1) Carson Park – Eau Claire, WI

This isn’t because I’m biased, but I truly do feel Carson Park is the finest stadium in the league for various reasons. It has a great view beyond the outfield of a civic park and hills in the distance. It has the best looking fan deck in the league. The sound system works well and the stone-faced grandstand gives Carson Park a true stadium feel. I’ll say this, when I first visited Eau Claire it was in the Fall of 2005 and Carson Park was set-up for football. Even with bleachers stationed in leftfield, I still thought it was the prettiest park I’ve ever been to.

2) Port Arthur Stadium – Thunder Bay, ONT

A compact, covered 3,500-seat grandstand consisting of nothing but individual seats makes this a must-see park. The fan amenities are few, with a small –seldom used –party area down the leftfield line and few promotions. However, the park is very clean, sound system is perfect and sightlines by far the best in the entire league.

Check back here soon as I'll be ranking the ballparks in the Northwoods League and let everyone know where our beloved Carson park stands

Its one of those discussions people have when it’s raining outside, or when TBS, TNT or any number of stations puts on one of those standby pastime flicks. It’s a time-killer debate that has originated its own area of genre…the baseball movie. Going back nearly a century, baseball has been a prominent fixture in movies, with any number of them being released in a decade especially in the 1980s and 1990s. While the recent collection of flicks have failed to even touch the crest of “immortality” and have been quick to enter the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, there are still dozens of excellent.

So many good choices…so few bad ones that even debating the “best” is a topic one can’t even decide upon themselves let alone with others. Hence, I want to go backwards with this and instead debate the worst baseball movies of the last twenty-five years. I use twenty-five, since I am 26 and it’s a more even number and since I’m more familiar with these. Now at the on-set, I should day that I’m still a fan of most of these as a bad baseball movie it’s like a bad piece of pizza. It’s still comforting and some good can still be squeezed out.

Peanuts and cracker jacks may be a part of Americana due to their inclusion in baseball’s national anthem, but truly, what is the “ideal” ballpark food. No sport is as synonymous with food as baseball, and while football fans (and Brewer fans) may have the tailgate party to latch onto, baseball is a sport designed with eating in mind and may be the reason my mother loves the sport. She is the type of person who samples everything at a carnival, and the sport of baseball is great for those people because it allows nine-innings of unabashed sampling.

I woke up today, a holiday weekend morning and realized something through the early rising sun glow. It was spring, and not just the fact the temperature was now finally above the temperature that could sustain freezing water, but there was the unmistakable feeling that is a mixture of inner-giddiness and excitement of being inhibited.  Granted, it took till Memorial Day weekend for it to arrive but by golly, spring is here and time for me to enjoy one of the greatest gifts we all have…baseball!!!

Volunteering our time and giving back to the community is something that isn't mandatory (sans judicial intervention) for individual health, well-being or even overall quality of life. That said, volunteering still feels as though it is something we must do...no different than going to school. We know its good for us to do it. Difference is, with volunteering, if one takes advantage of chances that could also be enjoyable and educational they'll not only provide a better use of their time but also be more in Cline to pass a inner-joy on.

The snow flakes and faint scent of a few chimneys in use could have anyone waking up to mistake this late April day for being the creation of a fall day. Whereas the sounds of lawn mowers, children playing and the occasional sizzling of a grill has been replaced by a howling wind surrounded by utter silence outside. Still, this is Wisconsin and the northern part of the country for that matter and though we'd all prefer April to be as bucolic as we seem to remember in our golden spectacles that take us back to childhood memories, this isn't out of the ordinary.

As I write this from my stately penthouse suite at the East Madison Super 8, we are only 14 hours from the Colfax Vikings taking to the court in a DIII WIAA state semi-final game at the Alliant Energy Center. With eight bus loads of fans coming down tomorrow, a with celebratory signs winding along the main street busineess' facades and aura of energy, this should be exciting for the community. Something like this hasn't happened to Colfax since the 1970s when the boys team one it all (and there was the tornado, but this is much more positive).

Okay, my first vist to the WIAA state basketball tournament lasted as long as the hoopla surrounding a high school dance. It came and went without nary a minute to realize it had passed by, and in the process made a liar out of me. I was supposed to give regular updates from the boy's tournament last week, but with Regis and North both losing in the first round, I was back in Eau Claire both the first fish had dropped in the oil on Friday morning.

Madison, Wisconsin. Population 220,000 and besides a state university, minature replica of the U.S. Captiol and home to the world's largest brat fest its a rather non-discreet northern climate city. Its not necessarily a tourist destination unless someone has the urged to visit the Great Dane Brewery or indulge in tomfoolery on State Street.

However, for many young athletes throughout the state, its their mecca, their land of oz if you will and that includes basketball. This weekend its the boy's state basketball tournament and we are live at the Kohl Center this weekend for the Regis and North games. For the kids, its a memory they'll not soon forget as they play in a "real arena", on a statewde television network, and experience the "big time."

Funny thing is, for all the extras who come along, all those stomach tingly feelings rub off like greasy provolone cheese that has melted in the philly steak sandwich. Parents get to experience watching the game from the "real arena", coaches get to experience having a statewide television network camera follow their every move as if they were Phil Jackson composing the Lakers offense and students get to bring their chants and shenaigans to the "big time"

Heck, even us broadcasters get in on the action as we must elevate our game to coincide.