Stunner: Documents confirm Marlins profitable (with Jeffrey Loria poll); plus Nick Saban impersonator (with vid) & more

[Thanks to all who joined us today for Live Chat Wednesday. We do it each week from noon to 1 in the Q&A Forum. Click HERE to join live, read past transcripts or to post questions any time. Also follow at Twitter.com/gregcote. Want to weigh in on the Dolphins? See the post directly below this one].

MARLINS OWNERSHIP CRIES POOR BUT MAKES NEAT PROFIT: [Click on Crying Poor With Pockets Full for today's column by me on leaked documents revealing the Marlins' financial state] Perfectly timed with the Marlins literally giving away fan favorite Cody Ross in part to save a few bucks, Deadspin.com today reveals formerly private financial statements for several MLB teams including the Marlins and -- imagine that! -- it turns out our little team is making quite a profit while crying poor. Click here for the overview and here to go right to the Marlins' Consolidated Balance Sheets for 2008 and 2009. Crunch all the numbers and here's what stands out: The Marlins' operating income (tantamount to net profit) the past two years totaled $48.9 million. That's largely because of a player payroll so low in 2008 that baseball publicly admonished the Marlins and ordered them to start spending more. That's why the profit was $37.8 million in '08 and "only" $11.1 million '09 because of a modestly increased payroll. Bottom line: The Jeffrey Loria ownership for years has chosen to increase overall profit rather than put more of that toward bigger payrolls and better teams. Loria's ownership has not been all bad. The 2003 World Series title was on his watch, and he should get some credit for the new stadium coming in 2012. Still, the big picture is of an owner who for years has been seriously underspending on the product he presents to fans and, relative to other teams, continues to underspend. But that's just me. Take a dip in our poll and you grade the Marlins' owner.

[Quick aside: Attended my wife's high school reunion Saturday night and was told (not for the first time) that I looked like Jeffrey Loria. Except that the woman, possibly hammered, called him Jim Loria. I wish my personal profit margin also looked like Loria's].

SABAN IMPERSONATOR: Alabama walk-on receiver Rob Ezell does a spot-on imitation of coach Nick Saban. Click here for the YouTube video. (Crimson Tide a consensus No. 1 in the preseason polls. Like Miami's Hurricanes checking in a pretty impressive No. 13 in the first AP poll. Been awhile since I've looked forward to a UM season this much).

GET IN LINE, TOM BRADY: Patriots QB Tom Brady tells Boston's WEEI radio, "I hate the Jets." Get in line, pal. You know how people (other than the team's fans) hated the 1986 UM Hurricanes and hate the new dream-team Heat now? I'd nominate Rex Ryan and his 2010 Jets for the list.

JAY MARIOTTI'S ARREST: ESPN curmudgeon Jay Mariotti was arrested over the weekend on a felony charge related to an apparent domestic dispute. Must have been somewhat serious because the bail he made was a fairly steep $50,000. Is it official now? Has every ESPN announcer been arrested? I think that's the only network where each on-air personality gets his own wardrobe consultant, makeup artist and defense lawyer.

VIEWER BUSTS LADY GOLFER: LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster was disqualified from the Safeway Classic when a TV viewer reported she used a weighted "doughnut" during a practice swing, a rules violation. I'm not sure which is more shocking: That Inkster would do that. Or that an LPGA tournament had a TV viewer.

EGG RECALL CONTINUES: The national recall of millions of eggs continues due to a salmonella outbreak. I have no punchline or anything to add. I've just been looking for an excuse to post a photo of a smiling, waving cartoon egg wearing sneakers.

BEER UPDATE: Greg Cote, who dislikes people who speak in the third-person but is doing it now, is a Miller Lite man but this weekend tried for the first time a Harp, the Irish lager, and rather enjoyed it. 

Click back. I'll be adding much more stuff to this post thoughout the day Monday.