The Athletic writes about the Nutting regime and the Pirates with their typical tightness and lack of player development over the last few seasons.
One person is quoted as being told in the past to wait one day before making a trade to save an extra $30,000, a pittance in today's game, and how former GM Neal Huntington was forced to take money out of his major league salary budget to pay for upgrades to the team spring training facilities in Bradenton.
It also mentions that with the constant analytics wave in the game last season when cornerstone third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes struggled, he needed more faith in then-hitting coach Andy Haines. He worked with AA Altoona hitting instructor Jon Nunnally and improved his numbers dramatically.
Nunnally was then released by the Pirates in the off-season.
The Pirates' farm system has had its struggles, especially with questions about the top overall pick in 2020, Henry Davis, who has been questioned about his defensive ability to stay at catcher, and his bat at at a corner position after hitting .213 with seven homers in sixty-two games last season with Pittsburgh.
One source may have summed the Pirates under Nutting- "They are comfortable being mediocre".
The Athletic also writes of the recent run to the 5th (field of sixteen) round of England's FA Cup by Maidstone United, who play in the National League South, which is the sixth level of English football/soccer.
That is (for those of you who watched the FX series Welcome to Wrexham, one level below Wrexham's spot during the first two seasons of the series) almost at the level of semi-pro status.
Maidstone United upended four teams higher than their level including a win over Ipswich Town, a third-place team in the Championship league, which is the English equivalent to Triple-A baseball.
Maidstone's wins will add roughly 750,000 dollars (U.S) to their funding which will go a long way toward improving the club or their facilities.
WSB.com writes of the iconic CNN letters outside the former CNN Center in Atlanta being removed from the building's top and from ground level near the facility's entry.
CNN moved from the CNN Center back to the original home of the network a few miles away last year and the building has been sold, so the signs needed to be removed.
The sign was a tourist attraction and was often a stop for photos with the sign.
The worst thing about the Covid pandemic for me personally was the forced cancellation of a scheduled trip in which my room was reserved in CNN Center, ending plans to tour CNN Center and visit the college football hall of fame, which is located down the street.
Medium.com writes "The ups and downs of a small-town basketball star" which covers the life of Rick Mount, the all-time leading scorer at Purdue, and ABA player after leaving the Boilermakers.
Mount is from Lebanon, Indiana, where Mount's father, and Mount's son each starred at the local high school and Mount's post-professional career in the small town where he grew up with its pros and cons.
It's a very interesting read about what happens when the cheering stops and you are still living where you were the town hero.
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