Arts & Entertainment

If you've never seen the PhoenixPhreaks in action before, just wait until the next First Friday rolls around. This roving gang of cycling psychos (who serve as the local chapter of the national Freakbike Militia) can typically be found cruising down Roosevelt Street or in the vicinity of Bikini Lounge or the Firehouse. They're as much a part of the monthly art walk as the paintings and free cheese and crackers. Speaking of masterpieces, the modified two-wheelers being piloted are works of art in their own right. Most are ordinary bikes that have been elongated and rebuilt to resemble Harley-Davidson choppers straight outta Easy Rider (if Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda were pedaling their way across the Southwest, that is). Others have been pimped up and polished in classic cherry lowrider style. Then there are the bizarre and beautiful customizations, like Allan Greenblazer's "Green Fuzzy Chopper," which (as the name implies) is covered in emerald-colored shag carpeting. We were feeling pretty green ourselves, albeit with envy, after seeing it roll past.

The annual Cruise on Central has been happening in the Valley since the 1960s, and it embraces a proud tradition of hot rods, custom cars, and pimped-out lowriders. Generally held the first Saturday in April, Cruise on Central features a variety of vintage rides, from '70s model Chevy Impalas to '67 Chevy trucks to '41 Pro Street rods. Participants meet at Park Central Mall, just south of Osborn, and proceed south on Central Avenue in a parade of classic and American muscle cars. The event is so hugely popular that it's created problems, with hundreds of people lining up across several blocks of Central Avenue and creating traffic and crowd control concerns. Luckily, the Cruise on Central is adaptable — it'll switch dates at the last minute (as it did this year, when the April 11 cruise was rained out and rescheduled for April 18), or even switch locations (this year's cruise actually happened on Jackson Street).

We've looked high and low, and Purple Lizard — a dear little boutique in west Phoenix packed with cute linen clothes, cuter bags, and spicy-sweet candles — is the only place in town we could find that is currently selling the supplies you need for Dia de los Muertos, a.k.a. Day of the Dead. Here we can stock up the supplies to make sugar skulls (molds, decorations, and the meringue power essential to getting the sugar to stick together), marigolds (the holiday's traditional flower, conveniently made here out of paper) and all manner of skeletons. Not real ones, of course, but the papier-mâché traditionally made to celebrate the dead. At Purple Lizard, you can find a larger-than-life-size lady or a classic diorama with tiny figures, as well as books, tissue paper cutouts, paintings and other items making up the most unique collection of Day of the Dead offerings we've seen anywhere.

Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like a good old-fashioned auto race. For those of us who don't own a muscle car or have the cash to try the big leagues at Bondurant, there's Speed Street Indoor Racetrack, where you can traverse a third-mile track in a bright yellow speedster with a nine-horsepower, four-stroke engine. Okay, their go-karts aren't exactly NASCAR-worthy, but if you crank one up to top speed — about 50 miles per hour — it's still pretty freaking awesome. Each kart has racing slicks for advanced traction and ROC timing to clock your speed as you make a lap, and the indoor arena is temperature-controlled to reduce those nervous sweats. We're a little wary of the happy-hour special, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Fridays, but Speed Street's waiver assures us there won't be any DUIs out on the track.

Want to reach new heights but you're afraid of coming face-to-face with a rattler, scorpion, or hive of Africanized bees? Get inside. The Phoenix Rock Gym offers routes for any level climber. The Beginner's Canyon has straight vertical walls, and those without gear can rent everything they need and climb all day for under $20. More experienced? Ape up the walls of the two more technical areas of the gym, Hueco Canyon or Exit Canyon, or boulder 'til your fingers bleed. The gym offers monthly and quarterly passes, which are both reasonably priced. (For a cool $1 million, The Phoenix Rock Gym also offers a lifetime pass.)

Part of a 27-acre complex that includes tennis courts, a splash pad, and athletic fields, Goodyear's Skate Park is 1,200 cubic feet of heaven for concrete surfers. There's an awesome peanut bowl for beginners, metal coping for grinders, two snake runs, and a 16-foot-high half-capsule. This being Arizona, helmets aren't required. But we feel obligated to suit up our noggins every time we go vert on the seriously wicked 16-foot-deep bowls. The city got some flak from the BMX community after bikes and scooters were banned from the park shortly after its opening in 2007. Skateboarders are happy to bogart the space, though (grudgingly, if it's alongside inline skaters). Not exactly the most sportsmanlike attitude, but, hey, once you've gotten a tire in your face while busting a nightmare flip, you'll agree.

Don't be skerred that President Barack Obama will be putting a permanent safety lock on Americans' right to bear arms. You're just being paranoid and probably a little on edge. Relieve some of that pent-up anxiety at Caswells, a small-ish, 21-year-old gun range tucked inside a warehouse area near Stapley and Baseline roads in Mesa. Eleven shooting lanes, which cost $15 per person per lane, are available for rent for both the grizzled gunsmith and the firearms novice. Not packing a piece? No problem, because you can rent black-as-night Glocks that are also available for purchase through the range's "Try Before You Buy" program. Queues do tend to get long on the weekends, so you may want to fire away on a weeknight. Ladies Day, which entitles women to free range time and gun rentals, takes place Tuesdays and Fridays.

Whatever your preference, if you're into firearms, Usery Mountain is the place to go. Whether you're a beginner who wants to get comfy with a new firearm in a safe environment or a seasoned marksman, you will feel welcome at this massive outdoor shooting range. Usery Mountain's versatility is impressive. The shooting range boasts several pistol bays, clay pigeon throwers, and targets as far away as 500 yards (if you're interested in really testing your aim). Throw in range masters, who supervise the firing range at all times as well as provide safety and education, along with the fact that this shooting range is open pretty much anytime the sun is out, and there really is no competition.

Beware: Final Destination, in its fourth incarnation at the Door Christian Center in Chandler, is not a traditional haunted house. If you're looking for a fun and scary activity to work in between bouts of recreational drug use, promiscuous sex, and idol worship, this "haunted house-style attraction" run by evangelical Christians is not for you. Unless, that is, you're willing to watch a doctor hold down a screaming patient during a mock abortion before going back to your normal weekend routine of smoking up a hooker (using a Bible as rolling paper) while listening to Marilyn Manson. Final Destination is, however, very well put together, with great acting, impressive production values, and passionate workers who'll do their best to save your soul. If you're a remorseless heathen who's Hell-bound anyway, or if you're maybe interested in getting saved, Final Destination makes for a pretty damned entertaining night.

As Halloween season gears up, you're going to hear a lot of boasting by haunted attractions around town. Last year, we pretty much hit them all, and Fear Farm was truly the best. Sure, it's likely a haul from your own unhaunted house, but this massive indoor/outdoor experience is well worth it. Spread over a dozen or so buildings of various sizes and 25 acres of cornfield, this attraction will give you a full night of entertainment. Offering up some of the best pretend monsters in town, this old-school haunt is light on animatronics and chock-full of hair-raising scenes that are well constructed and realistic enough to make suspending disbelief easy — even for adults. Thanks to chainsaw-wielding clowns on stilts, mobile homes that are every bit as scary as you imagine a mobile home in Glendale to be, and a terrifying blood-spattered asylum, this house is first-class all the way.

The holidays can be downright depressing in this cactus garden of a city. But one of our absolute gems is this annual seasonal bash, held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Part of the charm is its location, on Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, which looks the part with its well-groomed greenery. And despite the fact that it's choked with hundreds of children simultaneously trying to frolic in the real snow, get their pics snapped with Santa, make Christmas crafts, and snag the best view of the official tree-lighting, the event goes off like clockwork, year after year. (P.S.: Admission is free, and you don't have to live in Scottsdale to attend.)

Remember the good old days, when dads would spend two nights a week bowling with their buddies, clad in Pepto-Bismol-pink bowling shirts embroidered with their names on the front? No, we don't either. But we've seen them on TV, which is why the seriously old-school Glenfair Lanes was a beat-up, patchwork, bowling shoo-in for this category.

The large alley is a throwback, from the '50s script sign to the large wooden bar with a pass-thru window to the lanes. Prices are equally retro, with $1 beers on Thursdays and dollar games from 9 p.m. to close on Sunday through Thursday nights, including neon bowling on Wednesdays. The updated video arcade/billiard room is great for a quick break — or to check on your kids as you pound a couple of those dollar beers.

We went through a phase in which we were bingo-ing like mad, all over town. But after visiting a certain number of high-tech, 21st-century bingo halls (you know the type — replete with clever cafes, electronic number callers, and kid-pleasing video arcades grafted on), we began to yearn for the more intimate bingo parlors of our granny's dotage. We found a simpler bingo experience at this cozy, super-popular west-side locale, where we got a free book of bingo cards, and where we gave our daubers a real workout. Reflections has old-time callers and super prize nights like California Bingo Night, usually featured each month, with a $2,000 bonus game and guaranteed $4,000 checkerboard win. We left with a little less cash than we arrived with, but we'd had so much fun that we still felt like a big winner.

If you've ever wanted to feel like the giant in Gulliver's Travels, Castles N' Coasters' mini-golf courses will make you feel super-size. That's because the four courses are decorated with small structures and mini-monuments, from mermaid fountains and mysterious caves to a teeny Taj Mahal and old Western saloon. The price isn't big, either, with an 18-hole game running $7.63 plus tax per person — and the park provides clubs and balls. The only drawback to putting on these kooky courses is that they get pretty packed on weekends, so arrive early if you don't want to wait for folks in front of you to move along.

Hadouken! Flying fireballs launched from your fists knock your opponent on his ass. Just another button-smashing affair at GameWorks. Whether you're a fighter, driver, or gun-toting maniac, there's a cabinet here to sate your sadistic desires. GameWorks has great taste in games. Street Fighter IV was not only sitting upstairs in the arcade months before the home console release, it was the Japanese cabinet version. The only thing missing was a Japanese businessman named Kenji who works as an accountant by day and hurricane-kicks your ass at night. Fight!

Sure, there are places with more stuff, but in our wanderings with offspring, we've run across no place quite as pleasing to both adult and youth palates. Partially, it's the Smaland space itself, which is minimal in the classic Swedish tradition but also exploding with primary colors. Located just inside the Ikea main entrance, the playland features a craft area, a movie area, and a ginormous pit of plastic balls. That's about it. But kids — ours, at least — adore the extras they don't get elsewhere: the high-tech buzzer that Mom and Dad get to let 'em know when the allotted 1.5 hours of play time are up, the kinder-friendly Ikea cafeteria and food, and — most of all — the shopping they get to tag along on 'cause 1.5 hours is never enough time for Mom and Dad at Ikea.

Mom and Dad think Swedish people are really, really, really smart. Tack så mycket!

Looking for a unique play experience for your kids? Then head to Playtopia, the newest addition to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler. Based on the region's history, Playtopia is a collection of three themed playgrounds. Your junior 4-Hers will enjoy Farmland, a huge agri-inspired play structure housed under a giant barn roof. Cityland has an urban theme and includes tot-sized streets, buses, fire trucks and playhouses. In Critterland, your kids can romp on a giant Gila monster or dig for dinosaur bones. If you're a traditionalist, don't worry: Playtopia's still got the basics, like swings, slides, picnic ramadas, and BBQs. So it's not the real thing, but it's the closest you'll get without the cow poop, road rash, or venomous biting creatures.

Valley dog parks are a grab bag, but Chaparral Park's four-acre off-leash area is a winner every time. Dogs are separated into two enormous play sections — one for "passive" pups and another for "active" ones. What this really means is that the large pit bulls and Dobermans are on one side of a fence, while teeny dachshunds and Chihuahuas are on the other. Extra details — water fountains, a double-gated entry, and shade structures — make the place canine-classy. And amazingly, even in the desert, the grass is always green. The park opens at 5:30 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. If you and your dog need a social hour, this park is one of the best.

It may not be the most chichi dog park in town, but we're still stunned at how far people will drive just to get their pooches to this pretty northwest Phoenix park. Regulars tell us they like how well PetSmart keeps the place up, how many dogs are usually on the scene, and how the nice little amenities (drinking fountains, a separate park for little dogs, an endless supply of tennis balls) kick things up a notch. Best of all, the dog owners are a gracious little community. Even though they all seem to know each other, they are happy to welcome newcomers. While we're not about to call the place a singles hang-out, we will admit to knowing at least one woman who met her husband while watching a friend's pooch. It can happen.

Ever hear yourself say, "I can dance and sweat all night but can't jog for 15 seconds. What's up with that?" This new dance fitness studio for women, tucked behind Trader Joe's in the Tempe Square shopping center, makes that question moot. Now you can have your dance party and burn fat, too. The folks who created this playground for ladies hit all the right notes with class names like "Yoga Booty Ballet," "I-Danced-All-Night Club Moves," "Burlesque Beauty," and "Tutu For You." From a beautiful lounge to the custom fortune cookie each participant receives after class, the entire space feels like a spa. These smart folks clearly want participants to form bonds, have fun, and feel pampered, so the workout seems almost secondary.

Express Mie also rocks the pole-dancing scene with a multiple-pole studio designed just for that "ladies sport" and a smaller intimate studio to host private parties, complete with poles, dress-up clothes, boas and a house-labeled wine. We can't wait to gather up some gal pals, step into some six-inch platforms, enjoy some liquid courage, and wrap ourselves around a pole — giggling like a schoolgirl and burning some calories in the process.

There's an art to caving in a human face or blasting someone in the package like those mixed martial arts fighters do. And thanks to the Lion's Den in Scottsdale, anyone can learn no-holds-barred sparring. UFC Hall of Fame inductee and "the world's most dangerous man" Ken Shamrock heads the dojo, where controlled muay thai sparring techniques are taught to men and women of all skill levels. World-class instructors also teach wrestling, boxing, and basically any other kickass skill out there.

For Valley members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, there's no better way to beat the midweek blues than to beat the crap out of each other with wooden swords. Every Wednesday, would-be warriors hone their battle skills on the northern and eastern ends of the baseball field at La Padera Park, charging with rattan sticks and clubbing each other. SCA members generally dress in period-approximate armor for the simulated battles, but the organization leaves their battles open to the public view — and if you can walk in heavy armor and carry a big stick, you're welcome to join the fray, too.

If your idea of polo involves a well-heeled crowd engaging in refined combat atop magnificent thoroughbreds, then you've apparently never hung out at the Dorsey Center in Tempe on a Monday night. Every week, the members of Arizona Hardcourt Bike Polo gather for an intense, two-wheeled version of the world's oldest team sport. More crusty punk than upper crust, it's the realm of tattooed and pierced participants riding battered steel steeds and using mostly DIY-style equipment (including mallets made from PVC pipe or cannibalized golf clubs) during contests at an outdoor tennis court.

The object of the game, however, is the same: Teams of three players attempt to whack a rubber ball through their opponent's goal. It's a gonzo spin-off of the traditional cycling polo (which was conjured during the 1890s in Ireland) that's been popularized by boho urban bikers during the past decade, including the local fixed-gear cyclists who founded AZHC last year. (A similar group, Phoenix Bike Polo, plays on grass at Desert Storm Park in the Arcadia neighborhood every Wednesday.)

Anyone can participate. If you want to, be sure to bring some chutzpah in addition to your Bianchi Pista, since the hard-court action gets a little hardcore, with plenty of smack-talking and the occasional collision.

There are a lot of killer bicycle rides in the Valley, but the one along Usery Pass Road is our absolute favorite, thanks to the backdrop of desert plant life unharmed by the gated communities that swallow up the land to the east and south. Plus, there are super-spacious bike lanes on each side of the windy route, so you won't feel like you're about to get steamrolled by a boat-towing pickup truck. A good and challenging way to tackle the blacktop is to head west from Red Mountain Park, 7745 East Brown Road in Mesa, then north up Power Road along the Salt River until it turns into Bush Highway before finally looping back south on Usery Pass/Ellsworth roads. If you take this 21-mile route, which gains/loses more than 1,000 feet in elevation along the way, the stretch between the 12- and 16-mile markers is the biggest leg-burner. However, once you get through that, it's a smooth coast.

What goes up must come down — at least, that's what mountain bikers count on. The South Mountain Desert Classic Trail is not the most grueling trail in our neck of the desert, but it's close, it's scenic — and full of ups and downs. Phoenix South Mountain Park is over 16,000 acres of desert landscape overlooking downtown Phoenix to the north and urban sprawl to the south. The trail is about 18 miles long and runs along the southern face of the mountain. If you don't have a mountain bike, get one.

Don't just take our word for it — recent research suggests that spending time in nature will improve cognitive function. Scientists say the human brain has two types of attention: directed attention (which we use when we work, drive, Facebook) and involuntary attention (like that triggered by the call of a bird or the shape of rock formation). The problem is most of us are using our directed attentions past the point of fatigue. One way to restore the circuits is by taking a walk. That's why we're damn lucky to live in a city with thousands of acres of nature trails.

The best place to get away and give your brain a reboot is the 304 Loop Trail at Piestewa Peak. Just drive right on past those over-achievers at the summit trail and head all the way back to the final parking area. The walk is an easy-to-moderate loop, takes about 45 minutes, and is located right in the middle of the city. Go ahead and contemplate the cuddly appeal of Teddy Bear chollas, the migratory patterns of birds, and the new limbs growing on an octogenarian saguaro.

There are two things you need to know about this hike, and they're both supercool: 1) the Alta Trail is situated on the front range at South Mountain Park, and we're betting that many of you didn't even know there was a front range; 2) the "Alt" section of this trail is not maintained and does not appear on any of the park's maps. Translation: It's not choked with other hikers and it's completely badass.

If you want to hike the "official" Alta Trail, drive about two miles down the San Juan Road and park in a gravel lot at mile marker 2.5 and the Bajada Trailhead, where you connect with a well-maintained trail to the top. That's fine, but you'll miss most of the eastern section of the range and a helluva lot of stellar trekking if you choose that route. Better to do it our way.

After you pass through the headquarters section on the park's main road, turn right at the sign that says Big Ramada and Little Ramada picnic areas. Drive as far as the road will take you and then park. Aim for the nearest rise to the west, and follow the dirt tracks that lead inexorably to the summit of the range. After a brief but leg-frying up, you'll find yourself atop a panorama-saturated, dragon-back ridge that follows the crest of the range all the way to its terminus at San Juan Lookout, about four miles away.

When you get to San Juan, turn around and do it in reverse.

You'll regret it — but you won't.

The Sierra Estrellas are the most maddening mountains in our midst. The southwest Valley chain is within shouting distance of civilization, and its craggy spires scream to be summited, but the formidable range gets more redoubtable the closer you get to it. So much so that there's only one legal point of access to its long crest and six striking peaks (Hayes, Montezuma, Montezuma Sleeping, Montezuma Head, Butterfly, and Quartz).

The Quartz Peak Trail — such as it is — is it.

Finding the trailhead on the far side of the Earth in Rainbow Valley is a challenge in itself, but tracking the footpath to the summit can be even more cryptic. Then there's the actual hiking of the thing, which has caused many a veteran hiker to swear like Blackbeard, thanks to the iffy footing and 2,500-foot elevation gain (about two trips up Camelback Mountain on an even nastier path).

Worth it? Absolutely. Summiting the Estrella is a badge of honor for hiking hardcores, and the views of desolate basin-and-range western Arizona and the bustling Valley to the east make it all worthwhile.

Like some of the exceptional backcountry hikes at the Phoenix Mountains Preserve that are eclipsed by the gravitational pull of Piestewa Peak, this phenomenal hike is often lost in the glare of Usery's popular Wind Cave Trail. But you don't always have to go up to get to the top; sometimes, as with Pass Mountain, you can go around.

The 7.4-mile loop offers a circumnavigation of its namesake peak — the one with the distinctive scar that's visible from almost anywhere in the Valley — as well as lush Sonoran flora, dazzling views of Four Peaks and the Superstitions, and a saddle link-up with the Goldfield Mountains. If you're up to it, you can freelance into the Goldfields before closing the loop on Pass Mountain.

True hikers view guided hikes as literate Parisians view ushered tours of the Louvre: dimly.

This excellent seven-miler is the exception. A relatively difficult trek over primitive trails, the ranger-led hybrid hike takes participants into the park's achingly beautiful backcountry for sublime views and solid interpretation. The ranger du jour will fill you in on the newest, and most unusual, entry in the Maricopa County Regional Park system, which is set in a high-desert riparian area dotted with numerous archaeological sites.

The hike is scheduled regularly. See the Web site for more info.

Despite the word "Mountain" in its name, this park is located in the eastern molehills of the San Tans, with the 3,054-foot namesake peak looming far off in the westerly distance.

Translation: It's flat and it's fast.

There are some mild ups available, but most of the park's trail system, and especially the centerpiece San Tan Trail, cuts through hard-pan lower Sonoran Desert. Hikers accustomed to the topographical arrhythmia of South Mountain, Camelback, and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, or even other regional parks such as Estrella and Usery, will be amazed at the dirt-churning pace of the place. We conquered the 5.7-mile San Tan loop in just under two hours, without sacrificing any views or even breaking a sweat.

There aren't a lot of cities in this country where you can throw off your business-casual garb after your workday, zip onto a freeway, and be knee-deep in miles of wild desert. If you're into hiking, Phoenix totally rocks. And when you can really take your time with an all-day hike, we recommend you ditch your weekday trail and head to the outskirts for some of the most breathtaking beauty you can imagine. The Black Mesa Loop in the Superstition Mountains is an absolute must. Be sure to do it in the cool month of February. That is your best chance to catch the trail when it's at its most stunning, with rushing, rocky streams and a healthy green desert. The trail features awesome views of Four Peaks, Weaver's Needle rock formation, a cholla forest, Boulder Canyon, and dramatic rock cliffs. So fill that CamelBak bladder on your day off and get going, because you'll need the entire day.

For a hiker, it seems counterintuitive that going up should be easier than getting down. Down is good. Down is always better.

Well, not at the Big Buttes, humongous sandcastles of petrified mud that must look tame, even comic, to someone from Indiana who's in town for Cactus League.

Here's how the scenario invariably unfolds: Dad and two kids — it's always a dad and two kids — toodle by the Buttes in their rental and decide to have a spontaneous encounter with the Wild West. Dad rings mom at the resort. Hi, honey. We're gonna climb one of these cute rocky things. Should be back in 20. Twenty minutes later, you've got a dad and two kids from Muncie frantically clinging to a badass butte.

In defense of tenderfeet, these mountainous molehills can be deceiving, even deadly, with their slick-rock downs. Ups are a breeze, even for people in shopping-mall sneakers — and especially for kids, who bound up the rock faces like fresh-fed goats. Inevitably, Dad's forced to bound to their rescue, and the trap is sprung. You can almost hear the buttes chortling: Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha.

To date, we've herded two clans of chastened climbers down these building-size boulders — and no thanks required. Just do us a favor. If one of you Indy types sees a poor stranger gazing fretfully at a map of Muncie, show some compassion. We desert dwellers are nothing without our mountains to guide us.

There's something magical about the desert at night. Everything looks, sounds, and smells different. And in the hot summer months, it's a great time to go and experience what desert plants and critters are up to after the sun sets. But if the idea of a nighttime desert exploration has you feeling a bit uneasy (ever seen the 1972 made-for-TV movie Gargoyles? — we're terrified just thinking about it), then the Desert Botanical Garden is the perfect place to discover all the alien-free wonders the desert has to offer, like night-blooming cereus and owls in action. The garden is open late year-round, with extended hours for their summertime flashlight tours (June through August), perfect for the whole family.

As with so many things, proximity's often a key for hikers looking to arrange a post-trek meet-up. For most, a redneck bar or a convenience store'll do the trick if it's the nearest place to score a frosty brew.

So while it doesn't hurt that this historic New Mexican-style restaurant is the closest dining-and-drinking establishment to the South Mountain Park exit, we'd slog through several miles more of hell and jumping cholla cactus to score one of the restaurant's "Kick-@ss" Margaritas and a plate of green chili enchiladas.

In fact, hiking, shmiking. Let's get right to those maggies.

We have a love/hate relationship with Camelback Mountain. There's no better view of home than from the top, and no greater sense of accomplishment than getting there. Yet we loathe the getting-there part — the Camelneck, the Backbone, the etiquette-challenged hikers. Ugh.

But when it comes to The Vig, we're feeling only the love. This chic tavern on the fringe of Arcadia is absolutely perfect for a post-Camelback repast. Prime location, great ambiance, crankin' sound system, bocce ball on an awesome patio, and terrific appetizers (try the Hot Vings, five-spice edamame, or sweet potato fries).

After a snack like that — and a cocktail or two — you'll be planning your next hike to burn it all off.

The Dreamy Draw is a lovely place, but it's not named for its oasis-like beauty. It earned the designation back in Phoenix's Territorial days, when workers from the Rio Mercury Mine near Squaw Peak would wander the area in a daze, high on mercury fumes, after their shifts.

You'll see that same thousand-yard stare on dust-covered folks who wander into this storied restaurant/watering hole on the Draw, but today's victims are just a little pooped out from hiking the Peak, which is now, of course, called Piestewa.

And there's nothing like two or three original hand-tossed margaritas and some fresh fish tacos on the foliage-choked patio at Aunt Chilada's (which sits on the original site of the general store that served the Rio Mine) to snap a poor hiker back to reality.

Those who trek on weekend mornings can look forward to the special brunch menu, which includes a gurgling chocolate fountain. Yum.

The concept of adult kickball got its start in our nation's capital, where over-educated and underpaid young professionals used the semi-ironic playing of a children's sport to take out their aggression, hide their shameful post-college binge drinking, and find suitable hookups. Perhaps it's the gorgeous weather, or maybe it's the party atmosphere created by that boozed-up college in Tempe, but Phoenix is now one of the top kickball-playing towns in the country.

For better or worse, there are up to a dozen different leagues running around the Valley at any time, all of them offering some variation of the drink/kick/catch/cheer/drink formula that's slowly making the sport of softball obsolete. A squishy ball and lackadaisical pace make kickball safer than most recreational sports, and the gently sloping learning curve is novice-friendly, which is why your gym teacher had you play it as a kid. As we said, you have tons of choices — the city of Scottsdale even runs an odd league where you can drink beer on the field under the watchful eye of city-paid employees — but we prefer the original, WAKA, which offers less playing time than some leagues but is a lot more fun.

When it comes to surviving summers here, Phoenicians are ready to pull out all the stops, from breaking out the water hose to sneaking into someone's pool. A whole genre of swim-and-drink nights at local hotels have even blossomed over the past few years to keep us cool. Other options around town, though, leave us, um, cold. Many local waterparks have roving bands of adolescents set on remaking Lord of the Flies, while floating the Salt River has too much of a low-budget Girls Gone Wild vibe going on. That's why The Oasis waterpark at the Arizona Grand Resort appeals so much to us. In addition to their eight-story water slide, their huge wave pool, and their 25-person hot tub, they've been spotlighted by The Travel Channel as one of the top 10 waterparks in the country.

We're not sure what we like more about this place: the pools, the views, or the architecture (considering we spent more time admiring Phil Weddle's rusted steel and glass aquatic center building than we spent actually swimming). Not only does this place feature myriad aquatic options — including an eight-lane lap pool, a diving well with four diving boards, a really big (and kinda scary) tube water slide, a zero-depth-entry play pool, a splash pad, and a 600-foot lazy river — it's got views of the McDowell Mountains and a captivating public art piece titled Cactus Mirage by Nori Sato (only in Scottsdale will you find nationally recognized public art at a swimming pool). But this awesomeness comes at a price. Be prepared to pay $30 for a family of four if you're not a Scottsdale resident. To be honest, we felt a bit like the caddies crashing the country club pool in Caddyshack, which is funny because there was a Caddyshack-esque "incident" that particular day — and it cleared the kiddy pool for half an hour. Despite all that, it's a beautiful facility, loads of fun, and totally worth the trip.

One of the crown jewels of any local high-end hotel undoubtedly is its sumptuous swimming pool. For instance, the W Scottsdale boasts an opulent oasis of white sandy beaches, glowing fire pits, and relaxing cabanas. Meanwhile, the swank swim tank at the Mondrian Scottsdale is a cerulean-colored lagoon of lavishness usually frequented by skinny and stylish bikini-clad chickadees. Both are luxurious relaxation destinations for A-listers and well-heeled types who want to take a leisurely dip. And unless you're a paid guest, your freeloading ass ain't allowed.

Not so at the Clarendon, where the CenPho boutique hotel opens its chic pool to the public daily from 6 a.m. until midnight (weather and holidays permitting) for $10 per person, which includes use of towels and sunscreen. If you're living a threadbare existence, get a taste of how the other half lives as you take an extended repose either in the crystal blue waters or by soaking your carcass in the 50-person spa.

Keep in mind there's one caveat: Appropriate swimwear is requested. In other words, do the world a favor and ditch the greasy cutoffs and your "Home of the Whopper" T-shirt in favor of some more modest board shorts.

The Dolly Steamboat markets itself as the "Junior Grand Canyon Tour," and Teddy Roosevelt compared the area favorably to the Alps, but we prefer to think of Canyon Lake as a stand-in for the Mississippi — at least when you're aboard the Dolly Steamboat. This recently restored sightseeing boat cruises the lake like Tom Sawyer once did down south. Though the big-wheeled boat floats like something from Mark Twain's era, the rocky landscape in the deep valley of the lake is uniquely Western. As you cruise, the captain will tell you about the history of the Apache Trail, and point to the bighorn sheep, coyote, deer, bobcats, and mountain lions that are often visible from the decks. Coyotes and bobcats? Golly, Huck, that's mighty scary!

As much as we love Phoenix, sometimes we need to get the hell out of Dodge for a day or two to collect our thoughts and find our center. Lately, there is only one place that comes to mind when the urge to disappear strikes us: the Shady Dell. Located in historic Bisbee, the Shady Dell RV park has nine beautifully decorated vintage Airstream trailers for guests to stay in. If the prospect of living it up trailer park-style with your own Astroturf yard doesn't seal the deal for you, it's worth mentioning that downtown Bisbee and its funky shops and restaurants are just five minutes away. With a cool tiki vibe, a 1950s-style diner and cabin names like "El Rey" and "Homemade," it's easy to get wrapped up in the Dell's kitschy goodness.

The drive to Wild Horse Pass is 20 minutes from central Phoenix, but as soon as you check in, you'll feel like you flew a thousand miles. The resort's signature restaurant, Kai, got Mobil's five-star rating this year and, thanks to the down economy, it's offering a "Kai Cares" prix fixe menu for $59. At the spa, Aji, you can indulge in a "native herbs cleansing wrap." And if the piped-in Native American flute music starts to be a bit much, you can ride a gondola over to Rawhide or drop 20 bucks at the casino. In all, it's a great getaway for your staycation.

If you've ever had fantasies of being Caesar or Cleopatra, a day at the Joya Spa is an absolute must. Joya's "Hammam" bath revives the ancient Roman tradition of the bathhouse. For $45, you get a scrub, herbal steam in rose mist, whirlpool, sauna, and refreshingly brisk shower. And that's just the beginning of the royal treatment. To compliment a dozen massage types from Thai to neuromuscular to stone therapy, Joya's signature body product line includes creams infused with real gold, sapphire, diamonds, and a "secret" night-blooming cactus blossom. We left feeling like butter after the spa's signature Joyambrosia massage with heated Moroccan "liquid gold" argan oil, and we can only imagine what we'd be willing to do after the pricier Moroccan sour cherry wrap or the two-hour Restorative Sleep Ritual. Bribe, anyone?

When you hear the words "walking tour," inspirational may not be what comes to mind. But the tour at Taliesin West, former winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, just may prod the creative genius in you. Regardless of your medium, this place will make you think. Always willing to go against conventional wisdom, FLW left his fingerprints all over the Valley. Taliesin West, built in the 1930s, is the headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and winter session of the school of architecture. Get a taste by taking one of several tours offered. They range from one to three hours in length. Prices vary accordingly, from $27-60, and include mid-morning tea. On the Desert Shelter tour, architecture students show you up-close living quarters they have constructed. The Insights tour features the Wright's living quarters and living room.

A typical city can't offer its residents a fully stocked lake right in the center of town — more likely, you'll get a polluted river full of mercury-filled carp and hypodermic needles. Lucky for us, this is not your typical city. Tempe Town Lake is filled and refilled with 12 species of fish, including rainbow trout, large-mouth bass, and flathead catfish. For $23.50 a year for Tempe residents, and $70.25 for everybody else, you can cast off from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. all year long.

No, they don't sell Perrier in the pro shop, some of the courts occasionally are dotted with leaves, and the noise factor from the nearby streets can be a pain. But we'll take this city-run tennis mecca any day, if only because it's cheap, the lights are good, and, if you learn how to play your cards right, it's easy to make a reservation for one of the 22 hard courts. Head tennis pro Matt Peck is an exceptionally nice fellow, and his teaching business always seems to be booming. And who can resist that scruffy little terrier named Spice always hanging around, yellow tennis ball in her mouth, surveying her domain? Helpful hint: If you can help it, don't sign up for one of the courts that abuts 21st Avenue. You may be just about to hit that nasty serve of yours when some turkey will drive by and honk at ya, just for fun.

Some may take issue with giving this award to a place that charges for an activity that's typically free, but look at it this way: The hoopin' has gotta be good if it's all pay-to-play (not much, only a few duckets). Encanto is Phoenix's one-and-only spot for finding legendary pickup games that parallel those found in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Said another way, you'll rarely find armchair hoopers trying to work out their remote-control elbow on this concrete court. Basketballing hours are from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

When the downtown Y remodeled its facility a few years ago, it upgraded the wooden upstairs b-ball court. The result is a full-on awesome gym — minus the creaky floorboards and dead spots in the paint. Don't have an indoor-worthy basketball? No problem, because you can rent one free of charge at the front desk, whether you're playing a game of H-O-R-S-E, running full-court in a pickup contest, or playing in a competitive five-on-five league. You either have to be a member or have a guest pass to enter the facility.

We love the egalitarian nature of this friendly north Phoenix "cage." The pitching machine on one end of this clean and spacious outdoor facility flips in strikes slow enough that a determined 8-year-old can feel comfortable going for it. Down on the other end, a burly slow-pitch type can pretend to be Babe Ruth (beer-ball style) on every pitch. In the middle sits the mighty "Big Unit," a hard-balling machine named after ex-Diamondbacks great Randy Johnson. It hits 80 miles per hour — which is about 20 miles per hour less than the surly southpaw reached regularly in his prime — and presents a nice challenge to most hitters. Twenty balls — most of them over the plate — for just a buck. Can't beat it.

It might be called a "golf club," but Fiesta Lakes, a down-home par three (tucked behind a Hilton and an abandoned Best Buy across from Fiesta Mall) is anything but fancy. The parking lot is gravel and the clubhouse is a trailer. This is the kind of course you won't feel self-conscious playing in cut-offs and flip-flops, which is why we like it. The driving range is the real delight, though: tree-lined and with the sort of rough but functional grass that reminds us of courses in the Midwest. You get a bucket of balls by putting a token in a rusty old contraption that looks as if it might be steam-powered, and then you can practice your swing off real tees instead of those annoying rubber tubes. And at $4 a bucket, it's the sort of bargain you're unlikely to find other places this close to town.

Purists everywhere will tell you that to truly play golf you have to walk. They are wrong. The truth is, walking sucks, and in the middle of a hot summer, it sucks hard. That's why someone invented the golf cart, and the Kierland Golf Club offers a nearly perfect version. Over time, the golf cart has evolved to include things like onboard beer coolers and cup holders. Now it's common to have a GPS and digital scorecards. During this great period of innovation in leisure and laziness, Kierland took what was already state of the art and cooled it off with golf carts equipped with G2 air conditioners designed by a Phoenix-based company, Coolwell Inc.

Golfers at Kierland can cruise the course in the Cadillac of carts in total comfort, even in the summer. Now all they need to do is design a cart that'll teach us how to hit the ball straight.

It sets up as a deceptively easy shot, even for duffers like us. About 180 yards dead ahead from tee to pin, maybe uphill a hair. Piece of cake, right? Nope. First, there's that big trap that looms to the immediate left of the green. Damned thing seems to call golf balls like an invisible siren. To the right of the green is a ridge that runs down toward a waterway that separates the course from the city's adjacent Enchanted Island Amusement Park. We've hit into that water more times than we'd like to admit. But it's the green itself that's the real killer. Depending on pin placement (which never seems to be generous), it's near impossible to get the ball to stop near the hole, especially if those greenskeepers diabolically put the flag on the edge of the upper tier. Putting uphill on number five is flat-out treacherous, because if you don't hit it hard enough, the ball might come right back to you. And if you're putting downhill, well, beware of sending it right off the green. Encanto is Arizona's third-oldest golf course. We only can imagine how many triple-bogeys have been recorded here. We personally know of at least five. But we'll really try not to make it six.

With the arrival of the snowbirds comes the most dreaded day in the life of any brave Phoenix summer golfer: September 1, winter-rates day at many Valley courses. It's like having cold water thrown in your face. The course you played for months at $15 a round instantly triples in price. You say to yourself, "But nothing's changed. It's the same course!" Only it has changed; people actually want to play golf when it's less than 115 degrees outside. Ken McDonald understands your pain. The par 72 championship course is scenic and always in great shape. They just got brand new carts and, most importantly, you can still play on the cheap. Winter rates at Ken McDonald fluctuate but rarely go above $38, and a round can be as low as $28. So don't put your clubs in the closet for the winter or settle for crappy executive courses; go to Ken McDonald.

Troon North is one of the premier golf courses in the world; but who's planning a trip to the Valley in the summer? That's when a devoted local golfer needs to pounce on the countless deals available.

For July and August, you can double-bogey your way through Troon for about $50 per round. This past summer, Troon offered a two-round package that came with a $140 Callaway golf bag. The package itself cost $140. So if you happen to need a new golf bag next summer, check with Troon; maybe you can buy a golf bag and get two rounds free. Makes heat stroke seem downright delightful.

The NBA is notorious for outrageous ticket prices. But we have discovered a relatively affordable way to see Steve Nash and the boys in person. The trick: Pick a corner, any corner. Only Shaq could have afforded seats parallel to the court, and end zone seats, while cheap, limit your view of what's happening on the other side of the floor and are therefore worthless (unless you only want to watch half the game). For $20.50, you can sit in section 231, row 6, seat 15, and have a full view of the whole court. You're still pretty close to the clouds, but lucky for us, basketball players happen to be quite tall.

Let us not forget, the Arizona Cardinals are the improbable NFC champs. They took us all the way to the Super Bowl last year. If you don't go to a game this year to show your support and at least say, "Thank you," you deserve to live in Tucson. Tickets, however, are pricey; some cost as much as $430 each. Don't waste your money. Section 437 is where it's at. For $40, you're not even sitting in the nosebleed section, and you have a great parallel angle of the field. There are $60 seats where the view is a little better. However, for a true fan — who just spent three hours in the parking lot with a 30-pack, a funnel, and your most immature friends — by the time you actually get inside the stadium, you shouldn't care where you're sitting.

In case you've forgotten — and judging by Phoenix Coyotes attendance records, you have — Phoenix has a hockey team. For how long is anyone's guess; they did just file for bankruptcy and almost moved to Canada (where people might actually go watch them). Well, while they're still here, is there anywhere to sit in Jobing.com Arena and not feel like you just got robbed? Of course! We've got the best seat in the house for you, for only $15. Right in the corner of the arena, section 205 gives you a great angle on all the action without the high prices that are keeping Phoenicians from actually going to the games. Hockey is an awesome sport. Check it out (while you still can).

After the Diamondbacks' atrocious season, it's hard to believe that anyone would still want to go to a game, no matter how cheap the seats are. It's a good thing they're in the same division as the Dodgers or they might not ever fill that place again. Chase Field is one of the best stadiums in all of baseball, and to be honest, there really isn't a bad seat. The best seat for your buck, though: anything in Section 108. Section 108 offers a great view of the field and hovers right over the opposing team's bullpen. And for $15, you can do something in Section 108 that you can't do in any other section of the stadium: Scream your head off at the opposing pitchers while they warm up. To any true fan, that's almost better than sitting in the dugout.

For the softballer who gets drunk in the parking lot before the game, and doesn't hold twice-weekly practice, any dusty old field will do. For the serious athlete, Big League Dreams Sports Park has the only fields worthy of such talent.

The park has eight replicas of iconic professional baseball stadiums like Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Yankee Stadium, scaled down to softball field-size dimensions. At Big League Dreams, you can hit one over Fenway's "Green Monster," touch the ivy at Wrigley, or take the mound at Yankee Stadium.

The stadiums will make you feel so much like a professional baseball player, you're gonna want to do steroids.

The "ballpark village" known as Goodyear Ballpark, Cactus League home of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds, cost $100 million to build. Camelback Ranch Stadium, the spring digs of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, features a fish-filled lake, a sunken playing field, and practice fields that mimic the exact dimensions of Dodger Stadium and Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field. By comparison, the city's dear old Phoenix Muni may seem a little drab, but if you're an open-air baseball geek, the preseason home of the Oakland A's has everything you require: warm sun, cold beer, a perfectly groomed field, and cozy environs with not a bad seat in the 7,885-seat house. And with the red buttes of Papago Park towering over the left-field fence, Muni exudes the kind of old-school Cactus League charm that even 100 million bucks can't buy.

Picking your favorite spring training ballpark is like picking your favorite Beatle: Even if you're comfortable with your choice, you have to concede there are certain merits to the options you've passed up. Still, having been to every park in Arizona, we give the nod to Glendale's $100 million Camelback Ranch, home to the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. As one of the brand-new Cactus League parks, it's got all the amenities of Chase Field in an intimate setting that mirrors the atmosphere in the best old-time ballparks. Parking is a cinch, the ushers aren't as Draconian about seat-sneaking as what you'll find at, say, Peoria Sports Complex, and the Chicago-style hot dogs are cheaper and tastier than the ones the Cubbies sell in Mesa. The architecture is what really sets this park apart, though: The copper-colored oxidized steel shell of the grandstand blends beautifully into the surrounding countryside, the gently sloping lawn unfolds gracefully inside the gate, and the Gabion stone retaining walls add a fresh modern touch. The overall atmosphere is still far from a finished product, and will come as the park is broken in, but it's already our favorite place to watch a game.

Sports are cool and all, but we like cheering for our favorite team sans the beer swilling, chicken-wing flatulence, and bro-dude'ing. For something more our non-jock speed, we like to watch the big game at the First Amendment Forum at the Walter Cronkite School in downtown Phoenix. The school shows the majority of the ASU football games (both home and away) as well as some ASU men's basketball clashes and the Super Bowl on a big projection screen. There's no cover and free popcorn is served.

We talked to a great many Phoenix sports fans in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, but only one really sticks out: Clayton Jacobson of Parker, Arizona. Jacobson is a California native, the son of the man who invented the Jet Ski, but has adopted the Cards with a fervor we'd love to see in all local sports fans. Jacobson, who figured prominently in our cover story about Cardinals fans and also got his mug on the front page of the Arizona Republic, has the homemade signs and head-to-toe team gear, sure, but what really impressed us is his attitude. Jacobson absolutely refused to endure the self-defeating attitude of the namby-pamby Cards fans eager to throw in the towel after every setback in the Redbirds' historic season, even threatening hometown fans with physical violence when they expressed doubt in their team during the NFC Championship game. There's definitely no one in town we'd rather watch the game with than Jacobson.

We're Gambo & Ash evacuees. Ironically, we've gravitated to the time slot formerly held by the Valley's No. 1 sports-gab team, who remain at the top by being abrasive, controversial for its own sake, and downright mean to their yahoo callers. (Representative call from last March. Ash to a caller: "You're a moron." Gambo: "Yeah. You should go stick your head in a toilet.") Obviously, some people like that out-yahooing-the-yahoos kind of thing. For us, it's grown stale.

When John Gambadoro and Mark Asher quit XTRA for a big payday at KTAR in late 2006, they left a sucking p.m. vacuum at their longtime radio home that was finally filled early in '09 when the tandem of Dan Bickley and Mike Jurecki moved from morning drive to afternoons to compete directly with G&A.

Bickley's the Energizer Bunny of local sports, holding down afternoon drive 20 hours a week and — for his real job — cranking out crackerjack column after crackerjack column for the Arizona Republic. Bickley's a first-class radio presence — literate, knowledgeable, the ultimate hale-fellow-well-met. Longtime reporter Jurecki is an NFL/Cardinals insider and a straight shooter bar none.

Colin Cowherd is that know-it-all kid on the playground who all the big, stupid kids wanna slug. But while the meatheads grew up to be janitors and solid-waste technicians, Cowherd parlayed his wit and wiles into this big-time gig with "The Mothership" — ESPN Radio.

And don't he know it.

He's the most arrogant SOB on the 'waves (well, not counting Rush Limbaugh) and our pick for most fearless. In addition to calling it like it is in the general sports world, the former baseball play-by-play man and TV sports anchor frequently bites the hand that feeds, sticking it to the powers that be at ESPN.

Mostly, though, Cowherd's show is an oasis for the non-meatheads of the world, particularly those on the West Coast. Though The Mothership keeps him close to the vest in Bristol, Connecticut, the Washington State native purposefully plays to Western markets, especially Southern California and Phoenix. The Herd is the best consistent place to go for national analysis of the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns.

Not only is IndyCar driver Danica Patrick super-hot — she landed in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue twice — but she's super-fast, too. The Scottsdale resident was named Rookie of the Year for the 2005 Indianapolis 500, finished fourth at the Indy 500 that same year (the highest Indy 500 finish ever for a woman), and she became the first woman to ever win an Indy Car race last year, at the Indy Japan 500. Patrick also finished the 2008 IndyCar Series in sixth place, the highest ranking for an American driver in the series that year. She's even brought her speed-demon ethic to the streets of Scottsdale, where she's received two speeding tickets. You go, girl!

It may seem odd to select the Phoenix College Bears fast-pitch softball squad as the Valley's best team in a year when they didn't win the national championship. After all, the school had won five previous nationals in a row, a remarkable feat by any measure. But, heck, they finished second (to a team from Normal, Illinois) and destroyed the local competition for the 10th straight season. The Bears consistently rank high in academics, which counts for something in our book. For a body of work that grabbed our attention years ago and continues to shine, Phoenix College softball hits a home run in our park.

The former coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack and 2004 Atlantic Coach Conference Coach of the Year has done the impossible, if not unthinkable, by putting ASU's beleaguered program back on the rails in recent years. Still, some contend he's not even the best skipper on his own campus, citing ASU baseball's Pat Murphy and ASU women's basketball's Charli Turner Thorne. Still others, gazing enviously southward, believe Sendek's star has been somewhat eclipsed by the University of Arizona's coup earlier this year in snagging recruiting whiz kid Sean Miller from mid-major powerhouse Xavier.

Nothing against Murphy, Turner Thorne, or former Sendek acolyte Miller, but in terms of pure coaching ability, Sendek rules the Arizona roost. There's no better whiteboard guru in the country, and his track record with the X's and O's in Tempe — hardly a basketball school — bears that out. Taking over for the hapless Rob Evans in 2006, Sendek led the Devils to the National Invitational Tournament in 2007 and the promised land, the NCAA Tournament, last year.

If Herb can keep a few of those blue-chip recruits from falling into Sean Miller's greedy hands — and ASU athletic director Lisa Love can keep other programs' greedy mitts off Sendek — this guy's got the hardwood chops to transform ASU into a perennial NCAA Sweet 16 entry.

The following adjectives aptly describe the controversial longtime ASU coach: bullheaded, mercurial, self-absorbed. Also: witty, loyal, sensitive. We like our high-profile coaches complicated, and none is more so than Murphy, who won his 1,000th game during this year's College World Series, where his overachieving Sun Devils finished an impressive third. Murph, as he's known to many, has his fans — and detractors. The latter consider him a brutish sort with a temperament more suited to a mean-spirited corrections officer than to a college baseball coach. We're in the fan category, having watched him coach (and watched him mature) during his 15-plus years at the helm of ASU's storied baseball program. He may not be Mr. Lovable come game time, but his players work their butts off for him and constantly produce — or else.

All the sports pontificators like to predict that the Arizona Cardinals won't make it to the Super Bowl again next season. They like to say that losing teams in recent Super Bowls have tended to tank, some failing to boast even a winning record the next year.

All true. But, despite that opening-game loss, we believe the Cards will be better. We're not crazy enough to say they will make it to the Super Bowl again, but we think they will go far in the post-season. Look at the team roster. All the key offensive players will be back: Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, a much-improved offensive line. Who won't be back is Edgerrin James, a great running back in his time who was over the hill by the time he donned Cardinals red and white.

In his place will be Chris "Beanie" Wells, the most punishing runner available in last year's NFL draft of college players. The Ohio State phenom is a 6-foot-1, 235-pound pile driver who ranks fourth (and he left college a year early) on the perennially nationally ranked Buckeyes' all-time rushing list with 3,382 yards. Wells entered last season as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy but was hampered, missing three games, after he injured his right foot in OSU's season opener. But, by season's end, he still ranked sixth nationally in rushing with almost 120 yards per game.

The Cards already have Tim Hightower, a bulldozer of a back who started much of last season over James, but he's no Beanie Wells. The rookie should add a running dimension that the team hasn't possessed in recent memory. A long-yardage threat, as well as a guy who can bust it in on the goal line, he will compliment what last year was predominantly a passing game. If Wells makes the smooth transition into the pros that everybody predicts he will, opposing teams will be hard-pressed to adjust to the Cards' attack. He's a fearsome addition to an offense that was fourth in the league last year without him.

We've had our issues with the owners of the Arizona Cardinals. Mostly because Bill and Michael Bidwill fielded such lousy teams over the years. They ran the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Football League, a team that hadn't won a championship since they were the Chicago Cardinals in 1947, and hadn't made the playoffs since 1982 as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yada, yada, they sucked. But why did they suck? Well, the answer was always the Bidwills, who were seemingly too tight-fisted to compete in the cash-happy modern NFL. There were bad drafts, bad trades; a low bottom line always seemed to be what the Bidwills relished. Over a winning season, much less making the playoffs or going to the Super Bowl. Daddy Bill always complained about having to play so long at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium, complaining that certain locals hadn't made good on a promise to build a stadium for his team.

Well, finally a new stadium was built in Glendale and, damn, if son Michael didn't hire a viable new coach a couple of seasons ago and start fielding a competitive team. Nobody can say the Bidwills are cheap anymore. Not after making starting quarterback Kurt Warner happy in the off-season with a $23 million, two-year contract; not after signing backup QB Matt Leinart in 2006 to a $51 million, six-year deal; not after giving star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald a $40 million contract renewal after the '07 season; not after signing former Ohio State running back Beanie Wells to a five-year, $11.8 million rookie deal recently.

But, most importantly, the Bidwills had smarts enough to bring in Ken Whisenhunt, the former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, as head coach. He was a bargain at $2.5 million a year, considering that it's Whisenhunt who makes the Cardinals go. He's a coach who makes players believe and backed it up with an 8-8 season and a Super Bowl berth.

And, hey, the Cardinals not only competed in the Super Bowl but damn near won it against Whisenhunt's old team, the Steelers. And we have no reason to believe that the Cards can't do it again with Whisenhunt in charge (we know, we know — Super Bowl losers historically don't do well the next season, but the others didn't have The Whiz). Fact is, the Bidwills, with Whisenhunt's direction, have put together an even better roster than last year's. Now that they've opened up their wallets and given us a contender, we must give Bill and Michael Bidwell their due as the best owners in this desperate-for-a-winner desert.

We had such high hopes for Steve Kerr, even though he seemed to have lackluster interest in leaving the broadcast booth and serving as an NBA general manager from the start. The guy was almost always a winner when he wore NBA short pants, but we're not so sure he's got the stuff to be a successful suit. Fact is, it could be argued that he's run the Phoenix Suns into a boulder, with the short-lived Shaq acquisition from the Miami Heat, losing Mike D'Antoni to the Gotham Knicks, and hiring Terry Porter to replace him. Kerr wanted D'Antoni to stress defense and use his bench (both good things), but Kerr should've coughed up more management moxie to keep the proud coach around. Because what has followed has been a disaster.

The fast-paced Suns that D'Antoni fostered couldn't play the low-post game necessary to accommodate Shaq effectively, Terry Porter's hard-assed style grated on the out-of-synch team, and the Suns didn't make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Now Shaq's traded to the Cleveland Cavs, Porter's replaced by nurturing Coach Alvin Gentry, and all should be well, right? Well, yes, if Kerr could make some killer off-season moves to acquire at least one great complimentary player to Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, whose future is unsure because of health and contract issues.

So far, all Kerr's done during the break is re-sign aging journeyman Grant Hill and draft a possibly promising rookie. He and owner Robert Sarver seem content to floor a mediocre team for the foreseeable future, for budget reasons — fans be damned. Obviously, we're not all that thrilled with the tight-fisted Sarver, but we think it's time he put Kerr out to pasture or send him back to what he does best post-retirement as a player — swinging golf clubs. Time to find a professional GM who can put together the pieces to make the Suns a contender again.

We attended a game not long after the All-Star break that proved Dan Haren is human. He gave up more than three runs for only the second time all season. On an Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff that has been mostly dismal this year, Haren's been simply the best pitcher in the National League.

Okay, there's the San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum, but we think Haren's better. He may not have a better won-lost record than Lincecum, but Lincecum's on a much better team. Haren's team, on the other hand, was terrible offensively for much of the season. For the All-Star Game, there was big debate about whether Lincecum or Haren should start. And, from where we sit, Dan "The Man" was robbed. Though his record suffered because (during more than a few ace pitching performances) his offense couldn't put runs on the scoreboard, he had the best ERA in the game.

He throws hard, he's got breaking stuff, changeups. He keeps hitters guessing. We also like him because our significant other always lets us watch the game when he's on the mound. At a muscular 6-foot-5, with long dark hair, she always says, "He's too dreamy to be a baseball player" — harkening to pitcher pug-uglies like Randy Johnson, Chad Qualls, and Brandon Webb.

Mark Reynolds is a slugger, and with that comes strikeouts. But the Diamondbacks' third baseman, who has 42 home runs to lead the team at presstime, also has 200 strikeouts, on pace to lead the majors in whiffs again. Oh, he's also on pace to almost lead the majors in homers. Only the incredible Albert Pujos, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and perennial power hitter, has more homers at presstime, 47. Striking out is nothing new for Reynolds. He struck out 204 times last year to set a major league record for a single season (such an honor!).

But Reynolds is only 26, and this was his third season in the majors. He gets better every year as a slugger, improving his home run total hugely over the '08 season when he had 28. His batting average also went from .239 to .272. Despite the strikeouts, he's a keeper for the D-Backs.

It's hard to remember now, but Brandon Webb was an even better pitcher than the phenomenal Dan Haren. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2006 and was the ace of the Arizona pitching staff. Though he couldn't have saved the Diamondbacks from this season's weak hitting, Webb would've made them much better.

If reports are true, could be that Webby will never again don D-Backs Sedona red. There's nothing fair about this (especially to fans). Webb was sidelined with what was at first described as "shoulder stiffness" after his first start of the 2009 season. Nobody among D-Backs brass was officially worried. But the prognosis for his return kept getting worse and worse. Then he had season-ending surgery.

Our guess is that Webb will be back and as strong as ever. Someday. But, as bad luck for Snakes fans would have it, his contract's getting in the way. Webb's will expire at season's end. Arizona holds an option for next season for $8.5 million, but team officials could buy Webb out for $2 million.

The question is, will a team that's getting more and more cost-conscious because of the floundering economy keep a gimpy pitching star around? But would the team want to see the 30-year-old go on to have his best years somewhere else? We hope D-Backs brass bets on him, because somebody else will.

We're not saying Anquan Boldin isn't a stud. He's about as tough a National Football League player as they come. He's a great receiver. Who knows how great he would be if he hadn't gotten his face broken trying to catch a Kurt Warner pass in the Arizona Cardinals 56-35 regular-season loss to the New York Jets last September 28. Boldin was Warner's main target in the game, catching 10 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He and fellow wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had made the best receiving tandem in the league, and because of the injury, Boldin missed four games.

In the interim, Fitzgerald became the dominant force on the Cardinals and in the league. Then the drama, which began when Boldin had requested a trade following the 2007 season, began again full force. Boldin and his agent whined incessantly that Anquan wasn't being treated fairly because Fitzgerald had signed a four-year, $40 million contract renewal. Meantime, the Cardinals refused to renegotiate Boldin's deal, which now has two years and $12 million left on it.

After his return to action, Q and his agent bitched to the media about how unhappy he was and how he wouldn't play for the Cardinals after the 2008 season without that new contract. It's hard for mere mortals to understand where a guy like Boldin's coming from — how much money does he need?

We love Eric Byrnes, with his crazy hair and hip clothing line. His Eric Byrnes Show on Fox Sports is a hoot, especially the one where he donned a safari outfit and cleaned up elephant shit for a day at the Phoenix Zoo. We loved him as a player, too, when he was in the middle of the lineup a couple of seasons ago and batted around .300.

Unfortunately, maybe he should consider picking up animal turds as his next job, because — after landing that three-year, $30 million contract in 2007 — his career's gone to shit. He's struggled to bat his weight over the past two seasons. He's listed as tipping the scales at 215, though with all that time off . . . Which brings up the point that many of you will make — Eric's gone bad because of injuries: hamstring problems in 2008 and a broken bone in his left hand that required surgery and kept him in the dugout for most of '09.

True, to an extent. But he was going around telling everybody he'd never felt better just before he went down June 25, and he was hitting so poorly that he fell out of the starting lineup. By the time he went down with the latest injury, he was batting .216. The previous season, he could blame the hamstring for his dismal .209 average. But what's his excuse for the crappy offense this year, when he was brimming with health? Hardly the stuff of a $30 million man. His contract is up after next season, and not a minute too soon for the D-Backs.

Long after spring training is over, even after the Diamondbacks have ended their season, baseball fantasies are fed here in Phoenix. Every fall, the Valley becomes a Neverland for men who want to live out their childhood dreams of playing hardball.

The Men's Senior Baseball League hosts its annual World Series at spring training facilities (as well as some college and high school fields) in the Valley each year and gives teams of grown men from across the country, playing in age groups from 18 to 70, a chance to come enjoy the weather and play ball for almost three weeks.

The group sees softball as the enemy, in a half-hearted attempt to hold true to the baseball values these men learned as children. They are devoted to the purity of the game and think that anything related to baseball that can be done with people from the office, coed, or drunk, is a disgrace to the game. Trust us, they're a load of fun to watch.

A few thousand college kids high on wrapping up their semester and an endorsement to take their clothes off — what could go wrong? Turns out it's a lot less than you may think. In the past two years, ASU has celebrated the semester's end with a massive on-campus party during which students strip down to their undies. Their discarded clothing goes to charity and the students take a run around the campus. In 2009, so many clothes were taken off that ASU was able to fill a U-Haul truck with the donated clothing. Of course, how the generous students get dressed again is completely up to them.

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Improv AZ and the AZ Cacophony Society had already thrown time-stop and pillow-fight flash mobs when they decided to take it up a notch. The mission: create original superhero or villain identities, make those creations manifest through costume, and do battle with each other at Scottsdale Fashion Square. On June 27, costumed crusaders armed with swimming pool "noodles" and marshmallow guns "fought" for truth and justice (and something to laugh about at the bar afterward). Our favorite heroes included Musical Theater Girl, Dark Elvis, and The Human Recliner.

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Word to the wise: You don't wanna to piss off Ann Thrash or any of the other fierce-looking females who populate the Valley's roller-derby scene.

Like many in the roller-girl sisterhood, the punky 36-year-old has become skilled in hand-to-hand combat as captain of the Arizona Derby Dames' Runaway Brides squad. Wielding hands of stone and the ability to land her elbow in some uncomfortable places, Thrash can not only put your lights out but can do so while wearing a pair of Riedell track skates.

Said skills are of vital importance to the gals and grrls who've dished out ass-kickings aplenty over the past six years as amateur flat-track roller derby has exploded in popularity in the Valley. Once a staple of '70s fringe culture, the all-female sport was revived by California punks and feminists in the early Aughts and has since spread nationwide. (There's even a Drew Barrymore-directed roller-derby flick coming out in October).

Since migrating to Phoenix in 2003, it's become an infamous part of the local alt-culture landscape. Three different leagues (the Derby Dames, the Renegade Rollergirls, and Arizona Roller Derby) have sprung up, each holding monthly matches at venues such as Tempe's Surfside Skateland and Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

It isn't hard summing up roller derby's allure: Tough-as-nails women (many of whom are of the tattooed-and-pierced bent) clad in fishnets and miniskirts batter each other while circling an oval track and soaking up the cheers and jeers of bloodthirsty crowds. What's not to love?

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For many comic book artists, it would have been enough to be the guy who breathed new life into Spider-Man. Not Todd McFarlane, a Canadian we're happy to say now calls the Valley home. He didn't rest 'til he'd built an empire — complete with a wildly successful series that spawned an animated TV series, a full-length film, a line of action figures. Along the way he opened a toy store, directed music videos and designed realistic sports action figures for the NBA, MLB, and NHL. As Spawn reaches issue 300, we're delighted to report that McFarlane is back to the drawing board — writing and illustrating the comic himself, just like the old days.

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Long ago, Big Surf meant school was out and the beach — such as it was — was open. We wee Gidgets and mini Moondoggies pulled on our snorkels and grabbed our boogie boards and headed to Tempe to enjoy America's original water park, which was a fake "ocean" with a giant wave machine buried in its big, wet belly.

Today, we take our kids there. Big Surf Tempe is 20 acres of body slides, tube slides, speed slides, water basketball and volleyball, and children's play area. That wave pool is still there, only now it's grown to hold more than 2 million gallons of water on which beachgoers can body surf or just splash straight into its watery depths on one of Big Surf's 15 water slides. Elsewhere, beach bunnies will find several themed areas, one with little-kid water features that won't frighten the younger set, like the Tahitian Twisters, a pair of smaller but still swell slides that scaredy-cat moms will like, too.

At summer's end, Big Surf panicked the masses by announcing it was going out of business. We now hear that's not true; we're crossing our fingers and toes that we'll be able to hang 10 next year.

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Tucked away behind State Route 143, near Sky Harbor airport, Pueblo Grande isn't easy to find — but it sure is worth the search. This half-museum, half-archeological park transports visitors back nearly 1,500 years to the crumbling capital of the ancient Hohokam civilization.

We suggest starting with the 10-minute video introduction to the prehistoric ruins before grabbing one of the museum's giant umbrellas and heading outside. Follow the winding red path to see what remains of the ancient Hohokam village, the mysterious "platform mount," irrigation system, preserved adobe compounds, pithouses, garden, and ball court.

The air-conditioned museum is a welcome respite from the hot sun and offers an overview of what it may have been like to live as a Hohokam in the Salt River Valley centuries ago. Interested in archeology? Here, you can learn some of the basics. Whether you're an ancient-history geek or just looking for a way to spend a hot summer's day, it's definitely worth the $6 entry fee.

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Forget about T.O. (that would be Terrell Owens), Randy Moss, Chad Ochocinco, Steve Smith. Andre Johnson, okay?! Larry Fitzgerald, he of our very own NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, is the best wide receiver in the professional game today. He's big, he's sure-handed, he's money.

Everybody liked to marvel at aged Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner's renewed prowess last season, and it was something to behold. But, without Fitzgerald, Warner wouldn't have bridged that gap between above-average and good/great. Fitz is a QB's dream: a big, 6-foot-3, sticky-fingered wideout with huge leaping ability who rarely misses a pass in his vicinity. And who, when he gets his hands on the pigskin, advances it up the field because he's so freakin' hard to bring down.

Look at his incredible post-season, which wound up with the Cardinals (the Cardinals!) going to the Super Bowl. During the NFC title game, which the Cards won 32-25 over the Philadelphia Eagles, Fitzgerald became the first player in history to catch three touchdown passes in a conference championship game. In the post-season, he set a record with 546 receiving yards, 30 receptions, and seven TD catches. The fact that the Cardinals eventually lost 27-23 to the Steelers in the Super Bowl had nothing to do with Fitzgerald (it was about the defense's inability to hold a lead): He caught two touchdown passes in the game.

During the 16-game regular season, Fitzgerald led all NFL receivers in efficiency. He caught 96 of 154 passes for 1,434 yards and 12 TDs. His longest regular-season catch was good for 78 yards. He edged out the Houston Texans' Johnson who caught 115 out of 170 for 1,575 yards and eight scores.

The dreadlocked former ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings is a bull. After last season's Pro Bowl, in which the former University of Pittsburgh standout caught two TD passes and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, it was discovered that he'd been playing with a broken thumb for more than two months.

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Tourists and locals alike are still ranting and raving about DBG's spectacular exhibition featuring the gigantic glass sculptures of Seattle-based artist Dale Chihuly. Though the exhibit had traveled internationally before it came to the Valley (we had seen it at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis back in May 2006), Chihuly created a number of site-specific installations just for the Desert Botanical Garden. The knockout works competed mightily with a number of pieces installed on the canals of Venice, Italy.

Depending on the time of day or evening, each one of Chihuly's jewel-colored glass tableaux, scattered over the entire acreage of the garden, would take on a different persona. What appeared to be alien desert life forms during the day would turn into entirely different, brilliantly lit creatures at dusk and again after dark. We're just sorry Chihuly's exhibit, which took months to mount, isn't a permanent fixture of DBG, though we're told that the garden may be keeping several pieces permanently.

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Muhammad Ali was the greatest athlete, much less the greatest prizefighter, ever. Beyond legendary. The Scottsdale resident moved to the Valley after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and is seen at a plethora of charity and sporting events around town, including at the NBA All-Star Game at US Airways Center earlier this year.

Ali was the proverbial poet in boxing gloves, thanks to his precise punches, fancy footwork, and claims (until the end of his career) that no opponent could touch his "pretty" face. It was his smooth tongue, as much as his prowess in the ring, that made him famous. Many younger sports fans know him for his star turn in the legendary documentary When We Were Kings, about Ali's famous "Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman (long before Foreman got fat and hawked grills). The documentary showed Ali at his pinnacle, when he backed up his infamous braggadocio with in-the-ring perfection. Before the fight, he enlisted the citizens in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to his cause. Locals roamed the streets repeating, "Kill him" (meaning Foreman in the ring) in their native tongue. Biographers believed the Ali-generated hype surrounding the fight got inside the head of the more physically powerful Foreman, and Ali won the bout in the eighth round after knocking Foreman to the floor.

Termed, during his prime, the "most beautiful male athlete" in history, Ali today has been humbled by his disease. He is never shown attempting to speak in public. A shame, since he was a master of the clever putdown in his day. He once said of opponent Joe Frazer: "He's so ugly that he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wildlife." About another opponent: "I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on." He was also a master of self-aggrandizement: "I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest"; "Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round"; "I'm so fast that, last night, I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." Sometimes he was just plain funny: "My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world." "My toughest fight was with my first wife."

The Valley's own Charles Barkley, the NBA legend-turned-sportscaster, also is a master of the one-liner, but he stole Ali's act.

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Steve Nash is a good guy. And he's all we've got in this basketball-crazy town. He's the only superstar left on the Phoenix Suns.

He's a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and the anchor of our professional basketball club. Sure, he's getting some miles on him. Point guards probably run 20 miles a game, and Nash is more frenetic than most — darting, weaving, passing, falling back for a long jumper. Putting the team on his back. Whenever there's a timeout, he can be seen flat on the floor, giving that gimpy back a rest from all the team weight he carries. At 35, he's wearing out as a professional athlete (he recently got a rich, two-year extension on his already-lucrative deal, and we'll be surprised if he can play at an elite level for that long).

Fact is, Nash is an internationally known athlete. He's the pride of Canada, practically a Canadian saint. Yeah, we know the Canucks aren't allowed to canonize anybody — not even Wayne Gretzky (who's still the most popular athlete ever in the 51st state). Despite us thinking the Suns should move on from geezers (by NBA standards) like Nash, we still love him. He exudes niceness. He's always out there building stuff in impoverished neighborhoods, posing with cancer patients, handing out Suns memorabilia at schools, giving pointers to kids on playgrounds.

Nash went to China to join Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets' 7-foot-6 center, in helping Chinese orphans (Nash's idea, natch). Nash persuaded several NBA superstars to travel to Beijing to play in a charity game (just before training camps started). Nash chartered the plane that flew them there. The game raised $2 million for various Chinese charities.

Lots of NBA players don't like each other; many are thugs. But, thug or not, nobody has a bad thing to say about Saint Steve. All you hear are words like "humanitarian" or "generous" or "caring" or "socially responsible" coming out of their mouths. "A genuine great guy," Shaquille O'Neal said, long before he donned a Suns uniform. (It was when Nash edged Shaq out for MVP.)

There's no doubt that Nash has lost a step or three, but let's talk about superstar stats: In addition to his back-to-back MVPs as a Sun, he's been an All-Star six times, first-team NBA three times, he's ninth all-time in assists, has never missed more than eight games in a season, boasts 90 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 43 percent from three-point range, and more than 50 percent from the field all five years he's been in Phoenix. When you couple his career 15-point-per-game shooting average with his 8-assists-per-game average, he's not only destined for a banner in the rafters of US Airways Center (alongside Charles Barkley and Cotton Fitzsimmons), but a spot in the NBA Hall of Fame as one of the greatest point guards ever (pretty good for a scrawny player from tiny Santa Clara in California).

That he's such a mensch, too, makes us glad he's staying around for a couple more years.

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There have been a few great Arizona Diamondbacks during the team's short existence: pitchers Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, and Dan Haren; hitter Luis Gonzalez. But "The Kid" may turn out to be the best of them all. That's our prediction, anyway, and a growing number of baseball professionals are also shouting the praises of Justin Upton.

Upton, 21, played in his first All-Star Game this season, and we're sure it won't be his last. He's the best all-around hitter on the team, batting .303 at this writing, with 24 home runs, 27 doubles, and 75 runs batted in. At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he's becoming a bona fide power hitter. He was third in the National League in slugging percentage at .536, second among outfielders.

When the former Great Bridge High School shortstop from Chesapeake, Virginia, was called up to the D-Backs as an outfielder on August 2, 2007, he was the youngest player in the majors at 19. Four days later, he almost became the youngest player ever to hit a homer, a triple, a double, and a single in one game. He missed by the single. The next season, on July 6, 2008, Upton hit the second-longest homer (a 484-foot shot) in Chase Field history.

While his hitting has never been suspect, his fielding early on with the Snakes left a lot to be desired. He often botched seemingly easy catches, costing his team runs and games. But the problem was solved this season, with Upton making miraculous catches in right field and nailing runners with his precise throws.

Baseball runs in Upton's family. His brother is Tampa Bay center fielder B.J. Upton. During the 2009 season, Justin and B.J. became the first brothers in MLB history to win player of the month honors in the same year. Justin's National League award came for May when he — after breaking out of a slump that had some sportswriters posturing that he should be sent back to the minors — hit .372 with seven round-trippers and 21 RBI. B.J.'s American League honor came in the next month.

In a game where getting a hit a third of the time almost assures a player entry into the Hall of Fame, Upton is a comer. At his tender age, he's so far been spared major injury. He's already virtually assured himself a career spot as a starter in the majors, and if he continues to prosper, he's the one current D-Backs hitter who can make it to Cooperstown.

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In the 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams, the confused ghost of a 1910s-era baseball player walks around a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield, and asks, "Is this Heaven?" Costner's character, Ray Kinsella, responds, "No, it's Iowa."

Well, walk around Phoenix in mid-March and you may find yourself asking that same question. For baseball fans, March in Phoenix means one thing: spring training. There aren't too many places on the planet where someone can see future Hall of Famers Manny Ramirez, Randy Johnson and Alfonso Soriano take the field . . . on the same day.

Baseball offers its faithful a timeless element of grandeur in the spring ritual, and no place is that more evident than Phoenix. Over 1.5 million fans came to the Valley last year to watch the 14 teams that call Phoenix their springtime home.

From Scottsdale to Goodyear, from Peoria to Chandler, the Valley has nine spring training facilities for teams like the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Cleveland Indians. Given Phoenix's status as a "destination city," almost nobody in Phoenix is actually from Phoenix; spring training offers many Valley residents a chance to see their hometown teams in their new hometown.

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