Story on i9 flag football league was nothing but an ad

Shame on the Catonsville Times for essentially running a story for the i9 flag football league ("New flag football league puts the fun in fundamentals," Sept. 21).

Make no mistake, i9 is a for-profit business. The Times was misguided to devote a full page advertisement to this organization.

Catonsville already has dozens of sports programs, offered to the children of the community under the Baltimore County Parks and Recreation umbrella. These are run 100 percent by volunteers, who are completely focused on the children — not turning a profit.

In the article, the owner of the Catonsville i9 franchise, Marquis Neal, stated that he got into the sports business because he "wanted to do something that was actually going to benefit the community."

If Mr. Neal really wanted to do something that was altruistic for the community, he would have volunteered his time with a rec and parks program instead of trying to make some fast cash from Catonsville kids.

I suggest that the Times staff devote some coverage to one of the many fine local rec and parks programs that actually makes a difference by putting recreation, physical fitness and sportsmanship ahead of chasing the almighty dollar.

Ken Rohrer

Catonsville Baseball 7/8 coordinator, Catonsville Basketball Clinic coordinator, Catonsville Soccer U8 coach