The House Of Heat

Arizona State University: Makin' it rain on dem wildcat hoes since 1885.

In light of getting swept by the Sun Devils in their beloved cash cow men's basketball, one would think this would be a good week for the University of Arizona to lie low and wait it out until softball season starts, but leave it to our good friend Jeff Metcalfe to pile it on when some piling needs doing. Metcalfe, the ASU beat writer for the Arizona Republic, has been the only Republic journalist that has treated ASU like a hometown team as long as I've been reading it (about a decade) and today may be his finest hour. We'll get to Jeff in a moment.

In a story that should have already died (thanks internet!), Mike Stoops used part of his signing day press conference to badmouth the recruits that originally pledged committments to UA but later switched to ASU. He also made sure to include a potshot about rival Arizona State and their academics, stating the following:

"Obviously Arizona State has turned into a JC, and we're a four-year college. According to all the players, they say it is easier to go to school there, easier to get in. I thought we had the same requirements."

Wow. I've had a number of thoughts regarding the situation since it came out last Wednesday.

1. The academic requirements are identical at ASU, UA and NAU, as set forth by the Arizona Board of Regents.
This is true! There was such a large request for information after this story broke that the University posted two academic FYI articles on the official athletics website.

2. Every other team in the country is talking about the players they signed, how bad are yours that you're discussing the ones you lost?
Not great but it could have been worse. Stoops signed the top DB in the west in Robert Golden, but the overall class was ranked 39th by Rivals, 39th by Scout, and 32nd by espn. A 36.6 average out of 119 D1 teams sounds pretty good, but 36.6 out of the 66 BCS teams comes off as pretty meh, ranging somewhere near the 45th percentile. In a day based on potential where everyone wins, somehow Arizona loses.

3. Dennis Erickson fucking owns you.
Also true! Stoops got one of the top 18 recruits in the State of Arizona while Erickson got six. Also, DE is 1-0 against Stoops lifetime, and while one doesn't usually make a trend, you know it's a trend. By the way, ASU's recruiting class landed a ranking average of 20, good enough for the 70th percentile.

4. Koetter never even pulled any shit like this, you buffoon.
He hated the media, and the media hated him back. If Koetter had done something this stupid, you would have known about it. This means one very important thing: Koetter loses the "horse's ass" moniker, for Lord Stoops has rightfully claimed it as his own!
At least Stoops didn't punt during the presser.

5. I bet those UA nutjobs will rally around him again, using JuCo! as a battle cry for years to come.
Example A. Example B, they chanted "J-C! J-C! J-C!" during Sunday's loss to ASU in hoops. Case closed.

6. What kind of a message does this send to Stoops' commits? Should they not be the star of the show?
The verdict's still out on this one since Tucson isn't exactly a hub of information or unbiased journalism.

7. What kind of a message does this send to the three players that switched commitments?
Which brings us to today's article by Jeff Metcalfe. I would make the entire thing my smartass subtitle at the top of the page, but Blogger has a character limit. Metcalfe took the time to interview RB Ryan Bass, WR Gerrell Robinson, and WR Jarell Barbour- the three big name recruits that spurned UA for ASU- to find out what they thought. Bring on the quotes! (emphasis mine)

Barbour said ASU associate athletic director Jean Boyd, is the "main reason why I'm there." Boyd directs ASU's academic support for football and other sports. "He sat me down and said this is what you need to do to be eligible to play football," said Barbour, who feels his comments were misused by Stoops.

"He put my business out in the open. It was cruel. I didn't want to go there because their football team is horrible. They stunk it up bad. I didn't want to be a part of it. I want to be on a good football team that's going to go places."

Running back Ryan Bass of Corona (Calif.) Centennial also was expressed disappointment in Stoops: "I felt he was out of bounds with his comments. I hope he didn't make those comments because I switched to Arizona State. Everyone knows it's the same to get in. It didn't sit too well with me. I'm glad he (Stoops) apologized."

"I've worked too hard these past four years to say I have grade issues," said Robinson, who has a 3.0 grade-point average and 1490 SAT score that are good enough for admission to Notre Dame. "We all have reasons why we decommitted and why we committed in the beginning. We're 17- and 18-year-old kids. He's a grown man. You'd expect him to take the high road. If anything, you'd expect one of the three of us to say something like that, not the grown man in the situation.

"ASU has done nothing but help get Jarrell and Ryan on the right track. I don't think Arizona was adamant about doing that at all. I was there 15-20 times myself and never once saw anything about academics. It was poor judgment on my part (to initially commit to UA). ASU on junior day showed us around to all the educational categories they have."

Barbour also is more than ready for his first Territorial Cup.

"I can't remember the last time Arizona beat Arizona State," he said. "We're going to take it out on the field, and it's not going to be pretty. It'll be the best game of my life, I promise that."

A note to Mr. Stoops: when you're in a hole, step #1 is to stop digging. Please cease and desist any and all digging immediately. We at ASU would like to see nothing more than a lengthy contract extension for you.

Labels: Dirk's a horse's ass, dirty icky recruiting, hoops, message board nonsense, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, the offseason sucks, UA morons, you have to see this

Is it dead? Damn skippy. The Sun Devils played true team basketball today to drop the Cats for the second time this season, sweeping UA on the season and winning at McKale for the first time since 1995. James Harden was limited by a flu virus and was held out of practice for most of the week, but he was able to play a majority of the game, doing all of the little things that are usually overshadowed by his scoring touch. Three steals, five rebounds (two on offense), and plenty of hustle on defense made him a factor even if he wasn't the factor. That honor belongs to Jeff Pendergraph, who dropped an ungodly 29 points on the Cats.

Pendergraph's offensive explosion didn't happen all by itself, as the Sun Devil team played in the spirit of Norman Dale's Hickory team in Hoosiers- "five pistons firing as a unit." Soph PG Derek Glasser played like a fifth-year senior, a floor general whizzing passes that even the ASU players couldn't see coming at times. I think a large fraction of Sun Devil fans let out a collective "oh crap here we go again" when Glasser fouled out (on a bullshit charge call oh by the way) with 3:33 remaining. Jamelle McMillan filled in nicely for Glasser however, sinking a driving scoop shot and sustaining the lead without turning the ball over in the waning moments of Sunday's victory. Ty Abbott and Jerren Shipp still don't seem to have the outside shooting touch many of us were expecting this season, but they ran through the offense with precise cuts and sharp passes while refusing to yield on the defensive end, holding Chase Budinger to a whopping FOUR points.

Arizona State's matchup zone was unbelievable, doing exactly what it's designed to do: reduce a team to five individuals. Jordan Hill, a monster on both ends in the first matchup in Tempe, wasn't able to get involved in UA's offensive scheme, but then again neither was anyone not named Jerryd Bayless. And seriously, Jerryd with a "Y"? maybe his pops was a big Jackyl fan in the 1980's. Oh happy day, look who's playing Tucson on May 10, because you can't make stuff like this up. Wow, what a day this has been! Getting back on track, the non-Bayless wildcats totaled a meager 15 points on the day.

Regarding Harden's flu bug, it may have helped the team's outlook on playing in such a challenging environment. During the recently ended five game losing streak and especially against USC, the offense was doing a lot of standing around, as though they were waiting for Harden to make a play. The entire gameplan appeared to be geared to get James the ball on the right wing and let him dribble-drive down the lane. Knowing he wouldn't be up to carrying the load today, the Sendek offense played it's best 40 minute stretch I've seen since his arrival in Tempe, getting the ball to all five players on a consistent basis. There were lob passes, down screening, and back door cuts that, when utilized in combination with one another, appear to be a pick-your-poison predicament for opposing defenses. If this team keeps this level of play up and then starts hitting threes, look the fuck out.

How sweep it is!

Up next for this new basketball sport is #9 Stanford, who the Devils led by ten in the first half on the road before succumbing to the Cardinal and losing by double digits. That game was a microcosm for this season in Sun Devil basketball. The offense was fluid in the first half and ran through Pendergraph in the high post, making the Lopez twins virtual non factors by attacking the basket from every spot on the court. As soon as Jeff got into foul trouble and off the floor the ASU offense was reduced to the James Harden solo act, which got outscored by 20 in the second half. These are the joys of having three true freshmen in the starting lineup, though: they are nothing if not inconsistent. Let's not thrust these Sun Devils into a postseason selection just yet; at some point in the near future they will play far worse than they did today, but hopefully for very short stretches.

A fun fact brought up by Hode over at Devil's Digest: Since the start of the 2007-2008 athletics season, ASU is undefeated against UA, including the following:

Two wins in basketball
Two wins in Women's basketball
One win in soccer
One (another) win in football

How do I bitchslap thee, let me count the ways. It's a great time to be a Sun Devil.

Labels: hoops, message board nonsense, movie references, rivalry rants

I was going to post a pic of Scrappy Doo, but Abbott is more like the chickenhawk. Besides, I never liked Scrappy anyway and the chickenhawk is a badass.

The one-three-one defense! Xavier is a tremendously talented team, at least physically, and the 1-3-1 gave them fits for most of the day. ASU has enough hustle and raw speed on defense that using this cover package can negate obvious physical mismatches, but no one is saying we're going to roll UCLA, Arizona, or the rest of the conference; ASU got a ton of bounces and had a staggering field goal percentage today. Add to that, Xavier looks like they went out to Mill Avenue last night. Maybe it's because it's right after finals and maybe it's jet lag, but I kept waiting for them to turn it on and they simply couldn't.

Good job on not rushing the court. Way to act like you've been there before.

That's right, two posts in one day after months of silence. I do what I can. I'll gladly accept auditions for a second contributor to the blog, preferably one that lives in/near Tempe and can actually watch/go to the basketball games. Just email me something that includes 1) a story about ASU athletics and 2) an anecdote about something stupid you and your friends did while under the influence- we're obviously running a tight ship here. Zap them to me via the intertubes at houseofheat of the gmail variety.

Labels: hoops, the new era

At least Troy Nolan is excited.

Meh. For the second year in a row Arizona State stays undefeated in OOC play by defeating a hapless Colorado team in lackluster fashion. Rudy Carpenter threw a pick-6 in the opening series and the defensive secondary created a pile of those oh shit moments but were underexposed by a Colorado receiving corps that couldn't catch crabs from a 10-peso Tucson hooker.** Freshman QB Cody Hawkins looked stunning for a kid making his second career start, but perfect passes in stride were literally going through his WR's hands. The score could have easily been 28-0 before the ASU offense came to life in the second quarter.

Despite the secondary getting beaten several times, the front seven looked solid and they were especially stout against the run only allowing 37 yards on the ground. The newfound depth in the D-line rotation kept legs fresh, but the primary concern for this group is that they were unable to establish a lot of pressure on the quarterback when only rushing four. Many conference QBs would have picked apart the secondary with that much time in the pocket.

Everyone in Tempe has gone totally gay for Ryan Torain, even CU defender Alonzo Barrett. How is there a hands to the face penalty but nothing covering this? The Train racked up 91 yards on 17 carries, and while it pales in comparison to last week's numbers he recovered well from a slow start and a slight injury to propel the team through a medium-hot second and third quarter.

The line play of the Hell Hogs in front of Torain was up and down, and it appeared that they are beginning to take on the streaky nature of QB Rudy Carpenter: they play well when things are going good, but there's something lacking when things go south. Once things got going on offense, huge holes were opening up but the same can't be said for the first quarter. This could also be attributed to the thin Colorado D-lne and the 100-degree heat, but one thing is for sure- this position group needs the Koetter kicked out of them. A senior group like this one needs poise and confidence on every play.

One of the O-line's better moments as captured by 4VRADVL.com

QB Rudy Carpenter sprayed passes on Saturday night and was only one pass over a 50% completion rate on the evening, but these weren't poorly executed dink and dunk passes. With the exception of one 6-yard screen pass to Torain, the shortest pass completion was for 16 yards, and that was a fourth and one toss to Nate Kimbrough. The receivers deserve a lot of the credit for catching balls thrown behind and above them on many ocasions. The night's biggest huzzah goes to Kyle Williams for his only catch, a 22-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone to end the first half. There were four to six defenders surrounding him and Carpenter put the ball in the one place that Williams and no one else could reach it. I was impressed with the placement and decision of the pass until I read Carp's post-game thoughts on the matter:

That was an unbelievable, unbelievable catch. It was late in the half so I figured whatever, if it is an interception they're not going to get much, I might as well take a chance for the end zone.

Jeebus Cripes. WR Mike Jones had a pretty good view of the play from the field, here's what he had to say:

I saw four guys on Kyle [Williams] and I saw the ball go up in the air. I was like, `Oh my God.' Then I just saw the ball stick in Kyle's hands. I was like, `Wow, we scored.'

Scary, yet effective. (photo credit: DevilsDigest.com)

I'll be crucified somewhere for saying this, but Carpenter's tuck and run ability looked Plummer-esque last night. Scrambling around trying to make a play was a big no-no under Koetter even though that's the trait that Dirk originally noticed in Rudy, but it suits his natural instincts and abilities well. He knows how to carry the ball when he takes off and I wasn't once concerned about a fumble.

Erickson's system also caters to Rudy's talents through the use of the shotgun, another Koetter no-no that was surprisingly used in Jacksonville today. While Carpenter was shaky and out of sorts in the first quarter, he looked like the brilliant 2005 Rudy during the no-huddle drive to end the first half, making quick reads and dissecting the Buff defense without out-thinking himself. Was the no-huddle applied in reaction to his slow start? Perhaps, and if it was then Coach Erickson deserves heaping praise for knowing his players and understanding how to manage them.

The man can read minds!

Coach Erickson wasn't the only Sun Devil coach in attendance as hoops head man Herb Sendek took in the game from the student section where he was handing out headbands to the sweaty undergrads. This was his second game in a row hanging with the kids, and last week he was seen meeting and greeting in the student wristband line where he sprayed the sun and beer soaked students with a water gun. When asked why he didn't bring it this week, he said that security wouldn't let him bring it inside the stadium. Good to see Herb cultivating a grassroots following for ASU basketball, which is how it will have to be done in the already crowded valley sports market.

The chicken little sky is falling response has been that this team is no more disciplined than they were under Koetter after tracking up 136 penalty yards. Judging by Erickson's body language and halftime comments the players responsible for the careless penalties will be dealt with, like running wind sprints until they're blue in the face. DE knows what his legacy and reputation have become and I believe he wants to change that. Players that headed to the sideline after committing the infractions got an earful from Erickson and other coaches. I don't think this will be tolerated for very long, and remember that there were only four penalties against SJSU just a week ago.

I hate to sound so doom and gloom because it was a Sun Devil victory and a convincing one; it's a game that the coaches can point to and say "this is what happens when you take a team lightly, this is what NOT to do." Despite the inconsistencies in some areas the team is leaps and bounds better than the 2006 squad. The defense has given up one touchdown in eight quarters of play, Torain is averaging over 100 yards per game, the receivers are catching balls that would have been drops last year, and Carpenter's TD-INT ratio is 5-1. Will the schedule get tougher? Absolutely, but the team will also improve as time goes on. Of the weaknesses exposed against Colorado, all of them are correctable. It's still probably better that the east coast writers and coaches went to bed before watching the ASU game, because the final score was more impressive than the actual game.

**- on a side note, Florida State's DeCody Fagg might be the worst receiver in D-1 football. Next week's CU-FSU matchup in Denver should be a clinic in drops and fumbles.

Labels: Dirk's a horse's ass, Greatest Fark Evah, hoops, Oh crap here we go again, Shut up Carp, the new era

So I've moved to Tallahassee with some money in the bank but no job. The move to the smaller market has proved tougher than originally thought and thusly I have a lot of free time on my hands with zero friends so far. If you know anyone with construction management/real estate development connections in Tallahassee, by all means provide. On a whim I vowed to stay completely sober until I find work, leaving me with a heap of original thought and motivation. With not much else going on, I've turned to my OCD tendencies to help me through this quiet time. My activities have included:

• Keeping an immaculate home
• Watching every movie in my collection (I'm currently on #101 out of 125)
• Reading all of the comments on the infamous EDSBS post #1406 (had to stop at 400 for fear of insanity)
• Exercise *gasp!*
• Perusing message boards and the blogosphere to exhaustive lengths

I've been reading blogs that I usually don't frequent due to 1) a lack of time and 2) they're written at a level that, honestly, I can't handle everyday. MGoBlog, Dawg Sports, and Sunday Morning Quarterback are just three of several websites that lower my literary self-esteem to a level of inadequacy that makes undersized, bullied youths become cops. (I wonder if the local PD is hiring?) Here are three things that need your attention as fans of college football and the internet:

1. T. Kyle King's recent piece on DawgSports regarding the ongoing struggle with/against the media Death Star, espn.
2. On top of doing a preview page for every team in D-1, SMQ is now in the midst of thoroughly breaking down each BCS conference and Pac-10 Week should be right around the corner.
3. MGoBlog hosts the BlogPoll each season, which is like the AP but us sophisticated blogger types vote instead of the mainstream media folk. I've contacted the site about making tHOH eligible to vote but have heard no response so far. Preseason ballots should come out sometime in the next month and yes, I'll be totally biased for the Devils.

Not to leave without anything ASU-related, here's few nugs to keep you sedated for at least part of the next 36 days:

* The Sun Devils were picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 preseason media poll, but who cares about the opinions and prognostications of writers before the season starts?

* Former ASU fullback Tex Wright, not to be confused with Randall "Tex" Cobb of Raising Arizona fame, is alive, well, and author of one of the all-time great ASU finishes that I'd never heard of before this week.

Nope, not him.

* As poster "ENCINITASjon" of Devils Digest put it, here's "one of the dumbest articles you'll ever read." It's so bad it may get its own post here in a couple of days.

* Former Sun Devil basketballer and Sigma Nu douchebag Ron DuBois landed a job as an assistant coach with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. See Tucson, we do stuff in the NBA too.

* I started my own poll at Devils Digest since I don't know how to do it here. It asked readers to vote for how long it would take for the 35-44-1 all-time record vs. UA to get evened up. The vast majority of voters chose 11-15 years, but unfortunately some folks from down south got involved and it turned into an argument about semantics and the interpretation of the written word, then forever banished to the rarely visited smack board.

* Dennis Erickson inked his fourth signee of the 2008 recruiting class, local offensive lineman Patrick Jamison, who was suited by Erickson since his last name is a fantastic whiskey. Jamison also received scholarship offers from UCLA, Tennessee, Oregon State, Boise State, UNLV, and Arizona.

Thanks to google image search, I was also reminded that "Jameson" is also the last name of a prominent porn star.

* Apparrently KTAR 620 was late to Pac-10 media day since they only have audio of Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll, and Karl Dorrell available on their website. Admittedly I was also late to link up to it, that's why I was looking. As soon as I can find a complete archived audio file of the proceedings I'll pick apart everything Dennis Erickson says and take a few pokes at Mike Stoops.

Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, blog links, dirty icky recruiting, hatred for the 4-letter network, hoops, movie references, regular old crackers, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, UA morons

Dan Zeiger of the East Valley Tribune has had to create his own stories this offseason thanks to this new-fangled idea called discipline. In the wake of a $30 million deficit and Sun Devil Stadium's structural inadequacies, the overall ASU sports program seems to be doing as well as it ever has as evidenced by Zeiger's article.

A 10th place finish in the Director's Cup standings, although weighted heavily by consistent success across the Olympic(non-important) sports, is a reason to have faith. Rob Evans and Dirk Koetter are out. Pat Murphy(College World Series), Charli Turner-Thorne(Sweet 16), and Clint Myers(WCWS) are staying put. Herb Sendek and Dennis Erickson are in.


I bear the gifts of Frankensense, gold, and a physical defense.

The Director's Cup finish is of little consequence unless one examines the company in which ASU sits. Zeiger puts it well:

ASU is expected to reach the $40-million revenue mark in fiscal year 2008. [athletics director Lisa] Love said that $50 million in annual funds is most ideal, yet realistic.

She looks at the Directors’ Cup standings and marvels that her school was in the top 10 with Texas ($97.8 million revenue in 2005-06), Florida ($82.4 million) and Michigan ($85.5 million). ASU finished four spots ahead of Ohio State, which had the nation’s largest ’05-06 revenue at $104.7 million.

“We are incredibly, competitively efficient,” Love said. “Now, you can’t help but dream. What could our university do (with Ohio State money)?”

Holy freaking smokes. This leads to the chicken vs. egg argument about Sun Devil athletics- do we win to create revenue or do we spend extra money to get more wins? This is also alluded to in the Trib article, making mention of Koetter's famous departing quote regarding the perception/reality of ASU and Zeiger hints that it may have to do with financial competitive advantage based on a smallish and somewhat apathetic fan base. Also cited is the example of George Mason, who after their 2006 Final Four run had a 20% increase on freshman admission applications and a 25% increase in athletic donations.

How does this affect football? Gymnastics coach John Spini says that morale at ASU is the best it's been during his 27 years in Tempe. Morale makes for a happy place, which makes it easier to recruit. A new coach has invigorated the fan base and created a buzz around town. We won't be punting late in the game when we're behind. A schedule with 8 home games can't hurt, especially when seven of them are guaranteed to be at night. Season tickets for those 8 home dates start at $99, and a happy fan base donates money and creates a bigger fan base which makes it easier to recruit. A butterfly flaps it's wings and so on...

Basketball still gets a pass since they can still only go one direction, but Sendek seems to have laid the foundation for on-court success and local support. The uber-recruits coming to Wells Fargo Arena this season can't hurt either, and while getting excited about recruits is usually reserved for the folks in Stoopsville remember that new blood turns basketball around much quicker than football.

Life seems to be good in Tempe, but as usual it will all come down to winning on Saturdays in the fall. The schedule plays in ASU's favor to gain some early confidence in themselves and for the Valley to get excited and show support before the meat of the schedule comes to town. Phil Steele thinks we have a good shot at starting 8-0, and if he says it it must be true. This is as much of a make-or-break year as ASU has ever had. The deck is stacked in Sparky's favor for once and it's time to put up or shut up. Now is the time to makes strides.

Labels: dirty icky recruiting, Greatest Fark Evah, hoops, other sports, Pac-10 business, the new era

Labels: dirty icky recruiting, hoops, I miss college, message board nonsense, movie references, regular old crackers

So here we are, the nitty gritty of the finest embarrassments ASU has to offer. Like the hippie olympics, it really doesn't matter who wins since they're all losers. For good measure, let's take roll one last time:

Honorable Mention: Courtney Simpson and Eddie House
#11: Courtney Jackson
#10: Bryson Krueger
#9: Ryan Kealy
#8: Connor Banks
#7: JR Redmond
#6: Hakim Hill
#5: Barry Bonds
#4: UAC student section (basketball, 1984-1988)

And without further adieu, the top criminals in the history of Arizona State University.

Honorable mention part III: the military industrial complex, 2004-present. They murdered Pat Tillman and lied to cover it up. Not much to say since more facts come to light each day. Is a government worth preserving when it lies to it's people?

Somewhat ironic thet they're seen here together.

#3: Mitchell "Fright Night" Freedman, football, 1994-1998. First, watch this. That's how he played all the time. Mean, crazy, and angry. Unfortunately that's also how he lived his life. Freedman is the only player on this list that gets his nickname on the subject line because it fits him so well, as Orson from EDSBS will attest. He once hit a BYU player so hard that both Freedman and the Mormon went to the hosptal after the game, and I have been told by those in attendance that he was screaming while running towards the victim. Where to begin? Well, how about this snippet from the AZ Republic:

Mitchell Dehaven Freedman, 30, a safety who earned the nickname "Fright Night" because of the ferocity of his tackles, was found guilty of 15 counts, including five counts of sexual assault, four counts of sexual abuse, kidnapping, aggravated assault and armed robbery. He could face more than 100 years in prison for the sexual assault charges alone.

And then he still faces trial on two other rape cases, one from 2003 and one that allegedly took place in 1992, when Freedman was 16.

Yikes. What's even scarier is that he wasn't even tried for the rapes that happened when he was a minor "because he was already going away for so long." I...I don't really know what else to say here. It's hard to imagine but his prison sentence may be longer than Loren Wade's after all is said and done.

#2 Stevin Smith, Basketball, 1991-1994. You knew it was coming, and why shouldn't it top the list? Smith, nicknamed "Hedake" by his teammates, orchestrated a point shaving scandal in 1994 that espn will never let die. Isaac Burton shouldn't be getting off lightly either, but Smith seems to be the main guy everyone remembers, probably since he was such an effective player when he wasn't, you know, cheating.

The scandal started when Smith got into cahoots with the now famous campus bookie Benny Silman. Smith was allegedly in debt to him for over $10,000, and the two plotted to beat Oregon State by six or fewer points when the Devils were favored by 14 1/2. It worked and managed to line both of their pockets quite well. The exact same plan was employed two days later against Oregon State, and the Devils once again won by 6.

The final straw was the day of a game against Washington, after Smith and Silman began to gloat about their recent financial successes. The word spread quickly, and heavy betting ensued- so much so, in fact, that the line on the game changed 40 times that day and Vegas oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough pulled the game from the betting board, the first time he had done so in his 15-year career. The FBI was notified, but the investigations didn't take place until 1997, enough time for Smith, Burton, and then head coach Bill Frieder to leave the scene of the crime. The fallout landed squarely on those left to continue ASU men's basketball.

Hedake (misspelled on purpose to fit on the vanity plate of his car) did 10 months in federal prison, but the stink of the scandal still hasn't completely lifted from ASU. His 10 months isn't so bad considering Silman got four years, but Silman also got a tv-movie deal out of it. Whenever ASU basketball is mentioned, point-shaving is typically associated with it. I suppose that's better than "sucks," but still defaming. It is the black eye that will never heal.

#1: Loren Wade, football, 2002-2004. The official site has removed his player bio from their archives, and rightfully so. What kind of a school do we have when players are murdering former teammates, outside of a club no less? The arguement started one night in Scottsdale and was reportedly about a girl. As Brandon Falkner was pulling away, Wade fired a fatal shot into the driver's side window of his car. While this is sickening as a Sun Devil, the societal ills it brings to light are equally alarming. There are no winners here: the Falkner family is burdened with overwhelming grief, ASU has been sued, Koetter was blamed for a lack of control, and Wade will be imprisoned for life. A truly sad moment for anyone involved.

Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, blog links, hatred for the 4-letter network, hoops, movie references, the offseason sucks, thug life

Labels: hoops, the new era, the offseason sucks

With the Loren Wade trial coming at the lowest of low points of college athletics offseason (what's a baseball?), I'll be ignoring the whole negative PR-fest with all of my might. The Arizona Republic will mention Arizona State University twice as many times as the tragically slain Brandon Faulkner, something the school definitely doesn't need given its sketchy record over the last decade or so.

What trial?

What ASU really needs is a Wag The Dog-style distraction of epic proportions to keep this thing buried in the back of the paper. I can't say I'm rooting for a terrorist attack or anything, even though it was effective when my fraternity got kicked off campus thanks to a drunk driver- not that you ever heard about it since it happened during the first week of September 2001.

In the spirit of black eyes for ASU, I've compiled a small list of scandals in the 85281. None of them are as bad as a player killing a former teammate, but it didn't take more than a single sitting to come up with #'s 2-11. We'll do a couple of them at a time, just so you Sun Devil diehards have something to read other than Wade's affiliation with ASU and Dirk Koetter's percieved lack of institutional control. Without further adieu...

Honorable mention: Courtney Simpson. Ex-ASU cheerleader goes porno in dashing style, making her professional debut in her ASU cheer uniform. No reason to beat this dead horse, especially since the M-Zone mentions her at least once a week.



#11: Courtney Jackson, football, 1996-1999. The scapegoat of the 1997 Rose Bowl, sure, but this tale isn't as well known as that debacle. Like the last minute breakdown against Ohio State, however, Jackson had accomplices. In the spring of 1998 a friend of mine, who we'll call Nate, came down with a case of the crabs. He got them from the supreme queen of jizz-jars of Sonora Hall, who claims to have gotten them from Jackson. You would have thought David Boston burned them all off the previous January, but oh no. Not a news story, sure, but still funny. Everyone needs another reason to hate Courtney Jackson. Disagree? Just check out this photo. That's ASU's national championship in Boston's hands.

#10: Bryson Krueger, men's basketball, 2004-2006. This is a lot lower on the list than it probably ought to be, but it stays at ten since absolutely no one gives a hoot about ASU hoops. The upcoming basketball season was looking bright with the firing of Rob Evans and a starting backcourt of Kevin Kruger and Bryson Krueger. Kevin transferred to UNLV and led them to the sweet sixteen, but Bryson's fate was not so sweet. He was arrested last March for possession of Ex, Coke, Zanex, and an unregistered .40-cal handgun. Again, this is a big deal for a hometown athlete who could be considered a standout on a divison-1 basketball team, but it's ASU basketball. In 2005-2006, the Devils could hardly be considered D-1.

The list continues this week with DUI's, theft, and other federal charges. Stay tuned!

Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, blog links, hoops, movie references, the offseason sucks, thug life

When you hire Rob Evans as a basketball coach. Ouch.

The University of Arkansas is obviously too distracted by Las Chronicas Locas De Boss Hawg to do any research on their new assistant, for if they did they might reconsider. In the AP write-up, Evans doesn't even have any career achievements listed from his last seven years of coaching, all of which happened to take place at ASU.

Take solace, Fayetteville: teams named "U of A" have fared remarkably well in Evans' presence over the last 8 years.

Evans, seen here taking a dump at Wells Fargo Arena. (as usual)

Labels: hoops, surrounded by morons

I absolutely adore March Madness. While the first two rounds are tailor-made for ditching out of work to go to a bar, the second two are perfect for at-home viewing. There are only two games going at a time, requiring a bit more focus than you can get at a bar, specifically the option of sound.

Over the years I have watched far more tournament minutes than I have missed, and CBS has been the exclusive carrier of the tourney for most of my life. After a couple decades of intense viewership, one tends to notice repititions in CBS' coverage and the same old schtick gets tiresome. If you aren't going to be at a bar, you might as well get snookered in the friendly confines of your own home. For your personal entertainment, I have devised a NCAA tournament drinking game. The rules are as follows, and you'll note that none of the rules really have anything to do with the actual game of basketball, just CBS' average-at-best coverage of it.

One drink
For every Master’s commercial
Whenever CBS mentions how exclusive their coverage is
For every “game reset” or “game summary”
Anytime you hear the word “Cingular”
Whenever Nantz and Packer throw to Greg Gumbel
A close up of a band geek or cheerleader
Any time a bracket is displayed on screen

Two drinks
Two commercial breaks without any game action in between
Two commercial breaks on consecutive dead ball whistles
Anytime Jim Nantz makes a pun using a player/team name
Anytime Billy Packer repeats a point *this can get you in trouble
Anytime Packer explains a rule

Three drinks
Billy Packer tells a story about a different NCAA tournament
Billy Packer tells a story about when he played
When the incredibly uninformative “tournament summary” is displayed
Anytime Nantz gives Packer a Jim Lampley-style gay smile on camera

Finish!
Anytime anyone says “one shining moment”
Any kind of technical malfunction


It gets a bit old sacrificing a weekend just to watch 16 hours of basketball, especially when it isn't the Sun Devils. Why not induce liver disease?

Labels: anecdotal evidence, ASU alumni, hoops, I'm a big fatass, tailgating

a) We're both very tall.
b) We have both won conference championships.
c) We both attended ASU and VCU.
d) Both a and c.
e) None of the above.

The answer is "d," and congrats to my fellow Devil/Ram for helping his team to a conference title and automatic NCAA berth. Bravo Wil, heaps of praise for you. (Oh by the way, you won't believe your eyes upon viewing the Google image search results for "Fameni.")

On an even better note, ASU out-defended Cal to pull out a close game for their first road win of the season, a 42-41 victory over the injured Bears. The Terrell Suggs-like defensive effort held Cal to a season low 16 second-half points and completely scoreless in the final 6:51 of the game. The win, however, has no bearing on conference tournament seeding. The Devils are firmly locked in to the ten seed, facing a white-hot Washington team coming off two straight top-25 upsets over USC and #2 UCLA.

If there is a team that has improved more than ASU over the course of the season, it has to be the Huskies. Their young talent (top 5 scorers include 2 frosh, 2 sophs, and 1 junior) has gelled into a true team that is quick in the backcourt and powerful down low, and the latter will most likely lead to Sparky's demise. Then again ASU wasn't supposed to beat Cal, or anyone else for that matter. The slow-down style can throw a wrench into a team's game, plus the Huskies haven't won outside of their own gym all season long. with youth comes inconsistency, as the U-Dub faithful will tell you after a loss to Oregon State a week and a half ago. And then of course there's this, from ASU's official press release:

FIRST-YEAR RUN: Herb Sendek's first ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., produced one of the best four-day runs in NCAA conference tournament history. NC State entered the 1997 tournament as the eighth seed and 13-13 overall (4-12 in ACC). NC State beat ninth-seeded Georgia Tech 60-46 on March 6, topped No. 1 seeded and seventh-ranked Duke 66-60 on March 7, beat fifth-seeded and No. 22 Maryland 65-58 on March 9 before falling to third-seeded and fifth-ranked North Carolina in the March 10 championship.

I'm not exactly betting the beach house on it, but it certainly would be sweet. A third shot at the Cats is almost an impossibility, as it would require both teams to reach the championship game on Saturday. All that is left for the season is to play villian and screw other teams out of tournament hopes. Hooray for the team in the black hat!

Labels: ASU alumni, hoops, other sports, Pac-10 business

No fluff or BS, last night's loss to U of A hurt. In the last decade of the ASU men's basketball program, whether it be under the regime of Herb Sendek, Rob Evans, or Don Newman, (how 'bout that reference?) the Sun Devils know the art of making a win seem so easily attainable before launching it away from themselves in such choke-job fashion that Marty Schottenheimer would take notice. I'll admit, I was overly giddy regarding the halftime lead, but reality set in shortly thereafter. We are still the bastard stepchild of Pac-10 hoops, no matter how many prized recruits are coming.

Despite the Republic's multitude of sob stories about how the gap is closing and that "there is hope for this rivalry," ASU still looks like the team that has been locked in the cycle of losing close heartbreakers to the Kitties roughly one out of every four attempts. The last one, as you may remember, ended with the no-call on a travel before Salim Stoudamire's last second shot at Wells Fargo Arena.

Moral victories? Hope for the future? Leave that for the football fans in Tucson. I want another crack at the Cats, and the Pac-10 Tournament is the only possibility. Here's the bracket setup and the current standings/conference records (as of February 26, 2007):

1. UCLA (14-2)
2.Washington State (12-4)
3. USC (11-5)
4. Oregon (10-7)
5. Arizona (9-7)
6. Stanford (9-7)
7. Washington (6-10)
8. Cal (6-10)
9. Oregon State (3-14)
10. Arizona State (1-15)

Sooo... as the English say, not bloody likely. The only mathematical and logical hope is that UA drops to the #6 seed and ASU wins the play-in vs. Washington/Cal and then upsets the #2 seed, most likely Washington State or possibly of USC. I'm not going to hold my breath on it, but the only solace that could be taken from this season is if the Devils can screw up the standings by upsetting a few teams, most notably UofA. For all of this to happen, Stanford needs to sweep the Arizona schools and U of A will have to be swept by the Bay Area schools, but crazier things have happened. Otherwise, both teams will have to make the final, and I think UCLA (among others) may have something to say about that. Herb Sendek had his share of successful runs in the ACC tournament with undermanned NC State teams, so it's not a completely lost cause.

This sucks. When does spring practice start?

Labels: hoops, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons

Ahhh, college. Grow your hair long, dabble in the experimentation of hallucinogenic mushrooms, be the starting center for a sweet sixteen contender. Well, I did two of those things myself, but it seems that (former?) Gonzaga center Josh Heytvelt went for the sweep and won't be playing anytime soon due to an indefinite suspension following an arrest.

Some will call this "a stupid decision" by Heytvelt, but basic economics teaches us the principles of opportunity cost, where choosing one path leads to inevitible sacrifices that could be gained by following another path. Do the costs outweigh the benefits here? Let's compare, shall we?

Hoops: Rarely more than two hours.
Shrooms: anywhere from 3-5 hours, depending on quality and quantity.
Advantage: shrooms

Hoops: +/- 32 games, figuring in conference and NCAA tournaments
Shrooms: any time you can find them, which in the Pacific Northwest means you're limited to days ending in "Y."
Advantage: Shrooms

Hoops: Even in a weak conference, expecting a winning percentage over 80% is pushing it. Bad trips are possible, like driving to Oklahoma City and meeting a Kansas juggernaut.
Shrooms: There is a chance of a bad trip, but a success rate of 95%+ is normal for most folks.
Advantage: Shrooms

Hoops upgrade: college football- longer, more intense, known to cause withdrawls.
Shrooms upgrade: acid- longer, more intense, known to cause withdrawls, but there are plenty of times when you want it to be over with.
Advantage: Hoops

So there you have it, with scientific proof: psychadelic mushrooms are three times better than college basketball. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Seriously though, felony possession? The kid plays in Spokane, Washington for chrissakes. It's not like he's smuggling them up from Mexico or anything. They grow wild all over the place up there...allegedly.

And on a side note, HERB!

Labels: anecdotal evidence, drugs, hoops

I was able to watch the Sun Devil hoops squad for the first time this season thanks to Sunday's national broadcast, and what a game to watch. In seeing box scores and reading write-ups along with message board rants, I still didn't have a good feel for this year's team. The concensus has been that ASU is better than their record and opponents have been leaving Tempe with respect for the Devils. The scores have been close, but I have been wondering how close they are to being a good team.

The truth is, they're really not that close. The effort is there, but the physical skills aren't. There is some talent on the team, but the youth combined with the new system has been too much to overcome. The upsides:

* The Sun Devils play harder than any team I've ever seen. These guys hadn't won since Christmas and the are giving a Final Four effort against a team that ought to be pounding them as they did once already this year. Imagine if they really were playing for something other than pride.

* The defense is there. They still don't have the horses to beat teams with man-to-man coverage and well-coached teams will find ways to attack the zone over time, but good defense is played with heart- something that is firmly in place.

* The confidence is rising. The kids know how close they've been coming to making some serious noise and they're determined to correct the little things that have been keeping them from succeeding. They also pay with great focus. Herb keeps telling the media that this "is a group of winners," even though that hasn't translated into many victories.

* They have 100% bought in to Sendek's system. The players trust Herb, they look up to him, and they have confidence in him- I can't say any of these things about any Rob Evans team.

And, of course, there is a flip side:

* Sunday was the best game they've played all year. Solid, timely shooting can make a poor team look good, especially when three pointers start falling late in the game as they did against USC. This team has been plagued all year by offensive lapses known to stretch entire halves, and there weren't any noticible gaps on Sunday. This won't happen all the time for such a young team.

* No one on this team can dribble-drive the lane. Antwi is the closest thing ASU has to a slasher, but he's not a finisher. Most, if not all, of the clock-winding-down points came off of assists.

* The shooting is scary. Really frightful stuff. When Serge Angounou and Allen Morrill are chucking up threes, bad things will happen. The desert sky was filled with atrocious bricks, and the worst part is that ASU's players are charging the rim for rebounds as these missile shots carom over their heads. Heady rebounding is a skill that isn't easily learned, and ASU hasn't gotten it just yet.

* This team relies too much on the three-pointer. That's really my gripe with Herb's system, but slashers like Harden and McMillan and post players like Boateng will create better and higher quality looks for everybody next year.

* This still isn't a Pac-10 quality team. This fact can't be overstated enough, that no one on the Sun Devils' roster was offered a scholarship by any other conference school. Upsets may happen, but can consistency really be expected yet? Recruiting and time will fix that, though.

The kitties come to town for senior day on Sunday having lost 5 of their last 8 and facing a Sun Devils team with confidence for the first time since long before Ike Diogu left town. It has been said that ASU can't match up with superior athletic teams due to an ineffectiveness against the dribble drive, but the same things were said before the upset of #22 USC. The upper deck will most likely be all red, which will be a daunting environment for this young team. U of A has had problems with self motivation all year, but make no mistake that this ASU team will still be treated as a rival and Lute will have his boys up for it, especially after getting swept last weekend. ASU has earned a spot on the radar of any good team as a trap game, now they just have to set the bait.

Labels: hoops, rivalry rants

Basketball season. In these dark, cold days of winter, I'm relegated to watching other schools live out their hardwood dreams against one another without pointing to next season or a different sport all together. (18 days until pitchers and catchers report!) In a matchup today televised by CBS, my nemesis/the son of Hitler Lute Olson takes his Arizona team up against my childhood nemesis, the UNC Tar Heels.

I lived in small town in North Carolina between 1985 and 1990, when the ACC ruled the college basketball universe. While the majority of the population was swept up in the power struggle between Jimmy V's Wolfpack and Dean Smith's Tar Heels, I quietly pulled for a young Coach Krzyzewski and his clean cut Blue Devil squad. As they rose to prominence in the late 80's and early 90's and NCSU slowly slid into obscurity, Duke replaced the Pack as Carolina's chief rival and I learned to hate the Heels. While Duke doesn't interest me all that much anymore, I still hold a hatred for Carolina close to my heart.

Today is a tough day, but I will be cheering for the powder blue bitches when the game tips off in Tucson. It doesn't happen often, but exceptions must be made in arduous times. I have thought long and hard of times like these where I would be forced to root for U of A, and nothing I can think of (short of the threat of prison gang rape) could lead me to don the cardinal and navy. I hate them with every cell in my body, and nothing can ever change that.

UPDATE!!! Carolina wins 92-64, handing Lute his worst home loss during his tenure in Browntown. Go Heels!!! Wooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe ASU basketball is so bad that I'm relegated to rooting for U of A's opponents. Someone should be making fun of me for this one.


I looked for game photos on azcentral.com and this was the one they had displayed to match the headline "North Carolina drills Arizona." Awesome.

Labels: anecdotal evidence, hoops, rivalry rants

Coming soon to Wells Fargo Arena: it might as well be a time machine set to football season.

...and they're not good. I know I don't post about basketball very much, but it isn't for a lack of interest. As much as I mock Tucson for being a basketball town, this mockery turns to pure jealousy in late February. The fact is that it's hard to watch an unranked Pac-10 team play when you're in Virginia and are too cheap to get a satellite dish with all of the sports packages. I can't bring myself to evaluate a team that I haven't seen play, because everything posted on the internet has to be referenced and true. Seriously, they make you sign something.

Having said that, I'll go out on a limb and say that everyone for ASU fails.

Ok, so we're playing a lineup featuring bunch of freshmen, some Rob Evans leftovers, and Jeff Pendergraph, but 0-9 in conference play? C'mon, we can get one, right? Don't tell me that this team jumped the shark by beating Iowa. I'll throw out a few fun-sized kudos to the boys in Maroon, just for the shit of it.

* The aforementioned Pendergraph is a double-double threat every night as long as the perimeter play is adequate, but he's still suffering from the Ike Diogu disease, as defenses collapse on him as soon as he sniffs the ball. At least that's what I gather.

* Youngsters Derek Glasser, Christian Polk, and Jerren Shipp have shown flashes of promise and skill, but these flashes are minnows in an ocean of inconsistency. Give it time, I guess.

* Antwi: uhhhh, Serge- ummmm, Sylvester, I... sorry, that's all I have.

I've often said that I would accept a 1-whatever record as long as the one win came against U of A. I'm really hopng that's still an option, because I think we're already mathematically eliminated from the NIT. Unfortunately, that's not a joke. This is why I don't post about basketball much. Just to set everything straight, let's reconfirm who holds the upper hand in the rivalry sport that really counts.

Scoreboard!

Hey wait, don't go anywhere. I have another one.

I went one way, Torain went the other way. I said "where'd he go?" U of A said "WHERE'D WHO GO?"

Mmm hmm. 139 yards and the game MVP. Zing.

Labels: hoops, rivalry rants

Labels: hoops

It's been awhile, but real life shouldn't be too much of a burden for the rest of the week. It's not like a ton has happened in the last ten days anyway. I'm already in offseason mode as far as football season goes, and ASU basketball doesn't exactly do it for me... yet. Congrats to the hoopsters on beating Colgate and holding them to 34 points. Best headline of the day goes to Garrett Cleverly of Devils Digest with "Devils send Raiders Down The Plank." Yarrr. I'd also like to add a joke about Colgate's point total and U of A's rushing yard total on November 25th, but I'm a bit rusty.

In other news, hooray for science! Please God, make that pill available over the counter. I bet it fucks you up proper!

And hooray for alcohol! Everything goes downhill after a .23, but I think we all knew that anyway, just ask former Devil linebacker/defensive lineman Connor Banks. Dude had a .27 and drove an SUV into an apartment building. Thank goodness the evil Koetter empire is gone and Dennis Erickson has arrived, bring a new form of discipline to the Sun Devils.

ETA in hell: about nine months. (HT: EDSBS)

The Arizona Republic is reporting the imminent hiring of yet another Erickson cronie as defensive coordinator, and I'm still not sure why Bill Miller wasn't considered. DE said in a press conference that he wants to run a 4-3 base scheme and blitz a lot, and how is that not Miller? With a year of Miller's system under their belts, a similar unit went (statistically) from 113th nationally to 2nd in the Pac-10 in one year. Had our offense held up just a little bit this year we might have actually beaten a bowl-bound team other than Nevada.

Corners coach Al Simmons and D-line coach Grady Stretz will be retained on the staff, but they will probably be the only two. Simmons was on the rebuilding staff at Oregon State with DE, and I assume Stretz was kept based on the vast improvement of the D-line since his arrival. Many Sun Devil fans are pleading for legendary Arizona high school coach John Wrenn to be kept on staff but realize that his outlook is bleak. Wrenn coached Chandler"s Hamilton Huskies to several state titles and produced many D-1 players, most notably recently named Pro-Bowler Terrell Suggs. He is seen as a valuable local recruiting commodity and a guy that motivates and fires up the team. He'll be missed for sure, especially the way the running backs (his unit) played this year, but where does he go? Can he return to Hamilton with open arms, or does he have to go fishing for another gig? My condolences coach Wrenn, hope you land on your feet.

I hate to blow my offseason load in the first week, but I can't stand to not share such a morsel of fun during this season of giving. Here it is, just for you: the Phat Phree presents the 11 most bangable cartoon chicks ever. Enjoy!

Labels: ASU alumni, blog links, hoops, regular old crackers, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, thug life