Dispatch from the road

Since I'm out of the office on vacation, I do what most sports fans do -- look for a ballgame. And, being in Jackson, Miss., at the time, I decided to take the kid out to the ballgame of the Mississippi Braves.

The game was eventually rained out -- just my luck. But it did give me a chance to see the 1-year-old Trustmark Park and make my comparisons to Shreveport's Fair Grounds Field.

Trustmark Park is what minor league ballparks have become - miniature major league parks. During the rain delay you had the DiamondVision scoreboard showing the Braves-Cardinals game from Atlanta. Not happening at Fair Grounds Field.

There were not one but two team stores to take your money. You couldn't walk without running into a concession stand or restaurant. (By the way, the restaurants are open even when the team is out of town).

There is an outfield berm and plenty of fence signage.

This isn't a knock on the Shreveport Sports. They're doing the best they can with what they've got.

This is just to show how times have changed. Shreveport and Jackson were bitter rivals in the Texas Leauge. Jackson fell out of the Texas League first with Shreveport close behind. Jackson has recovered nicely. We can only hope and dream the same would happen for Shreveport one day.