OTish: RIP Sporting News (Mag), 1886-2012
Wow. Even though I never really read TSN much, it is still kind of sad to see a publication that old close it's doors. Just a sign of the times I suppose seeing as how Borders Books store (an Ann Arbor based company) closed it's doors last year and now the print magazines are starting to go by the wayside.
December 11th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^
Misleading title. The TSN will continue as an online only periodical through its AOL partnership.
Don't get out the bagpipes quite yet, however. The Sporting News will continue as an all-digital brand with its AOL-partnered website, as well as its iPad and Android apps.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^
Anything "published" online is not going to be as good as a magazine that is scrutinized by an editor. How was they even going to make money if people do not have to pay a subscription fee and they do not sell anything? Why would they partner with America Online? I finally had to cancel my contract with them, the internet was just getting slower and slower, especially since I moved. I don't know if AOL does not have an office in Florida, but it is much slower.
~Herm
December 11th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^
December 11th, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 1:58 AM ^
Judging by your picture, you don't have a girlfriend.
December 11th, 2012 at 11:47 PM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 1:06 AM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 6:51 AM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 9:58 AM ^
You should respect Herm, damnit. He didn't fight the Nazi's so you could give your parents ipads for christmas.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:43 PM ^
If Herm's in the class of 1961 like his username suggests, he's probably the son of a guy who fought the Nazis. The WWII generation is around 90 years old now.
December 11th, 2012 at 9:56 PM ^
in related news, the severed head of Ted Williams is being cryogenically preserved somewhere in Arizona also. So he's not RIP either.
EDIT: how long do i have to be here to remember how to reply to a post rather than the OP? yeesh.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:01 PM ^
"how long do i have to be here to remember how to reply to a post rather than the OP?"
Looks like at least one more day.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^
I thought AOL disappeared at the same time 56K modems did.
December 12th, 2012 at 8:40 AM ^
...I actually think I'm more surprised to learn that AOL is still around.
December 12th, 2012 at 9:29 AM ^
They're a lot like Yahoo now -- a digital media company with free email accounts. They own an array of properties, including MapQuest, Moviefone, TechCrunch, Engadget, Huffington Post. The Sporting News fills a gap in their portfolio -- not quite sure what being "partners" with AOL means, but I'll guess it means AOL will eventually own it, if it doesn't already.
AOL still offers dial-up access, though:
http://get.aol.com/plans/index.php
[Select the "I am a dial-up internet User" button to see the 100% dial-up plans.]
December 13th, 2012 at 3:37 AM ^
I want my data transmitted through copper wire!
December 11th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^
December 11th, 2012 at 10:21 PM ^
Circuit City is an "online retailer" too. Yeah that's working out great. It's a shame. The Sporting News used to be a big deal.
December 12th, 2012 at 6:59 AM ^
So is Amazon and soon will Best Buy.
Paper is dead, long live electronic.
December 12th, 2012 at 8:50 AM ^
There have actually been ample successful launches in recent years. The difference is that they tend to cater to niche markets and often cost a premium. For example, as long as they keep producing quality content, I'll happily pay extra for something like Treats! or Monocle.
The old idea of a print offering reaching mass appeal, however, does appear to be terminal. Some of it is the result of technology but a lot of their problems have been self-inflicted by gutting their quality in cost saving efforts.
December 15th, 2012 at 1:20 AM ^
only on mgo can you find a dude on a football blog who reads Treats!
December 15th, 2012 at 1:18 AM ^
A lot of dead retail chains exist online, I'm sure at least some of them are seeing money out of it since Wards, for example, has been doing it online only for a decade.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
I still have my TSN from right after the Michgian 1997 national championship Rose Bowl game with Charles Woodson on the cover. It is a thing of beauty.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
Sporting News vs Sports Illustrated was sort of like hard core sports fan vs wine and cheese sports fan.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^
I liked TSN. Those complete MLB team statistics were awesome in the pre-internet age.
I know now we have access to more information than ever, but I feel like we're losing something with print media going away.
December 11th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^
Now that was fantasy baseball back in the day.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:15 PM ^
Not just the MLB statistics, but the minor league stats and box scores. There wasn't a better way to keep up with baseball back then, and I read every issue pretty much cover-to-cover in the 70s and early 80s.
We were an Avalon Hill (the SI games) and APBA crowd though--didn't play Strat except for hockey.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^
December 11th, 2012 at 10:56 PM ^
I dunno. Some happy day in the not too distant future there will be a similar thread created announcing that the Detroit Free Press has shuttered its doors and ceased publication. That's one institution I will not miss at all.
And like all print media it's day is coming. Soon.
December 11th, 2012 at 11:03 PM ^
I loved their college football preview magazines back in the early and mid 90's.
December 12th, 2012 at 12:01 AM ^
It's going to suck when all magazines and newspapers are online
December 12th, 2012 at 7:01 AM ^
No it won't. The only people who actually believe that are people like Herm. I personally have not used a paper publication in years. Why should I when I have an ipad.
Paper/print is expensive and wasteful.
December 12th, 2012 at 8:04 AM ^
And what happens when technology fails?
I just don't like relying for a computer doing everything. Because if those things malfunction, everyone is SOL.
December 12th, 2012 at 8:24 AM ^
We start living like Doomsday preparers. Speaking of, I need to stock up my underground bunker for the coming robot apocalypse. There is no way they are going to plug me into the matrix.
December 12th, 2012 at 9:26 AM ^
Gotta love 'em. Are you more an axe thrower, or throwing star aficionado?
December 12th, 2012 at 12:15 AM ^
I used to have subscriptions to Sporting News, SI, and ESPN the magazine all at once. Then the internets tooks over. The Sporting News was a real good magazine. I feel bad for ditching them now.
December 12th, 2012 at 12:27 AM ^
It's just not very efficient. I got that magazine deal for ESPN for $9 for 2 years posted on here and I know that physical copy is going straight to the trash. I only got it for free insider. Print is gone by the wayside. I get there's a little bit of nostalgia involved but meh. I love being able to take my tablet on trips and having books, magazines, movies, musics and games all on one small device. I have endless entertainment options as opposed to having pick and choose what I want to bring.
December 12th, 2012 at 2:03 AM ^
But what happens when the AOL goes out? That's when you'll regret not having your satchel full of gazettes.
~HermDecember 12th, 2012 at 2:33 AM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 7:04 AM ^
What happens when Skynet's stock price plummets? Then they will have to switch to a new, cheap power source. One that is organic and self-sustaining. OMG, we are headed towards the Matrix.
December 13th, 2012 at 3:40 AM ^
How about a planet of cows floating in jelly instead of people? Easier to feed, easier to run the matrix, and unlikely to attempt escape or threaten their masters.
/Occam's Razor'd
December 12th, 2012 at 4:18 AM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 7:02 AM ^
Boy, you weren't kidding:
December 12th, 2012 at 8:46 AM ^
LOL good one. Gutenberg is seriously one of the more underrated scientific minds in history. Doubtful though. He was a man of science and progress like other Enligtenment thinkers [though he probably pre-dates what most of us think of as the Enlightenment era]. They didn't spend their time yearning for the past but looked ahead.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:41 PM ^
Gutenberg lived a couple of centuries before the Enlightenment. He was part of the Renaissance.
I'm not sure if he's really underrated. A lot of people recognize that the invention of the printing press brought about a huge transformation in the way people communicated.
December 12th, 2012 at 7:06 AM ^
While Ada Lovelace is smiling
December 12th, 2012 at 7:12 AM ^
December 12th, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^
...to see a number of people on here claim that "print is dead" yet wasn't this the same website that just this year managed to raise more than twice their goal in a fundraising effort to produce a print magazine/book called Hail To The Victors?
I'll re-iterate my earlier point, print is by no means dead. In fact, there is a lot of opportunity right now if you produce quality content. What is dying is profit driven, corporately produced shit, like the Fr**p, that lack any worthwhile content. This is a good trend but it by no means implies that the print medium is finished.
December 12th, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^
to the crapper! I use an Ipad and Kindle but it can't replace print for my money. Still sad about Sporting News : (