The National Sports Daily

Thanks, Alex....and let me say, only because I'm really proud of it, that I was both "associate editor" AND "national columnist"....for 6 months before we published, I was in NY on a regular basis and involved in editorial planning and hiring....

 

As a National alum, it put a warm spot back in my heart to see my name on Alex's list of writers. It was a wonderful roster and every editor I worked with was sharp, helpful and personable.

In answer to some recent queries on this thread, to this day I say The National was a great career move even though its demise knocked me out of the newspaper biz---I found another trail in another form of media that lasted more than a decade and built a great means for a free-lance income on the side today. I'm now back in newspapers in a management position in sports, and it feels good to be back.

When The National folded up the tents, my old paper wouldn't take me back, and I sensed a certain amount of glee on their part to see me twist in the wind for a while. But not an ounce of regret from me. Put it this way, I once had none other than John Feinstein running quotes from the "other" locker room for me at a basketball game because he happened to be in town working the game for Mutual Radio. How cool is that?! And I became friends with Frank Deford among numerous others in the process. That's priceless.

 

I was in the press tent at Hazeltine for the US Open when Deford called and asked me to tell our people there, "We're closing." It was no surprise to me because I had been privy to all the problems. For most of the staff, I think the end came abruptly -- not because it was unexpected -- the cliff's edge was always there -- but because journalists on a mission think of the business end last. The clearest public signal of distress came when we raised the single-copy price to 75 cents, this when newspapers sold for a quarter at most (with USA Today an exception, I think, at 50 cents). We were asking readers to pay triple the going rate for a paper we couldn't promise to deliver every day. A media critic called me a shill because I occasionally dropped into a column the line, "Never leave home without three quarters in your pocket." The line actually was a lament.

 

A couple of questions: Who owns the rights to content from the National? This has come up a few times over the years and I was never able to determine that status. DeFord didn't know, didn't know who to contact anymore and no one I know ever had any luck getting anywhere on the subject. Also, is the magazine archived anywhere, in any library? Has it been put on microfilm or digitized? Did any archives from the paper get preserved?

Just curious.

 

Doesn't the Library of Congress keep practically every newspaper? I would imagine they have it microfilmed.

 

No archived material, far as I know. Also far as I know, each day's editions are not archived, microfilmed, and/or digitized. Several people say they kept "every issue." I'm one of those people. Problem is, "every issue" is impossible because while there was a "national" issue, each city had its local pages. Each day's edition, then, had multiple versions. I doubt if anyone has all those versions.

Ownership is a copyright attorney's question. Fifteen years after dissolution, does the Azcarraga empire own Charlie Pierce's stuff or does Charlie?

 

Interesting possibility. I'll find out.

 

Yes, it does. The library's online catalogue shows microfilm from NY, Chicago, LA, San Diego, and San Francisco editions.

So, we live somewhere other than in Tom Patterson's basement.

 

The National is why I got into the sports journalism business. No kidding, at age 17, I loved the baseball boxes and layout and big type on the headlines. Hopefully the writing made an impact, too, but I'll admit one of my favorite weekly features was the wrestling column by Dave Meltzer. I mean, any paper that gave legitimacy to rasslin and I was sold, baby.

 

In the era before the web, the National was like manna from heaven for me right out of college. When you combine the excellent information & analysis with great overall writing, it was an incredibly meaty read.

 

Thanks for the list Alex.

And Dave, I think I have the Library of Congress beat.

As far as I know, I've got every edition for every city every day.

I've been thinking about donating them to a college library so I don't have to move them all again.

 

I would think those alone could fill up a minivan.