USA TODAY has a piece today on the demise of Fidel Castro and how it could affect the talent flow to Major League Baseball.

Castro was noted for his particular baseball obsession, developing national teams over the years that have had major league scouts drooling. There were eight Cuban-born players in the major leagues during the 2007 season; all defectors from the country. Recent defector Alexei Ramirez is expected to join Jose Contreras and Livan and Orlando Hernandez when the White Sox begin play this year.

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The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM follows up on Michael Byars-Dawson, an American basketball player who’s currently making his living in Iran.

The former Texas high school star talks about the culture shock of playing professionally in the Middle Eastern country. One surprise is how manic Iranian basketball fans can get.

Byars-Dawson remembers one road game where he got into some verbal sparring with the crowd. The fired-up folks responded by throwing coins & water bottles on the court. Even after he was taken out of the game, an angry group gathered behind Byars-Dawson’s bench threatening to kill him.

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