TEMPE, AZ.- Following Arizona State’s 44-20 victory over the Washington Huskies, Sun Devil athletic director Lisa Love made a somber announcement at the post game press conference. The win pushed Arizona State to 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Pac-10. And their ranking, 14th coming into the contest and a possible top 10 ranking next week, gives Sun Devil football a lot of momentum. However, the feel-good moment was short lived. Love solemnly disclosed that the Sun Devil football program would be shut down for a week, and would not re-open until two weeks from tonight, on October 27th against the Bears of Cal. Love cited necessary maintenance to the team bandwagon for the decision.

“With all that’s gone on this season, such as several highly-touted teams losing, both in the conference and nationally, we-well, actually I, it was my decision-decided it was time to prepare the Sun Devil bandwagon for the road ahead. These preparations will include an oil change, new tires, replacing the shocks, spark plugs, and just a full maintenance inspection in general. Any areas of concern will be addressed and rectified.” In addition, the seating area on the bus is to be renovated to accommodate approximately 5,000 more fans according to Sparky, who commented on the condition that he not be identified.

“We just felt that the time is now to ensure that there will be no glitches as we head to the home stretch. It’s unfortunate, and it is with great regret that I am announcing that our game against Bye next week will be canceled. Please note that this is being done with the sole intention of ensuring that those who already use the bus and those who will use it the remainder of the season will be able to do so in the utmost comfort. It’s the fans we care about, and we will always keep their best interests at the forefront of what we do here in Tempe.”

Following the Sun Devils 523 yards of total offense against the Huskies, including 296 yards on the ground, the momentum is certainly in their favor. Add to this the fact that they find themselves the lone unbeaten team in the Pac-10 conference, and Love’s decision seems to be a wise one, though unprecedented.

“Our game against the Cal Bears at Sun Devil Stadium on the 27th of this month will be played as scheduled,” Love continued, “and I guarantee you that the bandwagon will be back better than ever at that time. We are simply trying to be proactive in this matter. If it fails to work out, I will take full responsibility. Well, along with my advisor of course, Rick O.” Oddly, Love had a look of satisfaction while answering subsequent questions and upon making her way out of the press conference.

 Head Coach Dennis Erickson, when reached for comment, joked, “She’s the boss. She hired me, so she obviously knows what she’s doing. Seriously though, I think it’s a great decision on her part. We’ve got some guys who could use the rest on both sides of the ball. And let’s face it, the bandwagon could use a little expansion.”

Thanks for taking the time to read.

{Obligatory but probably unnecessary disclaimer: This post was written as fiction. Well, most of it.}

Last night’s BCS Championship Game definitely reassured me of one thing-college football needs a playoff. Without getting into too many details of the game, which have already been pored over by many, anytime a team has to play in a title game after a layoff the length of which both Ohio State and Florida had to endure, there’s a flaw in the system.

I used to be a proponent of one of two things; either go back to the old bowl game format with the conference tie-ins—the Pac 10 playing the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl, for example, or institute a playoff. Being a traditionalist, or getting older, depending on which way you look at it, I still miss the old way, with a handful of bowl games leading up to the climax on New Year’s Day, with five or six games on tap. And then it was done. The finality was one of the unmentioned beauties of the sport. (Anyone else out there besides me think the post-January 1st games were at least a little anti-climactic?) However, with the almost yearly emergence of a “non-BCS conference” team who sports a stellar record and garners their share of publicity, the old bowl formats simply aren’t feasible any more, as the gap has closed greatly between teams like Boise State this season (and Utah in ’04, to cite another example), and the BCS conferences’ top dogs. Even as recently as 2001, when Fresno State had an impressive run and got as high as eighth in the AP poll, the distance between the haves and the have-nots was noticeably greater then it is now. The Bulldogs, as much as they accomplished that year, were ultimately brought to earth late in the season, proving they weren’t quite ready for prime time. Not a knock on Fresno State, it’s just a fact that teams in so-called second-tier conferences are getting closer to being able to play with the big boys. And by the way, when you think about how preposterous and arrogant it is of the NCAA to determine that certain conferences were not worthy of playing in the BCS championship game, is it really a championship game with full credibility? They are all Division 1-A, right?

March Madness has its Cinderella every year. Why couldn’t Boise State have been allowed to go to the ball this year? I will not attempt to correlate the NCAA basketball tournament and any proposed football tournament any further than that, since most sports fans would not hesitate to tell me that they are different animals, and they are. But I think you get my drift.

Rumblings of a playoff after the current BCS agreement expires in a few years have already surfaced. And its time has finally come. The main reasons against a playoff have been echoed by every opponent, including the NCAA, for quite some time now and are well-known: An extended season would hurt the student-athletes, and a playoff would lessen the luster of many, if not all, of the bowl games. With the amount of college bowl games currently at about 80, or so it seems, and numerous 6-6 teams playing in these bowl games, those two situations warned against by opponents of a playoff have already come to fruition. In fact, a playoff may improve the current sad state of bowl saturation in college football. Scale back the amount of bowl games somewhat, say to about 20. That would still give 40 deserving teams a chance for a post-season game. Over and above those 40 teams, the top eight or 12 would enter into a tournament, with games beginning around the first week of December and lasting until the first week of January at the latest, which is when the (mythical) national championship game is now played anyway. And please don’t tell me about losing the tradition of the great New Year’s Day bowl games and their meaning. With “major” bowl games now stretching from the first of January to the 9th, and several days in between it seems, that tradition was thrown out the window by the double-talking NCAA long ago. And a significant portion of the expenses incurred by these universities for travel, lodging, etc., could be offset by the ridiculous amount of money taken in through advertising and other revenue generated by college football, an amount which I think we can all agree is huge.

As for the exact particulars and layout of the games, that can be addressed at a later date. As I mentioned, we have a couple years to work on that. But one thing is painfully clear-college football fans, teams, and schools deserve better.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Congratulations to the Florida Gators, their fans, and all who had something to cheer about this college football season.

For the rest of the week, I pledge not to:

-Read, nor comment, on T.O. going back to Philly for this week's game.

-Read, comment, nor watch, any baseball playoffs, since I am a reformed baseball junkie. (Except an occasional glance at the Minnesota Twins, my childhood team.)

-Read, nor comment, on any steroid stories about Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, or Andy Rooney, for that matter, since I don't care anymore.

-Read or say anything about the Arizona State or Arizona Cardinals football team, since I'm out of aspirin. When does the friggin' basketball season start????

-Say the word 'Manning.' That could be a tough one. Wish me luck.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

The Arizona State Sun Devils were beaten handily on Saturday by the 14th ranked Oregon Ducks. 48-13. This on the heels of ASU’s drubbing last week at Cal, 49-21. Until the Cal game, the Sun Devils had been ranked in the top 25 each week this season. I guess going three and oh against the likes of Northern Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado will do that for a team in a major conference. But the boys in maroon and gold have been exposed two straight weeks. And that should surprise no one. Head coach Dirk Koetter, (pronounced ‘cutter’), now in his sixth season, has gone 2-18 versus ranked teams since coming to Tempe from Boise State. And he is 0-8 against Cal and USC. And although his overall won-loss record at Arizona State is a few games over .500 (Yippee!), his record against the Pac 10 conference in his five plus years here is 17-27. The Oregon game was played at home in 100 degree temperatures, something his team is used to and was looked at as an advantage. It was anything but.

Under the fairness heading, Cal has rebounded nicely from their opening game drubbing at Tennessee, and is trying to prove that game was an aberration. They look like a solid team who will play in an above average bowl game. And Oregon had an off week last week to prepare for ASU in the wake of their highly disputed win over Oklahoma. Who knows what would have happened had Oregon played ASU without a bye. But some cold, hard facts are impossible to ignore. In addition to what I’ve already mentioned, Rudy Carpenter, ASU’s sophomore quarterback, was 6-19 vs. the Ducks with 33 passing yards. No misprint, no touchdowns, one interception. In an extremely crucial point in the game that defined the offensive woes in a nutshell and one that could have turned the momentum immensely, Carpenter missed a wide open Rudy Burgess by several yards. To recap, Oregon received the second half kickoff. The Sun Devils defense produced a three and out, and Oregon’s punter shanked one out of bounds for an 11 yard punt, giving ASU the ball at the Oregon 31 yard line, trailing 24-3. On third and seven, Burgess, their biggest big play threat at the receiver position, got space between him and the defender and was open on an out pattern. He could have run for miles after making the catch. Or at least thirty yards. Except the ball was thrown so poorly that he couldn’t even make an attempt at it. Koetter then decided to go for it, probably rightly so, but didn’t make it, in effect sealing the outcome of the game early with over 25 minutes of football left to be played.

The preseason quarterback situation has been well documented. Last year’s starter, Sam Keller, had a stellar start to the ’05 season before being sidelined with an injury halfway through. Carpenter, a red-shirt freshman last year, took over the last five games and the potent offense didn’t miss a beat. Upon further review, however, those games came against the worst defenses in the conference and a Rutgers team in the Insight Bowl that was average defensively, at best. Just before this season, Keller, who was originally named the starter just days earlier before Koetter flip-flopped and gave it to Carpenter, decided he didn’t like the way the whole thing was handled and transferred to Nebraska. He will be eligible to play for the ‘Huskers in ’07 after sitting out this season. The general consensus among Sun Devil fans was that Carpenter was a bit more talented and had more upside, but Keller’s senior leadership has been greatly missed this season. It would be hard to believe Keller would have performed so poorly in the last two games.

In another stunning development, the running game, which has been lackluster during Koetter’s tenure and somewhat of an afterthought used only to keep defenses honest, has turned out to be the offense this season. ASU is deep at that position, and Ryan Torain recorded his second straight 100 yard game against the Ducks.

In all fairness to Rudy Carpenter, he is far from the only problem the Sun Devils have. And it's becoming increasingly evident he is in over his head. He is simply the most visible flaw, as quarterbacks usually are. And ASU did lose four experienced receivers from last year's squad who have proven difficult to replace. Also, the defense, supposedly much improved over last season’s ‘bend and then break’ squad, seems to miss more tackles each week, and the Ducks ran a quick-toss wide receiver screen several times yesterday that seemed to catch the ASU defense off guard every time. Returning to the subject of Dirk Koetter, he has Carpenter run to the sidelines between plays to get the play call directly, which makes it very difficult for a quarterback, especially a young one, to get into the flow of the game, I would think. He had Sam Keller do the same last year, and Andrew Walter before him. Most teams above an eighth grade level would send the play in either through signals or an incoming player. Koetter’s forte has always been offense. He has a great offensive mind, which enabled him to land the job in Tempe. Or at least he used to. But head coaching at a major division one school is a bit out of his league. Call it the Mike Martz syndrome; great offensive mind, not head coaching material, at least not on a national stage. Unfortunately for Sun Devil fans, Koetter was given a contract extension after last season, which is fine if you’re content with going to the Mediocrity Bowl every year. Other than ASU’s 9-3 year in 2004, which ended in a victory over Purdue in the Sun Bowl, Koetter’s Sun Devil teams have been nothing to brag about. And with the recent lack of competitiveness in two important conference games, the program is about as stagnant as can be. Arizona State needs to bite the bullet, replace Koetter at year’s end, and start anew. Easier said than done, of course, with several years left on Koetter’s new deal. But with second tier, or worse, bowl games on the horizon, as well as a half full Sun Devil Stadium fast becoming the norm, fans deserve better. Admittedly, the 73,000 seat “House that Frank Kush Built” isn’t the easiest to fill, given the fact that there is huge competition for the fans’ sports dollars in a city that also has teams in the four major sports, as well as just about any other sporting event one can imagine. But being on national TV and having fans disappear in the second half faster than you can say, “touchdown, Oregon!” is not a good position to be in, especially with Koetter and crew hitting the recruiting trail during the upcoming bye week. I'm guessing ASU's '06 football slogan, "Pride In The Desert," won't be mentioned too often.

Speaking of the bye week, perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel. ASU has an extra week to prepare for perennial conference doormat USC in the Coliseum on October 14th. And it’s almost basketball season. The Sun Devils have a new coach they hired from North Carolina State. And I hear the Suns are supposed to at least be respectable this year. Hmm. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

I was going to call this Five Things I Hate About Sports, but hate is such a strong word, don't you think? Especially since I have become a kinder, gentler blogger. I then considered 'despise, ' loathe,' and 'things that drive me up a wall.' But I settled on ‘dislike’. That should be sufficient to get my point across. In reading this, you may find that some are ongoing and have probably been mentioned before in other forums. You’ll also likely find some that have gone through your mind at times. At any rate, just missing the cut for the list was people who disagree with me. Keep that in mind when making any comment you choose to make. I’m kidding, for those of you who don’t know me very well. I've actually been thinking about doing this post for some time now, and my list is much longer than what appears here. But it's getting late, and I've got an early tee time tomorrow, so I cut it short. Perhaps a part II will surface soon. Here goes, in no particular order.

1.      The word “notoriety.” This is one that has bugged me for a long time. I heard it misused three times on the radio yesterday alone. As in “Matt Leinart achieved a lot of notoriety for his winning record at USC.” No, he didn’t. A lot of publicity, yes. A lot of acclaim, yes. But notoriety? No. Notoriety is something people like John Dillinger, Al Capone, and Nate Newton have achieved. (Geez, Ricko, you just can’t stay away from a shot at a Cowboy player, can you?) No, I can’t. Not when they’ve achieved so much NOTORIETY. This is one you can hear literally daily on sports broadcasts or telecasts.

2.      “Madden 2007.” (et. al.) The video game was released for public sale in August of 2006. Can we at least play the ’06 season before we have ’07 games? This is not a criticism of John Madden, (that will come later), EA Sports or that particular version of the football game. Many other games do the same thing. I used Madden ’07 as an example because of its timeliness.  Obviously, the 2007 version is based in no small part on the 2005 season, correct? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?

3.      The Miami Heat, the Chicago White Sox, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are currently referred to as “World Champions.” Refresh my memory. Which ‘world championship’ did they win? Are the phrases ‘NBA Champs,’ ‘World Series Champs,” and ‘Super Bowl Champs’ not gaudy enough for us Americans?

4.      John Madden. Forgive me for saying this, please, because I know a lot of fans like him. But if I were watching a football game for the first time, I would find Madden quite useful, with his circling of the center, since I wouldn’t know what a center was, and forward-back up the video of a key block. Over and over. Back and forth, back and forth, since as a novice fan, I probably missed it the first three times. I would probably also enjoy, were I a beginner, a 90 second dissertation on how a play action can fool the defense, but only if the running game is respected. Or an explanation on why the Patriots should sit on the ball with a minute left and play for overtime against the heavily favored Rams in Super Bowl 34. They didn’t, of course, and wound up winning the game. Go eat a turkey leg, John. And while doing so, ponder, ‘what would Brett Favre do?’

5.      All the riffraff they insist on showing during a game these days. Get the garbage off the screen so I can see as much of the field/court/rink, etc. as possible. If I can’t figure out what’s going on, that’s my problem, and I probably shouldn’t be watching.

6.  The BCS fiasco.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

A little break from the current popular sports stories; NBA, Bonds, NHL, etc. Some of the best moments in sports were witnessed by millions but have been forgotten over time in favor of something more memorable that happened later on. As I stated in my 'About Me,' I have a wacked memory for sports happenings. The fact that I can set my keys down and have no idea where they are five minutes later has always baffled me, though. But I've always been able to remember bits of trivia or moments in sports like they happened yesterday, or at least last month. For example, who is the only player in MLB history to hit 35 homers and have 200 hits three straight years? (Answer at the end. The most logical guess would be Lou Gehrig. It's not him). Just one of many bits of trivia I have floating around. Without further ado, (and from memory-hopefully it's accurate), here is my list of some of the most (un)remembered happenings in sports.

1975 World Series: Everyone has seen the footage of Carlton Fisk coaxing his home run fair in the bottom on the 12th inning in Game 6. While there was a certain amount of pressure on him during that at-bat, it was nothing compared to the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox trailed 6-3, were down 3-2 in the Series, had two runners on and two outs. In other words, last gasp. The Red Sox sent up a pinch hitter. He homered. Tie game. Way, way more dramatic that Fisk's home run in extra innings. It's a game that I watched, and I'll never forget it. Unfortunately though, it's been lost in Fisk's later heroics. Nothing against Fisk here. The pinch hitter's name? Bernie Carbo.

Super Bowl XXV: Scott Norwood. That name makes everyone say, "Oh, yeah. That one." Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal at the end of the game that would have won the Super Bowl for Buffalo. A 47-yarder is certainly not a chip shot, and he hit it well. It had plenty of distance, it was just wide by a small margin. Yet he has been villified as if he had hit it like a chunked pitching wedge. What has been forgotten is this: a couple plays before that, Thurman Thomas took a screen pass down to the Giants 17 yard line or so, but it was called back for holding. Nobody ever mentions that play. The real goat is the lineman who committed the penalty. (I'm not condemning the lineman here, just trying to make a point). I'm guessing that Norwood would have made a 35 yarder, but we'll never know. That was the first of four straight Super Bowls the Bills lost. Could it have been the first of two, three, or four that they won? We'll never know that either. Best NFL team that didn't win a championship? Has to be the Bills of the early 90s.

Rose Bowl 1997: Ohio State won with a late touchdown against Arizona State. The same Arizona State team that vaulted from #24 in the rankings into the top ten with a 19-0 victory over defending champion Nebraska early in the season. Jake Plummer was the QB of that Sun Devil team, and had a phenomenal season. What got lost in ASU coach Bruce Snyder's asinine decision to squib kick it after his Sun Devils had scored with a minute and a half left is this: During ASU's scoring drive to take the lead before that, Plummer threw an absolutely perfect fade pattern on fourth and 11 to a receiver who was covered like a blanket but caught the ball in the only possible place it could be thrown-over his outside shoulder. He made a spectacular diving catch that would be remembered as one of the great plays of all time had ASU won he game. Later on third and goal from the 11, Plummer dropped back to pass and had to scramble after finding no one open and getting pressured. And what a scramble it was. He somehow got the ball into the end zone. How Plummer didn't win the Heisman that year is beyond me. (Some guy from Florida won it. Must have been the media hype). To this day, one of the greatest games I've ever seen.

Nolan Ryan: Okay, this one isn't a moment, but rather a statement to those who say Roger Clemens is the greatest living pitcher. For starters, Ryan was 8-16 in 1987 but led the league in ERA. Think about that for a minute. (Again, these numbers are off the top of my head, so accuracy is hoped for, but not a given. I can assure you that they are not too far off). Ryan had 14 complete game one-hitters. A staggering number. So are his seven no-hitters, especially considering that two of those came after his 40th birthday. He had over a hundred games in his career where he struck out ten or more batters. Look at his innings pitched, complete games, and strikeout totals. And while you are doing that, keep in mind that even in his mid-40s, he still overpowered hitters on a regular basis. Clemens has had the luxury, due to free agency, of playing with some very good teams with good offenses. Ryan never had that.  (Since I am just a wealth of information, here's a tidbit for our younger bloggers: Steve Carlton once won 27 games for a Phillies team that won 54 all season. I'll let you do the math and imagine that one.)

Answer to above trivia question: Jim Rice

Thanks for taking the time to read.  ricko