The third ANtics comic of 2006 will be posted to Athletics Nation this afternoon, following the conclusion of their spring training game against the hated Angels of wherever they are from these days. In recent years, critics from far and wide have chastised the team for their focus on statistics and trends, and have instead credited grit, determination, camaraderie and leadership as being the true essentials for a winning team. In that vein, the A's players - in true Hallmark fashion - show the love.


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ANtics Archive: 2005/06 ANtics | ANtics Extras

Spring training games don't matter - or so they say. But it's always easier to say that when your favorite team has won the first three contests than if they've lost their first three, which is where the Oakland A's sit right now, after a 9-7 setback to the Milwaukee (we don't recall which league we belong to) Brewers this afternoon.

Of note, today was the first radio broadcast on the A's new flagship radio station - KYCY 1550 AM, as well as the debut of Vince Controneo, who picks up where Bill King left off as the radio broadcast partner of Ken Korach and Ray Fosse. After a touching tribute to the late Bill King, who passed away in the off-season, the A's new radio squad performed well and sounded at ease with each other, as the A's, once up 2-0 early in the game, watched Zito allow some early runs and subsequent pitchers let the game slip away.

My wife and I will be in Arizona from March 11 through 13, to see the A's take on Anaheim, the Chicago White Sox and the SF Giants. We're hoping by that point, the A's squad will have learned how to win consistently rather than continue on their current trend.

(For those looking for good news, the A's DID beat South Africa by a score of 13-1 in an exhibition game. From what I understand, the game actually wasn't that close.)

For those of us who toil full time in the Silicon Valley, it's obvious we take ourselves too seriously - holding our long work hours and lack of social lives as a badge of honor (or at least that's my excuse). But some are looking to add the same levels of gossip and intrigue so common in entertainment and politics to our technology-focused lifestyle, giving Page Six a run for their money.

Valleywag is rising to the top of the Silicon Valley's rumor rags, ranging its coverage on which Web 2.0 company News Corp. is looking to acquire next to polls on who the most beautiful women at Google are. In true Matt Drudge fashion, Valleywag doesn't argue to have all the scoops, so if you have news and tips for Valleywag, it's just a click away, and you could see your rumors take hold in Silicon Valley consciousness.

As mentioned previously, business executives, road warriors and government officials alike were fearing the possibility of Research In Motion's Blackberry service coming to a premature closure, due to patent litigation with NTP. While the suit's judge had chastised both parties for failing to come to a settlement earlier in the process, RIM and NTP came to agreement today on a settlement that saw RIM pay NTP more than $600 million to avoid a shutdown.

And there was much rejoicing. Analyst firm Gartner and others had previously suggested corporations hold off on extending service contracts with the handheld e-mail device maker until legal issues were concluded, as many feared they would be cut off from constant communication. Not surprisingly, this too was impacting RIM's sales data - as in parallel to the settlement agreement, the company announced what would be a significant earnings shortfall of between $40 and $60 million.

With that nuisance out of the way, RIM shareholders applauded the move, sending the stock up nearly 20% after market close today, even with the earnings miss. But the millions of Blackberry users around the world are even happier, while Palm executives, hoping for some "Schadenfreude" themselves, wishing to benefit from their competition's downfall, will have to grow market share through product innovation instead.