The Heat and the Shine

The death of pro wrestling territories was authored long ago.  Maybe it's time for a rewrite. Credit Vince McMahon, blame cable television , whatever.  They're gone.  For now. Conventional wisdom is that advances in technology preclude a return to the territory days.  Information technology is too cheap and production technology is too expensive.  The former allows people to explore beyond their local wrestling product.  The latter makes it too impossible for local wrestling to compete with WWE. Perhaps.  Conventional wisdom is often wise, but sometimes it's off base.  (I'd insert a line about politics, but I don't want to be banned by Indy promoters.) Conventional wisdom goes awry when it masquerades as fundamental truth.  Is it fundamentally true that, when people are allowed to sample a "major league" product, they ignore their local product?  Does flashier television production fundamentally disqualify simpler productions from being emb

The finish of Serena Williams's loss to Roberta Vinci was peak drama.  There was a protagonist -- be it Serena for the lovers or Vinci for the haters.  There was high antagonism: Serena about to lose her chance at history; an unheralded Vinci facing a moment no person could ever prepare for.  There was everything else: suspense, a climax, reactions that spanned the emotional spectrum.  It was, in a word, money. One subplot was the loss of money.  And that was true.  Ticket brokers saw re-sale prices for the Women's Final plummet in the moments after the match.  Advertising buyers who snapped up spots early saw their investments deflate and ESPN folks lost a chance to sell at a higher rate next time Serena plays.  Those are just the big ones.  Journalists, concession vendors and even -- maybe especially -- the sellers outside the grounds who planned to offer commemorative t-shirts Saturday night took a hit, too. It is a reminder of who pays the bills in the world of enterta