4.30.2007

Summer projects

Astute observers of Hound Central 2.0 will have noticed that I'll have a couple of summer projects to keep me busy until the Lightning open training camp in September.

The sharpest of these observers, too, will notice that I'm stepping outside the boundaries, so to speak, to keep my autograph hounding skills sharp during the offseason. As it stands, I'm calling it Baseball Mondays.

In it, I'll begin to build, one cherry-picking session at a time, a collection of autographed baseballs. Rather than hound every team that travels to St. Petersburg to play the Devil Rays, I'm going to restrict the hounding efforts to one of my days off -- Mondays. If necessary, though, and I reserve the right to do so, these adventures may also take place on Sundays or Tuesdays.

At first glance, this project will include not only the Tampa Bay Devils Rays, but such teams as the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays as well. And, yes, I'll make strong efforts to hound the Boston Red Sox and, ahem, the New York Yankees.

It'll begin either tonight or tomorrow, as the Minnesota Twins come to visit. And though I fully intend to hound the likes of Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Johan Santana, my primary focus will be on broadcasters Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris and Dan Gladden.

The other summer project, and this will take some time to cull together, will entail an insider's guide to collecting hockey autographs in the Tampa Bay area. From the Lightning's training facility in Brandon to the handful of hotels used by visiting NHL teams, I'll provide information -- in text and in pictures -- that should help with your efforts.

And if that's not enough, I'm sure we can agree upon my consultation fee for guided autograph tours.

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4.07.2007

Take me out to the ballgame

If you ever want to see your favorite baseball team on the road, visit the Tampa Bay area and take in a Devil Rays game. Other than Red Sox and Yankees games, you can walk up and get an $8-12 seat by the first pitch. Free parking, too.

Given the way the Lightning played last night, I'm sure baseball will become the only game in town.

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