Put this in perspective

Something to watch and think about.  It’s amazing how fast technology is advancing these days.  Some people think this type of thing is scary, but I say it’s better to embrace it and go with it.  You decide for yourself.

Commissioners meeting comes too late

As a student journalist, I often hear and field questions about the profession’s future in the digital age. The problem is that too many people, myself included at times, are only talking about it and not actually taking part in it.

Such was the case Thursday when the four major North American sports commissioners met in New York to “talk” about the future of sports – particularly sports journalism.

From everything I’ve read about the meeting, this discussion included how to better appeal to sports fans and talked about the decline of newspapers. I think it’s too late for that. Newspapers are already “dead” to me. Give it one more generation and they may actually be dead.

Roger Goodell of the NFL, Bud Selig of MLB, David Stern of the NBA and Gary Bettman of the NHL should have had this meeting sooner. A lot sooner.

In case they haven’t noticed, Twitter is taking over the sports world, delivering scores, stats, injury updates and breaking news updates. Every team in every sport has an account which every fan can follow. Fans can get updates on their cell phones too. Who needs newspapers anymore.

The four commissioners want to talk about how to adjust sports content. That content has already been adjusted. Anyone with a Facebook profile would have known how the Super Bowl ended before reading it the next day. There was another event, not sports related but a good example, not too long ago in which the results, as they were announced, were seen on everyone’s statuses. (See Nov. 4, 2008 if you’re still confused).

It’s too late for these gentlemen to try to change the way their respective sports are covered. That’s already being done. Social networking, blogging, and the usage of cell phones has changed the way sports are covered. People are playing a more active roll in breaking the news, and it’s up to all of us to keep up.

Links:

Four major sports commissioners meet to discuss future of sports
Commissioners discuss economics, future of sports at WSJ summit