A little while ago I had the honor of following Craig and his son Matt Steichen to a Chicago Blackhawks game against the Detroit Red Wings. The Steichen's have garnered national attention for their all 32 in 17 campaign bringing wounded warriors to professional athletic events around the country.
What really struck me about the pair was not only their love of the games, but their true pride in being able to give back to these heros.
I tagged along with the Steichen's and two vets, Marine Sargent Paul Ruiz and Army Sargent Jason Wilson who were on the ice during the national anthem and were recognized again in the third period for their service.

The Kane County Cougars hosted members of the media today to photograph and interview their team for the 2013 season that marks the beginning of their new affiliation with the Chicago Cubs.

I spent my last day in Mesa, Arizona with the Chicago Cubs as they went through a morning practice followed by an inter-squad game. I had to leave earlier than I wanted to in order to catch my flight back, but luckily stayed long enough to catch highly touted prospect Jorge Soler hit a bomb his first time to the plate.

The last photo is of Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro's arm tattoo. On he and his wife's first wedding anniversary, September 27, 2003, she suffered a cerebral aneurysm and doctors gave her less than a 5% chance to survive the surgery. They didn't think she would make it to September 30. After she made a full recovery, Navarro put the number 30 in this tattoo and has worn that number ever since

Wednesday was a strange day in Arizona. Cold, wet and gloomy brought a somber mood to the Spring Training festivities at Camelback Ranch where the players spent the morning in batting cages before heading out for the day.
I got a few frames for the paper, but nothing I was super excited about. Here's the few I came away with.