John Clay's Sidelines

Let’s just say I’m trying to climb back into the swing of things. Had a great time on vacation. Spent the week in Hilton Head with family and extended family, etc. We go there most every year because it is beautiful, and warm, with a beach, and by now the kids know the area well enough that we can let them all run wild.

Tip: If you desire to be thought of as a good uncle, take the little nephews and nieces “mini-golfing” with a post-match treat of McFlurries.

Anyway, having arrived back home, last night I went to see my former colleague, former Herald-Leader columnist Bill Bishop at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Bill is one of the smartest people I have ever had the pleasure of being around. Also, he is one of the nicest. His wife, Julie, has roots in Paris, where her father, Phil Ardery, himself and author, grew up. I was born in Paris. There are connections.

Now a Texan, as in an Austin, Texan, Bill has written the acclaimed book “The Big Sort,” about how the country has sort of sorted itself into like-minded neighborhoods. I take that back. Bill has written a book that has been endorsed by Bill Clinton, apparently on more than one occasion.

As I was standing in line to have Bill write something pithy in my copy, the man in front of me struck up a conversation. He was complimentary. But he said he had one complaint about the Herald-Leader. Or one complaint about the Herald-Leader sports section. He said he didn’t like that we covered the summer basketball camps. I replied that there was surely interest in the camps in that a lot of the players on Kentucky’s recruiting lists were at the camps. He said he understood, that he once lived in Chapel Hill so he knew about hoops interest, but he still objected to a newspaper covering a summer spectacle that involved teens, and in some cases pre-teens.

“You’re writing about players who are the same age, or aren’t much older than my daughter here,” he said, pointing to his offspring who had accompanied him to the bookstore. “And she’s 14.”

I could see his point. And I told him so. But it’s much like the subject matter in “The Big Sort.” It is what it is. We are a newspaper, like most newspapers these days, fighting for survival. To some extent, we have to give the people what they want. We also are a newspaper, like most newspapers these days, making the transition to the internet. And when it comes to college sports, the biggest draw, by far, is recruiting news. The “Most Read Stories” list on Kentucky.com offers near-daily proof of that.

I told the man that I could see his point, that covering summer basketball camps was a “little unseemly” when you think about it.

But these days, it’s also required.