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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- While much of the nation is buried in snow, glazed by ice or just plain shivering in the cold, its time to play ball in the desert. Spring training officially began Thursday when Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers reported, with their first workout set for Friday. On the other side of suburban Phoenix, in Glendale, Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers and catchers report on Saturday. Full-squad workouts for both teams begin next week. The Diamondbacks and Dodgers get an early start because they will open the MLB season with a two-game series in Australia on March 22-23. The rest of the teams begin workouts next week at their spring training haunts in Arizona and Florida. Arizonas reporting date signals the beginning of preparation for a season that wont end until the World Series eight months from now. The Diamondbacks are coming off consecutive 81-81 seasons and face the prospect, like the rest of the NL West, of trying to compete with the cash- and pitching-rich Dodgers. Arizona wanted to add a veteran starter in the off-season and still may. A person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday that the Diamondbacks were talking with representatives of Bronson Arroyo with the possibility of landing the 36-year-old right-hander. The person asked not to be identified because the talks had not been made public. The Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles also reportedly have interest in Arroyo. If no changes are made, the Diamondbacks rotation is expected to include left-handers Patrick Corbin and Wade Miley and right-handers Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy. Young right-hander Randall Delgado and top minor league prospect Archie Bradley could vie for the other rotation spot. Diamondbacks players went through informal workouts in relatively chilly weather, at least by Arizona standards, on Thursday. Temperatures were in the low 60s but were expected to rise to the high 70s over the weekend. Kirk Gibson is entering his fourth season as manager and earlier this week got an extension of his contract, which had been set to expire this year. He said the early start to spring training will mean a larger gap between the start of full-squad workouts and the beginning of spring games. "Well come in on the 11th and our first games on the 26th," he said. "It gives us a challenge. We need to get our pitchers ready to be ready to go on March 22." After the long trip to Australia, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers will come back to Arizona to complete spring training before their stateside regular-season openers. "The seasons going to be a little longer, " Gibson said, "but if you look at the other people that have played abroad early, I think theres 10 teams that went and five of them have went to post-season play." Even though its an early start to spring training, McCarthy said players are more than ready to get back at it. "In the last month is when you start to hit that boredom point," he said. "Youre done with the off-season, youre sick of your loved ones, you want to get out of your house. Now it turns real and you kind of get back to work." The other significant addition to the Diamondbacks pitching staff is Addison Reed, The 25-year-old right-hander had 69 saves the last two seasons with the Chicago White Sox, 40 last year. Arizona acquired him from the White Sox for third baseman Matt Davidson. Reed hasnt been anointed the Arizona closer yet, though, facing competition from the likes of J.J. Putz, David Hernandez and Brad Zeigler. "Obviously everybody knows that I want to close. Its the only thing Ive ever wanted to do," Reed said, "but Im here and whatever they have me do is what Ill do and Ill be happy to. As long as Im out there throwing, Ill be a happy guy." McCarthy said that a core group of Arizona players plans to take a bigger leadership role in the coming year. "I think theres a group of guys here that know exactly what they want," he said. "Last year I think we were kind of getting there but we didnt have that true leadership that really came through. Its the one thing Ive seen just in talking to guys so far, that heres an idea of exactly what we want and I think we know how to implement that now. "Youre going to see a clubhouse of guys that go out of their way to get things the way they want it, to set an attitude the way they want it." Bob Griese Dolphins Jersey . Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas appeared to be on track to gain election from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday, and Craig Biggio could join them. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey .The Los Angeles Lakers star passed Michael Jordan for third on the NBAs career scoring list Sunday night in a 100-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. http://www.dolphinsrookiestore.com/Dolphins-Mark-Duper-Jersey/ . The Rainbow FlickNext up is the Rainbow Flick, or as you probably know it, the trick that everybody at soccer camp thought they knew how to do. Cameron Wake Womens Jersey . -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. Miami Dolphins Jerseys .Currently no, Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs deputy director of the competitions division and head of womens competitions, said Tuesday in an interview from Ottawa.ATLANTA -- After an unbeaten run through the Southeastern Conference, top-ranked Florida reaped its rewards Monday. Scottie Wilbekin was picked as The Associated Press Southeastern Conference player of the year, while Billy Donovan took the coaching honour for the second season in a row. Kentucky freshman Julius Randle was selected as newcomer of the year. The AP awards were announced one day after Florida defeated Kentucky 61-60 in the championship game of the SEC tournament. The Gators (32-2) were named top overall seed in the NCAAs and will open against either Albany or Mount St. Marys in the South Regional. Wilbekin and Randle were unanimous choices to the All-SEC first team, joined by Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes, Florida forward Casey Prather and Missouri guard Jabari Brown. Wilbekin averaged 13 points and 3.8 assists a game. More important, the 6-foot-2 senior guard was the unquestioned leader for the Gators at both ends of the court, making amends from two suspensions that threatened his future with the program. He missed the first five games this season for an undisclosed violation of team rules, after behind held out the first three games the previous year. "I think when he went through that, our guys were like, OK, it happened one time, blah, blah, blah. But now it happens again, guys start pulling back, saying, OK, man, is this guy about us? Does this guy even care about us or our team?" Donovan said. Wilbekin worked hard to rebuild the relationship with his teammates, and it showed on the court. "He had to go through a long process of showing these guys that he cares and hes committed to them," Donovan said. "I think once he got through the end of that process, I think our guys kind of put their arms around him and were like, Wow, coach made this guy go through a lot. A lot of that had to do with me wanting to help him restore his credibility inside the team, and he had to do that and hes grown from that on and off the court." Wilbekin was named MVP of the SEC tournament. During hard-fought wins in both the semifinals and final, he would gather the team around him when things werent going Floridas way. "Coach cant talk to us all the time," he said, "so we try to huddle ourselves and say the right things amonng ourselves.dddddddddddd." Donovan repeated as coach of the year with Florida becoming the first team to go 18-0 in SEC games during the regular season. The Gators won three more games at the Georgia Dome this past weekend for their first tournament title since 2007. "Anytime you get those coaching honours or coaching awards, a lot of it is because youve got a good group and theyve done a great job," Donovan said. "I do think that when individual awards come out, its much, much more of a reflection of the people around you. Even with Scotties award, Id say the same thing. Its more of a reflection of the people around him. I think for me, its the players and the coaching staff, the people I have around me." Randle emerged as the top player from Kentuckys latest group of heralded freshmen. While some thought the Wildcats (24-10) underachieved -- after all, they started the season No. 1 and there was even speculation about whether they could go unbeaten -- the 6-foot-9 Randle led the conference in rebounding (10.5 a game) and ranked 10th in scoring (15.0). Kentucky was seeded eighth in the NCAAs and will open Friday against Kansas State in the Midwest Regional. "I feel like our chemistry is getting better," Randle said. "Were becoming a better team, getting better every game." Stokes, a 6-8 junior forward, helped Tennessee (21-12) join Florida and Kentucky as the only SEC schools in the 68-team NCAA field, ranking second to Randle in rebounding (10.3) and 12th in scoring (14.7). The Vols will face Iowa on Wednesday in a first-round game at Dayton. Prather was another of Floridas senior leaders. The 6-6 forward paced the Gators in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Brown, a 6-5 junior guard, led the SEC in scoring with an average of 19.8 points. Florida landed another player on the All-SEC second team: senior centre Patric Young. He was joined by Tennessee forward Jordan McRae, Alabama guard Trevor Releford and a pair of LSU forwards, Johnny OBryant III and Jordan Mickey. McRae and Releford both slipped to the second team after making the top squad in 2013. The 66th annual AP All-SEC team was selected by a 12-member regional media panel. AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Gainesville, Fla., contributed to this report. ' ' '