Well, we’ve seen story after story about prominent newspapers across the nation publishing it’s ‘last issue.’ Citing financial woes and a lack of interest in its tangible media format, papers in Seattle, Denver and Chicago have closed their doors to vie for readership on the worldwide web.

This is the first post in a series that will take a look at the decline of the newspaper industry, how we are to deal with it as intentional media consumers, and what we can expect in the near and distant future.

Today’s post is simple.

I pretty much read everything that Bill Simmons (a.k.a ‘The Sports Guy’ for ESPN) writes, as it is both comical and informative. His latest entry is primarily about the news that Kevin Garnett is most likely lost to the Celtics for the playoffs. However, as every great writer does from time to time, he inserts a gem of knowledge… a veritable sip of ambrosia… within his consistent outflow of grandeur.

I will do nothing else than simply ask you to read the following:

There’s a hidden sub-story lurking here: It involves the fall of newspapers, lack of access and the future of reporting, not just with sports but with everything. I grew up reading Bob Ryan, who covered the Celtics for the Boston Globe and remains the best basketball writer alive to this day. Back in the 1970s and early ’80s, he was overqualified to cover the team. In 1980, he would have sniffed out the B.S. signs of this KG story, kept pursuing it, kept writing about it, kept working connections and eventually broken it. True, today’s reporters don’t get the same access Ryan had, but let’s face it: If 1980 Bob Ryan was covering the Celtics right now, ESPN or someone else would lure him away. And that goes for the editors, too. The last two sports editors during the glory years of the Globe’s sports section were Vince Doria and Don Skwar … both of whom currently work for ESPN.

For the past few years, as newspapers got slowly crushed by myriad factors, a phalanx of top writers and editors fled for the greener pastures of the Internet. The quality of nearly every paper suffered, as did morale. Just two weeks ago, reports surfaced that the New York Times Company (which owns the Globe) was demanding $20 million in union concessions or it’d shut down the Globe completely. I grew up dreaming of writing a sports column for the Globe; now the paper might be gone before I turn 40. It’s inconceivable. But this Garnett story, and how it was (and wasn’t) covered, reminds me of “The Wire,” which laid out a blueprint in Season 5 for the death of newspapers without fully realizing it. The season revolved around the Baltimore Sun and its inability (because of budget cuts and an inexperienced staff) to cover the city’s decaying infrastructure. The lesson was inherent: We need to start caring about the decline of newspapers, because, really, all hell is going to break loose if we don’t have reporters breaking stories, sniffing out corruption, seeing through smoke and mirrors and everything else. That was how Season 5 played out, and that’s why “Wire” creator David Simon is a genius. He saw everything coming before anyone else did.

This is crux of what we will discuss in the coming days. Think about it.

Recently, my wife and I saw the movie ‘Knowing,’ starring Nicholas Cage. The film is an apocalyptic action/suspense flick much like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and the like. Cage plays an astrophysics professor at MIT whose son becomes involved with the sequence of events that will eventually end the world.

I’m not going to give away the exact plot, but there are some discussions of thematic ideas… So if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know anything, read my other post… In any case, after leaving the theater and thinking about the film, I’ve come to a few conclusions on various levels…

On the most superficial of levels, ‘Knowing’ is a combination of previous film ideas. Again, I’m not going to go into detail about anything involving the plot, but let’s just say that there are elements of ‘Mercury Rising,’ ‘Signs,’ ‘The Day After Tomorrow,’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ scattered throughout the film. Director Alex Proyas certainly has an original script, but there are many moments during which these allusions are unmistakeable. The special effects are plenty sufficient, though, to overcome whatever monotony exists in the storyline. Plane and subway crashes, mass destruction, apocalyptic scenes and just overall solid cinematography. As I said, it’s quite suspenseful and full of action.

On a much higher and abstract level, the film deals with explores a number of subjects dealing with faith and the like. I am not sure how many of you have read C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy… but the premise is the question of whether God could have created alternate universes/worlds/dimensions in which he also created intelligent life (with their own salvation stories). ‘Knowing’ is an extension of this idea, in a sense. At the same time, the film also develops upon the Biblical reference of Enoch in Hebrews 11:5 (By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death ; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God). A third biblical reference is the idea that angels are complex beings, both instilling fear and comfort.

If you combine these three ideas, you get the gist of the entire film. What I find interesting is the director’s (and screenwriters’) willingness to interject this faith-based thematic element into the film. I am not saying that the film is a direct correlate to the Bible and that it should be seen as such… However, I am saying that it does take a shot at putting into imagery some of these concepts. And for us Jesus-following Christians, it is important to discuss these ideas.

In any case, I suggest to at least RedBox the film when it comes out. Make sure the children are nowhere near the screen or the subwoofer, as there are pretty suspenseful (and downright scary) moments. When you watch the film, don’t get caught up too much in the special effects or any poor acting on the part of the main characters. Instead, pay attention to the thematic elements… Not necessarily the plot in a direct manner, but the director’s interpretation of universal themes (and the one’s discussed here).

If any of you do eventually see it and want to discuss it… Post a comment here. Maybe we can get some good ideas flowing.

After all, simply ingesting media and entertainment for entertainment’s sake is folly. It is important to digest and interpret that to which we are exposed…

Every once in a while (about once a week or so), I’ll post an article I’ve written about some issue in sports. It’s a hobby and a pretty fun outlet, so enjoy…

In the NBA Eastern Conference, there are three teams… and then everyone else. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team in the league with 60 wins, Boston (the defending champs, by the way) are taking everyone’s best shot and sitting in second place, while the Magic have one of the most dynamic teams, and players, we’ve seen in a while.

With just under two weeks left in the season, the playoff picture is becoming clearer and it seems as if the Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals will be one of these three. I am no prognosticator, so no predictions will be made here. However, it is important to delve deeper into the status of these squads, with this assumption that they will battle each other to the very end.

The Cavs have arguably the best player in the NBA right now. We all know LeBron’s value to his team and his role in resurrecting the franchise. We endlessly debate the pressure placed on him in his comparisons to Jordan and his quest for his first championship ring. For the first time, he’s been given valuable help in Mo Williams, but perhaps the biggest change between last year’s campaign and this one happened this past summer. LeBron learned. I’m not saying that he didn’t have the capacity to do so prior, but that his experience of witnessing the willpower, hard work, and drive to win in peers like Kobe, Kidd, and Wade taught him to be better. All his life he was ‘the guy.’ When he got to the NBA, he was ‘the guy.’ When he got to Beijing, he became ‘one of the guys.’ He saw the drive in his teammates and learned that he could not only be great in the league… he could become the greatest player of his generation. We are seeing the fruits of this realization… to the tune of a 60 win season. Cleveland is in the driver’s seat.

Boston has been taking hits all year. Ray Allen and, more recently, KG have battled injuries. At some points during the season, they seemed in postseason form, easily dispatching contenders and proclaiming their dominance. At other points, they seemed lost, a patchwork team of ‘past-their-prime’ veterans. The Celtics are an enigma heading into the playoffs. Too many questions are being asked to have any solid confidence. Will KG be okay? Which team will show up on any given night? After winning it all last year, do they still have that chip on their shoulder? Doc Rivers’ squad has the goods… we’ll see if they follow through.
The wildcard of the East… the Orlando Magic. The team plays solid inside-out basketball, feeding Dwight Howard and then seeing one of two results: him dunking the ball or a pass out to the wing where any one of the other Magic players takes a wide open 3-pointer. The Magic lead the NBA in 3-point field goals and Dwight Howard leads the league in dunks. This is a direct result of the team being the best at what it does. The defense can be shoddy against slashing guards (see Dwayne Wade), but if Dwight decides he wants to rule the paint… he will.

Three teams vying for the East crown. Each has the tools to do so. Each has the obstacles of the NBA playoffs… It’s where amazing happens (or so I’ve been told).