OF MANY THINGS ... BRIEFLY TOLD

 Here’s an idea … instead of wasting taxpayer funds building a new multi-million dollar emporium devoted to runs, hits and errors we really don’t need … why not sue Major League Baseball for the right to keep the status quo? … It’s bound to happen, if not here then somewhere fed up with MLB’s sudden, dictatorial takeover of the minor leagues … Think about it: After investing in the game for all these years, we’re being told by bottom-line outsiders how to run our business? Sure sounds like restraint of trade or an attack on the first amendment or something equally noteworthy … enough to get the attention of a district attorney or judge longing for some means of notoriety … Maybe there’s an angle where someone could holler racism. That almost always seems to work, doesn’t it?

OK, tell me … now that the commonwealth has removed 

NCAA-imposed restrictions (since when?) on the amount of 

money jocks can receive under NIL, which institution of higher 

learning’s athletic department will declare bankruptcy first … 

Virginia, Virginia Tech or JMU? … Title IX, anyone? Think 

about it.

Talk about pressure … it’s really on CAITLIN CLARK, 

through no fault of her own, to make the WNBA relevant … 

especially when there are other members of the sisterhood who 

hope Clark fails because, in truth, she is not one of them.

You don’t have to be that old to remember when the U.S. 

national team made women’s soccer must-see … only to watch 

such slugs as MEGAN RAPINOE turn the game into a turn-

off. 

Say a prayer for ABBY ERLEMEIER. She’s engaged to 

Richmond’s AARON McGARITY, the minor league right-

hander who says he plans to play baseball as long as someone 

wants him. Erlemeier, from York, Pa., played soccer four years 

at the University of Richmond (2017-2021) and spent the past 

two years at VMI as director of sports ticketing and marketing.

Hardly anyone … the betting services most of all … think the 

New York Rangers will win the Stanley Cup despite leading the 

NHL with 112 points … and three more victories than any other 

team … History is against the Broadway Blueshirts because 

winners of the Presidents Trophy seldom go all the way … The 

rap against NY is lack of productivity 5 on 5. It says here the 

Rangers won’t last beyond the second round because coach

 PETER LAVIOLETTE overused his regulars, failing to rest 

them occasionally, and that will take its toll … GO CAPS!!

Don’t ask … why each biography of players in the Federal 

Prospects Hockey League lists BIRTHDATE as well as

 BIRTHDAY and … Surprise! Surprise! … they always are the 

same.

JEFF CROOP’S Columbus (Ga.) River Dragons dominated 

the FPHL, winning outright 40 of 53 games … and leading the 

Continental Division with 134 points, 14 more than 

Binghamton (N.Y.), which claimed first in the Empire division 

… The River Dragons’ goal differential was a ridiculous plus 

137. Imagine playing an entire season with only seven losses.

Croop calls Richmond home after coming here in 2006 as 

general manager of the United Hockey League’s Richmond 

River Dogs … In his second year with Columbus, ALEX 

STORJOHANN played for the junior Richmond Generals 

before turning professional. A center from Arizona, he scored 

24 goals (10 power play) in 55 games (30 assists, plus 5) during 

the regular season.

The Generals suspended operations Dec. 5, 2023 after what was 

described as a players’ mutiny brought about by a change in 

coaches. Still to be determined is whether the franchise will 

return to the USPHL in 2024-25.

Until next time ...