Subject: Oklahoma City Thunder

• ASU pitcher beats New Times jinx, wins title

  June 12, 2008

• HOLY COWBOY

  IN THE WIDE-OPEN WORLD OF BULL RIDING, CODY CUSTER WALKS THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW.

  January 6, 1993

• THE DAY THEIR DREAMS DIED

  THE MEN'S GYMNASTS WERE TRUE SCHOLAR-ATHLETES. THEY WON CHANPIONSHIPS, EARNED DEGREES AND STAYED OUT OF JAIL. NO WONDER ASU KILLED THE PROGRAM.

  March 10, 1993

• GO WEST, YOUNG PAY-PER-VIEWERLIVING BACK EAST HAS ITS DRAWBACKS, BUT PAYING TO WATCH YOUR NBA TEAM ON TV ISN'T ONE OF THEM

  May 4, 1995

• A Season on the Rink

  A tumultuous year inside the crucible that is the National Hockey League

  April 22, 1999

• Dust Bowl Blues: Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder

  Recent headline: "Clippers Crush Thunder." Let's hope it's "Suns Burn Thunder" (don't think about that too literally) after tonight's game. But we digress: In what mad otherworld does the NBA's perennial doormat, the L.A. Clippers, crush anybody? Well, on November 19, the mantle of NBA's worst was seemingly passed from the hapless Clips to the laughable Oklahoma City Thunder when the Clippers thrashed OKC at home, 108-88. That term "at home" is a sticking point for non-Okie NBA fans, 'cause i

  November 25, 2008

• The Heat Is On: Miami and Shawn Marion Visit the Suns Tonight

  Rewind, for a moment, to the 2005-06 NBA season. The Miami Heat visit the Phoenix Suns in a marquee matchup. Talk of a future NBA Finals series between the two powerhouses flood the sports talk airwaves. But despite Shaquille O'Neal's (playing for Miami at the time) team-leading 13 rebounds, the Suns pull off a relatively seamless 111-93 victory at U.S. Airways Center. (The Heat wound up holding up its end of the deal, beating the Dallas Mavericks, who killed the Suns' season, for the NBA c

  November 28, 2008

• Suns Overpowered by Worst Team in Basketball, but Steve Nash Wills Them to One-Point Victory

    Never underestimate the heart of a champion. We forget who said that, but it was Steve Nash who willed an overpowered Phoenix Suns team to a 99-98 victory Tuesday night over the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Yeah, you heard that right, the now 1-14 Okie Thunder bitch-slapped the star-laden Suns for all but the last five minutes of the game before Little Stevie became wondrous. We had all but given up on the Suns. They bobbled balls, missed easy shots, were haple

  November 26, 2008

• Into the Hornets Nest: Phoenix Suns at New Orleans Tonight

  After the surprising New Orleans Hornets elbowed their way into the conversation last season, it's like every NBA analyst starting taking lessons from Jan Brady of The Brady Bunch. Paul, Paul, Paul! That's pretty much all you ever hear about the Hornets -- praise for their jet-fueled point guard, Chris Paul.  Not that there's anything wrong with that. Most people have the Wake Forest alum in their NBA Top 5. We'd place him Top 3 along with Kobe and LeBron, 'cause the point's mission-crit

  December 3, 2008

• Steve Nash Booed: Phoenix Suns Lose to Two Mediocre Opponents Over the Weekend

  Two loses to two terrible-to-mediocre teams in the past two games. In fact, the Phoenix Suns are 2-2 against such opponents in the past four games. Did we mention that Amare Stoudemire got two technical fouls, the latter of which put him in the locker room and pretty much assured a Suns 117-109 loss to the 9-7 New Jersey Nets on Sunday night? That and 21 turnovers, one of which drew boos from the crowd at US Airways Center. The culprit: Steve Nash, the two-time NBA Most Valu

  December 1, 2008

• Icing on Cupcake: Phoenix Suns Take on 3-28 Okie Thunder Tonight

  Thunder star Kevin Durant after a dunk. What's a surefire cure for depression? For the Phoenix Suns -- losers of a brutally heartbreaking game on Christmas Day to the San Antonio Spurs -- a cupcake; namely, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

  December 29, 2008

• Shaq Leads the Way in Suns Victory Over Worst Team in NBA

    The Phoenix Suns played all but nine minutes of Monday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Steve Nash, and the team seemed to pick up steam after its floor leader went to the locker room with back spasms. Even if it was against the team with the worst record in the NBA, the Suns were solid on the road in their 110-102 victory. Shaquille O'Neal led the way with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks. He was 10 of 12 from the field and -- amazingly -- 8 of 12 from the fr

  December 30, 2008

• Same Ol' Clippers: NBA's Version of the Chicago Cubs Take on the Suns Tonight

  Clippers' rising star Eric Gordon A reserve suspended for violating the NBA drug policy. A star player talking openly about trade desires. Injuries and multiple losing streaks. Yep, things are most definitely topsy-turvy in Los Angeles Clippers Land. Or, based on the franchise's underwhelming past, things are exactly the way they are supposed to be.

  January 2, 2009

• Wolf Trap: Phoenix Suns vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Here Tonight

  A mid-January game against the Minnesota Timberwolves is no big D, right? The playoffs-bound Phoenix Suns will ring up these bottom-feeding fools without stainin' their sweats, yo? Wrong on both counts. And that "playoff-bound" part is dicey, in and of itself. Everyone but the Suns seems to realize that every win's gonna count in '08-'09. But while Phoenix is handing out freebies to the mediocre likes of Indiana and struggling against true-blue losers like Oklahoma City, eight other West

  January 16, 2009

• Patsy Test: Can Phoenix Suns Manage to Beat Golden State Tonight and Friday?

  NBA bad boy Stephen Jackson has found a home in Golden State. We're not big Mike D'Antoni fans. As electric as his six-and-shoot system was during the Phoenix days, it was a paper tiger that bared its cardboard fangs come playoff time. Plus, the dude began to buy into his own myth toward the end of his Valley tenure. Poor widdle Mikey didn't wike to be second-guessed. Boo hoo.  Still, we'll give Mikey D this much: He could beat the patsies. You don't win 62, 54, 61, and 55 games over

  February 4, 2009

• Breakneck Mountain: Phoenix Suns to Revive the Seven-and-Shoot Tonight Against Clippers Tuesday and Wednesday

  This just in from Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver and general manager Steve Kerr: Oops. Our bad. Terry Porter, we hardly knew ye. Here's a sack full of cash to salve your wounds. Amar'e -- ha ha. Those trade rumors? We were just kidding. Ya know we love ya, ya big lug. The rest of you guys, run like hell. Well, except you, J-Rich. (Shooting guard Jason Richardson, still paying penance for a pre-Christmas DUI, needs to slow waaaaaay down after being arrested in Scottsdale for doing 90 in a 35 z

  February 17, 2009

• Looking Like the Suns of Old After the Coaching Change, Phoenix Blows Out the Hapless L.A. Clippers

  It was a game in which Goran Dragic slam-dunked. Goran who? You know, the highly touted backup point guard whom fired Suns Coach Terry Porter used to ream a new one from the sidelines everytime he made a blunder. The Slovenian rookie (pictured) played with reckless abandon in the Suns' 140-100 rout of the hapless Los Angeles Clippers at US Airways Center Tuesday night. As did the rest of the Suns, who were laughing, high-fiving, and acting like a load of bric

  February 18, 2009

• Amar'e Stoudemire Scores 42 in Phoenix Suns' Second-Night-in-a-Row Rout of Clippers

  The once-again run-and-gun Phoenix Suns looked great again Wednesday night, scoring 140 points or more for the second game in a row against the dog-ass Los Angeles Clippers. This time, the score was 142-119, and supposedly on-the-trading-block Amar'e Stoudemire scored 42 points of that and pulled down 11 rebounds. We think we even saw him play a little defense. It was as if Stoudemire were saying to owner Robert Sarver and GM Steve Kerr, "You better not trade me!" In any case, we'll fi

  February 19, 2009

• Okay, Stoudemire's Staying With the Phoenix Suns, and so's Shaq -- at Least for the Remainder of the Season

  The NBA trade deadline passed at 1 p.m. today with no Phoenix Suns players moved -- not even Amar'e Stoudemire (whose departure seemed all but a done deal last week). Suns brass had been admitting for a month that they were entertaining trade offers for every member of the team except Steve Nash. There was huge interest in Stoudemire, but not much interest in giving the Suns enough in return for one of the top power forwards in the game. Either nobody offered up what Sun

  February 19, 2009

• On the Run: Fast-Moving Phoenix Suns Host OKC Tonight and the Boston Celtics Sunday

  More impressive than the 140 or more points scored in each of the Phoenix Suns' dominating victories over the Los Angeles Clippers is this quote by Clippers guard Eric Gordon, which followed the second game of the Alvin Gentry era. "They are going to be a really hard team to beat now that they are running up and down the court and moving at a fast pace. We're not that bad. The Suns are just really good." Oh yeah, baby. The Suns are back to their running-and-gunning ways.

  February 20, 2009

• Phoenix Suns' Amar'e Stoudemire Undergoes Eye Surgery; Probably Out for Rest of the Regular Season

  Just when things were beginning to look up for the Phoenix Suns. The team announced that power forward Amar'e Stoudemire -- on the trading block until he stepped up his game after a recent coaching change -- underwent surgery today for a "partially detached retina" and will be out for eight weeks "depending upon his healing process." If he's out for this average amount of time for such an injury, it means the team's high scorer (21.4 points a game) will be

  February 20, 2009

• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Suns Blow Out the Thunder and Get Dominated by the Celtics Over the Weekend

  The good, of course, were Rajon Rondo (pictured) and the mighty Boston Celtics, who came into US Airways Center Sunday Afternoon and took care of business, 128-108, against the Phoenix Suns. The bad were the Oklahoma City Thunder, who got dominated by the Suns here Friday night, 140-118, in Phoenix's third win in a row scoring 140 points or more. The ugly was Phoenix's defense in both games. When you give up at least 118 points on your home court, you're not playing enou

  February 23, 2009

• Phoenix Suns Hold Off Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and the Charlotte Hornets 112-102

  There were hugs all around, before Tuesday night's game got started and after the final buzzer. Raja Bell and Boris Diaw seemed happy to be back home in Phoenix, even if they are now starters for head coach Larry Brown's Charlotte Bobcats. So much so that they were the high scorers in the game: Bell had 23 points and Diaw had 27 and 10 rebounds. There were times when we thought their passion might allow the 22-35 Bobcats to overtake the 32-24 Suns and win at US Airways C

  February 25, 2009

• Supermen of La Mancha: Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, Mo Williams Visit Phoenix Suns Tonight

  www.nba.com Mo Williams: Finally, a worthy sidekick for LeBron. Following the Phoenix Suns' figurative demise in their do-or-die game versus the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, the dudes in orange have about as much chance of making the playoffs as did Don Quixote of slaying a windmill. But that doesn't mean the end of championship-caliber NBA hoops at US Airways Center quite yet, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superman of La Mancha, LeBron James, visit the PHX tonight. You'd b

  March 12, 2009

• Phoenix Suns Can Possibly Enjoy Some Fun Times for a Change in Cupcake City This Weekend

  www.nba.comNenad Krstic of the Oklahoma City Thunder What do the Phoenix Suns have left to play for, following their epic, disheartening, and potentially playoff killing losing streak? If the Suns catch fire and the Mavs majorly choke, perhaps a postseason berth, a not-impossible-but-improbable scenario. Or what about pride? Naw, this isn't college ball, so all that hokey stuff about pride doesn't apply. So how about this? Specifically, some ass-kicking, scoreboard-lighting fun like we saw w

  March 13, 2009

• Phoenix Suns Break Six-Game Losing Streak, With (You Guessed it) Wins Over Two Teams With Losing Records

  www.daylife.com Ex-Warriors Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes light up their old coach.Over the weekend, the Phoenix Suns did what they do best -- beat bad teams. The score was 106-95 against the 18-48 Oklahoma City Thunder at US Airways Center on Saturday night and a running-and-gunning 154-130 against the 23-43 Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Sunday night. In the six games before that, they also did what they do best -- lose to good teams. But, on Sunda

  March 16, 2009

• Phoenix Suns vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

  March 12, 2009

• On the Eve of the NBA All-Star Game, Phoenix Suns Players Show Off Their Tattoo Canvases

  February 12, 2009

• Oklahoma? Not OK.

  October 23, 2008

• Destiny's Child

  Ike Diogu's the Pac-10's player of the year. Will he stay at ASU or go to the NBA for millions?

  March 10, 2005

• Winning Season

  Devils go dancing for the first time in years

  March 20, 2003

• Devils' Advocate

  ASU coach Rob Evans rocks his world

  March 20, 2003

• Pitcher Perfect

  Chuck Kniffin caught the break of a lifetime as the Diamondbacks' new pitching coach

  June 20, 2002

• HAMM AND YEGGS

  June 29, 1995

• ARE THESE FOLKS REALLY A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY?

  June 8, 1995

• Hot Links: San Tan Valley, Abortion Bills, and Frito-Lays

  Residents in an unincorporated community near Queen Creek have voted to name the area San Tan Valley. About 2,000 people voted, choosing the name over another consideration, Bella Vista...Residents of northeast Mesa held a meeting Tuesday night with Councilwoman Dina Higgins to discuss instituting a noise-abatement program from nearby Sky Harbor airport. Residents in the area complain of getting waken at all hours by the sounds of incoming planes...A bill that imposes new restrictions on a

  June 24, 2009

• Devils' Disciples

  November 12, 2009