Went for a quick run to kick off the morning and I can tell that New York's cool weather hasn't done me any favors in terms of prepping me for running in the humidity. I haven't sweat like this in a long time.

I was tipped off by one of my former colleagues, the Buckeye State's #1 Gator fan Jill Bohn, about the fact that I was barely an hour from Gainesville, home of my main man Tim Tebow.

Taking a quick look on mapquest showed that Gainesville was kind of on the way to St. Pete, so I had to go. Note: I was looking for the football stadium by typing "The Swamp, Gainesville" into Google. My search yielded a dive bar that Skynyrd probably played in '73 to tune up for Quadrophenia. The Swamp's actual name is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

On my drive down, I realized that Florida is the Dodge Challenger capital of America. I've seen five of them on the highway since getting down here. The UF campus is exactly what I expected, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was easily accessible. I found the words of Tebow's "Pledge" immortalized on the wall (covered on morganobrien.com earlier this year) and took a picture in front of it. After the picture, I patted it. At that very moment, my doctor called and said that the cancer is in remission. Also, I heard that Kim Jong-Il is planning on stepping down and surrendering all his nuclear ambitions. I'm beginning to think that Tim Tebow's powers are on par with the three wolf moon t-shirt.

Fun Fact: The Swamp also happens to be a magnet for hot coeds who like to run stairs.

After Gainesville, I headed to St. Pete, where I was poised to see your defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays square off against the Minnesota Twins. On the way there, I saw a sign for "George M. Steinbrenner Field" and had to make the detour to see the Yanks' Southern Command. It was pretty sharp, and some of the Tampa Yanks were practicing. Nothing much more to report.

Tropicana Field was disarming in that I was expecting it to be hokey, but the place actually had a nice buzz and was fun. Isn't that what baseball should be? The fan base is still working out some kinks (the place felt packed), and they're still learning how to root for a team. The cowbell gimmick they've developed is a lot of fun, and must be f'ing annoying for opposing teams.

The simple fact is that it's tough to sit and watch a ballgame under a dome on a 90-degree/sunny day, and I'll never get over the artificiality that comes with an indoor baseball game.

While we're on the topic of baseball, I've been meaning to mention a couple things about the Yanks trip to Cleveland this weekend. Things kicked off with a bunch of the Yanks taking in Thursday night's Cavs-Magic game. One thing I learned as a coach was that team trips are an awesome opportunity to build camaraderie, and I like that the fellas decided to catch the game together. And don't tell me that the attitude these guys have brought in the past four weeks or so isn't tied at least in some small way to the fact that they're really enjoying playing together.

The NY-Cleveland connection is pretty cool. Little known fact: George Steinbrenner is from Cleveland. Lebron James: Yankee fan. I also always enjoy seeing Mariano in the same arena as other great athletes--seeing Tiger Woods at the Stadium a few years ago when Mo came out of the bullpen was a cool moment.

One more quick note--I have XM, so I can listen to the home feed of ballgames. As the Yanks are in Cleveland, I can listen to the Indians announcers (who have an unhealthy fixation on the Yanks payroll, fwiw). I accidentally hit 880 on my dial and lo and behold, John Sterling's pompous pipes suddenly began filling my ears. I was getting the WCBS signal all the way in Jacksonville. How 'bout that?

The Rays have a tank with stingrays. I pet one (see photos above). It felt like a fish. RIP Crocodile Hunter.

After the Trop, I was off to see my Godmother in Rockledge, outside of Orlando. Made the trip in a little over two hours, and am bedding down for the night. Look forward to heading South tomorrow.