The LA Times has, by far, the best coverage of the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Clippers, Kings, Ducks, UCLA, USC, and everything sports-related in Southern California. Their writers are witty, accessible to fans everywhere via social media, and some of the best in the business.

As a Dodgers, Lakers, UCLA, and sometimes-Kings fan, the Times has always been my first destination for southern California sports news.

Yahoo!, ESPN-Los Angles, CBS Sports, and other leading national sports websites were always there but never quite right for a true LA sports fan. The Tribune is great for local San Luis Obispo-area coverage, but the LA Times has always done such a wonderful job for Los Angeles sports.

This month, I tried to access an article and was told that I’ll have to pay about $16 per month to continue to read the Times online.

And, unfortunately for the Times, the first thing I did was not to reach for my credit card. Instead, I went to those other sites and checked whether they were charging now. Since many/all of the other sites I look at from time to time are still free, it looks like the Times will be out of the rotation, so to speak.

Our family recently cut our DirecTV subscripiton and we are trying to be smarter about our media expenditures. Unfortunately for us, we haven’t ever received a newspaper subscription and aren’t planning to start now.

Already, I navigate through pop-up ads. I take obligatory notice with little frustration because I know they have to pay the bills somehow. Maybe I’d pay $5 per month for the LA Times, but I think $16 per month is probably too much.

I hate to be a frugal freakazoid about this, but I’m going to try to stick to “free” media for now.

Maybe someday I’ll miss my LA Times writers enough to go back and pay nearly $200 per year to read their writing (And side note here: if I pay to read the LA Times online, will I still be subjected to half and whole screen advertisements?). Until then, I guess I’ll have to go through a transition phase, just like I am with lack of cable/satellite service. And if I decide to “go back” to reading the LA Times at some point in the future, then so be it. I just hope that if I ever do make the decision to pay for the paper again, the paper will still exist.