moments in here, Red Sox manager John Farrell said before the ga

If it is the brutality of the ECBs decision to punish Durham that strikes first, it is the inconsistency that follows close behind.Oh, yes. There is some logic in the ECBs stance. A financial punishment would clearly have been inappropriate and this action - relegation and a heavy points deductions for next season - certainly sends out a strong deterrent.Against what though, is unclear. Against building a ground in an out-of-town location more than 20 years ago? Against bidding for international games in an over-crowded market place? Against slipping into debt? If so, the ECB needs to be relegating a few other teams.The only difference between Durham and Glamorgan is that, at Durham, the creditors - notably the local council - declined to waive the debt. In Cardiff, they allowed the taxpayer to pick up the bill. Warwickshire owe Birmingham City Council around ￡20m and have already benefited from a repayment holiday.So, if the ECB is to be consistent, shouldnt Glamorgan, who were stripped of a Test in 2012 and obliged to swap a fixture in 2013 after struggling to pay staging agreements for Sri Lanka Test in 2011, be treated in the same manner?And what is the difference between Durham and Hampshire? Or, indeed, Yorkshire? Hampshire, the beneficiaries of this action, have been bailed out to the tune of ￡10m or more by Rod Bransgrove, while Yorkshire are indebted to Colin Graves. The club owes - and continues to pay interest upon - trusts set-up by Graves totalling ￡24m. All were insolvent. The difference is that Hampshire and Yorkshire found benefactors; Durham found judgement. The ECB, with reserves of ￡70m and more, could have taken a more sympathetic approach.Such was Yorkshires plight that, in interviews with ESPNcricinfo, Graves referred to Yorkshire as bankrupt and 48 hours from being written off. So we can only presume that Durham are not being punished for financial mismanagement but for failing to find a sugar daddy to bail them out.Did Durham have to be punished at all? Might the ECB not have reflected that it was, at least in part, complicit in Durhams descent into debt? Might it not have concluded that, having encouraged Durham to build an international venue - a condition of being granted first-class status in 1992 - and then given them a May Test against Sri Lanka starting on a Friday, it had contributed to the difficulties the club has faced?Might it not have reflected that, by encouraging the counties to bid against one another to host international games, things were always going to end this way?And might the ECB not even have reflected that it, like the banks that offered 120% mortgages before the economic crash, had extended credit to Durham far beyond the reasonable? The ECB now admits it has been working on this rescue package for the best part of a year. In that case, why was the Test against Sri Lanka allowed to take place in Chester-le-Street? Why were Hampshire or Nottinghamshire not incentivised to take on that game?This episode is every bit as much the ECBs fault as it is Durhams. It is an inevitable product of the system.Besides, who does this decision punish? Does it punish the officials at Durham who, years ago, embarked on a course that always threatened to end this way? Hardly. Some are dead, some have moved on or retired and one of them (Gordon Hollins, once commercial director at Durham) is now chief operating officer of the professional game at the ECB.Does it punish the investors who involved themselves in the club when they thought hosting international cricket was a lucrative business or the officials at the ECB who created this system and extended the clubs line of credit? Of course not.No, this is a decision that punishes the players and the supporters. Innocent victims of decisions over which they had no control.It wont help them, either. At least one of the players - Keaton Jennings, who recently signed a new deal with the club - is understood to have a clause in their contract allowing them to leave if they are relegated. Those supporters who enjoyed Durhams run to T20 Finals Day this year may conclude there is little point attending in 2017; the points deduction is too much of a handicap. And you can bet that the next club in need of financial assistance will call Wonga before it calls the ECB. The governing body needs to take a more benevolent approach than this.The shame is that, as a cricket club, Durham has excelled. Yes, as a business they have failed and as a business they need to change. But no cricket team had been in the top division for as long (11 years) before today. Only a couple of weeks ago, Ben Stokes, keen to play when he could easily have rested, bowled his side to a crucial victory over Surrey in a thrilling passage of play that seemed to have avoided relegation. To snatch that away devalues so much that went before.Might the ECB have taken such a hard line to make a point? Might it have taken this opportunity to remind the counties of their precarious finances and of the need to embrace a new T20 competition? You would hope not.There are lessons to learn from Durham. We can see (as we can from Hampshire) that out-of-town cricket grounds do not work. And we can see (as we can see from Hampshire and as we will see from Northants) that private ownership (Durham, like Hampshire, is not a members club) brings more problems than it solves. Sympathy for privately owned clubs is limited; if they dont share their profits with the wider game, why would the wider game want to share their losses? Nor will it be forgotten that, a few years ago, Durham breached the salary cap. They are not blameless.Most of all, though, we can see that the arms race by which international games were allocated for a decade or more did not work. And we can see that producing players for England is not sufficiently rewarded. A club that has uncovered such gems as Mark Wood and Stokes should not be begging for help from its governing body. It should be cherished and nurtured.At some clubs, this setback would spark an exodus. But at Durham? There has long been a sense of unity about Durham that other clubs have admired and envied. And it has long been said in county circles that it is hard to drag their players away from the north-east. Maybe the examples of Scott Borthwick and Mark Stoneman show that times have changed. Or maybe this is just the event to redouble their determination and renew their sprit. If Stokes and Wood are ever made available to them in 2017, some Division Two batsmen will find themselves unwitting victims of this episode.There is not much appetite around the first-class counties for punishment of Durham. There is an acceptance that their days as a Test-hosting ground are over (for the foreseeable future, anyway) and an acceptance that they required some intervention. But punishment? No. That comes from the ECB, which has somehow tarnished one of the most wonderful finishes to the county season for years into a squabble about finances and legal action. The reverse alchemists have done it again.Well-governed sport is defined by events on the pitch. Increasingly in English cricket, we see decisions made in committee rooms transcending events on the field. It reflects poorly on the sport and, most of all, poorly on the administrators. Cheapest Air Jordan 12 . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Air Jordan 12 Sale Online . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. http://www.cheapairjordan12nz.com/ . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. 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Read below.NEW YORK -- David Ortiz was annoyed -- with himself and New York Yankees catcher?Austin Romine.Starting his final series at Yankee Stadium, Ortiz went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and stranded seven runners as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 6-4 on Tuesday night and delayed Boston from clinching the American League East.Big Papi ended the game by fanning with two runners on when Tyler Clippard threw him a high, backdoor cutter. The 40-year-old slugger was succinct, saying, That aint fun.Ortiz also didnt like all the trips to the mound by Romine.They tricked me tonight. Too much talking between the pitcher and catcher, Ortiz said. Ill trick them tomorrow.Despite a stellar season, Ortiz said before the game that there is no way he will change his mind about retirement.My body is counting the days, let me tell you, he said. Its hard to play baseball when you are 40. Im not going to lie to you, its hard -- especially when youre looking everywhere around and everybodys 20. You can be a dad.Ortiz is hitting .318 with a major-league-leading 48 doubles, 37 homers and 124 RBIs. He hopes to earn a fourth World Series ring with the Red Sox.You often wonder why hes retiring, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Gosh, the year hes having, I would really have to think about coming back. But Im going to encourage him to retire.Ortiz has homered six times against the Yankees this season. New York has planned a pregame ceremony for Thursday.Yankee Stadium, it might be my favorite place to hit, to play, regardless, he said. The dimensions are perfect for a left-handed power hitter. All the emotions, all the adrenaline, all the competition competing against the Yankees has been outstanding through the years.Ortiz has 53 regular-season homers against thee Yankees, all but one with Boston, tied with Hank Greenberg for fourth behind Jimmie Foxx (70), Ted Williams (62) and Manny Ramirez (55).dddddddddddd His 31 homers at the old and new ballpark in the Bronx are tied with Mickey Vernon for second-most among visiting players, one ahead of Williams and one behind Goose Goslin.When he walked to the plate before flying out to center field in the first inning, Ortiz was greeted by a mixture of boos and cheers, with some fans rising to applaud.I think there will be a lot of respect paid for a guy whos had some good moments in here, Red Sox manager John Farrell said before the game, going on to compare this to the Fenway Park finales of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. Despite the rivalry, I think people appreciate baseball. They appreciate really talented players, and I would expect David to receive a similar treatment.Ortiz has been booed at Yankee Stadium since he joined the Red Sox for the 2003 season. But the jeers got more intense as his career progressed and he helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit against New York in the 2004 AL Championship Series, then won World Series titles that year and in 2007 and 2013.It got more powerful now, he said. They know me a little bit more now.Ortiz took notice that a fan launched a website, moonbigpapi.com, encouraging spectators at Ortizs Yankee Stadium finale on Thursday to moon the Boston star.Can you imagine? Ortiz said, laughing. If it happens, Im going to make sure I got my cellphone in my back pocket.A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Gary Sanchez as the Yankees catcher Tuesday night. Sanchez was the Yankees designated hitter. ' ' '