Obviously if someone writes a column about a topic, then they probably really like that topic. That being said, it would be safe for you to assume that I like sports even if you don’t know me since I write a column about sports periodically.

It’s true. It’s not a big revelation. It’s something that I’ve enjoyed since I was a young boy. I like a lot of sports and I like a lot of things about sports. I like watching and listening to sports. I like reading, writing and talking about sports.

But recently there are a few things that really have me conflicted about the sports landscape in general. Most of the time my frustration lies in the exorbitant amounts of money that are involved in different aspects of the sports industry.

For instance, here are a few examples of big money deals from just the last week:

The New York Yankees (my second-favorite baseball team, for a matter of full disclosure) offered free agent CC Sabathia $140 million over six years to join their pitching staff.

Will Muschamp, defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorn football program, was named the “head coach in waiting” and will take the reins to the program whenever current head coach Mack Brown resigns or retires. The big deal is that Muschamp’s salary was increased from $450,000 per year to $900,000 – he’s an assistant coach.

ESPN will pay the Bowl Championship Series $125 million over a four-year period to televise the four bowl games that make up the BCS in Division I college football (Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and the BCS National Championship Game). ESPN’s bid to take over the multi-media rights to the BCS series blew FOX’s bid to renew out of the water and FOX executives cried uncle.

Those three make me wonder when sports fans and possibly executives will cry uncle as well.

I didn’t even mention the new Yankee Stadium building cost which has been estimated at $1.3 billion or the estimated cost of the future home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington. Estimates for costs began at $325 million, but have since swelled to over $1 billion.  That would be a 1 with NINE zeros behind it.

Talk about wanting to cry uncle.

In a day where we hear about government bailouts and plunging stocks, it doesn’t seem to have affected the big-time sports industry as much as it has other areas. I heard one thought this week from a political science expert that sports might be recession-proof.  It makes sense too.

It was added later that fans view sports as a release from the day-to-day grind of life and want some outlet to escape the problems of their jobs, home, family, etc. Sport provides that periodic release, and according to this thought process, and no matter how bad things get, people will always want a release.

But even if that is the case, is it socially responsible to offer a person over $20 million a year to pitch for a baseball team? It may not be, but I doubt you’ll see any owners or leagues turning over a new leaf as long as the consumer market provides the revenue.

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It was a night for milestones at Bill Vining Arena Tuesday night as Ouachita’s basketball teams played their first home games of the season. Congratulations to Lady Tiger head coach Garry Crowder for earning his 200th career victory as the head women’s basketball coach.  Crowder is an alum of Henderson State where he was an All-AIC pitcher for the Reddies in 1978.

Congratulations also to former Arkadelphia Badger and current Ouachita senior guard Jaranimo Marks for hitting the 1,000-point mark for his career. Marks’ 1,000th point came at the free throw line with under a minute left to go in Ouachita’s win over LeTourneau.

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A final wrap-up from the Battle of the Ravine football game and Ouachita and Henderson’s football seasons.

We’ve got a good thing in this town as was illustrated with the huge crowd of locals who attended the joint tailgate party and then were treated to an exciting game.

Arkadelphia got tons of media coverage throughout the week including on one of the largest radio stations in the state and two straight days of front-page coverage in the statewide daily newspaper.

To top it all off, Ouachita and Henderson were featured twice that Thursday night on ESPN SportsCenter’s top plays. HSU receiver Greg Godfrey’s touchdown catch at the pylon in the second quarter made the 10 p.m. show and last of Ouachita receiver Julius Pruitt’s touchdown catches that came in the fourth quarter was the No. 4 play of the day on the late SportsCenter. Both of those can be found on YouTube.

The teams also combined for 13 All-Gulf South Conference players when the all-conference teams were announced last week.

Chris Babb is the director of external alumni at Ouachita Baptist University. E-mail him at babbc@obu.edu.