Living in Phoenix has its advantages:  Six months of absolutely perfect weather, great golf courses, three hours from snowboarding in the winter, five hours from the beach in the summer, and (of course) the most complete school in the Pac-10 Conference at Arizona State University.

But Phoenix isn’t a major sports city.  It’s nothing like the life or death of New York, Boston, or Philadelphia sports.  Phoenix isn’t even in the Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles second class of sports cities.

Yet, Phoenix has a professional team in each of the major sports leagues:  MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL.  That’s usually what puts a city in the top tier of sports cities.

So what is wrong with Phoenix sports?  Simply put:  It’s a fickle sports town where people flock to whoever is hot and avoid whoever is not.  But 2009 is even more different . . .

It all started when the former cellar dweller Arizona Cardinals became the NFC Champions.
Next, the Phoenix Suns organization wanted to change its essence, but their players didn’t.
Then, the Arizona Diamondbacks, in the middle of their youth movement, forgot that their young players still have a lot to learn.
Finally, the Phoenix Coyotes realized that moving 20 miles west of Phoenix to one of Phoenix’s oldest suburbs, in a state that is years behind improving its highways, cuts your fan base in half for Sunday through Thursday night games.

All the previously mentioned cities (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, LA) would be completely shell shocked if they were in Phoenix.  Grown men would be calling out sick from work.  Local sports radio hosts would be calling for organizational firings.  Newspaper columnists would be writing brutally honest columns reprimanding players and coaches.

What was the final blow for me?  A bunch of things . . .

The Diamondbacks won a game in 18 innings, and all I heard around town was the 9 innings of no-hit ball the Diamondback bullpen put up.  Are you kidding me?  Why isn’t anybody talking about the five runs the first two relief pitchers gave up TO SEND the game into extra innings – REALLY – we are going to focus on those nine innings instead of how the game got to extra innings – SERIOUSLY – It was David Eckstein who homered off of your relief pitcher – David “33 Homers in 10 Career Seasons” Eckstein. David “I’m not tall enough to get on the rides at DisneyLand” Eckstein.  David “My bat is the size of a toothpick” Eckstein – C’MON! – What a joke.

Earlier this past weekend, the Phoenix Suns, who have lost a lot of season ticket holders and are desperately calling them multiple times a week to get them back,  had their best player, Amare Stoudemire, went on a country wide radio campaign to express his displeasure with the organization.

The Phoenix Coyotes are broke, and people are just starting to care now that the team seems destined for Canada.

This wouldn’t happen in most other cities – instead, Phoenicians (yup, that’s the fancy West Coast wannabe term) just keep playing their golf, traveling to California for the beach, or getting ready for the next season.  Phoenix will never be a main-stream top sports city.