Was I the only person in the country who wasn’t excited about last night’s game between old NBA players and old PBA players? I thought it was the basketball equivalent of watching Air Supply’s upcoming concert at the Araneta Coliseum. Sure, we all love singing Air Supply during drunken videoke sessions, but why would anyone drop a thousand pesos for an upper box ticket? I love watching Dominique Wilkins on NBA TV, but I willing to pay good money to see a pudgy Nique drag his fat ass up and down the floor.

Also, as nostalgia games go, it could not possibly be better than the Crispa-Toyota game from a few years back. Nothing tops a senile Baby Dalupan not recognizing his players from the bench, or game MVP Terry Saldana giving a creepy post-game speech honoring the leader of his cult, Ruben Ecleo, who was in jail for alleged parricide.

Besides, I get enough sloppy, badly-played basketball just by watching the UAAP.

One thing I did find interesting were grumblings from local sportswriters, as tweeted by Fidel Mangonon and Rey Joble, about the move by the promoters to move the press box to upper box.

I can’t say I sympathize with the local sports media. Joble’s excellent work aside, most of our sports media, to be diplomatic, have gotten too comfy and do too little quality reporting; most of them are barely adequate. Worse, they’ve taken on the role of being influence peddlers for things such as annual awards.

But this trend of taking away premium arena real estate from sports media is a trend that’s happening worldwide. My opinion on the matter echoes that of Bill Simmons:

What's the point of having reporters or columnists sit courtside when 97 percent of them don't use that access for their stories? Most of the savvier teams (the Lakers, Celtics, Cavs and others) already came to that realization and moved press sections to the corners or balconies. With very rare exceptions, that phenomenal access rarely translates to the following things: Overheard conversations on the court; overheard strategies in the team huddle; funny tidbits from the game that I couldn't get from watching on TV; or anything else of that ilk. Given the ridiculous demands of newspaper deadlines, writers often spend the entire second half working on their stories. Check press row in the last few minutes of a game. No one is watching the game. WHY ARE YOU THERE THEN? Jason Quick (The Oregonian) and Brian Windhorst (Cleveland Plain Dealer) are two examples of thoughtful beat writers who use their access as a strength -- not just plum courtside seating, but locker room access for overheard conversations, mood reads or even armchair psychology -- and really, that's why I have both of them bookmarked. Bloggers might have advantages in the immediacy and candidness departments. But there are too few Quicks and Windhorsts and too many Everyone Elses. That's reason No. 485 why newspapers are struggling so badly right now; their writers squandered unbelievable access to sporting events to the degree that readers gravitated toward the opinions of columnists and bloggers writing from their living rooms.

In the same column, Cleveland beat writer Brian Windhorst responded:

You are not totally wrong, Bill. In general, newspapers and media members are guilty of getting too comfortable with their lot while the world was changing. We certainly know in Cleveland -- to help pay for Dan Gilbert's $90 million payroll, the beat writers have the worst media seats in the NBA, up in the second deck. Do I miss staring at Paul Silas' backside for an entire game -- for which we nicknamed him "The Garage" -- and getting LeBron's powder all over my computer? Or the time when Jerome James threw a ball at me in Seattle, clocking me in the side of the head and drawing a technical (the Cavs missed the free throw)? Actually, no.

But certainly the fans lose some connection. I cannot quantify it, but the readers who could never afford to sit that close (like almost all of them) get a little disconnected. I can't write about overhearing coversations about the players' off-court exploits, or at least I couldn't write about it for long. But I can describe nuances in the game for many. Your criticism of newspapers is well founded, but their link to the fans is still vital and if you don't believe me, ask Mark Cuban.