Dying Newspaper

As my baby brother's senior year & final wrestling season winds down, I have come face to face with the newspaper industry. At least the newspaper industry here in Western New York.  Now our local paper is no, New York Times. In fact, we live on the exact opposite end of the state. You can't get any farther in the state of New York than where I currently sit & type this to you. 

It's a local paper. Shouldn't it have mostly local stories and bylines? Why is everything from the AP wire?

The Buffalo area has many schools and in the winter there really isn't much to report on in the area. There aren't usually any outdoor festivals or concerts.  Just high school and college sports. 

This past weekend I spent two full days in a big community college gym, surrounded by hundreds of high school boys in singlets and warm up suits, smelling sweat, hearing buzzers and whistles nonstop in my ears, having my tush get numb from the bleachers.  This wrestling tournament hosts over 4o area high schools.  Its a big deal for local wrestlers to show case their talents and it helps to determine qualifiers for states and seeds at other tournaments later in the season. 

Yet, the local paper basically gave the tournament a split second glance. The write up looked as though the reporter had taken the finalists' biography from the coach and then added who ended up winning each weight class contest. 

Who or what was on the front page of the Sports section...the Seattle game. Seattle. We live in Buffalo, NY. Here Seattle, a buzz from the AP, was front and center on the sports page, with a nice run down of the NFL game. Seattle? Are you serious?

If this is what local papers are coming to- brushing off the importance of local news for things around the country that are more glamours and "seemingly" more important, then perhaps its a good thing journalists across the country are loosing their jobs at local papers. Maybe we do only need papers like the New York Times and USA Today.  Who cares about local students, local superstars, when we can talk about Matt Hasselbeck? A guy who gets paid millions for a team that is on the complete other side of the country.

And again, Nate, I'm sorry for ragging on your report. It's nothing personal. Just a statement on local journalism in general.

Gym Time

I never used to like working out. I never had a gym membership. I never played "real" sports, except for one season of track...which I hated.  I used to hate running long distances, opting instead to sprint instead.

However, since last winter, I have started to enjoy running, and now that it is cold again in Western New York, going to the gym. It is my release. I run for a half an hour in the nice, temperate conditions of an indoor track. Then, as my reward, my dessert, I treat myself to the hot tub and steam room.

I've found that the sweating is cathartic. It helps me release my tension. In a way I feel like it releases all the bad toxins, the bad thoughts, the hurt, and stress of the day. I start the process with running and then I complete it, just to make sure all the day is out of me by relaxing in the heat of the eucalyptus stream room. I instantly feel better as I've released the day away during my daily gym time.

Gym time. My favorite time of day.