i never aspired to be a columnist.

Growing up in New England, my dream was always to play left field for the Boston Red Sox. The only sports idol I ever had was Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived (how's that for starting a debate?).

When I played baseball in my youth, I played left field, like my idol, Ted Williams. Like my idol, I wore uniform number nine. And like Ted Williams, I batted .400.

But unlike Ted Williams, the last Major Leaguer to bat .400 for a season (.406 in 1941), I batted .400 for my career. Contrary to what Casey Stengel used to say, you can't look it up, so I'll give you the facts. In the three years that I played for the local VFW Post in what was then called Babe Ruth League, I batted .132, .141 and .156. If you add up those three yearly averages, the total exceeds .400.

You get the picture. And so did I.

So instead of patrolling the outfield grass in front of Fenway Park's famed left field wall, I went to college and law school, then spent ten years practicing accounting and law. When I decided I couldn't do that until retirement, I closed my office door and set out to find a niche in the world of sports, specifically, baseball.

With a little diligence and lots of luck (Branch Rickey said that luck was the residue of design, although I've found that's not always the case), I was fortunate to own and operate two Minor League Baseball teams, one at the Triple A level, affiliated with the Cleveland Indians and later the Philadelphia Phillies, and one at the Class A level, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs.

I've also taught Business Law, Sports Marketing & Management and the Business of Sports for several universities. Currently, I'm teaching the Business of Sports at the University of Wyoming via teleconferencing and Sports Management online at Eastern New Mexico University from the mountain vistas of my Arizona home.

For the foreseeable future, my face and words will grace these pages on a weekly basis, addressing issues that affect all sports fans - the business side of sports. And make no mistake, sports is a business. Big business. By some estimates, sports is a $350 billion a year business in the U.S. alone. Increasingly, whether we like it or not, business issues are a pseudonym for legal issues, so we'll address those as well.

In future columns, I'll comment on issues in the sports world that take place away from the playing field. For the short term, I'll choose the subject matter. But if you have a question or idea that you want addressed, I'd love to hear from you.

I'll try to stick with facts. When I have an opinion, I'll label it as such. What I won't do is report on the sporting events and results that are covered elsewhere on these pages. The staff does a great job doing that without any input from me.

I'm just excited that they've invited me along for the ride. I hope you'll ride with me.

Jordan Kobritz is a former attorney, CPA, and Minor League Baseball team owner. He currently teaches Sport Management and the Business of Sports at Eastern New Mexico University and the University of Wyoming. The Prescott Valley, AZ resident can be reached at jkobritz@mindspring.com/