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PHOENIX – The ability to attend a sporting event, place a bet on a team and possibly return home a winner will soon be a reality in Arizona.
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First of all, she goes by her full name, which is pronounced Mee-May. There has long been that problem with pronouns, as in when someone asks the tennis coach “Who’s playing Number One singles today?” and the response is “Well, that would be Mi.” (It was recently suggested that they hold a f…
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In this world, there are lots and lots of thankless tasks, things that must be performed for the good of society in general or a group of people, in particular. Going in, the people performing these tasks know that there is a high possibility of being criticized and a very small chance of be…
PHOENIX – GateWay Community College coach Rob Shabansky admits he wasn’t a huge fan of technology and analytics in baseball.
TUCSON – “Getting lost is the best part of trail running,” Marlinda Bedonie said with a chuckle as we shielded our eyes from the morning sun, searching for our cars.
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When the NCAA conducted their recently completed basketball championship tournaments in a bubble-like situation akin to that used by the NBA for their 2020 playoffs, it was decided that the men would gather in Indianapolis and the women would be in San Antonio. The distance between those two…
PHOENIX – The unofficial marijuana holiday, April 20, has become a popular day around the world.
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In the movie “Invictus,” a rabid South African rugby fan explains, “Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans, while rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.” Here in Arizona, it’s also a hooligan’s game played by, among others, eight-year-old girls.
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The University of Arizona last week announced Gonzaga men’s basketball assistant coach Tommy Lloyd will be the next head coach of the Wildcat’s men’s basketball program.
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After a year without fundraising events, the Oro Valley Optimist Club plans to bring back their “Scramble for Youth” golf fundraiser at Marana’s Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain’s Golf Club on Saturday, May 1. Through the event, the OVOC hopes to raise money for the youth services they offer to ki…
PHOENIX – A documentary recently aired in France titled, “I’m not a slut, I’m a journalist.”
PHOENIX – After years of resistance from tribes around the state, Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2772 on Thursday, legalizing daily sports fantasy and sports betting in Arizona. The development comes on the heels of ratification of a revised Tribal-State Gaming Compact.
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A local nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the Pusch 9 golf course succeed when it reopens next fall held its first fundraising event at the Oro Valley Community Center course on Wednesday, April 7.
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PHOENIX – The Arizona Senate passed legislation Monday night that paves the way for legalized sports betting in the state, possibly as soon as summer.
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Three odd things about me: I’ve never chewed gum (my Mom wouldn’t let me, so I never started); I’ve never tasted alcohol (I watched other people doing it while I was growing up, so I never started); and I’ve never bought a lottery ticket (I understand mathematics). However, I have been told …
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PHOENIX – For some sports fans, the interaction with an athlete during an autograph session is the best feeling in the world. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has taken some of the excitement out of autograph seeking.
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The University of Arizona is giving men's basketball head coach Sean Miller his walking papers after 12 seasons with the program and an overall record of 302-109.
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PHOENIX – Just like any sports franchise, the NCAA is a business, but does a correlation exist between how much money a collegiate athletic department spends on a team and how far it goes in the postseason?
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Extra Point: UA women’s basketball team had a glorious season, even if they fell short at the buzzer
One of the greatest movies ever about music (although you can’t really call it a musical) is “The Commitments,” an often-hilarious story of a group of hardscrabble, pasty-faced Irish kids (and one grizzled professional) in Dublin who get together to form a soul-music band. They stumble along…
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WADDELL – Nicholas Watson, 17, has spent the past eight years fine-tuning his esports skills and playing his favorite sports-focused games, including Madden.
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Well, beat the drum and hold the phone, the sun came out today…
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Aari McDonald will probably never have to pay for another meal in Tucson for as long as she lives. The Arizona Wildcat All-American point guard—an absolute Diminutive Badass—scored 33 points and made a dramatic late-game return to the court after suffering a cringe-inducing ankle sprain to l…
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LOS ANGELES – Face masks, plastic bottles and bags – and feces, both dog and human – are some of the unsightly waste you could encounter these days while hiking in the red rocks of Sedona. Discarded masks also litter the beaches of Southern California, which already were battling a growing s…
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PHOENIX – Arizona is in a drought. That’s not exactly breaking news, but all the water in the world won’t quench the thirst of pro sports fans around the Valley.
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OK, it’s 11 a.m. on a weekday morning. Most decent people are working. Spring Break is over and some politicians have declared that the pandemic is no longer a thing, so kids can be back at school. But a few of us lucky ones get to be at home, watching the University of Arizona women’s baske…
PHOENIX – A beautiful sunrise on an early Saturday morning greeted the trail runners as they meandered through Mesquite Canyon. The scenic view from the White Tank Mountain Recreational Park in Waddell was just one of the perks for the athletes who competed in the race.
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Tomorrow begins the greatest three weeks in all of sports—the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. It’s like an Arizona sunset with Orange Dream eegee’s, the fragrance of flowers, Marvin Gaye singing in the background, all wrapped in bacon.
PHOENIX – When Bryce Drew was hired to replace Dan Majerle as coach at Grand Canyon last March, the Lopes were not in a great spot.
GLENDALE – They named her Luna, which is Spanish for moon.
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TUCSON – At 21, Marcus Smith is already in unique company.
In the first round of the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, exactly one year ago today, the wildly disappointing Arizona Wildcats had pulled out a wildly disappointing seven-point victory over the last-place Washington Huskies. (The Cats, with their three freshman stars, had been a sexy pi…
TEMPE – Gloves are popping. Bats are cracking. And gates are opening.
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PHOENIX – Picture a baseball game at Chase Field. Or a basketball game at Suns Arena. As more fans begin returning to sporting events after the COVID-19 pandemic, they are welcomed by the benefits of live competition, from ballpark hot dogs to the energy of a packed stadium.
Oro Valley Town Manager Mary Jacobs is expected to present the town’s three-year plan to bring golf back to the Pusch 9 golf course during Wednesday night’s Town Council meeting.
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Nobody should have had to go through what the high-school seniors of the classes of 2020 and 2021 have had to endure. Last year’s seniors were cruising along. The athletes in the class had finished up the winter seasons of basketball or soccer or wrestling. Some of them (and others) were tur…
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PHOENIX – Krystle Mann, a stay-at-home mother to three sons, makes and sells cornbread and jam to pay for new baseball gear and help cover club fees – approximately $1,500 per year.
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The Oro Valley Town Council voted 6-1 in favor of reopening the Pusch Ridge nine-hole golf course in November while making significant investments to the property over the next three to five years, during their meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
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As the 2021 Cologuard Classic returns to Omni Tucson National Resort this week, the Pima County Health Department is now allowing a limited number of spectators on-site during the PGA TOUR Champions tournament.
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A few things to know concerning golf, in general, and this week’s 2021 Cologuard Classic, in particular:
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PHOENIX – Going, going, almost gone!
Four senior student-athletes from Pusch Ridge Christian Academy recently signed letters of intent in early February to continue their athletic and academic futures at several colleges west of the Mississippi River.
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In this time of pandemic and a self-imposed post-season ban (not to mention the still-detectable whiff of Major Disappointment at the Nico Mannion Season that landed with a thud), this year’s University of Arizona men’s basketball team is the least-talked-about Wildcat squad in nearly four d…
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Hand-shucked and char-grilled oysters with chorizo and queso Chihuahua. Blackened tuna mignon with banana-jalapeno fried rice. Ribeye steak with a Burgundy mushroom and shallot ragout.
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PHOENIX – Dale Earnhardt, or “The Intimidator” as most fans knew him, was probably the most-feared driver in NASCAR history.
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PHOENIX – Batter up. Mask up.
It’s 5:20 on a Tuesday afternoon, just 10 minutes before the tipoff of the first game of the year for the Amphi girls basketball team. It’s three months to the day from when official practice for winter sports was original scheduled to begin and more than two months later than when the first…
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The 2021 Cologuard Classic is back at Omni Tucson National Resort last week of February, however, there will be no audience during the tournament’s scheduled events due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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PHOENIX – Apprehensive Arizona parents of high school athletes can rest easier now.
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Sunday is the Super Bowl, a decidedly muted affair this year. I’m not sure which team to root for. There are only 12 people in the entire country who will admit to being Tom Brady fans and two of them are Donald Trump…
PHOENIX – Anthony Gilich remembers March 16, 2020, the day when the National Junior College Athletic Association announced it was canceling the remainder of the spring sports seasons because of COVID-19.
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The age-old question is asked, “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” A fourth-grade teacher could probably burn an entire morning by posing that question and having his/her class debate it ad infinitum. (Scientifically, it would certainl…
