Tonight, Rawhide, the “wild west town” in N. Scottsdale, a mile or so from my house, is closing. The last night. Tomorrow, sayonara. Of course, Rawhide would end its 30+ year run on Halloween.

Here’s a short clip of Rawhide’s signature statue, “Come and Get It” which sits out front on Scottsdale Road. The rest of Rawhide is headed to the Gila River Indian Community, but the statue is headed for eBay. Really.

Three or four lifetimes ago, my wife and I worked one night at Rawhide as temp workers (we didn’t have a proverbial pot to p*** in and would do anything for a buck). Actually, the gig got cancelled and we were sent off to Troon to be a bartender and waitress. For those who know me. The concept of me as a bartender is somewhat hilarious. Anyway, fireworks start shortly and then it’s one more tourist attraction down the tubes and one more shopping center springing from the earth.

My annual Fall League birthday baseball game was a day late, but full of excitement nonetheless. It was the Surprise (nee Scottsdale) Scorpions at the Peoria Saguaros. First viewing of the Scorpions this year, and it’s a team filled with talent: Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales, Michael Bourn, Jared Weaver, etc..

This clip provides an overview of the game and then some up-close shots of a few players, most notable Alex Gordon (No. 2 pick in the most recent draft) and Brandon Wood (he of 43 minor league homers this past season), a graduate of Horizon High School in Phoenix (and former top draft pick of the Angels). By the way, if you want to get a glimpse at a future Cy Young candidate, look at Jared Weaver (also of the Angels). He was a No. 1 pick who held out an entire season before signing. He is the real deal with major heat plus a wicked, major league curve.

Looks like I have a new neighbor. It makes sense for Google to open an Arizona office for a number of reasons, but I’ll spare you the Chamber of Commerce rap. For me, it’s a signal that Google is moving into the payments business. Amex, Discover and many others have their payment headquarters here because space is (relatively) cheap; the cost of living is (relatively) low. There are an increasing number of skilled workers moving here and it good for us to expand our employment base beyond the service industry.

Spoken like someone running for Congress in a few years?