Dead-tree Sportswriting

I grew up on the Sunday sports’ section, filled with columnists and feature stories.  I still look forward to it, if less and less.

Take this Sunday (please).  The Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox had all played the day before, while the Bulls were getting ready for their playoff opener in Boston.  So, what filled the entire back page of the Tribune sports’ section?  Why, the upcoming draft for your 3-13 Chicago Bears, specifically whether the Bears would be drafting a Brett Favre clone from Texas Tech.  The Bears and quarterbacks are sort of like Russia and democracy—the two don’t mix, or haven’t so far in their respective, long histories.  This was a story better suited to April Fools’ Day, not April 16.

Then it hit me how 20^th century the whole thing is, the Sunday sports’ section and my reaction to the stories in it.  The only reason my daughter ever looked at the sports’ section was to check the box scores, sometimes.  Or she could just get them on her phone, along with in-game updates.  Maybe I should mention here the Blackhawks-Predators playoff game started at 8:30 last night, and neither Chicago newspaper had the results.  How many young Blackhawk fans didn’t know the exact moment the game ended, or get an update on their phones?

The first thing I want from print journalism is the news reported in a timely fashion; the second thing I want is the news written well.  With sports, the NFL excepted, I can’t get what I want when I want, which isn’t all that demanding given that I’m willing to wait until the next morning.  We won’t have the newspaper around much longer to line our bird cages with, I fear.  How sad.