You might as well ignore me every time I say I'm out of one stock or another, because the bug keeps biting, and I can't stay out of a small handful. So long as I can keep my focus small and ride the ebbs and spikes of a number I know, I can maintain the growth and avoid losses. Or at least that's my excuse.

Monday's market activity made a fan out of me. Apple (AAPL) was upgraded, and rose nearly 4%. Salesforce.com (CRM) similarly grew nearly 3%, and Rackable (RACK) continued its strong run, jumping more than 7% Monday alone. Of course, that kind of action helped me continue to outpace the 401k, which saw gains of .2 to 1.1 percent in each of the top four funds. That makes the up-to-date score in the Louis vs. 401k challenge 3 to 2 in my favor so far. We'll keep you posted on how that continues to progress.

We weren't gone long enough, but after one rainy day and two sunny ones in Arizona, we flew back to San Jose this evening and found our house much as we left it. Much to our chagrin, the elves didn't tidy up, or turn on the heater just before we arrived, and it's my guess they won't unpack for us either - unfortunately.

Today's game between the A's and White Sox was very interesting. The good guys started out ahead early 2-0 in the first, and tacked on 5 runs in the second, against a woeful Sox pitcher, on the backs of yet another home run by Eric Chavez, who is having a strong spring. Then... they coasted. The regulars eventually were replaced by the subs, and the subs managed to give the game back to the White Sox, who took an 8-7 lead by the 8th inning. Could it be the A's would lose both games I attended!? Turns out... no. The A's mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, topped off with a 2 run single chopped through the infield by Charles Thomas, to win the game 9-8. The A's fans stood and cheered, while the White Sox fans (those who were left) slumped and slunk away.

Tomorrow's work schedule looks very full. Interviews start at 8 a.m. and there looks to be hour after hour of training in the mid-day. I fear I may need yet another vacation very shortly.

On Friday, before leaving for Phoenix, I created a PDF file that contained all 14 ANtics comments to date, and had them printed on "good" color paper at Kinko's, and then had them sealed in a clear plastic cover. I made 10 copies of the 15 page document, at no small charge, and set out to see if I could hand-deliver the comics to the Oakland A's players who played the characters in the comic itself.

Today, before the game between the A's and the Anaheim Angels, I took my 10 copies and aggressively set out to find players who had been featured and might have time to read them. We found pitcher Barry Zito and handed him 3 copies, one for him and two more for him to hopefully pass around the clubhouse. I told him that in contrast to everyone else there who was angling for his autograph, that I wanted nothing and actually had something to give him. I said it was the comic strip from Athletics Nation that I worked on, and he said that he and the team was way into Athletics Nation.

3 down, 7 to go.

I then went up to the broadcast booth and found Ken Korach, who had spoken at last year's AN Day at Oakland Coliseum, and said we appreciated it, and gave him his copy. He said, "Is this mine to keep?" it was, and I left it.

4 down, 6 to go.

We headed back down to the bullpen, and left one in the bucket of balls where the A's relievers would wait. Somebody would get it.

5 down, 5 to go.

Then, walking back toward home plate, I spotted a man I thought to be A's general manager Billy Beane, but wasn't sure. This man had an FSN shirt on. So I took out an ANtics comic where Billy Beane was featured, and compared it to this gentleman. Now I was sure it was him. I walked up and opened the comic where he was featured, introduced the series, thanking him for his work and efforts in helping the site, and passed him his copy.

6 down, 4 to go.

Then we went over the A's dugout and saw the players warming up, hitting flyballs, playing catch, and getting ready for the game. A's star third baseman Eric Chavez came out to sign autographs. I got aggressive and made my way down there with the kids, and while helping the smallest kids pass their baseballs to the front, I introduced the ANtics to Eric and passed him 3 copies - again, one for him and two to share. He said that was cool, and kept signing.

9 down, 1 to go.

With the last ANtics book, we headed back up to the broadcast booth to announcer Ray Fosse, who was conducting an on-air interview. We waited for his interview to end, and they cut to commercial. At that point, I thanked him for reading the first ANtics episode on the air last year, and passed him his copy. He stood up and shook my hand and said thanks. I said thanks for his good work and wished him luck.

10 down. None left.

So, was it mission accomplished? I don't know. I really was hoping to get one for Joe Blanton, but he wasn't easy to get. And Ken Macha, another target, was at the team's other game. But I think we did well. We talked with Chavez, Zito, Beane, Fosse and Korach - all kingpins on the 2006 Oakland A's. And I hope the ANtics don't end up in the trash. But I feel it's not fair for just me to enjoy them, for if it weren't for the players, we'd have nothing to make up after all.

Despite a lackadaisical performance against Pac-10 Conference champions UCLA, the Cal Bears mens basketball squad was invited to the field of 64 in the NCAA tournament this afternoon, and was rewarded with a #7 seed against North Carolina State of the ACC conference. Although Cal had been on-again off-again in regards to their potential to join the tourney, a late two-game surge in the Pac-10 conference tournament, combined with their 20 win record, and a third place finish in the overall conference rankings, provided them enough strength to make the tournament, though it's unclear how far they will go in a talented field that would see them playing the winner of Texas/Penn in the second round should they advance. Of course, with Texas being a #2 seed to Penn's #15, you can put good money on Texas coming out ahead there.

Overall, the Pac-10 Conference was awarded four spots in the tournament, with UCLA gaining a #2 seed, the Washington Huskies gaining the #5 seed, and Arizona pulling up with a #8 seed. This year's Cal team reminds me a lot of the 1995-1996 squad when I was a freshman, where one player (Shareef Abdur-Rahim then and Leon Powe now) was a single force that outshone the rest of the team. In that contest, Cal got waxed in the first game, and we can only hope the same doesn't happen again, should the Wolfpack choose to neutralize him.