I saw the Phillies� future today.

With games scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to give the players a bit of a break with an early afternoon, Tom and I got to the complex a little after 9 a.m. It was a cool morning, not yet in the 70s, and many players emerged from the clubhouse with long-sleeved shirts beneath their jerseys. Manto introduced me to hitting coach Ramon Aviles, who will be in Lakewood this year, and we chatted about his 24 years with the Phillies -- the last 20 as a coach and manager -- and the weather and facilities in Lakewood. Tom worked his way around the complex shooting as pitchers threw and players ran and stretched. The Blue Jays started walking over from their complex across the street and the games started a little after 10:30.

I sat through the two on adjacent fields, turning at times to watch the older players, until the sixth inning of the low-A game. That�s when Gavin Floyd, the Phillies first-round draft pick last year, took the mound. The kid is, as they say, the Real Deal. Other pitchers who had already showered and changed stood around me -- about a dozen of us in all -- behind the plate and we watched him hit 94 on the radar gun (in his third inning) with his fastball and send players back to the bench in confusion after his big-breaking curve ball froze them in their place (including striking out the side in his fourth inning of work). Just as the two games finished, I called up to Mike Arbuckle, the guy who oversees everything as the Phillies� assistant general manager (last year he was the director of scouting), and climbed the steps to the roof of the offices to interview him. I got more than I needed, more than I expected, and felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment for my day.

When I descended the steps, I sat down with Greg Legg for a few minutes, then went into the clubhouse to talk to Aviles and Westray and complete much of my work, other than the transcribing of the notes and the writing of the stories. Tomorrow, which is a short workout day for the players, I�ll pull a few of them aside to pretty much finish up with all that I need from here. The plan is to make Monday my one true vacation day and take in the Yankees-Phillies major league game at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium. Hopefully I can get in with a press pass for that one.

Leaving the complex, I picked up lunch at Steak-n-Shake and brought it back to the hotel, then called mom and participated in the fantasy baseball draft with her fellow teachers. Then I napped, showered and sat down at the computer. It�s now 6:41, I�m starving, and it�s time to head out for dinner.

When I was here last year with Dave in town, he showed me a few of his favorite places to eat. I�ve already hit McCabe�s Cafe, so for dinner Saturday, I drove up 19 three lights to the Varsity Club, a sports bar where we went for wings last year. While eating and answering the trivia questions in the NTN games just for fun, without really playing, we�d become friends with a group at an adjacent table by the time we left. Most of it was through our extensive knowledge of trivia and the help we gave them in the game.

With the NCAA Tournament continuing, I figured a sports bar like the Varsity Club would be pretty packed, and although I�d hoped to get there early to find a spot at the bar, I pulled up around 7 p.m. The parking lot of the tiny strip mall looked pretty crowded, and with the bar and a two-screen movie theater next door the only things open, I figured the club might be somewhat packed. Just the opposite -- there was hardly anyone in the front bar area. The back sounded more bustling, what with the whoops and cheers that arose when Indiana started hot and got even hotter in trouncing Kent State, all to my chagrin.

So I slid up to the bar, ordered a pint of Amber Bock, a dozen wings and half an order of fries (the bartender suggested half, saying the full order was �huge, and if you�re still hungry after half, you can always get another half order�). With Indiana running away, I quickly lost interest in basketball and focused more on the trivia. It was the general trivia round -- nothing specialized like television history or sports -- and I was doing OK on the first few questions. So I asked for a console. The first game was a wash; I joined with only about six questions to go and didn�t gain any ground. At the time, there were maybe eight people (or groups) playing. In the first full game, I took the lead somewhere between question five and 10 -- late enough to earn a �Now in the lead ... ND� message when I ascended to No. 1. I built the point margin to more than 1,000, so that when I held it after question 14, I clinched the win.

I�ve always played NTN trivia with at least one partner, usually with a group helping. Only occassionally have I controlled the input of the numbers corresponding with the answers. It felt good to win on my own, just me against everyone else in the bar. Well, everyone with a console. So I played a second game, just to see if I could defend my title. The competition was higher -- more people were coming into the restaurant, and more were playing. One table nearby had two consoles for the four people. They were NTN amateurs, though (not that I�m a veteran, but I have experience) -- they�d shout out the answers they�d input, which is the No. 1 Rule of NTN: �Do not shout out answers.� The No. 2 rule is �Never disclose your location,� that is, do not allow others to connect you or your group to your ID on the screen.

So with enough players in the game so that when the results were posted after each question it took two screens, I found myself in a tighter game. I took the lead again around question five, lost it a few questions later, then regained it around No. 10. And although I needed to do well on No. 15, I knew merely instinctively that the famous car with its tire treads in cement in Hollywood was Herbie the Love Bug (not Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang or three others I don�t remember). I answered fast enough for 1,000 points (full credit) and successfully defended my title. I would�ve gone for three in a row, but I was finished with dinner and my second pint (and onto a Coke), and I would�ve felt bad sitting there, drinking free refills of Coke just to play trivia. (More beer was out of the question, since I was driving.) So I logged off and walked out proudly with a two-game winning streak. Now I�ve got to find some local places with NTN.

I wanted more beer, though, so I stopped at a Hess station, picked up a six-pack of Amber Bock and a cylinder of Pringles, and went back to the hotel. Without a fridge in my room, I took the ice bucket and plastic bag and filled the sink to chill the beer. I spent the night watching TV, going from Cocktail to flipping between True Lies on FX and Interview with the Vampire on TNT.