Thanksgiving game streams into 
21st century
By Eric Avidon

For the first time, the Thanksgiving Day football game
between Fitchburg High and Leominster High will be available
on the Internet.

Former residents of Fitchburg and Leominster who no longer
live in Central Mass., or people simply interested in
following one of the classic rivalries in all of high school
sports, will be able to listen to the radio broadcast of the
game as it happens.

Figureseven , a web design and development company based in
Fitchburg, is teaming with WEIM (AM-1280) radio to put the
radio broadcast of the game on the web so that anyone
interested in the game but out of the reach of WEIM's signal
can listen to the action next Thursday morning at Doyle
Field, beginning at 10 a.m.

The broadcast will be available on two web-sites,
Leominster.net and Fitchburg.net.

According to Jonathan Daly, director of business development
and marketing for Figureseven , the idea to broadcast the game
over the Internet had its genesis in a casual conversation
between Jeremy Daly, Jonathan's brother and the chief
executive officer and president of Figureseven, and Ken Jones
of Fitchburg Access Television.

"Ken and Jeremy are friends," said Jonathan Daly, "and in
passing they said that it would be great to stream the WEIM
audio for people out of town and for troops from the area
who are overseas. We have the servers and the hardware, and
Ken knows the people at WEIM."

The entire broadcast featuring Dave Clark on play-by-play
and Mike Flynn doing color commentary, beginning with the
pre-game show, will be available to anyone logging on to one
of the two web-sites.

"This is just another signal that the Internet and
technology are coming to the Fitchburg-Leominster area. It's
evidence that an evolution is happening. For someone who
lived in Fitchburg but now maybe lives in California, this
is a good thing."

Daly himself is one of those people who lived in Fitchburg
but now is out of the range of WEIM's signal. A 1994
graduate of Fitchburg High, he now lives near Boston. Jeremy
Daly, however, a 1997 graduate of FItchburg High, still
lives in Fitchburg.

Simply put, because of a casual conservation between two
friends, the Thanksgiving Day game between two heated rivals
is going global. 

(addendum by Ken.  The reporter did not mention the help
provided by John Yost of PC Discount Outlet on Lunenburg
Street Fitchburg (978)342-2913 and Jack Rosen of Business
Computer Services, 225 Prospect St., Shrewsbury, MA
(508)523-0475.)
 

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