A consumer’s guide to the best and...

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “The Guide To Careers In Sports” by Len Karlin

Price: $17.95 (Careers & Colleges Publications)

A most controversial release, this.

Certainly there is value in a practical guide on how to land jobs in sports medicine and turf management.

But does modern civilization really need more sports publicists and player agents?

In the second edition of his “Guide To Careers In Sports,” Len Karlin is civic-minded enough to offer a cautionary note to those misguided youngsters whose idea of a dream career is schmoozing athletes, glad-handing general managers, living on a cellular phone and taking 5% to 10% off the top.

Karlin writes:

“If you’re giving serious thought to becoming a player representative, there are a few things to be considered:

“1. It’s an overcrowded occupation.

“2. You’ll be competing against experienced agents with solid reputations.

“3. It’s OK to woo a prospective client with visions of great wealth and public adoration, but threatening to break his legs if he doesn’t sign with you is not viewed as proper professional behavior.”

Well done, Len. Scare the kids away at an age when they can still turn their lives around and become creditable members of society.

The guide also offers advice on to how break into sports facilities management, college sports management, recreation management, the golf and tennis industries and sports broadcasting--yet there is no chapter on how to land a job in sportswriting.

(Not that this is a complaint. Listen up, kids: The field’s already glutted, the deadlines are brutal and you are sure to find more satisfaction and societal respect laying sod and raking infields in the Carolina League.)

As for a job in professional baseball, the book quotes a league official: “The reality is that there just aren’t many job openings. If we do have an opening, we look for someone with related experience. Love of the game isn’t enough to get you a job. . . . If you’re just getting started in this business, try the minor leagues. Get experience.”

Unless you’d like a job as major league commissioner. If so, apply now. The position has been open for years.