With negotiations for a new labor agreement in their usual stagnant state, Commissioner Bud Selig pledged that the owners would not lock out the players during the season or post-season, nor would they unilaterally implement new work rules during those times.
I am delighted, as usual, to see Commissioner Vitorino sitting here again, but I am naturally disappointed that the Council is conspicuous by its absence - or perhaps there is an official hidden under the seat.
The teams slated for elimination, most likely the Twins and the Montreal Expos, would have to conduct business as usual even though the commissioner and the owners want to put them out of business.
This year saw Google CEO Eric Schmidt take part alongside Robert Zoellick (president of the World Bank), Bill Gates and the usual sprinkle of EU commissioners and Goldman Sachs heavyweights.
As mayoral news conferences go, this one had all the usual Bloomberg trappings: a powerful commissioner, an Ivy League academic, an innovative pilot program and money from a private charity.
The decor of her office is cooly elegant, Mr. Vinje said, devoid of the usual photographs of herself as commissioner and decorated only with large works of modern art.
For what it's worth, neither the mayor nor the police commissioner offered anything like the usual ringing support for officers who find themselves on the hot seat.
In other words, during the state of emergency, measures can be taken without going through the usual procedure, giving more power to the police commissioner.
As college athletics face an overhaul, with the possibility of conference realignment, a dozen reporters, far more than usual, flew here to listen to how the commissioners would address such a different landscape.
Presiding over his last N.B.A. draft before he steps down as commissioner in February, David Stern soaked in the usual chorus of boos when he walked onstage at Barclays Center on Thursday.
