As usual, the collection of baseball people from anywhere and everywhere was a given. Gary LaRocque from the Cardinals looked as happy as I’ve ever seen him, the Yankees’ Damon Oppenheimer was looking dapper as ever, and for the first time in a milennia, Mets’ PR man Jay Horwitz appeared to be relaxed.

The New York contingent of columnists, beat writers, online correspondents, and bloggers easily outnumbered everyone else, and for the first time in a long time, most had very little to do.

It allowed for some networking time, and as a journalist who also has a business to run, new digital magazines to launch, covering the Meetings is more than just hanging out in the lobby.

I spent some real quality time with a fellow I’ve read many times, but never actually met, Gary Armida. Gary is known for his excellent work over at FullCountPitch.com, and is now writing the excellent Baseball Report Newsletter. What a delightful guy. You can follow him on Twitter at @GaryArmidaFCP.

I also got the opportunity to spend some time with some students from Lynn University, whose department head Professor Theodore Curtis had brought along to get some real-time “lab” work in. Seems Prof. Curtis thinks that giving his students real hands-on work to do is the best way to prepare them for their chosen profession. A man after my own heart.

A great group of young people, Curtis was able to arrange for his group to meet exclusively with some of baseball’s top business execs, including major league officials and even the president of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jeff Idelson.

“Our students take what they learn in class about the baseball business and now come here and become a big part of it all,” says Curtis. “For Lynn students, learning doesn’t end in the classroom – it begins there.”

While hundreds of other students aimlessly will roam the halls at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel at Disney praying for a bite, Lynn students will take part in their exclusive meetings, discuss internship possibilities at the Job Fair and discover sports industries at the Baseball Trade Show.

“This active learning experience will stay with our students in their future careers as baseball executives and sports business leaders,” says Curtis, who has taken his students to the Winter Meetings each of the last four years.

Lynn graduates now work for dozens of teams and leagues throughout professional sports. Maybe you should go there. Hell, maybe I should go there.

Lastly, like the good professor and his charges, I also spent time at the Trade Show, looking to make some contacts for my sales staffs at both BaseballDigest.com and GothamBaseball.com, as well as look for some cross-branding and cross-promotinal opportunities. I did find some excellent candidates for all of my needs, and I also found some great products.

Annoyed by the price and quality of much of the food in Orlando, if not for the Picabu cafe in the Dolphin (open 24 hours), and the Fountain (a great little diner-type place, also in Dolphin), I would have been very cranky. I also found a few booths I snuck off to in the Trade Show multiple times.

Mama Mancini’s Meatballs – Having been born and raised in Brooklyn, with a mother and slew of aunts that made Sunday sauce, I am a meatball and gravy snob. This was a little taste of home for me. Nice job, chef. Next time, have a little rigatoni, too.

MexiDog – The chorizo made by these folks is awesome. Not for the faint of heart or palate, mind you. Instead of the poor excuse for the wet bars in the lobby of the Dolphin (No Jameson or Irish whiskey of any kind), they should have set up MexiDog stands with ice-cold buckets of Guinness and Harp.

I also discovered some really interesting products:

GI Nutrition – The Karsos brothers have themselves a very supplement business, and their sales pitch is very straightforward and honest. I also didn’t spit any of their products out after tasting them. That’s a good sign. I usually hate protien drinks and bars of that nature. These were solid.

Cutters Gloves – I have always liked Cutters batting gloves, which have unique grips and are very comfortable. What I didn’t know was that they have a new product, that isn’t so new. Longtime glove and bat manufacturer Nokona is now part of the Cutters family, and they should have a new website up and running soon. When they do, go check it out. They make some of the most attarctive, comfortable American-made gloves and bats you’ll ever see.

In the upcoming weeks, you’ll start seeing other products popping up here on BaseballDigest.com, and understand that if we don’t really like’em, we don’t endorse ‘em. That’s a pledge from me personally.

Mark Healey is the Online Editor Of Baseball Digest, the Founding Editor of Gotham Baseball and the host of Baseball Digest Live. You can follow him on Twitter @BaseballDigest9.

While it is still not completely out of the game, efforts like making tobacco use illegal in collegiate and minor league competition and awareness programs in the Major Leagues have greatly reduced usage.

In that spirit, advocacy group Oral Health America today announced the winner of its National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP) annual slogan contest and encouraged young baseball and softball players to talk to their coaches and parents about tobacco addiction and the health risks of using tobacco products, including spit and smokeless tobacco.

This year’s slogan contest winner is Katie Reynolds, a 12-year-old Little League Softball player with the Pawling Little League from Pawling, N.Y., whose submission, “Chew on this. . .tobacco steals your health,” sends a clear message that tobacco has no place in the ballpark.

“In addition to being thrilled and proud of Katie’s slogan, we are equally delighted that the contest provided an opportunity for our family to discuss the harms of tobacco,” said Katie’s parents, William and Gina Reynolds.

Katie’s slogan will be featured on a pin designed by Oral Health America for distribution at the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., from Aug. 21-30. Katie will receive a monetary award, a trip to the event with her family, and an on-field award ceremony.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, about eight percent of high school students (and 13 percent of high school males) used smokeless tobacco in the past 30 days. The 2008 Monitoring the Future study from the University of Michigan found that over 80 percent of 8th and 10th graders disapprove of people using spit tobacco regularly.

Oral Health America’s NSTEP works with Little League International to educate families about the risks of spit tobacco use, including oral cancer, gum disease, tooth decay, and nicotine addiction. During the 10-Day Little League Baseball World Series, Oral Health America provides tobacco and health education to tens of thousands of young baseball and softball players and their families.

Resources:

www.oralhealthamerica.org

www.nstep.org