Morning Report: Peavy says no to White Sox

When word leaked yesterday that San Diego ace Jake Peavy might be traded to the Chicago White Sox, fans immediately made known their preference.

Someone hung a sign on a lamppost outside the players' parking garage at Petco Park that read: "5/21/09, the day Padre baseball died. Don't take the trade Jake."

Apparently motivated by a desire to stay in the National League, Peavy refused to waive his no-trade clause and is still with the Padres.

While they were waiting for Peavy's decision, the White Sox got blitzed, 20-1, by the Minnesota Twins.

"I hope he don't watch the scoreboard because he might say no," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

He was right.

New revenue stream? Former American League president Gene Budig, now a professor at the College Board in New York, has written that it's time for colleges to get paid for producing professional talent.

In an article for the Associated Press, Budig pointed out that the NFL just drafted 256 college players, the NBA is about to draft another 60 or so and Major League Baseball will grab a similar number in June.

And besides the actual players, the drafts themselves have become become popular TV events, creating even more revenue for the leagues.

"The point is [that] all of these promising athletes received their training at their colleges and universities, without cost to the professional teams who are clear beneficiaries," Budig wrote.

Citing research by economist Andrew Zimbalist, Budig said the annual value of the players is more than $100 million a year. That money, he thinks, should go to the nation's college sports programs who serve as minor leagues, especially in football and basketball.

Budig does not, however, suggest how such monies could be collected. And short of a massive, decades-long lawsuit or an act of Congress, it certainly won't be forthcoming.

This is a sport? Three-time world soccer player of the year Ronaldo will go on trial at a Brazilian sports tribunal next week for pulling the hair and pinching a defender in a Brazilian league match.

Hair-pulling? Pinching? Is it football or mud wrestling?

In case you've forgotten, this is the same guy who engaged three prostitutes in a Rio de Janeiro motel last year, only to discover they were not females.

According to Rio police, Ronaldo paid two of the hookers 1,000 reais (about $600) to go away, but the third asked for $25,000 to keep quiet.

The matter wound up the subject of a police investigation.

Maybe he should have just paid. Or pulled their hair.