Home sweet home! It feels great to be back in Southern California again.

We are in Century City this weekend taking on the UCLA Bruins. I love everything about being here. Nowhere in the world beats Southern California. I just wish I had a little more time this weekend to go to the beach; but fortunately enough I get to play baseball.

We are coming off a great series against USC in Tempe, where all three games could have gone either way. We rallied for come-from-behind victories on Saturday and Sunday after giving up the lead in the top of the ninth on Friday night. The teams in the PAC-10 are beating up on each other, and every game is a dog fight. It's great! The competition in this league is unbelievable. Every team has enough talent to beat any team in the PAC. Being 6-3 in league play is good enough right now, but our team is looking for an even better record after this weekend...9-3 sounds like a good record.

Last weekend, Arizona State University held the second-annual "Pat's Run." This run is in honor of Pat Tillman, a former ASU and professional football player who lost his life fighting for his country. It is a very neat event to have on campus. The run is 4.2 miles, resembling the number 42 Pat wore on the football field. It also finishes on the 42 yard line in Sun Devils Stadium.

My dad ran the race for the second year. He's run a lot of 5- and 10-kilometer races, and thinks that Pat's Run is one of the best. Growing up, I ran with my dad everywhere and would have run with him in Pat's Run, but I had a game. The fun thing about this race is that it is not about winning the race or competing, it's about celebrating the life of Pat Tillman. Our team even volunteered to fill runner's bags before the race. Anyone can volunteer to help with the race. My girlfriend and her parents volunteered to cheer on runners as they passed, and after the race, they cooked bratwurst for the participants.

They cooked bratwurst on a huge grill the size of a big rig. The grill was actually part of the truck; it took up the entire back part of it. It was cool.
 

Anyway, all the money that Pat's Run brings in is given directly to the Pat Tillman Foundation to use for its Leadership Through Action (LTA) Program. LTA is a program put together by the Tillman Foundation designed to get students involved with leadership and community service ideas.

I recently applied, was interviewed and was accepted to the LTA program. I am a Tillman Scholar now. So, in this LTA program I will meet with other Tillman Scholars and come up with community service ideas. The best and most organized community service plan will be given money through the Tillman Foundation to take action with. I am proud to represent an organization formed in honor of Pat Tillman, a great athlete and person.

I did get some fishing in this week, but not with a pole. One of my buddies on the team took me spear fishing, except we didn't have a functional spear gun. We used our McGyver skills to duct-tape a spear to a golf club. The head of the golf club was missing, so it worked out great. We then taped a bungee cord to the end of the club, so we could retrieve it. It worked great, but we didn't catch anything. When I do catch one, I'll be sure to let all the guys know about it.

I'm excited to play in front of an L.A. crowd this weekend. I expect to hear some noise from the stands this weekend, because there are some friends of mine coming out to watch. Jimbo, You better get loud!
 

Joe Pa Out.
 

(photo courtesy of Arizona State Media Relations Office)