Sports

The year’s best blowup? It is what you thought it is! No one could – or should – forget Denny Green’s infamous tirade following the Cardinals’ improbable 24-23 come-from-ahead loss to the Chicago Bears October 16. Arizona blew a 20-0 halftime lead, punctuated when superstar rookie Devin Hester returned a punt 83 yards to put the Bears ahead late in the fourth quarter. “The Bears are who we thought they were!” Green bellowed in the postgame media conference, seconds before slamming his fist on the podium. “And we let ’em off the hook!” After Arizona finished 5-11, Green himself was let off the hook.

 

With three Pacific Division crowns and an average of 59 wins in the past three seasons, the hometown hoopsters have given their faithful plenty of reasons – homeowners associations be damned – to reconsider their beige or light-beige home exteriors. (Besides, many of these same folks may be covering up the Diamondbacks’ erstwhile purple and teal.) The only question Suns die-hards really need to ask themselves is, orange with purple trim, or purple with orange trim?

 

Most recent headlines mentioning lacrosse have involved the alleged scandal at Duke University, but local fans of the sport know better. And they know Arizona boasts one of the top teams in the National Lacrosse League. The Arizona Sting, which plays home games at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, made it all the way to the finals this year, losing 13-11 to Rochester on June 10. Tickets are inexpensive, the action is fast-paced, and if you’re worried about not knowing much about lacrosse, the league’s official website (nll.com), offers a quick but thorough overview of the game.

 

If you’re still searching for a reason to watch women’s basketball – or any basketball – set your sights on Diana Taurasi. Taurasi was picked No. 1 overall in the 2004 WNBA draft, was named Rookie of the Year, and in 2006, led the league in scoring at 25.3 points per game. She also broke the WNBA single-game high with 47 points and, following the recent World Championships, was named USA Basketball’s Female Athlete of the Year. Few male players rack up that much distinction in an entire career let alone a few seasons – plus, she’s much easier on the eyes than a lot of the ogres in the NBA.

 

Overcoming two knee surgeries and a very long line of naysayers, Suns center Amare Stoudemire is back, and he’s a better jump shooter and defender than before. Just to play in 82 regular season games after microfracture surgery was a stunning comeback. But in 2006-07, Stoudemire led the team in points with 20.4 a game, was named to the All-Star team, and made the all-NBA first team. Now if he can just learn to sit politely on the bench when cheap body-checks are thrown at his team’s two-time MVP, we’ll know he really is superhuman.

 

When you pair the lead sports columnist from the biggest paper in town with the best local on-air sports reporter, you get XTRA 910’s Bickley & MJ show, easily the best in the Valley. Heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. every weekday, Dan Bickley and Mike Jurecki have a straightforward, non-screaming, fact-based style that’s far too often absent in today’s sports radio market. They also have a Badass Bracket online where listeners can vote for the all-time greatest badasses. Because, hey, it is still radio.

 

What was old became new again on January 1, when NBA officials acquiesced to league superstars and ditched its new composite ball for the old, leather ball. The move did wonders for James Jones’ shooting – he scored in double-digits in back-to-back games after the return of the leather. It also helped Steve Nash’s fingers, which apparently were getting cut up by the composite ball. And, as anyone who saw Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals knows, Nash knows a thing or two about cuts.

 

The kinder, gentler Big Unit is smiling more off the field and still has a nasty slider on the field. Sure, Johnson and his surgically repaired back are 43 years old. But with 284 career wins and 4,616 strikeouts at press time, there might be enough gas in the tank to get him to 300 and 5,000 in a D-backs uniform. Some will say his earnings – a complex mathematical equation involving a $12 million signing bonus, $14 million in salary for this year and next, and all the deferred salary from his first D-backs stint – are not worth the risk. Then again, raising the price of the $1 seats should help recoup a big chunk of that. No matter what, we’re glad to have the Big Unit back where he belongs.

 

Daron Sutton began his broadcasting career in 1994, and this season he took over as the lead play-by-play guy for the D-backs. The always affable, always approachable Sutton, the 37-year-old son of Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, developed excellent chemistry with color announcer Mark Grace, as anyone who’s heard their “you pitchers” vs. “you hitters” arguments can attest. Sutton, in addition to his on-air exploits, helps out the team however he can, including contributions to the official team publication, D-backs Insider. Welcome to the team, Sutton.

 

We worried when Steve Nash buzzed his hair last summer that it would have a Samson effect – that he would lose his precision passing or speed – but he responded by dishing out 11.6 assists per game, topping his 11.5 and 10.5 averages from his previous two MVP seasons with the Suns. His ability to pass the ball is freakish. He can launch it, bounce it, alley-oop it and even send it through the wickets of an unsuspecting opponent. In fact, the only sloppy pass involving Nash this year came from sportswriters who overlooked him for a third MVP.

 

The way her hair tumbles out when she takes off her racing helmet hearkens back to the no-nonsense look that Pert made popular. Now if she could just win a race. OK, that’s a little harsh, especially since Patrick has been swimming in a fishbowl of expectations since she finished fourth two years ago as a rookie at the Indy 500. She joined Andretti Green Racing this season, which gives her a better chance at Victory Lane. And her training regimen keeps her 5’2” frame in tip-top shape. She runs, weight trains and does “extreme yoga” in 100-degree temps. Wonder how her hair looks then.

 

Charles Barkley. Jason Kidd. And now, Pat Burke. The towering Irishman is bringing bald back. Though Burke’s future in Phoenix is unclear, the hubbub he created with his hustle and hairstyle will undoubtedly be his legacy. He’s also a risk-taker: At 6-feet-11-inches tall, his pasty dome is that much closer to the sun in a state of endless sunshine.

 

When the Cardinals’ starting running back came to the Valley last year, fans got a major two-for: a powerful, slash-and-cut runner and one of the most dazzling smiles in Phoenix. And that’s dazzling, spelled D-A-$-$-L-I-N-G. Behind that mouthpiece is a mouthful of bling. If the dome is open and James scores, be ready for a blinding shot of those bejeweled teeth.

 

Sure, the Devils had a fairly good run of things under the tutelage of former head football coach Dirk Koetter, but with a 40-33 record, an astronomical salary and nary a big-time bowl game appearance, Koetter was cut loose in November. Now, he’s off to coordinate the offense for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Here’s hoping his offense fares better in muggy Florida than his halftime adjustments fared in Tempe, and that new Sun Devils’ head coach Dennis Erickson can breathe new life into our gridiron goblins.

 

When the Arizona Diamondbacks unveiled their new color scheme – Sedona Red, black and Sonoran Sand – during a private fashion show at the Hotel Valley Ho last November, outfielder Eric Byrnes stole the show by strutting his stuff on the runway. Byrnesie briskly jogged to the front of the stage, as if taking his spot on the field, tipped his cap, turned slowly and let the ladies linger on his assets as he leisurely exited the spotlight. It was par for the course considering Byrnes’ goof-ball reputation, but don’t be surprised if this blonde-locked left-fielder ditched the bases for a second career on the catwalk.

 

Though his stock dipped during the 2007 playoffs, there is good news about 25-year-old Suns’ guard Leandro Barbosa: He hasn’t peaked yet. By signing the Brazilian Blur to a five-year contract extension that begins next season, the Suns made sure their 188-pound package of dynamite will be here for a while. He kicks it into warp speed so fast, no one in the NBA ? beep beep ? can keep up with him. Congratulations, Sixth Man of the Year; we?re glad you?re locked in through 2011-12.

 

If you caught PHOENIX magazine’s March cover featuring Suns guard Raja Bell lounging in a beautiful Bentley convertible, you discovered what we’ve known all along – Bell is a bona fide looker. We weren’t the first to pick up on his striking features, however. Bell signed a contract with Ford modeling agency earlier this year and has since struck a pose for GQ. We’re certain Bell will experience a lucrative career in modeling, but lucky for him (and the Suns), he has a pretty good gig to fall back on.

 

Diamondbacks first-baseman Tony Clark, widely regarded as one of the nicest guys ever to step foot into a Major League Baseball clubhouse, spends the majority of his offseason coaching boys high school basketball at Northwest Christian School in Glendale. This past season was Clark’s seventh. “I just love it. I’m thankful for the opportunity,” Clark says. “When you see a kid’s eyes light up when he finally gets something that you’ve been talking about, whether it be on the baseball field or on the basketball court, the satisfaction that you made a difference, there’s no more pleasure than that.” Thanks for giving back, Tony.

 

Enjoying the Cardinals can be difficult at times, but enjoying their new digs, University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, is rather easy. The state-of-the-art, 63,000-seat facility opened a year ago and has since hosted events ranging from a Rolling Stones concert to the 2007 Bowl Championship Series title game, and will be the site of Super Bowl XLII next February. The Cardinals’ home schedule this year includes Seattle, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Detroit, San Francisco, Cleveland, Atlanta and St. Louis. Cards fans at the stadium can watch replays of each of those teams repeatedly scoring touchdowns on the NFL’s largest JumboTron.