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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Olbermann Speculates MLB Could Bend On Rose Ban For '15 ASG, For The Right Price

Last week marked the 25th anniversary of Pete Rose's lifetime ban from MLB, but ESPN's Keith Olbermann speculated the league might be willing to bend from its stance and allow Rose to appear at next summer's All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park if a corporate entity is willing to pay the bill. Olbermann rhetorically asked, "What is going to happen if an advertiser says to baseball's marketing division, 'Hey, you know what would be great in Cincinnati? A Pete Rose event, maybe a Pete Rose and Ray Fosse event. Here's $10 million. Give Pete whatever you think is fair.' Do you think baseball is going to say, 'Oh no, he's on the permanently ineligible list, here's your money back?'" Olbermann noted Rose was part of the All-Century Team, which was sponsored by MasterCard and announced during the '99 World Series. He said, "Rose was trotted out as if it never had ever happened because the credit card company wanted the whole All-Century Team there, even him." He was "even brought out to be interviewed on NBC" prior to the start of Game 2 of the series. That came just three months after 24 players on the ballot for the All-Century Team "had been brought to Fenway Park to stand around the infield before the All-Star Game," and Rose was not among them. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had stated that as part of Rose's ban, attendance "at any function like that was forbidden, unless Major League Baseball could make money off it evidently." Olbermann: "The hypocrisy about Pete Rose -- baseball's hypocrisy, Bud Selig's hypocrisy -- is subtle, but still shameful. Pete Rose's lifetime ban can be and has been turned on and off like a light switch. Just remember to bring enough cash" ("Pete Rose: 25 Years In Exile," ESPN, 8/25).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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