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rantnrave:// How should MLB respond to the racist abuse Adam Jones took in Boston Monday night? MLB must act quickly and strongly, and words won't be enough. It's not just because of a sense of moral righteousness -- though that is important too -- but because MLB is in a different position than other major sports. The league sits on a razor's edge. "Baseball is a white man's sport," Jones said in September, and while that may not be altogether true, MLB does have a much lower count of African-American players than the NBA and NFL. MLB has long been a home for culture wars. Lately, that has been seen in the debate over how the game is played -- specifically how much fun and celebration should be allowed. Playing the "right way" has been accused of being code for playing the "white way." In European soccer, fans' racist acts can lead to games in empty stadiums or repercussions for the team itself. That's the sort of baseline MLB must set here, too. There are remorseful statements and there is action. We've seen the former. Will we get the latter? ... Mets fans, I love you, but you're weird. Having your ashes dumped into Citi Field toilets may cross the fine line between being a fan and the kind of fanaticism that extends into the afterlife. ... I wonder if Derek Jeter is just the beginning of the athlete-turned-owner life cycle. Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are owners too, but they made their wealth as much off the field as on it. Jeter starred during a generation when sports paychecks grew into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- enough to make sizable contributions to investments in teams. And there is enough evidence that being just an ex-jock is no longer enough. Athletes want to be entrepreneurs and investors and owners. Being only the face of a product isn't cool anymore. ... Kerith Burke, a former SNY broadcaster, wrote a poignant essay about her struggle to find a new job in the TV industry. It puts a fine point on the changing nature of sports programming.

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Cetys University is making an ambitious bid to become the first Mexican member of the NCAA. Marc Tracy | The New York Times

"It's not enough to be smart. You have to be curious."

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Team chemistry, NFL pain management and Mexico looks to the NCAA - ESPN