As am I -- well, more Jets than Mets fan.
Before Zirin took off, I flirted with this type of career. My book, American Fan, is a decidedly left view of corporate sports, laced with humor and satire. It received very good reviews (including one from Robert Lipsyte in the NYTimes), but the Murdoch lawyers, who inherited the manuscript after swallowing Avon/William Morrow, took a very dim view of it. They released it minus the harsh digs at their boss, then drowned it quickly, despite the good notices and wide radio exposure.
I worked briefly as a lefty sports columnist for Ironminds, alongside Filip Bondy of the Daily News, before it tanked, then received an offer from New Press to write a People's History of American Sports. I worked on this for a few months while dealing with several editors, and then they lost interest, for whatever reason. I later saw that Zirin got this gig. Which is fine. I wasn't enjoying the project all that much, so perhaps that came through.
Dennis