A couple more thoughts, then I resume my leave

It just occurred to me that I was about five days late on this Bissinger-Leitch thing, and that everyone else who needs to has already commented and moved on. Sorry. News travels slow to the other part of the world. (I say that knowing full well that I'm contradicting my earlier depiction of the Internet as this wondrous thing that can instantaneously transmit all the world's knowledge to your fingertips...)

Anyway, it's also occurred to me that I may have seemed a little spiteful in my previous post, which is weird because I'm not usually a very spiteful person. Well, it only seems right that I rectify this situation, and I'll do it with the easy button...

Somehow, Joe Posnanski has again managed to be the sane voice of reason, and -- in that way of his -- the authority on this matter.

There were two lengthy excerpts I wanted to use as examples of what I mean, but I fear reproducing both would violate some sort of blogger intellectual-rights code (yes, even bloggers have ethics). So I flipped a coin and this is what came up:

What is a blog anyway? The question itself is ridiculous … it’s like asking, “What’s an article?” or “What’s a book” or “What’s a song?” It’s a vehicle, that’s all, a way to communicate, a way to spread ideas, a way to entertain, a way to gripe, a way to spew hate, a way to make fascinating points. Some are short. Some are long. Some are curiously long. Some are profane, some are fascinating, some are stupid, some are irresponsible, some are genius, some are not read by anybody except immediate family members.

Remember Buzz’s W.C. Heinz reference? Buzz was saying that Heinz had a whole lot more to say (and could say it a lot better) than, I guess, most people who comment on blogs. Sure. That’s probably true. Heinz was a brilliant writer. Wonderful. Thoughtful. Funny. Tough. I couldn’t be a bigger fan. His piece on Bummy Davis is one of the all-time greats. He wrote a lot of great pieces.

But guess what: If Heinz was young today, if he was 25 years old in 2008, or 30 years old, you know what he would be doing? Yeah. He would be WRITING A FREAKING BLOG. Of course he would. If you love to write, if you want to be heard, if you feel like you have something to say, this is what you do. Your print outlets are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking. You know, Heinz wrote his famous, ”In The Morning They Shot Spies“ piece for True Magazine. Same thing for that great Bummy Davis piece I just mentioned. He wrote sports columns for “The Sun.” He wrote for Madison and Argosy and LIfe and so on.

You know what these magazines and newspapers have in common? Yeah. They’re gone. There aren’t many magazines and newspapers left. It’s corny, sure, but I feel honored and thankful every day to work for The Kansas City Star, not only a paper that is still in business, but more a paper that still cares a whole lot about being good. There’s a hard reality here, and it will only get harder over the next few years. Newspapers are shrinking. Magazines are shrinking. Opportunities in the mainstream are shrinking. Shrinkage is the word.

But the Internet is wide open. If Heinz was young, he would be writing words on the Internet just like everyone else, and he would probably have his own blog, and it would be wonderful, and cranky old people would be screaming about Heinz in pajamas.

Here's the full entry.

I'd also like to refer you to the Posnanski post titled "Costas on Blogs," specifically the comment that reads,

fd // May 2, 2008 at 10:25 am

Will you get an eyejob like he did when you reach his age?

Heh.

Is it a sign of the times that amid a brilliant anecdote about hope, disappointment, failure and redemption, I choose to share that?

The comment really has to be read in context to be appreciated. Well done, fd.