The Friday Fizz

July 14, 2006

After a long and arduous workweek, it’s easy to forget what’s transpired in the sports world in recent days and what sporting events lie in wait on the weekend. So, the Friday Fizz is here to remind you that life is not all about TPS Reports and moody bosses. Life, for most men, is about sports, women and sex, and not necessarily in that order. So, without further ado, the following is my weekly riff of newsworthy notes that you and the boys can use as fodder for happy hour talk over a couple of pints:

Never in my life did I ever imagine I’d write an entire article exclusively on soccer but since this is probably the last time I’ll even think about the sport until the next World Cup in South Africa, here goes nothing.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Apparently, for Zinedine Zidane, names do hurt but unfortunately for him they broke something much worse than his bones. They broke his legacy.

Obviously, World Cup Golden Ball Award winner Zidane’s mother never taught him this valuable life lesson because if she had, he would not have gone WWF on the unsuspecting Italian who had reportedly called his mom “a filthy terrorist whore.” Shaquille O”Neal said this week on ESPN Radio that there’s nothing anyone could ever say to set him off like that in a championship game. During the regular season is one thing but during a championship, there was no way. I couldn’t agree more with the Big Diesel.

Clearly Zidane is not the supreme soccer player he’s been made out to be because to be truly great, to be considered amongst the elite in all of sports, you have to be as mentally strong as you are physically gifted. The great Yogi Berra famously said, “Baseball is 90% mental and 50% physical.” I argue that the same applies to soccer, or any other sport for that matter. If players reacted to every racial epithet, mom or sister joke, or “how’s your wife and my kids,” comment, games would resemble prison riots.

This week, Zidane has provided us with his reasoning behind the incident and although he apologized to all soccer fans, the French National Team, FIFA and just about every other person or organization affiliated with soccer, he also said that he would react the same way if it ever happened again. While I don’t buy into the argument that his departure from the game cost France the World Cup, I do believe that his loss was a tremendous blow to the French team and certainly had an impact on their psyche and strategy during those final overtime minutes and during penalty kicks. At the time, France was clearly the aggressor with Italy looking as if they were literally counting down the seconds, praying for penalty kicks. France had several shot attempts on goal, was getting more corner kick opportunities, was completely out hustling the Italians and consequently, dictating the action. Zidane’s Red Card changed all that. Once he was ejected, France had to pull back and play conservatively because they were a man short.

Zidane acted selfishly and immaturely – plain and simple. While I certainly don’t condone anyone calling anyone else a filthy terrorist whore, a terrorist, or any other condescending or derogatory term, for a player to react the way Zidane did is unacceptable. My own athletic career was cut short because I’m 5’10, white, and have a vertical leap of about 20 inches. During my entire life on the courts and in the fields I’ve been called everything from Honkey, Wonder Bread and Casper to Baldy and Mismatch, “I’ve got a mismatch – gimme the damn ball, I’ve gotta mismatch.” For me to throw an elbow and go to blows would affect no one except for me and the offender. Yet it would still never even cross my mind to do such a stupid thing because first, getting into someone’s head is a part of sports and second, the competitor who gets rattled and concerned by what’s being said instead of what’s actually happening usually loses.

Shame on Zidane for falling for the oldest trick in the book. He got rattled, lost the mental battle, and had to watch from the locker room as his team lost the World Cup. If Zidane truly was insulted and believed he had to take action to defend the honor of his family, then he should have confronted the Italian player after the game. I can’t think of a better way to end coverage of the World Cup than with Zidane coming at the Italian with a flying scissor kick neck lash in the center of the pitch. I can hear Brent Mussberger now, “Yesss!! The Golden Ball recipient connects…yet again!” Instead, we saw what we saw and perhaps, now, Zidane has finally learned one of life’s most valuable lessons.

Part II - Arizona versus Wisconsin

START OF THE SECOND HALF

I can hear Arizona’s band in the background. I like it.

Arizona loses the ball out of bounds. The announcer said it was a bad call. What a shocker!
Wisconsin’s big man, Butch, just drew his third foul with 19 minutes left to play. Mustafa’s going to the line.

Arizona 47 Wisconsin 34

Kirk Walters was just whistled for his third foul. No surprise here. These officials are so predictable…almost as predictable as how bad CBS’s coverage of the tournament was going to be.

What on earth…Radenovic was just called for his third foul. “Let them play, let them play, let them play.”

Arizona 51 Wisconsin 34

Adams just hit a driving lay up.

CBS is showing more commercials. The best one of the day has been the Sonic Burgers commercial where the driver attempts to pop a tater tot into his mouth while the passenger swats the driver’s hand away.

“Rejected…don’t you bring that weak tater action in here! You go strong to the hole or you don’t go at all.” Great line…great commercial…I just don’t need to see it again in five minutes. Hey, CBS, let’s get back to the games shall we.

By the way, Ohio State leads Davidson 49-46 with less than 8 minutes to play.

Arizona 59 Wisconsin 38

TV timeout…Wisconsin ball when we return.

Wisconsin drains a three right out of the timeout.

I just realized the radio announcers are total Arizona homers as the color analyst just through a hissy-fit on a call that went against the Cats. Also, he just used the term “we” three time in covering the game’s most recent action.

Another three by Wisconsin. Dear God.

Arizona 62 Wisconsin 44

“That is not a foul. I’m perplexed right now.” I love this color analyst. He’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s rooting for Arizona. Walters was blown for his fourth foul Not good.

Arizona 62 Wisconsin 48

I know fourteen points sounds like a lot but this is the same Arizona team that blew a 15-point lead against Illinois with 3:30 on the clock in last year’s Elite Eight game.

Foul on Hassan Adams. That’s three.

Arizona 67 Wisconsin 48

Timeout Wisconsin as Arizona scores five straight.

By the way, Ohio State is pulling away from Davidson right now 64-53 with only 2 minutes to play. Is CBS going to change the game to something more competitive…I think not!

Oops, the Damned just switched us to the Bucknell/Arkansas game with Bucknell leading 40-36. There just might be hope yet for CBS.

Hassan is 7 of 8 from the field for the game. Another foul on Arizona. I swear the color analyst just sighed. Priceless! Wisconsin’s best player, Tucker, has 12 free throw attempts in the game. Arizona’s entire team has attempted a grand total of 13.

Mr. Announcer just said, “I don’t want to sound too one-sided here, but…” Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

Arizona 71 Wisconsin 54

Make that 73-54 on another Mustafa assist. Another foul on Arizona…wow!
I’m starting to get nervous. We’re under the 10 minute mark. It sounds like Wisconsin is being more aggressive than Arizona right now. Per my keys to the game notes above this is probably the reason why Wisconsin is getting all the calls.

Arizona 77 Wisconsin 58

The homer announcers finally referred to Hassan by his nickname, “Hot Sauce.” Great nickname, but not Arizona’s greatest. That distinction is reserved for one of Arizona’s most lovable and dominant big men in the Olson Era, Sean Rooks, affectionately known as “The Wookie.”

(an amusing side note about the Wookie…my buddy Jeff and I were at the pier in Hermosa Beach at night a few years back when we spotted The Wookie. He was playing for the Lakers at the time. We made a sprinting beeline toward the 6’11, 275 lb. monster and simultaneously leaped into him from opposite directions. The Wookie was laughing because Jeff and I are your typical Wildcat fanatics, plus we were apologizing profusely, but the local cops weren’t as pleased. They rushed over and started to attempt to separate the three of us. Luckily, we were drunk and probably said something funny to defuse the situation. Or, and more likely, the lovable Wookie told the cops that everything was cool).

Anyway, back to the game.

Arizona 80 Wisconsin 65

We’re heading toward the 5 minute mark. Mustafa’s at the line for two free throws. He missed the first (1 of 3 at the line today, very unusual). He makes the second.

Arizona 83 Wisconsin 65

Iowa is up five on Northwestern State with 3:35 on the clock. Bucknell leads Arkansas by five as well. Adams just made another driving lay up. He has 17 points. He averages 17 points a game. Man, my keys to the game appear to be dead on. Do you think CBS will hire me? Maybe they’re looking for someone to help them iron out their tournament game programming deficiencies….as I say this, I’m watching a commercial of two turtles atop a kitchen counter talking. Riveting, I mean absolutely riveting, CBS. Thanks for the excellent broadcast. I can’t wait to see what you have next in store for us viewers who are dying to watch the 63 basketball games you promised us in your pre-tournament advertising.

There’s a timeout by the way.

Arizona 87 Wisconsin 71

2:59 on the clock. We’re now in that dreaded under three minute mark that plagued Arizona in last year’s Elite Eight. Dillon just made two free throws, making it 89-71. I feel a little better. Arizona just got the ball back and Hot Sauce Adams made a three pointer for his 20th point. I feel much better now.

Arizona 92 Wisconsin 73

Arizona is clearing its bench. Onto the other games.

Let the Madness begin. Iowa is up 61-59 with 52 seconds on the clock against 14th seeded Northwestern State. I need to watch this…back in a few…

It’s still a one point game. Holy moly, Bucknell is up by two against Arkansas. This game is also in its final minute. Let’s see how CBS screws up this one!

FINAL SCORE

Arizona 94 Wisconsin 75

CBS is totally botching the Iowa/Northestern State/Bucknell/Arkansas situation.

Here we go…Iowa up by two, NW State bringing the ball up the flour…20 seconds and ticking.

Three point attempt…brick…loose ball…ohHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get yourself to a highlight show and watch the end of the Iowa game. NW State hustled for the lose ball in the corner, threw up a prayer and it was answered with 0.5 seconds on the clock. NW State 64 Iowa 63. Biggest upset of the tournament thus far and when the first round completely plays itself out will most likely be the biggest bracket buster of all.

Bucknell also earned a victory, edging Arkansas 59-55 on two made free throws to seal it in the final seconds. Things were a bit cozier for Ohio State who bested Davidson by eight.

Whew…what a wild last few minutes. I need a drink. See you at the pub.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I hope you enjoyed reliving UA’s last basketball victory of the 2005/2006 basketball season. Tune in next week for more of the Weekly Wildcat. Until then, Bear Down!

The Weekly Wildcat
July 11, 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)

The following article first appeared on my other now extinct website on March 17, 2006 and was written during Arizona’s first round basketball game against Wisconsin in this year’s NCAA Tournament. I’m rerunning the article in two parts as a prelude to the many running diaries that will be written during the upcoming football season.

Running Diary – Arizona versus Wisconsin (March 17, 2006)

NCAA First Round Game: Tip-off 9:30 AM PST

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Some initial thoughts…Both teams have had up and down seasons. Player suspensions, injuries, underachieving stars, poor inside play, terrible outside shooting; the list goes on and on. However, both have enough talent to make some noise in this tournament, especially Arizona where Villanova’s carefree, up-tempo style bodes well for the Cats who prosper on causing turnovers and getting steals that lead to transition buckets. This season has been such a disaster for Arizona that the only thing that could come even close to removing the bitter taste in many Cats supporters’ mouths is a respectable run in the tournament. While many of us remember the incredible turnaround the 1997 national champion team was able to make, reality tells us that this team is incapable of such an accomplishment. That team had a true leader in Miles Simon, a future NBA wonder boy in Mike Bibby, a supremely athletic and budding star in Michael Dickerson, and a supporting cast of role players who actually embraced the roles Lute Olson set for them. This year’s team has an identity problem, which has led to a consistent stream of inconsistent performances. One step forward, two steps back has been the norm for my beloved Wildcats this season and I sincerely hope that Arizona’s men’s basketball team can somehow find a way to take two steps forward this weekend and leave the backpedaling for another time.

The following are my keys to the game:

For Arizona, the Cats must match Wisconsin’s intensity. Referees in the NCAA Tournament typically favor the aggressor and coming into the game, Wisconsin’s hard-nosed reputation may cause the refs to swallow their whistles as the Badgers attempt to bang the Cats around early on. Second, Hassan Adams must produce numbers similar to his season averages. If he’s a no show, Arizona will be on the first flight out of Philly by sunset. Third, Mustafa Shakur must breakdown Wisconsin’s defense by penetrating the lane and scoring. When he does, the Cats look great. When he doesn’t, they play like they did in three losses to UCLA this year.

For Wisconsin, the Badgers must keep themselves between their man and the basket on defense. Arizona runs an NBA style motion offense that looks to score early in the shot clock. If they don’t get a good look on their first or second option, they’re big men get sedentary watching their guards over dribble. Second, the Badgers must win the three point contest. If Arizona outscores them from the three-point line, that means the Badgers are shooting poorly from the perimeter because the Cats are the Pac-10’s worst outside shooting team. Third, Wisconsin must out rebound Arizona. There’s little doubt that both teams will miss plenty of shots in this game so the team who wins the rebound battle or more accurately, prevents the fewest second and third chance points, will most likely win what I’m anticipating to be a closely contested game.

Deep breath, deep breath and…here…we…go…

Welcome everyone to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city Bernard Shaw once made reference to when describing the epitaph to be scribed onto his tombstone, “Better here than in Philly.”

Arizona 2 Wisconson 0

First possession ends with Mustafa Shakur driving the lane and dishing to Ivan Radenovic for an easy lay up.

Arizona 8 Wisconsin 0

It appears Arizona got an advanced copy of my keys to the game. Wisconsin has two turnovers, no rebounds and the Cats have already made two uncontested lay ups by guards penetrating the lane and assisting others.

Arizona 10 Wisconsin 3

This is a nice looking floor. Props to the Wachovia Center. Arizona just went on a mini run to make it 14-3. Timeout Wisconsin.

Coming out of the timeout, it appears that Hassan Adams has picked up his second foul. We’ve only played four minutes so this is not good. I find it ironic that in the NCAAs, the refs typically let everything go. I mean, you practically have to cause a puncture wound for someone to the blow the whistle and yet Hassan already has two fouls, the latest coming at half court. Pretty ticky-tack in my opinion.

Arizona 17 Wisconsin 5

CBS just turned away from our game. Um…somebody?

Arizona 19 Wisconsin 8

Radenovic just hit another baby hook. The refs just called another touch foul on Arizona. Did they not get the memo? I can hear the chants now from the fans in the Astrodome during the Bad News Bears game from the seventies….”Let them play, let them play, let them play!”

Arizona 24 Wisconsin 8

So far Arizona owns the boards. Hassan just re-entered the game. Coach Olson doesn’t usually play guys with two fouls in the first half so we’ll see what happens.

I’m waiting for CBS to leave the Arizona game for one that’s more competitive.
Still waiting…

Yep, there it is. Time of death on the Arizona game is 9:54 AM. Thanks CBS. Thanks Guggenheim Grotto. Thanks to me for not ordering Direct TV’s March Madness package. Outside of Dan Rather, I absolutely cannot stand CBS. Oh wait, I hate Dan Rather too.

Arizona 31 Wisconsin 11

I had to check espn.com for the score. Mustafa just set up Marcus Williams for a three pointer. That’s four assists for Mustafa, the Philly kid returning home to play in front of 34 friends and family he was able to get tickets for. What a nice Arizona boy he is. I hope he plays well today.

Arizona 35 Wisconsin 13

I’m stepping away for a minute. I’m searching other websites for a pod cast of the game.

Arizona 35 Wisconsin 18

7:39 on the game clock. I managed to find an audio broadcast of the game on Yahoo Sports. YAHOOOOOO!!!!

The radio announcer just informed us that Arizona passed on their morning shoot around today because of the early start. Nice pointer, Mr. Announcer. This isn’t so bad.
Sweet! Another rebound for Arizona.

Actually, listening to the game on the radio is pretty excruciating. I just realized that the audio cast is about a minute slower than the CBS score updates so not only am I typing, I’m listening and trying to avoid looking at the ticker tape on the television.

Arizona 37 Wisconsin 26

Gee…what a surprise. CBS turns off the Arizona game and Wisconsin goes on a 15-2 run. Wow, CBS producers. You must be shocked. I mean, this never happens. You guys are so good at directing the viewers from game to game…I’m shocked that you’ve once again gotten it wrong. Actually, I’m not. This just reminds me why CBS stinks at covering the NCAA tournament.
Meanwhile, CBS is making my case for me. There’s only one game that’s not at halftime right now and it’s the Arizona game. And guess what CBS is airing right now. COMMERCIALS. They also went to Greg Gumbel in the studio for a brief second to re-show us the Davidson versus Ohio State halftime score. Hey, thanks guys. It’s all good. I’d rather watch commercials and meaningless commentary instead of live action (sorry, I felt a sarcasm swell forming and had to let it out).

Arizona 46 Wisconsin 30

Still watching commercials on CBS. Unbelievable.

Arizona is 19-31 from the floor. I can’t remember the last time we shot over 60% in a half. I think it was back in the Reagan Era when Sean Elliot was a sophomore. I’m kidding of course, but watching this team this year has resulted in a tremendous amount of brain cells being killed since early February.

More commercials…I’ve almost given up.

Hey, Mr. Announcer from Yahoo just dropped another dime on us. The Arizona swimming team is in first place after the first day of competition in Athens, Georgia at the NCAA swimming championships.

We’re under a minute in the first half…

CBS has taken us to the Davidson game. The announcer just said Arizona’s Marcus Williams was hit on the arm during a jump shot. No foul called, result…air ball. Can’t refs figure this stuff out? Best shooter on a team throws up an air ball after contact from ten feet out and what, they think he misjudged the distance. So much for the NCAA stressing to officials this year that they must protect the shooter. I guess this rule only applies to Duke’s J.J. Redick and Gonzaga’s Adam Morisson.

HALFTIME

Arizona 46 Wisconsin 34

Sensory system overload, sensory system overload, sensory system overload.
Here’s the situation. I’m listening to the game on Yahoo Sports. I’m in a “virtual” admission line at www.ncaasports.com/mmod to gain Internet access to live video feeds of the game. The website is telling me I’m the 130th person in line. What does this mean? There’s also a running clock in the corner that tells me the next admission ticket will be punched in 42…41…40…39 seconds. Make that 35…34 now.

When I figure out what all this means I’ll let you know.

Wow…this is awesome. I’m in the video on demand. I’m selecting the Arizona/Wisconsin game. Let’s see what happens.

By the way it’s still halftime. Getting close though.

Give me a break. I can’t watch the Arizona game via Video on Demand because the game is blacked out by my local CBS affiliate who is airing the game. Damn CBS! Damn them!

The Weekly Wildcat
July 4, 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)

Mark Your Calendars

For those of you who thought last year’s trouncing of the UCLA Bruins was exciting just wait until we play mighty USC on September 23rd. I’ve been saying it for two years and now as our team partakes in voluntary summer workouts let me be the first to officially predict that we will beat USC at home this year. My gut tells me the final score will be 24-23 but since our defense will be much improved and our relatively strong kicking game has produced results under the Stoops regime, let’s toss in a downed punt on the two and a safety to make the end result 26-23. How can this happen you ask? Let me tell you.

First, scheduling is always critical in sports and the schedule gods could not have mapped this one out any better for Arizona. USC opens the season at Arkansas; a team the Trojans pasted 70-17 last year at home. Now, I don’t think the Hogs have much of a chance here but it is their season home opener and they will play well enough to make the Trojans work a bit harder this time around. Next, USC plays a feisty and vastly improved Nebraska squad with a high octane offense and a ton of motivation to prove to the rest of college football that the Cornhuskers are back in business after a five year hiatus from the national scene. By the time USC rolls into Tucson the following week, it may be letdown city for the Spirit of Troy who’ll be coming off two emotional games and the additional red flag in that they may be overlooking the Cats in anticipation for their difficult showdown against Wazzou in Pullman a week later. For Arizona, we should be 2-1 heading into the game with home victories over BYU and Stephen F. Austin and a road loss at LSU. Despite the outcome of the LSU game, our team by week four will be battle tested and probably fuming off the mistakes they made that cost them an opportunity to compete against the Tigers. With a “get healthy” game wedged between LSU and USC, Arizona will be ready for the Trojans.

Second, if you closely watched our games at USC the past two years, 41-9 and 42-21 losses, respectively, you’ll have realized that we weren’t exactly pushed around by the bigger, more athletic Trojans. In fact, in that 41-9 loss, we were trailing 21-9 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter AND we had the ball. In the other game, it was 28-21 in the third quarter and we were driving inside the 20 when Vanderbilt’s newest nightmare transfer, Kovalcheck, threw an interception at the five-yard line. If Louis Holmes makes grades and becomes the run stopping defensive end he’s supposed to be, our improved linebacking core and seasoned secondary may have a field day in disguising defenses against either of USC’s inexperienced quarterbacks.

Third, it’s just time. Stoops is the kind of coach who was born for situations like this. I can imagine he, like me, has had this game circled on his calendar since the day he arrived on campus. Stoops has had to put up with consecutive road games at USC in his first two seasons and although we competed well, had no realistic chance of beating the Pac-10 powerhouse. But now, the tide has turned and it’s USC who has to come into our house to play a team who is absolutely chomping at the bit to make a statement to the college world. USC will have overcome two early season hurdles against Arkansas and Nebraska and will be looking forward to getting a chance to beat up on a lesser opponent. The only thing is that USC will find itself kicking field goals against Arizona instead of scoring touchdowns and once Tuitama connects with Mike Thomas on a post route over USC’s inexperienced safeties and the Cats go up 14-6 at halftime, our stadium will be rocking as loud as it did in 1992 when we beat the then #1 Washington Huskies.

There will be much more analysis to follow on this game and others but for now let me just say, mark your calendars because 9/23/06 will be a day to remember.

In the News

Annika Sorenstam reminded the world on Monday that you can’t keep a good Wildcat down by winning her third U.S. Open Championship. The ex-UA golfer and NCAA Individual National Champion outplayed the field at a time when analysts were beginning to doubt her ability to win against today’s younger talent. In winning, Annika claimed her 10th major title and proved yet again that she is the greatest female golfer of her era and possibly of all time.

Mike Stoops was featured in Fox Sports’ “In My Own Words” on Monday. The show aired at 9:30 PST. The 30 minute show highlighted Stoops’ relationship with his father and brothers, the love he has for his wife and children, and the passion he has for Arizona football. Coach definitely has our program on the right track. Let’s hope that his vision, ability and commitment begin to translate into a string of winning seasons.

Thursday, the Arizona football team will be featured on the Fox Sports Internet site as they continue their rundown of 119 Teams in 119 Days. They will preview Arizona’s season, evaluate personnel and make predictions. So far, their analysis of other teams has been very in depth and astute. So, you should be able to get a fair assessment of our team’s season ahead by catching the article.

Until next week, Bear Down!