NFL fans criticize MLB for a variety of reasons.  The game is too slow.  The season is too long.  There’s too much money involved.  The chasm between the big spenders and the low budget teams is too big. All those perceptions are what make MLB less popular.  The NFL is perceived to be “faster,” the season is shorter, the money that changes hands is less and the hard salary cap fosters a league of parity.  The reality is, however, most of the arguments as to why MLB is inferior are based on erroneous perception and not fact.

In a culture inundated with smart phones that have millions of capabilities and where fast-food restaurants are now trying out delivery service, we have become unwilling to put up with waiting.  The seconds between pitches is excruciating for people who aren’t baseball fans.  In our sports we Americans place a premium on constant motion, frequent scoring and the drama that is created by those factors.  This is one of those areas where the NFL is more popular based on perception and not on fact.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, a regulation length NFL game only gives fans 12 actual minutes of actual gameplay on average.  The other two hours and 48 minutes that the average NFL game takes in real time is filled with commercials, timeouts, huddles, reviews and ceremonies.  The perception really isn’t about the amount of action as it is about the pace of the action.  Elias also has measured the average amount of real time between snaps in the NFL.  From the time where the ball is spotted to when it is snapped is 26.3 seconds.

Baseballreference.com has figures on the average time between pitches in MLB and the amount of real time when the ball is actually in play.  The gap between pitches is 24.7 seconds and the amount of time on average the ball is actually in play during a MLB game is 12 minutes.  Where have we seen that before?  The fact is that on average a MLB game delivers the same amount of action and moves at a quicker pace than a NFL game does.  Other arguments for the NFL’s superiority are rooted in actual fact, though misunderstood.

The second argument NFL fans champion for that league is that MLB’s season is too long.  This is not another erroneous perception but a legitimate difference that is wrongly unvalued.  Major League Baseball begins Spring Training in late February and the World Series ends in late October.  Yes that’s two months longer than the NFL season.  Yes the number of games being played in MLB is significantly higher (2,430 just in the regular season).  I would argue that this makes MLB better for the fan.  If you look at it from an economic perspective, the law of supply and demand favors the fan.  The more of a product is available, the less those whom control it can demand in return for it.  This is one of the reasons why the average MLB ticket is half the price of the average NFL ticket according to Forbes.  MLB’s longer season and more games mean fans have more opportunities to experience it and can do so without having to save up for weeks prior.

Continuing on the thread of economics, the perception that money is out of control in MLB whereas the NFL has it wrapped up is a matter of erroneous perception and not fact.  If you look at the median team payrolls, it becomes clear that idea is just plain wrong.  The median NFL team payroll is just over $112 million while the median MLB team payroll is just under $89 million.  The perception of the NFL’s being clean of money-grubbing-ness is largely due to the fact that the NFL has a hard salary cap while MLB does not.

The “hardness” of the NFL’s salary cap can be questioned.  If a team is over the cap, it’s not like it can’t play games until it gets under the cap.  Business operates just the same for that team as it does for a team under the cap.  That over the cap team will face fines by the league and criticism from other franchises, but those are the only penalties.  The “hard” salary cap is in reality more of a luxury tax, which has been in place in MLB for years.  If you think the NFL’s version of the luxury tax has produced better parity, you’re once again mistaken.

In both leagues, five teams have won over half of the championships.  The difference between the NFL and MLB comes when you look at the other teams beyond those top five.  20 teams in the NFL (63% of the league) have won one or zero Super Bowls.  In MLB only 10 teams (33% of the league) have one or zero World Series wins, which means two-thirds of MLB’s franchises have multiple championships.

Despite all these facts, the NFL will always be more popular than MLB for the same reason that McDonald’s is more popular than your local soup and salad place.  It’s a cultural icon and the perception is that it’s more exciting.  Just like McDonald’s, however, it is outdone in matters of substance.  The truth is that MLB is better sports fan nutrition.  It’s more economical, moves at a faster pace, has better parity and is less dictated by the almighty dollar.  If you can be an intelligent fan and see past the spinning lights and bright balloons the NFL throws at you, you’ll see that MLB has a better game awaiting you.

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Now imagine that just prior to being taken on that trip, the farmer whispers in your ear how everything he does is for your benefit, that you are the entire reason why he exists and that if you give him your all, he’ll make sure you get what you want and succeed in life.  How credible does knowing the end result make the words of the farmer?

The farmer can’t be both the greatest advocate for the cow’s life and making a profit off its slaughter.  One eventually has to be sacrificed for the other to happen.  The fact is that the NCAA is trying to do this, however.  The NCAA is simultaneously trying to be two different organizations and it can’t be both at the same time.

The first thing that the NCAA is trying to be is a multi-million dollar sports entertainment corporation.  According to ncaa.org the projected revenue for the NCAA for the 2012-13 fiscal year is $797 million.  81% of that income comes from the broadcasting rights to the sporting events it regulates.  I say it is being unsuccessful in its attempts to be a multi-million dollar sports entertainment corporation because it has the worst player relations and most ridiculous regulations for its employees out of any similar organization in existence.  No other league prints t-shirts celebrating the injury of a player (Kevin Ware), sells them, claims that the shirts represent the team and not the player, and then says it would be unethical to give that player a penny of the profit from the sales.  If the NFL attempted to profit off of a player’s image without giving them a cut, there would be lawsuits striking like lightning.

While the NCAA is carrying on the sales of merchandise and regulating every other aspect of collegiate athletics in this country, it also represents itself as a student advocate organization and operates under a 501C3 tax exemption.  In response to the question of how the NCAA can make almost $800 million and still be considered non-profit, the NCAA maintains that only 4% of its revenue stays in the NCAA.  This argument is a logical absurdity.  If you control the actions of the people you give money to, you still have de facto control over that money.

The NCAA states that the other 96% of that money goes to the member conferences and institutions, used to support conference championships and used to support other programs that benefit students.  It sounds great.  The problem, however, is the new “golden rule.”  If you control the actions of the people you give money to, you still have de facto control over that money.  Since the NCAA has the gold, it makes the rules.  It’s a self-governing body that holds massive resources that the member conferences and institutions are dependent on to operate.  The reality is that the schools and students are the advocates for the NCAA, not the other way around.

It’s hypocritical to tell a student you’re looking out for his best interest at the same time you’re making money off his injury.  Scandals involving money improperly distributed according to NCAA regulations are punished harshly but the NCAA never takes any responsibility for its part in creating those situations in the first place with unrealistic regulations and the atmosphere of big money.  Due to the rampant prevalence of these violations, such as the recent Oregon and Auburn violations, the NCAA needs to make a decision about its identity.  It has the right to go either direction, but a consensus needs to be reached.

If the NCAA decides the direction should be the multi-million dollar sports entertainment organization, then it immediately needs to rectify the glaring issues standing between its players and coaches and teams and the administration.  The ridiculous regulations like preventing a player from taking a piece of pizza home with him from a team pizza party need to be done away with .  The money that is given to the various conferences and schools should be used at the discretion of those schools and conferences.  The NCAA should abide by the ethics of a corporation if they are going to be one and treat their employees as an integral part of the organization, not as a charity case that needs to abide by its rules to survive.

However, if the NCAA decides that it wants to go the direction of the student advocate organization, then it needs to limit its activities to exactly that.  The NCAA should forever wash its hands of handling the finances that flow between the conferences and schools and the media, advertisers, etc.  Its singular focus should be the success of athletes at its member institutions in all realms of life.  If a student-athlete is facing discrimination, then it needs to ride to the rescue and defend that student-athlete with resources the student-athlete could not muster on her/his own.  If a student-athlete is having trouble finding housing, it should open doors for that student-athlete to find a place to live.

The instability we’ve seen in the NCAA is due to the fact that it’s trying to be two different things at the same time.  It can’t be both a money machine and a humanitarian organization.  It’s hard for a farmer to tell one of his cattle that they are the most important thing in the world to him while he’s driving it to the butcher.

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The Hawkeyes scored 3o runs in the three games to win two out of three and win their first three-game series of the conference season.  The Wildcats scored more than their fair share of runs in the series as well, plating 32 runs total for the weekend.

Friday night in Evanston started with Kayla Massey in the circle for the Hawkeyes and Amy Letournea taking the ball for the Wildcats.  Northwestern gave Letournea an early boost, scoring four runs in the first three innings.  Iowa finally got to Letournea in the fourth, pushing across nine runs on eight hits in the inning.  The Hawkeyes would add another run and the Wildcats three more, making the final score 12-7.  The win was the Hawkeyes’ first conference road victory.

If Friday wasn’t full of enough offense for the fans in Evanston, Saturday was sure to satisfy.  Iowa’s 15 runs were the most for the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten game since 1997.  Chelsea Lyon started the game for Iowa and Meghan Lamberth started for Northwestern in the circle but neither would figure into the decision.  Micaela Whitney entered the game for Iowa in the sixth and got credit for the win.  Megan Blank hit her eighth home run of the season, leading the Hawkeyes to a series-clinching 15-14 victory.

Sunday brought an opportunity for the Hawkeyes to extend their win streak to three games and get a momentum-building sweep.  The Wildcats were having none of that.  Lyon matched up against Letournea and this time, Letournea kept the Hawkeyes bats’ silent.  Lyon gave up eight hits and Iowa committed two errors, helping the Wildcats finish off the Hawkeyes in just five innings, 11-3.

Iowa is now 24-16 overall and 4-8 in Big Ten play.  The Hawkeyes play a double-header this Wednesday at home against the eighth ranked Missouri Tigers.

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After a disappointing home series against the Wisconsin Badgers in which the Hawkeyes struggled to score runs, Iowa headed to take on one of its in-state rivals, the Drake Bulldogs.

The Hawkeyes got rid of their frustrations at the plate in Des Moines against the Drake pitching, plating 18 runs on 17 hits and seven walks.  Those season highs were also joined by season highs in RBIs (15) and home runs (three).  Kayla Massey recorded the five-inning shutout and the Hawkeyes came home to prepare for the 19th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers in another weekend home series.

Friday night brought the first of three against Nebraska and Massey was back in the circle.  Shortstop Megan Blank had another good game at the plate, adding four more RBIs to her total, two of which came on a first-inning home run.  Massey limited Nebraska to two runs in seven innings and the Hawkeyes took the first game of the series 6-2.

Saturday night brought the middle game of the series and rain wasn’t the only thing flying around Pearl Field.  Softballs were flying off the bats of the Cornhuskers as Chelsea Lyon had her second consecutive rough start.  Nebraska scored 11 runs on 17 hits and the Cornhusker’s Emily Lockman held the Hawkeyes to a lone run as the Cornhuskers evened up the series.

This afternoon brought the rubber game of the series and the two teams’ best pitchers were back in the circle.  Massey and Nebraska’s Tatum Edwards both kept the bats silent through the first four innings.  After Nebraska pushed across two runs in the fifth, Blank once again sent a ball over the fence with a runner on to tie the game heading into the seventh inning.  In the seventh inning, the Cornhuskers were the beneficiaries of a walk and two Iowa errors that allowed them to score the winning run and take the series.

The Hawkeyes are now 22-15 overall and 2-7 in conference.  They have a three-game series at Northwestern this weekend starting Friday at 4 pm.

The post Hawkeye Softball Splits Four Games for the Week appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In 2001 the state legislature in Mississippi passed a bill that would provide for a public referendum on changing the state’s flag’s design.  A flag is one of the most important properties of a nation, which cannot be explained wholly in this link. So is the flag’s design.  The issue that many people had with its design was that the canton of the flag had a representation of the Confederate Battle Flag.  A new design had been approved by the legislature which maintained all the other aspects of the flag except for the canton. The bill was signed into law and the people of Mississippi were asked to choose between the current design and the new design.

The referendum was held that November and at a margin of nearly two to one, the people of Mississippi chose to keep the 1894 design.  A resounding message was sent by the people of Mississippi that tradition was more important to them than being sensitive to the African-American citizens of the state.  This is not a damnation of all the citizens of Mississippi.  It would be just as narrow-minded as the vote on the flag was to lump them altogether.

Later that year, the University of Mississippi banned the Confederate flag at all its sporting events.  Two years later, the University of Mississippi’s regents voted to remove the school’s mascot, Colonel Reb.  The consensus was that the mascot was, “offensive and not representative of the student body at the University of Mississippi.”  The move was praised by some as a move by Mississippi to move forward in creating a diverse culture.  Denouncers of the change defended the mascot based on its tradition and argued that few if any were legitimately offended by the mascot.

A poll conducted by the student government showed the student body was indifferent to Colonel Reb.  The general population of the state, however, felt more strongly.  Boycotts of the university were called for.  Websites in defense of Colonel Red sprung up.  Critics of the university’s administration maintained that the administration was out of touch with the people of Mississippi and was making decisions against their wishes.

The fact is those critics are right about those claims.  The University’s administration was acting against the wishes of the majority.  However, banning the Confederate flag and Colonel Reb was still the right thing to do.  Despite an overwhelming majority that wanted to keep a flag bearing that symbol flying all over the state, the will of the people should not reign supreme in a situation like this.  This wouldn’t be the first time controversial decisions have been made contrary to the will of the public.

In the 1960s racial segregation was well entrenched in many states based on decades of tradition and the will of the majority.  Still, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The act outlawed segregation by race in all public arenas of life.  President Johnson enforced integration with armed soldiers and weathered the backlash.  It took federal legislation and armed soldiers to force the desperately needed change.  If Congress or President Johnson had waited for the will of the majority to favor the changes, segregation may still be a fact of life today.

We still have other mascots and symbols like Colonel Reb in our sports.  The Washington Redskins are a great example and probably the most easily recognized. Similar to the sentiments about Colonel Reb and the canton in the Mississippi state flag, fans hold to the team nickname and logo as tradition and claim that it doesn’t offend the majority of people.  Just like in those situations, however, those facts don’t make it right.  We’ve seen that historically the majority of Americans are resistant to change.  It is the responsibility of those whom hold the power to make these changes to make them, no matter how controversial.

It’s the responsibility of those whom are in positions of leadership to make tough, unpopular decisions.  It’s past time the use of Native American team nicknames or logos are banned across the board by our government.  This imagery and the ideology that accompany it have no place in a society that strives to offer equal opportunities to everyone regardless of their ancestry or ethnicity.  If the government waits until there is a wide scale outcry for this change, it may never come.

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The Hawkeyes arrived in Louisville, KY last Monday prepared to take on the 24^th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the Cardinals of Ball State, but the rain clouds had other plans for the day and all games at the tournament that day were cancelled.

Tuesday morning brought better weather and another game with Ball State.  The streak of scoreless innings that the Hawkeye pitching staff had going was broken along with the winning streak, and Ball State emerged victorious 7-5.

A few hours later the Hawkeyes were set to face the host school, #11 Louisville, on their own field.  The Hawkeyes took flight early, scoring three runs in the first inning, and took a 6-2 victory over Louisville back to the hotel that night.  The loss was Louisville’s first at home in 37 games and 11 games overall.  It was also the Hawkeyes’ fourth over a ranked opponent this spring.

A rematch with Louisville was first on the docket for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday and Louisville was determined not to lose consecutive games on their home field.  After giving up six runs to Louisville and having their bats silenced for most of the game by Louisville pitcher Rachel LeCoq, the Hawkeyes managed to push four runs across in their final two at-bats, but it wasn’t enough and Louisville earned the split, 6-4.

The next morning the Hawkeyes left Louisville and headed down the interstate to Lexington to face #21 Kentucky on their home field.  Kayla Massey allowed one run on four hits in the complete game, and the Hawkeyes finished their road trip with a 3-1 win over the Wildcats.  The Hawkeyes were looking forward to getting to finally play at home but the results wouldn’t be as they desired.

The Hawkeyes opened up their first series at home in the 2013 spring season against conference foe Minnesota.  The Gophers outscored the Hawkeyes 21-5 in the three games, winning all three and sending the Hawkeyes to their first three game losing streak of the season.

The Hawkeyes are back in action for a three game set against Wisconsin starting this Friday.  All three games will be played at Bob Pearl Field. Friday’s game starts at 4 pm, and then Saturday’s double header begins at 1 pm.

The post Hawkeyes Get Rained Out, Then Fizzle Out appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Hawkeye softball team faced four opponents this weekend at the Miken Invitational in College Park, MD. Three of those four got the brunt of the Hawkeyes’ fight.  After St. John’s clipped Iowa’s wings 3-1 to open up the tournament, Iowa decided that it would stand its ground and fight in the next three games.

The second game was against the host school and future Big Ten conference member Maryland.  Johnnie Dowling and Kayla Massey both got multiple hits and RBIs  in the game.  Megan Blank added three RBIs of her own.  Massey allowed three earned runs over seven innings and the Hawkeyes got back on the winning side of the scoreboard, 9-4. Saturday came to a close with two more games left on the weekend’s slate for the Hawkeyes.

Sunday morning brought Radford University and the Hawkeyes took their fight to a new level.  The Hawkeyes got four runs in the first frame of the early game against Radford and never looked back.  Five scoreless innings by Chelsea Lyon and six runs later, the Hawkeyes had a 10-0 five-inning victory.  That final brought a twenty minute break which was followed by the Hawkeyes’ first look at a current conference opponent for 2013.  The Ohio State Buckeyes were the final opponent of the weekend.

Iowa dispatched of the Buckeyes nearly as easily as it did Radford.  Six scoreless innings by Massey were punctuated by a walk-off grand slam by Holly Hoffman to defeat Ohio State in six innings, 8-0.  Iowa’s pitchers are currently working with an 11-inning scoreless streak and outscored their last three opponents 27-4.

The Hawkeyes will put that scoreless innings streak on the line next weekend at the Louisville Tournament in Louisville, KY.  There Iowa will face #25 North Carolina, Ball State (twice), and the host school #13 Louisville in a four-game set.

The post Hawkeye Softball Gets Nipped, Strikes Back appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The University of Iowa’s softball team went out to the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, California this weekend to be the fifth team in the tournament.  The field of Iowa’s opponents included CSU-Bakersfield, the host school Cal-State Fullerton, #24 Oregon State and #16 Stanford.

Instead of getting to play the unranked teams in a warm-up fashion for the ranked teams, the Hawkeyes went head first into the gauntlet and opened up the tournament on Friday afternoon with #16 Stanford.  Coming into the game the Cardinals had won 1o of their last 11 games and pitcher Kelsey Stevens had been one of the hottest pitchers in the country.  The Hawkeyes scored six runs in the fifth inning and added two more later as they were able to squeak out the upset, 7-6.

Iowa took that momentum into its Friday night game, against their other ranked foe, Oregon State.  The Hawkeyes once again got the bats going, plating nine runs on eight hits and Chelsea Lyon got her sixth win in the circle as the Hawkeyes got another upset 9-3.  It seemed as though Iowa was just getting warmed up for Saturday.

Saturday morning the Hawkeyes were set to face Cal-State Fullerton on their home field.  Kayla Massey pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout and added two RBIs to lead the Hawkeyes to a fourth straight victory, 7-0.  After the final pitch of that game, all that stood between Iowa and a weekend sweep was CSU-Bakersfield.

Saturday night brought Lyon back to the circle.  A four-run second inning was the catalyst to yet another Hawkeye victory and the Hawkeyes left California with another tournament title.  Iowa is back for practice for the week on a five-game winning streak and is now 3-2 on the season against ranked teams.

The Hawkeyes head out to the Miken Invitational in College Park, Maryland this week.  They will face St. John’s University and play the host school and future Big Ten conference opponent Maryland on Friday.  Saturday will bring Radford University and the Hawkeyes’ first conference game, against Ohio State.

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We hold this truth to be self-evident, that Jeffrey Loria is the worst owner in baseball. We acknowledge that he is endowed by his money and position with certain rights, among which is the power to run the baseball team he owns any way he sees fit. However, in order to secure those rights, expectations are instituted among the Marlins’ fan base, deriving the permanence of that power to maintain control of the team from the consent of the fans. Among those are an honest attempt to put the best possible product out on the field and an atmosphere of transparency in the franchise’s dealings.  We maintain that whenever any form of ownership becomes destructive to the future success of the franchise, it is the right of the fans to decry such ownership. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that ownership long established should not be challenged for light and transient causes, as success maintained at a high level over several years is a difficult venture. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is the fans’ responsibility, to throw off such ownership, and to provide new guards for their beloved franchise’s future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of Florida/Miami Marlins fans; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their current system of management. The history of the present owner of the Miami Marlins is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of a money grab over the residents of South Florida. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has turned the Marlins into a major league farm team. During his time as the owner of the Marlins, the team has traded away Miguel Cabrera, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Josh Beckett, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Carlos Delgado, Josh Willingham, Dan Uggla, Paul LoDuca and Luis Castillo. That group of players has made 40 All-Star appearances, won 14 Silver Slugger Awards, won 11 Gold Glove Awards, claimed eight World Series Championships, twice won a batting title and twice won a World Series MVP. There is also a regular season MVP award, a Rookie of the Year award, a perfect game, a no-hitter, and a Triple Crown to the credit of that group of players.

He has shown a pattern of refusing to give his talented players their due compensation based on their performance. The Marlins have a hard fast rule that they will not sign a contract with any player that contains a no-trade clause. In 2010 it took the threat of the MLBPA filing a grievance for him to give Josh Johnson an extension. He has without fail dodged conversation about even talking to the agent of Giancarlo Stanton about interest in a new contract.

He has consistently refused to accept the blame for the failure of the franchise and put the responsibility on others. Loria has fired former managers Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez and replaced them both with minor league managers with no experience managing in the majors. Girardi is a World Series Champion and a Manager of the Year. Gonzalez took the Braves to the playoffs last season. The Marlins’ record during Loria’s ownership has been 877-904, a win percentage of .492. The team is facing a decade-long playoff drought and has finished above .500 only five of the eleven seasons. Loria has at times placed the blame of the losing on lack of funds resulting from poor attendance which he at other times said was the result of losing.

He has made a lucrative living off the Marlins in ways that have raised legitimate concerns as to his character. According to Forbes, the combined operating profits of the franchise from 2006-2011 was $198 million and the net worth grew by $206 million. While Loria has been getting money from broadcasting contracts, revenue sharing, ticket sales, concessions, parking and merchadise sales, this is what he has done:

• All but two of the seasons since Loria bought the team in 2002 the Opening Day payroll has been in the bottom seven teams in the league
• Three years it was dead last in the league and another it was second to last
• The combined Opening Day payrolls from 2002 to 2011 were $410.1 million, the lowest in baseball for that time period
• This season the Opening Day payroll is expected to be about $45 million, once again, the lowest in MLB
• He backloaded the free agent megadeals signed by Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell in 2012, then not even a year later dumped all that money onto another team’s payroll
• In at least two of the years since he bought the team, the Marlins have paid money to The Double Play Company for what is listed as a “management fee.” Loria owns the Double Play Company.

He has dealt and spoken in a deceptive manner with all parties for the sum total of his time in ownership. While he pleaded with the Miami-Dade County Commissioners for a new stadium, claiming that the team could not be competitive in the current situation of sharing a park with the Dolphins, he refused to show the Commissioners the Marlins’ financial records at every request. Both Buehrle and Reyes claim that they were told by Loria they would be in Miami for the length of the contracts they signed, Reyes even claims that two days prior to being traded Loria told him to buy a house. On March 12, 2002 Loria said that,

“We will spend a lot of time meeting with people, talking with fans.” This past week in a letter to fans he stated that, “An organization is only as good as its connection with the community. We know we can do a better job communicating with our fans. From this point forward we can ensure fans and the entire community that we will keep you abreast of our plan, rationale and motivations.”

He has continually made decisions on player personnel that have hurt the product on the field and then exaggerated those moves in his statements. In his statements about the trade with Toronto, he defended the move by saying that the trade was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig. The last time a trade was blocked by a commissioner was 1976. He also called the trade, “universally celebrated.” The truth is that Loria traded a 200 inning guy, one of the best shortstops in baseball and the best pitcher in Marlins’ history for a package of four prospects, a journeyman veteran and a non-prospect. None of the prospects the Marlins received from Toronto in the trade were one of the Blue Jays’ top four prospects. He further misinforms the public when he states that, “acquiring high profile players did not work” and that he “needed to start from scratch quickly”. Loria acted contrary to those words when he traded the players at their lowest value instead of giving them time to rebuild some worth.

We, therefore, as fans of professional baseball in Miami, assembled, appealing to the rest of the fans of professional baseball all over the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of our constituency, solemnly publish and declare, that we do not recognize Jeffrey Loria as a part of the Marlins’ organization. We absolve ourselves of all allegiance to him and all connections between him and us are and ought to be dissolved; and that as free and independent fans, we have the full power to withhold our resources until such time that this imposter removes himself from the position he has abused. And for the support of this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

The post The Marlins Fans’ Declaration of Independence appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The University of Iowa’s softball team had two such opportunities for statement wins this weekend at the Bama Bash, an annual softball tournament hosted by the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide are the current top ranked team in the coaches’ poll and the defending national champions. Being able to upset the Tide on their home field would have been a signature win big enough to propel Iowa softball into conversations all over the nation.

Iowa opened up the weekend with a Friday afternoon game against Winthrop University. The Hawkeyes got the best start of the season thus far from pitcher Chelsea Lyon, who struck out six and surrendered a lone run en route to a 2-1 victory. Both of the Hawkeye runs came in Iowa’s last at-bat of the game and the team took the momentum of that win into their first of two meetings with the defending champs.

Alabama pitcher Jackie Traina was able to keep the Hawkeye bats throughout the entire game, going the distance and striking out six on the way to shutting out Iowa. Alabama took the first meeting, 5-0 and the Hawkeyes hit the showers with a day one split.

Saturday morning brought a rematch with Winthrop and another Hawkeye victory. Iowa pitcher Micaela Whitney continued to confuse the Winthrop bats, striking out six. The Hawkeyes pushed across seven of their own runs in her support to get back in the win column, 7-1. A rematch with Alabama was on deck for the Hawkeyes and another chance to put themselves in the national conversation.

Unfortunately for Iowa, Alabama’s Jackie Traina was back in the circle and she again quieted the Hawkeye bats. The Tide plated four runs of their own which were more than enough to win, 4-1. Iowa’s chances for a statement win at the Bama Bash were lost.

Earlier today the Hawkeyes wrapped up the weekend by taking some frustration out on the Leathernecks of Western Illinois, 12-4. The Hawkeyes now head home with a 10-5 overall record and another successful road trip. A week of practice will prelude the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, CA. The Hawkeyes will take on Oregon State, #20 Stanford, CSU Bakersfield and the host school, Cal State Fullerton.

The post Hawkeye Softball Wins Three Out of Five at Bama Bash appeared first on KRUI Radio.