Phoenix News Blog

Word from ASU today that its longtime head baseball coach Pat Murphy has resigned is a mind-blower on every level.

​The immediate explanation?

None.

We haven't been able to contact one of our favorite coaches yet, though we suspect that Murph will call back at some point soon.

For sure, university Vice President of Athletics (fancy title for Athletic Director) Lisa Love's less-than-revealing written statement sure raises a slew of as-yet unanswered questions.

"Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field," Love said. "I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport."

Thank you, too, ma'am.

Murphy had been ASU's very successul coach since shortly after his legendary predecessor Jim Brock's death in 1994.

Though his Sun Devils never won the coveted NCAA title, the program managed to flourish year after year (no small achievement in college baseball) and consistently was among the nation's top teams. In fact, next year's squad already was being touted as a championship contender, and one of Murphy's potentially best teams.

It's slippery, slashing Rams RB Steven Jackson vs. Arizona's nutty road-field advantage on Sunday in St. Louis.

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Talk about a daft stat.

If the Arizona Cardinals get back to the Super Bowl in 2010, it'll likely be thanks to their nutty road-field advantage. Sitting pretty with a road record of 4-0 (6-3 overall) in '09, Ken Whisenhunt's Redbirds got smoked on the road last season by scores of 47-7 (New England), 48-20 (Philadelphia), and 56-35 (New York Jets).

With road games remaining against St. Louis, Tennessee, San Francisco, and Detroit, this year's Birds have a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime shot at going 8-0 away from Glendale's happy confines. (Heck, they haven't even made it to 5-0 for more than six decades. Fans of history should note that that team, the 1948 Chicago Cardinals, made it to the NFL Championship Game, but lost 7-0 to the Eagles.)

Ironically, the two biggest bumps in the thruway for the Cards have a combined record of 4-14. That would be the Rams (1-8) on Sunday and the Titans (3-6) the week after, and that would be because of St. Louis running back Steven Jackson (ranked third in the NFL in rushing with 915 yards) and Tennessee RB Chris Johnson (No. 1 with 1,091 yards).

In the week since the Suns played the Hornets, New Orleans fired head coach Byron Scott and lost point guard Chris Paul to injury.

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Winning is gravy. Hustle is the meat.

A little elbow grease on the hardwood is all Suns fans could've asked for in the searing heat of late October, before Steve Nash's lefty layup with 5.5 seconds to go chilled the Clippers in L.A. and set the template for a seeming Suns rebirth.

Three weeks and a league-best 10 wins later, there's now a decided nip in the morning air, and Nash and the Suns are the hottest team in b-ball. Local media types are starting to use "Phoenix Suns" and "NBA elite" in the same breath. The way the team is winning has many fans wishing it was hot again -- say, May.

Uncool.

utahjazz.com

Seldom-used Sun Jarron Collins played tough end-of-game minutes and nailed the win against Houston.

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No matter what the Beantowners and Angelenos say, damn it, we're going to enjoy it as long as it lasts! As for the LeBron James and Dwight Howard crowds, they can jam a jock-strap in it, too.

Whatever you want to scream about the Suns this year (they're not big enough, two of their starters are ancient, one of them never lives up to his potential, and one of them is prone to stupid off-court problems), they're playing with passion.

Except for their two lopsided road losses to the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers (2009 NBA Finals opponents) after playing the night before on both occasions, the Suns have looked like actual contenders. 

PG Aaron Brooks poured in a career-high 33 against the Lakers Sunday night.

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No Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady? No worries for the Houston Rockets on Sunday night when they took down the reigning-champeen Los Angeles Lakers, 101-91, at Staples Center. Without Ming, who is done for the season, and McGrady, recovering from left-knee surgery, Houston benefited from unlikely contributors Aaron Brooks (a career-high 33 points, including five three-pointers) and David Andersen (a career-high 19 points).

About Andersen, who hails from Down Under, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "We obviously didn't know the scouting report that well on Andersen. We knew he's a shooter, but we didn't see him playing at that level."

www.thescroogereport.com

Kurt Warner

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This was one of those weeks.

In the Cardinals' 31-20 thumping of the Seattle Seahawks (3-6) yesterday in Glendale, the now 6-3 team's offensive arsenal was on display.

www.njit.edu

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Tony Echevarria claims he was merely asking Tyson questions, when Iron Mike snapped and started beating him, breaking his camera and ultimately sending him to the hospital.

Will the real Kurt Warner please stand up?

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Not much good has happened for the 3-5 Seattle Seahawks since the Arizona Cardinals smoked them on October 18 at Qwest Field by a 27-3 count. (Arizona outgained Seattle in total yardage, 344 to 128.) The next week, they were manhandled by the Dallas Cowboys. The following game, they beat the lowly Detroit Lions, though they needed a second-half rally to do so.

Exciting.

www.nba.com

Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers proved why they're the defending NBA champions in last night's defeat of the Phoenix Suns.

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After your team amassed a surprising 8-1 record over the past two weeks (including spectacular wins over Boston and N'awlins), it's likely you thought that Steve Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, and the rest were going to run roughshod over the rest of the NBA's elite during the 2009-10 season and grab ahold of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.

Last night's 121-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers (7-1) proved that ain't gonna be the case. Kobe Bryant and his crew were in fine form as they not only matched but exceeded the Suns run 'n' gun offense with their own speedy playing style. They seemed to be completely in control of the contest, leading by 14 points by the end of the first half and firing off bucket after bucket to sink Phoenix's hopes of sitting atop the Pacific Division standings.

It seems like the only fans who left Staples Center disappointed last night were the cats who were let down they didn't get free Mexican food (Jack-in-the-Box hands out coupons for two free tacos to those in attendance every time the Lakers keep their opponents to less than 100 points). 

www.bossipfiles.com

​One month to the day after telling Oprah he was done using violence to resolve his "issues," Iron Mike Tyson seems to be at it again.

suns.com

Lou Amundson's in-your-face block in the second quarter was symbolic of the whipping the Suns gave the Hornets.

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The Phoenix Suns dominated Chris Paul and New Orleans from the start at US Airways Center last night and wound up blowing out the Hornets (who challenged for NBA Western Conference supremacy a couple of seasons ago) 124-104.

And (in a phrase we were accustomed to using about the scores Suns opponents ran up last year): It wasn't nearly that close.

With the bench playing the entire fourth quarter because Phoenix led by double-digits for most of the game, the Suns pushed ahead by 29. New Orleans managed to make up nine of those points when the back of the Suns bench got in the game in the final minutes.

Steve Nash set the pace with 12 points and 10 assists in 23 minutes, making magical passes the whole way. Amar'e Stoudemire was high scorer for the Suns with 21 points in 25 minutes.

But it was a classic team effort. No Sun had more than seven rebounds, but five had six or above, and Phoenix won the battle (if you could call it that) of the boards, 45-29.

Steve Nash and the Suns have found success in scrappiness.

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Just two weeks ago, in our secret heart of hearts, we were ready to consign 35-year-old Steve Nash to the dustbin of history. Unless you're Steve Nash's mom, you were, too. Be honest. Then came that last-minute beauty shot in the regular-season opener against the Clippers, the 20-assist game against Golden State, the 30 points and four treys against Miami, and the massive 21 point/20 assist effort to lead the Suns back from what looked like certain defeat on Monday night in Philly.

As he did in the MIke D'Antoni years, Nash is engendering (way too) early MVP talk as the centerpiece of a Phoenix Suns team that pulled off tough road wins against the Heat, Celtics, Wizards, and Sixers in less than a week.

www.ecoc.com

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There was speculation that Gretzky might be a no-show for the NHL's hall of fame induction ceremony last night in Toronto to spite the league and its leadership for ousting him from his coaching spot with the Coyotes.

To the delight of Canadians everywhere, number 99 showed up and insisted he's not pissed.

"What's there to be upset by? It's the greatest game in the world. ... I'm very proud of it. And life goes on," Gretzky tells the Ottawa Citizen.

www.nba.com/suns

Jason Richardson: Another high-scoring effort.

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Even the most fanatical of Suns worshippers couldn't have imagined such an outcome. A weeklong five-game road trip to the East Coast, including bouts against powerhouses Boston and Orlando, wrapping up with four wins for the Suns?

Believe it. The Phoenix Suns are for real, and have to be considered viable contenders in the Western Conference after a gutty, come-from-behind, 119-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Philly on last night.

www.thescroogereport.com

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Yesterday, in the Cards 41-21 beat down of Da Bears in Chi-town, Kurt and the offense looked superb -- even with wide receiver Anquan Boldin sidelined with an attitude infraction.

About 90 minutes before the game, Boldin was declared inactive -- much like in the NFC championship game last year -- prompting the pissy receiver to spout off saying nobody in the Cardinals organization were "man enough" to tell him in person.

Isn't this the same guy who is constantly outdone by Larry Fitzgerald and is seeking a top-dollar contract extension?

Boldin's bitching aside, the real story coming out of yesterday's slaying: The Bears really suck.

Expect a lot more of this in '09.

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As Da Cards head to Chi-Town for a Soldier Field showdown with Jay Cutler and Da Bears on Sunday, many in Da PHX are still smarting from the Birds' 34-21 mugging by the Carolina Panthers and the world's worst quarterback, Jake Delhomme, last weekend in Glendale.

The fragrant home loss underscored, yet again, the need to address the Arizona Cardinals' out-of-whack offense and slovenly 1-3 record at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Personally, we're not sure what the angst is about. To us, the answer is as clear as the polka dots on Bill Bidwill's bow tie.

Fire Whisenhunt.

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are next on the Suns' docket.

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After getting peppered on Wednesday night by the Orlando Magic, the 4-1 Phoenix Suns continue their beast-of-an-East-Coast swing with one super toughie and one winnable one. (If, that is, they don't go all 2008-09 Suns.)

First up is tonight's clash with the 6-0 Boston Celtics. This will be the Suns' first look in '09 at the team that has retained much of its nucleus from the 2007-08 NBA Championship-winning squad. In other words, Phoenix will have to deal with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo -- plus new addition Rasheed Wallace. Ouch.

NBA.com

Dwight Howard doing his Superman impression at the All-Star Game.

It was only a matter of time.

Yeah, the Phoenix Suns were 4-0 going into last night's game with Superman and the Orlando Magic -- the man of steel being everybody's favorite basketball star nowadays, Dwight Howard.

And Howard & Co. didn't disappoint their legion of fans, who believe their team has the deepest roster in the NBA this year and will win it all, though they certainly bummed us out.

See, we knew the Suns weren't that good this season, but we didn't think they were that bad -- 122-100 bad (and it could've been worse).

www.nba.com/heat

Miami's Dwyane Wade is the newest member of the NBA's 10,000-point club.

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A record of 3-0 to start the season? Even against poor-to-middling competition (L.A. Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves), we'll take it, though we're not deluding ourselves. The other athletic shoe's about to drop on the Phoenix Suns, thanks to the NBA's Special Department of Torture (a.k.a. the schedulers).

Tonight, Phoenix starts one of those harrowing road swings the NBA's infamous for: five games in seven nights against a couple of beasts from the East (Orlando, Boston), two of the Eastern Conference's top second-tier teams (Miami, Philly), and one much-improved squad that might have provided a breather last year, but probably not now (Washington with a healthy Gilbert Arenas).

Did we mention that the brutal swing includes a couple of nasty-ass back-to-backs?

Winning two out of the five would be a signature sort of victory for a Suns team that's still finding its way with a reconstituted lineup and a revamped Fun 'n' Gun.

Three of five? Bonus -- and confirmation that (as we suspect) these Suns are better than they're being given credit for nationally. (They should be, what with five starters who were first-round draft picks, three of those Top 10.)

Zip out of five? To paraphrase the inimitable Ms. Margo Channing -- who knew jack-squat about b-ball, but a lot about odds -- fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.