Wildcats beat Broncos, again!

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

DirectTV Wooden Legacy Tourney


The Arizona Wildcats captured third place at the DirectTV Wooden Legacy Tournament today in Anaheim with a 68-59 win over Boise State and improve to 6-1 on the season.

It was the second meeting in 10 days with Boise State. The Wildcats beat the Broncos at McKale Center, 88-76, on Nov. 19. Today, the Wildcats were forced to play the Broncos without Kaleb Tarczewski and they received balanced scoring as five players scored in double figures, led by 13 points apiece from Kadeem Allen and Allonzo Trier. Ryan Anderson chipped in 11, while Gabe York and Mark Tolleson finished with 10 points apiece.

It was a tough tourney for the 11th-ranked Wildcats, who escaped with a 75-73 overtime win over Santa Clara in the first round and lost to Providence in the semifinals 69-65.

Arizona loses to Providence, 69-65

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

DirectTV Wooden Legacy Tourney

The Providence Friars knocked off 11th-ranked Arizona 69-65 in Fullerton, California tonight in the semifinals of the DirectTV Wooden Legacy Tournament

Ryan Anderson scored 27  points and hauled in 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats. Gabe York hit two 3-pointers late in the second half and finished with 10 points.

Arizona had 21 turnovers in the game and didn't have an answer for Kris Dunn, who led the Friars with 19 points and eight assists.

Providence (6-0) moves on to face third-ranked Michigan State in the tourney final on Sunday, while the Wildcats take on Boise State for third place at 2:30 p.m.

Arizona falls to 5-1.

Wildcats win in overtime over Santa Clara

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

DirectTV Wooden Legacy Tourney


The 11th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (5-0) survived a scare from winless Santa Clara (0-6) Thanksgiving night in Fullerton, California with a 75-73 overtime win to advance to a semifinal matchup Friday against Providence.

The Friars (5-0) knocked off Evansville 74-64 earlier in the day.

The Wildcats found themselves in a real barnburner against Santa Clara as everything went right for the Broncos and everything seemed to go wrong for Arizona. The Broncos trailed the Wildcats at the half, 34-27.

The Broncos never went away. Santa Clara tied the game in regulation at 65-65.

Ryan Anderson led the Wildcats with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Team Priceless holds on to 3rd place in fantasy league

UPC Hood Fantasy Football League

Team Priceless


Team Priceless didn't receive huge individual fantasy point totals in Week 11 of the UPC Hood Fantasy Football League. In fact, my top point-getter was my kicker --  Carolina's Graham Gano, who kicked enough field goals and PATs to keep the Panthers unbeaten.

Gano garnered 16 fantasy point and coupled with 14.70 points from Washington's receiver DeSean Jackson (87 receiving yards and a TD), Team Priceless gets a 30-point win over Mega Powers and holds on to third place in the fantasy league with a 7-4 record.

Team Priceless takes on the Lazer Kats (5-6) in Week 12.

Wildcats move up a notch to No. 11

AP College Basketball Poll


The Arizona Wildcats (4-0) moved up a notch to No. 11 in this week's AP College Basketball Poll. Kentucky, also 4-0, takes over the No. 1 spot.

Arizona wins 42nd straight game at McKale

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

It wasn't pretty as the Arizona Wildcats kept their home winning streak alive with a 61-42 victory over Northwestern State tonight at the McKale Center.

The 12th-ranked Wildcats (4-0) had to deal with the slow play of Northwestern State, but Arizona prevailed behind an 18-point effort from Gabe York. Allonzo Trier added 10 points as the two Wildcats were the only players to score in double figures.

Northwestern took the air out of the ball on every possession. Not exactly what the 14,000-plus  Wildcat fans wanted to see. Not a great shooting night for the Wildcats as they shot 36.7 percent from the field and canned only 12 of 24 free throws.

Congrats to the Wildcats on their 42nd consecutive victory at home.

Arizona State 52 Arizona 37

Territorial Cup


The Arizona State Sun Devils took back the Territorial Cup today in Tempe with a 52-37 win over the Arizona Wildcats.

The Wildcats, down 31-10 at halftime, turned to quarterback Brandon Dawkins to lead a comeback...and for a short while he did. Dawkins threw for 305 yards and rushed for 78 yards. He completed two touchdowns passes, including a 95-yard connection to Trey Griffey at the end of the third quarter and a 17-yard toss to Tyrell Johnson with 6:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. Dawkins  also rushed for a score.

Dawkins threw two interceptions late in the fourth quarter before he reeled off a 24-yard TD run with 32 seconds left in the game. Battered and bruised, Dawkins battled to the end, as did his teammates.

Arizona finishes 6-6 overall and 3-6 in the Pac-12 Conference.

Up next: a bowl game somewhere.

Come on Wildcats... make my day!

Arizona Wildcats Football


Come on Wildcats! Make my day!

The Territorial Cup is six hours away. The Wildcats take on Arizona State in Tempe and will battle not only the Sun Devils but a hostile crowd.

As for me, I've been down and out with all kinds of health issues since the first of November. I'm feeling better. I've followed the doctors orders and -- as of this morning -- I feel like I'm on the mend.

I could use one final shot of medicine to get over the hump and that would be an Arizona win over state rival, ARIZONA STATE!

Throw all the won-loss records out the window. Forget the injuries. In just a few hours, the players on the field will decide the outcome.

Go, Wildcats!

York nets career-high 23 as Wildcats beat Boise State

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Gabe York led Arizona with a career-high 23 points as the Wildcats beat Boise State 88-76 tonight at McKale Center.

Boise State came to play and battled the Wildcats for 40 minutes, but in the end it was Arizona's depth which finally silenced the Broncos. Arizona received 38 points off the bench -- including 14 points from Parker Jackson-Cartwright and 13 from Allonzo Trier. Starting guard Kadeem Allen added 10 points to complete the double-figure scoring.

Ryan Anderson hauled in 15 rebounds and scored eight points.

The 12th-ranked Wildcats improve to 3-0 and take on Northwestern State on Sunday at McKale.
  

Team Priceless falls to 6-4 in fantasy league

UPC Hood Fantasy Football League

Team Priceless


Team Priceless suffered its second straight loss in Week 10 of the UPC Hood Fantasy Football League. I didn't get enough fantasy points from New England's Tom Brady, but the big stinger was the performance of the Denver defense. The Broncos were just horrible (one fantasy point!). I'm glad I didn't have any Denver players on my team. The Broncos offense was even worse.

As for Brady, I'm just spoiled. He threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, just a little shy of 20 fantasy points. The Patriots are happy. Brady led them to a comeback win over the New York Giants.

So, I fall to 6-4 in the league, good enough for third place as we head into Week 11.

Wildcats roll over Bradley, 90-60

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Allonzo Trier poured in 22 points to lead the Arizona Wildcats to a 90-60 win over Bradley at McKale Center tonight. Ryan Anderson scored 15 and Kaleb Tarczewski chipped in 11, while Gabe York and Dusan Ristic contributed 10 points apiece.

Trier, who left the game with six minutes remaining, hit 14 of 14 from the foul line.

Arizona (2-0) struggled in the first half and went to the locker room with a 39-33 lead over the Braves. Coach Sean Miller substituted freely in the second half and the Wildcats gradually pulled away, outscoring Bradley 51-27 in the final 20 minutes.

Bradley up next for Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Fresh off a season-opening win over Pacific last Friday, the Arizona Wildcats will host the Bradley Braves (1-0) on Monday night.

Bradley won its opener last Friday in Peoria 54-53 over Ball State.

Arizona knocked off Pacific, 79-61, as ten players saw playing time. Only Elliott Pitts, nursing an injury, failed to see action. Ryan Anderson led the way with 18 points in 26 minutes of playing time.

Arizona stuns 10th-ranked Utes in double overtime

Arizona Wildcats Football

Nate Phillips hauled in a 25-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Jerrard Randall tonight and the Arizona Wildcats upset the 10th-ranked Utah Utes, 37-30, in double overtime.

The fans at Arizona Stadium stormed the field.

What a sight to see!

Arizona improves to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the Pac 12...and become bowl eligible.

Anu Solomon left with a head injury in the fourth quarter. Enter Randall, who promptly threw an interception. Randall rushed four times for a minus three yards in the game, while completing 1 of 5 passes, but the completion was a game winner. As for Solomon, he played well before his injury, completing 17 of 27 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Next up: Arizona State (5-5, 3-4) in Tempe on Saturday.

Trojans come from behind to beat Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats Football


A win is just not in the cards for the Wildcats.

The Arizona Wildcats jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but in the end the Trojans prevail 38-30 at USC last night, thanks mainly to a 21-point fourth quarter.

Arizona (5-5, 2-5) has been dealt a terrible hand this year with all the injuries and the Wildcats just can't hide all the holes in their defense.

Make no mistake about it, the Wildcats battled and at first put a real scare into USC (6-3, 4-2), but the results are the same: another loss.

Anu Solomon threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Wildcats.

Utah (8-1, 5-1) comes to town on Saturday.

College basketball just around the corner

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

It's just nine days away from Arizona's regular-season basketball opener against Pacific at McKale. Nine days! Can't wait.

It's like boarding a train. Destination unknown. Will it be a Pac-12 title? Will it be an NCAA bid, a sweet sixteen appearance, an Elite 8, a Final Four...a National Championship?

The preseason AP Poll says we are the 12th best team in the country. USA Today has us at No. 10. Can we improve on that?

Some of those answers will come quickly, while the answers to many of the above questions will have to wait til February, March and April of 2016.

The good news is we all have our own seat on the train with plenty of countryside to look at along the way.

It should be fun!

80-somethings still swinging away

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball


October was a slow month as far as action goes for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers (TOTS).

The rain caused a few cancellations at Udall Park and many of the "young studs" spent one or two weeks in Phoenix participating in the 2015 Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series.

In fact, only six official games were played by the "old-timers" in October.

It was the usual suspects leading the way. Doc Thompson and Ted Davis were the top hitters. Davis played in five games and went 10 for 15 for a .667 average. He scored five runs and knocked in nine runs. Thompson played in all six games and went 12 for 18, also a .667 average. Thompson scored five runs and collected 10 RBI. He led the team in doubles with six.

And how about those 80-somethings?

Once again, it was 90-year-old Floyd  Lance as the "top gun" with eight hits in 19 trips to the plate, a respectable .421 average. He drove in seven runs! Jerry Smarik, 83, batted .333 and Archie Burke, 83, had three hits and a .231 average for the month.

Floyd Lance, 90, batted .421 in October

Jerry Smarik, 83, batted .333 in October

Arhic Burke, 83, batted .231

Team Priceless wins a close one in fantasy league

UPC Hood Fantasy Football League

Team Priceless


Team Priceless is tied with two other teams in the UPC Hood Fantasy Football League with a 6-2 record.

I went to bed early, long before Monday Night Football was over, thinking I had fallen to 5-3. After all, it was raining cats and dogs back in Carolina as the Panthers and Indianapolis fumbled their way through four quarters tied at 23-23.

I had one player left on my roster and it just happened to be Carolina's field goal kicker Graham Gano. So, what does he do? While I'm sleeping, he kicks two field goals in overtime -- including one from 52 yards out to win the game, 29-26.

That turns out to be 14 fantasy points, just enough to give me the edge over Blitzed, 84.04 - 83.38. A margin of just .66 of a fantasy point!

Lucky me!

Once again, I received a 30-plus fantasy point performance from New England quarterback Tom Brady (4 TD passes, 356  yards). Brady, so far, has been steady...steady...steady.

In Week 9, I take on Three Feet Right (5-3), currently in a tie for fourth place.

Royals celebrate World Series win in the Big Apple

MLB World Series

Game 5

It's over!

The Kansas City Royals scored five runs in the top of the 12th inning tonight in Game 5 of the World Series and defeated the New York Mets 7-2 to claim the championship.

The entire series the Royals found a way to finish on top and tonight was no exception as Lorenzo Cain put the finishing touches on the comeback with a three-run double in the 12th.

The Royals scored two runs in the ninth to tie the game at 2-2 and saved all the fireworks for the 12th inning. The disappointed Mets' fans watched in disbelief as Wilmer Flores struck out in the bottom of the 12th for the final out of the World Series.