To be fair, we've been speculating only about the crew. How about a little speculation on Ben Sandilands? Perhaps he'd been taking a break for a few days with a fishing pole, some adult beverages and sunscreen. Upon his return to the keyboard, he was aghast to realize that needed a topic FAST to fill up space and make his deadline and there wasn't a lot on his desk to choose from. Voila!!! The item that was the simplest and fastest to elaborate upon with 250 words was really a non-event, but it filled a space. Journos have been making mountains out of molehills since pencils were invented.