The Weekly Wildcat
The Weekly Wildcat
June 6, 2006
(The Weekly Wildcat will appear each week on Tuesdays as part of a running series, updating Wildcats supporters on the sports happenings at the University of Arizona)
How ironic is it that the first installment of The Weekly Wildcat falls on today’s date, 060606? I mention this because for me it feels like Hell hath frozen over each time our men’s basketball or football teams lose a game, which in recent seasons has been much more than I can bare. Fortunately, this week’s edition is not about losing and all about winning.
Softball World Series
Our women’s softball team is one win away from another national championship, their first since 2001. Led by hurler Alicia Hollowell, speedster Caitlin Lowe and hot hitting Taryne Mowatt the Cats jumped all over Northwestern in Game 1 of the best of three World Series. In a sport famous for 1-0 final scores, the 8-0 win is the softball equivalent to the 1985 Boston Massacre game where the Celtics pasted the Lakers by 30 plus in the NBA Finals. Of course, the Lake Show rebounded from that night’s humiliating loss to best the Celtics for the championship so let’s hope Northwestern does not profit from the same fortune in the next two days.
I won’t deny it. I love rooting against anything that is UCLA, although I did cheer for the Bruins during their Final Four run for Pac-10/West Coast respectability reasons that need no explanation. Still, I was rooting harder than ever against UCLA’s softball team in their elimination game with Northwestern for the simple reason that the institution is currently sitting on 99 national championships, more than any other university in the country. The thought of UCLA winning their 100th against Arizona is enough to make me gauge my eye out with a rusty spoon and something I wouldn’t care to experience. Fortunately, Northwestern did win and this awful scenario has been avoided.
Professional Golf
With the U.S. Open only two weeks away, let me be the first to congratulate ex-Wildcats David Berganio and Chris Nallen for making the tournament’s field of players who will be competing for our national golf championship at famed Winged Foot. Each finished within the top 18 spots yesterday at the same sectional qualifier location where Michelle Wie was trying to become the first women’s golfer to make the field. Wie finished at 143, five shots shy of the cut. Berganio and Nallen will join other ex-Wildcats, Jim Furyk and Ted Purdy, at Winged Foot. Furyk’s hot start to the season has his name in the mix for PGA Player of the Year and amongst golf insiders, is considered to be one of the top five favorites to win the U.S. Open.
Men’s Basketball
In fairness, our women’s softball team deserves the limelight which is why I led with their story. But seriously, once their season ends there will only be two things this site will regularly discuss: men’s basketball and football. The latest from NBA prognosticators has Hassan “Hot Sauce” Adams going to a team like Phoenix late in the first round. Hot Sauce had a great workout for the Suns in mid May and his explosiveness is something all NBA teams covet. Fellow Wildcat Mustafa Shakur so far is not getting the rave reviews he was expecting. The form on his jump shot is too awkward for NBA scouts to stomach and although he’s demonstrated outstanding ball handling skills, he definitely needs to return to school and accomplish something significant like say a Pac-10 Championship and a birth in the Final Four. We have the horses to make a deep run in the NCAA’s next year so hopefully we can heal up as a team and get the quality play we need from returnees such as Shakur, Jawann McClellan, Ivan Radenovic, Marcus Williams and J.P. Prince, and newcomer Chase Budinger. In regards to McClellan, the healing process on his wrist is going well but slower than anticipated. Reports say he won’t be ready for contact drills until August.
Football
On the gridiron, the biggest news is ex-starter and now ex-Wildcat Richard Kovalcheck wimping out and transferring to Vanderbilt. While I wish him the best of luck, I’d be remised to point out that players like Kovalcheck are unwelcome at Arizona under the Stoops regime. In o
rder for us to rise from beneath the shadows, we need players who want to compete, even if that means them finishing second and playing backup roles. Of course everyone wants to be a starter but simple Math tells us that that’s impossible. We need to have backup players pushing the starters every day so that we can be the best team possible. Winning programs such as USC, Texas, Ohio State, Miami, LSU and Florida State don’t seem to have a problem stockpiling talent so why should we. If an All-American high school athlete is willing to sit on the bench for three seasons and a red shirt year in hope of playing as a senior for a school like USC, then our middle of the road recruits should not carry the same Prima Donna attitudes of recent QB transfers such as Kovalcheck, Nic Costa and Ryan O’Hara.
Two wishes: Please let Luis Holmes and Gabe Long academically qualify this spring semester so they can transfer into Arizona in time for the upcoming season. Pac-10 writers have already listed Holmes as a second team all conference defender. That distinction alone should automatically grant him eligibility. Are you administrators listening at the UA Registrar’s Office? Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!
Visit my site each Tuesday for the latest edition of The Weekly Wildcat. Until then, Bear Down!
June 6, 2006
(The Weekly Wildcat will appear each week on Tuesdays as part of a running series, updating Wildcats supporters on the sports happenings at the University of Arizona)
How ironic is it that the first installment of The Weekly Wildcat falls on today’s date, 060606? I mention this because for me it feels like Hell hath frozen over each time our men’s basketball or football teams lose a game, which in recent seasons has been much more than I can bare. Fortunately, this week’s edition is not about losing and all about winning.
Softball World Series
Our women’s softball team is one win away from another national championship, their first since 2001. Led by hurler Alicia Hollowell, speedster Caitlin Lowe and hot hitting Taryne Mowatt the Cats jumped all over Northwestern in Game 1 of the best of three World Series. In a sport famous for 1-0 final scores, the 8-0 win is the softball equivalent to the 1985 Boston Massacre game where the Celtics pasted the Lakers by 30 plus in the NBA Finals. Of course, the Lake Show rebounded from that night’s humiliating loss to best the Celtics for the championship so let’s hope Northwestern does not profit from the same fortune in the next two days.I won’t deny it. I love rooting against anything that is UCLA, although I did cheer for the Bruins during their Final Four run for Pac-10/West Coast respectability reasons that need no explanation. Still, I was rooting harder than ever against UCLA’s softball team in their elimination game with Northwestern for the simple reason that the institution is currently sitting on 99 national championships, more than any other university in the country. The thought of UCLA winning their 100th against Arizona is enough to make me gauge my eye out with a rusty spoon and something I wouldn’t care to experience. Fortunately, Northwestern did win and this awful scenario has been avoided.
Professional Golf
With the U.S. Open only two weeks away, let me be the first to congratulate ex-Wildcats David Berganio and Chris Nallen for making the tournament’s field of players who will be competing for our national golf championship at famed Winged Foot. Each finished within the top 18 spots yesterday at the same sectional qualifier location where Michelle Wie was trying to become the first women’s golfer to make the field. Wie finished at 143, five shots shy of the cut. Berganio and Nallen will join other ex-Wildcats, Jim Furyk and Ted Purdy, at Winged Foot. Furyk’s hot start to the season has his name in the mix for PGA Player of the Year and amongst golf insiders, is considered to be one of the top five favorites to win the U.S. Open.
Men’s Basketball
In fairness, our women’s softball team deserves the limelight which is why I led with their story. But seriously, once their season ends there will only be two things this site will regularly discuss: men’s basketball and football. The latest from NBA prognosticators has Hassan “Hot Sauce” Adams going to a team like Phoenix late in the first round. Hot Sauce had a great workout for the Suns in mid May and his explosiveness is something all NBA teams covet. Fellow Wildcat Mustafa Shakur so far is not getting the rave reviews he was expecting. The form on his jump shot is too awkward for NBA scouts to stomach and although he’s demonstrated outstanding ball handling skills, he definitely needs to return to school and accomplish something significant like say a Pac-10 Championship and a birth in the Final Four. We have the horses to make a deep run in the NCAA’s next year so hopefully we can heal up as a team and get the quality play we need from returnees such as Shakur, Jawann McClellan, Ivan Radenovic, Marcus Williams and J.P. Prince, and newcomer Chase Budinger. In regards to McClellan, the healing process on his wrist is going well but slower than anticipated. Reports say he won’t be ready for contact drills until August.
Football
On the gridiron, the biggest news is ex-starter and now ex-Wildcat Richard Kovalcheck wimping out and transferring to Vanderbilt. While I wish him the best of luck, I’d be remised to point out that players like Kovalcheck are unwelcome at Arizona under the Stoops regime. In o
rder for us to rise from beneath the shadows, we need players who want to compete, even if that means them finishing second and playing backup roles. Of course everyone wants to be a starter but simple Math tells us that that’s impossible. We need to have backup players pushing the starters every day so that we can be the best team possible. Winning programs such as USC, Texas, Ohio State, Miami, LSU and Florida State don’t seem to have a problem stockpiling talent so why should we. If an All-American high school athlete is willing to sit on the bench for three seasons and a red shirt year in hope of playing as a senior for a school like USC, then our middle of the road recruits should not carry the same Prima Donna attitudes of recent QB transfers such as Kovalcheck, Nic Costa and Ryan O’Hara.Two wishes: Please let Luis Holmes and Gabe Long academically qualify this spring semester so they can transfer into Arizona in time for the upcoming season. Pac-10 writers have already listed Holmes as a second team all conference defender. That distinction alone should automatically grant him eligibility. Are you administrators listening at the UA Registrar’s Office? Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!
Visit my site each Tuesday for the latest edition of The Weekly Wildcat. Until then, Bear Down!
posted by Gary Randazzo at 1:19 PM
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