Sign him up!

A baby boy was born in Des Moines, Iowa this week. The future Arizona Wildcat offensive lineman weighed in at close to 14 pounds! Coach Rod should fly to Des Moines and get the big fella to put his X on the dotted line for 2030.

To be exact the "little one" measured in at 23 1/2 inches long and 13 pounds and 13 ounces. Wow!

Hi Corbett Field

February is just around the corner and this old fella, when I'm not playing ball myself, expects to be spending a few hours a week at Hi Corbett Field, the new home of the University of Arizona Wildcats' baseball team. I can't wait to soak up a few hours of sun, sit out in the bleachers and watch the 5th-ranked Wildcats do their thing. Yes, the 'Cats will be good this year and I will enjoy the setting. I have a lot of memories when it comes to Hi Corbett Field. I played in the Senior Olympics about 15 years ago when our home-town baseball team, sponsored by Desert Diamond Casino, beat a team from Delaware for the title. And many, many years ago, I played on a fast-pitch softball team that took on Eddie Feigner and the King and his Court, prior to a Tucson Toros' game. That was a kick! Love that stadium and my Wildcats!

Photo: Eddie Feigner, back in the day.

Look for Turner to turn it on

The loss of Kevin Parrom for the rest of the season hurts the Arizona basketball program big time. But let's look at the positive side. With nine games remaining in Pac-12 conference play, we now have a go-to guy who just may turn on the after-burners and get the job done.

The final play against Washington at McKale on Saturday didn't go the Wildcats' way, but it did show Sean Miller and the Wildcat fans that Mr. Josiah Turner, a freshman, will lead us to the promised land. Yes, there's still time...and all this radio talk about the Wildcats heading for the NIT is a bit premature. Turner can turn on a dime, so let's let him loose, have the youngster create, and let's go for it. Sure, it is obvious we don't have an inside game, but let's roll with what we do have.

Let 'em loose, Coach Miller! It's time to turn up the volume with Turner!

Kevin gets a boot, Wildcats get kicked at home

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: Kevin Parrom sat next to his buddies on the bench with a boot on his right foot for the entire second half this afternoon at McKale. He sat next to teammates Kyle Natyazhko, Alex Jacobson, Dondre Wise and Max Weipking. Down by 11 points, the Wildcats found a gear in the final three minutes that they didn't use in the first 37 and came roaring back against the Washington Huskies. Parrom was on his feet, along with the rest of the bench as Josiah Turner blazed a trail to the bucket at the buzzer. The ball was swatted away. No foul called!

Result: The Huskies beat the Wildcats, 69-67. Parrom, who sprained his ankle in the first half, left the court at the end of the game with the rest of the 'Cats as they all realized that they had let one slip away. The game wasn't lost because Turner's shot failed to go in, the game was lost much earlier as the Wildcats failed to take care of the ball, committing 15 turnovers, while shooting horribly from the charity stripe, missing eight free throws.

Arguably, the Huskies were just as bad with 13 turnovers and nine missed free throws...but there's no need to go there. Solomon Hill led the Wildcats with 28 points and 11 rebounds, but it just wasn't enough as the Huskies left McKale Center and Tucson with another Pac-12 win under their belt.

How many times?

The Arizona Wildcats and their fans have been here so many times before. On the National Stage, so to speak, needing the BIG win. It's White Out Day and the TV cameras will be churning inside McKale today. It is simply time for the Wildcats and their fans to glow. Let's not leave McKale today with blinders on...with our heads held low and our sunglasses on, hiding our disappointment.

Today is the day for the Wildcats to shoot lights out and brighten up the city all the way from McKale to the Catalina Mountains. Goodness, it is 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm already on my laptop and pumping my fingers over the keys. A true Wildcat fan wants a win...always wants a win, but especially on a day like this when the college basketball sports world is watching.

Fogg clears the way for 'Cats victory

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: Kyle Fogg cleared the way for Arizona's 14th win of the season last night at McKale Center when he lit up the scoreboard in the first half with four canned three-point shots as the Wildcats blew away the Washington State Cougars 85-61 in front of happy and appreciative crowd. Unlike the Wildcats last game when they spent the night in Boulder clanging threes off the rim, this time they hit 15 of 26 from beyond the arc to cruise to their 5th Pac-10 win of the season, leaving them just one game out of first place in the conference. Fogg finished with 20 points and Solomon Hill added 17 to go along with 11 rebounds.

I sat in the southern end of McKale in Section 9, Row 24...Seat No. 11...and had a very good view of Sean Miller barking out orders to his players. The man works hard at his job. There's no doubt about that. The only downer: Those missed Wildcat free throws. This time 10 of 20 clanged off the rim. The Wildcats should have scored in the 90s and should have had six players in double figures, instead we end up with three in double digits, the other being Brandon Lavender who scored 14 points and played well.

As for the refs, I won't even go there. Some questionable calls, but I guess there always will be. The Josiah Turner ejection didn't hurt the Wildcats last night. Turner left the game with 10 minutes left, but he sure made his mark at the beginning of the second half, scoring six of his nine points. He's going to be a good one. Heck, he already is, as is Nick Johnson, who finished with seven points, but missed six field goals. Kevin Parrom played his best game of the year as he hustled all over the court and ended up with nine points, four rebounds and four assists.

The crowd headed for the exits with three minutes remaining in the game, and the one's that were half way to their cars missed the three-pointer by Max Wiepking as Miller cleared the bench in the final moments. Let's hope we have a similar result on Saturday against Washington.

Go Wildcats!

Bad day at Santa Rita

The Aces, a team consisting of fifteen of our best Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball players, traveled to Santa Rita Park yesterday to take on an old nemesis, the Tucson Old Pueblo Club. Half of the Aces' roster consist of individuals who are between the ages of 60 to 70. In recent outings against the Old Pueblo Club, there's been some close games, competitive games. The games have gone down to the wire.

But not yesterday. The Aces came out firing on all cylinders and scored five runs in the top of the first inning, but by the end of three innings the Old Pueblo Club had whittled away the deficit and thanks to a few timely hits and a handful of Aces' errors evened the score at 8-8.

Seventy-year-old Arnie White threw hard for three innings for the Aces, but gave way to yours truly to start the fourth inning. I left my position at third base and headed for the mound. I should have stayed at third! I was wild and inconsistent. Somehow, I managed to get through three innings, but in the process I hit a batter in the elbow and another in the shoulder. My fastball was all over the place and my curve ball was fighting against a left to right breeze.

Bottom line: We lost 15-9. I left the game shaking my head, realizing I need a lot of work if I want to continue to pitch. In a lot of ways, I'm throwing harder than I did 30 years ago, but I wasn't a pitcher then...and I'm not sure I'm the man for the job now. The Aces had their chances yesterday. Our youngest player, Tim Tolson, drilled a double to deep center field to score a couple of runs early on and I blooped a single to left field, later in the game, which scored a couple of runs.

Sixty-one year old Ted Davis had the biggest wallop of the day, adding a run-scoring triple, which sailed over the head of the left fielder and rolled all the way to the fence. We had our share of nice plays, including an over-the-shoulder catch in center field by 69-year-old Pete Cerenzia and a running catch in left field by 73-year-old Chico Bigham, which resulted in a double play as Bigham hit the cutoff man, 62-year-old Dennis Crowley, who then threw out the runner at first base who had ventured too far of the bag.

The Aces will play host to the Old Pueblo club in a few weeks, looking for a payback.

Giants, Patroits are headed for the Super Bowl

It'll be Tom Brady vs Eli Manning in the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots edged the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 earlier today in Foxborough and the New York Giants slipped by the 49ers 20-17 in overtime just moments ago in San Francisco to set up a repeat of the 2008 Super Bowl, won by the Giants 17-14. Super Bowl XLVI will be held in Indianapolis on Feb. 5. It should be a good one!

Prediction: Patroits and Giants advance

Time for Bookemdanosports to offer another prediction.

Let's go with New England 34-21 over Baltimore and the New York Giants 28-24 over the San Francisco 49ers.

There, I said it. I still can't get over the fact that 14 years ago, I covered a high school junior varsity football game in Chandler and wrote a column the next morning regarding a man-among-boys Chandler High standout named Terrell Suggs. And today, that man could be a big part in the Baltimore Ravens' chances at shattering my prediction. I said in the article back then: Remember this name, Terrell Suggs. I can say the same today. Remember, Mr. Suggs. Terrell was 16 years old the first time I saw him play.

My goodness, Suggs is now 29 and I'm...well, let's say, a lot older.

Bookemdanosports archives: See my post November 17, 2009 entitled 'They call him, Mr. Suggs!'

Clang!

The Arizona Wildcats couldn't find the bucket, again. The Colorado Rockies waited...and waited for the 'Cats to beat them inside the packed house at the Coors Events Center last night. Instead, the Wildcats lose 64-63, despite a 20-point, 10 rebound performance by Jesse Perry, and head home with a split on the road, falling to 4-3 in the Pac-12 and 13-7 overall. There was nothing wrong with the Wildcats' passing. They had plenty of chances for assists, too. Unfortunately, a player can't get an assist unless the receiver can put the ball in the hole. Case in point: Josiah Turner should have had 11 assists. He ended up with three! Arizona passed the ball well, kept the turnovers down and kept the game close. But, they can't shoot! End of story. Back home next week against Washington and Washington State, the Wildcats better figure on sizzling the nets or they'll find themselves out of the race in the Pac-12. As for me, I'm still the old die hard Arizona fan...but a frustrated one. I hate to print those four annoying words: Wait til next year!

Wildcats' telling stat: In 20 games, Arizona has attempted 1,055 shots and made 465 of them!

Wildcats in for a battle

It'll be a different story this afternoon at the Coors Events Center as the Arizona Wildcats visit the Colorado Buffaloes (12-6 overall, 4-2 Pac-12). After Thursday's win in front of a small crowd in Salt Lake City over the lowly Utah Utes, the Wildcats will now face a Colorado team in front of a full house of boisterous Colorado fans. This is a game in which the Wildcats need to shoot lights out. No clangers off the rim! The 'Cats need to get hot early and stay hot. Arizona (13-6, 4-2) needs this win badly. Good luck, Wildcats!

Arizona at Utah

It was a good thing the Arizona at Utah basketball game didn't get beamed by satellite to the major TV networks. Let's just keep this one among the locals, like FSN and Channel 8. How could the Arizona Wildcats get up for this one. The Huntsman Arena, or what ever its called, was 30 percent full of I-could-care-less Utes' fans. Thanks to an ejection of Solomon Hill two minutes into the second half, life was restored into the Wildcats' offense and Arizona, acting like they had something to prove, blew away Utah in the final 18 minutes and head for Colorado with a shot at a Pac-12 road-trip sweep. By the way, the score was Arizona 77, Utah 51 as Sean Miller cleared the bench, shook hands with the opposing coach after the game, gathered his troops...and got out of there. Thank goodness the Wildcats will not return to the Utes' domicile this season.

Emergency dentist appointment keeps me away from baseball

It has been well documented that my favorite activity is playing baseball.

My worst: Going to the dentist. Today, I'll miss the former and suffer through the latter. I can't think of anything worse than setting in a dentist chair and have someone take a pair of pliers and go to work on the pearly whites. The fact I've ignored this trip to the dental office for so long will be a cause for embarrassment as I sit nervously in the chair with my hands glued to the armrests.

I hope to be back playing ball by the end of the week with a smile on my face. But I have a feeling I won't be whistling.

Packers Out! Ravens and Giants In!

Three lost fumbles and eight dropped passes, even the great Aaron Rodgers playing at home in front of a stadium full of Green Bay fans couldn't overcome that scenario. And so it is written: The Packers fall to the New York Giants 37-20 today in Packerland, setting up an NFC Championship final next Sunday between the surprising Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. And how about the Ravens? Or, to be more precise, how about the Baltimore defense? They force four turnovers today and escape, at home, knocking off the Houston Texans, 20-13, and will travel to Foxborough next Sunday for the AFC title game against the New England Patriots. No Saints, no Packers and no Steelers in the final four. Go figure!

So much for Tebowtime...

The NFL at its best

It took an All-Pro quarterback, Tom Brady, and a former Arizona Wildcat tight end, Rob Gronkowski, to end the Tebowmania.

Brady threw three first-half touchdowns to Gronkowski as New England sealed the deal early and went on to a 45-10 victory over Tebow and the Denver Broncos last night in Foxborough.

And how about the San Francisco 49ers? The 49ers shock the New Orleans Saints yesterday afternoon 36-32 as Vernon Davis hauls in the winning TD with just nine seconds left on the clock.

The Patriots and the 49ers advance to their respective conference title games. Today, I'm predicting the home teams will prevail as Green Bay hosts the New York Giants, while Baltimore will edge out Houston. But, on second thought, it could be a day of upsets. I don't look for a runaway game in today's matchups.

Wildcats fall to the middle of the pack

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: Not exactly what Sean Miller was looking for. The Arizona Wildcats' coach and the hometown fans witnessed another loss at McKale. This time it really counted as the Wildcats lost 59-57 yesterday to the visiting Ducks from Oregon. Slow start and a terrible finish as the Wildcats, down 34-22 at the half, battled back once again only to go cold down the stretch, missing four shots in the final minute as Oregon headed home with a two-point victory. Solomon Hill led the 'Cats with 16 points. The loss puts the Wildcats in the middle of the Pac-12 standings (12-6 overall, 3-2 conference) as Miller and his young and inconsistent team head back to practice tomorrow to prepare for their next road trip which includes Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday. The Wildcats need to win both of those games to keep from falling out of the middle of the pack.

Don't forget to run 'em out...

TOTS Game of the Week: Another pitching duel at Udall Park Friday.

This time the pitchers of record were 63-year-old Bob Daliege and 69-year-old lefty Pete Cerenzia. Daliege's squad took a 1-0 lead into the 7th inning, but a freak play to open the bottom of the inning would lead to a 3-1 win for Cerenzia's TOTS team. Leading off the bottom half of the inning, yours truly took a first-pitch swing at a Daliege change-up and hit the ball off the end of my bat. The ball started out three feet foul, but spun back toward the playing field. Remembering a baseball rule from the past, I ran the ball out and it was a good thing I did as I beat the throw to first.

I eventually ended up on third and scored the tying run on a sacrifice bunt by 73-year-old Chico Bigham. Back to back hits by 70-year-old Arnie White and 82-year-old Brad Tolson produced two more runs and the home team walked away with a hard-fought victory.

The Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) will be back at it on Monday with a Martin Luther King Day morning game.

Lavender's 3-pointers ignite Wildcats

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Arizona Wildcats needed a shooter midway through the second half at McKale Center tonight. They found their man in Brendon Lavender as the senior guard came off the bench and hit five buckets from beyond the three-point line. Down two points at the half, Arizona fought back to take the lead at the 12-minute mark of the second half, 47-44, but still found themselves deadlocked with Oregon State, 72-72, at the end of regulation. Lavender finished with 18 points, hitting 5 of 6 threes, plus a three-point play the old fashioned way -- all in regulation.

It was all Arizona in the overtime period as the Wildcats outscored the Beavers 9-1 and went on to win their third conference game of the season by a score of 81-73. Kyle Fogg scored 23 for the Wildcats, while freshman guard Nick Johnson added 19 points. Arizona (12-5 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-12), take on the visiting Oregon Ducks on Saturday.

I'm back!

I ran into a computer problem this past week. I hate when that happens, but I'm back. The bugs are gone and the old laptop is up and running. A lot of exciting stuff happened in the world of sports this past week. At the top of the list is the Tim Tebow thing! Hard to believe, but I have to hand it to Tebow. Wow! What a bomb on the first play in overtime as the Denver Broncos knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday.

I watched the game up in Show Low, in the White Mountains. Would you believe, we got snowed in, stayed an extra night, and cruised home Monday afternoon. Too much white stuff for me. I missed the Arizona-USC basketball game, but all is well, as the Wildcats beat the Trojans and earned a split on the road. As for Monday night's BCS final, it turned out to be a real dud as Alabama won the one-sided affair, 21-0, over LSU.

Glad to be back on the old computer!

War Horse

Most of my readers are old war horses, especially the members of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club. They, including me, have been around a while. And most of us, when we're not playing ball at Udall Park, are looking for things to do in our spare time. My outlet, aside from baseball, are movies -- good movies that stir my insides. I've shed a tear at many a flick, but I must add that over the years it hasn't taken much to get my juices flowing. Heck, I've had tears flowing at Lassie movies for goodness sake. Even a good McDonald's commercial, like the one years ago with the old couple holding hands gets me.

Being macho, I try my best not to let anyone in the movie theater see my emotional outcry. The one movie director that gets me every time is Steven Spielberg. And he's done it again with his latest flick, War Horse. Guys, it is a must see. It is so good, I'm not going to go into any details or release any tidbits about the film. Just get in your car, pay the super senior price for a ticket and head into the theater. You'll be glad you did.

The Pac-12 football teams are getting walloped...

It has been a poor showing for the Pac-12 thus far in bowl games. One win and four losses, to be exact. Arizona State, California, Washington and UCLA have all bit the dust. The lone winner: Utah with its overtime victory yesterday in El Paso. Come on Stanford and Oregon, the conference needs ya!

Pac-12 Bowl Update: (1-2-12) Oregon rolls with an highly-entertaining win over Wisconsin, but Oklahoma State stakes it claim for No.1 with an overtime-win over Stanford. Two great bowl games. Pac-12 finishes 2-5.

Pac-12 results:

Rose Bowl
Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38

Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma State 41, Stanford 38

Alamo Bowl
Baylor 67, Washington 56

Holiday Bowl
Texas 21, California 10

Sun Bowl
Utah 30, Georgia Tech 27

MAACO Bowl
Boise State 56, Arizona State 24

Kraft Bowl
Illinois 20, UCLA 14

Wildcats off to a good start in Pac-12

The Arizona Wildcats had an easy time of it yesterday afternoon at McKale Center as they throttled Arizona State, 68-51. Up by 24 at one point in the second half, the only downer coming for the Wildcats with eight minutes left in the game when they allowed the lowly Sun Devils to get within 13 points. The 'Cats need to finish strong when they get a team down like that -- especially the Sun Devils! Congrats to Solomon Hill (11 points, 10 boards) on another double-double and to Nick Johnson (14 points) on another superb game and to Jesse Perry, the top scorer in the game with 16 points.

Wildcats are 1-0 in Pac-12 and 10-4 overall.

Last few days of 2011 could have been better...

In the last few days of 2011, I picked up a speeding ticket (going 54 in a 40, says the officer) and will now attend a defensive driving class on Saturday. I picked up the "flu bug" late Wednesday afternoon. It came on fast and pretty much ruined my Christmas and New Year's eve. I'm still feeling lousy. And to top it off, I ventured out of the house yesterday to pick up some medicine at Walgreen's only to discover that my air conditioning is out on my vehicle.

Happy New Year!