June 8, 2009

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.

July 13, 2008

I’m back . . . . it was an absolutely crazy month at work which sucked the free-thinking creative juices out of me. While I took a pause, the world of sports was continuing at a fast pace. It’s Major League Baseball’s All-Star Break, so it’s a good time to look back at the first half of the season. Since I live in Arizona and have to listen to the front-running sports radio hosts, I want to discuss the Diamondcracks.

REALLY – The absolutely worst thing to do was sign Eric “I’d Rather Work Hard at my Reality Show” Byrnes to a long term deal. Did anybody notice that Carlos Quentin is an AL All-Star and a potential MVP candidate – REALLY!!! Now – with Byrnes out the season and top-50 MLB prospect Carlos Gonzalez patrolling center field in Oakland, the D’Cracks have an empty corner outfield spot.
There have been rumors of Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Ken Griffey Jr, and Raul Ibanez coming to patrol LF – those guys are nice but they would come at another significant hit to the farm system. The farm system cannot take another hit like it did when Byrnes sent 6 top prospects to Oakland for Dan Haren – REALLY!!
However, there is somebody who could play everyday, provide some pop, and give out some veteran leadership and playoff experience – Juan Rivera, OF, Los Angeles Angels. He has played with the Yankees and the Angels – two organizations built around winning. When playing full-time, he is a consistent .280 hitter with 20 HRs and an above average OBP. He is buried on the bench in Los Angeles behind Guerrero, Hunter, Anderson, and Matthews, so he should come pretty cheaply. That’s part 1.

SERIOUSLY – The D’Backs need to wake up because they have a pitching problem- they no longer can say they are the only team with two true #1 aces who keep them in each and every game them pitch. Milwaukee boasts Ben Sheets and CC (Not C.C.) Sabathia. The Cubs have Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden. AND – the Mets are looking for an ace to pair with Johan Santana and the Phillies are shopping for somebody to join Cole Hamels.
So Phoenix fans, what needs to be done? Lets realize that Micah Owings, Doug Davis, and Randy Johnson are nothing more than three #4-5 starters – SERIOUSLY! These pitchers are .500 – which for most teams are good, but on poor offensive teams, it’s not good. Owings is young, Davis walks too many, and Randy is just too old – those factors lead to the team being out of half the games due to poor starting pitching. They need to get an above average starter who can keep them in 2/3 of the games started.

C’MON – How many strikeouts will the Diamondback offense finish with this season?? They are young players who haven’t had time to fully develop pitch recognition in the minor leagues, but C’MON – how many K’s will they get?

With all the whiffs coming from Phoenix, it’s surprising there isn’t more wind!!

Did you hear the Diamondbacks are providing rebates for season ticket holders – they don’t have to crank down the air conditioning with all the swings and misses from DBack hitters acting as a fan.

The Diamondbacks strikeout so much that after last night’s victory, they had to go to Van Buren to get some ho’s.