I've likely mentioned this here before, but I love Terrell Owens.

Love that he played the 2005 Super Bowl on a broken leg. Love that he has fun. Loved his TV show. I love him; I even bought a T.O. jersey shirt when he was with the Buffalo Bills in 2009.

So you can imagine that I don't like hearing that he's broke, like so many other pro athletes, with a familiar story: trusted the wrong people, etc. etc.

Sad.

Also: Former Boston Celtic Vin Baker is broke, too. Same excuses.

Something called the American Antitrust Institute is gearing up for a fight against paperless ticket purveyors, which includes the Cleveland-based and Dan Gilbert-owned Veritix.

And, a forewarning: Any time I include anything on this issue, the other side replies. So expect a response from Veritix next week in this space.

I'm always leery of an issue in which the combatants are so eager and insistent upon defending themselves against every mention or slight. It reminds me of the kerfuffle locally over JumpStart, an economic development group focused on the high-tech space; the group, as Crain's reporter Chuck Soder has documented repeatedly, has its vocal critics. And whenever those critics speak up, JumpStart is quick, in the name of correcting so-called misinformation, to defend itself.

It still bothers me. If you're so confident in your mission and your product, why so quick to defend against every criticism? Part of it, sure, is good customer outreach. Crain's attempts to solve customers' problems, but we surely don't attempt to justify our coverage methods and beliefs to every critic.

Anyway, from the New York Times op-ed from The American Antitrust Institute:

This week, the American Antitrust Institute is releasing a report on the paperless-ticket market by James D. Hurwitz, an institute fellow and former policy analyst at the Federal Trade Commission. The conclusion: Restrictive paperless-ticket practices depart from bedrock market principles by unjustifiably limiting consumer choice and suppressing free competition. They also might violate federal and state antitrust and consumer-protection laws. And they may warrant legislation to protect the market and consumers.

Pete Fitzpatrick, the president and co-founder of Cleveland-based Home Team Marketing, has been named one of Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40.

Here's some of Crain's most recent coverage of the company, which pairs high schools across the country with advertisers.

Well, this certainly doesn't fit the rosy narrative of Coach K and Cameron Indoor Stadium, does it? a Duke has been forced to sell some student basketball tickets to the general public.

This is not the first season in which students have been accompanied by paying customers in Section 17, the 1,200-seat stretch of bleachers that run parallel to the court across from the team benches. Last season, Section 17 tickets were sold for every regular season home game except for Michigan State and North Carolina. Approximately 850 tickets are sold to home games during winter break, reserving 100 spots for local students to attend.

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