April Fools for Suns, Liebrock Comparisons, Thaw with ASU-GCU?

I could do a few lines about the Suns and April Fools Day but there’s nothing funny about what’s gone on in downtown Phoenix over the last eight years. May 29th,  2010 was the date of the last playoff game in Suns history. This is not the time to crack jokes or take shots at something as anemic as what the pro basketball team in Phoenix has become. Five games left in another season of taking fans hard earned dollars and putting out a product that would be better off losing than winning. It makes no sense at all for the team to even TRY to win any of the remaining contests. May 15th is the next significant date for this once proud franchise. That’s the day of the NBA Draft lottery…

No one can deny that Tiger Woods is great(not just good) for sport. The TV ratings that been off the charts over the last month with Woods on the course. He’s been the most compelling story in all of sports so far in 2018. I would expect the coming week to be full of sizzle…

Villanova 2018 < UNLV 1990. Watch the tape…

Thumbs up to Fox Sports Arizona for inserting the speed of each pitch on the screen in their Diamondback broadcasts. It used to be off to the side, now it’s where the ball ends up. Cool to see…

Yasmany Tomas didn’t have anyone force him to sign the deal that the organization presented him. Can’t always blame the players for bad contracts. The Tomas deal will be on the list for worst deals by the Diamondbacks. Every team in pro sports has a list, no one is perfect. Brandon Knight, Eric Byrnes, Mike Ribeiro all signed big deals with teams in Phoenix. The contract had the teams signature on the paper too…

 Phoenix Rising FC has been looking around the Valley at different locations for it’s stadium site. It’s not a done deal that the new facility will be at the present location of their matches by the 101/202 freeway. Heard that a prominent Valley athlete is kicking the tires on joining the Rising ownership group…

Arizona State basketball will have Kansas at home on the 2018/19 schedule. Bobby Hurley told me on last weeks show that the Sun Devils will play St. Mary’s in a neutral site game. The thought of a Hurley v Hurley matchup won’t happen, though he did leave open the idea of ASU and UConn playing in a doubleheader. The Sun Devils and GCU  have been linked to Utah State guard Koby McEwen who has told the Aggies that he’s leaving. McEwen was the Mountain West Conference freshman of the year in 2017 and finished third-team all conference this past season. 

Speaking of the Mountain West, Gonzaga may bolt the West Coast Conference for the MWC. Would GCU be the replacement school for the Zags should they leave? Doubtful. Cost of tuition at GCU vs Santa Clara, Pepperdine, USD, etc is like night and day. Heard that’s a problem for the  WCC school presidents. On the positive side , there’s been some whispers around town that the presidents from GCU and ASU may ACTUALLY  be having a bit of a thawing out. Could it be that we will finally see ‘Lopes and Sun Devils competing against each other? 

On the football recruiting front, expect Chandler tight end Brayden Liebrock to go down as one of the most recruited players in the history of Valley football. Even before spring  recruiting cranks up, Liebrock has already been offered by 21 major schools. I was talking with a longtime college recruiter and brought up the names of  Todd Heap and Zach Miller when talking about Liebrock, “might be better” was the reply. Arizona State was the first school to offer him…

A year ago who had Scooter Molander and Steve Belles out of  high school head football coaching in 2018?…