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Uncategorized

Umpire Woes Will Rest With MLB Operations

By Diane M. Grassi

As we embrace the initial games of the 2009 Fall Classic, otherwise known as the World Series, brought to you by Major League Baseball (MLB). Historically, it will be the latest start ever for a World Series, commencing October 28, 2009 and to possibly conclude as late as November 5, 2009, should a Game 7 be necessary.

But let us not digress, as there are more problems which should keep the minds of the brain trust of Major League Baseball, Inc. occupied, after a horrid conclusion, in the umpiring department, during the 2009 American League Division Series (ALDS), the National League Division Series (NLDS), the American League Championship Series (ALCS) as well as the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

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Uncategorized

MLB Sportswriter Scoops Self to Remain Relevant

By Diane M. Grassi

At a time when rumor and innuendo in sports journalism has arguably never been more pervasive, one would hope that the current active senior statesmen of their craft would still have an interest in maintaining their once high standards.

Categories
College Basketball

April is the Cruelest Month

By Ryan McGowan

If, as T.S. Eliot once wrote in The Waste Land, “April is the cruelest month,” then March is the second cruelest, but only if you happen to hate basketball.

(Which, since basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass., makes you un-American and probably a Communist.)

Categories
NFL General

NFL, Retirees Remain In Tussle on Benefits

By Diane M. Grassi

 

Super Bowl XLIII was no better a reminder as to why so many Americans have made the National Football League (NFL) the king when it comes to the most watched professional sports league in the United States. And it is no coincidence that it continually is rated the favorite of sports fans in poll after poll. Additionally, the NFL also has bragging rights when it comes to yearly revenue, expected to be about $8 billion for the 2008 season as compared to Major League Baseball’s nearly $7 billion annually.

 

And there is perhaps no better time to remember those who made it possible for the NFL’s owners and players today to be able to revel in its continued success, by virtue of the players who helped to build the league.

 

For the past couple of years, it has become public knowledge that a select group of retired NFL players have been struggling physically and economically since putting their playing days behind them. It is a serious matter, covering a complex and vast number of interrelated issues, rife with conflicts of interest.