This year's Mesa Slam Team Finals went exceptionally well-

Thanks go out to the volunteers: The Nelsonnettes (as always), Shmoo, Kat, spacekadette, Eli, & Shayde. You guys really took a load off!

And the sponsors: Del Sol Reception Hall, Five Star DJ, and Mesa Arts Academy for loaning us their stage lights. Without you we couldn't pull off an event of this magnitude. Thank you!

It was especially excellent to have spokenn host the show. Not only has it been too long since we'd seen him, he really kept the energy up, and with a tough crowd, too! The informal reading was great. He actually moved me to tears. And he is a perfect poet house guest. Thanks Kenn. You Rock!

Our calibration poets, 2007 Voices of Youth Champion, Hannah Jiam, who is a powerhouse of talent that I expect to see and hear a lot more of, and 2007 Anthology Cup Winner, Eric Gray, set the stage for the rest of the night.

I will say the judges were extremely easy, during the last round I don't think anyone scored under an 8.9, but they did their jobs and I appreciate every one of them.

Brent's proposal to his girlfriend at the end was just too heartwarming. He even got down on one knee. Awwwwwwww . . .

All in all, a great culmination to all the hard work that's been put in for the past few months. Maybe now bobdapoet can get some well deserved rest before he starts work on keeping the team together and getting them all to Austin.

And I can finally get back to work on my latest novel . . .