"As The Pirates Turn"

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pirate fans are up in arms, once again.

They are upset because there has allegedly been an offer made by the Pittsburgh Penguins ownership that expressed their interest to purchase the Pirates from owner Bob Nutting.

One of the Penguin owners, Ron Burkle, is a billionaire. Nutting is reportedly not there yet but some suggest he sees this as a viable goal.

What was just revealed to the Pirates fans is that Nutting has previously fielded inquiries from Chuck Greenberg and Mark Cuban, a Pittsburgh native and owner of a NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks . Greenberg has recently teamed with Nolan Ryan to purchase the MLB Texas Rangers.

Emperor Nutting has refused all offers and announced he absolutely will not sell the team as he is saving it , perhaps, as either a future wedding or birthday gift for his daughter.

Estimates of the Pirates yearly profit have been in the 15 million dollar range despite crowds that average only 20,000 people. Additional estimates suggest that the Pirates ownership in 2010 will field a team with the lowest payroll in the Major Leagues. In the last 6 years the Pirates have been in the bottom 4 of payroll.

In 2009 the Pirates successfully completed their 17th consecutive losing season.

We live in a world where corporate folks spin everything but the bottle that fascinated us as kids attending birthday parties. Thus, the following promise will be looked askance by any person sane enough to understand that the bill of the baseball hat was designed to go in the front of the face of each position player excluding the catcher:

Owner Nutting says his intentions are to build a winner.

It's unclear to this writer whether he is referring to the team or the establishment of an even bigger cash cow than that which he presently controls. Despite having draft choices in the top 5 for several years, a recent ranking of the top 50 baseball prospects finds only one to be a Pirate scion.

The only better deal than that which Nutting presently enjoys seems to be either that of a member of Congress without term limits or a guy at a failing bank who recently cashed another big bonus check.

That sane guy above is wondering if anybody in authority at MLB will ever take the time to reveal to Emperor Nutting that he is not wearing any clothes?

Question is both asked and answered. The commish, Bud Selig, is a former baseball team owner.

At no time during his reign of the investigation of drugs in sports has any baseball owner been singled out and punished for a decision to favor profits over monitoring and limiting the drug use of their players. Nor has Selig been investigated for failing to address this situation during his watch.

Senator "Goofy" from eastern Pennsylvania, home of the Phillies, has been too busy flipping coins with a elephant on one side and a donkey on the other to renew any interest in the matter.

By the time "Goofy" is voted out of office, Selig will probably be retired and have taken on a new position. Perhaps it will be that of a consultant for AIG. His curriculum vitae is not one which could be dismissed easily.

Prior to that occurence does anyone really think Bud will take any action in favor of the Pirate fans? He has already verbally given his support to the current Pirate ownership for the tactics they are employing.

Folks, do not concern yourself with the recent losing sessions in the market. Big business lives on and is doing quite well, thank you.

The little guy, the Pirates fan, is not doing quite as well, unfortunately.

His team has no market.