Hoops list grows; Newspaper Economics 101

By: GRAHAM OSTEEN

graham@theitem.com

Forget the Depression for a few minutes and don’t skin the family mule just yet, because March Madness is in full bloom, and the list of the “Greatest Sumter Basketballers to Ever Strut the Earth” continues to grow.

I heard from a lot of people this week, made some new acquaintances and received a big batch of names to add.

At the top of the list from several people is Kenneth “Mooch” Richardson, Sumter High superstar in 1980-81. A certain longtime Sumter sportswriter I know said he thought “Mooch” was really the most complete high school player Sumter has ever seen. Let the debate begin.

Here are some others you submitted, in no particular order and representing several generations: Ronnie Fiorini, Kelvin Green, Marcus Wilson, Ernest Rosenburg, Darren McDuffie, Cooper Wilson, Matt Talley, Mike Robinson, Greg Puckering, Tommy Hughes, Mike Towery, Kenny Rosefield, Floyd Vaughn, Manning Pringle Jr., Rhuel Pringle, Tony Wilson, Eric Parker, John Lewis, David Stone, Joe Spann, Fred Brogdon, Tip Kirby, Willie Anderson, Harry Lee Fulwood, Leroy Gary, Richard Singleton, Leon Rawlinson, Coley White, and, my personal favorite, Lindberg “The Bird” Moody.

Several people contacted me about the late Mr. Moody, and here’s just one example from Mr. Jack Jackson:

I was a freshman at S.C. State University (College at that time) when Moody was a senior and a “Mr. Everything.” I have many fond memories of Lindberg as “The Man of Basketball.” Fans were always yelling, “Fly Bird fly.” That he did, from what appeared to me to be from the half court line. He would dunk the basketball with ease and grace. Please also know that Moody served his country as an officer in the U.S. Army after completing the R.O.T.C program at S.C. State College. By the way, I also graduated from Lincoln High School and S.C. State, as did the Bird. Continue your quest.

Jim Felder, another Lincoln High and S.C. State alumnus, told me that Moody scored more than 50 points a game on a regular basis at Lincoln, had a great career at S.C. State and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1962. Instead of going pro, he fulfilled his service and family obligations, starred on the Special Forces military team and became the first coach at Rock Hill’s Northwestern High School, where he remains a legend today. He was killed in a car crash in 1980, and his widow, Bessie A. Moody-Lawrence, served 14 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives from Rock Hill. They have three children; Lindberg Jr., Katrina Joanne and Leah Bess. I spoke with Mrs. Moody-Lawrence on Saturday morning, and she said there’s a portrait of “Moody” hanging in the Rock Hill gym and a memorial at the galleria mall in Rock Hill.

All of this is yet another indication that Sumter is the center of the universe.

Keep those names coming.

       

The most striking economic statistic I’ve seen lately – besides 13.7 percent unemployment in Sumter – is that U.S. corporate profits fell by $250 billion in the closing months of 2008, the steepest drop in 55 years. Think about that for a second.

There are signs of stabilization starting to emerge, but the steepest drop in corporate profits in 55 years is what we’ve been going through as a country. Someday we’ll all look back on this and laugh, right?

Here’s a quick and dirty economic view from someone in the newspaper industry, whose obit seems to be written almost daily now. As H.L. Mencken said, “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.”

The problem with many of the country’s daily newspapers is they are part of large, public companies that are badly overleveraged. For the past decade or more, Wall Street demanded even more unreasonable margins from newspapers, which led to many solid newspaper companies taking on huge debt loads. Now many of the nation’s best papers are being sunk by their debt payments.

The Item has been a local, family owned paper since 1894, and we are fortunate to have very little debt service. Like other companies, we have had to cut costs dramatically while still meeting the needs of our customers, so we’re in the same boat as about 99 percent of the companies in the country right now. Retail, auto and real estate are hurting, and newspapers are directly affected by that reality.

If you want to work in a business that’s recession proof, contact Bobby McCreight at Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home about a job, or open a liquor store. History proves that both of those industries will be around for the long term.

Speculation about the Internet replacing community newspapers is counter-intuitive. What are you going to do when you want to know what’s on sale this week at the Piggly Wiggly? Send out a Twitter message for Ricky McLeod? Google chicken quarters in Sumter? People who are engaged in a community read a local paper, and advertisers know this. You ignore the workings of your community at your own peril. Free speech and taxpayer representation are the most basic aspects of a democracy, and good community newspaper journalism is at the core of it all.

Here’s a preview of what we’re doing in the next six months here at The Item. We’re bringing in one of the best journalists/futurists in the country to help “envision” a newsroom of the future for Sumter, Lee and Clarendon counties, and we will staff it accordingly. We’re engaging with another of the best newspaper minds in the world to redesign our web site and print product during that same time frame.

We are working daily with our advertisers to join forces with them and come up with the best ways for all of us to weather this economic crisis, and emerge stronger for the long term.

The difference between large metro dailies and papers like The Item is that we have a strong history and a strong stake in the towns and cities we serve, and that makes all the difference. Our advertisers and readers – and the overall health of the communities we serve – depend on the free flow and easy accessibility of information that this local newspaper will continue to provide, in print and online.



Graham Osteen is co-president of Osteen Publishing Co. and Editor-At-Large of The Item. Contact him at The Item, 20 N. Magnolia St., Sumter, S.C., 29150; graham@theitem.com or call (803) 774-1352.