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There's nothing more romantic about baseball, the most romanticized American sport of them all, than spring training.

The mere concept of relocating 30 teams across North America to Arizona and Florida for six weeks, with the rest of the world watching, the sun shining, hope springing eternal for fans of even the most moribund franchises - nothing else is quite like it. Heck, the Dodgers and Chicago White Sox share a training facility. The good vibrations must be palpable.

I'm about to find out.

Today I'll be driving to Glendale to begin my turn as the primary Dodgers beat writer for the L.A. News Group. (Readers of the Orange County Register will be privy to my work as well.) Expect my Twitter feed to be more baseball-centric from here on out. Tell your baseball-loving friends to give me a follow.

Hockey fans: I'll be back in April when the Reign begin the playoffs, splitting my time between Ontario and Chavez Ravine. And I'll be continuously dumping my NHL thoughts on my personal NHL blog whenever I get the chance.

As for the adventure that awaits, it's one I've been looking forward to for a long time. It was my inability to hit (or throw) a curveball that first convinced me I had a future in sports writing.

And no, I don't know who the Dodgers' next owner will be.

Todd and Christie Jenkins, founders of the Inland Empire's first sled hockey program, are hoping to receive a major financial boost. In an e-mail, they relayed the following:

The Southern California Sled Hockey Association is currently in the running for a Pepsi Refresh grant in the amount of $25,000. If we get the grant, it will provide enough funds to purchase new sleds, sticks, safety gear and ice time for the whole program for a full season. In order to get the funding we have to be in the top ten by October 31st.

What we need people to do is vote via the Pepsi Refresh website. There are three ways to vote:

1) Log on to http://www.refresheverything.com/sledhockey and click "Vote for this idea". The first time someone votes, they will be asked to fill out a quick form for a free account, just to verify that this is a real person and not a "robot" making proxy votes. Pepsi does not send spam, and there is a box to check to opt out of future mailings. After that, we just need people to log on and vote once per day.

2) Instead (or in addition), people can send votes via text message. Text 102873 to 73774 (Pepsi) once per day. There is no sign-up here, and again no spam.

3) On Facebook, go to http://apps.facebook.com/pepsirefresh and do a search for "sled hockey" (we are the only program that will come up). This, too, is no-sign-up and no-spam.

Todd Jenkins, who helped coordinate Sunday's sled hockey clinic at Center Ice Arena in Ontario, passed along this YouTube montage of photos taken at the clinic ...

And here is the story about the clinic that ran in Wednesday's Daily Bulletin.

It's not every day that four major sports and two former presidents all get behind the same cause: The NFL Players Association, National Basketball Players Association, National Hockey League Players' Association and Major League Baseball Players Association have created of the "One Team 4 Haiti" campaign to support the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's focus on the country's earthquake relief and recovery efforts.

The campaign will launch with a text message fund-raising effort supporting the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. In the U.S., supporters can text the word "TEAM" to 20222 to donate $10.

Check out the full press release here.

Adam Reid of Chino Hills was named to USA Hockey's Under-17 team today. The squad will compete against teams from the USHL, and play three international teams over the course of the year.

Reid, a former Ayala High School student, played locally for the L.A. Selects. His 16U Midget AAA team recently won the state title.

From the Associated Press:

Landon Donovan, who was born in Ontario and raised in Redlands, has tested positive for swine flu, although the Galaxy is optimistic he can play Saturday night.

Donovan will be evaluated by a doctor Friday and Saturday, the team said. Donovan, David Beckham and Chris Birchall were all given the day off from training Friday after returning from games with their national teams.

The Galaxy are home Saturday night against the Seattle Sounders.

"We're still hoping he'll be available and ready to go," team spokesman Justin Pearson said. "Even Landon said it hasn't hit him as hard as the normal flus have hit him."

Donovan is not infectious, coach and general manager Bruce Arena told the Los Angeles Times. Arena said Donovan is believed to have contracted the virus from two Galaxy staff members who came down with it during last weekend's game at New England.

The team's chiropractor and administrator have both returned to work, Pearson said.

Multiple sources are reporting that Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a banned substance. From SI.com:

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, incurring an immediate 50-game ban and serving the highest-profile reminder yet that the use of such drugs in the testing area may have been reduced, but not eradicated.

Major League Baseball plans to announce the suspension later today.

From http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_11800991:

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden has been hospitalized since Feb. 13 because of pneumonia, school spokesman Marc Dellins said, confirming an earlier report on dailynews.com. Wooden, 98, is expected to make a full recovery, but no date has been set for him to leave the hospital.

"My father is doing well," said Nan Muehlhausen, Coach Wooden's daughter. "His lungs are clear and he has been eating well. We expect him to be released soon."

He did not attend UCLA's basketball games last week against Washington and Washington State, although he no longer attends every game. Wooden went 620-147 in 27 years at UCLA. He won 10 national titles, including seven straight from 1967-73. He retired after the Bruins won the 1975 NCAA title.

The family is asking people not call or visit to hospital so Wooden can rest. Also, the family is requesting fans refrain from sending mail to Wooden while he is hospitalized.

Mike Whitmarsh, a legendary AVP volleyball player and Olympic silver medalist in 1996, died today. The Associated Press is reporting it as an apparent suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Whitmarsh, from Spring Valley, also played briefly in the NBA.

Here is the AVP release. Here is the AP story.

From http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gdpc9SvIVeVEyey9zvASS0ypeglAD96140T86:

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Helio Gracie, one of the main creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that gained worldwide popularity, has died. He was 95.