The professional football season will be kicking off from the Oval Office. President Bush, an avid sports fan who once owned the Texas Rangers baseball team, tossed the coin on videotape Friday at the Oval Office. The tape will then be played at the opening of the 10 NFL games that start at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The teams will pick heads or tails before the toss, which will be shown in stadiums around the country and televised on CBS and Fox. The team that wins the toss gets to decide whether to receive the kickoff or defend a specific end zone.
Referees usually toss the coin at midfield just before the game.
According to the Washington Post, past presidents have handled the coin toss in ceremonies at the site of a game, but it's never been done electronically from the White House. The city's Parking Authority decided Wednesday to remove two signs on the city parking garage, public works Superintendent Anthony Bellote said. To avoid waste, Bellote thinks that much of the two signs' messages can be salvaged, removing only Mr. Clinton's name and the reference to his visit. They may decide to put them back up or not. Maybe there was a sliding scale.