INTERVIEW – BRIAN MCNICOLL with Accuracy In Media and a longtime softball coach– joined WMAL’s Mornings on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

• Brian has been coaching softball for games played on the National Mall for at least 10 years. 
• He coached the Heritage Foundation’s softball team, one of the most successful teams on the Think Tank Softball league. He coached softball for 10 years.
• Park Service wants to ban sports from Washington Monument grounds.  The National Park Service said Thursday that it wants to permanently close the grounds of the Washington Monument to recreational activities and increase reservation fees for use of its 28 athletic fields on the Mall and in Rock Creek Park. The battered monument grounds were closed earlier this year for turf restoration, and the Park Service wants that closure to continue after the project is finished next year, spokesman Mike Litterst said in an email.
• Thousands sign petition against proposed National Mall sports ban. (WTOP) –Thousands signed an online petition over the span of about 24 hours in hopes to sway the National Park Service’s proposal to ban sports on a number of athletic fields along the National Mall this week.  Last week, the park service announced that it wants to permanently prohibit sports and recreation on fields between 3rd and 17th streets, which includes the Washington Monument grounds. Those grounds were closed for recreational use earlier this year in order to begin a turf restoration project, and “will remain closed after the project is completed in 2018,” National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said.  “We’ve been working to maximize our athletic field space in non-memorial/monument areas,” Litterst added. But the plan has not gone over well with many D.C.-area residents or government officials.