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The calendar said March, so it’s time for another season on baseball. Our first Cactus League game took us to Phoenix Muni to see the Oakland A’s host the Milwaukee Brewers. Both teams started some of their regulars, but the game quickly turned into a showcase for the group of players hoping to make the final, 40-man roster. These clearly are teams going in opposite directions: the A’s are totally rebuilding while the Brew Crew are hoping to win the National League Central. Featured in this video are a handful of players including Ryan Braun, Matt Parra (Brewers pitching hopeful), Carlos Gonzalez (who came from the D-backs in the trade for Dan Haren), personal favorite Huston Street and former (emphasis on former) great closer Eric Gagne. To say Gagne looked awful is an understatement. Jack Cust, a one-dimensional slugger on the A’s hit two homers. Interesting in light of the fact he was mentioned in the steroids report.

The day before the big game, the Valley (of the Sun) is full of events related to Super Bowl 42. There are parties (to which we are not invited), private functions (such as one hosted by Chris Berman) and events such as two flag football games for charity. We went to the Celebrity Flag Football Challenge which was hosted by former NFL star, Doug Flutie (on behalf of his charity). For some unknown reason, the game was out in Surprise at the spring training home of the Royals and Rangers. The game was really fun with DMC performing at halftime. We actually arrived at halftime and missed the Flutie Brothers Band but saw the second half which featured Flutie, Chad Johnson, Willis McGahee, A.J. Feeley and others… I am truly impressed with how the NFL players handle themselves with the fans. They are far more cordial and natural and don’t seemed annoyed by the fan worship. Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers stood in the concourse and chatted with fans for 10-15 minutes just having a good time

Our 2007 season baseball season, which started off in Spring Training and includes stops in Memphis, Cleveland and Albuquerque, ended with the 2007 Arizona Fall League Championship. The game featured the Surprise Rafters against the Phoenix Desert Dogs, perennial league champs. The game was close until the late innings when the Dogs pulled away and won 7-2.

New Belgium Beer asks, “Would you trade your car for a bike?” Well, that’s the underlying theme of the Tour de Fat, a ballyhoo of bikes and beer. Seems from what we can figure out about Austin, it’s the perfect stop on the tour. Held in Town Lake (which I don’t think is a real lake), the event was a gathering of bike aficionados, folks who like beer and those just interested in a good time on an early Fall Saturday. There were bikes, plenty of beer and music. This clip features The Reals, from Colorado and The Story Of, a band from Austin.

The Diamondbacks didn’t pick a particularly good year to make the NLCS. (Not that I am complaining). The area in and around Chase Field (nee Bank One Ballpark) is torn up to make way for a rather useless light rail system that will serve a very small portion of The Valley’s growing population. Well, a story for another day. Because the powers that be at MLB and WTBS decided to have the game at 7 p.m. local time on a Friday (instead of 1 p.m. as originally scheduled), getting to the stadium was a logistical nightmare for most folks. Given few, if any people, live within walking distance of Chase Field (unless you are staying at the Hyatt or work at the Arizona Republic), it’s a drive and park gambit. In order to avoid Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and the construction mess near Chase Field, we left our house at 4:30, almost three hours before the National Anthem.

Fall in Scottsdale means the beginning of a series of events, fairs, expos, etc.. We went over to the Green Building Expo by the Scottsdale Civic Center with a few goals: get some info on energy/fuel efficient cars, find a garden service that uses organic products and come up with a contractor to help us with an addition to our house that can be done using recycled building materials.

Who would have imagined that Mark Grace (even in bobblehead form) would take the time to stop by and answer a few questions? Sadly, he limited his responses to yes and no.

Here’s a clip from The Police concert at US Airways Arena. With respect to the band, no segment is longer than 30 seconds to give those on the fence about seeing them during the remaining part of their tour a preview of what awaits them. The show was excellent. By the way, I did not sneak in a video camera. This was shot with my Nokia N93-I mobile phone.

At the Arizona Diamondbacks Fan Fest, 10 singers competed for the chance to sing the national anthem before a Diamondbacks home game. The first nine were women; the last one is the PA announcer at Chase Field.

Circled in red is the day pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Arizona. Today, we ventured over to Scottsdale Stadium to see the Giants 2007 hurlers in their tune-up sessions. Of course, our #1 mission was to see Barry Zito. As this clip shows, we were not disappointed. The position players reports next week--we'll be back (as well as to other Major League camps in the area).

Here's a "legal busker" at the Leicester Square Tube stop. Being legal means she can legally collect money.

It was a long-anticipated videoblogging event: The Duck Derby at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. And sure it was hot (101) and the race was slow (40 minutes), but the cause (Make A Wish) is a great one, and we had 15 rubber duckies in the race. The winner (which we weren’t) received a new Chevy and even the runner-ups prizes (which we also didn’t win) were good, ranging from airline tickets to an overnight at Casino Arizona. Big kudos to Mark Lewis, a local TV personality who was the emcee and kept everyone entertained in the blazing sun with some funny banter.

Former Reds star, Johnny Bench

After living in Arizona for a number of years, we felt it was our duty to see if the expression “It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk” was true.

Led by manager Bob Melvin, a number of Arizona Diamondbacks sign autographs before the game. Included are Tony Clark, Chad Tracy, Kevin Jarvis and coach Lee Tinsley.

Who knew what a great food court was available at the Seattle Airport?

One of the highlights of my career was being instrumental in the founding/launching of The Gate. I joined The Chronicle in 1993 in the evolving new media group and was assigned the task of building out an online presence. Long story short, we became the first daily newspaper on the Web in 1994. I have quite a few insider stories (most of which I cannot share). I guess I can say I was there when it all started.

In addition to having a humongous assortment of free beverages, snacks and munchies, one of the side perks of working at one of the world’s biggest media tech companies is free, on-site haircuts. Check out the mobile haircut wagon.

2006 Spring Training for the Chicago Cubs came to an end at Hohokam Park in Mesa as they played the Arizona Diamondbacks. For Cubs fans, hope springs eternal. Featuring “The Cubs Are Gonna Do It in 2006” by Silverleaf, here’s a short look at the final game of the Cactus League season.

Back when I was a kid, there was one blimp--The Goodyear Blimp. You would see it at all sorts of sporting events and other major gatherings. Today, blimps are more commonplace as billboards that hover over the sky delivering a message. Here’s a blimp, with no commercial marketing, that drifting across the sky in San Diego this past weekend.

Cuba-Japan game time is two hours away. Here’s a clip of Cuban pitcher Adiel Palma as he signs autographs before last Saturday’s game before the Dominican Republic. In the background, some yutz is yelling “Viva Che.”

A wonderful farmers market in one of San Diego's up and coming neighborhoods.

Another World Baseball Classic shocker: Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1. With all the millionaires dotting the Dominican team—Tejada, Beltre, Pujols, etc..—they didn’t have the heart and spirit to beat a young Cuban team. Cuba out-pitched, out-fielded and out hustled the Dominicans in pulling off yet another major upset. Cuba—with a cheering throng behind it, plays the winner of tonight's Japan-Korea contest.

My favorite four-legged athletes dive off a ramp into a large pool of water.

I admit I was skeptical about making a “Muvee.” I recently spoken to the CEO of the company as well as some others who are creating editing tools to allow consumers to take pictures and video clips and create something snazzy. I scoffed at the idea, but after using it, I have to admit it’s fun and allows some level of art without much pain. The Muvee below is just some loosely assembled pictures from last week’s World Baseball Classic. It also allows you to import video (not MPEG4, however). I was surprised that Muvee let me output to .mov which is perfect for uploading to a social video site or for allowing easy downloads by others. My one issue with the software is that it did not allow me to import mp3 files; I had to convert the music from mp3 to .wma.

A video of baseball Hall of Famer, Willie Mays