Wildcats show they belong at the top of the Pac-10...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Arizona Wildcats are in first place in the Pac-10 with nine games to go!

Can you dig it?

Who would have thought the young Wildcats with only one senior and a dozen underclassmen would be sitting atop the conference at the turn? Probably nobody. So, California, I guess we will see you in Berkeley on Feb. 25 for another showdown.

But for now, the first Bears-Cats showdown goes to Arizona as the Wildcats win at McKale this afternoon, 76-72. A special thank you should go to Nic Wise in this one as he took control in the final seconds once again. A 3-point play and a couple of clutch free throws in the final 40 seconds sealed the win and gave the Arizona guard 30 points for the game. Another thank you to freshman Derrick Williams who pumped in 15 points and grabbed 11rebounds. And while I'm at it, thank you MoMo Jones and Kevin Parrom --two more freshmen who made their presence known on the court today. Jones added 10 points and played well defensively as did Parrom, who grabbed seven defensive boards.

Another sweet point about today's win: It's the 12th win of the season for the Wildcats (12-9, 6-3), which inches them closer to the wins needed to possibly get them in the NCAA tournament. Coach Sean Miller said after the game that a month ago the Wildcats would have lost to the Golden Bears. Arizona's improvement is very noticeable. Just ask the Golden Bears. They got to see the young Arizona Wildcats at their best today.

Bridges crosses over in "Crazy Heart"...

Jeff Bridges should finally get his Oscar.

I went to see Crazy Heart yesterday, a film about an alcoholic, down on his luck country singer. Bridges portrays the down-trodden Bad Blake, a man destined for an early grave until he meets small-town reporter Jean Craddock, played by the lovely Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Crazy Heart reminds me of the 1995 flick, Leaving Las Vegas, about a man who decides to head for the sinful city and drink himself to death. Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ben Sanderson, and his love interest in the movie was the beautiful Elizabeth Shue. Shue played Sera, a prostitute, who had the task of keeping Sanderson afloat. Cage was good, but Bridges is even better.

Most of Crazy Heart was filmed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In fact, the scene where he meets Craddock for the first time was filmed in a neighborhood bar in Santa Fe. Ah, you guessed it. I've been there. I spent a weekend there, not so long ago. It was the weekend Tiger Woods battled Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open. It was the place to be at the time. Listening to the blues and a little bit of country one minute and then watching the greatest U.S. Open ever the next. Life was good.

Neighborhood cafe full of soul...

I cruised through my old neighborhood the other day and stopped at a cafe at the corner of Grant Road and Country Club Drive. The diner is housed in an old six-hundred-square-foot building.

Cars roared by on the street as the residents of the town of Tucson scurried off to work. 

During the early 1960s, I lived across the street.  Back in those days, the old building was probably a furniture store or maybe a jewelry shop. I can't remember for sure. I'm sure the restaurant is not on the top-10 list of places to grab some grub, but what it does have is plenty of lovely souls.

As I sipped a cup of hot coffee, I watched the eight workers do their business. One cook was busy dispersing tons of chopped-up potatoes on the sizzling grill while the other cook rolled out the batter that would eventually turn into pancakes as big as sombreros. The waitresses were busy taking orders, and the gentleman, smiling from ear to ear, was handling the dishwashing chore, grinning from ear to ear, as he collected the dishes off the tables and rushed off to the far corner of the building. I took another sip of coffee, and before I put the cup down, one of the eight workers was there, refreshing my java.

They all worked in unison, but what got my attention was how happy they were. They all loved what they were doing. Life is what you make of it. I wasn't in the best of moods when I entered the establishment, but I left there feeling better about the human race. Life's a struggle at times, and I'm sure the employees at the cafe weren't immune to that fact, but if they had their own problems, you couldn't tell by watching them.

Sure, the place is old. The dishes looked like they came from my grandmother's China cabinet, and I got a kick out of the old revolving toaster that spits out a dozen pieces of bread that quickly end up on a customer's plate.

As I paid my bill, I asked the waitress. "How long have you been working here?" 

The waitress quickly calculated her answer, her fingers on the move, and said. "Oh, I've only been here six years; my granddaughter, pointing to the young waitress across the way, has been here 12 years. We all love working here; it is so much fun."

I said to her. "It shows."

As I closed the door behind me, I thought to myself. I came in for a cup of coffee and left with a lot more.

Second chance points the difference in UofA win...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: We all need to make the most out of our second chances in life.

The question is what do you do when you are presented with the opportunity? Hopefully, you seize the moment. Last night at McKale Center, the Arizona Wildcats did just that as they outscored the Stanford Cardinal in second-chance points 20-4 and went on to a 76-68 Pac-10 victory, their third win in a row and 11th win of the season.

Coach Sean Miller received another outstanding effort from the young Wildcats (5-3, 11-9), including another workmanlike performance from Derrick Williams, who scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The win sets up a showdown on Sunday afternoon at McKale with the first-place California Bears (6-2, 14-6). A win by Arizona on Sunday would give the Wildcats a share of first place in the conference. Williams dominated around the bucket once again, while Kyle Fogg (15 points) and Nic Wise (14 points) contributed to the Wildcats' attack, on a night when the shooting touch was just not there. It was Arizona's second-worst shooting performance of the season, but those second chance points put a dagger in Stanford's hopes of pulling out a road victory.

And now, it is da Bears! The Golden Bears. Go Wildcats!

A-Rod's fast track to the Majors...

I just finished reading Selena Roberts' book: A-Rod, The Many Lives of Alex Rodriquez. 

It was Roberts who broke the news in Sports Illustrated in February, 2009, that Rodriquez, the highest paid player in the history of baseball, used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 season with the Texas Rangers.

Chances are we will never know the whole true story of A-Rod's involvement with steroids, unless he decides to sit down in front of the whole world like Mark McGwire did recently, and spill the beans up close and personal.

The man has 583 home runs. The first round-tripper he hits in 2010 will put him one home run ahead of McGwire -- and eighth on the all-time list. Amazing! And he's just 34 years old.

Roberts paints a pretty sad picture in her 255-page book. If half of what she printed is true then the baseball world should be crying out for an asterisk to be posted alongside his HR totals. Roberts even goes so far as to insinuate that A-Rod may have used some form of steroids in high school. The way he clobbered home runs in his prep days at Westminster Christian High in Miami, Florida, it is a wonder his prep opponents from his senior season in 1993 aren't yelling out for an asterisk or two themselves.

A-Rod was born July 27, 1975. A-Rod's debut in the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners was on July 8, 1994. Talk about a fast track to the majors! Rodriquez boarded the professional baseball train early...and the A-Rod Express has been gathering speed ever since.

In fact, there's hundreds of box cars attached to the engine, and they are carrying nothing but that green stuff...money! His latest contract with the Yankees is worth over $275 million. When the A-Rod Express reaches its destination, chances are Rodriquez will have all the money in the world and all the fame he can handle. If nothing else, that should allow him the luxury of dismissing all the stories, all the tabloids and all the books written about him in a negative light.

Diamondbacks will payout $6.8 million for Braves duo

With the addition of former Atlanta Braves' players Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson, the Diamondbacks will shell out an extra $6.8 million in 2010.

In a few weeks, we'll be able to head for Tucson Electric Park (for the last time, I must add) to see the Diamondbacks and the two newcomers perform. It has been a Who's on First scenario the last couple of months by the Diamondbacks' powers-to-be, but finally it looks like LaRoche is now numero uno on the Arizona depth chart at first base with Conor Jackson penciled in as number two and Brandon Allen in the three hole. Johnson will fall into the top spot at second base, leaving the steady Ryan Roberts to settle in at number two. Of course, the Diamondbacks also have the dependable Augie Ojeda in the dugout. That's a plus.

Spring training is just around the corner. I'm getting antsy.

Talk about climbing a mountain....

I read a story in the local paper this morning. It was a crazy story about a marathon scheduled for October this year in Tucson, which will start at the base of Mount Lemmon and end 26.2 miles later at the village in Summerhaven.

That's 26 miles and a thousand or so agonizing steps straight up the highway. My goodness, are you kidding me? I better start training now, so I can be ready. Just kidding. No way! I had to shake my head as I continued to read the article. The powers-to-be behind the run (or should I call the run a mountain retreat, because that will certainly be the case for many runners) will put a cap on the entrants, limiting the race to 2,500 runners. Are you kidding me? How could you find 25 people crazy enough to run up that mountain. I guess I'm getting old. I guess it can be done.

On second thought, maybe I could do it. If I were to use my senior pass and stay overnight at a couple of campsites along the way, I just might make it in three days.

The old Western TV stars are riding off into the sunset...

When Pernell Roberts passed away earlier this week, it hit me that all the stars from the long-running 1960's TV western Bonanza are now gone. Lorne Greene passed away at the age of 72. Roberts was 81. As for Michael Landon and Dan Blocker...well, they left us too early in their lives. Landon died at the age of 54 and Blocker was lost to us at the age of just 43. Most of my readers can recall the exploits of the Ben Cartwright family as they filled our television screens weekly from 1959 to 1967.

The Ponderosa was the place to hang out once a week for a TV buff like me. And it didn't end there. I moved on to High Chaparral in 1967 and watched every episode of writer-producer David Dotort's next creation (he was also the culprit behind the Bonanza series),which was filmed about 20 miles from where I now live on a spot in the desert that Tucsonans call "Old Tucson". Leif Erickson played Big John Cannon the patriarch of the 1870s clan, which spent most of their time fighting off the Indians in hopes of saving their ranch from obliteration. Big John Cannon ran the ranch with his brother Buck, played by the great character actor Cameron Mitchell. Erickson died at the age of 74 in 1986 and Mitchell passed away in 1994 at the age of 75. The survivors from the High Chaparral series, which ended in 1971, include Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow and Mark Slade. Cristal portrayed Cannon's wife, Victoria, in the series; Darrow played Molonito; and Slade's character was Billy Blue.

Still around is Tucsonan Don Collier, who played ranch foreman Sam Butler in the series. He was also the United States Marshal Will Foreman in Outlaws (1960-62), shopkeeper William Tompkins in The Young Riders (1989-92), and the host of a local educational television show, called The Desert Speaks. I was in line at a local donut shop a few years back when I heard the tall fella in front of me place his order. I recognized the voice immediately. I knew before he even turned around that it was Collier. Don has made over 70 credited movie and television appearances in his career. He's now 81 years old. The last time I saw him on screen was in the 2008 theatrical release of Jake's Corner about a bunch of odd misfits in a fictitious town in Arizona. He played a character called Eight Seconds. His part in the flick was about that long as well. But to his credit, he's still ticking. I remember that voice and that face. I still love watching the old Western movies and actors like Collier who continue to portray the cowboy roles of the 1880s. Many have already rode off into the sunset.

My hats off to them.

Favre tumbles...Vikings fumble...Saints prevail

A bruised and battered Brett Favre watched from the Vikings' sideline as place-kicker Garrett Hartley booted a 40-yard field goal in overtime to give the New Orleans Saints (15-3) the NFC title today and a date in Miami on Super Bowl Sunday with the Indianapolis Colts.

The kick sailed through the uprights, giving the Saints a hard-earned 31-28 victory. Favre looked on with his head up as Hartley's boot sailed through the air. Favre took it all in. He had thrown for 310 yards and a touchdown, but he was forced to spend a lot of time on his back -- on the Superdome turf -- as the Saints' defense recorded 15 hits on the 40-year-old Viking quarterback. As the New Orleans' fans roared their approval of Hartley's game-winning kick, I wanted to know just what Favre was thinking at that very moment. I hope for his sake that he was thinking...this is it. It is not my call...it is his. But as far as I'm concerned it is time for Favre to give Mark Wahlberg a call and get the ball rolling for a feature film of his life. Heck I'll even supply the title for the flick....if Hollywood wants to give me a call. It should be called, simply: QB. What a gutsy game Favre played tonight. What a career he's had.

Manning and the Jets...

Manning and the Jets! Manning and the Jets!

That sounds like the beginning lines to a new song. And maybe that could be a title of a new sports' tune. But it wouldn't work out due to the fact Peyton Manning is the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and not the Jets. The New York Jets are no longer around for the post season thanks to Manning as the Colts knocked off New York in Indianapolis this afternoon 30-17 to win the AFC title and advance to the Super Bowl.

Manning threw three touchdown passes and amassed 377 yards through the air to lead the Colts (16-2) back to the Super Bowl. Back to Miami...again!

The tale of two halves...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: Well, I won't tell you I told you so. Then again...maybe I will. In my previous post I did say the first one to forty wins the game. I did get that part right. The Arizona Wildcats surprised ASU by reaching the 40-point mark with 12 minutes to go in the game at Tempe last night and went on to a 52-point second half explosion to put away the Sun Devils, 77-58.

ASU, on the other hand, could not build on its 27-25 lead at halftime and didn't hit the 40-point mark until late in the second half. In fact, the Sun Devils had a dismal night from the field as they scored their 41st point with just six minutes remaining and managed to score just 17 points down the stretch. I had envisioned this scenario: The Wildcats would have trouble scoring on the Sun Devils, who went into the game as the Pac-10's best defensive team. I was worried my Wildcats would turn the ball over, get just one shot at the basket...and miss. In short, I thought Arizona would be in for a tough night against the first-place Sun Devils. I'm so happy to be wrong about that.

Instead, the Wildcats committed just 11 turnovers in the game and shot over 75 percent from the field in the second half to run over the Sun Devils in front of 13,966 screaming (mostly hostile) fans. The first half went as I had anticipated: A dull, low-scoring, first-one-to-twenty takes the lead. At halftime I went to the frig, got all the fix-ins out and made me a ham sandwich. I went back to the sofa, sat down and prepared for more of the same in the second half. Boy, was I wrong. Chalk one up for the Wildcats. Sean Miller got it done from the sidelines. Kyle Fogg (21 points), Derrick Williams (20 points) and Nic Wise (16 points) got the job done on the court. The result: A 4-3 Pac-10 record, leaving the Wildcats just one game out of first place in the conference as they head into next week's home encounters against California and Stanford.

Go Wildcats!

Making the most of possessions...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: In football it is the dreaded three-and-out that can ruin a team's offensive hopes for putting points on the scoreboard.

In basketball, it is the failure to make the most of each down-court possession that can send a coach into a frenzy. To get a positive result out of each possession is a must, especially in the Pac-10 this season...and especially in Tempe tonight when the Arizona Wildcats take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Wildcats cannot afford to cross midcourt tonight and give up the ball due to a sloppy pass. In short, no turnovers! And when they do shoot, they need to make it count. The Wildcats cannot afford the down and out and a four minute lull without any points to show for it. ASU will spend a lot of time running the clock down before they put up a shot. It's ugly...but it works. In other words, the first one to 40 wins! Sean Miller and the Wildcats have their work cut out for them. Miller will find out what the ASU-Arizona rivalry is all about this evening. Let's hope it will be Miller's time to shine from the sidelines and the Wildcats time to shine as they maneuver past midcourt.

What's the points?

The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant hit the 25,000 career-points mark in the NBA this week.

That's a lot of points! Bryant, arguably the best player ever to hit the hardwood court, along with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, has a few years left in the NBA to add more to his point total, but sooner or later he's going to have to settle for second best in that category. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the scoring record all to himself. Jabbar, the 7-foot, 2 inch giant who played 20 years in the NBA from 1969-1989 (first with Milwaukee and then with the Lakers) scored an unbelievable 38,387 points in his career. He scored another 5,762 points in playoff games and added another 251 points in all-star appearances.

Wow!

Georgia gal starting to shine at UofA...

I had the pleasure of dancing to a rhythm and blues song with a tall, out-going gal at a tailgate party prior to a University of Arizona football game on a September Saturday in 2008. After the song ended, I shook her hand and thanked her for the three minutes of fun.

She smiled and said, "You're old school." She was referring, I assume, to my age and my old jitter-bugging techniques. She was 30 at the time and I was an old coot at 63. As she walked away, I wished her good luck on her upcoming basketball season.

Her name: Niya Butts.

Niya was mingling with a crowd of Arizona fans and how we ended up "cutting a rug" or in this case "dancin' on the grassy knoll"...I don't know. But I do remember everyone around her was also shaking her hand and wishing her the best. I thought to myself, this gal has a lot of spunk. I also figured Butts, a star player on her high school team in Americus, Georgia, and a shooting-guard/forward in her collegiate days at Tennessee, would have her hands full taking over a Wildcats' program that needed a complete revamping.

Arizona's 2008-2009 season was a tough one for Butts and her young team as the Wildcats won just 12 games and lost 19. But this season, the Wildcats are starting to make some noise. They carry a 9-7 overall record and 3-3 Pac-10 record into Sunday's game at McKale against the ASU Sun Devils.

And the Wildcats are coming off a wild 119-112 win over Oregon at McKale last Saturday. The Wildcats set a record that day for the most points scored by a single team at McKale Center and to top it off their hot-shooting freshman guard Davellyn Whyte scored 39 points to set a new individual record. It looks like the Georgia gal has turned the corner and has the Wildcats clicking on all cylinders. Let's see if they can do it again at McKale on Sunday.

Arizona women's basketball update: The Arizona women's basketball team didn't come close to the century mark Sunday afternoon at McKale Center. Davellyn Whyte scored 22 points, but it wasn't enough to ignite the Wildcats as ASU prevailed, 73-67. The Wildcats dropped to 3-4 in the Pac-10 and 9-8 overall.

The old guy does it again...he'll sleep good tonight

Brett Favre does it again.

Favre became the oldest quarterback to ever take the field in a post season pro football playoff game today and in doing so he looked like a young boy enjoying a playful day at the park as he led the Minnesota Vikings to a lopsided 34-3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Minneapolis.

His four touchdown passes ignited the Vikings, who will now head for New Orleans and the NFC championship game next Sunday against the high-flying Saints. Favre, who at the age of 40, is just one win away from the Super Bowl. I'm sure the Saints will try, at least in their minds, to end Favre's career next Sunday.

And what a career it has been. Nineteen seasons! If...and it is a big if...Favre and the Vikings win next week and then compete in the Super Bowl, chances are the heralded quarterback could come close to and even surpass the 70,000 mark in career-passing yardage. My goodness, that is close to 40 miles! Talk about a bionic arm.

When Favre does finally retire, it is going to take him a while to slow his life down to a crawl like the rest of us humans. I know when I retired, I used to dream at night that I was still at work -- still processing paper work...still making sure I got the job done. I used to wake up, thinking this is silly. When Favre does hang it up, I can't imagine what he'll go through when he hits the sack every night. Before he finally goes to sleep, I wonder just how many times in his mind he will fade back to pass and unleash a toss down field. To be honest with you, I don't know how the pro athlete gets any sleep before a big game. As a young boy, I couldn't sleep before a Little League game. In high school, I couldn't sleep before a big baseball game. The same occurred in college. Of course, I never made it to the pros and I'm no Brett Favre, that's for sure. Even now, in my 60s, I'm still restless the night before a big game. After the game...no problem. I'm sure Favre will get a good night's sleep this evening. He certainly deserves it.

Cards, Suns falter...

The New Orleans' fans are celebrating down in the Bayou country.

They should! They have a football team that could go all the way. The Saints had little trouble dismantling the Arizona defense yesterday afternoon at the Louisiana Superdome as they sent the Cardinals home with their heads down and their helmets at their sides.

A 45-14 shellacking. It's the same old story for the Cardinals and the Arizona fans can now say those three disappointing words: Maybe next year! As for the Phoenix Suns, it looks like they are going to follow suit. Back in late November, I posted a blog entitled: The Suns are on the rise. The Suns were heading for New York for a game against the lowly Nicks. A Phoenix win would've given them 15 wins -- its best start to a season in franchise history. They lost. The Suns are on a downward spiral and are now at 24-17 on the year and are 7 1/2 games back of the Lakers. They lost last night in Charlotte, 125-99. Not a good day for the Cards or the Suns.

Split on the Oregon trail puts 'Cats on the Pac-10 map...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Arizona Wildcats' journey up the Oregon trail the last 72 hours has put them back on the Pac-10 map.

The Wildcats' last-second loss to the Oregon State Beavers (67-64) on Thursday and their surprising 74-60 win at Mac Court Saturday over the Ducks moved them from last place in the conference back to one win away from being on the top of the world -- the Pac 10 world that is.

During the Lute Olson era, Lute would have been happy with a split at Eugene and Corvallis and so you've got to hand it to Sean Miller for taking a young Arizona team up to the unfriendly confines in the North country and coming away with a push. My goodness, if the 'Cats hadn't gone cold in the last four minutes of the Oregon State game, Miller and the Arizona fans would really be smilin' this morning.

The Wildcats are definitely looking more like a team, despite the fact the Man from the Ukraine (Kyryl Natyazhko) isn't cutting it and Solomon Hill's offense has gone south over the last couple of weeks. But the others, namely Nic Wise, Derrick Williams, Kyle Fogg, Kevin Parrom, Jamelle Horne and MoMo Jones are getting the job done. And now it is on to ASU. A win over the Sun Devils on Saturday would keep the Wildcats within striking distance of first place in the conference. What more could you ask of Miller and the Wildcats at this point in the season?

61!

As I recall it was a Friday. It was a warm spring afternoon in Tucson. The year was 1961.

I was fifteen years old and I had just left the classroom and frantically made my way through the corridor at my high school. I rushed out the front of the building and headed for the gymnasium. The names had already been posted on a piece of paper and the list of players who had made the varsity baseball team were taped to the wall for all the world to see. I came to a halt as a dozen guys dispersed, giving me plenty of room to saunter up to read the board.

The names were in alphabetical order. I went right to the P's. My name wasn't there. It was devastating. Luckily, as I grew older, there would be plenty of teams and plenty of baseball for me. But that particular afternoon, I thought my baseball playing days were over. I was down in the dumps for sure, but all it took to get me out of my doldrums and give baseball another try was the M and M Boys, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Three months later, school was out and a long came the lazy days of summer. It was the summer of '61 and the race was on to break Babe Ruth's long-standing, single-season record of 60 home runs. And, on October 1, 1961, it happened, as Maris ripped number 61 in a game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

Two years later, on October 1, 1963, another slugger was born in Pomona, California. His name: Mark McGwire. McGwire, of course, rose to stardom in the major leagues, and, at the age of 35, crushed a home run over the left field fence in St. Louis for his 62nd homer of the 1998 season to break the record held by Maris for 37 years. The Maris family stood up and watched McGwire's blast sail through the air. And now here we are in 2010 and McGwire has just released to the world, what most baseball fans already surmised: he had taken steroids during his career -- and more importantly, he had taken them during that same period of time when he broke the single-season record.

The Maris family had a hard time getting a handle on McGwire's crushing blow in 1998 and now, 12 years later, they'll have a hard time grasping this latest blow to Roger's legacy and to the sport of baseball in general. As for me, I still love the game as much as I did as a young boy who had just had his heart broken when he failed to make the high school team. I've grown up a lot since then. I still love the game of baseball, despite the damage to the game caused by Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco, and others. Baseball will survive, it always has.

Six players in double figures...a good sign for Arizona fans

I'm not privy to a lot of old-time records, especially a record like: What Arizona basketball team holds the record for the number of players to score in double figures in a single game?

Arizona's surprising 87-70 Pac-10 win over Washington at McKale Center yesterday afternoon ended with six Wildcats in double figures. Jamelle led the way with 22 points, while Nic Wise and Kyle Fogg added 14 apiece. MoMo Jones netted a career-best 13 points, while Derrick Williams canned 12 markers. Kevin Parrom came off the bench to score a career-high of his own with 10 points. Back in 1997, Arizona won the NCAA championship and they did it with balanced scoring, led mainly by Miles Simon and a great supporting cast. It is easy to see that Arizona coach Sean Miller is after the same thing: an NCAA title.

And it is easy to understand his philosophy: distribute the ball and get everyone involved. It happened on Sunday at McKale. The result was a 17-point win. Don't look now, but the Wildcats are just one win out of first place in the Pac-10 race. On the other side of the coin, the Wildcats are just one loss away from last place. It is going to be a crazy ride. It's going to be a battle to the end, but I certainly like the Wildcats' chances on game-day when they can come through and post six players in double figures. And now it's that awful trip to the Oregon schools where the rims are not friendly to visiting teams.

Go Wildcats!

Cardinals' playoff game offensive...

I assume most of my readers got a kick out of Sunday's wild card game.

Chances are most sports fans stayed put on the sofa. They certainly didn't have a lot of time to make a beer run. Over a thousand yards of total offense between the teams as the Arizona Cardinals roared into the next round of the playoffs with a wild 51-45 win over the visiting Green Bay Packers at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Seventy-five passes thrown. Thirteen touchdowns scored. Wow! The game was offensive! Not a heck of a lot of defense, until the very last play in overtime when the Cardinals' Karlos Dansby grabbed a loose ball away from the hands of Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers and raced 17 yards for the winning score. Doubly entertaining for the Arizona fans, but devastating to the thousands of Green Bay fans who were in attendance.

And now it is on to New Orleans and a Saturday afternoon encounter with the New Orleans Saints. Let's hope it is a clear day and Curt Warner can once again cloud the airways with plenty of passes...and plenty of touchdowns.

I wish I was in Memphis...

It is Elvis Presley's 75th birthday!

I wish I had a few extra bucks in my wallet and could forego the NFL playoffs this weekend. If I could pull it off, I'd head for Memphis and Graceland...there's a party going on over there.

Going to Graceland has been on my "bucket list" for a long time, so I could just as well pencil in the Bengals, the Cowboys, the Patriots, and maybe, the Cards, grab the old charge card and head out. But I won't. Elvis left the building a long time ago and I'm getting to old to deal with crowds, so I'll settle for channel surfing...pick up an old repeat of a Presley concert on the tube, sit back and take it all in.

It seems like a lifetime ago when I journeyed to Las Vegas to catch Elvis in person. My wife and I sat down at a table, which was about 12 inches wide by the way, along with three other couples, and watched Elvis perform. I believe it was a three-drink minimum and the cocktail waitress brought all 24 drinks at once and it became a juggling act for two hours just to grab a sip of whatever it was we were drinking. No matter, it was a concert I'll never forget. Song after song, after song. It seemed like Elvis enjoyed his work so much, that he was in no hurry to leave the building then. I owe a lot to Elvis. It was his music that transformed me from a wallflower to a dancin' fool. From rock and roll to gospel, he could do it all. His music lives on.

As for me...find me a dance floor with an Elvis tune blaring away in the background...and I'll be there.

No killer instinct at McKale...yet

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: It's becoming apparent that the young Arizona Wildcats have a long way to go before they can hold serve, so to speak, at McKale Center.

And they're a long way from adding that "killer instinct" to their repertoire, too. Yes, they have already stolen a couple of non-conference wins at McKale this season, thanks to a couple of buzzer-beaters from Nic Wise, but they are now engulfed in the Pac-10 race and don't look for the Wildcats to blow anybody away at McKale. They are, at the present time anyway, just happy to be there...and in the game.

Last night, the Wildcats found themselves down 10 points early in the first quarter, regrouped to tie the game at 35-all at the half, and then let it all slip away, allowing the visiting Cougars from Washington State to steal one at McKale, 78-76. Let's call it a "funk"...or a "happening"...the Wildcats are in "it" and, of course, while there, don't expect any help from the referees, either. Case in point, last night with just under seven minutes to go in the game, it seemed like referee Mike Reed raced all the way from the local Circle K to call a fifth foul on Derrick Williams.

It could have gone either way, but it didn't. And without Williams in the Wildcats' lineup, you might just as well pencil in the loss. It is a struggle for Sean Miller and his band of "underdogs". I have to admit, I love the balance scoring -- Jamelle Horne (14), Kyle Fogg (13), Wise (15) and Williams (13) and even the new man in the lineup, Kevin Parrom (7), but without that ability to throw that knockout punch it looks like the Wildcats are destined for the Pac-10 cellar. Pretty soon, every game will be a "must win".

Next up, the Washington Huskies Sunday at McKale. Here's hoping for a split at home!

Without the Real McCoy BCS Championship fizzles...then sizzles

Without the real McCoy this evening in Pasadena, the BCS National Championship game fizzled away early and it looked like the football fans in attendance and a national television audience would witness a lopsided affair in favor of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy left the game early in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. McCoy left the game with the Longhorns clinging to a 6-0 lead, thanks mainly to a couple of Alabama miscues, which turned into a couple of first-quarter field goals for Texas. The Longhorns were forced to send in freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert the rest of the way. Alabama, behind the running of its Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram, scored 24 unanswered points and led at the half 24-6. The Texas players received the news at halftime that their heralded quarterback would not return to the playing field. In fact, the next time we will see McCoy will be later this year on the sidelines for an NFL team.

At the same time, I decided to get a few chores done around the house, and after that, I had in the back of my mind to turn off my Vizio and call it a night. And then it hit me...this is college football! I went back to the sofa and sat down. I guess I don't have to tell you what happened next. It'll be all over the sports' pages in the morning. Ingram ends up with hamstring problems in the second half and misses most of the third quarter, while Garrett gets hot and throws two TD passes as the Longhorns come roaring back to score 15 points to close to within three at 24-21. But that would be as close as the Longhorns could get. Alabama scored twice in the final two minutes to escape with what turned out to be a hard-fought 37-21 win and the national championship for the Crimson Tide. The bowl season is over.

I guess I'll hit the sack now.

Do you remember the Chippewas?

Isn't college football a kick? Four months ago the Arizona Wildcats opened the 2009 season with a home opener against the Chippewas from Central Michigan.

It was a lackluster opener to say the least as both teams struggled offensively, but it was the Wildcats who held on and won the game, 19-6. Arizona went on to win seven more games during the regular season, while losing five, including its embarrassing loss to Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

And then you have the Chippewas. What do they do? They end up winning 12 of 14 games, including an unbelievable 44-41 double overtime win over Troy at the GMAC Bowl last night in Mobile.

Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour completed 33 of 55 passes for 394 yards. LeFevour, a senior, threw one touchdown pass and ran for another, giving him 150 touchdowns in his four-year collegiate career at Central.

What a way to go out? Compare that to Arizona's Nick Foles, who went 6 for 20 against Nebraska for 28 yards and one interception. Foles will be back at Arizona next season and he will have his chance to redeem himself. As I watched the final seconds tick away at the GMAC Bowl last night, I shook my head. What a turn of events! On that cool September evening at Arizona Stadium, I watched, and then envisioned Arizona would be the one who would go on to a double-digit winning season, get into a bowl game, and then show a national audience what the Wildcats are made of.

Instead it was the Chippewas who would go on to a 12-win season and put on a show at a postseason bowl game.

 Go figure!

It's playoff time!

It's playoff time!

With the college football season coming to a close, it is now time for me to get excited about pro football. A few weeks ago, I was ready to pencil in New Orleans and Indianapolis for Super Bowl Sunday. Now, I'm not so sure. Both organizations pulled the plug early this season and rested its starters---New Orleans in Week 15 and Indy in Week 16. And many of this year's postseason teams followed suit---namely the Arizona Cardinals. There's a lot of football left before the two surviving teams head for the showdown in Miami on Feb. 7, I'm not sure which of the remaining twelve teams has momentum on their side.

I guess if I had to pick one with a little "mo" on their side, I'd go with the Dallas Cowboys. I will once again get behind my Arizona Cardinals, but to be honest with you, I'm not all that sure Warner and Company can get past the Green Bay Packers. The Cardinals, of course, rested many of their starters last Sunday, as it turns out, they didn't pull the plug soon enough on a trio of players. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin has a sprained left ankle, defensive end Calais Campbell a broken left thumb and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie a bruised left kneecap. The question: Will those three key players take the field on Sunday? That scenario probably has the Las Vegas odds makers in a frenzy. And, with out question, it has the Arizona fans squirming. My goodness, Boldin has over 1,000 receiving yards this season and Rodgers-Cromartie has six interceptions.I'm not saying it is bad strategy to pull starters once you've clinched a playoff spot, but if you're going to pull them...pull them all and get them out of there. You might lose 60-0, but you (the coach or organization, I mean) already decided to lose the game anyway.

A lot of decisions have been made over the last couple of weeks, some good, some bad, now we'll see who makes the right decisions down the stretch. As pro football fans, we get to sit back and watch the powers to be take the heat and make those gut-wrenching decisions. That's what they get paid for!

Up In The Air will leave you feeling down in the dumps...

I managed to see a very good movie over the weekend. The film, Up in the Air, has garnered some great reviews, so I figured it was time to take a break from all the football bowls and head for the theater. Great flick, but beware Up in the Air will leave you down in the dumps.

George Clooney plays corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham and his job is to travel around the country and hand out pink slips to the sad and sometimes disgruntled corporate employee. If that isn't depressing enough, Clooney will make it even tougher on you, the moviegoer, as he plays his part so well that you actually begin to feel sorry for him. There are great lines in the movie and chances are you will find yourself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. But I'll warn you again, you won't be leaving the movie house, clicking up your heels.

Fogg lifts in L.A.

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Fogg lifted in L.A. this morning and it couldn't have happened at a better time.

Arizona guard Kyle Fogg set a career high in points with 25 to vault the young Wildcats to a stunning 77-63 Pac-10 victory over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.The win certainly lifted the Wildcats' attitude a bit and also made many Arizona fans very happy.

It's been a tough week for the Wildcats and their followers, but Fogg's performance, along with some outstanding play from both Jamelle Horne (17 points) and Derrick Williams (16 points) produced a win and a glimmer of hope for Arizona coach Sean Miller...and his young team and all of the Wildcats' fans who have witnessed nothing but bad losses for the past 10 days. I'm sure Miller is happy with a split on the Wildcats' first Pac-10 road trip of the season. With a 7-7 record overall and a 1-1 slate in the conference, things are looking up.

Now, a couple of wins at home next week against the Washington schools would be another step in the right direction.

Pac-10 teams fail to get the job done at postseason bowl games...

The Pac-10 teams didn't get the job done this year. Seven teams were awarded postseason bowl games this season, only two of them--USC and UCLA--were able to salvage wins.

The other five were quietly picked off, one at a time. First, the Mountain West Conference took care of Oregon State and California -- the Beavers falling to BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, 44-20, and the Golden Bears losing to the Utah Utes, 37-27, at the Poinsettia Bowl. That left Arizona, Stanford and Oregon to carry the torch for the Pac-10. That didn't happen either. First, Arizona failed to show at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and were blanked by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 33-0. Stanford, behind the hard-running of Toby Gerhart, showed up in El Paso for the Sun Bowl, but in the end they also failed as they surrendered to Oklahoma, 31-27. That left the Oregon Ducks to save face for the Pac-10 as they took on Ohio State this afternoon at the Rose Bowl. That didn't happen either as the Oregon offense went south...or tried to anyway. But, as it turns out it was the Buckeyes' defense that got the job done as the Ducks fell, 26-17.

The Pac-10 goes 2-5...not exactly what I expected.

Exciting Outback Bowl kicks off new year's day games...

Northwestern and Auburn started the new year off with a bang.

It may turn out to be the most exciting bowl game of the day. The Auburn Tigers edged Northwestern 38-35 in overtime at the 2010 Outback Bowl. What a start to today's bowl games. The Outback Bowl was not only the first bowl game of the day, but it was the first football game of the new year. Over 1,000 yards of offense between the two teams, you got to love it! Add to that eight turnovers between the two teams. It looked more like a pinball game on the field. But, boy was it exciting.

I think I'll make a quick run to the Circle K and pick up a few more snacks and beverages. It's going to be a long day. As for the ending to the Outback Bowl, Stefan Demos, who had missed a field goal earlier in the game, missed again in overtime. His kick would have tied the game and would have sent the contest into a second overtime. Northwestern did get a reprieve as Auburn was called for roughing the kicker. Demos was helped off the field and did not return. Northwestern decided that without its kicker they needed to go for a touchdown. They failed and the game ended at Auburn's 2-yard line. What a finish! I feel sorry for Demos, a 2006 graduate from Scottsdale Horizon. It's his junior season at Northwestern, so he'll be back.

Well, it is just a little over an hour before the start of the Rose Bowl. Go Ducks!

Don't buy those 2012 Final four tickets yet...

It's a new year. Time to celebrate.

Well, maybe not, according to a radio talk show host out in Oakland,California. Harold Camping, who runs Family Radio, an evangelical station, says the world is coming to an end on May 21, 2011.

If he turns out to be right, then the Arizona Wildcats will not make the NCAA Final Four in April of 2012 and I will not see my 66th birthday. I shouldn't celebrate today. I guess I should go back to bed. What a life this guy must live. He spends his days calculating the date the world will come to an end. I wonder what his grandchildren must think...if he has any? How can he plan anything? Seventeen months! If what he says comes to pass the world will not see the return of golf guru Tiger Woods and the world will not see the beloved Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2012.

All joking aside, most of us spend our days pushing the envelope forward--doing whatever it takes to stay alive in hopes of making our lives and the lives of the people that we love better. On the other side of the coin, we got this guy continually telling us it's over. Luckily, this guy has been wrong before. Campings' earlier calculations had the world coming to an end on Sept. 6, 1994. It didn't come to pass. Camping said he made a mathematical error. Just between you and me, the world will not end in 2011, because Camping has probably already calculated how much money he's going to have in the bank by 2015. He probably expects to make a killing on the stock market by 2016 and expects to have his yacht parked alongside Tiger's by 2017.

I just as soon see the man pull the plug at his radio station and go "camping" in some far away mountains for the rest of his life. I in turn, will calculate, at least in the back of my mind, how the Wildcats will make the NCAA Final Four in 2012.