Tuesday night ASU will take on the two-time defending national champion Florida Gators at Wells Fargo Arena in the NIT quarterfinals. The Sun Devils will play their final home game of the season on Tuesday night as a win will move ASU into the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden and a loss will end the season.

While Florida is no longer the powerhouse they were over the last two years, this year's squad still has plenty of talent and a coach with two national championships under his belt in Billy Donovan. Florida lost all of their talent from their championship teams and has a current roster with seven freshman. Much like the Sun Devils, the Gators are led by an immensely talented freshman wing player. Nick Calathes is a 6'6" stat machine that does everything on the court, averaging 15.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 6.1 apg, and 1.6 spg. While Calathes is the statistical leader, junior Walter Hodge is the elder statesman with experience. Hodge was buried under all of the future pros the last two years but is a very talented guard who can control a game at times. While Florida's strength over the last two years was big, talented post players like Joakim Noah and Al Horford, this year's team is loaded with athletic wings in the 6'6"-6'8" range. The Gator's lone real post presence this year is 6'10" sophomore Marreese Speights who is averaging 14.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 1.4 bpg. Dan Werner and Jai Lucas round out the starting lineup.

The Devils should match up well against Florida in everything from size to youth. Statistically, these two teams are very similar and should play a very interesting game. If the Devils can get a big contribution on offense from someone in addition to James Harden's stellar play, ASU's defense should be able to win this game. Individually there are several matchups to watch as well. James Harden vs. Nick Calathes is the headline matchup and will give fans a chance to see two of the most under-appreciated freshman talents in the country. Jeff Pendergraph vs. Marreese Speights will be the battle in the post and could be the most important matchup of the game. Both teams have guards that rebound the ball well, and these two will be counted on to control the paint. The X-Factor matchup would have to be Ty Abbott vs. Jai Lucas. Both are deep threats and can turn the game if they catch fire from behind the arc.

A trip to New York City is on the line and the Sun Devils have a chance to further prove the "experts" wrong who left them out of the NCAA tournament while Arizona and Oregon predictably fell in the first round. The game begins at 6pm and can be seen on ESPN.

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Relief pitcher Doug Slaten, who has been rehabbing from microfracture surgery on his right knee (same procedure undergone by Chad Tracy), made his spring training debut in Arizona’s 6-5 victory over the Giants today. He allowed no runs and gave up only one hit in his one inning, earning himself a hold.

Micah Ownings started, but was rocked for four earned runs. However, the Diamondbacks, thanks largely to Conor Jackson who drove in 3 RBIs, including a 2-run homer.

Eric Byrnes had 2 infield hits in three AB’s. That’s what you’ve gotta do to break a slump. But he’s not in the lineup tomorrow. C’mon, BoMel, it’s the last week of spring training. Get him in there everyday so he’ll have his rhythm for the start of the season! 

ByrnesBlogger1 

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This was written by Mark on MVN.com 

If there is one thing you can count on with the Arizona Cardinals each year is that they will almost always draft for need on most of their picks and not go with the best player available in the early rounds. They tend to reverse trends in the later rounds and start picking based on best player or scout recommendations, which is why you often see them strike out on their high picks but have some very good mid round talent that ends up playing. If only they would hold to the best player approach for all seven rounds!

Anyways, leading up to the draft now that the Larry Fitzgerald contract is resolved and free agency shopping has pretty much come and gone, it’s time to look at the holes in the roster and use those as clues as to where the team might be headed in the bargain shopping phase of free agency and then in the draft.

1. Corner back and secondary. The club has made clear through several interviews and media outlets locally that they intend to resign Matt Ware and Oliver Celestin once the Fitzgerald contract is approved by the league office and they have the cap room. Both are key special teams players and as last season showed they can step in and provide depth at safety, even though the drop off is pretty steep from the starters. The move of Antrel Rolle to free safety and the return of Aaron Francisco and Adrian Wilson now creates what could potentially become one of the strongest groups of safeties in the NFL. If only the situation at corner back was so rosy! With Eric Green returning from injury and a solid 07, coupled with Rod Hood’s productive year the Cardinals have decent starting cornerbacks. No all pro’s for sure but neither did the NY Giants. The issue is there is zero depth, particularly with Rolle moving to FS. This team absolutely must draft at least two CB prospects in my opinion and look to make a bargain acquisition in the late stages of free agency to find someone to challenge Ralph Brown for the nickel or dime CB position. Look for the Cardinals to use at least two picks this year on CB prospects in what is shaping up as a deep, but not superior, crop of draftable corners.

2. Defensive line. The team continues to build depth in it’s front seven but as the NY Giants showed this year, you can’t have enough premier D linemen to stuff the run and pressure quarterbacks. A great DL makes average corner backs look pretty good. The Cardinals are set at Nose tackle with Gabe Watson and Alan Branch manning the position. I’m hoping Branch makes the same kind of strides that Watson did in year two and that they can form a dynamic and tireless push up the middle of the line. At the under tackle you have Pro-Bowl Darnell Dockett hitting his prime and the surprisingly solid Rodney Bailey backing him up, creating another solid tandem but if Dockett goes down there is going to be a big drop off here. At the LDE position the team gave a tender offer to the Antonio Smith and at the RDE slot they reworked Bert Berry’s contract and signed Travis LaBoy to most likely start in front of Berry. However, the depth is exceptionally thin at DE with only Joe Tafoya, a solid journeyman type, to be possibly resigned so I would look for the team to jump all over Phillip Merling or Derrick Harvey if they some how drop to the 16th slot in the first round. As last season showed this team is exceptionally thin and just above average at DE and they need a substantial upgrade in talent and speed.

3. Linebacker. While the team locked up Gerald Hayes last year and put the franchise tag on Karlos Dansby, this is another area that is solid at the starting position’s but has a huge drop off in talent once the starters are out. The SLB will be manned by Chike Okefor who was poised for a huge season under the new defensive scheme, but who lost the entire season due to injury. His injury opened the door for Calvin Pace to show his stuff, but I really think that in this scheme that Chike is going to be a monster. MLB is held down by Hayes and the WLB is going to be the home for potential pro-bowler Karlos Dansby. The problem becomes there is almost zero depth and talent behind these three and the team lost out on the services of Brandon Chillar due to the Fitzgerald contract so they are now going to be looking for a versatile LB in the draft as well as another vet to provide some depth and experience. Watch for a top five rounds pick at the linebacker position as well as one more signing as this team is exceptionally vulnerable if any of the three starters goes down to injury.

4. Offensive tackle. The addition of Levi Brown and the solid play of Mike Gandy gives the Cardinals a decent tandem. Elton Brown demonstrated that both he and Reggie Wells can move to tackle in a pinch, but I don’t think anyone wants to see either of them as our starters at tackle for any length of time. The Cardinals desperately need another young stud tackle to develop, particularly with Oliver Ross being cut and few if any prospects at the position on the roster. If a potential franchise LT slips to the 16th slot, such as Chris Williams of Vanderbilt I think the Cardinals would be crazy to pass on him. They are a torn ACL from total chaos at the tackle spot and even if they don’t get a guy like Williams at 16 you can count on them grabbing a prospect in rounds 3 through 6 on draft day.

5. Running back. I personally don’t think it’s a huge area of need as Edgerrin James is one of the most durable and reliable running backs in the NFL. Sure they would like to add a break away change of pace back, but thats a result of J.J. Arrington never panning out as a second round pick because he should be filling that role but he just has never gotten it done. I see the RB spot as one where you look for a mid to late round steal to put in the mix so you can release Arrington or Shipp and put some fresh legs in there to back up edge. I definitely don’t see the team taking a high pick at RB but in the late third to sixth round I would expect them to take advantage of an incredibly deep group of running backs to find a prospect here. As mentioned before I think Ryan Torrain is going to be the steal of the mid round and I’m hoping the Cardinals grab him.

6. Wide receiver. While set at the starting slot I listened to a radio interview with OC Todd Haley two days ago when he talked about who the guys are that could fill the third and fourth receiver slots for this team now that Bryant Johnson has left via free agency. I get the impression this staff really likes the potential of Jereme Urban and that Steve Breaston has made real strides in his rookie year. However, I will be shocked if the Cardinals don’t make a mid to late round pick at WR to add a slot receiver or some real speed to the mix. The big risk of having so much money tied up in Fitz and Boldin is if they go down to injury you don’t have much money to spend on depth to back them up, so you better find some cheap free agents or rookies to fill that void. Watch for at least one pick to be used at WR.

Well, that pretty much sum’s up the team needs. They are getting very strong up the middle on both sides of the line, at MBL and safety and have the key skill players at QB, WR and RB to compete. This is going to be a draft that builds depth, upgrades the defensive line, CB and pass rush and hopes to find a solid RB. Who those players will be and where they take them is always the intrigue.

Once again i’ll make my prediction that this staff will want to build the lines first so you can look for Chris Williams the OT from Vandy, Phillip Merling the DE from Clemson or Derrick Harvey the DE from Florida to be the picks for the Cardinals depending on who is there when they get to the 16th slot.

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4:30pm start for Suns/Pistons tonight? Don't these people know some of us have to work every day? Better get my butt in gear so I can head home early to watch the Suns hopefully exact some revenge.

Some quick thoughts on tonight's game:
-The Pistons lost to Washington last night and their old bones could be tired. A strong start is essential for the Suns, maybe run these guys off the court.

-Detroit loves playing the top teams in the league, they take it personally that someone else is being showered with praise. I really wouldn't doubt if they laid an egg last night to gear up for tonight.

-Rasheed especially killed the Suns the last time these two matched up, Amare will really have his hands full. It'll be interesting to see if Amare can get his 30 and 10 when having to exert more effort on the defensive end.

-it's amazing how far the Suns have come since the Pistons embarrassed them here in Phoenix. They're a totally different team. We can only hope their confidence level remains sky high and they put together a complete game tonight.

-Nash has arguably the toughest matchup of the night. Chauncey is bigger and stronger and isn't afraid to mix it up. Keep an eye on him pushing off on offense and really bodying Nash on the defensive end.

-the Pistons scare me more than Boston does. I know the Celtics are scorching hot again and have Pierce, KG and Allen but Detroit has been together for years now. They run on what seems like auto pilot. It's amazing what experience and chemistry can do for a team.

-looks like Raja will be playing. Many people think LB should continue to get the nod as he averages a whopping 25 a game when this happens but this understates what Raja brings to the table.

Does anyone really think LB will be able to chase Richard (I refuse to call him Rip) Hamilton around screen as effectively as Raja? He'll put more points on the board but Raja is a cornerstone of this team. To break that down now would be folly. Besides, he's been bombing threes as well as anyone lately.

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Eric Byrnes has gone 1-13 in the week between St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, inclusive. During the week, he played every other day. I think there is a connection. The 7 days before, he went 6-13 with a homer and a couple of doubles. He played several games in succession. The issue for him may not be the number of AB’s he needs to develop and maintain his rhythm, but the number of AB’s in a row.

Eric, in order to get 200 hits this year, you’ve got to limit those o-fer streaks. Nothing in double digits. If you find yourself going 2 games in a row without a hit, drop a bunt down the third base line or poke a bloop over the 3B’s head into that no man’s land down the left field line where the Rockies dumped a big hit against Brandon Webb in the playoffs last year, or hit a Texas Leaguer into the no man’s land that is short center field between the SS, 2B and CF. Look for the hole and hit ‘em where they ain’t. These down cycles are the time to practice your situational hitting.

Deliberately get those kinds of hits that most people think are lucky shots? Yes. When you do it on purpose it’s called bat control not luck. And it adds points to your batting average, and can also add to things like RBIs, runs scored and stolen bases. You don’t want to overdo it; you are a power hitter, not a banjo hitter. But whalin’ away when you are in a slump is not the way to get out of the slump.

Besides, surprising ‘em can be fun. I still remember the bunt you dropped in Baltimore against Eric Chavez of the A’s who was playing back. You eventually scored that inning. <heh-heh-heh>

ByrnesBlogger1

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(AP Photo/Matt York) Amarè Stoudemire scored 38 points, including a record 20-of-20 on free throws, as the Suns beat the Rockets 122-113 last night at the US Airways Center.

STAT had one of his best games of the season, a game that also included 9-of-15 shooting from the field, 13 boards and 4 blocked shots. “Actually he would be the only one, no one else is going to the line 20 times and he’s such a good shooter” said Nash showing much-deserved appreciation for his teammate. Stoudemire broke the 37-year old franchise record held by Paul Silas.

With Shaq in the line up Amaré has averaged almost 29 points and 10 rebounds a game. His defense (more or less) still stinks but playing alongside the Big Cactus is making Amamré a better player.

The Suns outscored the Rockets early on, 38-21 after one quarter, including a 12-3 run to open the game, and shot an amazing 76 percent in the first half. The Suns ended the game at almost 57 percent from the field and 95 percent (38-for-40) from the free throw line
“Obviously the first half was really good (…) when you shoot 77 percent in the first half and we end up 56.5 percent, it’s pretty good” said Coach D’Antoni.

The Suns had six players with at least 10 points including Shaq with 23 and 13 rebounds (good game for the big cactus), Nash with 15 and Barbosa with 21 (9-of-13 from the field) starting in place of injuried Raja Bell.

One curious note from the box score, Nash had 5 assists while Grant Hill had 10. Before yesterday’s game, I can’t recall the last time a player not named Nash led the Suns in the assists category.

Houston, of course without Yao Ming for the rest of the year, had 30 points from Tracy McGrady (along with 9 assists and 8 rebounds) and 16 from Luis Scola.

Phoenix never looked back from that great start and dominated the game en route to their seventh straight win. With the win the Suns overtook the Rockets on 3rd place of Conference standings and are now one game behind the Lakers in the Pac5.

The Suns will now head East for a tough 4-game stretch that will start with a Monday game (4:30 PM) in Detroit before going to Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Enjoy Easter and Good luck with the eggs !

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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(2 votes, avg: 5 out of 5)

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Hola! Yotie fans. Hat Trick and Teal have been very, very busy. Hattie and Teal and I are proud to present another set of goodies to peruse on your visits to Coyotes Hip Check.

Check out the picture gallery under the Papparzzi button and the Web Prowlin section has some news too (member that radio show we talked about? more Coyotes presence there in the coming weeks). Widgets, gadgets and news all over the place.

Be sure to visit the revised header for direct links to some of our prospects in college and around the minor leagues.

Mouse over the pics on the Den front page for a better view, watch the marquee for quick hit updates as they happen and be sure to let us know what you think and of course your suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Come on in! Make yourselves comfortable and enjoy!

Thanks for the great comments and makin the site successful. 

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Well … in a rare appearance of our alter egos we go down like the famous and mythical bird that bears our name. Hopefully to rise again in 08 stronger, more resilient, faster and more experienced. Dropping games in ugly succession to the Oil, Nucks and now the Kings… ouch. Barring a miracle of Biblical proportions the boys are now playing for pride, learning and chemistry development.

We got swept by the Oily bohunks. It was ugly, the problem was they are just as fast as we are, they don’t have any BIG stars they too are rolling a lot of small threats every game, their goal tending can be just as streaky as ours. We got caught on days when their goalies were hot as hell(check out Rollie’s stats … some of his best games were against us) and although we tried, we just couldn’t establish OUR tempo and ended up playing to their tune and 1 step behind all 4 games. The last game we actually managed to score more than 2 goals! and managed to keep tying it up too. But as the 4 - 8 score indicates we totally lost our lil minds in the third and left the ice on the ends ot the Oiler’s series brooms.

We also got caught in the Linden backlash. The Canucks got the Gipper speech from Trevor Linden and totally morphed into the Power Puff Girls or something. Suddenly the wonder twins managed to get their rings together and become harder to intimidate and harder to catch, much less hit. Of course we happened to be in full out crapitude mode from our net to our forecheck which is NEVER a good thing. The 2 goal shuffle we were mired in didn’t help either.

AP photo

So the last mathematical possibility is just about over and with all of our enemies too far to catch w/ out divine intervention… we faced the Kings to begin our battle back to the team from January (I hope). Booyah! We score 5 goals! The scoring committee was back! Even Rhino found a lil puck sense. (Poor Vrbie is still in the wickedest slump evah!… his agent could just cry right about now) Without Jovo and Hanzal and with Z playing in spite of the fact that he shoulda been nursin a bad wing, we didn’t do too bad. The new King’s goalie Ersberg is amazing. No wonder the Kings are playing with renewed vigor and confidence. If he had been in net at the season start those boys mighta had a real good shot at a run. So anyway… the Kings finally get by us 5 - 6 final after a shoot out… poor Telly he just seems to get caught in those long running shoot em ups.

But at least these 3 losses did not go for nought. With the playoffs out of reach maybe reality can set back in and we can get back to Plan A - the rebuild. I hope the plans for the off season include a little chat w/ the people responsible for the referees about some fairness and safety for Carci.

AP photo

I mean this is becoming ridiculous, foolish and is definitely buffoonish. Calling the kid for everything under the sun is one thing, calling the kid for majors no one has ever seen b4 is another, but letting the kid get beat to death is a whole nother story.

AP photo

The refs are supposed to be fair and objective, the arbitrators of fair play. Instead they are turning into vindictive and petty dictators who skew the games due to a predjudice that has no place in their calls.

Who is looking forward to a delicious Duck dinner? I know I am… without all this white out talk getting in the way, maybe the boys can get their teeth into some good old fashioned hockey again. Coyotes style. Forechecking, (hip checking too please Bally), scoring committee, Breezalicious, Coyotes style hockey. Play hard, get deep and score like Hiller is made of cream cheese!

Go Coyotes!

~pics from BTinAZ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157604153391788/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleedintealinaz/sets/72157604189002148/

onyxstarr@coyoteshipcheck.com

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(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Matt Scarborough of the blog “Diamondhacks” reports from a recent Spring Training game between the geographically challenged Angels and the Oakland Athletics:

It bears repeating, especially here, that even during a Cactus League tilt between the AL’s Angels and Athletics, one cant escape the universal truth that ladies everywhere seem to crave Byrnesie:

[I don’t know that these ladies really dig Byrnesie, or that they just happened to be walking behind someone who does, but I sure admire the sartorial tastes of the bald guy!–ByrnesBlogger1].

That said, Phoenix Muni stadium affords fans with plenty of alternatives to look at, like this panorama of Papago Buttes, a modern rock climbing area and strategic Hohokam lookout for over a thousand years:

Vladimir Guerrero is one of my favorite players to watch. Here he is, framed between two of Muni’s colossal light towers, imported from NYC’s old Polo Grounds almost half a century ago:

He’s such a physically unique player, with an almost ungainly body. Vladdy was quiet until the seventh when he parked a grand slam to win the game. [The Final Score: 6-1 Byrnesblogger1]. I don’t think too many fans currently think of Guerrero as a Hall of Fame track player, but I definitely feel he is. A much stronger hitter than any of the current HOF wannabe outfielders (Dawson, Parker, Murphy) and, I think, a better all around player.

[I agree. Vladdy’s a lifetime .325 hitter with over 1100 RBI heading into 2008. He’s also just 35 homers shy of 400, so we may see him make that mark this year. And before the injuries struck, Vladdy’s arm was one you did not challenge. - ByrnesBlogger1].

Well, not everything at the ballpark was eye candy. The cheapest seats in the park ran $10 a pop, more than at many MLB stadiums. For a split squad practice game. A slice of spring training pizza cost $7. If that’s not enough to elicit a sour expression, check out the price of lemonade:

One final, sad and kinda weird note. Shortly after we entered the stadium, we encountered a heavy set man flat on his back, shirt pulled up and pants pulled down, being feverishly attended to by medical personnel. Needless to say, we didn’t linger or snap a photo, however I could ascertain he was down for a while and honestly don’t know if he made it. Let’s hope so. Sad, for obvious reasons. Weird, in that this is the second quite serious incident I’ve witnessed in my last two Cactus games, after attending games for nearly two decades and not recalling a similar incident. Last spring, a woman at Tucson Electric Park received a great deal of assistance and was ultimately wheeled out on a gurney, on an unusually hot day. Today was cooler, but still about 80 degrees in the shade - and rather uncomfortable in the sun, which in this ballpark is almost everywhere.

Not sure what it all means. More people at the parks. More older, obese, or otherwise at risk, fans. Coincidence. Who knows? One thing I will say is that it’s hot at these Arizona day games, at least in the sun. The Cactus League promotes a Chamber of Commerce image about our awesome weather - and in the shade or at night it’s justified - but these day games can be deceptively dehydrating and dangerous. Also, with the venues becoming more crowded, more fans are opting to leave the cramped metal bleachers to stand for extended periods, which further reduces the amount of “standing” shade available to at risk fans.

[You can read the blog Diamondhacks at http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/ If you’ve got a write up of a spring training game you’d like to see published, drop me a line: byrnesblogger1 [at] azsportshub.com/].

ByrnesBlogger1

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It's been another good week thus far for the Suns. Can't argue with the results that much, two more victories were notched. Sure, the game in Seattle featured a staggering amount of turnovers but the Suns were able to impose their will in the 4th quarter and take care of business.

The suddenly reeling Rockets are in town tomorrow and will most likely try and muck things up and slow the game down. It's unfortunate Raja will not be able to participate. Expect some pre and post game thoughts tomorrow.

Onto some links.

-Tim Donaghy is a piece of crap. And David Stern was his enabler. Now it seems he's more a piece of trash than previously thought.

-Amare for MVP? He's playing maybe the best basketball of his career right now but I find it to be a bit of a stretch.

I would tend agree with this assessment. It's tough to separate what Amare does from what Nash does. However, Shoals, as always, has a point as well.

One other observation, it's easy to wonder why Amare even cares and why he's thinking about it. Looks to me like he was asked the question, so at least in this case, criticism of his ego is unwarranted.

-Nash continues to show us he's much more than a basketball player. I'm very interested in what he does with his post-basketball life. It's abundantly clear there aren't many people in the world with their heads screwed on as straight as Steve Nash.

-for as well as the Suns have played they're still 11th in Hollinger's Power Rankings. Marc Stein uses more common sense than numbers and has the Suns at number 7. Marty Burns places the Suns 10th in the league and believes they still have work to do.

That sound you just heard from the Suns' locker room was Shaq grumbling: "We got 'em right where we want 'em."

-Jack McCallum finally spends some more time with the Suns. Oh how I wish he'd write a book about our team every year.

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This video is rather humorous. It’s great to see Amare and Nash yucking it up and having a good time, especially at Craig Sager’s expense. But take a closer look. Focus on Amare in particular. Notice anything different?

That’s right, he isn’t wearing his jersey.

If you watch Suns basketball night in and night out, this is a recurring theme. As soon as the final whistle blows, Amare tears off his jersey and walks off the court rocking nothing more than his padded black tank top.

It makes me absolutely friggin’ nuts.

It shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. After all, it’s just a jersey, he’s playing great, great basketball right now, and the Suns are are on a hot streak with nowhere to go but up.

But again, it drives me up the wall.

Amare is one of the most exciting basketball players I have ever seen. So much so I named my Suns blog for him. He does things on the court no other man his size has done before. He’s worked incredibly hard on his game and has become a deadly shooter from the outside (hopefully his defense follows suit.)

And like most gifted people, he has the ego to go along with his superhuman traits. He gave himself a nickname (while it’s a good one, this isn’t normal) he changed his number from 32 to 1, and he has a tattoo naming himself “Black Jesus.” This is all well and good and I love it. It’s important to have swagger and confidence in one’s abilities.

Where I draw the line is the jersey coming off, because a player’s jersey is what connects him to his team, it makes him part of a cohesive unit put together to achieve the goal of a championship. Intentional or not, Amare’s insistence on removing his jersey after the games not in the locker room but on the court separates him from his teammates. It puts doubt in my mind that he’s out there for the team and not for selfish reasons.

I don’t know for sure why he does it. The most likely explanation is his aforementioned ego and that he can feed it by showing off his chiseled physique. A yahoo or google image search gives credence to this. Another thought is he gives his jersey to a lucky fan after each game. However, if this is the case, Amare needs to channel Gilbert Arenas and Trent Walker and give us a big production in doing so.

Whatever the intent and explanation, I’m sure this practice will continue, along with my blood pressure rising every time it does. The last thing the Suns need is their superstar putting himself on an island and placing his ego above the team. If the team is to finally win that elusive championship we all crave so much, everyone needs to be on the same page.

Unfortunately, each time Amare removes that jersey, it makes me wonder if he’s even reading the same book as his teammates. And I know I’m not the only one.

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The players came over to slap hands with the student-section.  One by one the players ran by, but it was Jeff Pendergraph’s face that said it all.  The previous two seasons Pendergraph had suffered through consecutive losing season with ASU.  While he was certainly disappointed the Sun Devils were left out of the NCAA tournament, he was clearly ecstatic to finally feel like the big dog.

The Sun Devils have now advanced to the “elite” eight of the NIT after handling Alabama State and Southern Illinois with little problem.  ASU was given a #1 seed for the tournament, and have certainly been playing like one, trailing only at the beginning of the SIU game.  The Devils will now play the winner of Florida-Creighton on Tuesday.

Even though it’s the NIT, Pendergraph, the rest of the team, and the Sun Devil fans have something to get excited about.  ASU is really starting to gel into a very good team.  It certainly looks like ASU has a chance to compete in the real Elite Eight next year.  That’s for another day, though.  Right now, The Devils are just having fun marching their way to Madison Square Garden.

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(3 votes, avg: 4.67 out of 5)

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Yeah, I know: all of this will just go to show that I should stick to baseball. 

Men’s brackets: My heart is with Indiana but my bracket is with North Carolina.

Final Four picks: NC, Georgetown, Stanford and UCLA with UCLA playing NC for the championship. The Pac 10 has come a long way in the over 25 years I’ve lived on the Left Coast.

On the women’s side (and this is the first time I’ve ever filled in a women’s bracket), I’m rooting for Cal, which is a No. 3 seed, because I live and work in their territory. But I figure that No. 2 seed Stanford will take the championship. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder because they thought they had earned a No. 1 seed.

Final four: Stanford, UConn, LSU & Oklahoma. I have Okla upsetting Tennessee mainly on the strength of home field advantage. It should be a nailbiter.

I notice with the women, the conferences they come from are vital in the seedings. That, and homefield advantage to a lesser extent, guided my picks.

I don’t like the timing. Because of conference tournaments, which I don’t like–I come from the Big 10, which was the last major conference to adopt a post-season tourney–all this “March Madness” stuff actually ends in April. Women on April 6 and men on April 7. That is already a week into the baseball season!

I really don’t like the way the sports seasons run into each other. Now the Super Bowl is in February, the March Madness ends in April and it is now possible to have a normally scheduled World Series game played in November! I want to be thinking football and turkeys in November. Especially this year. With a Presidential Election, I have extra turkeys to think about.

ByrnesBlogger1 

 

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(AP Photo/John Froschauer) The Suns overcame a season-high 27 turnovers (9 by STAT and 6 by Nash) to beat the Sonics in Seattle, 110-98 or, in the words of Steve Nash “We were just sloppy and tired and I think everyone wanted it to be easy“. It was not of course.

Seattle had the lead, for the first time in the game, 78-77 in the third quarter but an 11-0 run by Phoenix, sparked by Raja from the perimeter, re-established the situation for the Suns.

The Suns shot an amazing 57 percent (43-for-75) from the field including an NBA record 15-of-21 from 3-point range as no team had made 15 3-pointer while shooting a minimum of 20.

“It was one of those nights where we were hitting everything and thank goodness because if we would have been cold, we would have been in trouble.” in the words of Coach D’Antoni.

Stoudemire led the Suns with 26 points, Nash had 23 points and 11 assists while Barbosa scored 19 points off the bench. Shaq, who had only 9 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and along with Boris Diaw (10) helped the Suns outrebound the Sonics 43-32 in the game.

Raja Bell (20 points, perfect on 6 3-point shots) had to leave the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. X-rays after the game were negative but his situation will be evalauated later today to check how long he’ll have to rest. Raja is playing his basketball of the year and the Suns can’t afford to lose him for more then a few days. Let’s hope it’s nothing too serious.

It was the sixth straight win for the Suns (46-22) who are now only a half game behind the Lakers in the Pac5. The Western Conference looks very confusing right now with 7 teams within 3 games of one another.

A much needed win indeed as the Suns will now face possibly the three hottest teams in the NBA, Houston at home on Saturday (7 PM), Detroit on Monday (4:30 PM) and Boston on Wednesday (4:30 PM) both on the road.

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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