Check your non-sporting ideas at the door when visiting the Tribune

Today in the New Albany Tribune, Managing Editor Chris Morris offers a piece in the main editorial slot, the place where yesterday an anonymous editorialist enthused about a program to send needy children to Christmas shop at Wal-Mart, expending a half-dozen hankies in the process of an appallingly vapid exercise in schmaltz.

But I digress.

Morris begins today’s editorial:

“I am big fan of old timers. I enjoy talking to people about the past, or the way things used to be.

“That doesn’t mean I am not excited about the future of this area, or this country. It just means I don’t want to forget about where I came from, or where we came from as a community.”

A surprising and intriguing start, prompting so many questions … how is Morris excited about the future? What does the newspaper think the future will hold? Will Morris be steering it to take part in this exciting future? Perhaps comparing notes with the old timers he mentions, collecting their wisdom and benefiting from their experience, and leading the discussion that aims for consensus between old and new?

Could it be … the Tribune in the vanguard as New Albany moves into the future?

SUCKER!

It’s yet another editorial on sports, specifically the forthcoming New Albany vs. Floyd Central basketball game, and an occasion for Morris to lament the sagging popularity of Hoosier Hysteria and to ritually celebrate previous generations of New Albanians who had no other entertainment options than basketball, and who consequently lived for the sport that defines Indiana.

Heaven forbid that such leisure time might have been used to read a book, or might still be used by the managing editor of a newspaper to think of something to say that does not have to do with sports.

To be sure, high school basketball remains an important component of Indiana myth and lore, and in fact, I played high school hoops myself. Basketball as a game is a thing of beauty, it is worthy of respect if not outright adulation, and when I have time, watching it can be a pleasant diversion.

But I learned far more about teamwork and real-life coping skills singing in high school choir than I ever did playing basketball for a dysfunctional, self-destructive coach in a program the patriotic importance of which was exaggerated far out of proportion to its proper place in an educational institution. That’s the simple truth.

Earlier this week, in response to my announcement that NA Confidential’s program of slumlord exposure would begin as soon as I had the time, a friend wrote this:

“Schedule permitting, eh? Sounds like NA Confidential needs to bring on more staff reporters, an online content producer, production staff, advertising reps, and a complete circulation department.

"Oh, yeah. Someone in town has already made an investment in those items. Wonder if you could borrow them if they're not using them?”

What a fine idea. Chris Morris, if you’re reading this, how about it?

I’ll just take the newspaper out for a short spin, and have it back to you in time for the start of the game.