End of Line

Well this will be the last post of the semester folks- it's been real. There's a lot of things happening (or not happening) in Arizona Sports. I'll just leave you off with where we're at.

The Suns lost their game Tuesday to the Jazz, booting them out of the 8th seed in the Playoffs. Honestly I would rather take our chances getting a lottery pick rather than losing to the Spurs in the first round anyways. I have seen us lose to San Antonio way to many times to enjoy that series at all. Steve Nash quite possibly played his last game as a Sun Wednesday against the Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli-less Spurs. We'll see where the off season takes him. It'll be a long re-building process for the Suns I believe.

The Cardinals picked 13th in the NFL Draft tonight and picked up Wide Reciever Michael Floyd from Notre Dame. Larry Fitzgerald expressed his interest in another deep threat WR and the Cardinals listened. It will be exciting to watch the Cardinals compete this year.

The Diamondbacks are playing all right. Give us a healthy line up and consistent play and I believe we can at least pick up one of the two wild card spots in the NL this year. It will be a great summer of good ol' fashioned baseball. I can't wait to make it out to the ballpark.

The Coyotes are into the second round of the Playoffs and will start their series against the Nashville Predators.  We are the hot team with the hot goalie right now and those can add up to good things in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I hope we can upset the whole hockey world and prove that the sport can work here in our lovely desert.

We will see where the future takes us from here. Thanks.

No Class

I find it funny that just over a week ago I did a post on high class players in the NBA. Once again, one of the players with the least class in the league is suspended for not being able to handle his emotions.

Ron Arte... I mean... Metta World Peace was ejected from the game and suspended for 7 games after he elbowed James Harden in the back of the head when the Oklahoma City Thunder faced the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The worst part was that the flying elbow wasn't even out of anger. It was out of "passion" as World Peace states. Apparently he was on an emotional high and needed to let some of it out through the beating in of another player's head.

Even in his apology Metta shows a lack of class. He talks about how great his dunks were and how the superstars on the other team never even had a chance in defending him.

It doesn't surprise me that he's been suspended 13 times in his 13 year career. Every year we should expect this idiot to do something to warrant a suspension. Last year around the same time of year it was this.

Why would any team ever want someone like this to play for them?

Wily Coyote

What can I say? I'm a sucker for feel good stories.

And Mike Smith, goaltender of the Phoenix Coyotes has one of those stories. In my opinion, he's the new Jeremy Lin- it's just SportCenter and the rest of the country isn't too big on hockey.

On Monday night Smith shut out the Chicago Blackhawks to allow the Coyotes to win 4-0 and win their first Playoff Series since the franchise was moved to the desert.

The goalie had 39 saves and his first ever shutout in the playoffs.

Pretty impressive considering just last year he was wondering if he would ever play in an NHL game again. He had been picked up and dropped from waivers by the Tampa Thunder and the situation wasn't looking to good for him.

Luckily Coyotes GM and coach believed in this young athlete and gave him a chance after losing all star goalie Ilya Brizgolav to the Flyers in the off season. Now I'm sure they are thanking their lucky stars as Smith has helped vault them into the playoffs and niw has sealed their entrance into the second round.

There's a lesson to be learned here besides never giving up in the face of adversity. Sometimes we need to be the ones that give individuals a chance to try, succeed, and exceed our highest expectations.

Ageless Wonder

Jamie Moyer won his first game as a pitcher in Major League Baseball almost two years before I was born. I just turned 24 years old, which makes it incredible that his most recent win was recorded Tuesday- making him the oldest pitcher to win a game at 49 years, 150 days.

To me, that is incredible. I think my dad had a pacemaker installed shortly after he turned 49 and here Jamie Moyer is playing professional baseball. The amount of work that goes into staying healthy that long is impressive.

He is now older than 8 managers and has 8 children (one of which has now been drafted by a major league team). He has pitched in at least 19 ballparks that don't even exist anymore. His ERA is actually lower in his 40's (4.40) than it ever was in his 20's (4.56). Buster Olney reports that Moyer pitched to more than 8% of players to ever play in the league. Wow.

It reminds me of Grant Hill and Steve Nash and the wonders they are doing as the 2nd and 5th oldest members of the the NBA. 

I applaud anyone who can silence the critics and perform at an elite level well into their gray years. It can inspire others who think age is a barrier to accomplish the things they dream of.

High Class

I can respect high class players in the NBA (and any other sport). Gordon Hayward was poked in the ear by Delonte West during the Mav's game against the Jazz in Salt Lake City Monday night.

Not only was it a poke, but there was a push involved too...

 Hayward's instinct was to first rip it off. Ninety percent of the players in the league today would have done just that. But not Gordon.

He says:
             "What am I going to do? Fight him and we both get kicked out and I could be done for the season? 
                      You just have to keep your composure more than getting into a fight or anything like that. The           
                     most important thing is getting the win."

 It says something about a player when they don't react to their first instinct. I know I want players on my team who can keep their cool when the game is on the line. 

Many are upset West only got a technical for the gesture, that it should've been more.

Alec Burks stated:

           "There's no call for that. I mean, we're all grown men. You can't challenge somebody's manhood 

                    out there like that. I didn't like that at all"

Maybe the penalty wasn't appropriate, but Gordon Hayward's reaction sure was. For all we know he successfully avoided another NBA incident faux pa like this or this.

I applaud Hayward- because cooler heads don't always prevail.
.

White Out

I was able to attend Game 2 of the Phoenix Coyotes vs. the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Playoffs this past Saturday and let me tell you: It was intense. The fact that there were a good amount of Chicago fans in close proximity added a layer of rivalry to the game, the arena was electric, and the game went down to the wire.

The game went back and forth throughout all three periods and it looked as if the Coyotes were going to pull out win #2. The desperate Blackhawks pulled their goalie and had a one man advantage throughout the last minute and a half. On the last shot of regulation, with 5.5 seconds left, the Blackhawks tied it up. How crazy is that kind of stuff? You couldn't script it any better (for Chicago fans at least)...

The game went into a sudden death overtime and the Blackhawks won on a deflected puck placed across the Coyotes net. It was a heartbreaker. 

What was the most interesting thing about the whole game (to me, at least) was the commentary that went on between fans after the Coyotes' goalie suffered a head injury during the game. He was hit in the head/neck area and immediately went to the ground and did not get up. Blackhawk fans then proceeded to yell: "Come on, this isn't basketball! Get up!",  "Oh, nice acting job!! You deserve an oscar!", and "Take a Tylenol! You'll feel better in the morning!". A Coyotes fan proceeded to yell at the opposing fans "Let's punch a Blackhawk fan in the face, see if they say it's a flop!" and other Phoenix fans continued to comment on the cheap shot to their goaltender throughout the game.

These are simply things you do not hear in other sports. When a player goes down in basketball or baseball, there is general worry or concern on both sides. Such was not the case at the hockey game. It might have been because Chicago was penalized with a 5 minute penalty and the player being ejected from the game.

This was only the 3rd professional hockey game I've ever been to. The whole atmosphere is new, fresh, and exhilarating. I am still getting accustomed to how different the sport is from the other big three, but I look forward to getting to know the differences.

Commodification

The commodification of sports today has gotten crazy. Everything from the starting line-up to the plays of the game are owned by some corporation. It is impossible to watch a game and not be exposed to some sort of advertising. Although it can be ridiculous at times, it's not always a bad thing. Both parties benefit from the relationship... there is one place I'm glad has not been affected by the commodification bug: the uniforms.

After the most the names of all the classic stadiums and arenas have gone the way of the wind, the jerseys are really the only thing "holy" in sports that has been left untouched. 

The topic has once again been brought up by Mark Cuban who says the idea is inevitable and keeps pushing the idea in order to affect perceptions of the idea. This man is a billionaire, what does he need more money for? I guess this kind of thinking may have been what got him a lot of his riches...

Paul Lukas, writer of the Uni Watch Blog, wrote an excellent article that has alleviated my feelings on the whole issue. He goes through many points on why ad-free uni's aren't going anywhere and his logic is pretty solid. 

I just wish everyone would have kept other things "sacred" in sports, so we wouldn't end up with changes like these: