It didn’t generate a lot of headlines, but former federal reserve chairman Paul Volcker was invited by baseball commissioner Bud Selig to brief the team owners on the state of the economy. And it was really interesting.

The New York Times reported on the meeting and said it could have a dampening effect on free agency, which is just cranking up. It probably won’t affect the real big-ticket guys, since the market for them is limited to only the select few who can spend at that level, but it could impact teams such as the Rays.

Even coming off a miraculous season like the just-completed one, the Rays have to be concerned how this train wreck of an economy might trickle down to ticket sales. Most teams live off the generosity of corporations who buy suites and batches of season tickets. The Rays could normally expect a tremendous jump season-ticket sales for next year, but with companies throughout the Bay area laying off workers and cutting expenses to the bone an investment in season tickets might be considered a luxury.

The Rays drew about 1.8 million fans last season and hope to increase that to at least 2.2 million, which would be doable in a good economy. In this economy though, who knows?

Whether they sign a single free agent or not, that $43 million payroll that drew such admiration around baseball is going to significantly increase. The question is how much more revenue the Rays can generate, if any, to pay for that increase. I’ve been covering baseball for about a quarter century and one thing I’ve learned is that owners didn’t get to be rich guys by giving their money away, and nothing is guaranteed to empty a checkbook faster than a poorly run professional sports franchise.

That’s where Volcker’s remarks come in. He warned the clubs that even in this time of great popularity for baseball, the economic outlook in general is not good. That’s almost certain to tighten the market for free agents and could affect whether the Rays get that right-handed power bat they need for the outfield, or additional bullpen help.

ACC TITLE GAME: Folks here have to be concerned about the matchup for the ACC championship game Dec. 6 at Ray-Jay. After Miami was hammered Thursday night at Georgia Tech, the odds of having a natural local draw such as the Hurricanes or Florida State have all but evaporated. I won’t even bother to explain all the tie-breakers to determine which teams will come here, but I’ll say this: the good people at the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, which successfully bid to host the game, have a lot of work to do.

The ACC title game is on a two-year deal here after moving from Jacksonville, where attendance last year for Boston College and Virginia Tech plummeted to 53,212 after a high of 72,749 in 2005 when Florida State was in the game. In this economy, it’s questionable how many supporters from far away teams can afford a trip here from a far-away locale.

BLEAK DAYS IN MOTOWN: On the other hand, we could be Detroit.

The auto industry is in the tank. The Tigers were a major flop. The University of Michigan is having its worst season ever. And the Lions haven’t won a game.

Here’s a sampling of life these days in Motown, where the Bucs are headed Sunday to face the 0-10 Lions.

The game didn’t sell out in time for the local TV blackout to be lifted, so folks at home will have to find other ways to amuse themselves instead of watching this epic tilt.

There were will some ex-Bucs on the other side of the ball for Detroit, but they’re not making much of that. At this point, defensive end DeWayne White said, the Lions need a win over any one. The fact they’re playing the Bucs is incidental.

It’s also a foregone conclusion that head coach Rod Marinelli, the former defensive line guru with the Bucs, will be fired when this debacle of a season is over.

And just when they think it couldn’t get worse, consider this: The Lions face Tennessee in the traditional Thanksgiving Day game, meaning we could have the specter of an 0-11 team vs. one that’s 11-0.