Skating A Thin Line

Certainly The Blue Line's irreverence is one factor in its success. Another is its status as a statistics service. The official program sold at Chicago Stadium, Goal, contains no stats, while those in The Blue Line are absolutely up-to-date. What's more, the margins are filled with bits of arcana that are of interest to trivia buffs.

Weinberg prints not only player salaries but a "fight card" as well, detailing which of that evening's combatants have squared off in the past, what injuries were inflicted—bloody nose, black eye, bruised ego—who won and whether by decision or TKO. "At the stadium," says Blue Line buyer Kent Novit, "you need to know more than the guy sitting next to you."

With his finger on the pulse of fans like Novit, Weinberg plans to put out a baseball program this summer. "I will take over the world with this idea," he says.