I miss my Wildcats!

 Arizona Basketball

Now that I've reentered the job market as a sports reporter for the Sierra Vista Herald, I find myself disconnected from the Arizona Wildcats. I have my own gig now, writing about the athletes at Buena High School in Sierra Vista.

My Wildcats, ranked 7th in the nation this week, continue to get the job done with a 24-4 overall record and a 13-4 slate in the Pac-12 race, good enough for second place behind #4 UCLA.

Still, a long way to go to the finish line, but a sweep of Utah and Colorado at home this past week has my Wildcats rolling again. Next up is rival Arizona State (19-9, 10-7) at McKale at High Noon on Saturday.

Good luck, Wildcats.

Congrats, Chiefs!

 The 57th Super Bowl is in the books.

Patrick Mahomes connected on 21-27 passes and three touchdowns to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a come-from-behind 38-35 win at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, tonight over the Philadelphia Eagles to capture Super Bowl LVII. 

Down 27-21 entering the fourth quarter, Mahomes went to work despite favoring a first-half injury to his ankle, and the Chiefs outscored the Eagles 17-8 to walk away with the NFL title.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 304 yards and rushed for three scores in a losing cause.

Mahomes was named the MVP for the second time in four years.

Super Sunday is here!

The Super Bowl LVII

Kansas City (16-3) vs. Philadelphia (16-3)

State Farm Stadium

Glendale, Arizona

Pigpen's scenario

I'm pulling for Philadelphia.

I remember the movie Invincible with Mark Wahlberg.

Great sports movie.

My pick: Kansas City will prevail and score the final 10 points late in the fourth quarter.

Final score: 31-27

Or maybe not...

We will know for sure in just a few hours.

Stanford ends 4th-ranked Wildcats' winning streak at 7 games

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The 4th-ranked Arizona Wildcats found themselves in foul trouble tonight in Palo Alto, California, and their seven-game winning streak ended as Stanford prevailed 88-79.

Azoulas Tubelis picked up his fourth foul with seven minutes left in the game, and the Cardinal built an 11-point lead and never looked back. Courtney Ramey did all he could, hitting 8 of 16 3-pointers; he couldn't muster a long-range shot down the stretch and finished with a career-high, game-high 26 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Arizona led 44-41 at the half, shot 45.9 percent from the field (28 of 61), and combined for 14 long-range bombs, but it wasn't enough to get the job done.

Tubelis had a tough night finishing with four points and four fouls. Oumar Ball, Arizona's other big man,  finished with eight points and four rebounds.

Cedric Henderson Jr. and Pelle Larsson scored a dozen each, and Kerr Kriisa, who once again struggled from long range, ended up with 10 points.

Arizona falls to 22-4 overall and 11-4 in the Pac-12 Conference race. 

The Wildcats head home after a split on the road in California.

Arizona runs over Cal for 11th Pac-12 win

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona ran all over Cal tonight in Berkeley and walked away with an 85-62 win to improve to 22-3 this season and 11-3 in Pac-12 play.

The 4th-ranked Wildcats dished out 21 assists, with Kerr Kriisa providing eight of them. Once again, the top scorer for Arizona was Azoulas Tubelis, with a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds for another double-double.

His underneath-the-bucket teammate Oumar Ballo just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Pelle Larsson came off the bench and pumped in 16 points in 25 minutes, while Kylan Boswell logged 23 minutes and scored 10 points. Starting forward Cedric Henderson Jr. finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Arizona shot 50.7 percent on the night, canning 34 of 67 shots, including 11 of 26 from long range.

Way to go, Wildcats!

And now it's on to Stanford on Saturday.

Price lands a job with Sierra Vista Herald

 From the desk of Dan Price

At age 77, I quickly found a calculator and recalled the last time I worked for a living. It was my gig at the Motor Vehicle Division for the State of Arizona from 2002 to 2008.

I retired in January of 2008, just weeks after a quadruple heart attack.

At the age of 62, I thought I was done.

And I was until now!

The Sierra Vista Herald hired me to write human interest and local high sports stories. So right up my alley if I can pull it off.

More to follow. It'll be a week or so before I start.

My writing career begins again. 

I'm back with my middle-of-the-night gibberish

 From the desk of Dan Price

Pigpen is back on his laptop...

I was asked recently what it is like being an old man with a young soul?

All I can say is, Watch me!

It's like having dual personalities. You are a joke to many and admired by others. Inside my head, I live in the 1960s but walk around in real life pushing 80 in the 21st century.

I walk down a country road and recall a distant way of life. I hear an echo in the forest. A Conway Twitty tune, 'Li'll Darlin, roars inside my crazy brain. I dance the jitterbug and do the stroll. The great baseball pitcher Satchel Page once said: 'Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.'

I entered through an open door at my new health club the other day into a Zumba class. Surprisingly I made it through the entire hour without stopping. It kicked my butt. But you know what? I'm gonna try it again!

Hardball player Pigpen Price meets avid softball player Bob McCormick

A chance meeting in Cochise County

What are the chances that a 77-year avid baseball player who still takes his swings at the plate would meet up with an avid 83-year-old softball player who can still belt the ball over the fence?

And they both live in the same town: Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Price, who turns 78 in July, recently moved to Sierra Vista, while the 83-year-old Bob McCormick has been a mainstay in the burg for years and at one time sold real estate for Long Realty.

Nowadays, McCormick travels to National 80-and-over senior softball tournaments in places like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and St. George, Utah, just to name a few.

And he is good, too. A home run hitter, in fact.

Price, who moved from Tucson to Sierra Vista three weeks ago, is the long-time club historian and a member of the long-running amateur baseball club, the Tucson Old Timers. The TOTS have been around since 1968, and close to 300 senior ballplayers between 60 to 90 have donned the club's blue and white jerseys for over 54 years.

In fact, the TOTS began their 55th season in January.

In the meantime, McCormick is traveling around the country on the slow-pitch senior circuit, winning championships and picking up championship rings as if they were marbles.

Pigpen Price, which is me, misses his Tucson teammates and the lack of playing time. The TOTS play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Udall Park. Price has been going through withdraws due to the lack of playing time. Last October, Price played in his 15th Men's Senior Baseball League World Series in Phoenix.

Most McCormick's teammates live in Southern California and play within the Top Gun organization.

To make a long story short, the two ball players met on the Pickleball court yesterday morning. After a few games of paddling, Price and McCormick took a break, sat on the bench, and swapped baseball and softball stories.

A few minutes into the conversation, McCormick says, "I can't believe this!"

I said the same.

Two hours later, we are at the softball field at Sierra Vista's Veterans Park, and I'm in tryout mode.

It just so happens McCormick's 80-and-over team has lost its youngest player -- a 78-year-old. The teams in the 80-and-over division are allowed one player who turns 78 during 2023.

What a coincidence!

Now my problem is: how long will it take me to alter my swing for slow-pitch? How long will it take to break in a softball mitt, too? My trusty old Rawlings baseball glove will not do the trick.

After watching me play, McCormick says I'm in, and suddenly, he's on the phone with his Top Gun coach in Southern California.

McCormick has taken me under his wing, so to speak, as we agree to practice twice a week for the next six weeks as we prepare for the Spring World Championships in late March in St. George, Utah.

When we return, I will still have plenty of time to umpire softball for the Sierra Vista sports and recreation department. The trip to St. George, Utah, is up and back in just four days. We drive all day to get to St. George, then drive all the way back in one day to return home. We share expenses and become good friends in the process.

I played in softball tournaments in Omaha, Phoenix, Sacramento, Tucson, and Phoenix when I was younger. However, my love for baseball won out in 2008 when I joined the TOTS, and now I make the journey every October to play in the prestigious Men's Senior Baseball League World Series. I started out in the 60-and-over division at the MSBL World Series, and now I compete in the 75-and-over division.

I'll always keep the old man out. And it looks like a no-doubter Bob McCormick feels the same way.

Photos: McCormick, top photo, yours truly, bottom.

Alma Pipes -- a talented cartoonist with cancer on a mission to help others

Story From Dan Price at the Mall in Sierra Vista...

Alma Pipes is a brave young woman.

She is battling brain tumors yet on a mission to help others.

At 11, Alma was having headaches, checked into the hospital, and a brain tumor was diagnosed. "The tumor was as big as a plum," Pipes said.

The young lady, a Sierra Vista resident who now has her own apartment and a cat named Burrito, is a survivor now of not one but two more tumors yet finds a way to help others with her unique artistic ability to recreate her thoughts through print -- a cartoon book called The Hive, Buzz of New York (see the cover below).

In short, Alma (photo left with a beautiful smile) creates a unique group of heroes in her comics, each with unique challenges and disabilities.

The main character is Emmy, who suffers from reoccurring brain tumors, and she eventually becomes a superhero and finds a way out of her darkness and into the light.

Emmy, I mean, Alma and I talked at length. She is undoubtedly becoming a businesswoman. I had a few bucks in my pocket. I bought the book. I said goodbye and walked away.

And suddenly, my problems disappeared.

Thank you, Alma Pipes.

The Cover of The Hive, Buzz of New York, Book One

And Emmy, the superhero below.

95-year-old says: 'Don't worry about anything, but keep an eye on everything' -- Godfrey Wactor

From the desk of Dan Price

 

I met a 95-year-old man in Denny's who gave me some advice. Godfrey Wactor looked me square in the eye, shook my hand, and said: 'Don't worry about anything, but keep an eye on everything.'

A former radar man in the Korean War, Wactor, pictured above, has seen and done almost everything in his ninety-five years on earth.

Wactor was born in Parkton, North Carolina, in 1928. The town was so named because it was where farmers tied up their horses while waiting for the train. 

He grew up as a teenager chasing rabbits, birds, and squirrels in Robeson County and nearby Cumberland County, near Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Ten years later, he flew over Korea as a radar operator for the Army aboard the Mohawk aircraft, recording tactical observations and battlefield surveillance. After that, he would end up in Fort Huachuca, working under Major General Julius Parker, Jr.

Before his flying days in the Mohawk, Wactor was in the Infantry. "I spent much time in the rice paddies; the hard ground below left me with frozen feet to this day."

Wactor has many stories — some printable in the media, some not.

He did let loose with a doozy. Wactor recalls his pilot on the Mohawk loved his Whiskey, and there were times the young radar operator was forced to get him out of bed and onto the plane.

"Once he (the pilot) got the plane off the ground, I could take over for a while," Wactor recalled with a smile.

"That was a long time ago," Wactor recalls. "I retired from the workforce 42 years ago. When I first came to Fort Huachuca, only three pages were in the Sierra Vista phone book. So I've seen my share of changes."

Wactor has been married sixty years to Inki, and they spend their quiet time at home in Sierra Vista but have been known to journey to Tucson to the casinos.

"We like to play the slots, penny slots especially," he said.

Mostly he travels from his home to Denny's on East Fry Blvd for his morning breakfast. However, he always remembers to take an entree home to his wife.

Wactor sits in the same spot every morning and is catered to from the time he enters the establishment until he saunters out the door.

"Godfrey has been coming here for over 16 years," said Denny's manager Nita Flores. "We see his car in the parking lot, and we are ready for him when he comes through the door. He's very special to us."

As for Godfrey's memory, it wavers some, but still, he's quick to answer questions.

His comment directed at me was along the lines of, "young man, you ask a lot of questions!"

After his military career, Wactor worked many jobs on the base — including many years for JP Industries as a project manager, the custodial organization of which Parker was the CEO.

Wactor said he's had a long and fruitful life and added:" I don't owe anybody anything but respect."

Wactor sat in a special seat on the Mohawk in the late 1950s as he surveyed the battlefields below so many years ago as a young radar operator.

He certainly has a special seat now when he enters through the door at Denny's.

He's earned it.

Mr. Wactor, we thank you for your service.

Little League begins at the base of the Huachuca Mountains

 From the desk of Dan Price

A sunny day on a ballfield at the base of the Huachuca Mountains in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It's the first Saturday of February. It's nine o'clock in the morning.

I'm, of course, the newcomer in town looking for something to do. I see a group of kids gathering at Stone 1 field, the north baseball field at the Sierra Vista Sports Complex, within walking distance of my residence.

I, of course, didn't walk there but drove, and as it turned out, I was glad I did. My baseball gear was stored safely in the trunk of my car.

I made friends quickly. Sure, I can help out I said.

I quickly recalled the baseball movie Rookie with Dennis Quaid. It was the scene when he considered giving up the game for good. However, it was nighttime, and he had reached the edge of the fence and waved to the young centerfielder just seconds before the next pitch of the Little League game.

He smiled and walked away.

"Do you want to hit infield?"

"Sure, I said." It was evaluation day. 

The young man said. "They get five swings, then run to third and hustle to short, and you hit each of them three ground balls."

One by one, the little leaguers rushed to the plate and did exactly as they were told. Eventually, each one grabbed their glove and hustled to the shortstop position. I hit a ball to every one of them as instructed.

Three hours later, I was tired, but I had a smile. I'm back in the game.

"We can sure use you," said one of the volunteer coaches.

To make a long story shot. If I pass the background check, I might get a call.

Could I be in the right place at the right time?

We will see.

Wildcats dominate Oregon State at McKale, 84-52

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona  (21-3, 10-3) dominated Oregon State tonight at McKale with a runaway 84-52 win.

The fifth-ranked Wildcats cruised in this one, with Azoulas Tubelis again leading the way with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Arizona jumped out to a 47-21 halftime lead and kept up with the defensive pressure in the second half as the Beavers shot 35.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent (5 of 16) from long range, while the Wildcats took care of business, hitting 46.7 percent from the field (28-60) while canning 10 of 25 3-pointers -- including a long, long-range, nothing-but-net job from Kylan Boswell as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half.

Pelle Larsson finished in double-digits with 10 points, and Courtney Ramey added 11.

Arizona remains one game back of UCLA (19-4, 10-2) in the Pac-12 Conference.  

Cochise Health & Racquet Club - the gem of gyms in Sierra Vista

From the desk of Dan Price

Chillin' in Cochise County

From a senior perspective, I have found the gem of gyms in downtown Sierra Vista, Arizona.

I'm the newest Cochise Health and Racquet Club member of the 41-year-old establishment, located just east of the city's center, off Hwy 92.

I assumed I would soon discover that I'd be one of the club's oldest members, which opened way back in 1982 and has expanded to a spacious 30,000-square-foot facility over the years. 

The Manager of Club Operations, Lynne Mullaney, who has been with the club for 32 of those 41 years, says I'm far from being the oldest.

Above is the photo of the oldest member, 99-year-old World War II veteran Jerry Consiglio.

"Jerry will turn 100 years old in July and works out three days a week at the club," Mullaney added. "Our youngest member is seven years old and has to be accompanied by a parent."

As for Consiglio, well, he has the run of the place.

The real good news is: I feel at home there. That's a start!

CRC is a pleasant place to work on mind and soul...

 

Tubelis rules in win over Oregon

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona improved to 20-3 overall and 9-3 in the Pac-12 Conference with a 91-76 win over Oregon tonight at McKale. Azoulas Tubelis scored a career-high 40 points as the Wildcats put it all together and avenged their 19-point loss at Oregon last month.

Four players ended up in double figures. Along with Tubelis, point guard Kerr Kriisa played a solid 39 minutes with seven assists and 13 points, including 4 of 8 3-pointers, while Oumar Ballo logged a 10-point, 11-rebound night, and Cedric Henderson Jr. added a 10 spot to the mix.

Pelle Larsson came off the bench and finished with nine points and five assists on the night.

Arizona, ranked 5th in the nation this week, shot 53.4 percent from the field, hitting 31 of 58 attempts and hitting from long range combining on 10 of 23 3-pointers.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Up next: Oregon State on Saturday.

Photo: Tubelis

Bookemdanosports reaches 4,500 posts

To my readers:

Bookemdanosports reached another milestone today -- 4,500 posts since 2009.

I dropped off a bit with my articles in 2022. I plan to pick up the pace in the coming months.

I don't know how many more little stories are left inside the head of this old codger (photo below). But let's give it the old college try in 2023 as I set up residence in Cochise County.

I met some interesting people during my first two weeks in Sierra Vista, Arizona, including Thomas Romack's sister. Thomas was a former star linebacker at Buena High School (2013 grad). Romack's sister, Ashley, works at Texas Roadhouse and talked sports with me for a few minutes the other day as I chopped down on a lettuce and tomato salad. Ashley graduated from Cienega High School in Tucson in 2007, the same year as former Bobcat and Arizona standout baseball player Seth Mejias-Brean. 

As for Ashley's brother: Thomas Romack took over the Tucson Sunnyside High School football program in 2022 from Coach Glenn Posey, who retired in May of 2022 after 32 years of coaching in the Tucson area.

Another connection last week led me to Wayne Durham and a job interview with him at the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport. Durham is the head airport technician and is searching for fuelers to fill up the big transporters this summer during the fire season.

I'm too old to climb on the wing of a 747 and fill the plane with fuel, but Durham did connect me with a fellow in town who is hiring umpires for the city leagues. A few hours later, I was hired as an umpire for the spring and fall season, which gets underway on April 1.

As for Mr. Durham, he received All-American honors at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado as a punter in football in 2007. He was a track and field star, too, not in just one event but the Decathlon. So when I walked into Durham's office, I eyed all the NCAA trophies above his desk.

Durham averaged 44 yards a kick in football and was second in Division II in 2007. Durham also ran the 100 meters, 400 meters, 1500 meters, and 110-meter-high hurdles, and threw the javelin, discus, and shot put, pole vaulted, did the high jump and the long jump. He tallied 7,086 points in the 10 events.

Durham still looks like he could jump over the wing of a 747. As for me, no way. 

We also discussed men's softball in Sierra Vista. I might be able to play on an open co-ed team this summer, but the men's softball teams are pretty competitive; many of the players are in the Army and have played all over the world. Can I make the grade with those guys? I'm certainly willing to give it a shot.

I mean, I'm 77. These guys are in their 30s...or younger!

I plan to play some co-ed softball and do some umpiring, and when I can, I'll head for Tucson and play with my 60-and-over guys on the Tucson Old Timers at Udall Park.

That's all for now. Until we meet again...  

I'm back...

 

From the desk of Dan Price...

I'm back!

And since I've been away...

Kansas City held on last Sunday and took down Cincinnati 23-20. At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles rolled over Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers 31-7, setting up the final contestants for the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 12, in Glendale, Arizona.

Speaking of Purdy.

I was in my final year as a sportswriter with Independent Newspapers in Gilbert, Arizona, in 1999. The year Purdy was born! Purdy lived in Queen Creek, Arizona, a suburb of Gilbert, and grew up to be a prep star at Perry High School, moved on to his college digs at Iowa State, and, of course, you diehard football fans know the rest of the story.

A few days ago, Purdy was the starting quarterback in the NFC Championship game. Unfortunately, he was injured during the game and may be out for six months or more if he elects to have surgery on the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of his elbow.

Closer to home, my Arizona Wildcats are on a roll with a sweep at home over USC and UCLA two weeks ago and an on-the-road sweep of the Washington schools last week. This week, the Oregon schools visit McKale.

Arizona's latest antics haven't gone unnoticed as the Wildcats reached No. 5 in the nation this week in the AP Men's College Basketball poll with a 19-3 overall record.

Way to go, Wildcats!

As for me, I'm living with hummingbirds now.

Well, a few miles away anyway, near Ramsey Canyon.

The area attracts 170 species of birds, including rare hummingbirds and golden eagles, hawks, and woodpeckers. The locals say hummingbirds will be around from late March until late September.

Enough of birds.

I'm finding my way around Sierra Vista and landed an umpiring gig from April to October. It's slow-pitch softball, a far cry from the sport of baseball that I love. I may do some high school baseball umpiring in Sierra Vista and surrounding towns like Benson, Bisbee, Willcox, Tombstone, St. David, and even Douglas.

Of course, at 77 years of age, I'll need to take baby steps. There's only so much this old-timer can do. I may be a stringer for the local paper and cover high school sports.

And I need to return to Tucson from time to time and play with my favorite baseball team, the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers. I'm still a member in good standing. At least, I think I am.

That's all for now. More to come...

Photo: of the old-timer -- the roving reporter.

TOTS play only eight games in January

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The TOTS played only eight games at Tucson Udall Park during January due to the weather. Only four players reached double digits in hits, led by Joe Opocensky, with 16 hits in 27 at-bats. Gary Cuttler banged out 13 hits in 25 at-bats, Ron Ryan went 10 for 21, and newcomer Jon Beady jumped onto the scene with a blistering 11 hits in just 12 official plate appearances.

Five players tied for the most RBI with eight: Mike Dawson, Sam Dean, Ryan, Cuttler, and Opocensky.

Dawson ended up the workhorse on the mound logging 26 innings and compiling a 2-1 record with one save.

The TOTS are back at Udall on Feb. 1, hoping for more sunny days and games.

from roving reporter Pigpen Price

The January leaders;

Joe Opocensky

16 for 27, eight RBI in January

Mike Dawson

Logged 26 innings on the mound in January, sporting a 2-1 record with a save.

Way to go, TOTS...