Samardzija hopes Cubs don't punt

My latest Mesa missive was on Jeff Samardzija. (READ IT)

The former Notre Dame stud receiver is trying to make the Cubs, but maybe the Bears should make him an offer he can't refuse!

Bald update

Filed my first AP story (READ IT) from Mesa yesterday on Ryan Theriot trying to keep his shortstop job by holding off the next Cubbie savior, Starlin Castro.

Still enjoying my break from blogging, thanks for asking!

Little (cell phone) shop of horrors

Cell phone shopping: More fun than sharing a 6 x 6 room with angry hornets. More dangerous, too - at least to one's sanity and one's wallet.

Would the Nadels stay with Sprint, which has been decent the last year or two after a rough start to our relationship? Or would we switch to Verizon, which most experts say has better service but which also costs quite a bit more? Would we go with basic phones or with so-called smart phones that are, well, smarter than the average freelance journalist? Would we buy at my favorite retailer, Costco, where Sprint products no longer are sold? Or would we go to Best Buy, which I used to hate but actually has intelligent, caring, non-commission salespeople at the store that's within walking distance of our abode?

I spent months pondering the above questions. I hate the very idea of expensive cell phone service. I hate having to pay upwards of 2 grand a year for something that wasn't even in the budget just a decade ago. I also hate being locked into a two-year contract again after we finally had become free agents.

And then there was the research. Oy.

One of the great things about the Internet is that there is an endless supply of information and opinions available on every product known to man, woman, child and beast. One of the horrible things about the Internet is that there is an endless supply of information and opinions available on every product known to man, woman, child and beast. It's enough to make one's bald head spin.

With my wife and daughter pushing me to make a damn decision already because they were the ones who had the most obsolete cell phones still in use on Planet Earth - Horrors! Katie's phone wouldn't hold a charge! Horrors! Roberta's phone had a slight echo! - this finally was the day.

We ended up staying with Sprint and buying three phones at Best Buy. Our new plan will cost us about $35 a month more than our old - something I wanted to avoid given the fact that my freelance pay is about a fifth of what my regular-job pay once was. But hey, as the saying goes, it's only money (we used to have).

I'd love to blame the big-bucks purchase all on my ladies, but I was the one who ended up with the most expensive phone of the three. Go figure.

Aside from answering and making calls, my new Samsung Moment is a complete mystery to me. I'm a pretty quick study, though, so I'll figure the thing out soon enough. If my daughter helps me, that is.

Still, I think that next time I'll opt for that hornet-filled room instead.

No promises but ...

I might occasionally post links to some of my freelance stuff, but not always. Here's a general rule of thumb on the Cubs spring training stuff I'll be doing:

If you see a Mesa-datelined AP story (on Yahoo, AOL, ESPN, etc.) between Feb. 25 and April 1 and it doesn't have a byline, I almost surely will have written it.

He's b-a-a-a-ck (well, not really, but ...)

No, I'm not blogging again. Oh wait. Just by writing that in this blog, I guess I'm blogging again.

Just here to say that while I'm taking a break - a long, long break - from writing for free, I will occasionally use this space for updates, personal reflections, etc.

So do check back. Just don't expect to see my breakdown of the big Bulls-Nets clash or something!

Mike