Don’t cry for the Times

For about a year, I felt like I was the sports king of the world. I had just won my newspaper’s fantasy football league. The Denver Broncos had just beaten the favored Green Bay Packers to win the Super Bowl, and I could follow it all with my new subscription to ESPN.com’s Insider package. Actually, I don’t think it was called Insider back in 1998, but it still gave me access to all the top columnists, the trade rumor mills, and the fantasy sports tip sheet all for $5 a month.

I don’t remember exactly why I canceled my account. Maybe it was bitterness over not making the fantasy playoffs the next year. Maybe it was just a one-year trial offer. (I’m notorious for signing up for those.) But I do know I’ve never really missed it. In fact, every time I click on an ESPN column and am rudely taken instead to the Insider page, I curse ESPN and wonder what kind of idiots actually pay for that junk.

It came as no surprise to me then that the New York Times decided to cancel its Times Select service after less than a year.