A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– Matthew Berry was recently profiled by the alumni magazine of his alma mater, Syracuse University.

– I don’t really have any better way to intro this column than with its own first line: “It was certainly the first time I’ve ever heard the words ‘fantasy baseball’ used in a eulogy.”

– Tableau Software carries this interview with CBSSports.com data analyst Al Melchior on what the “data visualizations” add to the experience for visitors to the fantasy sports area. (It should be noted that Tableau is the provider of these visualizations.)

– The emergence and evolution of the blogosphere has brought plenty of positive developments, but one key drawback is the blurring of the line between actual reporting and blind speculation. Our report last week on Liberty and Fanball was sourced. This Monday post on MidwestSportsFans.com that bandies the term “bankruptcy” about smacks of irresponsible speculation by one guy. It’s up to each reader to choose what to believe, but it’s up to the outlet to give you reason to believe it.

– Freelancers, here’s a Britain-based ad looking for low-budget design help on a new “weekly sports pick ‘em” site.

– Fantasy providers, now we have finally arrived. Elaut USA has introduced one of those “look at the obscene number of paper tickets you could win before you actually end up with 5″ games that your pre-teen kids choose over better machines at Chuck E. Cheese. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with fantasy sports, it carries the name “Fantasy Football Tickets.”

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– The most recent surveys have reportedly said that even though workers are checking in on their fantasy teams on the job, human resources departments don’t see any negative impact on productivity. The article also says that about one-fifth of employers block fantasy sites, while another one-fifth ask employees to limit time spent on fantasy.

– Is Didier Drogba the U.K.’s version of Maurice Jones-Drew, speaking directly to fans about his impact on fantasy “football”? (And what is his real name when you unscramble the letters?)

– An item we saw a while back but failed to pass along: RotoHog has split its operation to shift the B2B portion of its business under the new heading of Fastpoint Games.

– We’ve had a few inquiries recently and see a few rumors on the Web about Fanball “shuttering” it’s blog network, so we checked around. The network is still active, as one can see by visiting the Fanball homepage or member outlets such as Baseballguys.com. FSB.com was told that the remaining blogs primarily belong to people who have other roles with Fanball, while deals with individual outlets were separately settled. We were unable to get official word on the subject from Fanball.

– Papa John’s announced last week the five finalists in its promotion selecting the top fantasy football league in the country. The winner will be decided by some combination of public voting via Facebook and a panel led by Chargers tight end Antonio Gates and Matthew Berry. (As far as we’re concerned, the honor shouldn’t go to anyone other than the Kings X leagues created by Andy Mousalimas — a story that has been delayed around here by the hustle of football season but that will still be told in further detail.)

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– We missed this about a month ago, but apparently Matthew Berry, Nate Ravitz, Stephania Bell and Fantasy Focus producer Jay “PodVader” Soderberg are all available free-agent players in Madden ‘11. Berry is a linebacker, Ravitz a receiver, Bell a running back and Vader a blocking tight end.

– This writeup on the weekend football scene around Hermosa Beach, Calif., doesn’t present anything particularly out of the ordinary. It does, however, offer a worthwhile snapshot of the direct impact fantasy football can have on indirectly related businesses.

– This Dallas-area fantasy football league has been going strong for 25 years, with the screwy scoring system to prove it.

– And now some fun at another’s expense: Any time I come across an article that purports to instruct one on how to become a fantasy sports writer, I’ll probably be interested. If it’s worthwhile, I might pass along a link here. If it’s the complete opposite, I might also feel compelled to share. HowToDoThings.com is apparently a high-traffic site, and perhaps most of its content is very helpful. “How To Become a Fantasy Sports Writer,” however, was obviously written by someone who has no idea how to. The first paragraph introduces an incorrect assumption (”there is no doubt fantasy sports writers are in high demand these days”), followed by an unnecessary step (”you should start as a real sports writer”). A few of the ensuing sentences are not useless, but I’ll let you decide which. I can’t argue this final line, though: “For a start, you may also try out some sites that are hiring fantasy sports writer to be paid $30 per article composed of 200 to 300 words.” If you find someone willing to pay you $30 for every four paragraphs you write, jump on it.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– Check this out: Matthew Berry has an Oct. 7 appearance scheduled for the Jewish Community Center in Springfield, Mass., for which attendees will be charged up to $35 (reserved seating; tickets also available at $25, $15 for Center members). By comparison, folks in Houston can buy a $30 ticket to go see Vampire Weekend (plus $12.99 in extra whatever charges).

– Major League Baseball Advanced Media has won a Duke’s Choice Award for its fantasy draft application and live scoreboard. Although it would be much more interesting if these awards singled out personal favorites of John Wayne, Duke’s Choice awards “highlight the ingenuity and creativity of Java developers.”

– FantasyPro.net has launched a weekly fantasy football platform in which players build a salary-cap team and then enter a pay league at their chosen fee level.

– This article — apparently from the student paper for the University of Memphis, although it seems to instead be named for mayonnaise — focuses on the fantasy playing habits of some average college students, including at least one dude who will now have his professors checking his laptop more closely during class.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).