Wildcats slip by 3rd-ranked ASU

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Deandre Ayton scored 23 points and hauled down 19 rebounds, while Allonzo Trier pumped in 23 points and dished out four assists at McKale Center tonight to lead the 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats to a 84-78 win over the third-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.

Arizona held a slim 39-37 lead at halftime and led by a dozen twice during second half, only to see its double-digit leads vanish. In the end, Arizona went to their two stars down the stretch as Ayton and Trier combined for 30 of the Wildcats' 45 points in the second half.

The Wildcats shared the ball well, dishing out 18 assists with Parker Jackson-Cartwright leading the way with six. Dusan Ristic finished with 12 points and Dylan Smith came off the bench to hit 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

There will be a new No. 1 come Monday as Villanova, the top team in the land, lost to Butler today. The Sun Devils went into McKale tonight as the only unbeaten team in the country. No more unbeaten teams as the Wildcats take care of business at McKale to improve to 11-3 on the season and 1-0 in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils: now 12-1 overall  and 0-1 in the Pac-12.

Way to go, Wildcats.

Purdue edges Arizona 38-35 at Foster Farms Bowl

Foster Farms Bowl

Santa Clara, California

Purdue 38 Arizona 35

Sophomore Khalil Tate threw five touchdowns passes tonight for Arizona but Purdue scored the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes to go to edge the Wildcats 38-35 at the Foster  Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, California.

Arizona, down 31-14 at the end of the first half, held Purdue scoreless in the the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, as Tate connected on three of his five touchdown passes to put the Wildcats in the lead for the first time in the game -- the go-ahead score coming on a 24-yard TD pass from Tate to Shun Brown with 3:21 remaining on the clock.

The Arizona lead didn't last long as Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar hooked up with Anthony Mahounguo on a 38-yard game winner with 1:44 remaining in the game.

Arizona finishes the season with a 7-6 record.

Wildcats move up another notch in AP College Basketball Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


A slight change this week for the Arizona Wildcats in the AP College Basketball Poll.

Arizona (10-3) moves up to No. 17. Arizona State (12-0) stays at No. 3, while the Wildcats from Villanova (12-0) remains at No. 1.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Bookemdanosports.

This old blog has been around since 2009 and is nearing 3,200 post.

The author of the blog (that's me) is a little under the weather, dealing with a virus I just can't get rid of. I'm hoping to have it all behind me by the new year. Wow! 2018 is just around the corner.

Once again, Happy Holidays from Dan Price.

Alkins, Trier, Ristic lead Wildcats to win over UConn

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Dusan Ristic scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Arizona to a 73-58 non-conference win over UConn tonight at the McKale Center.

Ristic spent a lot of time on the court due to the fact Deandre Ayton played only seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Ayton, who had four fouls in the game,  made the most of his slim minutes on the floor --  finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Rawle Alkins was 6 of 11 from the field -- including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, while Allonzo Trier netted 15 points, canning 5 of 10 from the field and three 3-pointers.

Arizona, ranked 18th in the country this week, improves to 10-3. Next game: Dec. 30 at McKale against the third-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.

Aces win! Aces win!

60-and-over baseball

Tucson Aces


Reed Palmer homered and pitched a complete game to lead the 60-and-over Tucson Aces to a 8-3 win at Udall Park today over the Old Pueblo Club.

The Aces scored three runs in the first inning and led 6-1 after four innings of play. Palmer capped off the win with a home run over the right field fence in his last at bat.

Tim Boyd made the play of the day for the Aces with an over-the-shoulder catch to snuff out a rally by the Old Pueblo Club.

Way to go, Aces!

18th-ranked Arizona rolls over NDSU, 83-53

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Deandre Ayton led 18th-ranked Arizona to a 83-53 non-conference win over North Dakota State tonight at McKale. Ayton scored 25 points and hauled in nine rebounds as the Wildcats won their sixth straight game and improve to 9-3.

The Wildcats shot 50 percent from the field (33 of 66), but received a scare midway through the second half when Allonzo Trier left the court with a knee injury. Trier, who scored 15 points, returned to the bench late in the second half with ice on his left knee.

Ten players scored for Arizona. Rawle Alkins finished with 11 points and Dusan Ristic scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Way to go, Wildcats! Connecticut comes to town on Thursday.

Arizona moves to No. 18 in AP Basketball Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Movin' on up.

The Arizona Wildcats, winner of five straight games, moved up to No. 18 in the AP College Basketball Poll, while The Arizona State Sun Devils are ranked No.3 this week.

Villanova stays at No. 1.

Alkins, Trier lead Wildcats to win at The Pit

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona returned to The Pit in Albuquerque tonight.

Nothing has changed.

It's still a rough place to play, but 23rd-ranked Arizona withstood a barrage of three-point attempts from the Lobos and escaped with a 89-73 win over New Mexico.

The Lobos game plan: throw down as many three-pointers (34) and hope half of them go in. Well, New Mexico made 12 of 34, but Arizona was the better shooting team as the Wildcats shot 71 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 64 percent (32 of 50 on the night), while the Lobos ended up 38.7 percent (24 of 62). Half of New Mexico's shot attempts came from long range.

While the Lobos were busy throwing up long-range shots, the Wildcats went about their business of putting the ball in the hoop as Rawle Alkins led the way with a career-high 26 points and Allonzo Trier netted 22. And yes, Deandre Ayton was on hand with his ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Arizona canned 9 of 13 (69.2 percent) of its three-pointers and out rebounded the Lobos 35-23. The Wildcats had 30 points on the scoreboard at the midway point of the first half and led 49-33 at halftime.

The Wildcats win their fifth straight and improve to 8-3.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Little Joe has a big day at the plate

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Little Joe Aparicio turns 84 in January and has been a member of the TOTS for 20 years.

He doesn't exactly knock the cover off the ball anymore -- although there was a time when he did so. Joe, a member of the TOTS' career 1,000 hit club, is now satisfied with a hit every now and then. In November, Aparicio went 5 for 37, a .135 average.

But today at Udall Park, Little Joe had a BIG day. He went 3 for 4 and drove in two runs to lead Team Blue to a 13-12 win over Team White.  Down 11-10 in the top of the seventh inning, Team Blue scored three runs to regain the lead, thanks to a two-run double by Dan Lundwall and an RBI-single from Aparicio.

The big hit of the day came from Team Blue's Thunder Tim Tolson, who hit his fifth home run of the season off the scoreboard in deep center field in the first inning.

As for Team White, they tried to battle back in their final at bat in the bottom of the seventh, but scored only one run on an RBI-double by John Mathews. The hard-hitting Mathews went 5 for 5 on the day. Final score:  Team Blue 13, Team White 12.

The TOTS will swing back into action on Monday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

It wasn't just another game...

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Udall Park

Team Blue won today's game at Udall Park 5-3 over Team White.

It wasn't just another game. It was during the middle of the week -- a Wednesday game to be more specific. The cars pulled into the parking lot around 9 a.m. Warmups and batting practice followed with the 60-and-over players all taking their turn at the plate -- 11 swings each as the players made contact and sent the ball flying to all parts of the field.

Then the game began. Two hours of non-stop action with a bunch of old timers trying their best to put  runs on the scoreboard. There were no winners or losers in this one. The visiting team won by two, thanks to a couple of key hits from 61-year-old Reed Palmer and 72-year-old Ron Petersen. The losing team gave it their all -- David Byars 70, hit the ball hard every time up and, as usual, Thunder Tim Tolson, 65, one of the younger players on the TOTS,  drilled a couple of shots to the gap in left and right-center field.

Palmer pitched a complete game and threw hard fastballs to the plate time after time, while Big John Mathews pitched seven innings for the losing team and did the same -- mixing his fastball with an occasional knuckle ball --  a pitch which danced to the plate and kept the hitters frustrated.

A 70-year old tracked down a fly ball, an 80-year-old chased a ball or two to the fence and a few 60-somethings made the plays of the day (only because they are a wee bit younger than most of their teammates).

A few players headed for the local tavern after the game and threw down a couple of cold ones and relived  the plays of the game --  an easy fly ball, which magically turned into a shoestring catch, or better yet,  a slow roller, which magically became a backhanded stab.

The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers living the dream of playing baseball.

It all begins again on Friday. You gotta love it!
.

Showdown looming for ASU, Arizona

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The AP College Basketball Poll has Arizona State ranked No. 5 this week and Arizona reemerges at No. 23. The showdown between the two is slated for Saturday, Dec. 30, at McKale Center.

The first Pac-12 Conference game of the 2017-18 season should be a dandy.

Arizona State is a perfect 9-0 heading into this week's action and the Arizona Wildcats have won four straight and own a 7-3 record. As usual, I'm getting way ahead of myself. ASU will play three more games In Tempe before they face the Wildcats. The Sun Devils take on Vanderbilt (3-6), Longwood (3-6) and Pacific (5-6) before they head for McKale, while our Wildcats travel to New Mexico (3-7), and then host North Dakota State (4-5) and Connecticut (7-3).

Chances are the Sun Devils, with the looks of their schedule, should be 12-0 when they enter the confines of McKale on Dec. 30. And the way things are going, chances are the Sun Devils will come into McKale ranked No. 3 or 4. As for the Wildcats, a top-20 ranking is possible if they win all three before they face the Sun Devils.

Can't wait for this one!

Arizona's version of "The Big Easy" leads Wildcats over Alabama

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Too bad the nickname "The Big Easy" is already taken in the world of sports.

South African pro golfer Ernie Els has the nickname all wrapped up.

On the other hand, Arizona's version of "The Big Easy" was a force to be reckoned with again tonight as Deandre Ayton recorded his eighth double-double of the season to lead the Wildcats to an 88-82 non-conference win over Alabama at McKale Center.

Ayton makes it look so easy.

Arizona's 7-1 center pumped in 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and received plenty of support from teammate Allonzo Trier, who finished with 25 points -- including 14 of 16 free throws as the Wildcats win a close one over the Crimson Tide.

As it turned out, the Wildcats needed all of Ayton's points just to match Alabama's Collin Sexton, who pumped in 30 points. Sexton hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first half to give Alabama a 40-38 lead at the intermission and he continued to keep his team in the game in the second half.

Still, the Wildcats prevail as they seem to find an extra gear in the final minutes of the game to pull out a win. They treated UNLV the same way and Texas A & M as well.

Arizona improves to 7-3 and will get a week off before heading to Albuquerque next Saturday to take on the New Mexico Lobos.

Redneck skit highlights TOTS' Christmas party

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The Tucson Old Timers baseball club held its annual Christmas luncheon today at the Udall Senior Center. As usual a good time was had by all as 70-plus showed up for the event, which included players, their wives, girl friends, and other family members. And as usual Christmas carols highlighted the event and the annual affair ended with the singing of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" -- both the original version and the TOTS' version.

This year, Ted Davis Productions was on hand to put on a "redneck skit" -- involving Brother Bob, Brother Davis and a sports store clerk named Dennis, a Santa Claus look alike (which clued the audience in on the fact it was the Christmas holiday season).

The skit:

Once upon a time... their were two redneck brothers -- brother Bobby a graduate many, many years ago from Clemson, down South Carolina way, and brother Teddy, who spent most of his young life apart from his older brother in Bear Bryant country, the great state of Alabama.

Both brothers had some smarts as Bobby grew up to be a top notch accountant, and Teddy left Alabama, settled in the southwest and ended up as the assistant finance director at the University of Arizona. Both brothers eventually retired and joined a crazy bunch of misfits, called the Tucson Old Timers.

The audience is left to figure out for themselves what happened to all the brothers money, because they now have one pickup truck between them and it seems like they both have been gone from the world of finance for quite a while and are trying desperately to figure out how to buy a special gift for Christmas: a baseball bat.

That's when Dennis enters the picture and the audience is trying to figure out why Dennis, aka Santa, has a Boston accent. Could the Land of the Patriots, be Santa's home, too! At any rate, brother Bobby, is nursing a baseball injury and is sitting in the old pickup truck and he sends brother Teddy into the sporting goods store to buy a baseball bat.

There seems to be some question on what type of bat, the weight and just how long the bat needs to be. This takes time as brother Teddy returns to the pickup truck -- not once, not twice but three times to get all the particulars. They eventually figure out the type of wood, the weight in ounces, but when it comes to how long, brother Teddy looks at the smiling clerk and answers..."well forever, of course."

Now the audience assumes a bat is purchased and the sparkling new piece of lumber will find its way to the bat rack when the TOTS return to Udall Park on Monday to continue living out the dream of playing baseball.

Photos: (top) The Redneck skit actors: Dennis Crowley, Ted Davis and Bob Daliege; (bottom photo) the crowd at the TOTS Christmas luncheon today.

Vermeer, 66, newest addition to Tucson Old Timers

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The newest addition to the Tucson Old Timers baseball club is 66-year-old Brad Vermeer. He spent 25 years as a high school teacher in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Vermeer, who grew up in Pella, Iowa, becomes the 254th member to ever play for the amateur baseball organization, which will celebrate its 50th year in 2018.

Ted Davis, a member of the TOTS since 2011, recently compiled and released a list of ball players who have joined and worn a TOTS' uniform since the organization was founded by Joe Gorman in 1968.

Today at Udall Park, Vermeer received his TOTS' hat and then went 1 for 4 --including a sharp single to left field. He played for Team White this morning. Team Blue won the game 11-7, thanks to key hits from Tim Boyd, Bob Daliege, Dave Byars, Doc Thompson and John Mathews. Mathews pitched a complete game for Team White to pick up the victory, while Team Blue's Reed Palmer was saddled with the hard-luck loss.

As for Vermeer, he's just getting his feet wet, so to speak, as a hitter. "I'm just trying to make contact with the ball right now." Vermeer played in eight games in November and today was his third time he's taken the field in December. But today Brad officially became a TOT.

Welcome aboard, Brad!

Brad and the TOTS will be back in action on Friday at Udall Park. Game time: 10 a.m.

Unranked Arizona upsets 7th-ranked Aggies

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Four Wildcats scored 13 points apiece and the unranked Arizona Wildcats upset Texas A & M 67-64 at the Talking Stick Arena in Scottsdale tonight. Deandre Ayton finished with another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Dusan Ristic, Brandon Randolph and Dylan Smith matched their 7-1 teammate offensively.

The Wildcats, down 31-29 at the half, did not shoot well the entire night. Arizona shot 42.6 percent from the field, connecting on 20 of 47 from the field. Once again, the Wildcats had trouble putting the ball in the basket from long range -- canning just seven of 22 attempts (31.8 percent).

Allonzo Trier drew the assignment on the Aggies hot-shooting forward DJ Hogg for most of the night. The 6-8 Hogg, who averages 16.9 points per game, was held to nine points. Trier finished with seven points.

Dylan Smith was a pleasant surprise off the bench for the Wildcats with his 13 points -- including 3 of 3 from 3-point range.

The unranked Wildcats improve to 6-3, while the 7th-ranked Aggies suffered their first loss of the season and fall to 7-1.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Thunder Tim led the TOTS in November with 29 hits, 28 RBI

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Thunder Tim Tolson led the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers in hits for the month of November with 29, in runs-batted-in with 28 and he topped all hitters with a .707 batting average. Tolson went 29 for 41 in 11 games with eight doubles and one triple.

Other top hitters for the month included Lloyd Barzell (18 for 43, a .419 average), Reed Palmer (19 for 32, a .594 average) and John Mathews (18 for 28, a .643 average). Pete Peters and Dennis Crowley tied for fifth in hits with 17.

Palmer hit four home runs during the month of November and finished second in RBI with 24.

On the mound, nine pitchers saw action with Pete Maldonado and Barzell finishing the month with identical 3-2 records. It was a great month weather wise and in participation as 34 players saw action.

Bob Royer, 80, had the best "eye" at the plate. Royer played in nine games, batted 19 times and walked 10 times to finish just one free pass ahead of Maldonado and Palmer.

The TOTS will finish up another year at Udall Park with a 12-game schedule in December. The TOTS will celebrate its 50th year in 2018.

It's Miller time...

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

It's Miller time...

A fan's perspective...


It's hard to believe doubters still claw their way out from under the hardwood floor at McKale Center when it comes to rehashing the coaching ability of Arizona coach Sean Miller.

The man knows his stuff. By the end of the season, chances are things will surface as to what, if anything, Miller didn't know about his own program. The Book Richardson saga will continue to cloud the fact that Miller is an exceptional coach.

Watching Miller perform on the sidelines is worth the admission. Watching his young athletes progress is priceless, despite the fact I need a Miller Lite or two and a couple hours to unwind after each and every game.

In my own little world

In my own little world

Episode 1

On the road to recovery


I look back on my life and continue to search for my claim to fame.

I'll continue to search. So far I haven't found such an animal.

Sure, the basics are there. A good job for a while, at least until the airline industry took a big nose dive in the mid 1980s. The father of two and a grandpa to six.

Maybe my claim to fame is the fact I'm still alive at the age of 72 and just a few moons away from 73. Maybe it is the fact I'm still playing the game of baseball, or to be more specific: trying to take the field despite injury after injury.

Is that what it comes down to?

I've said many, many times that I wish to become the oldest baseball player to ever take the field. Lately, I can't even pull my crumpled body out of bed in the morning. Yes, after a few hours of grunting and growing, I'm up and around and finally out walking among the English ( a saying I'll always remember from the movie Witness -- where the old Amish man at the end of the movie tells the detective, played by Harrison Ford, to be careful when he returns to work in the big city).

We have on our 60-and-over baseball team a man who recently turned 91. He played regularly up to a few months ago. My goodness, I need to play another 20 years if I want to consider myself the "oldest baseball player to ever live" on my local club team!

I guess I need to rethink my goals. I tried the "writing thing" and practically self published five fiction books. Oh, you can find one or two of them in the local library and one or two may show up on EBay and if you look hard enough on Amazon you can find all five. My quarterly royalty checks average anywhere from one dollar to five dollars.

Sometimes I sit back and question why I evened bothered to write. I've come to the conclusion all my main characters had a "claim to fame" -- a reason at least to filter through three-hundred pages of make believe and end up successful at something.

One thing is for sure, until I get back on the ball field, I guess I'll communicate on my laptop to the few readers I have. That's if they care to listen to my dribble.

A thriller in Las Vegas

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Nothing seems to be easy for the Arizona Wildcats away from home.

Arizona, down by 13 points early in the second half, came roaring back to beat UNLV 91-88 in overtime tonight in Las Vegas behind a 29-point effort from Allonzo Trier and another double-double from Deandre Ayton, who pumped in 28 to go along with 10 rebounds.

Arizona shot 35 percent in the first half -- including 1 of 11 from 3-point range as the Wildcats went to the locker room down 41-30. But in the second half the Wildcats found their shooting touch and finished the night at 46.7 percent from the field (35 for 75). Arizona made five shots from beyond the arc in the second half.

It has always been a battle when the Wildcats tangle with the Rebels, especially in Las Vegas.

Tonight, the cards fell the way of the WILDCAT! So, it's a victory for Arizona, now 5-3 on the season. In this case, if you are an Arizona fan...well, what happens in Vegas doesn't need to stay in Vegas. The way things have been going this past week, the Wildcats and their fans are ready to acknowledge a hard-fought win.

Way to go, Wildcats!