Success in Seattle!

Success in Seattle.

The eighth-ranked Arizona Wildcats moved to 18-2 with a 57-53 win in Seattle tonight over the Washington Huskies. On another night when the Wildcats shoot horribly, they figured out a way to get it done. The Wildcats shoot 35 percent from the field and just 17 percent from three-point range, but continued to battle for 40 minutes, turning a 28-23 halftime deficit into a four-point win. Arizona goes 20 for 57 from the field and commits 17 turnovers. Fortunately for Arizona, the Huskies had a horrible shooting night as well.  Washington hits just 37 percent from the field (21 for 57) and amazingly hits just one of 12 from three-point land. The Huskies also committed 17 turnovers. An ugly game, but what else is new in Seattle.

Nick Johnson led Arizona with 15 points, while Kaleb Tarczewski, Mark Lyons and Solomon Hill collected 10 points apiece. Tarczewski grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

Way to go, Wildcats. Let's go for the sweep on Saturday against Washington State!

Wildcats still getting some respect in the AP Poll

The Arizona Wildcats, despite the home loss to UCLA last week, are still getting a little respect in the latest AP College Basketball Poll, which was released today. Arizona (17-2) drops to No. 8 in the poll behind Michigan (19-1), Kansas (18-1), Indiana (18-2), Florida (16-2), Duke (17-2), Syracuse (18-2) and Gonzaga (19-2). Butler (17-3) and Oregon (18-2) are ranked 9th and 10th, respectively.

Arizona, of course, beat Florida at McKale Center earlier in the season and the Oregon Ducks edged the Wildcats in Eugene by four points. Miami, a loser to Arizona in the semi finals of the Hawaii tournament, moved up to No. 14, after its huge win over Duke. San Diego State lost to Arizona at McKale earlier in the season, but find themselves at No. 22, thanks to the Aztecs' big win over New Mexico. UCLA, despite its win over Arizona, falls out of the top-25. The Bruins got the win over the Wildcats last Thursday, but got knocked off by Arizona State last Saturday.

Arizona heads for Washington this week to take on the Huskies on Thursday and the Cougars of Washington State on Saturday.
  

Angry Wildcats devour Trojans

The sixth-ranked Arizona Wildcats left McKale Center on Thursday angry with themselves. They had just lost at home to UCLA. The Wildcats hadn't lost at home all season and had suffered just one loss overall -- a four-point loss at Oregon earlier this month. So, when USC came to town today the angry Wildcats were ready to pounce. And pounce they did! The Wildcats held the Trojans to just seven field goals in the first half and enjoyed a lopsided 39-20 lead at intermission. It was more of the same in the second half and the Wildcats cleared the bench en route to a 74-50 Pac-12 win.

The Wildcats cleared the bench late in the second half as 14 players saw action. Four Wildcats finished in double figures. Nick Johnson netted 14, Solomon Hill 13, Brandon Ashley 11 and Kaleb Tarczewski 10. Mark Lyons scored nine points, dished out four assists and grabbed four rebounds.

Gabe York came off the bench and got in some playing time. York hit two buckets from beyond the three-point line and finished with seven points. Kevin Parrom scored six points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. The Wildcats were sharp on the defensive side of the ball as they held the Trojans to 28 percent from the field (18 for 64).

Arizona improves to 17-2 overall  and 5-2 in the Pac-12 standings.

UCLA 84 Arizona 73

Forget the lofty rankings. Forget the won and loss records. Forget the fact you're at home in front of 14,617 screaming fans. If you're the sixth-ranked Arizona Wildcats and you take 73 shots from the field and make just 28 of them, chances are you're going to lose. Arizona shoots just 38 percent and just 21 percent from beyond the three-point arc and lose tonight at McKale Center to the UCLA Bruins, 84-73.

Arizona falls to 16-2 and 4-2 in the Pac-12 and will undoubtedly fall out of the Top-10 when the AP Poll is released on Monday. The Wildcats have less than 48 hours to regroup and prepare for the USC Trojans. A loss to USC and Arizona could fall even further in the polls. But, more importantly, another loss and the Wildcats, whether they are ranked or not, will find themselves three games back of league-leading Oregon in the Pac-12 standings.

At McKale tonight, Nick Johnson led the Wildcats with 23 points. Unfortunately, he made just nine of 19 shots. Mark Lyons scored 16. Unfortunately, he made just six of 17 shots.

Duke falls! Duke falls!

Top-ranked Duke (16-2, 3-2)  crumbled tonight as 25th-ranked Miami rolled over the Blue Devils 90-63 in Coral Gables, Florida. That's bad news for the Blue Devils, but good news for our sixth-ranked Wildcats. Arizona (16-1, 4-1) beat Miami (14-3, 5-0) by 19 points (69-50) in Hawaii earlier this season. Now, if Arizona can take care of business at home this week against UCLA and USC, chances are our Wildcats would become top dog in the RPI rankings and move up a notch or two in the AP poll. Duke and Arizona started the week 1-2 in the RPI rankings.

Wildcats 6th in latest AP Poll

Duke is back on top in the latest AP College Basketball Poll. Our Arizona Wildcats move up a notch to No. 6, while Oregon is ranked No. 16. Michigan, Kansas and Syracuse are 2, 3 and 4, respectively, while Louisville, with its loss last week,  falls just four spots to No. 5. Indiana falls to No. 7. UCLA, the Wildcats next opponent, dropped out of the top 25, but will come into McKale on Thursday with a chip on its shoulder and ready to rumble.

Florida, Butler and Gonzaga round out the top 10.

Stan Musial

The day Stan Musial retired in 1963, I was finding my way to my next class. It was my first year of college and the sports headline of Musial's retirement was the biggest story in the fall of '63, at least the biggest sports story, anyway. The assassination of the President of the United States John F. Kennedy occurred a few weeks later, one of, if not, the biggest news stories of all time.

But on this particular day in September, I searched for the box score of the previous day's game of the St. Louis Cardinals. We all have our favorite baseball players and our first order of business is to open the sports page and scan the box scores to see how our baseball heroes performed.

My goodness, Stan "The Man" Musial could fill up a box score. At the age of 43, I think Musial picked up hit number 3,630 in his final game with the Cardinals. Amazingly he banged out 1,815 at home and 1,815 hits on the road in his 22 years in the major leagues -- all with the St. Louis Cardinals.

It's been close to 50 years since I've searched for Musial's box score. I've missed totaling up the daily accomplishments of the Hall of Famer.

Musial died this week at the age of 92. A baseball legend. He will be missed.

Oh, Brother!

Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and John Harbaugh, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, will be the opposing coaches in Super Bowl XLVII. Two brothers on opposite sidelines, battling for the big prize in the National Football League. What are the odds of that happening? The 49ers take down the Atlanta Falcons earlier today in Atlanta by a score of 28-24 and the Ravens roll over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, 28-13, just moments ago, sending the two brothers and two outstanding teams into the 47th Super Bowl, slated for Feb. 3 in New Orleans.

Fifteen years ago, I was a sports writer for a paper in Phoenix. I get a call at my desk. It's a tip about a young sophomore running back at Chandler High School. The caller said, "You better check out this kid." So, like a good reporter, I checked it out. It was a junior varsity game and was played on a Thursday. Of course, most of the noteworthy prep games were played on Friday night's under the lights, not on a Thursday afternoon.

What I saw that day was a man among boys. A powerful creature who ran up and down the field, scoring touchdown after touchdown.

I went back to my office, sat down and wrote a story. The headline read: Remember this name, Terrell Suggs.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Defense! Defense!

Arizona coach Sean Miller wants his Wildcats to play defense above all else. Well, Miller should be a happy camper as the Wildcats put on the pressure, induced 17 turnovers, and beat Arizona State in Tempe today, 71-54.

The 7th-ranked Wildcats did a little scoring as well. Mark Lyons pumped in 24 points on 8 for 15 from the field, canned all six free throw attempts and kept pace, if not outplaying,  the Sun Devils' main man Jahii Carson. The Sun Devil guard is an outspoken son of a gun and has said he's the best guard in the Pac-12. Well, he's a good one, but so is Lyons.

Lyons was all over the court once again as he led the Wildcats to their 16th win of the season and fourth win in the conference. Arizona also needed a big game from guard Nick Johnson. And they got it, as well. Johnson scored 19 points, while forward Solomon Hill was a factor as well, scoring 13 points and led the team in assists with five. Center Kaleb Tarczewski came down with eight rebounds and scored five points.

But it was the big "D" that made the difference. Arizona holds the Sun Devils to just 39 percent (18 for 46). The Wildcats came up with eight steals and committed just nine turnovers.

Way to go, Wildcats!

It's too cold to play baseball!

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


It's too cold to play baseball. It takes a huge downpour to cancel a 60-and-over baseball game at Tucson Udall Park. I mean talk about diehard ball players. The old timers who play baseball as members of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club, show up rain or shine to play their favorite game. It takes a lot of standing water to keep the TOTS off the field and very seldom do we have a game called due to a "freeze out."

With temperatures hovering around 19 degrees every morning this week, the TOTS' field looks more like a "fishin' hole" on the northern edge of Wisconsin. Pockets of ice forming along the edges of the warning track is the norm. The TOTS' sign, which hangs on the backstop at Udall Park, signifying the home of the oldest active baseball club in the country, shivers and bounces around due to the slight and constant breeze, which makes it feel more like a temperature closer to single digits.

Bring out the hockey sticks!

The good news: The hometown paper reports an early morning temperature today of 34 degrees with a high near 70 and the wind out of the southeast at 17 miles an hour. Let's play ball!

Arizona falls to No. 7 in AP Poll

It could have been worse! The Arizona Wildcats fall just three spots in the latest AP Men's College Basketball Poll and are now rated as the the No. 7 team in the land. Surprisingly, Duke falls just two spots and is ranked No. 3 in the country. The new No. 1 is Louisville and Indiana hops into the No. 2 spot.

All in all, not bad for our Wildcats, after a split last week during the two-game trip to the Oregon schools. Kansas, Michigan and Syracuse are 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Gonzaga is 8th in the country, Minnesota is at No. 9 and the Florida Gators round out the top ten. The top eight teams have only one loss.

Oregon, with its four-point victory over Arizona, sneaks in at No. 21 and UCLA finds themselves at No. 24. San Diego State, a loser to the Wildcats at the tournament in Hawaii, is now ranked 15th in the country.

NFL final four not what I expected

Baltimore edges Denver in two overtimes 38-35, San Francisco runs over Green Bay 45-31, Atlanta hangs on and defeats Seattle 30-28 and New England (I did predict that outcome) gets by Houston 41-28. Four teams still have a shot at the Super Bowl as the Patriots host the Ravens next Sunday for the AFC title, while  the 49ers head for Atlanta and a NFC title matchup with the Falcons.

I had the Packers and Patriots penciled in for the Super Bowl. So, I guess there's a chance I could be half right. I still think Tom Brady and Company will win it all. But, after this weekend, I've changed my tune a little bit.

How about the San Francisco quarterback?  Colin Kaepernick totals 444 yards and four touchdowns, two by the air and the another two by the run, as the 49ers close out the Packers. The Ravens are battling as well. What does Joe Flacco and Ray Rice do? Flacco throws three touchdown passes and totals 331 passing yards, while Rice rushes for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Baltimore win over Denver.

As for Atlanta, they surprised me. Matt Ryan throws three TD passes and Matt Bryant hits the game-winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining to stun the Seahawks. At least New England did pretty much what I expected as Tom Brady engineered a 13-point win over Houston.

My prediction had Green Bay and New England as the last two teams standing and I went out on a limb and predicted Brady would toss the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl to the former Arizona Wildcat Rob Gronkowski. Well, that won't happen as Gronkowski broke his arm (again!). This time it happened in the first quarter on Sunday. He will require surgery as his postseason play comes to an end.

Gronkowski (photo insert above) will be missed. But I'm still picking the Patriots. Brady still has plenty of receivers to throw to. And trust me, he'll find them.  

Ohio State knocks off Michigan

Wow! Another one bites the dust! The 15th-ranked Buckeyes from Ohio State knock off  No. 2 Michigan today. Earlier in the week our Arizona Wildcats fall from the ranks of the unbeaten, followed by mighty Duke and now the Wolverines. It's probably a no brainer that Louisville will be the new top dog, but the big question is how far will the Blue Devils, the Wildcats and the Wolverines fall in the new national collegiate basketball poll?

Can't wait to see how the powers-to-be sort this one out.

Chances are Indiana and Kansas will sneak in ahead of Arizona, but the loss by Duke and Michigan just may keep our Wildcats in the top 10.

Wildcats bounce back!

The 4th-ranked Arizona Wildcats bounced back from Thursday's loss to Oregon and salvaged a Pac-12 road win tonight with an 80-70 victory in Corvallis over the Oregon State Beavers. It was a good ending to the day, considering the Wildcats improved to 3-1 in conference play and 15-1 overall and coupled with the fact No. 1 Duke went down just hours before as they lose to 20th-ranked North Carolina State. Michigan remains as the only unbeaten team and a tough game awaits the Wolverines on Sunday when they visit the 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

Tonight's game in Corvallis was a somewhat easier contest for the Wildcats, a lot different from some of those recent nail-biters. Mark Lyons and Solomon Hill chipped in 16 points apiece as the Wildcats enjoyed a 17-point lead early in the second half and cruised the rest of the way for the much-needed road victory. Grant Jerrett came off the bench and gave the Wildcats a big lift with eight points, five rebounds and six blocks.

The Wildcats hit 10 of 25 from 3-point land tonight and shoot 47 percent overall, nailing 28 of 59 shots.  Brandon Ashley and Nick Johnson finished in double figures. Johnson with 14 and Ashley with 12.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Arizona has a week to prepare for the next one -- a trip next Saturday to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils.

A hot lineup on a cold day

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


In the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club at Udall Park the lineups are picked at the start of each game on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The two starting pitchers are selected by the club manager and then it is up to each pitcher to select his team for the day. A coin flip decides the home team and the flip also decides who gets the first selection and it goes back and forth until all the players are selected. Quite an undertaking when 20 to 24 players show up. In most instances the teams end up pretty even with each team getting a mixture of young and old players and if the selector knows what he is doing his team should get a hand full of the cream of the crop players.

Sometimes a lineup just jells from top to bottom and that team more often than not wins the game. Today, on the coldest morning of the year, Team Blue had one of those games as they banged out 18 hits en route to a 13-10 victory over Team White.

The winning lineup today including their name, age and position from top to bottom included:

Pigpen Price      67  Pitcher
Jerry Hamelin    72  Left Field
Bob Daliege      64  Third Base
Tim Tolson        60  Shortstop
Dick Ducklow    71  Center Field
Jesse Ochoa       61  Second Base
John Petrick       70  Catcher
Floyd Lance      87  First Base
Denny Leonard  75  Right Field
Art Radtke        74  Short Fielder

All ten of the Team Blue players hit safety this morning with Daliege leading the way with three hits. Lance and Radtke, two of the oldest players in the lineup, banged out two hits apiece. Ochoa provided the biggest blow with a double off the left field fence. Price picked up the win, his first of the year, but needed help in the seventh inning from Daliege, who came on with two runners on and no outs.

Next week the TOTS will flip a coin and start all over again. You gotta love it!

Photos below: A hot lineup on a cold day (from top to bottom) Pigpen Price, Jerry "The Yankee Clipper" Hamelin, Bob "Orange Crush" Daliege, Thunder Tim Tolson, Dick "Big D" Ducklow, Jesse "The Sweeper" Ochoa, John The Texan" Petrick, Sir Floyd Lance, Denny "The Mounty" Leonard and Art "The Communicator" Radtke.

Arizona falls from the ranks of the unbeaten

The Arizona Wildcats are no longer unbeaten.

The Wildcats fall to Oregon 70-66 tonight at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. It was tough watching Arizona lose its first game of the season, almost as tough as focusing my eyes for two hours at the television screen, eyeing that hideous looking basketball court.

Why? What is the point of such a floor?

Arizona got off to a good start and had no trouble with the court's surface as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead and looked, at least for the first three minutes, like the fourth-ranked team in the country. But the Ducks came roaring back, outscoring the Wildcats 41-19 for the remaining 17 minutes of the first half.

Oregon had it all going their way and led by 14 early in the second half, but the Wildcats finally got a run going and ended up outscoring the Ducks 36-29 in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Unfortunately for Arizona, they fell four points short and fall to 14-1 on the season.

Again it was Mark Lyons leading the way for the Wildcats. Lyons scored 21 points, dished out four assists and grabbed two rebounds, while Solomon Hill netted 16 points to go along with his six rebounds and two assists. Nick Johnson hit 5 of 9 from the field for 12 points and also hauled in six rebounds and added two assists. Kevin Parrom hit 3 of  6 from the field for seven points, grabbed three boards and picked up two assists before fouling out late in the game. Jordan Mayes didn't get a lot of playing time but did hit a three pointer in the first half.

Looking at the big picture, it was the upperclassmen who providing almost all of the scoring for the Wildcats as the three freshmen -- Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett totaled seven points.

The question is how far will Arizona fall in the polls? I'm thinking maybe 18, but I'm not convinced the poll setters will keep the Wildcats in the top 25.

Coach Sean Miller and the Wildcats are no longer worried about where they are in the top 25. And I'm not sure they ever were. But the pressure of being one of three unbeaten teams in the college ranks is no longer a problem.

Regroup, Wildcats! And go get Oregon State.

Barzell hurls 4-hitter

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


Baby Bull Barzell threw a four-hitter at Udall Park today as Team Blue knocked off Team White 7-1 in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball game. Barzell took a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning but a single by Ted Davis led to Team White's only run as Davis scored from third base on a ground out by Bob Stofft.

Team Blue jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Chico Bigham, Pete Peters, Dick Ducklow, Pigpen Price and Barzell all hit safely in the top of the first off losing pitcher Dennis Crowley.

It was a beautiful morning at the park with a blue sky and a temperature reaching near 60 by game's end. Unfortunately, bad weather is looming and the final game of the week scheduled for Friday is in jeopardy.

Photos: (Top) Baby Bull Barzell tosses 4-hitter for Team Blue at Udall Park today, (Bottom) Ted Davis breaks up shutout and scores the lone run for Team White.

TOT footnote: Davis has been all smiles this week. His team nickname is the Alabama Redneck, due to the fact he's from the southern state and a die-hard Alabama football fan. The Tide crushed Notre Dame in the BCS championship game on Monday night. So, a loss today at Udall Park didn't dampen his spirits too much.

Wildcats drop to 4th in AP poll

The Arizona Wildcats get very little respect. How many times does a top ten team win both of its game one week and fall in the Associated Poll the following Monday? Not very many. I'm not privy to such records, but I'd wager a bet that it hasn't happened very often to a collegiate powerhouse from the Eastern Seaboard. Can you see Duke winning both of its scheduled games by the slimmest of margins and falling in the AP standings come Monday morning?  Or Michigan, or Louisville, or Indiana. Well, you get the drift.

Sure, I'm an Arizona Wildcat fan and I'm a bit frustrated at the down-to-the-last second wins in the last couple of weeks, but give me a break. Arizona falls to No. 4 this week behind Duke, Michigan and Louisville. Those poll setters are just waiting for the Arizona Wildcats to lose, so they can drop them down past the top-25 to the also-ran category.

If Duke, Michigan and Louisville lose one in the next week or two and Arizona continues to win, would they still rank my Wildcats as No. 4?

I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles, but I sure get frustrated with the lack of respect given to teams from the West.

Come on Arizona, blow by Oregon and Oregon State this week. It may not make a difference to the poll setters, but it would sure make the Arizona fans feel better.  

Finally, the BCS championship is here

All the bowl games are in the books, except one. And that's the big one tonight as Alabama (12-1) takes on Notre Dame (12-0) in Miami for the national championship. It should be a good one. I'm not an Alabama fan or a Notre Dame fan...because all my favorite teams are out West. But I did like the movie, Rudy. So, I'll go with... no, on second thought, I'm picking the Tide to roll in this one. But not by much. Alabama 17, Notre Dame 14. That's as good of a guess as any.

BCS championship Update: No contest. Alabama wins it  42-14.

It's my turn

TOTS Senior Baseball Network  (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


It's my turn to take the mound today (see top photo). It's Monday morning and the first pitch at Udall Park in our old timers game is about two hours away. It's currently 34 degrees and it might warm up to the mid 40s by game time. I go up against another hard-throwing right hander, Bob Daliege, and we both will bundle up for the first few innings and will shed the windbreakers by the fourth inning. I could be in for a real battle today. Bob (bottom photo) has improved his pitching over the last few months and at 64 years of age is three years younger than me.

Good luck, Bob...and may the Force be with you.

TOT Game Update: Bob Daliege goes the distance, pitches all seven inning as Team Blue defeats Team White 8-3 at Udall Park today. Yours truly allows four runs and gives way to reliever Chico Bigham in the fifth inning. Team Blue picks up four more runs in the bottom of the fifth and Daliege shuts down Team White in the sixth and seventh to pick up his second win in as many tries.

As for me, I struck out two and walked three in four innings. At the plate, not so good. I went 0 for 2 and a walk and failed to score. Maybe next time.

For what it's worth

Heading into the second week of January, just for fun, let's take a gander at the Pac-12 men's basketball won-loss records. The conference has won 121 games thus far and lost 51. Of course, the Arizona Wildcats lead the way at 14-0 and 2-0 in conference play and there is just one team (USC) with a losing record at  6-9 overall (1-1 in Pac 12 play). For what it's worth, six teams have compiled double digit wins, Arizona with 14, ASU with 13, UCLA 12, Oregon 12, Oregon State 10 and Colorado with 10. The top four teams -- Arizona, ASU, UCLA and Oregon -- are currently on winning streaks, the Wildcats with 14, the Sun Devils with a five-game streak, the Bruins are enjoying a seven-game winning streak and Oregon a modest three-game streak.

Here's hoping the Oregon streak comes to a halt on Thursday in Eugene. The Ducks beat Oregon State last night 79-66 in Corvallis. Damyean Dotson scored 21 points and E.J.Singler added 15 to lead the 12-2 Ducks to a road win.

I would love to see the Wildcats return home next Sunday with two more wins under their belt -- one over the Ducks and the other over the Beavers. Please, Arizona. No nail-biters. A 16-0 record would really silence the critics.

Say "goodbye" to Redskins, Colts, Vikings and Bengals

Four pretty good football teams in the NFL fell by the wayside over the weekend. All four just didn't have enough power in their respective engines to get it done in the wild card round of the playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals succumb to Houston, 19-13, the Minnesota Vikings fall to Green Bay 24-10, the Indianapolis Colts fall to Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens 24-9 and Washington, with the loss of RG3 in the fourth quarter, fall to the Seattle Seahawks 24-14.

All four games went pretty much as I expected, except for the game in Washington. I thought the Redskins would stay alive for another day, but without their quarterback at full strength for most of three quarters and on the sideline down the stretch, their fate was sealed.

Looking forward to next week. Baltimore at Denver. Green Bay at San Francisco. Seattle at Atlanta. Houston at New England. My picks: Denver, Green Bay, Seattle and New England. As I said in a previous post anything can happen. One key injury along the way to any one of the remaining teams could change an outcome. Just ask Washington!

Arizona survives another scare

The final shot at the buzzer hit the rim and then bounced...and bounced...and bounced.

It was as if the ball was trying its best to get into position to fall through the cylinder.

Luckily for the Arizona Wildcats, the three-point attempt by Utah guard Jarred DuBois fell to the floor this afternoon at McKale Center and the hometown team escaped with another heart-stopping win, a 60-57 victory over the Utes.

Arizona is playing with fire and certainly aren't playing like the third-ranked collegiate team in the country. The Wildcats shoot just 36 percent from the field and let Utah hang around and hang around.

Utah (0-2 in Pac 12 play and 8-6 overall) hung around all right and had a chance to pull even at the end of regulation, but the Wildcats survive the "bounce" to the delight of the hometown crowd and move to 2-0 in Pac-12 play and 14-0 overall.

Solomon Hill led the way for the Wildcats with 19 points and Mark Lyons hit two crucial free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining. Lyons ended up with 12 points and Brandon Ashley scored 11 points.

The Wildcats are walking on thin ice and a "cold trip" awaits as Arizona heads for Oregon.

Wildcats eye 14th win

The third-ranked Arizona Wildcats (13-0), fresh off an exciting overtime win over Colorado, will be out to keep the winning streak alive tomorrow afternoon at McKale as the Utah Utes come to town. Utah is still stinging from a 55-54 loss in overtime to ASU last Wednesday and will bring an 8-5 record into its clash with the Wildcats. I hope the Wildcats can get off to a good start against the Utes. I'm still trying to catch my breath after Arizona's big win at McKale on Tuesday night.

Go get 'em, Wildcats!

Johnny Football

They call him: Johnny Football. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel lived up to his billing tonight at the Cotton Bowl as he passes for 287 yards, rushes for 229 and scores four touchdowns as the ninth-ranked Aggies roll over 11th-ranked Oklahoma 41-13. The Heisman Trophy winner took it to the Sooners and the Stoops brothers from the get-go as he set an FBS bowl record with his 229 rushing yards. He completed 22 of 34 passes.

What a football player!

Pac-12 goes 4-4 in postseason bowl games

It was all Oregon at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale tonight. The Ducks knock off Kansas State 35-17 as quarterback Marcos Mariola throws two touchdown passes and rushes for another. Running back Kenjon Barner carries the ball 30 times for 143 yards, but fails to surpass Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey in total rushing yards, leaving the Wildcats' running back as Numero Uno in the country.  Oregon's Fiesta Bowl win evens the slate at 4-4 for the eight Pac-12 teams participating in postseason bowl games.

Arizona goes to 13-0

The Arizona Wildcats had their hands full at McKale Center tonight. The Colorado Buffaloes played like they were a top ten team and they certainly had the third-ranked Wildcats on the ropes, but somehow, someway, Arizona gets it done and wins in overtime 92-83 to remain unbeaten at 13-0.

In front of a sellout crowd, Arizona came out throwing up bricks instead of baskets and at halftime had scored just 27 points, trailing the aggressive, hot shooting Buffaloes by seven points. At one point, Arizona went 9 minutes and 40 seconds without a field goal, but regrouped down the stretch and went on a 14-4 run to end the half.

It was all Colorado to start the second half and with 12 minutes remaining in regulation the Buffaloes led 56-40. Arizona came roaring back, outscoring the Buffaloes 10-2 in the final two minutes to knot the score at 80-all and force overtime. And by the way, Colorado's Sabatino Chen threw up a desperation shot at the buzzer and banks it in for what looked like the game-winner, only to see the referee's wave it off after looking at the monitor.

Whew!

In overtime, it was all Arizona as the Wildcats open up Pac-12 play with a hard-fought win. Mark Lyons led the way with 24 points, while five other Wildcats managed to score in double figures. Kevin Parrom came off the bench to ignite the Wildcats and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Solomon Hill finished with 15, Nick Johnson 12, while Grant Jerrett and Kaleb Tarczewski added 10 apiece.

Wow! What a game.

Next Up: The Utah Utes on Saturday at McKale.

Photo below: The crowd on their feet at McKale. Arizona beats Colorado in overtime to go to 13-0!

TOTS' Super Seniors still getting the bat on the ball

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

80-and-over Super Seniors


The Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)  baseball club has players ranging in age from 60 to 87. So, it's a good idea to separate the 2012 statistics of an 80-and-over member from the young studs. Leading the pack of super seniors is 87-year-old Floyd Lance, the oldest active member of the TOTS. Lance batted .409 in 2012, collecting 92 hits in 225 official at bats. He also walked 28 times, scored 24 runs, while playing in 89 games. Floyd also drove in 47 runs. Amazing!

Brad Tolson, 83, played in 75 games in 2012 and finished his final season (he retired in August after 21 years with the TOTS) with a .250 batting average. Tolson banged out 46 hits during the year and stepped to the plate 184 times. Brad drove in 33 runs, scored 23 times (using a pinch runner in those instances) and drew 29 walks during the year. Congrats, Brad. enjoy your retirement.

Jerry Smarik, 80, who holds the record in 2012 for the most games played at 128, went 78 for 314 and finished third among players over 80 with a .248 batting average. Jerry knocked in 38 runs in his 21st season as a TOT. Way to go, Jerry!

Rounding out the top four among the super seniors, is 83-year-old Billy Heiny. Billy played in 118 games, batted 316 times, collected 76 hits, scored 61 runs and batted a cool .241. Heiny finished in a tie for second in walks with 52. Way to go, Billy!

Photos below: 1) Floyd Lance 2) Brad Tolson 3) Billy Heiny 4) Jerry Smarik

TOTS' player brings a glow to Udall Park

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over-baseball

Bob Daliege (photo above) has been a member of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) since 2010. Daliege, who turns 65 in May, brings a "glow" to Udall Park, the club's home field, as he shows up wearing colorful practice gear. Nicknamed "The Kayak Kid," due to the fact he spends part of the year riding the rapids, is now due a new nickname change. Daliege showed up for the first game of the new year yesterday decked out in orange and black. Bob "Orange Crush" Daliege fits the bill and his costume changes hasn't hurt his hitting.

Take a gander at these statistics.

Daliege, who catches, plays the infield and outfield, finished the 2012 season with a .586 batting average. He played in just 75 games (spent a lot of time on the river last summer), but collected 99 hits in 169 at bats. Bob scored 66 runs, knocked in 56 and banged out 12 doubles to go along with three triples.

Pretty good stats for one "colorful" TOT.

My TOTS' stats took a nose dive in 2012

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball

My stats for the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club took a nose dive in 2012 due to my foot injury, which sidelined me for a good four months. I missed 40 games and played in 30 of 84 games with the injury. I batted just 255 times in 2012. Compare that to our club leader in that category who recorded 360 at bats (see previous post). I scored 44 runs (a lot of those required a pinch runner) and banged out 107 hits -- including seven doubles and one triple. I walked 14 times and knocked in a respectable 63 runs. My batting average was the lowest in five years as I finished the year at a .420 clip (107 for 255).

I hope to have better luck in 2013.

Photo: Yours truly. Looking for better stats in 2013.

Barzell, Crowley, Tolson stat leaders for TOTS in 2012

TOTS  Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball

The official Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) 2012 batting statistics are in the books. This year a trio of players led the way and dominated the major categories. Lloyd Barzell led in three categories -- at bats with 360, runs-scored with 144 and hits with 192. Speedster Dennis Crowley tied Barzell in runs-scored with 144 and recorded the most triples with five, while Tim Tolson led the way in doubles with 35, home runs with eight and was second in RBI with 86. All three players are among the youngest players on the TOTS. Barzell is 62, Crowley 63 and Tolson turned 60 in August. Tolson had a waiver to play for the TOTS before turning 60, so seven months of his total statistics require an asterisk. Look out in  2013, Tolson could dominate (officially) in all categories.

Crowley and Doc Thompson provided the highest batting averages for players with a minimum of 200 at bats. Thompson, who led the TOTS with 92 RBI in just 205 at bats, batted .605 during the year, while Crowley, who had the third most at bats with 329, finished the year with a .574 batting average.

In other categories, 80-year-old Jerry Smarik recorded the most games played for 2012 with 128, 75-year-old Bob Katz led the team in walks with 54, 72-year-old Jerry Hamelin collected the most sacrifices with 12 and 83-year-old Brad Tolson had the distinction of taking one for the team five times during the year, edging out his son, Tim, who was hit by a pitch four times.

Photos below: 1) Lloyd Barzell (led the TOTS in at bats, runs-scored and hits for 2012), 2) Doc Thompson (led the TOTS in RBI), 3) Dennis Crowley (led the TOTS in triples and tied for most runs-scored), 4) Tim Tolson (hit 35 doubles and hit eight home runs during 2012), 5) Jerry Smarik (recorded the most games played for the TOTS in 2012), 6) Bob Katz (led the TOTS in walks), 7)Jerry Hamelin (led the team in sacrifices with 12).

An anniversary of sorts for this old timer

Today is an anniversary of sorts for this old timer. Five years ago, I dressed for work, pulled out of the driveway, stopped at the local donut shop and chugged down a cup of coffee. A typical start to my morning. I arrived at work on time and prepared for another day as a State of Arizona employee.

By mid-morning, I was having chest pains and having a hard time breathing. I slumped to the floor and pushed my back up against the wall. Everyone came running and someone dialed 911. I was 62 years old and having a heart attack.

A week later, I was looking out the hospital window at the University Medical Center, a new member of the "zipper" society, fresh off of quadruple-bypass surgery. After a four-month recovery, I was back on the ball field. It wasn't easy at first. I couldn't walk to the mailbox, drive, or even think about exercising for the first few months, but gradually I gained my weight back (I had dropped about 25 pounds) and I got my strength back.

I've pretty much followed the doctor's orders the past five years. I take my medicine, keep my weight down and hit the ball field three to four days a week. I could hit the gym more this year. I'm a little lazy with the gym workouts.

But all in all, a successful five years.

I'm heading for the ball field this morning. If I'm lucky enough to get a hit and reach first base, I'll take my lead off and if the ball is hit in the gap, I'll put on the after-burners and go from first to third.

I'll step on the base, look up and smile and say, "Thank You, Lord."

It's time for the Ducks to shine

Congrats to Stanford for its 20-14 Rose Bowl win yesterday over Wisconsin. That gives the Pac-12 a 3-4 record in bowl games. Oregon now steps in to represent the conference tomorrow night as the Ducks take on Kansas State at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale. Come on Oregon, it's time for you to shine.

Stayed up to watch most of the Orange Bowl last night. As I expected, Florida State took care of underdog Northern Illinois, 31-10. Of course I watched with a special interest as I rooted for a college football player who was not on the field of play - our own Arizona Wildcat running back Ka'Deem Carey.

I'm sure Ka'Deem was watching as well as the Northern Illinois all-purpose quarterback Jordan Lynch needed 159 yards to overtake Carey as the nation's leading rusher. He was stymied by the Florida State defense and gained just 44 yards on the ground. Once again, Congrats to Mr. Carey.