I dropped into Gila River Arena to check in on the Coyotes. The Arena was packed. Yes, most of the patrons were wearing Chicago Blackhawk gear, but the seats weren’t empty. Our hometown hero’s on the ice are scuffling. What once looked like a sure bet to make the postseason has now become less certain. After Saturday nights shoot-out loss to the Blackhawks, the Coyotes are much closer to the bottom of the playoff standings than the top. Last August on the day that Billionaire Alex Meruelo was introduced as the new owner, I asked him “how are you going to handle the inevitable 3-4 game losing streak”. I liked everything that I had heard out of Meruelo on that day. I like what I’m seeing and hearing around town about where the franchise is heading, but I’ve also been at this sports thing for more than a minute and have observed owners on a whim turn things upside down in an attempt to jump-start a franchise(see Robert Sarver) We don’t have any sort of track record on Meruelo in the face of adversity with his NHL franchise. I don’t think that it’s panic time. There’s 28 games remaining. I thought the Coyotes showed some resilience in coming back from a 2-0 deficit to Chicago…
I guess Phil Mickelson not showing up at WM Open really hurt attendance and enthusiasm for the 16th hole…
No one should be surprised that former ASU football assistants Rob Likens and Donnie Yantis landed good gigs after their time in Tempe. Likens agreed to join the Miami Fla. staff as the wide receiver coach, while Yantis will lead Valor Christian, in Colorado(135 players in the powerful program)…
It wouldn’t be shocked to see a well-known current Valley high school head coach follow Yantis to Colorado and join his staff…
Both Arizona and Arizona State lost quality assistant coaches this past week to Oklahoma. I don’t blame Jamar Cain or DeMarco Murray for leaving. Facts are facts, the TV dollars in the Big 12 are much greater than the Pac-12 so all the Sooners had to do was open the checkbook and move the decimal point. The bigger concern to me for Arizona State is the constant revolving door of the defensive line coach. From 2015 to today, the name plate on that position in the coaching office has read Jackie Shipp(2015), Joe Seumalo(2016), Michael Slater(2017), Shaun Nua(2018), Cain(2019), ? for 2020. I’d pick up the phone and call former Sun Devil Kyle Caldwell over at Saguaro high school. Kyle is ready to leave the nest and could give ASU a much needed Arizona high school presence to go along with Shawn Aguano., who’s been recruiting across the country in recent months…
