We've been trying to build some confidence in the latter part of the season. After last night's seeding meeting, this should be a huge confidence boost for our team.

This confidence in business conditions also is reflected in the survey responses to the annual question regarding anticipated capital equipment expenditures. This year, 62 percent of supply chain managers plan to increase capital equipment expenditure in 2006; only 10 percent said they plan to cut back on capital expenditures. This is a marked difference from previous years, and suggests continued positive economic news for Arizona in the near term.

[Bracing for a real fight, she figures the less said beforehand the better, perhaps.] We're trying to be realistic about our expectations, ... The fact is this is a fiercely competitive time period.

The hardest part is trying to top the year before. So we try to do different things.

It's a good opportunity. We are not trying to run tournaments, just trying to facilitate things. This is a call-out for ideas.

We've been down before, but these guys have a lot of confidence in themselves and what we're trying to do. We know that we can make some stops and we can score. I don't think anybody was really panicked.