"Nash-Ville"

Steve Nash, one of the most popular pro athletes here in the oh so diverse sports markets here in Phoenix Arizona was quite the player during his eight year stint here with the Phoenix Suns. It was at the end of the 2012 season that Steve would decide to move on to sail on new and better waters in the NBA and he would be sent in a sign and trade deal to travel the better waters in the form of lakes. Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers would sign Steve Nash, taking away one of the most popular, well known and loved pro athletes here in the Phoenix pro sports market. Yes, not well taken as expeced, with jerseys being burned in the streets, harsh social media posts, and many other things of that kind to go with them. Some people just need to learn that pro sports are a business and like any business, they have to do what's best for themselves, be it league, team, or player. Well, Steve Nash, on January 30, 2013, seven days before his 39th birthday, returned with the Los Angeles Lakers to Phoenix. The welcome the most popular player in Steve Nash would receive was a warm one, with nothing harsh like booing, etc. but the game was somewhat of a different story as the Phoenix Suns would defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 92-86 and Steve would have a relatively mediocre game with 11 points scored, four rebounds, and two assists. Steve Nash is in his own right a high caliber player and as his career is likely winding down there very well should be a lot of hope out there that whatever is left of it turns out to be nothing but the best. As for me, the cameras only got to follow him in action once in November, 2010, but the hope for another opportunity in the distant future remains. Good luck Steve! Please continue to play well. Those Canadian and South African roots are as one of a kind as you will always be.

King/Obama

The date on the calendar, January 21, 2013, is a date that I will cherish as long as I live. It's a date that I'm happy to say that I got to see in my lifetime because the events of this day in the form of celebration will be a lifetime memory. The Martin Luther King National Holiday, celebrating the great civil rights leader and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama occured on the same day. There has been a long road for both, starting with the MLK Jr. National Holiday, an event long in the making until it was first observed on January 20, 1986. The first MLK Jr. holiday observance is one event in life I remember all too well. I was on duty as an intern for the Atlanta newspapers, working alongside their staff photographers at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the King family church as we all know it, adjacent to the Martin Luther King Center for social change, one of my favorite landmarks since I'd gotten to Atlanta four years before. That was quite the experience, the one that touched me in so many ways, one of which was to hear the speech of Senator Edward M. Kennedy make his speech. Ted Kennedy comes from the family that holds a place in history that I admire most, all that despite the long list of personal tragedy that they have to go along with them. I recall fondly Senator Kennedy refering that day as a "Happy Anniversary for the Kennedy family because 25 years ago today John Fitzgerald Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States, and in his inaugural address my brother spoke of a torch that had been passed to a new generation of Americans and today another torch has been passed to a new event in this country that has been long in the making." Barack Obama is a name that has taken the torch that has been passed to him, the first President of the United States of a minority ethnic background and the first member of my own generation--also born under the Kennedy Administration to hold the highest office. His first election in 2008 and reelection in 2012 put him in a place to beat the odds against him and take a place in history that will be all his own. Oh yes, I could write a book on a topic like this but I can easily just keep it down to one blog post and take it from there. President Obama's unprecidented second term has only just begun and I look forward to the time that's waiting just ahead, all the way to another great place in history.

Worth a Jillian.

You know, life is full of surprises, yes, it is full of surprises of all kinds. Some good, some bad, some funny, hilarious, etc. but whatever you want to call them, they're out there, and like a lot of things, they come up by way of people, places, things, etc. that you just wouldn't as well as when you least expect them to happen.

This time, for me, it was just me, being my usual self, going to Arizona State University on the evening of January 11, 2013 to photograph another sports event. This one was the women's basketball team, taking on their University of Oregon Ducks as an opponent in the still fairly new PAC-12 conference.

As is always the case, I got to the ASU media room and did as I always do, setting up my cameras and other accessories, (laptop PC included)  checking everything over just to make sure everything was ready to go for the game.

My normal routine includes checking printed rosters on both teams. Low and behold, the Oregon roster had "Jillian Alleyne" on their roster. How surprising. This surname of mine is not that common so it's not like I meet another person who shares it with me every day.

Jillian, oddly enough is from the Los Angeles area just like I am. She's a freshman and just getting her playing career started at the collegiate level so the first of many thoughts included being pleased that I will have quite a bit of time to watch her and record images of her. I want to appreciate that opportunity while I can as I know 2016 will be here before I know it.

When I came out to the game floor I set myself up for a basketball game the same way I always do, to take the first half of my game images underneath the basket that will be defended by the home team (it's always the west side basket at Wells Fargo Arena) and get a chance to say hello to Jillian during their shoot-around warm up time.

Oh yes, Jillian was just as amazed as I was after I showed her my press ID and she saw her last name printed on it, obviously feeling, as I do that someone with this surname of ours does not show up front and center every day.

Of course, questions rose like the sun in the east about us possibly being relatives. Distantly perhaps? Who knows. Jillian's roots are also in the West Indies. She said Trinidad and Tobago for hers and other places in the region. Mine are in Barbados and A few other places like Dominica, Panama, Trinidad/Tobago, and some from British Belize and South America as well.

The way I see things, only God knows and it's all in His hands at a status of "TBD" like a lot of things in the wide world of sports at many levels. Jillian, it was great to meet you. The best of luck to all collegiater athletes in your position and that certainly at the utmost importance at the highest level goes for "family" as well.

Miles to go....

 

 

This college football season gave me the opportunity to go to Arizona State University and give me

the chance to watch the final run for a player in Jamal Miles that I enjoyed just as much as any other.

 

Jamal, who attended Peoria High School, a little before I had the chance to cover them as much as I did the first few years after his graduation, gave me the experience while covering ASU football during the 2011-2012 season that was one of the best ways I could have asked for to see a collegiate player of his caliber finish his collegiate career in style with more than 1500 punt return yards.

 

As is the case with me, Jamal cherishes the memory of his teammate, K.J. Bowen. I will go forward hoping for the best for Jamal as I would have for K.J. in the form of hoping what will be as opposed to dreams of what could have been.

 

Jamal, as I watch you run off into the sunset, there will be a lot of fond memories of my watching you on the ASU football field and the digital images I've recorded of you will go right along with them. That one last time I stepped onto the field during post game activities and shook your hand was my way of wishing you the best of luck for the years to come, no matter how it pans out for you.

"Thirteen."

Well, we've made it through one year and into another. Among other things I personally have been pleased with the things that the last year has brought me, most of which have been bandages for the addition of wounds that won't heal because of things that have gone on, aminly in the news, that have affected me emotionally, most of which are stories that are pretty hard for anyone to shake off, at least right away. All wounds heal in time, even the ones that feel like they may never heal.

This year sounds like nothing but my own shoe size, but with no issues of anything for me to have to put my foot down on to the point of it being as "unlucky" as that number itself. I never think of the unlucky number thanks to the "lucky number" being more on my side. I sometimes call them "lucky sevens" because along with my own last name, I have a lot of seven letter words that have to do with me personally to include my birth city, birth month, the first names of my mother, daughter, and both sisters to name a few. That's a long story and perhaps I will blog about another interesting topic of that kind sometime in the future.

For this new year I don't really have a resolution in mind, but with my new website, which is linked to this blog (MY WEBSITE) I have in mind to better branch out as the businessman that I've always felt like I always have been and can only keep getting better. Counting my blessings as a part of life tells me that the road in this new year is destined to be a smooth one. In October, I will celebrate not a milestone but have as many years under my belt as there are as many weeks in every year. This will be the first birthday I will celebrate on a Sunday in eleven years and I've always thought of myself living un the "fine wine concept as I am only going to get better as I get older.

Every day of every year I just have the same personal philosophy in just taking things one day at a time. 365 days seems to go by so fast, like it did last year, it's one of the many ways that dictates that things are either going well and have good chance to get better, or even that things are going well and have indeed gotten better. Life has many bridges to cross in good time and it's best not to worry about crossing them until they've been reached and the ones that for whatever reason are not reached, sometimes it's all for the better. I'm going to call on the best people I know and then some and say best wishes for happines and prosperity and may 2013 be one of your finest years as I have strong hope that it will be for myself and those who mean the most.

DJ Foster.

The 2012 NCAA Pac-12 football season gave me a nice opportunity to photograph Arizona State University and another player who is making a good name for himself as he moves up the playing ranks.

ASU's freshman running back DJ Foster is a local product by way of Saguaro High School in Scottsdale and I had no idea that on September 17, 2009, while following Peoria High School on a road game that I had even recorded images of such a player.

That was the high school footbal game that I remember all too well because it was the same evening when Peoria's KJ Bowen (God bless his soul) hurtled out of bounds, made a quick move to his left to avoid colliding with me, only to collide with a female photographer on the sideline behind me. I'm still thankful she did not get hurt too badly. I don't even know who she is and often think it would have been better for me to take that hit instead.

DJ played quite well in the two games I was able to photograph him this season and he will do just as well, if not better, I know, during the three seasons he has left to play for ASU and I hope beyond as well. Thanks DJ, good luck to you and your team as well for 2013 and beyond. I think the best is yet to come.

Desert Storm Norm

If there's one thing I've always taken plenty of pride in life about, it's my own military service. Mine started much later in life than most but I consider it the best thing I've ever done. It was an honor to my father. I'm proud to say that I'm the only on of my parent's four offspring to have served in the United States Armed Forces despite albiet part time as a member of the Army National Guard in both California and Arizona.

With that in mind, there's nothing in the military service that I can say that I've admired more than the others who have chosen to raise their own hand and take the oath of allegiance to serve our country the way they have. Many have been honored in ways that most of us can only hope for and dream about just as much as there were many others who gave their lives for a good cause.

General Schwartskopf is no exception. I first saw him make a good name for himself in his "Stormin Norman" personality that he brought to his position as commander of coalition forces in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Frowed on by many for that fiery attitude but praised by many others who knew that he was just doing what a four star general in any branch had to do.

It's not easy being a career military man in any branch, or at any level for that matter. General Schwartskopf did that as well as anyone could have ever asked for and did so in a career spanning back to the Vietnam era that began shortly after his commission into the Army as a Second Lieutenant after graduation from West Pointand serving his fisrt assignment as a platoon leader at the 187th Airborn Infantry Regiment in Fort Campell, Kentucky.

After many rescue missions in Vietnam and moving on to his personal prestiege in Operation Desert Storm General Schwartskopf would retire and go on to public speaking as an alternative to the post military political career that many predicted for him. General Schwartskopf would make his final march to eternal life on December 27, 2012. With that sharp salute that would be rendered by any member of any branch of the service, for the service of General Norman Schwartskopf I say "Thank you Sir for your service and may you continue to watch over all who continue to serve from the body of stars, just like the four you wore on your uniform."

Different Strokes.

Well, here you have me, back again, after another lengthy layoff from behind the blog spot, the place I live for the writings of the thoughts I have on so many topics of interest that are always on my mind as I keep up with the ongoings of everyday life. It's been quite a year. I personally have officially entered that so prestigious CLUB FAB 50 but not without the bumps and bruises that tend so come for one and all as the years continue to march along and we face the given reality of the fact that we're not getting any younger.

Wow, another health scare. All these years of good health that I gave myself with all the fitness that derived from its importance as a member of the military service did not give me the idea that I was invincible but I know for a sure fact that it most likely kept a health issue from being a lot worse than it could have been. A stroke is nothing nice. The stresses of everyday life and what it brings most of us can catch up with anybody at anytime and it can do that in many different ways. What I thought was a vision problem in one eye and the numbness on the left side that followed could have spelled disater but I pulled through it and I can now speak and have my motor skills to use just as well as I once did, though still shaky at times. Diet and fitness are now first priority as I continue the work and education that mean the most to me and are sure to help me move straight forward from here on out.

The personal life is now back in the saddle after a stint of time on the wrong page of what seemed to be the same storybook. There's a soon to be partner in life in another trace of the roots that made me what I am with the sure third marriage that I look forward to calling "the charm" with so much that its had to offer and so much more to come. All in good time is this "JOURNEY" as the tie to the good song by the group that says "Don't stop believing" and that I won't.

So much continues to happen in the news but there was nothing better than the 2012 Presidential Election as President Barack Obama won a second term over the worst possible replacement in an opponnent in Mitt Romney. My heartiest congratulations to our Commander-In-Chief who will always be thought highly of for being himself and giving me an opportunity to have this country in the hands of the leadership that I didn't think I'd live to see. President Obama is a member of my own generation and a member of a minority ethnic background. A member of the opposite gender is next on the list of whom I'd like to see as the leader of our nation.

The news as I watch in so many different areas will always have the best and worst sides of things. In sports, it finally happened in baseball as Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers became the first Triple Crown winner since 1967. Sometimes it makes you wonder if it's possible to lead the league in three major offensive categories when so often one player only specializes in one category (usually batting average) and takes the possibility away with him. The odds were challenged and beaten which looked good for the game and its fans.

On the sad side, there's always one thing too many, especially in the way of lives that leave us far too soon. The main one, Whitney Houston, the words of the beautiful voice I can only say myself and only wish that she could hear them. Whitney, it won't be the same, but as is the case with many of us, I too, "will always love you." Too many lives senslessly taken at a moments notice as well, many young and innocent with their whole lives ahead of them. More must be done to protect them all and I know it will all in good time but not soon enough.

I'm back now, yes, I am. As my eyes stare into the screen of my PC monitor, I see many better things ahead. I've made a better name for myself in social media and will continue to improve in many areas as I keep up with personal improvements and reaching more of my personal endeavors. More to come.

Outer Space

It was "One small step for Man," combined with "One giant leap for mankind." It was the summer of 1969, while myself, a boy of not quite 8 years of age, marveled at the sight of Neil Armstrong, setting foot on the same moon I continue to gaze and admire well into my elder years. All this while making a transition from New York City to Los Angeles, not knowing what life ahead would be.

The Space Travel program has always been on the strong side of my personal interest, even dreaming of being part of it myself, a common thing for young boys of my era, as well as many before and after me as well. The Apollo program continued into the early 1970's soon to be taken over by the Space Shuttle program a decade later.

With interest in the space program at its peak and a visit to the Kennedy Space Center in the mid 1980's I would continue to keep up with NASA and the excitement of the news of the advancement of Space Travel. I say many blessings to those astronauts who gave their lives for the good of the program, especially the ones on board the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986.

As the Space Shuttle program came to a close a few weeks ago, I reflected on 30 years of an interesting side of life and reflect on what may be ahead in the distant future. I continue to listen to stories, mostly rumors, I'm sure, about the possibility of sendind humans to Mars and other distant planets, as well as civillian space travel, none of which I really expect to happen during the course of my lifetime.

With the high tech of today, as I'm sure in the distant future, the Space Travel Program will continue to be a big part of everyday life, news stories, and personal interests for now and many generations to come. Godspeed to all.

Solo of Hope

Sports? Some people think I eat, sleep and think them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. NOT! Soccer? NOT one of my favorites but an interesting game indeed. Over the last few years, to include a few photo assignments at Arizona State University, I've only seen the opposite gender play the game.

In most parts of the world, the game is called "football," which, all things considered, is a sensible name. In most of those countries, especially Europe, the game is as popular as the NFL is here in the United States. Going into this year, there's even a Women's Pro Soccer League here in the United States. It doesn't compare in popularity to the WNBA, at least not yet, but only time will tell in more ways than one.

Hope Solo? That's the Goalkeeper (or "goalie" if you prefer) for the U.S. Women's National Team, who were recently defeated in the FIFA World Cup by Japan. No harsh feelings there as Japan really needed something to be proud of after all they've been through.

Hope Solo was the winner of the Golden Gloves for being the best goalkeeper in the FIFA World Cup tournament, which, by my "guesstamation," is equivalent to a Gold Glove award in Major League Baseball. Currently playing pro soccer in Boca Raton Florida, there seems to be a good future on the horizon.

The way things look to me, the game of soccer is at the point of being popular enough to be taken to a new level in all parts of the world. The tournaments like the FIFA World Cup must do away with thos VUVAZELAS or whatever those horns are called to prevent the stadiums from sounding like beehives.

As for Miss Solo, she's going to turn 30 years old on July 30 and seems to be in the prime of life in the world of a not so popular sport that will only get better with time with the growth of its popularity. David Beckham et al, eat our hearts out!

"It's Miller Time."

"Get your iced cold beer here!" is one of the most familiar cries of a vendor at any sports event. Me personally, I've never been much of a beer drinker, even decided to quit in the summer of 1991 in preparation to enter the military service, looking forward to life with a much healthier mind and body that I'd had up to that point.

Cheryl Miller is no "light beer." Most likely one of the best female athletes most of us have ever seen, hailing from the Southern California (Los Angeles area) like myself, a member of a family with a name as common as their athletic genes.

Cheryl's younger brother Reggie is a former NBA basketball player. A good one all around who, unfortunately, was never able to obtain a championship ring during his playing career with the Indiana Pacers. Lesser known older brother Darrell, was a professional baseball player, a catcher, who spent a portion of his short career in the (then) California Angels organization.

As for Cheryl, I first learned of her during her high school basketball playing days at Riverside-Polytechnic girls varsity basketball team. I mean, hey, what other good reasons would there be to be published in newspapaers and magazines than scoring 105 points in one game?

I would continue to watch Cheryl guide her University of Southern California women's basketball team, along side the "Twin Towers (Pam and Paula) Mcghee" to consecutive NCAA titles. Cheryl's icing on her own cake would come with the gold medal winning U.S. Women's Basketball Team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angelas.

Cheryl would soon achieve a personal goal as a TV sports commentator, covering basketball games, mainly on the sidelines, at many levels, most recently on the TNT network. She had Jim Hill, a TV news sports reporter in Los Angeles as an idol and mentor along the way. She'd even go back to USC to serve as the head coach for her old collegiate team to place another good note on the personal resume.

Then came the Women's National Professional Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997 with Cheryl becoming the first head coach and general manager of the Phoenix Mercury. The Murcury and the WNBA have been a subject of my sports photography coverage for the third year in a row and I'm still amazed at the success the concept of a professional sport for women has achieved.

There are times that have me wondering what kind of professional level player Cheryl could have been if--let's say the WNBA had been founded ten years earlier. No telling, but it was great to have the chance to see and meet one of the female genders most prominent sports figures on July 15, 2011 at the game in which the Phoenix Mercury gave a much deserved honor to their first head coach and general manager.

FIT going on FIFTY.

OK, how many of you out there have known me since childhood? Remember me, razorblade thin, not the one to stick up for himself, as a result often bullied? I'm still here, but changed by leaps and bounds since then.

Social media has been my thing for the last couple of years. Facebook? I was so reluctant to join at first, but now often wonder how I could have ever gotten along without it. I've located so many people from the distant past, often those I've have had no contact of any kind for more than 40 years.

A lot of things in life have paid dividends, to include a part time military career that went the distance, lasting twenty years, not quite as successful as I'd hoped but a start relatively late in life was better for the body and mind.

Until that summer of 1991, when I stepped off the bus there at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, I was not that serious about good diet and fitness, never really thinking I had what it takes to really get anything out of it.

The military fitness changed me in more than one way, both body and mind. I found strength in me that I never even knew existed. The decision to stop drinking beer and soft drinks were one of the many things that helped out alot.

Hey, look at me now, did anyone ever think I could possibly become a 200 pound hunk of muscle? No, I certainly did not, but I know one thing, it's not something I will let go of anytime soon, or ever again for that matter. The goal is to keep fit to live long and prosper.

Back in the Saddle!

Yes, it's been quite sometime since I posted here, about nine months if I'm counting correctly. Hey, life is what it is, a lot of ups and downs to deal with, a lot of wrong paths to get off of, and a lot of the wrong people to be gotten rid of. There's nothing in life that's too hard to get things back on the right track, no mater how much time it takes.

I'm still here in the Phoenix area, it's right in the middle of one of the hottest summers I've ever experienced. I don't know for sure, but my instincts tell me that the rapid growth of the population, more so on the side of property than people, is to blame for that.

The education at the University of Phoenix is going well. I'm continuing my studies to earn a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, with a concentration in Networking and Telecommunications, a key to a secure career that i can take well into my elderly years and never be dissatisfied.

It's time in life for a new milestone to be reached, coming up on the 50 year mark in a few months and it's great to have a good feeling to take into it as well. Those of us, I feel, who give it all we've got and take what we do seriously, as I have, are the ones who get the most out of life and have better things to come. It's never too late to start over.

As much as I think highly of living in these modern times, I often wonder what life would have been like if I'd been born one century earlier. The American Southwest is a great place to live and work and has an interesting side of history for me.

Oddly enough, the Pony Express was disbanded on October 27, 1861 and I was born 100 years to that day. I often wonder if I could have lived in the great American Southwest of that era and been one of the cowboys that we marvel on by way of old TV movies,pictures, books, etc. as I would see myself the same hard worker of adolecence that I remember myself actually being.

Those who know me well enough to know of my temporary relocation to the Boston area should know that it is also the story of my first taste of personal responsibility with what I call my first real job.

Even to this day I can't help but reflect on the enjoyment I had of getting up early every morning, yes, seven days a week, in all kinds of weather, to include the brutal winter, mounting up on my bicycle, or on foot to deliver, on average 50 newspapers to a customer base that I became well known in, earning about $25 per week, a little more than the average kis weekly allowance, I thought. I know one thing, $25 in 1876 would have gon a long way.

Oh what the heck, I like shooting pictures better than shooting guns. The images I record of sports, or any other event for that matter, will continue to be displayed in cyberspace like stars in outerspace. Life itself is not endless, but I only want to pick up and continue to make the most of it.

Longevity

Here we have a factor of everyday life. Simply put, seconds turn into minutes, minutes to hours, hours, to days, days to weeks, weeks to months and months to years. A never ending cycle to say the least.

Me personally, I just turned 49. NFL legendary quarterback, George Blanda, who departed this life recently, played football until he was 49. That was an unbelievable achievement for his timeframe, or even the timeframe of today for that matter.

The idea is clear, for such an achievement one must take care of themselves in more ways than most of us are even capable of naming. Good diet and excersise, which I live by myself, are only a small part of the equation.

When I think of George Blanda, I often wonder what he could have done with himself if he had, during his on playing days, the medicine, therapy, and technology that we have on the market today. Playing well into his fifties? Who knows.

As I start my own countdown to my milestone, the coveted half-century mark, I can only wait, do what I know I must do to keep my own well being in order, then leave it in the hands of God. Perhaps the best is yet to come.

"Triple Threat."

OK, let's add to my list of interesting stories about out national pastime. The 2010 season is winding down, so many interesting things about this season are still going on, to include tight races for the division titles and wild card spots in the AL East, NL East, and especially the NL West.

There are a lot of possible achievements on the side of the best players, especially the hitters, that go on the line as well, most of which are watched carefully in order to determine the winners of the league MVP awards in both leagues, like the batting titles and leading the league in other major offensive categories.

So, on that note, let's refer to the possibility of a "Triple Crown" winner, this one on the side of the hitters, who could potentially lead their leagues in all three of the major offensive categories, they being batting average, home runs and RBI's respectively.

Triple Crown winners in baseball's modern time have been very few and far between. The last one was Boston Red Sox hall of famer Carl Yazstremski in 1967. You'd have to go back to the late thirties to find another one.

The 2010 season has a showcase of possible triple crown winners in both leagues. The most likely one in the National League would have to be Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, who is likely to take the batting title and is in the top five in home runs and RBI's.

St. Loius Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols, a likely hall of famer, is leading the NL in home runs and RBI's at the time of this post and also stands in the top ten in batting average. Pujols already has a batting title to his credit and has lead the league in home runs before but as odd as it may be, no RBI title to his credit. Cincinnati Red first baseman Joey Votto is a close third in all three of the offensive catagories.

Over in the American League Texas Ranger leftfielder Josh Hamilton is, like Carlos Gonzalez, literally running away with the batting title. Hamilton is in the top five in home runs and the top ten in RBI's. Then there's Detroit Tiger's first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who's pretty much in the same position in the American League as Joey Votto is in the National League.

To see a triple crown winner in baseball would be quite interesting, but by today's standards just isn't as possible as some people think it is. There's always those big sluggers, like Pujols, for the category of home runs and RBI's in bunches, some of whom are likely to strike out quite often, keeping their batting averages down, then there's those players, like Ichiro Suzuki, who are "hitting machines,' literally running away with the batting title.

The game of baseball has a lot of achievements that seem out of reach by today's standards, one of which, we all know, is Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak. The game has changed in many ways during the course of the last 60 years, and no, I don't mean just player salaries. Who knows, maybe something interesting, even spectacular is in store for us fans in the course of our lifetimes. There may be a triple crown winner, a hitting streak of more than 56 games, perhaps even the Chicago Cubs will win a World Series, their first since 1908. We'll just have to do the right thing, that's wait and see.

"Chapmania."

Oh well, ho hum, another story about another phenomenal young professional baseball player. Is that as good as it gets? Yes, no, maybe so? Hey, who knows, only time will really tell.

So, Aroldis Chapman, the Cincinnati Reds left handed fireballer, a Cuban defector all set to go the route of one Fernando Valenzuela before him. Ah yes, "Fernandomania," what a time that was for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans,(yours truly included), what a time for the game of baseball in the City of Angels and the huge Mexican community it possesed then and now.

That was also a great time for me, having taken my first lesson in the Spanish language, enjoying the opportunity to test personal skills on the interpereted interviews of the (then) non english speaking young pitcher. As for Fernando, maybe not the hall of fame career that most were expecting, but a nice one indeed. He's back with the Dodger organization as a Spanish language broadcaster.

As is the case with most of the up and coming young ballplayers, I got to photograph Chapman in action, starting back in the 2008 Arizona Fall League, continuing through the 2010 Spring Training campaign. Chapman's ride through the minor leagues was a smooth and quick one. No surprise for a pitcher who was clocked on the radar gun with pitches in excess of 100 miles an hour, both in Triple-A (Louisville) as well as in his Major League start debut recently.

Young pitchers of the highly touted category are great to watch, but always in question in more ways than anyone inside or outside the game can even name. Stephen Strasburg, who got off to a great start at the Major League level, recently tore a ligament in his pitching elbow, will have to undergo Tommy John surgery and may be out of action up to 18 months.

Tommy John, the sensational pitcher for whom that surgery was named, I remember as an integral part of the Los Angeles Dodger pitching staff of the mid to late 1970's timeframe. When he tore his elbow ligament during the 1974 season, it was thought that his career may be over, but team physician, Doctor Frank Jobe, performed the first of what would be many successful Ulnar Collateral Ligament reconstruction procedures. With a 10-10 comeback in 1976 and a 20 game win season the next year John would go on to pitch twelve more seasons. Not a hall of fame caliber career but a superb one all the same.

Well, the rookie class in Major League Baseball in the 2010 season has been an impressive one. It will be a tight race for the National League Rookie of the Year award but Jayson Heyward and Ike Davis remain the top candidates, followed closely by Buster Posey. Again, the best is yet to come.

Reunion Central

The Palisades High Class of 1980, my class, my great friends whom I love like family, got together on September 15, 1990, August 26, 2000, and once again on July 10, 2010 to spend a nice evening reflecting on so many fond memories.

This years event was held at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica California. A lot more laid back and with a lower attendance than the ten and 20 year reunions did not damper anything this time. It's always good to see everyon up close and in person, which hopefully will happen more often in the future. I keep thinking and often saying out loud that we're certainly not getting any younger.

It's so great to have social media sites within the world of todays technology. Places like Facebook seem to give us the feeling of being reunited every day. Many blessings to my fellow classmates, not only to the ones from Palisades High but all my other schools as well, especially to those who are no longer with us, including my good friend Jimmy (The Weatherman) Alexander. My hope is now for all of us to stay well and look forward to getting together more often in the future.

The Phoenix Mercury/WNBA

There's a lot that can be said about women's sports, especially at the professional level, where leagues, teams, etc. have been rather few and far between in recent times, most of which have featured leagues that only lasted a few years on average, some of which, like the Women's Pro Soccer League, have vanished and resurfaced later.

The WNBA has been one of the most interesting concepts of women's pro sports I've ever seen. Since its inception, in the summer of 1997, the league has been able to prove itself in more than one way. I'm quite impressed with the fact that the WNBA has pretty much beaten the odds. With the ceasing of operations of the Sacramento Monarchs at the end of last year, it marked, if I'm counting correctly, the ninth time in league history that a franchise has either relocated or folded.

One of the origional teams, the Houston Comets, looking like they were on their way to some kind of WNBA dynasty, winning the first four WNBA championships,(1997-2000) is one of, I think six teams that no longer exists. I always thought that teams like the Comets, who had an NBA team in their city, would have the best chance to get by on the business end of things, but no, that hasn't been the case. Most of the teams that have ceased operation along with Houston, in places like Portland, Cleveland, and Orlando just to name a few, have been the ones that have lasted the least amount of time.

Here in Phoenix, we have the Phoenix Mercury, who, like most teams, have had up and down seasons, but are one of the origional franchises that have been able to stay in the same city throughout their existance. The Mercury have a great player in Diana Taurasi and have had others, like Cappie Pondexter, to help them win the 2007 and 2009 WNBA championships and all the player/fan enthusiasm that came with them.

I've had a great opportunity to photograph the Mercury this season, but with the departure of Cappie Pondexter and the addition of Candice Dupree, it's quite obvious that the team is going through a new chemistry that it was not as easy to adjust to as some might've thought. At the time of this post, the Mercury are holding a 9 win and 12 loss reccord for 2010, but still holding onto second place in the WNBA Western Conference that the Seattle Storm is being the dominant team in. Except of first place Seattle, who is running away, with 19 wins and 2 losses, the rest of the conference has teams with fairly evenly matched records. There's no telling what the playoff picture will look like.

The Mercury remained a fairly young team going into the 2010 season. No player on the roster, with the exception of Tangela Smith, is more than 30 years old. There's still plenty of time to turn things around, push up and over the .500 mark, and make way to the playoffs. With the Mercury's recent aquisition of forward/center Kara Braxton from the Tulsa (formerly Detroit) Shock, in a trade for forward Nicole Ohlde, It might make a difference as the 2010 season begins to wind down. Best of luck to head coach Corey Gaines and the Phoenix Mercury team for 2010 and beyond.

Buster Posey et al

So, what have we here? I guess most of you would say I'm beating the "Ho Hum Drum" by writing yet another story about yet another up and coming professional baseball player.

Gerald Demp ("Buster") Posey, drafted fifth overall by the San Fransisco Giants in the 2008 Amatuer Draft is certainly another one of the up and coming young pro ballplayers that's worth writing about.

I missed the opportunity to photograph the catcher/first baseman in the 2009 Arizona Fall League, where he played after his stellar college baseball career at Florida State University, which included the Johnny Bench Award and lead to a good year in the Giants minor league system, leading to a brief call up to the big club at the end of the 2009 regular season.

My opportunity to photograph Buster during the 2010 Cactus League Spring Training games was as enjoyable as any other. That shot I took for this article, with him colliding with one of the Giant's infielders (I'm not sure who)while chasing a pop fly was one of my best and it came with good results as the out was recorded.

Beginning the 2010 season at Triple-A Fresno, Buster would soon receive another call to the big leagues on May 29, 2010. Playing first base and getting a hit in nine out of his first ten at bats is just one of the ways he proves that his career is definitly going in the right direction.

Well, a lot has changed recently for our national pastime. Ken Griffey Jr. has called it a career, Jason Heyward is still the top rookie position player, followed closely by Starlin Castro. Mike Leake continues to show dominance on the mound and at bat. Steven Strasburg made a spectacular Major League debut while his Washington Nationals, who once again had the top draft pick, took top prospect Bryce Harper, an up and coming young catcher. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "The best is yet to come."

Sealing the Leake

I once said "I like Ike," so I can also find an appropriate reason to say "I like Mike." That's Mike Leake, a former baseball standout at Arizona State University, in the role of a righthanded pitcher, as well as an infielder/outfielder who is also on the list of the great up and coming ballplayers that I recorded images of with my own cameras over the course of the last few years.

For Mike Leake, being selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2009 amatuer player draft as a pitcher, then going to the 2009 Arizona Fall League and working out with the Reds during 2010 Cactus League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee worked out much better than most had anticipated.

It would earn him a spot on the Reds 25 man roster as the fifth starting pitcher for the Reds, beating out Travis Wood and another highly regarded pitching prospect in Aroldis Chapman, as well as becoming another of many players to make the big league roster without having to play a day in the minor leagues.

I waited quite a while for a chance to watch Leake in action during the regular season and finally got the chance on May 20, 2010, when his Cincinnati Reds were broadcast on Major League Baseball Network for the "Thursday Matinee" game, when the Reds took on the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta that afternoon.

Mike and his team broke out with an 8-0 lead over the Braves by the 2nd inning and he would even help himself out going 2 for 3 at the plate, though not driving in any runs. On the mound, Mike would pitch 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 base on balls and striking out 6 batters.

Despite Mike's good performance, he and the Reds were not able to hold onto their big lead and would lose to the Braves in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning. Reds leftfielder Laynce Nix, who had hit a home run to pad his teams lead in the top of the fifth inning, had a high fly ball hit by Brave's pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad bounce off his glove to clear the fence for the game winning grand slam home run. Oddly enough, Reds first baseman Joey Votto also hit a grand slam home run, in the top of the second inning. You don't see two in one game very often these days.

Mike Leake, despite the disappointing loss for his team, was able to show playing prowess in many areas that day, to include at bat and in the field, often looking a lot like the good infielder he was when I saw him during his playing days at Arizona State University. For the Reds he wears jersey number 44, a number more common in baseball with big hitters, Hank Aaron and Reggie (Mr. October) Jackson just to name a few.

With Stephen Strasburg continuing to do well in Triple-A ball in the Washington Nationals organization, as well as Mike's former ASU teammate Ike Davis with the New York Mets, Jason Heyward with the Atlanta Braves, and recently Starlin Castro with the Chicago Cubs, I meant what I said when I mentioned the fact that the race for the NL Rookie of the Year award will be a tight one this season, just like what's expected of the races for playoff spots and division tiles can be.

My hat's off to all the up and coming young players who are on the verge of making good names for themselves and our national pastime. It's going to be an interesting 2010 season in that regard and hopefully, many others. It's still early in the 2010 Major League Baseball season. The best is yet to come.