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Cost of printing hurts magazines
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
Michael Phelps proved to be just what NBC and the United States needed during this lazy-not-too-hazy time of summer.
Phelps, the uber swimmer who now owns more gold medals than any other Olympian in history, delivered NBC its own form of gold. He won his record eighth gold medal in a single Olympiad, beating Mark Spitz's three-decade-old accomplishment.
Courtesy of Phelps, the Peacock Network has reason to walk around strutting its stuff.
More than 31 million people tuned in to watch as Phelps captured the record Saturday night. That's 31 million people on a Saturday night in the summer. Around here, that's a feat. Of course, NBC had to put its spin on things.
''The mystery of China combined with the unbelievable phenomenon of Michael Phelps, the terrific performances by gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson and defending Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh at beach volleyball have captivated the imagination of the country,'' said Dick Ebersol, chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics and executive producer of NBC's Olympics coverage.
Ebersol could have just mentioned Phelps and it would have been all good. When you have people cheering for a swimmer in sports bars, you've tapped into something. And, sorry, it's not the gymnastics or the mystery of China that captured the nation's fancy. It's Phelps and the fact that Americans are seriously in need of an emotional lift.
After months of near $4 gasoline, a housing crisis, five years of war and an economy that has been swirling around the drain for what seems like eternity, the country's in a serious emotional funk. If Charles Dickens were writing A Tale of Two Cities this year, he might have started with the line ''It was the worst of times,'' and stopped there. Coupled with the probability of a rather ugly presidential election race again, it's not difficult to see why we're all willing to take our moments of sheer, unadulterated joy whenever and wherever we can get them.
You look at Phelps, 23, who was diagnosed with ADHD at age 9, and you see what we like to believe is the quintessential American success story. Phelps tapped into one thing that many of us haven't felt in some time. We're Americans. We can do anything that we set our minds to, and when we do that, there's little that can stop us.
It felt good to have that emotion once again.
Phelps swims in cash
When you enjoy the type of success that Phelps has in the world of amateur athletics, there's only one real way to cash in big time — endorsements.
According to reports, Phelps takes in more than $5 million for hawking products from a wide range of partners including Visa and Speedo. He's about to land in some rarefied company after setting his gold record. A CNN report said he could make up to $50 million a year, putting him in Tiger Woods' neighborhood, not in the same house, but definitely in the same neighborhood.
Upcoming trend?
The most recent Sporting News arrived in my mailbox the other day, wrapped in a little message. The almost weekly sports publication will turn into an almost biweekly one beginning with the Sept. 1 issue. The reason behind the move? The Internet would be the primary factor.
With the cost of printing up, then you have mailing, etc. It's not difficult to see why smaller magazines would go this route. To compensate for those missing weeks, Sporting News electronically has Sporting News Today, a 30-plus page, daily publication, available free at http://sportingnewstoday.com.
Sporting News is morphing into a hard copy-electronic copy hybrid, and I sense a trend.
My argument against electronic-based publications has always been linked to a lack of portability (there are certain places you can't and don't want to take a laptop to read). And, sorry, reading on an iPod, iPhone or any other pint-sized media player doesn't do it for me because of screen size limitations.
But I suspect with the advent of Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Portable Reader, the days of the printed word could be evolving. Whether for the best or worst depends on your point of view.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/.
Michael Phelps proved to be just what NBC and the United States needed during this lazy-not-too-hazy time of summer.
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