Q: OK, let’s switch to baseball. The season is near and we hear you caught a Cubs game in Arizona on Monday. Are you still as eager as ever for a new season to start?

A: It gets more intense every year. I used to wonder when I'd grow up and now I know I’m never going to -- and I’m just as glad.

Q: The answer is probably obvious, but I suppose then for you major league baseball is far bigger and far more important to you than its current problems with star players?

A: Oh, heavens yes. Baseball’s had gambling problems before. It had cocaine problems in the '70s. The steroids problem has been serious, but I think we are closing that steroids parenthesis in baseball history. Major league baseball itself is funding research for the currently untestable use of human-growth hormones, so baseball is being proactive here. And the fans are snappin’ up tickets. Records are being set. Competitive balance is better than ever before. New ballparks all over the land. The old multipurpose ballparks -- another one has just gone down in Shea Stadium. So the sport on the field is getting better. The fields are getting better. The game’s getting better.

Q: Do you think major league baseball -- and all major pro sports -- should be policing the use performance-enhancing drugs?

A: Yes. Because it’s cheating. Because it tilts the playing field so that the cheaters have an advantage unless other people want to a), break the rules; b), break the law; or c), put their health at risk.

Q: We know you love the Pirates.

A: Absolutely.

Q: The Pirates will soon begin what probably will be their 17th straight losing season. Largely, this is because Pittsburgh is a small-market team that can’t pay the stars it needs to compete. Do you have some wise words or words of consolation even to offer this city’s long-suffering baseball fans?

A: Sure. Oakland is one. Minnesota is another. Both of them -- with gifted managers and small payrolls -- have been competitive fairly consistently over decades. Pittsburgh does operate under a handicap, but the baseball economic model has been improved for the advantage of teams like Pittsburgh, with increased revenue sharing and the competitive-balance tax on teams with the largest payrolls. Pittsburgh, as I’m sure Pirate fans know, made a bunch of mistakes that were optional and were not driven by any inherent disadvantage in the team. So there is no question that although it is more difficult in Pittsburgh than other places, it is by no means impossible for the Pirates to be a competitive team in the National League.

Q: Do you think the Pirates will be a .500 or better team this year?

A: I think it’s doable.