I am a sort-of baseball fan, one who used to be a real fan. The team I chose to brand on was the Cincinnati Reds. They are falling off the map. If the Major Leagues were formed today, that city would have, at best, a AAA franchise.
The Atlanta Braves inspired a bumper sticker years ago that said “Bring professional baseball to Atlanta.” Cincinnati now inspires such a sentiment. Its teams have been moribund, dreadful, boring, its managers uninspired and behind the times. The reason, I am told, or at least assume, is that this is a small market team doing all it can afford to do.
So this article by Steve Mancuso opened my eyes. Starting with the assumption that the Reds have to trade some viable young prospects in lieu of paying outright for proven talent, Mancuso took me on a ride.
Continue reading “A revealing article from a sports journalist”


I was just browsing the other day, wasting my time, when I ran across the photo seen here of Julia Roberts. Something struck me as odd … was I looking at a slight widow’s peak? That shit-eating grin – I have seen that before. Where? Was it this guy, seen to the right? No – that’s John Denver. He had (