Well, not very nigh. But tickets are beginning to go on sale, which means it's time for me to plan my near-annual trip down to Arizona to frown at unknowns, consult John Sickels, and frown further. My tentative plans look like this:

March 24th
White Sox at Mariners
Padres at A's

March 25th
Rangers at Rockies

March 26th
Diamondbacks at Cubs

March 27th
Royals at Giants

We might even manage to cram in a hockey game in there somewhere, finally giving me the chance to don my treasured Phoenix Coyotes knit hat at an actual Coyotes game. If you're making the trek down to Phoenix around that time, look for a tall, thin, bespectacled twentysomething guy and a less tall, less thin, much balder father-type guy sitting together with a stack of prospect books. I'm making an effort to see all the NL West teams and all of my beloved bottom-feeders, as you can see.

I'm sure most of the sports-minded are still contemplating the result of the national championship game, which I dutifully watched but to be truthful did not much enjoy. Can't anybody on the two best teams in college football tackle? Honestly, if USC has five guys who could be starting at running back, shouldn't two or three of them be switched to linebacker or safety? I'm not a big football guy, but this seems weird to me.