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ESPN.com article on Mark Zuckerman

Great article from ESPN.com on Mark Zuckerman. Raises some interesting questions about the future of sports journalism. Might not be as bleak and unprofitable as many expect it to be.

Multimillions for a franchise. Thousands for season tickets. Seven dollars and seventy-five cents -- ¡Dios mio! -- for a 12-ounce cup of lukewarm beer. For business tycoons and workaday schlubs alike, the sports world can be prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, there's one athletic indulgence almost anyone can afford.

Your own private sports writer.

Ever wanted to have a say in the makeup of your morning sports report? Or just have someone personally ask Washington Nationals pitcher and New Jersey native Jason Bergmann what he thinks of "Jersey Shore"? Then meet Mark Zuckerman. A 33-year-old baseball writer from suburban D.C., Zuckerman is covering the Nationals during spring training in Viera, Fla. -- coverage made possible by reader donations to his team blog.

As in more than $10,000 in reader donations, collected in less than a month, $20-60 at a time.

"I did not in a million years expect this to happen," Zuckerman says. "At least not this fast."