In years past, Padres would shed pricey stars

expected to finish their careers here.

Is that a positive or a negative?

Jay Paris

The Padres continue to tune up in spring training with a roster stocked with topshelf, and well-paid, players.

My, what a difference an owner makes.

“It’s amazing what the Padres are doing,” Cardiff’s Barry Axelrod said.

Axelrod is more than a casual observer.

Zippin’ into the monster sports month of March

Inside Information

Felix Taverna

The Big Dance is almost here. The warmup for me was watching the NCAA women’s basketball conference tournaments this past weekend. To the point, these women can flat-out play … and are well-coached. Maybe better than the men.

SEC champion and top-ranked South Carolina (32-0) is coached by hall of fame player Dawn Staley, a Philly girl who won a few gold medals for our Olympic teams.

Iowa sharpshooter Caitlin Clark had her 10th career triple-double in the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten championship game rout … and her amazing collegiate career just keeps getting better.

Trust me … you will see some wars on the road to the women’s basketball championship. And I personally think South Carolina’s women’s team could beat some NCAA men’s teams. Or, at least give them a close game.

Now, on to the most exciting three weeks of the sports calendar — March Madness.

Selection Sunday is this Sunday, March 12, with the men’s bracket being unveiled at 3 p.m. (CBS) and the women’s bracket at 5 p.m. (ESPN).

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the greatest college event ever invented, has provided so many memories —unbelievable finishes and individual performances. You must have yours… here are some of mine:

• Bill Walton (UCLA), 1973 — Walton was almost perfect vs. Memphis State, going 21 of 22 from the field (a time when dunk- ing wasn’t allowed) for an NCAA championship game record 44 points. He single-handedly destroyed the Tigers, 87-66, giving the Bruins and John Wooden a seventh straight title.

• Houston vs. North Carolina State, 1983 — Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack made one of the most magical title runs in NCAA Tournament history ... what dreams are made of. I must have watched that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary dozens of times.

• Georgetown vs. Villanova, 1985. An instant classic. Considered one of the biggest upsets ever, the eighth-seeded Wildcats shot 90% from the field in an iconic second half to win the title.

• Keith Smart (Indiana), 1987 — Smart’s baseline jumper in the closing seconds beat Syracuse, 7473, in the championship game.

• Jerry Tarkanian (UNLV), 1990 — Tark won his first national championship in a rout of Duke. He told me it was the most electric moment of his coaching career. He lived for that. Making the Final Four wasn’t enough. Winning it all was. He reached the mountaintop.

• Kentucky vs. Duke, 1992. Christian Laettner and “The Shot” turned this East Regional final into an all-time classic. Short-handed Kentucky, so close to the Final Four, saw devastation appear with one long pass, one turnaround and one basket to give the Blue Devils the improbable 104-103 win.

Just a few memories to spark renewed interest.

This year … 68 teams to begin, with First Four games taking place March 14-15 ... 32 teams remain after the first two days with the Sweet 16 left by Sunday night.

14 venues in 13 states, with the Final Four in Houston to decide “the chip.”

Get your brackets ready.

Before the free-spending Peter Seidler took over, Axelrod negotiated deals back when the Padres pinched pennies instead of printing playoff tickets.

When Axelrod was among baseball’s top agents, he crafted impressive contracts with the Padres for infielder Phil Nevin (four years, $34 million) and right-hander Jake Peavy (three years, $52 million).

Both, at the time, were the richest pacts in franchise history.

Both look puny when considering the Padres have two players, infielder Manny Machado and outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., with multiyear agreements exceeding $340 million. Plus, no squad has more players (five) making in excess of $20 million this season.

“I might have been a couple decades too early,” Axelrod said with a laugh.

Those former eye-popping contracts, thanks to Axelrod’s handiwork, pale in comparison to the riches awarded to those in uniform today.

That’s not the only difference, as far as the Padres are concerned.

Almost before the ink was dry on the Nevin and Peavey transactions, the Padres were exploring avenues to shed their liability.

Axelrod mentioned a phone call from then-Pa- dres general manager Kevin Towers, breathlessly telling Axelrod a deal was in place with the Cincinnati Reds involving Ken Griffey Jr. for Nevin. Towers, a former Leucadia resident, wondered if Nevin would go.

“That’s great,” Axelrod said. “But we have a limited-trade clause, and Phil, who had built a big house in Poway and wanted to be close to his parents, had no interest in Cincinnati.”

Someone leaked the deal to the media, with Nevin being cast as the villain in the Padres’ quest to acquire a future Hall of Farmer in Griffey.

“We thought it was a long-term deal with the Padres and that was specifically why we signed it,” Axelrod said. “That was one of the only times I got in a disagreement with Kevin.”

Nevin, who now manages the Los Angeles Angels, read the tea leaves that he wasn’t wanted in San Diego. He ultimately accepted a trade to the Texas Rangers.

Nevin was hardly the lone Padres star among Axelrod’s clients to be pointed toward the door. Peavy, who won the 2007 Cy Young Award, signed his hefty deal and the Padres sighed with regret.

Then-owner Jeff Moorad contacted Axelrod at the 2009 trading deadline at 8 a.m., asking if Peavy would agree to relocate to the Chicago White Sox. Axelrod and Peavy turned down a similar request earlier that season.

“The answer will be no, but it’s my obligation to run it by Jake, but he was sleeping,” Axelrod said. “Finally, I have his wife wake him up at 11 a.m. and he says yes. We met the 1 p.m. deadline by two minutes.”

Peavy’s 15 minutes of fame had expired with San Diego.

Conversely, the longterm deals engineered by Seidler don’t have a sell-by date. Seidler has stated the superstars he’s signing are

“I think we know the last four or five years of these deals won’t look good,” Axelrod said. “And I like Peter and love what he is doing, but is it sustainable?

“Just look at the Angels, where they pay their top players (Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon) well and it doesn’t work out. You look at the Padres and they are paying their top four or five players, but you have to have a supporting cast.

“Is their center fielder (Trent Grisham) going to bat .184 again? They have catchers that don’t hit. And how good is Tatis going to be with a surgically repaired shoulder and wrist?

“(Yu) Darvish was great last year, but not so much the five years before. You have a second baseman playing first (Jake Cronenworth) and two corner outfielders (Tatis and Juan Soto) that can be suspect defensively. Things happen, players get older and don’t perform as well.”

True, but it’s false to think the Padres aren’t built for a deep October run.

“Agree, but look at Trout,” Axelrod said. “He’s the best player in the game and he’s been to three playoff games in his career.”

A penny for your thoughts and few have them with the perspective of Axelrod’s.

Contact Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com and follow him @jparis_sports.

We have been discussing how to minimize our environmental impact with the choices we make around sustainability in this column.

Did you know you can maximize sustainability by minimizing?

This weekend, March 11-12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., TinyFest California is coming to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to show you how.

With a mission statement to empower people to maximize their lives while minimizing their impact on the environment, this show promises to live up to that calling.

Tiny-home builders, van conversion specialists, homeowners who have “gone tiny,” expert speakers, presentations, vendors specializing in all things sustainable, kid-friendly entertainment, and lots of food and fun will converge on the fairgrounds to deliver information on sustainable homes, alternative living and how to achieve financial freedom.

“There is a social culture behind the tiny movement, and it’s a great community,” says Renee Seevers, CEO of Tiny Fest.

The Iowa native converted a school bus in 2017 after her youngest went to college and has been on the road since sharing the joys of tiny living with others.

Many people dream of packing up the bus and driving into the unknown - these folks are living that dream and want to share with you the joys of tiny living.

The tiny living movement commits to minimalism and springs roots from living in America before suburbia began its sprawl.

Innovative builders such as Azure Printed Homes will have their tiny homes on display along with a creative, interactive school program called the Student Career Connection Symposium.

This educational trade program has been offered to the Carlsbad Unified and Oceanside Unified school districts, Urban Corps of San Diego County, Millennial Tech Middle School and Learning Choice Academy, which will auction off the tiny home it’s been building the last two years.

“This has been such a great success in the school districts, with students blossoming while learning about building, engineering, development and designing,” Seevers says.

More and more people and panel discussions that there are living options with a smaller footprint, using sustainably focused building materials and solar to add to energy savings, all while reducing carbon footprint,” Seevers adds. are discovering that extra rooms and extra stuff do not add value or happiness. The financial freedom component comes with the freedom from stress that comes with less stuff.

Another educational program offered this weekend is produced by Sandy Blair, a female veteran tackling homelessness among women leaving the armed services. Blair runs Women Empowered Build Strong (www.operationwebs.org).

Blair and her team build tiny homes on wheels as a sustainable solution for displaced and homeless women veterans struggling to transition back to civilian life after their military service.

Bringing together policymakers, educators, vendors and innovators from this exciting and growing industry promises to be a motivating and exciting event for the whole family.

It should not be missed if you are even considering putting an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on your property or dreaming of converting that van or traveling in your RV.

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to explore tiny houses, van conversions, skoolies (school bus conversions), backyard cottages, shipping container homes, adventure rigs and more. Meet the builders and people living and traveling tiny every day.

At the Simple Living Marketplace, a variety of vendors will guide you on how to minimize your clutter, debt and carbon footprint while offering indepth information on various topics.

Hear inspiring stories throughout the weekend from speaker presentations, Q&A sessions and panel discussions.

“I love to show people through our demonstrations

TinyFest California is bringing together like-minded people with souls on fire who value the ideals behind building small and living large.

Parking at the fairgrounds is $15, and entry tickets range from $20 to $87 for a VIP weekend pass. Visit www.tinyfest.events to learn more, get tickets and join a movement that is sweeping the country.