Best College Team 2009 | Phoenix College women's softball team | Arts & Entertainment | Phoenix
Navigation
Support Us
Search

Best College Team

Phoenix College women's softball team

It may seem odd to select the Phoenix College Bears fast-pitch softball squad as the Valley's best team in a year when they didn't win the national championship. After all, the school had won five previous nationals in a row, a remarkable feat by any measure. But, heck, they finished second (to a team from Normal, Illinois) and destroyed the local competition for the 10th straight season. The Bears consistently rank high in academics, which counts for something in our book. For a body of work that grabbed our attention years ago and continues to shine, Phoenix College softball hits a home run in our park.

Best College Coach

Herb Sendek

The former coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack and 2004 Atlantic Coach Conference Coach of the Year has done the impossible, if not unthinkable, by putting ASU's beleaguered program back on the rails in recent years. Still, some contend he's not even the best skipper on his own campus, citing ASU baseball's Pat Murphy and ASU women's basketball's Charli Turner Thorne. Still others, gazing enviously southward, believe Sendek's star has been somewhat eclipsed by the University of Arizona's coup earlier this year in snagging recruiting whiz kid Sean Miller from mid-major powerhouse Xavier.

Nothing against Murphy, Turner Thorne, or former Sendek acolyte Miller, but in terms of pure coaching ability, Sendek rules the Arizona roost. There's no better whiteboard guru in the country, and his track record with the X's and O's in Tempe — hardly a basketball school — bears that out. Taking over for the hapless Rob Evans in 2006, Sendek led the Devils to the National Invitational Tournament in 2007 and the promised land, the NCAA Tournament, last year.

If Herb can keep a few of those blue-chip recruits from falling into Sean Miller's greedy hands — and ASU athletic director Lisa Love can keep other programs' greedy mitts off Sendek — this guy's got the hardwood chops to transform ASU into a perennial NCAA Sweet 16 entry.

Best College Coaching Legend

Pat Murphy

The following adjectives aptly describe the controversial longtime ASU coach: bullheaded, mercurial, self-absorbed. Also: witty, loyal, sensitive. We like our high-profile coaches complicated, and none is more so than Murphy, who won his 1,000th game during this year's College World Series, where his overachieving Sun Devils finished an impressive third. Murph, as he's known to many, has his fans — and detractors. The latter consider him a brutish sort with a temperament more suited to a mean-spirited corrections officer than to a college baseball coach. We're in the fan category, having watched him coach (and watched him mature) during his 15-plus years at the helm of ASU's storied baseball program. He may not be Mr. Lovable come game time, but his players work their butts off for him and constantly produce — or else.

Best Reason to Believe the Cardinals Will Be Better than Last Year

Beanie Wells

All the sports pontificators like to predict that the Arizona Cardinals won't make it to the Super Bowl again next season. They like to say that losing teams in recent Super Bowls have tended to tank, some failing to boast even a winning record the next year.

All true. But, despite that opening-game loss, we believe the Cards will be better. We're not crazy enough to say they will make it to the Super Bowl again, but we think they will go far in the post-season. Look at the team roster. All the key offensive players will be back: Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, a much-improved offensive line. Who won't be back is Edgerrin James, a great running back in his time who was over the hill by the time he donned Cardinals red and white.

In his place will be Chris "Beanie" Wells, the most punishing runner available in last year's NFL draft of college players. The Ohio State phenom is a 6-foot-1, 235-pound pile driver who ranks fourth (and he left college a year early) on the perennially nationally ranked Buckeyes' all-time rushing list with 3,382 yards. Wells entered last season as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy but was hampered, missing three games, after he injured his right foot in OSU's season opener. But, by season's end, he still ranked sixth nationally in rushing with almost 120 yards per game.

The Cards already have Tim Hightower, a bulldozer of a back who started much of last season over James, but he's no Beanie Wells. The rookie should add a running dimension that the team hasn't possessed in recent memory. A long-yardage threat, as well as a guy who can bust it in on the goal line, he will compliment what last year was predominantly a passing game. If Wells makes the smooth transition into the pros that everybody predicts he will, opposing teams will be hard-pressed to adjust to the Cards' attack. He's a fearsome addition to an offense that was fourth in the league last year without him.

Best Owners of a Local Sports Franchise

Bill and Michael Bidwill, Arizona Cardinals

We've had our issues with the owners of the Arizona Cardinals. Mostly because Bill and Michael Bidwill fielded such lousy teams over the years. They ran the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Football League, a team that hadn't won a championship since they were the Chicago Cardinals in 1947, and hadn't made the playoffs since 1982 as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yada, yada, they sucked. But why did they suck? Well, the answer was always the Bidwills, who were seemingly too tight-fisted to compete in the cash-happy modern NFL. There were bad drafts, bad trades; a low bottom line always seemed to be what the Bidwills relished. Over a winning season, much less making the playoffs or going to the Super Bowl. Daddy Bill always complained about having to play so long at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium, complaining that certain locals hadn't made good on a promise to build a stadium for his team.

Well, finally a new stadium was built in Glendale and, damn, if son Michael didn't hire a viable new coach a couple of seasons ago and start fielding a competitive team. Nobody can say the Bidwills are cheap anymore. Not after making starting quarterback Kurt Warner happy in the off-season with a $23 million, two-year contract; not after signing backup QB Matt Leinart in 2006 to a $51 million, six-year deal; not after giving star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald a $40 million contract renewal after the '07 season; not after signing former Ohio State running back Beanie Wells to a five-year, $11.8 million rookie deal recently.

But, most importantly, the Bidwills had smarts enough to bring in Ken Whisenhunt, the former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, as head coach. He was a bargain at $2.5 million a year, considering that it's Whisenhunt who makes the Cardinals go. He's a coach who makes players believe and backed it up with an 8-8 season and a Super Bowl berth.

And, hey, the Cardinals not only competed in the Super Bowl but damn near won it against Whisenhunt's old team, the Steelers. And we have no reason to believe that the Cards can't do it again with Whisenhunt in charge (we know, we know — Super Bowl losers historically don't do well the next season, but the others didn't have The Whiz). Fact is, the Bidwills, with Whisenhunt's direction, have put together an even better roster than last year's. Now that they've opened up their wallets and given us a contender, we must give Bill and Michael Bidwell their due as the best owners in this desperate-for-a-winner desert.

Best Local Sports Executive Who Should Go Back to Broadcasting

Steve Kerr, Phoenix Suns

We had such high hopes for Steve Kerr, even though he seemed to have lackluster interest in leaving the broadcast booth and serving as an NBA general manager from the start. The guy was almost always a winner when he wore NBA short pants, but we're not so sure he's got the stuff to be a successful suit. Fact is, it could be argued that he's run the Phoenix Suns into a boulder, with the short-lived Shaq acquisition from the Miami Heat, losing Mike D'Antoni to the Gotham Knicks, and hiring Terry Porter to replace him. Kerr wanted D'Antoni to stress defense and use his bench (both good things), but Kerr should've coughed up more management moxie to keep the proud coach around. Because what has followed has been a disaster.

The fast-paced Suns that D'Antoni fostered couldn't play the low-post game necessary to accommodate Shaq effectively, Terry Porter's hard-assed style grated on the out-of-synch team, and the Suns didn't make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Now Shaq's traded to the Cleveland Cavs, Porter's replaced by nurturing Coach Alvin Gentry, and all should be well, right? Well, yes, if Kerr could make some killer off-season moves to acquire at least one great complimentary player to Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire, whose future is unsure because of health and contract issues.

So far, all Kerr's done during the break is re-sign aging journeyman Grant Hill and draft a possibly promising rookie. He and owner Robert Sarver seem content to floor a mediocre team for the foreseeable future, for budget reasons — fans be damned. Obviously, we're not all that thrilled with the tight-fisted Sarver, but we think it's time he put Kerr out to pasture or send him back to what he does best post-retirement as a player — swinging golf clubs. Time to find a professional GM who can put together the pieces to make the Suns a contender again.

Best Hardballer

Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks

We attended a game not long after the All-Star break that proved Dan Haren is human. He gave up more than three runs for only the second time all season. On an Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff that has been mostly dismal this year, Haren's been simply the best pitcher in the National League.

Okay, there's the San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum, but we think Haren's better. He may not have a better won-lost record than Lincecum, but Lincecum's on a much better team. Haren's team, on the other hand, was terrible offensively for much of the season. For the All-Star Game, there was big debate about whether Lincecum or Haren should start. And, from where we sit, Dan "The Man" was robbed. Though his record suffered because (during more than a few ace pitching performances) his offense couldn't put runs on the scoreboard, he had the best ERA in the game.

He throws hard, he's got breaking stuff, changeups. He keeps hitters guessing. We also like him because our significant other always lets us watch the game when he's on the mound. At a muscular 6-foot-5, with long dark hair, she always says, "He's too dreamy to be a baseball player" — harkening to pitcher pug-uglies like Randy Johnson, Chad Qualls, and Brandon Webb.

Best Whiffer

Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks

Mark Reynolds is a slugger, and with that comes strikeouts. But the Diamondbacks' third baseman, who has 42 home runs to lead the team at presstime, also has 200 strikeouts, on pace to lead the majors in whiffs again. Oh, he's also on pace to almost lead the majors in homers. Only the incredible Albert Pujos, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and perennial power hitter, has more homers at presstime, 47. Striking out is nothing new for Reynolds. He struck out 204 times last year to set a major league record for a single season (such an honor!).

But Reynolds is only 26, and this was his third season in the majors. He gets better every year as a slugger, improving his home run total hugely over the '08 season when he had 28. His batting average also went from .239 to .272. Despite the strikeouts, he's a keeper for the D-Backs.

Best Gimp

Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks

It's hard to remember now, but Brandon Webb was an even better pitcher than the phenomenal Dan Haren. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2006 and was the ace of the Arizona pitching staff. Though he couldn't have saved the Diamondbacks from this season's weak hitting, Webb would've made them much better.

If reports are true, could be that Webby will never again don D-Backs Sedona red. There's nothing fair about this (especially to fans). Webb was sidelined with what was at first described as "shoulder stiffness" after his first start of the 2009 season. Nobody among D-Backs brass was officially worried. But the prognosis for his return kept getting worse and worse. Then he had season-ending surgery.

Our guess is that Webb will be back and as strong as ever. Someday. But, as bad luck for Snakes fans would have it, his contract's getting in the way. Webb's will expire at season's end. Arizona holds an option for next season for $8.5 million, but team officials could buy Webb out for $2 million.

The question is, will a team that's getting more and more cost-conscious because of the floundering economy keep a gimpy pitching star around? But would the team want to see the 30-year-old go on to have his best years somewhere else? We hope D-Backs brass bets on him, because somebody else will.

Best Whiner

Anquan Boldin, Arizona Cardinals

We're not saying Anquan Boldin isn't a stud. He's about as tough a National Football League player as they come. He's a great receiver. Who knows how great he would be if he hadn't gotten his face broken trying to catch a Kurt Warner pass in the Arizona Cardinals 56-35 regular-season loss to the New York Jets last September 28. Boldin was Warner's main target in the game, catching 10 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He and fellow wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had made the best receiving tandem in the league, and because of the injury, Boldin missed four games.

In the interim, Fitzgerald became the dominant force on the Cardinals and in the league. Then the drama, which began when Boldin had requested a trade following the 2007 season, began again full force. Boldin and his agent whined incessantly that Anquan wasn't being treated fairly because Fitzgerald had signed a four-year, $40 million contract renewal. Meantime, the Cardinals refused to renegotiate Boldin's deal, which now has two years and $12 million left on it.

After his return to action, Q and his agent bitched to the media about how unhappy he was and how he wouldn't play for the Cardinals after the 2008 season without that new contract. It's hard for mere mortals to understand where a guy like Boldin's coming from — how much money does he need?

Best Of Phoenix®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy The Phoenix New Times may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Phoenix New Times, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation