web.
SportsZone, which attracts nearly 1 million
users a week, fits the Starwave philosophy: Tap into people's passions,
and people will tap into you. Since its inception three years ago by
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, Starwave has won praise for its original
content, constantly updated news, and interactive dialogues with readers
in the areas of sports, entertainment, family life, and outdoor
recreation.
Sports coverage has proved to be a natural for the immediacy
of the Web medium. As Starwave vice president for sports Geoff Reiss puts
it, "I want to know it when I want to know it, and not be at the mercy of
the networks or the paperboy."
