* Whatever the outcome of plans to build a new Rays ballpark amid the redevelopment of the 86-acre, Tropicana Field site, there is a familiar, sobering reality. This is still an atypical, asymmetrical market with no mass transit. A stadium belongs in Tampa Bay’s hub, not fringe—where the closest market to the west is Galveston. We also have issues about corporate headquarters and fan fealty to other home-town markets. St. Pete is not Atlanta’s Battery area.
* “I think that we see the potential in the Tampa market dramatically different than we see Oakland.” That was Commissioner Rob Manfred; MLB has given Oakland permission to explore a move to Las Vegas.
* When it comes to Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, they’re both GOATs. The “Greatest Of All Time” and the “Greatest of Another Time.” Ultimately, history will make the call.
* It’s now 20 years since an American male (Andy Roddick) won a Grand Slam Men’s singles title (U.S. Open).