Daly Watch...

Well, Big John Daly did make the cut at the Colonial and pocketed $12,896.00. Daly had a chance to be in the big money, but his 75 on Day 3 put a damper on that. He did card three rounds in the high 60s and finished 3-under in the Fort Worth tournament, which was won by Zach Johnson with a 21-under 259. Zach took home the big bucks -- a cool $1 million and some change.

Suns bow out...

No last-minute heroics this time.

No second-team surge.

No buzzer-beater to send it to a Game 7 back in Los Angeles. No need for Kobe Bryant and Company to return to Staples Center...to all that Hollywood glitter...to the watchful eye of Jack Nicholson...and the 19,000-plus screaming Laker fans. Jack and his basketball buddies will have to find something else to do on Monday, thanks mainly to Bryant's 37 points last night at the US Airways Center as the LA Lakers ended the Phoenix Suns' hopes for an NBA title with a convincing 111-103 victory.

The Lakers take care of the Suns in six and could very easily, in my opinion, knock off the Boston Celtics in four and be crowned NBA champs as early as June 10. Phil Jackson must have the best job in the NBA. You get the feeling the man sits on the sidelines, grunts and groans a few times, watches Kobe pick apart opposing defenses, grabs his car keys and goes home. How do you coach a team like the Lakers? Being an old retired sports reporter, I know for a fact there's more to it than that. Just dealing with all those egos could turn a young man's hair grey, and Phil is certainly looking all of his 64 years.

Jackson turns 65 in September and thanks to Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, along with the rest of the Lakers, chances are he'll be able to find a comfortable spot on the beach this summer, away from all the glitter, and sit back and bask in the glory...and savor his 11th championship as a coach in the NBA.

As for Suns' coach Alvin Gentry, he's still got some work to do. At 55 years of age, Gentry is still a young man by NBA coaching standards and he'll be back on the sidelines next season for the Suns.

The question is: Just how many of the Suns' players will be back?

Wildcats Head Back to Oklahoma City...

The Arizona Wildcats are heading back to Oklahoma City.

The Wildcats mercy rule the BYU Cougars 10-2 today at Hillenbrand Stadium to win the Super Regional and will now pack their bags and return to the Women's College Series for the 22nd time in 23 years.

Senior Sarah Akamine took over for Kenzie Fowler in the first inning after the Wildcats' freshman standout was hit on the arm and was forced to leave the game. Akamine pitched five innings and kept the Cougars at bay, while the Arizona bats came alive as the Wildcats cruised to their 48th win of the year.

Congratulations Arizona!

Can BYU take the heat?

The BYU softball players will enter Hillenbrand Stadium today to take on our Arizona Wildcats.

The question is: Will the Cougars be able to take the heat? This will be unfamiliar territory for them. They have never competed in a super regional and that alone will cause their collective body temperature to rise. Add to that a near 100 degree reading by four o'clock will have the Hillenbrand playing surface boiling over.

Just in case the Cougars are homesick, they can check the weather forecast for Salt Lake City, which includes party cloudy skies and a high of 70 degrees. To be fair, the heat is on for the Wildcats as well. The Wildcats, who share the same overall record as the Cougars at 46-11, are vulnerable and will need to hit their way to the Women's College World Series. Kenzie Fowler will battle through her injuries and will without a doubt come through with another gusty performance, but it will be the Arizona offense that will need to get the job done.

Fowler and the Wildcats shutdown BYU, 8-0, back in February, but it won't be easy for Arizona this time around. The Cougars upset No. 7 Texas in the first round of the regionals last week, while the Wildcats survived their regional with a 12th-inning, walk-off grand slam to beat visiting Hofstra.

The bats should be sizzling in this one, right along with the temperature.

Air Ball Leads to Game winner...

A heart-breaking loss for the Phoenix Suns tonight.

The Suns, down 18 points early on, battle back to tie the game with 3.5 seconds left in regulation and then get an air ball of all things from Kobe Bryant, only to see Ron Artest grab the ball and sink a bank shot at the buzzer, to preserve the LA Lakers' 103-101 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals at the Staples Center.

Will Bryant's air ball turn out to be the shot that kick starts the Lakers into the NBA Finals?

The Suns will now need two in a row to get the job done -- and they need to take care of business at home on Saturday in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all finale back at Staple Center on Monday night. The Suns received another brilliant performance from guard Steve Nash as he matched Bryant shot for shot in Game 5. Nash poured in 29 points and added 11 assist, while Bryant scored 30 points to lead the Lakers. But as it turns out, the big story was not the shots that Bryant made tonight, instead tomorrow's headlines on the sports pages across the nation will focus on the one shot he missed.

Hey! We're going back to see Jack...

How do you like that?

The Suns head back to Staples Center for Game 5 and we get to see old Jack Nicholson once again.

It looks like the Suns are going to take two of the top five teams in the NBA with them: their starters and their bench! The Phoenix Suns' 115-106 homecourt win over the Lakers last night evened the series at two apiece and now its the best 2 of 3 to decide who will be the Western Conference Champions.

 he Suns got 54 points from their bench last night, including 14 points from former Arizona star Channing Frye, who broke out of a horrendous shooting slump to score 14 points (with four of those, I may add, coming from three-point range). Add to that another 14 points from Leandro Barbosa, 11 from Jared Dudley, and eight points and eight assist from Nash-Rambler II, Goran Dragic. It'll be nice to see Jack Nicholson's smilin' face again on Thursday. Wouldn't it be nice if the Suns could win Game 5 and send Jack and the other 19,000-plus Laker fans home praying for a comeback in Game 6 and 7. It is going to be a monumental task to take center stage away from Kobe Bryant, but the Suns have battled all year with their late-regular-season surge, their domination over Portland and San Antonio...and now this.
 Just two wins away from the NBA finals...can you dig it?

Ready to play ball again...

It is time to return to baseball.

After a two-week battle with kidney stones, it is time to return to Udall Park and resume play with the old boys of summer. I'm sure the members of the Tucson Oldtimers (TOTS) baseball club have gotten along just fine without me the last few weeks, but I on the other hand, have sure missed throwin' the old cowhide around.

I've missed a lot of action and quite a few games, and believe me being laid up in a hospital bed is no fun...and having the urologist go in (ouch!) to fix the problem...well just thinking about the nightmare makes my eyes water. That darn stone was 7mm long and as hard as a rock...and felt like a baby Louisville Slugger complete with splinters.

And I lost enough blood in the process! I'm slowly getting back to normal. Walked Sabino Canyon yesterday, got on the treadmill the day before and have picked up two pounds (after losing about 12!). Luckily, I felt up to coaching my middle school girls' softball team last Saturday in the playoffs. I spent most of the time either in the third base coaching box, or in the bathroom, which was about six hundred yards from home plate.

The girls did better than I did as they captured the third-place trophy, the school's first hardware for its trophy case. As for me, I headed home with sore ribs from standing all day in the 90-degree heat. But I cooled off after nightfall, drank plenty of water and survived. The season is over for my girls and school ends for them this week.

As for me, I'll start a new season at Udall on Monday. For all my old buddies out there: Listen to me, drink plenty of water.

Let's play ball.

Jack's got the best seat in the house...

Jack Nicholson is my favorite actor.

From Five Easy Pieces, to Chinatown, to As good as it Gets, you name the film, it is one after another for as long as I can remember. I never get tired of that devilish smile and those on-the-screen tirades he's known for. If there's a new Nicholson flick out, chances are I'll be the first at the box office to purchase a ticket. But what I really envy about Mr. Nicholson, is not his acting or the million-plus he garners for a film, instead: It is that ringside seat of his at the LA Laker games. Talk about a prime piece of real estate!

Unfortunately, I had to witness the Lakers dismantle my Suns last night and I have to admit I could have done without Jack's sideline smile, along with the other 19,000 in attendance at Staples Center. I'm proud of the Suns and their postseason run, but the sun is finally setting on the team from Phoenix and without a rally by the Suns in the next two games, it is unlikely we'll see ole Jack and Staples Center on May 27 or May 31.

And furthermore, it is looking more and more like a Boston-LA series for the NBA title.

Of course, Jack will be there, smilin' from ear to ear. You go Jack. But when Koby and Company knock off the Celtics, please Jack, make a new movie filled with some laughs. I need something to cheer about this summer. My Suns are going down. My Diamondbacks are in the cellar. The UofA women's softball team may be forced to compete in the NCAA postseason playoffs without their top two hurlers. The Wildcats' baseball team is on the verge of elimination from postseason. Tiger Woods is faltering. John Daly can't putt. My favorite teams and players are tanking.

As for you Jack, keep on smiling.

Coaching Middle School Part VI...

My middle school girls softball team picked up the third place trophy at the postseason tourney Saturday afternoon with a convincing 14-4 mercy-rule win.

I'm so proud of the girls. They started out in mid March, a first-year team with a roster consisting of a handful of club players and some newbees with only a year or two of experience, and they ended up with an eight-win season and only three losses. As for me, I'm a happy camper. They made me look good as a first-year coach. Can't wait til next year. We have six returnees and another six prospects from the "B" teams that will be fighting for starting spots on our "A" team in 2011.

The softball program is off and running.

Kidney Stones are no Fun Part II...

Well, it has been one week since the urologist pulled out the bothersome 7mm kidney stone. And yesterday the urologist finished up the ordeal by pulling out a stent that's been in my body for about six days.

That wasn't much fun as well. Picture sliding into third base with your cleats held high, well that was the position I was in for about an hour as I awaited the doctor, her instrument and what ever else she had in her hands. My eyes were closed. The procedure took about three minutes, seemed like 30!

For all my readers, please drink plenty of water. Trust me, the last two weeks were no fun.

Coaching Middle School Part V...

My middle school girls softball team ended the regular season with an impressive 21-7 win today, their sixth in a row and seventh overall.

And now it is on to the playoffs on Saturday. We are just two wins away from a championship trophy. The girls are awesome. We finished our nine-game regular-season schedule with 94 runs scored, while allowing just 40 runs. Our team batting average is a healthy .473.

Wow!

For a first-year team not too shabby.

Phoenix Suns can take a week off and enjoy...

I can't believe I watched the Phoenix Suns dismantle the San Antonio Spurs in four straight games to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Steve Nash and Company will now get a week off to soak up the well-deserved praise from their fans. Sweep! Sweep! Sweep! The Spurs go down in Game 4 tonight, 107-101, to the Suns.

Unbelievable! And now, the Lakers await. I know the Lakers need to hang one more loss on the Utah Jazz. And that should happen on Monday night. The LA Lakers are a post up team and that will cause problems for the freewheeling Suns, but bring them on. The Suns are rising! I'm going to grab the daily paper as early as I can tomorrow morning just to validate the fact that the Suns actually swept the series with the Spurs...and what I witnessed last night on my Vizio wasn't a dream.

Coaching Middle School Part IV...

My middle school girls softball players are awesome.

We picked up two more wins this week to move to 6-2 on the season. We scored 26 runs without allowing a run in the two away games, leaving us with just one game left on Wednesday to close out the regular season. And then it is on to the playoffs.

Yes we are in! Awesome for a first-year school. A seventh win on Wednesday could give us a second or third seed for the May 15th tourney. I can't believe my first year as a middle school softball coach is almost over. What fun!

Kidney Stones are No Fun continued...

As I was saying. Kidney stones are no fun.

So, after my first visit to the ER, I decided to pay them another visit. This time someone listened and instead of being sent home, I finally got my wish and received an admission slip to a room with a view at the Tucson Medical Center (TMC).

Twenty-four hours later I was finally on the operating table. An hour and a half later the urologist blasted away a 7mm, very stubborn kidney stone and after a week of severe pain, which included vomiting, a fever, one ambulance ride, two emergency rooms, and a loss of about ten pounds, I finally have my life back. The cost: a cool $7,000 and some change. Some say, getting a kidney stone is the luck of the draw and most people say it is the lack of water we have in our systems. I have a history of not drinking a lot of water on a daily basis, but I will now!

I can't imagine going through that pain again.

Kidney stones are no fun!

I'm not up to par today.

So, excuse me if I make an error or two. I have a kidney stone that feels like it is bigger than a grapefruit. I've been to the hospital, been giving some drugs, told to go home, and hopefully pass the stone in the next  96 hours. I've been told having a kidney stone and passing it, is like giving birth. I feel for all the women out there. When the pain medicine wears off, boy does it hurt.

I'll get back to you, my readers, in a day or so. Right now, I'm going to try to get comfortable and wait for the next onslaught.