Happy 2010!

A happy and healthy 2010 to all, and welcome to a new decade. May it be filled with good health and fun. I know in terms of sports, it is a special year ahead with the World Cup set for June/July and the Olympics of course in February in Vancouver/Whistler. Good times ahead!

Here's an incredible article that looks at the business of baseball. Going to include a lengthy quote, not attributing the source initially, because that may colour your opinion. For those that are worried about what the big money teams spend, here's what could well be an even bigger problem to the competitive fabric of the game: what the "small" market teams spend:

“We heard a lot last year about the impending doom of the economics of baseball, and they had another record year of revenues, $6 billion again this year, and the economy is better, so the real truth of baseball right now is a lot of teams are starting to identify their ownerships from the following perspective: that they have an ownership that’s going to pay off their debt by getting the revenue sharing and money they’re getting from central baseball - $80 million-$90 million a year - and they’re going to turn around and draw 1.5-2 million, make $40 or $50 a head. All of a sudden, they’re sitting there with $200 million in revenues and they’re spending $50 million, $60 million, $70 million on players. Those are obviously owners that are going to have to be looked at.’’

“We’ve seen a number of teams that are just sitting back,’’ he said. “We have clubs who aren’t successful getting $80 million before they ever sell a ticket. The question is always going to be, in the end, what are they doing with that money? For most of them, they’re paying off their debt to purchase the franchise. So they become owners, debt-free, but they have not done a lot to contribute to the success of the game.

“The fans have to look at it and realize that kind of revenue is available. The other part of it is I think we’ve proven time and time again that investment in players produces revenue streams and success points for franchises. Even in an economy where many businesses are struggling, in our industry, as I said last year, we’ve been able to keep revenues at a record level.’’

"While that growth was going on - which is phenomenal growth - every offseason there were statements by teams that the industry was headed south,’’ he said. “Go back and look at the quotes and who’s making them. If I’m a fan, I really have to question it and look at the history of my franchise and the others and evaluate what commitment each franchise is making.

“Some are doing a good job of it. Some are making decisions going forward, and there are others basically using our industry as a method for acquiring hundreds of millions of dollars in assets on the backs of the industry.’’

The source? Super agent Scott Boras, who clearly doesn't buy the stories some franchises are selling. Frankly, the math he's offering works so the real losers out there are the fans supporting the Pittsburgh's, Florida's and San Diego's of the world and financing their team's ownership while watching a crap product most years. Thoughts?

Check out the Top 10 Middle Finger moments in sports. Good stuff.

As per New Year's Day tradition, plenty of NCAA action on the go today including the Rose Bowl where Ohio State will face Oregon, and the Sugar Bowl that will see two new coaches in play for Cincinnati and Florida.

AT&T is ending its sponsorship of Tiger Woods. This really shouldn't affect the company greatly. Now, if Tiger were to drop AT&T as his cell provider and vehicle for his text messages to his ladies, then we'd have concern for AT&T.

The NHL Winter Classic goes today in Boston, with the Bruins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. It is always more cool to watch the atmosphere than the game itself, which usually tends to be a bit dicey with choppy ice, especially with the forecast calling for temperatures around freezing and a chance of rain. In fact, the game may be called off and moved to Saturday. Check it on NBC at 1pm.

Pittsburgh Steeler LaMarr Woodley is whining that the Cincinnati Bengals are going to lie down to keep his Steelers out of the NFL playoffs, as a Bengals loss eliminates the Steelers and puts the New York Jets in. Three things on that: the Bengals didn't lie down when they beat said Steelers this year. Twice. Second: they don't owe you anything. Third: the Steelers had far more to do with their situation than the Bengals did.

What would All-Star voting - any sport - be without something ridiculous like Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson leading voting?

And what says "team" more than two guys drawing guns on each other in the locker room over a gambling debt? That's what Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton did on Christmas Eve. Lovely stuff.

At the World Junior's, Canada rallied to beat the U.S. 5-4 in a shootout. Cost me a wager at -2 +112, the sons of...

Have a great New Year's Day.