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BOOK REVIEW Into the Water By Paula Hawkins 28 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | AUG 2017 By Woody Hemphill Welcome to the doldrums of the sporting year. As the mercury climbs closer to the point of ‘not wanting to do squat’ outside, precision & finesse sports like golf, tennis, baseball, and auto racing take center stage in our sporting world. Speaking of golf, the last 10 majors in golf were won by different players. Meanwhile, in tennis, Rafa Nadal recently won his 10th French Open title. Those responsible for the growth of historically niche sports face an uphill climb. Golf faces a future with numerous winners with little consistency, while tennis has been dominated by only a single handful of marketable stars limiting expansion of the sport over the last decade. Exposure to individual sports in the US has been traditionally linked to cultural elites, and the already affluent. One doesn’t have to be a sociologist to find a causal link between historically exclusionary service delivery models regarding separation between ‘us & them’ and the waning of interest in recent years. This culturallydefined byproduct, coupled with Baby Boomers choice to participate within team-based sports, and millennials opting to participate within solo hobbies, such as tech-based gaming, form a trifecta that will continue to determine the landscape of our sporting reality. One has to wonder how niche sports such as golf & tennis will market itself in the future among the landscape of a vastly-altered media market that has floundered in the post-Tiger world. Perhaps, the ‘chickens are coming home to roost’ within sports established upon exclusivity? Like it or not, sports in the modern world are now driven by corporate interests because of the influx of monies generated by networks paying to broadcast league play. An interesting anomaly to this rule of thumb is that after selling its soul to corporate interests at the detriment of its fan base, NASCAR is now naming itself after Monster Energy drinks, after Nextel, and Winston cigarettes for years. How long before the Don Draper-type executives realize that naming rights correlate with the detriment of the industry that carries the name of the stock car racing sport? For numerous reasons, making sports readily available and accessible to the greatest amounts of people is a viable strategy for the perpetuation of each sport. Otherwise, people will not tune in to watch the games, and jeopardizing this cash cow is certainly not in any of the league’s best interests. As HBO’s Arliss said, ‘athletes are the gladiators of our times’ and we’ve always held them as heroes. Yet, household names of yesteryear have now given way to free agency, super teams, and the athletic pursuit of the max contract as professional sports are now comprised of millionaires in each league. Of the four, major professional athletic leagues comprised of the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB), there is a salary cap in each league, except baseball. The lack of a salary cap in baseball has created disparity between teams that can win without having fans in attendance, such as the Florida Marlins. No matter the sport, the revenues generated by broadcast rights on television have fundamentally-altered the landscape of each business model, and permeated the livelihoods of each individual within the industry. The length of the season in baseball is now ridiculously long, with playoff appearances now featuring snow flurries if a team from the northeast hosts in November – hardly, a sport reserved for the ‘boys of summer’. Ultimately, the sports we are watching are marketed, sold, and consumed as various forms of entertainment and not the seemingly religious experience that so many of us have come to define our existence via our consumption. Until next time, y’all play nice - and may all your teams win! By Nell Klein When I learned that Paula Hawkins, author of Girl on the Train, had written a new novel, I dropped everything to read it and I’m so glad to pass it on to my fellow readers. Into the Water takes place in the rural British town of Beckford, through which a river runs. It also has a morbid history of women losing their lives to the river and its “drowning pool.” In 2015 the town becomes a crime scene when a teenage girl (Katie Whittaker) and a single mother (Nel Abbott) are both found dead in the river in the space of only a few weeks. The story focuses on 15-year-old Lena Abbott (Nel’s daughter) who is left parentless, and her long-lost Aunt Jules (Nel’s sister), who has shown up to try and take care of Lena. Then there’s the detective, Sean Townsend, and his partner, Erin Morgan; Helen (Sean’s wife) and Patrick (Sean’s father). Also, there’s Mark Henderson, school teacher; Louise Whittaker (Katie’s Mum), and Josh (Katie’s brother). And, last but not least, Nickie Sage, psychic, who knows more than the police. I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone, but wow, what a list of characters! I know it seems daunting, but once you get everyone straight, you’re good to go. It also helps that each chapter is titled with one of the characters names. The main fact is every one of these characters are linked to the women found dead, and they all seem guilty as hell. Beckford is just a strange place full of odd people and they all seem to be hiding something. Did these women commit suicide or were they murdered? All we know for sure is the river has all kinds of secrets that are dredged up during the investigation, along with some pretty nasty family secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I give it 4 roses due to the large amount of characters to keep straight. But don’t let it hold you back, it’s a must read. I also found out that like Girl on the Train, Into the Water is being made into a movie (with a cast of thousands!). I can’t wait to see this one! Hope you’re having a great summer so far and until next time, read a book; if it’s a good read, pass it on!


20391 Tybee
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