The Game Day Experience: Stockton Ports Home Opener at the BIB

Hi there Spot Fans, and welcome to our second installment of “The Game Day Experience”.  While our visit to John Thurman Field, home of the Modesto Nuts, took us to a more antiquated and neighborhood based ballpark, our visit to Banner Island Ballpark (or for all your new parents out there, the BIB), takes us to one of the newer sports venues here in the Central Valley.  While John Thurman has its old league charms that make it a unique visit, The BIB is able to use its unique built in features to make it a fan friendly atmosphere that the whole family can enjoy.  It was ranked as one of the top 10 minor league ball parks in America in 2006, and for good reason.  So with that, the Spot took off on a pleasant Thursday evening with the purveyor of all things in good taste, Ms. #1, for the Stockton Ports Home opener vs. the Visalia Rawhide.

The BIB itself is a truly unique experience among valley stadiums.  Located on the waterfront in Stockton’s downtown, name me another place that will let you actually dock your boat, to get to the game?  And it definitely is quite the view to be able to look out past the outfield and see boats docked across the channel in the Stockton Marina or one of Stockton’s signature landmarks, the Weber Point Events Center.  Once inside the park the park, there are two built in amenities that stand out and make the BIB unique.  The first is the Jackson Rancheria Back Porch, nestled in right-center field.  Listed by ESPN as one of the top 10 seating areas to watch a game in minor league baseball, instead of the Spot describing the Back Porch for you, He’ll just let ESPN do the work for him (they get paid more than me, so why not!):

            "The home park of the Stockton Ports in California offers a right-field fence as odd as fans will find anywhere. But it's odd in a fan-friendly way, as its bowed course creates a bubble off the right-field seating lawn where an elevated porch offers patrons the chance to sit out in the middle of right-field fair territory.  And these lucky fans sit in style, reclining beneath a shaded canopy in two rows of wooden rocking chairs at the Jackson Rancheria Back Porch. There are 50 rocking chairs in all." 

What ESPN failed to mention was that those lucky patrons of the Back Porch also get an all-you-can eat BBQ that includes tri-tip, hot dogs, sausage and yes, even your favorite adult beverages.  Now what’s not to like about that!

The second built-in amenity that makes the BIB a truly unique experience is where the Spot, Ms. #1 enjoyed the game, Home Run Hill.  Upon looking from home plate out to right and center fields, you see two sections of nothing but green grass.  No benches, no bleachers, no seats with cup holders, just green grass where families can bring their own lawn chairs, or just roll out a blanket, and enjoy a game at their own leisure.  It’s definitely an experience to just sit back, relax, watch a father and son, or best friends, or any combination thereof, play catch while taking in a game, or watching the mad dash that ensues whenever a home run is hit into the grass in right or center fields (as the Spot’s luck would have it, there were two home runs hit out to home run hill this particular evening, one to his right, and one to his left…go figure!).  It’s a feature that new ball parks, both major and minor league, would be smart to copy if they really want to more fan-centric.

Of course, as with any minor league baseball game, it’s not just the built-in amenities that make it an experience, but the in-game experiences, both planned and un-planned, that make a trip to the ball park worthwhile, and lucky for us, this game had its share.  The first of those experiences happened to be of the unexpected variety.  As the Spot and Ms. #1 made our way to Home Run Hill, we heard a shout from the bull pen of the Visalia Rawhide.  As soon as we turned around one of the three Visalia Rawhide players in the bullpen tossed up a baseball our way.  Why did they? No rhyme or reason, they just did.  Did we care that those guys might never make “the show”? Nope…only that three guys playing in a game they we were at took the time to help make it one of those “only in the minors” moments  .  Clearly a class act by a class group of guys…why Ron Burgundy would be proud!

Now with any minor league ball game, you have your proverbial in-game contests.  Yes, most minor league teams might just take the standard in-game contests out of your bland in-game contests hand book, but the Ports happen to go above and beyond in this department.  The Ports you see have their very own “Director of Fun and Games”, and that title falls upon one Rod Villagomez.   He did an excellent job of making those staid in-game contests fun for us fans.  Among the Spot’s favorites…the jr. slugger who seemed more intent on joining Visalia in their dug out than playing musical chairs…and the fact that some of the younger staff members of the Ports really…and I mean really, need to brush up on one of the greatest 80’s songs of all time…”Livin’ on a prayer” by Bon Jovi! (Admit it, you’re all singing it to yourselves as you read this).

Now last but not least we have the one in-game attraction that probably trumps all others.  The one thing that the Spot and Ms. #1 were looking forward to the most…wait for it…wait for it…not, not a sighting Shane Keough sighting (or anyone else from the “Real Housewives of Orange County”)…Funnel Cakes!!!  Now, we’re both of the opinion that not all funnel cakes are created equal, and it’s clear that the funnel cakes at the BIB (located on the walk way between third base and the left field foul pole…FYI) are clearly in a class by themselves.  That hot golden crisp dough, the strawberries in glaze, the whipped cream topping…yes, the Spot and Ms. #1 were looking forward to indulging in a BIB funnel cake for quite some time, and we weren’t disappointed! (Sorry Spot fans, that picture is as close as you’re gonna come to seeing a picture of Ms. #1!)  Just as we remembered them, we devoured the funnel cake in no time flat.  Yes Spot fans, the funnel cake in and of itself were worth the price of admission!

Now not every experience is perfect, and unfortunately for the Ports, what takes away from the experience isn’t even in their control.  There is a reason that at times the City of Stockton puts the “fun” in dysfunction, and the creations of the BIB (and Stockton Arena for that matter) are a testament to this.  How nice would it be to grab a bit to eat or a drink before or after a ball game?  Why we could leave the ball park, cross the street and…oh wait…what’s that I see right across the street from the BIB...let’s see…some parking lots…a boarded up house or two…but nary a sports bar or restaurant.  Really Stockton, could we of maybe redeveloped one side of the street while you did the other?  But hey, what’s a few redevelopment dollars here or there when you’re busy dropping $2.7 million on a restaurant that’s now for sale?  I’m just saying…

All in all Spot fans, our trip to the BIB was quite enjoyable, and there’s a reason the Spot made more than a few trips to the BIB last year, and will continue to do so again this year…

…’till next time…

Trouble in Aggieland: Part Deux

Well Spot fans, when we last left the city of Davis, it was announced that the Athletic Department was in the process of deciding with sports to cut, and the Student-Athletes of UC Davis were getting all riled up to fight the cuts.
Well, the ax finally dropped, as UC Davis announced that it would be cutting Women's Rowing and Men's Wresting, Swimming and Diving and Indoor Track & Field.  Of those teams, Men's Swimming and Diving won this years 2010 Big West Championships and Women's Rowing had the most participants of any other female sport at UC Davis.

Of course the announcement didn't come and go without nary a whisper, as scores of student's filled the hallways chanting "here we go aggies, here we go!".

What's next for the Student-Athletes affected?  I'm sure we'll find out in the coming days and weeks.  When contacted via e-mail, one of the leaders of the students fighting the cuts, Matt Herman, was going through an understandably rough time and wanted a few days to collect his thoughts (all very understandable from the Spot's perspective).

'Till next time spot fans....

All the ladies...independent...throw your hands up at me...

It’s Wednesday Spot fans, so you know what that means…time for the Spot’s weekly “Odds and Ends”.  Now you’ll notice that this week’s “Odds” will start off and end up with a strong female flavor to it…why might you ask?  Could it be because the Spot has always dug female athletes? (Ms. #1 did win a certain coach’s award for a certain sport at a certain area high school after all!)  Could it be because once upon a time the Spot’s prerequisits for women he’d date were that they had to be at least 6 feet tall and have the ability to hit the mid-range jumper?  Could it even be because the only Playboy the Spot has ever purchased was the one with Amanda Beard on the cover?  Nahhhh…. The truth of the matter is that this week’s “Odds and Ends” worthy stories just ended up a little more female centric than usual this week…so, to paraphrase a certain cable TV news channel…the Spot reports…you decide.

Alisha Valvanis, Associate Head Coach for Pacific Women’s Basketball resigned this past week to “pursue other career opportunities”.  Hmm, let’s see Coach Valvanis was in charge of the team’s defense.   The Tigers had a record of 6-22, were outscored by nearly 10 points per game, and gave up an average of 72.3 poins per game.  Yeah…the Spot is sure that had nothing to do with Coach Valvani’s departure…and in related news members of Congress announced they they do not lie, cheat or steal…

Speaking of Pacific Women’s Basketball…today marks the opening of Spring signing season for colleges and high school athletes.  Northern California and the valley has been a hot bed of high school girls basketball of late (the St. Mary’s High Rams anyone?) so where are most valley products heading off to play their college ball?...lets take a look at the list here…Chelsea Gray (St. Mary’s Stockton)- Duke, Afure Jemerigbe (St. Mary’s Stockton)- Cal, Brittney Shine (Sacramento H.S.)- Florida, Brandi Henton (Modesto Christian H.S.)- Long Beach State, Kyra Dunn (Sacramento H.S.)- Pitt, Alle Moreno (St. Mary’s Stockton)- Sacramento State…hmm, I notice something funny…no “Pacific” mentioned in any of those…after a 6 and 22 season..well…I’m not saying…I’m just saying…

And our final Pacific Women’s Basketball note of the week…word on the street is that the Lady Tigers will be playing the UCONN Huskies here in Stockton next season as a warm up for their game vs. Stanford down on the farm.  Yes, the same UCONN Huskies that are coached by Geno Auriema, defending National Champions and win by an average of billion points a game.  As much as the Spot is proud to be an alum of Pacific (twice over)…the chances of the Lady Tigers pulling this one off?...well, the UCONN players could always eat some really bad egg salad the night before….

Congrats to Pacific Freshman Tennis Player Christina Goehl for being one of the Big West's “Athletes of the Week”…to paraphrase my hero Ron Burgandy, “She’s from Germany, so you know she must be good”.

The Spot would like to give a major thumbs up to both the sports staff at the Butler Daily Collegian and Ilisa Kessler, General Manager of the FC Gold Pride of Women’s Professional Soccer.  The Spot was working on two stories of which required their assistance and both responded to my requests in no time!  Thanks for looking out for the little guy!

Speaking of recruiting, the guys have been hot on the recruiting trail also.  Pacific seems to be in play for Junior College 7 footer Illiwa Baldwin from Pratt Community College in Kansas, and he was recently on campus to pay a visit (hopefully it ran smoother than the Spot’s first visit to Pacific where he was treated to the “charms” of Grace Covell Hall).  While he apparently loved his visit to Pacific, playing in the Big West Conference seems to be holding him back from making a verbal commitment.  Gee…thanks a lot UC Riverside!....

For our fans down in Fresno…looks like the Bulldog Hoopsters are losing one as Brandon Sperling is transferring out of Fresno State.  With losing 3 of their top 6 players from last year’s team, Coach Cleveland might have a bit of a rough season in 2010-11.

As Bulldogs Football makes its way through Spring Practice, it’s looking like the Bulldogs will have to replace Ryan Matthews with a Running Back by Committee format.  New running backs, quarterback controversy…is it going to be a long season ‘Dog fans?

For all you hockey fans out there, the Stockton Thunder laid the smack down on Alaska in their first round play-off series and now move on to face the Bakersfield Condors with game one being in Bakersfield this Friday.  Fresno…Bakersfield…playoff hockey…somewhere in Canada the Spot’s relatives are just shaking their heads in disbelief.

A week and a half into the season and the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s are both in first place.  Last time that happened the Spot was busy trying to tell a certain political client from Fresno to NOT to get lost looking for the Farm Bureau…or at least don’t get caught while doing so…

Turning our attention up north, with a victory in…wait for it…wait for it…Women’s Rowing of all things, UC Davis wins the annual Causeway Cup over Sacramento State.  Frog hotels, the Causeway Cup, fans who actually show up at games…looks like Davis always seems to have a leg up on their rivals in the Capital City.

So the Sacramento Kings Tyreke Evans averaged 20-5-5 for the season.  He might even win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.  But mentioning him in the same sentence with Jordan, LeBron and the Big “O”?  I think I just threw up a little in my mouth…

Looking for something to do this weekend…well here ya go!...

Thursday, April 15^th- The Stockton Ports home opener is at 7pm at Banner Island Ballpark vs. the Visalia Rawhide.  The Spot will be out there on home run hill…and you can bet there will be a funnel cake in hand!  So get those taxes done and join us down at the ballpark!

Saturday, April 17^th – the FC Gold Pride of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) open up their home season vs. Sky Blue FC (New York) at Castro Valley High School…yeah yeah, it’s the Bay Area, not the Central Valley, but hey, you got a two-time FIFA player of the year, soccer balls getting kicked into the stands that you get to keep…and the Spot’s latest soccer hottie, the Pride’s Kelley O’Hara (hows’ you doin’)

Saturday, April 17^th  and 18th- Pacific Rowing’s “Deep Water Dash”.  Head out to Morelli Park on the Stockton Marina as Pacific Rowing takes on Sacramento State, Sonoma State and the California Maritime Academy Saturday starting at 8:30am and lasting all day.  On Sunday Pacific Rowing will hold a learn to row clinic starting at 10am.  Yes, the Spot will be out there on Sunday…here's to hoping he doesn’t have to revert to his days of having to dog paddle across the Merced River…

Till next time Spot fans….

10 Questions With...

Hola Spot fans! From time to time, the Spot will be able to get a leader or two in the sports world to give him the time of day, and answer 10 simple questions for our reading audience. It’s with that in mind that the Spot introduces a new feature…”10 questions with….”. So now, for your reading pleasure (and curiosity), it’s the Spot’s very first 10 questions ever!....


You can tell a lot about a sports organization by how it treats the people it deals with on a daily basis. From your biggest corporate sponsor down to the fresh faced, somewhat naïve, start up blogger (That would be yours truly), treating everyone as if they’re vital to your organization’s success not only creates good karma, but shows that you just “get it”, and that you and your organization are set up for success.

While trying to figure out who to try and get for the Spot’s first ever 10 questions segment, the Spot came across the FC Gold Pride and their General Manager Ilisa Kessler. The Spot was quite impressed that he could find her bantering back and forth with her team’s fans on bigsoccer.com, and sending out updates to the Pride’s fan base on her very own twitter account. So with that in mind, the Spot decided to give it a shot, and e-mail Ilisa with a request for his first ever 10 questions interview. And what happened you may ask? Well, less than 30 minutes later, he received an e-mail from Ilisa herself, saying that she’d be happy to answer the Spot’s questions! After arranging for a Monday afternoon phone interview, the Spot was even more impressed that Ilisa took her time to give very thurough and well thought out answers to his questions. So without further ado…it’s 10 questions with FC Gold Pride General Manager Ilisa Kessler…

1. Spot- During the off-season, the Pride was able to obtain, Marta (degrees of seperation...Marta's Brazillian, the Spot's parents are from Portugal...which mean's we both speak Portuguese!!), arguably one of the best players in the world today. How do you think this acquisition will translate both on the field and off the field for the Pride?

Ilisa- Marta gives us the scoring ability that we lacked last season. She gives us somebody who can attack and complement Christine Sinclair and Camille Abily; she invigorates us to give us a more attacking presence. Off the field, people like to see the best. There is a real difference between seeing Marta live and seeing her on TV. Her speed, her grace on the field, it doesn’t compare.

2. Spot- Much has been made about the Pride’s move from Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara to the East Bay (Castro Valley High School first, then CSU East Bay), what do you see as the positives and minuses of such a move, and is the move CSU East Bay a permanent one?

Ilisa- The move to CSU East Bay is a permanent move; this is going to be our new home. The partnership with CSU East Bay has been great in giving the Pride what we need to be competitive. We now have one location for everything, training, locker rooms, practice fields, those are things other professional teams take for granted. You can’t make everyone happy, but our move has brought us closer to many of the strongest girls’ soccer programs in the Bay Area: the Pleasanton Rage, Mustang FC, San Ramon Shock, and we have a lot of support from Castro Valley soccer clubs. Being able to partner with those clubs is great for brand awareness, and that translates into ticket sales. Geographically, Hayward calls itself the heart of the bay, and its location places us conveniently located to most places in the Bay Area.


3. Spot- If one pays attention to internet message boards like bigsoccer.com, the natives are getting restless with the Pride’s coach, Albertin Montoya. Is patience the key word in this situation, or are immediate results expected in light of the Pride’s off-season acquisitions?

Ilisa- I stand behind my coach 100%. We had some good acquisitions in the off season with the expectations that we’ll win. Albertin is looking at changes to ensure that we are successful. We do have a lot of rookies on the team, and we put a lot on the leaders to carry the team so the rookies can engage to become professional athletes. Albertin knows that expectations are to win, he wants to win and we’re all competitors. We will just need to have a little bit of patience.

4. Spot- Hey, we're soccer fans here in the valley too! Given the Pride’s move to a location closer to the Central Valley, can we expect to see more of a marketing push to get valley soccer fans over to Pride games? If so, what might they be? Maybe an exhibition game or two?

Ilisa- It was never really in the cards to head over to the Central Valley this pre season. We have had some good support from club teams in the valley area and we look forward to being able to do more outreach in the Central Valley in the near future.

5. Spot- Just this past month the Women’s NCAA basketball regional final in Sacramento played in front of a half full Arco Arena. There seems to be a disconnect between women and girls participating in sports such as soccer and their actually taking the time (and spending the dollars) to attend a Women’s sporting event. What are the WPS and the Pride specifically doing to “bridge the gap” so to speak? Is it something that can be seen as a quick fix, or more of a cultural type challenge where it will take a good 5-10 years to overcome the road blocks that currently exist?-

Ilisa- This is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. There is a huge disconnect and we’re trying to move mountains. There are huge factors both cultural and society based, that will take years to overcome, so no, it’s not an easy fix. I hope what we’re doing on the women’s side is creating opportunities for young women to think about hopes and dreams they didn’t already have. We want to fill a void for young women and give them role models they didn’t already have. The journey has just begun and we have a long way to go.

6. Spot- Other than the Pride of course, who do you see as the top contenders to win this year’s WPS championship?

Ilisa- After seeing St. Louis this past weekend, I really liked what I saw. They are very strong with the addition of Shannon Boxx. She might be the piece that helps them get over the hump to win it all. I see it being us vs. St. Louis in the finals. There is a lot of parity between the teams in the WPS. With the dispersal draft of the L.A. Sol, there isn’t a lot of dead weight on the rosters of teams this year.


7. Spot- It’s a World Cup year…give us here at the Sports Spot your predictions, and how far do you think the United States will make it in South Africa?

Ilisa- I’m rooting for the United States to advance as far as they can go. They have got to get out of group play and if they can stay healthy I can see them getting out of the round of 16.

8. Spot- Speaking of the World Cup, do you see it as potentially giving the Pride a boost both at the game and in interest/exposure for the Pride?

Ilisa- I think it helps soccer in general in the United States. This is the one time it’s on the public consciousness and we have to take advantage of this time, because everyone is talking about it (soccer). One of our matches will be a World Cup celebration, allowing us to tie into the World Cup. I’m also hoping that the league will do some advertising round the World Cup to create more league awareness.

9. Spot- The Atlanta Beat opens an 8300 person soccer specific stadium this year. The Pride’s new home at CSU East Bay seats 5k. The LA Sol drew good crowds of 6k+ which looked tiny when played in the 27,000 Home Depot Center. Are these smaller capacity stadiums the way to go for WPS and the Pride in particular?

Ilisa- Yes, one of the things we were looking at for the move was what is a reasonable size for our fan base. It’s important for us to be realistic about our fan base, so a smaller stadium is the way to go. We hope to have the opportunity to have sell-out crowds and have to turn people away. We want to have the energy of everyone sitting next to a fan and having this great enthuseasum about the game and bringing people together, getting the crowd involved, and having a smaller stadium does that.

10. Spot- The Spot played a mean ‘keeper position for his Law School’s co-ed rec league soccer team. Could the Pride use a back up ‘Keeper perhaps?

Ilisa- Well, we have a goal keeper clinic… we can put the ‘Spot thru the hoops and see how the spot does in the net first and evaluate. But to be honest there would be a LOT of injuries before we picked up the ‘Spot. In fact I’m pretty sure we’d put Kelly O’Hara in goal first before we picked up the ‘Spot!

Well there you have it Spot fans! Even though she crushed the Spot’s hopes and dreams of becoming a professional soccer player (ok ok, I’m sure those hopes and dreams were crushed WELL before his interview with Ilisa) the Spot is greatly appreciative that Ilisa Kessler was more than willing to give her time for his ever fledgling blog. For those of you who are game, the FC Gold Pride’s home opener is this Saturday, the 17th, at Castro Valley High School. Why should you go might you ask? Well other than seeing some world class athletes in action playing the beautiful game (Marta, two-time Fifa player of the year, need I say more?!?) the Spot was also informed that if a game ball is kicked into the crowd during the game, whoever in the crowd catches it gets to keep it! Now how often do you get a chance to snag a $100 dollar soccer ball for free? That’s what the Spot calls fan interaction!



‘Till next time Spot fans….

This blog is your blog...this blog is my blog...

As the Spot sits here on a Sunday afternoon, hoping against hope that the Valley's own Ricky Barnes can make a late run in the final round of the Masters and slip on the Green Jacket, he's thinking to himself..."how bout a little fan and reader interaction here on the Sports Spot!"...Now thats all well and good, but exactly how does one get more interactive here on the Sports Spot?...well, I'm glad you asked!

If there's one thing sports fans like to do (other than cheer, boo, drink their favorite adult beverage or bust out with their favorite BBQ), its take pictures!  So on that note, the Sports Spot wants your sports related pics!!  Visit our Facebook Fan Page and post up your favorite sports pics under our "fan photos" section.  They can be pics of you at a sporting event, your kid's little league or soccer game (but please, no re-enactments from "Kicking & Screaming") or even you yourself in action (who doesn't love the co-ed slow pitch softball action!).  As an added bonus (and as the Sports Spot's first ever reader contest), the first three people to post up pics on our Facebook Fan Page will receive a free bag of Starbucks Pike Place Roast Coffee (The Spot's even paying for the postage!).

So there ya go Spot fans!  Take those pics, post 'em up, and let us here at the Spot know what your up to!

Until next time.....

The Game Day Experience: Take me out to the ball game....

Baseball might be the only sport where newer usually isn’t better.  There is something to be said for the quaint, older, neighborhood ball park.  After all, is it really baseball season if you don’t hear Vin Scully say “good afternoon from Chavez Ravine” or tune in to see the bleacher bums above the ivy at Wrigely Field?  I mean, do you get those same goose bumps if you were watching a game at Tropicana field, the Metrodome, or any other contraption that looks like it could be a giant indoor flea market?  Baseball is a game that lives off its history…and its on that note that the Spot paid a visit to Modesto’s John Thurman Field for the Modesto Nut’s season opener vs. the San Jose Giants. 

Normally for the Spot’s game day experience, he’d have his pre and post game attractions, but for the Nuts and John Thurman field, there are none, and that’s its beauty.  John Thurman is your quintisential minor league neighborhood ballpark.  Cross the street and you wouldn’t be at a sports bar or restaurant, but in someone’s front yard.  John Thurman field has been a Modesto institution for generations, and you can’t help but look out onto the field and picture the Reggie Jackson’s, Rickey Henderson’s and Catfish Hunter’s out on that very same field, as they made their way to “the show”. 

As for the actual in game experience itself, you knew it was going to be a good night when the first foul ball of the season was snagged cleanly by a fan along the first base line.  One must compliment the Modesto Nuts on having a nearly flawless opening night.  Opening up on a “Thirsty Thursday” certainly helped! (of course since the Spot had to drive and type, he could not partake in enjoying some of his favorite adult beverages).  For a large opening day crowd, the lines ran smoothly without most of the usual opening day hang ups (except for the poor guy in front of me who didn’t get his nachos because they ran out of cheese).  Speaking of food, the Spot was quite happy with his home run dog…I mean, what’s a trip to the ball park without a hot dog!  (As an aside, as much as the Spot would of loved one of the funnel cakes, such funnel cake consumption is reserved only for Stockton Ballpark…it’s a long story!)

Last, but definitely not least, the Nuts were successful in their home opener, beating the San Jose Giants 4-2 on the strength of a couple “seeing eye” singles and a solo home run.  This year’s Nuts appear to be built on speed and the ability to manufacture runs, which should make for a good fair share of exciting games at the ol’ ball park this year.

All in all, the Modesto Nuts and John Thurman Field delivered on what a night at a minor league ball game is supposed to deliver, a chance for you, your family, friends, signifigant other, or all of the above, to just sit back, relax and enjoy a night at the ol’ ball game.

The Spot's Odd's and Ends....

It's back for week #2, the Spots Odd's and End's.  News, notes, events and other potpouri from up and down the Valley in the world of sports...so, to quote one of the greatest entertainers of all time..."sit back, relax and strap on your seat belt..." (yes folks, its none other than Dr. Dre!)

Ok cycling fans, the Amgen Tour of California returns May 16th thru the 23rd with Valley stages in Sacramento (May 16th), Modesto (May 19th) and Visalia to Bakersfield (May 20th).  Among the teams competing in this year's Amgen Tour is Lance Armstrong''s Team Radio Shack.  So yes Spot fans, we will be having Lance Armstrong sightings...I'm sure the French are overjoyed...

For those of you who think competitive eating is a sport and Kobayashi deserves a bronze statute somewhere...well you'll be in heaven at the annual Stockton Asparagus Festival on April 24th as the top ranked eater in Major League Eating (yes, there is such a thing, the Spot can't make this stuff up!) Joey Chestnut, seeks to regain his title at the World Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Championship, taking place at high noon at the Weber Point Events Center.  Lucky for Mr. Chestnut and the rest of the Major League Eaters, the Spot will be pre-occupied with volunteering his time at the North Stockton Rotary booth at the Asparagus Festival, because he can most definitley put down the deep fried asparagus, just ask the folks at Dragon Palace Restaurant in Lodi!

For all you Fresno State fans out there, looks like your very own Ryan Matthews will be one of the first Running Back taken in the draft, with most Mock Drafts have him going to the Houston Texans with the 20th pick overall.


Speaking of Drafts and Fresno State, Paul George, the leading scorer for Bulldog Basketball, as announced for the NBA Draft.  He hasn't hired an agent though, meaning he can still un-declare and retain his college eligibility.

With the end of March Madness comes the end of the Spot's annual NCAA Tourney Pool...which was once again won by...the Spot's little sister (She picked both Butler and Duke to make the final four).  This is the same woman who once won the Tourney Pool by picking UCLA to win the 1995 Tourney based on the fact that Toby Bailey was cute.  Yes, the Spot will now go hang his head in shame and temporarily turn in his man card...

Ok ok, just because Duke made everyone cringe Monday night and beat Cinderella  Butler to win the National Championship, doesn't mean that all things College Basketball related go dark!  Here is  the latest scuttlebutt on what the Pacific Tigers are up to recruiting wise for next season:

With rumors of three players possibly leaving the program, Pacific is hot on the recruiting trail with three potential scholarships in hand.  They recently recieved a verbal commitment from 6-3 Shooting Guard Jose Rivera of Citrus College.  Rivera averaged 10.7 per game and 41% behind the arc for a Citrus College team that went 29-3 this past year and will be joining fall commitments Chuck Coley, a 6-7 Small Forward from Dodge City JC in Kansas and Khalil Kellley, a 6-8 Power Forward from Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucomounga.  Pacific is also said to be in play for among others 6-3 Guard Avery Johnson of Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach who also has offers from UC Riverside and Portland University and Zach Nelson, a 6-8 forward from Yuba City High School who averaged an in-n-out special this year, including a 56 point/23 rebound outing and is also looking at BYU, Utah State and Sacramento State.

The Spot had the pleasure of stopping by the Stockton Ports Fan Fest last Saturday.  Kudos to the Ports for hosting a free event for us fans, where you had a plethora of activities to keep you entertained.  From playing catch on the field, to hitting the batting cages, to just hanging out in the Comcast Club watching the final four, it was a great day to just hang out at the ball park and kick back a bit!

Looking for something to do this weekend?  Here are a few options:


Friday April 9th thru Sunday April 11th- Modesto Nuts vs. San Jose Giants, John Thurman Field, Modesto- The Modesto Nuts finish their first home series of the season vs. the San Jose Giants.  Watch for the Spot's "Game Day Experience" on Friday as he takes a trip over to John Thurman Field for the Nuts' Home Opener!


Saturday April 10th- all day, UC Merced Campus- UC Merced Club Softball PAWS Tournament:  In it's second season, the UC Merced Softball team, playing as a club sport, won the inagural PAWS Tournament.  Go out and support your local UC and see if the ladies can make it two in a row.


Saturday April 10th and Sunday April 11th- all day, Modesto Rotary 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament, McHenry Village.  Still need your hoops fix? Then head on out to McHenry Village in Modesto (Corner of McHenry and Briggsmore) for the Modesto Rotary 3on3 Basketball Tournament.  The Spot would participate, but he really doesn't want to embarass the competition...no, seriously...


That's all for now Spot fans...till next time!