As long as I can remember, I've been told that baseball is America's pastime. I may have to change my thinking as the powers that be in major league baseball are trying to make the sport I have always loved, a world wide pastime. I'm not sure I like that.

As many of you know, the 2008 regular season opened in the Tokyo Dome. Boston played Oakland in a game that began at 3:00am Oakland time, 6:00am in Boston. The start time is a big turn off or turn on (as in turn on your TV at 3:00am). I can honestly say I know of no one who watched this year's opener live.

Baseball is all about tradition. When I think of opening day, the Reds are playing the Cubs or the Cardinals in Cincinnati, not the A's and Red Sox in Japan. Major league baseball, in it's effort to make their sport global, told their greatest and most loyal fans in the United States that they cold care less about them on opening day. What makes this even more laughable, is after Boston and Oakland play their first 2 regular season games in Tokyo, they're headed home for more spring training games that don't count. That's ridiculous.

Greed is an ugly thing. MLB is now trying to squeeze out every dollar they can from a growing worldwide audience and the games in Japan could be a tip of the iceberg. It's not too far fetched to envision opening day in Beijing, Sydney, London, Moscow or some other foreign market.

America's pastime may now be past it's time and that's a shame. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

Arizona State took the high road when they learned they were not invited to that big dance known as the NCAA tournament. Coach Herb Sendek said instead of acting like victims, he hopes his players and coaches will learn from the disappointment and remember all of the missed opportunities during the season that could have gotten them into the tournament.

Are you kidding me? Coach, you should be livid with the selection committee. You have every right to question their reasons for omitting your Devils. You should be angry, hurt, disappointed and disgusted with the process. Your fans are livid and rightly so. I don't know about you but I found it insulting that you beat Arizona twice and finished ahead of them in the conference standings yet they're going. I also found it insulting that you split with Oregon, tied them in the Pac 10 and they're in too. I don't blame the U of A or Oregon for their good fortune, more power to them.

When someone reads this I'm sure they'll say that I'm biased towards Arizona State. I only hope those who read this blog listened to national broadcasters Billy Packer, Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenburg and many other college basketball analysts who were vocal in their disbelief the Devils were left out. It didn't make sense when I first heard it and it doesn't make sense right now.

Nothing will change the selection committee's choices. Coach Sendek will take the high road and I'll take the low road and hopefully we'll both get over this injustice. In the meantime, I will watch as much of this year's tournament as I physically can. It would have been much sweeter with the Devils but there are few sporting events as great as the two and a half week run known as March Madness. I'm starting to feel better already. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

If push came to shove, who deserves an NCAA tournament bid, the U of A or ASU? I write this blog a couple of days before Wildcats take the court against Oregon State in the Pac 10 tournament. It's a no brainer that the Cats have no right to the Big Dance if they lose to the lowly Beavers but that will not happen. So that brings us to who is more deserving.

U OF A: They played the toughest schedule in the country. They had quality losses, if there is
such a thing, against highly ranked Memphis and Kansas. Their reputation will help
them with the selection committee. Under Lute Olson they've been to the post season
23 years in a row and a nice Pac 10 tournament run would get them in. The Cats play
in the best conference in the country where they finished 7th.

ASU: The Devils finished 5th in the Pac 10 regular season. They had quality victories over
Xavier and Stanford, both top 20 ranked teams. They swept Arizona for the
first time in over a decade. They split with Oregon and beat USC by 14 points.
A victory over the Trojans would make them a lock for March Madness. ASU
is also one of those feel good stories of a program turning around in one short year.

Arizona State is the most deserving today. I can't imagine beating a storied program like Arizona's, not once, but twice and beating then 7th ranked Stanford and 11th ranked Xavier along with a 5th place finish in America's toughest conference, where just one team had a losing record, gets them back to the Big Dance for the first time in 5 years. The UofA, with 2 Pac 10 tournament wins, should also be a lock.

Let me end by saying, it is possible that neither team will get selected but that doesn't mean the state won't be represented at the NCAA party. Remember that little school in Flagstaff. The NAU Lumberjacks have a chance to qualify with a Big Sky Conference tournament win over Portland State. I know why it's called MARCH MADNESS! gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

Lute Olson is one of the most recognizable sports figures in Arizona sports and in college basketball nationally. Last November, as has been well documented, he took a leave of absence to tend to a personal issue. The rumors of his leave took off and I heard everything from his own illness, to an impending divorce to a drug related problem involving a member of his family. Today, through a spokesperson, Lute didn't add much to the reasons he took time off, only saying he would return next season after dealing with a medical issue. As a matter of fact the Wildcats coaching great says he wants to coach the Cats until the end of his current contract in 2011, which would make him 76 years old.

Lute Olson owes no one an explanation why he left his beloved program for a full season. He's earned the right to not be second guessed. He's earned that trust from one and all, even a sports anchor who has a special feeling for Arizona State because he paid thousands in tuition for his son to attend ASU and has grown to love that program. The hall of famer gives his school and our state instant credibility. 23 straight trips to March Madness gets you that kind of respect. This is a great day for the University of Arizona and the state of Arizona. Welcome back Lute, you were missed. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

We live in a cynical world of "what have you done for me lately". In sports and in the valley, Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni is taking a lot of heat for not being able to integrate Shaquille O'Neal into his system. I've actually heard whispers that he should be fired. That he had no control in his teams locker room. If you believe what you hear and read, you would think that Shawn Marion was some kind of a monster who didn't get along with anyone because he asked to be traded before the start of the regular season. That could not be farther from the truth. D'Antoni has not lost his team. He still has their ear yet some impatient people are actually calling for his ouster. This is the same Mike D'Antoni who has coached his teams to 62, 54 and 61 win seasons the last 3 years. He didn't become an idiot overnight. Another knock on Mike is his run, gun and fun system isn't good enough to win in the playoffs. Last year that system took them to the Western Conference finals and if not for untimely suspensions to Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, I believe they could have gone to the NBA championship series. We'll never know that one but his innovative coaching style is incredibly entertaining.

I will be the first to admit in a previous blog that I thought the Shaquille O'Neal trade was a bad move. I still feel it's a bad move and the teams record and porous defense in some disturbing losses emphasizes my point. Mike D'Antoni said on the day of the trade that it would take some time for the big man to acclimate to his new teammates and his new system. Even Shaq asked fans to give him 10 or so games which is where we're at now. He has rounded, no pun intended, into better shape and his play has improved, unfortunately the team's record hasn't.

What the Suns faithful are faced with is showing patience during this work in progress. Steve Nash still has to figure out how to run his team with that massive body in the middle. So in this "what have you done for me lately" world, take a chill pill but you may want to keep I TOLD YOU SO, in your vocabulary to break out in a couple of months. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

I, like millions of sports fans and fans of Brett Favre, watched his emotional news conference today. I was touched by his genuine comments. Before the news conference I wasn't convinced that the sure first ballot hall of famer was actually serious about retirement. Everyone in the world of sports talk and sports writing acted as if there was some type of conspiracy. Did the Packers not do everything in their power to convince their star to comeback for at least one more season? Did Favre's long time agent hint that was the case? The 17 year NFL veteran answered all of those questions and then some at his farewell news conference. He was adamant that his decision was his after spending the last two months weighing his options. He asked the media to not read into anything other than he was mentally tired and not committed to putting in the enormous amount of time it takes to be a successful NFL quarterback. When a man says he can still play but his heart isn't in it, you have to take him at his word.

Retirement is inevitable for all of us. For an athlete, getting 17 amazing years out of a sport as physically and mentally demanding as pro football is incredible. Brett Favre, as recently as this past season, broke my heart when he beat my beloved Denver Broncos in overtime on national television. I'm not sure it's possible but I HATED and LOVED what I had just seen on his game winning bomb. I will always respect the way he played the game. At age 38, he still showed signs of a much younger man playing a kids game. It was refreshing and I'll miss that, much like I felt when John Elway called it quits. Like Favre, Elway still could play the game and retired on his terms. The Packers living legend has no problem ending his brilliant career with an interception in overtime against the Giants in the NFC championship game and he shouldn't.

My hope is he'll continue to stay involved in football in some way. While football fans everywhere wish him well, please don't make this a final BYE, BYE BRETT. gcruz@kpho.com

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor