What could Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican FCC chmn Kevin Martin possibly have in common? As it turns out, they played hoops together at Harvard Law School in the early ’90s. No, seriously. They did. “He’s a much better basketball player than I am,” recalled Martin during a light moment of his Fri presser in DC. “I played with him a lot.” The courts were right across from Martin’s pad—so he found himself matched up against Obama in many an Ivy League scrimmage. “He was a very nice guy… a good guy,” noted Martin. “I think he was a nice guy because he was patient with my poor basketball skills.” All of this collegiality got us thinking: Maybe CableFAXshould sponsor a friendly game of hoops between Martin and NCTA pres/CEO Kyle McSlarrow. The winner gets his way on must-carry. We’ll keep our readers posted.

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Friday–September 5

Football Forecast: NFL-YouTube Experiment a Sign of the Future

Tonight’s the first time an NFL game will exclusively stream live and without a paywall on YouTube, and while it’s expected to attain a hefty number of viewers, the question then becomes whether YouTube—and the networks of internet providers enabling access—can handle the blitz.

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