Alex Belth has another in his excellent series of interviews, this time with Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. I thought this exchange was very telling:

BB: So you didn’t find too many reporters challenging players about how to play the game properly?

Verducci: No, not at all. But what did surprise me when I first got in this business was how many people who didn’t like sports that much—or maybe they became jaded by the sport—were covering sports. I mean the job requires so much time and effort I don’t see how you can do it without loving it. Maybe I was naïve, but when I first got in the business, I encountered people who were just punching the clock and forcing it. They were doing it because it was a job not because they liked it.

Plus, Alex has more on Sheffield, Vlad and the Yankees.