Some P.O.S. broke into my van last night while it sat in the driveway. I was greeted by a Tempe cop at the door when I awoke at 5:30 AM.

A word to the wise: I apparently had an empty $5 fanny pack that I occasionally use lying on a back seat. The scumbag apparently thought he had a big score and busted out the back window. They never even opened a door and that was the only thing missing. The officer told me that a bunch of cars had been broken into that night in similar fashion and that this has been going on in the area for quite a while.

It could have been worse. Luckily for the A Hole perpetrator, my killer German Shepherd slept soundly through the whole episode.

It would have been an ugly scene indeed had Max gotten a hold of these punks.

Three of our 2006 Arizona high school grads have been named to Baseball America's Top 50 Incoming Freshmen list. Coming in at #15 is UCLA's Charles Brewer, a 2006 Chaparral alum . Deer Valley grad Khris Davis of Cal State Fullerton hit the list at #19, and Luis Tovar (Yuma Kofa) of UC Irvine was the #50 selection.

I'll post the first of many  2007 Pre Season articles today. The initial  piece will be the first in a series of Impact Performers by position, with Right Handed Pitchers leading off the series.

U.S.A. Baseball has selected the inaugural team that will represent the US in the new 2007 USA Baseball 14-U National Team (14-under). The team consists of the following 4 Arizona players:

Zachary Davies- Gilbert

Cole Gleason- Mesa

Tyler Krause- Fountain Hills

Casey Thomas- Phoenix

In addition, the coaching staff is comprised of several of the good guys from our area.

Brophy Head Coach Tom Succow will take the reins as the first Head Coach of the 14U team. In addition, Corona Del Sol Head Coach David Webb and Corona Assistant George Sanchez will both serve on the staff as Assistant Coaches.

Condolences to my many friends who are hard core Ohio State Buckeye fans. That was a healthy whipping the Gators laid on  your boys last night.

The good news is that the win salvaged second place for yours truly in my bowl pool, and almost made up for Oklahoma falling on their faces last week and costing me first place and several hundred shillings in the process.

I'm thinking it might be time for the Cardinals to consider a move to a Blue and Orange color scheme. Between Boise State and Florida, something must be going on there. Meanwhile, anyone wearing red in that building seems to be doomed.

The first APEX workout of the year took place on Saturday at Grand Canyon University, with a healthy turnout and some top notch teaching going on. I strongly encourage any of you players who are serious about improving your game to come out and lay an eyeball on this program. Between the instructional benefits and the summer and fall showcasing aspect you'll find it well worth your time.

                Some shots from Saturday's APEX workout at Grand Canyon University

Happy New Year to everyone out there. It's been pretty quiet out there baseball wise for the last month or so, but baseball season is almost upon us and its time to ratchet things up again.

Things are getting a little edgy on the message board...a clear sign that the season is rapidly approaching. Feel free to join in and render a take or two.

I'm not a New Years resolution kind of guy, but one of my plans for the New Year is to use this space to voice my opinions a tad more...not necessarily amateur baseball related. This will be good news or bad news for you depending on your stance.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm a huge college football fan. With tomorrow's BCS championship looming, its always a bittersweet time of year for me. While I hate to see the season coming to a close, the end of college football means that baseball season is that much closer.

This has been one of the more entertaining college football seasons in recent memory, with virtually every Saturday offering several "games of the century" for our viewing pleasure. Sorry...I can't get on board with any college playoff system that would make the regular season games any less compelling. I'll go along with an additional  "and one" game" to silence the hysteria, but college football is the perhaps the last venue where regular season contests provide a reason to watch.

If you disagree with this, who among you watched the titanic battle of college basketball's #1 Ohio State and # 2 Florida a few weeks ago? I know you didn't watch it because the ratings were below abysmal.

The Super Series Winter nationals concluded this week, and in the 18U division Mustang baseball (comprised of the Sunrise Mountain squad) made the best showing. The Mustangs made it to the championship round, and defeated the EC Maniacs from the Bay Area to force a deciding final game before falling in the finale 5-2.

     Mike Barro deals for the 'stangs (L) as Ryan Oesterle throws to first baseman T.J. Geith

          Javi Molina rips a base hit (L) while Vince Barreda turns a pair