12 SEP 06: WHO'S GOT GAME?

The operators of an Internet Café in Phenix City agreed to shut down Monday. For some reason, the District Attorney's office was suspicious about it. Any café that dares to name itself "Sweepstakes" takes that chance - especially when the nearest dog-racing track is more than an hour away.

Prosecutors said the Sweepstakes Internet Café on the 280 Bypass wasn't really about the Internet at all. They claimed it was really about video gambling - and we don't mean watching "YouTube" clips of World Series of Poker bloopers.

Russell County prosecutors suspected for weeks the Sweepstakes Internet Café actually was a front for video slot machines. Don't you wonder how they were tipped off to this? Did some weirdo go there to look at X-rated web sites - only to see nothing but cherries and lemons?

The evening newscasts reported the Sweepstakes Internet Café "agreed" to shut down, but that may be misleading. Manager Georgia Russell told WRBL the whole thing was "unfair." And if anyone should know the meaning of unfair, it's the operator of video gambling machines....

Georgia Russell of G&R Enterprises claims similar Internet cafes are opening across Alabama - apparently doing the same sort of thing her café on the 280 Bypass was doing. She wouldn't comment on camera beyond that. But apparently "free wi-fi" is a scarce commodity outside Auburn.

But if it's so unfair, why is the Sweepstakes Internet Café agreeing to close? Did Georgia Russell expect better treatment, because she has the same name as the county?

The "agreement" to shut down the Internet café was announced by Russell County assistant prosecutor Buster Landrieu. The managers also promise never to open a similar café in the county again - so Buster Landrieu's nickname should be "Move."

(If the Internet café is leaving Russell County for good, I think there's a message here - the business rental cost in Smiths Station is lower.)

It's a tough time for game operators of all kinds. Someone tried a short time back to open an old- fashioned game room in the Oakland Park Shopping Center on South Lumpkin Road in Columbus. It had barely opened when the "for sale" sign went up. The storefront churches in that center must have noticed the Ms. Pac-Man game, and decided that was one sin too many.

"The Game Room" (as it was called) seemed like a great old-school idea - giving young people a place to have fun after classes and on weekends. I can only assume it didn't catch on. Maybe the young people along South Lumpkin Road have found the one boy with an X-Box....

To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine ANY game room succeeding in 2006 - even the borderline legal ones. Adults can go to gambling web sites in the privacy of their homes nowadays. Or they can do some even wilder wheeling and dealing online -- and swap fantasy football players.

On top of that, many children have video games in their homes these days. Why walk or pedal down a few blocks to be a "pinball wizard," when you can zap space aliens from several galaxies without ever getting off the couch?

Meanwhile, the latest entry in Columbus's biggest game room officially introduced itself Monday. The new team in the World Indoor Football League will be called the Columbus Lions. Isn't this inspiring - named after a National Football League team which hasn't won a championship since 1957.

Lions co-owner Zach McDonald declared Columbus is a "football town," as long as a team plays "quality football." There's one good way to find out if the new indoor football team does that - schedule a pre-season game against Troy University.

E-MAIL UPDATE: We have several messages to consider today, starting with one from a relative newcomer:

Dear Sir,

I moved to this area at the beginning of this year and discovered your blog a few months ago. I check your page most days. It helps keep me up to date on some of the goings on around town. I have one question though: Do you have something against the CBS station here in town? Over the past few weeks, I've noticed quite a few jabs thrown their way. Some of them, downright mean. I don't know what the history is with the TV stations in this area, but I happen to enjoy watching Channel 3. It seems unfair that you pick on them so much. I think the people who work there do a fine job of reporting the news. Much better than the ABC station in Columbus. (And the NBC channel doesn't even have a news program -- I found that shocking!). I guess I would let your comments slide, but they seem almost hypocritical. You talk a great deal about being a Christian and what not, yet some of the mean things you say seem very un-christian like. Of course, I am not a church-goer, so I might be a bit off on that, but for a man who is as seemingly religious as you are, some of your jabs come as a surprise. Why aren't you an equal opportunity offender? I'm sure there are things you can talk about when it comes to the ABC channel. If you can't come up with any, I can help. The few times I've watched their news, I felt as if I were in Mayberry. Snooze! I guess this isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I've just noticed a pattern of this in your writing and was curious to know why. This is in no way "hate mail" or anything like that, just merely an observation.

Yours truly,

T. Jackson

Columbus, GA

First of all, thank you for not writing hate mail. I'm still trying to clean the scarlet L off my chest - from being a business loser.

If Mr. or Ms. T. doesn't mind, I'd like to save the section about "Christian comments" for our Saturday religious discussion. But as for all the notes about WRBL - well, let's put it this way. Mr. "Hey Lee" at that other station is really powerful. One mention of this blog in an editorial, and I could be out of business in no time.

Someone actually tried writing a blog taking aim at WTVM several months ago. But after a few entries, it stopped. Maybe the writer decided that station really wasn't all that bad. Or maybe he's now turning to WLTZ NBC-38 to watch "Girlfriends" at 6:00 p.m. - although he'd better not take Persia White, because I saw her first.

On the other hand, some of the best story tips your blog has received over the last few years actually have come from WRBL. We've heard from staff members, both past and present. And we were in federal court for the station's discrimination trial last year -- although thankfully, no one called me to the witness stand to disclose my sources.

(By the way: we now understand several WRBL staff members actually try to be perfectionists. That's nice to know -- but I'd point out when Tammy Terry said she was, she quickly added she was "recovering" from it.)

T. may not realize NBC-38 has a "news program" of sorts. Two years ago, "Rise and Shine" at 6:00 a.m. had the most talked-about debate of the local campaign season. So far this year, all I've noticed are competing Bob Poydasheff and Jim Wetherington campaign signs in front of a refrigerator.

Our next e-mailer may have noticed something missing here in recent weeks:

Can you give us the latest Arbirton Ratings for the Columbus radio stations.

I wish I could give them to you - and I've been waiting to report on the spring ratings for about a month. But the Arbitron rating service has put an "embargo" on the numbers, in Columbus as well as other cities. That means they're not available to the public - at least until some White House official leaks them to Robert Novak.

It's not clear why Arbitron is holding the release of the Columbus radio numbers - but I'm going to take a guess. I've been told the spring ratings showed WRCG ahead of WDAK in the morning, even though WRCG still has a weak signal. Is WDAK challenging the numbers? Or are "TalkLine" hosts Antonio Carter and Robbie Watson simply that loud?

Today's last e-mail is short and to the point:

Just don't give up writing the blog.I look foward to reading it ever day.

Well, thank you. I'm finding blogs tend to get much more distance than frisbees do.

Now for some quick closing thoughts from a sober and quiet Patriot Day, which felt a bit to me like a Christmas Day:

+ I was waving a little U.S. flag in front of the TV set at the end of the national evening news - when the flagstick broke off in my hand. Given what happened to me with Power Frisbee, we all may have only a few weeks to flee to Canada.

+ WGSY "Sunny 100 FM" played a strange September 11 tribute, with President Bush talking about "defending freedom" while John Lennon sang "Imagine." Really now -- can you imagine those two people sharing the same side of the table, when it comes to the fighting in Iraq?

+ Alabama Governor Bob Riley announced the introduction of "God Bless America" license plates, to go on sale in October. This is what makes our country so great - because you never see a car in other countries with "Allah Loves Iraq" bumper stickers.

+ Instant Message to Britt David School counselor Dr. Bunny Chapman: Oh dear, how do I ask this - are the students allowed to call you Doctor Bunny? Or is that reserved for your husband, late at night?

People across metro Columbus and around the world read this blog every day. To advertise to them, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

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