www.nba.com Lamar Odom: “The Goods” played out of his skull in L.A. last night. For a precious few minutes in the first quarter of last night’s Suns/Lakers game in La-La Land, the Suns held their own against the NBA’s best. No, it was better than that. They were rolling, running,…
WestWorld used to be Horseworld. The area surrounding it was a leaky desert floodplain in the middle of nowhere. Now, the floodplain’s been wrangled into subservience and the facility’s surrounded by upscale-yet-bland north Scottsdale office parks. But the pleasures of the horseflesh live on at WestWorld, as does a flicker…
At 162 regular-season games, plus 30-odd preceding contests that don’t count a lick, the baseball season can be cruelly long, and whether this year’s Arizona Diamondbacks cough up another fist-size fur ball or actually win something that matters, we’re all gonna be pretty sick of hearing those words “Arizona Diamondbacks”…
Last Thursday, in one blink of Amar’e Stoudemire’s bum eye, the Phoenix Suns’ playoff chances took a sucker punch to the gut. Most people’s first thought: “Oh. Crap.” Most people’s second thought: “Oh. Crap. We traded away Boris Diaw.” Our second thought: “Oh. Crap. Most people are gonna say we…
Here’s the thing about hiking: You’re either a lone nut like us or a people person. For the latter, hiking doesn’t get much better than the City of Scottsdale’s free Preserve Connections Hiking Tours of the northeast Valley’s still largely restricted McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Or simpler. Or cheaper. After registering,…
We hate taking advantage of others in these trying times — unless they’re the big airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, or other big-time wheeler-dealers who usually have us by the cojones when it comes to seeing the world. But the worm has turned along with the economy, and if you…
After Kurt Warner was named starting QB, the Cardinals brain trust instituted a self-help course for the fumble-plagued Warner: Kurt had to cuddle with a pigskin every night while he slept. Result: a career revival for Warner and a first-ever Super Bowl appearance for the Cards. Maybe someday, when Warner’s…
Despite their recent close shave, the Arizona Cardinals have never won the Super Bowl. In 40 years, the Phoenix Suns are 0-for-NBA title. The Phoenix Coyotes . . . never mind. Of the four major pro sports in Arizona, only one has achieved true world-class status: baseball. The Arizona Diamondbacks…
Despite their recent close shave, the Arizona Cardinals have never won the Super Bowl. In 40 years, the Phoenix Suns are 0-for-NBA title. The Phoenix Coyotes . . . never mind. Of the four major pro sports in Arizona, only one has achieved true world-class status: baseball. The Arizona Diamondbacks…
Generally speaking, we frown on guided hikes. The Sonoran Desert is not the Louvre, and true hikers hardly need to have someone spell out its (fairly obvious) magnificence. The extraordinary exception is the Elephant Mountain Fortress Hike at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The relatively difficult seven-miler takes participants into…
If there was a bottom to this seemingly bottomless pit that is the Phoenix Suns’ 2008-09 season, it fell out on January 23 against the Charlotte Bobcats in a 98-76 loss. The Suns gave up 28 points to Bobcat forward Gerald Wallace, who averages 16. Worse – much worse –…
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…
“Retail” is a six-letter word. Don’t spell it. Don’t speak it. Heaven forbid, don’t pay it. That’s our motto, and the sentiment may be growing on you, too. Problem is, your car has carved a groove from your driveway to the local mall. You’re like a fancy lab rat in…
The premise of the “equine ballet” is pretty touchy-feely — it’s billed as an “homage to the poignant history and fascinating bond between human beings and horses” — and it’s held in one of those big-ass tents in Scottsdale that screams “tourist trap.” Still, if you’re a lover of horseflesh,…
The Philadelphia 76ers are mediocre, with a dollop of turmoil. Former head coach Maurice Cheeks, one of the franchise’s all-time greats, got the bum’s rush back in December. Their marquee name, Elton Brand, is out for the rest of the season with a bad wing. Their top active player is…
No offense to municipal employees, but the breed doesn’t have the best track record for success. On the other hand, the folks behind the City of Phoenix’s wildly popular Silent Sunday monthly series at South Mountain Park – an alt-transportation-awareness event in which the park is closed to Sunday drivers…
We never thought we’d recommend anything with the word “Smucker’s” in the title, but while hardcore porn chick Belladonna’s signing we’re-not-exactly-sure-what up at Castle Megastore in north Phoenix on Friday, February 6, skating’s It Girl — the far-sassier, in our book, Sasha Cohen — will be laying down sweet, white…
The unofficial first half of the 2008-09 NBA season ended ignominiously for the Phoenix Suns in their 41st game of the season on January 23: a 98-76 mauling at the hands of Boris Diaw and the Charlotte Bobcats. Though Suns castoff Diaw and the Bobcats had something to prove, so…
When the City of Surprise opened the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in 2007, it likely hoped against hope to one day see a headline like “Tennis Great John McEnroe Wins Thriller in Surprise, Arizona.” Wish granted last November 9, when McEnroe took down Todd Martin in a kick-butt finale…
Ivan Neville was almost famous once. His 1988 album If My Ancestors Could See Me Now featured the soul-pop gems “Falling Out of Love” and “Not Just Another Girl,” the latter which cracked the Billboard Top 40. His pop-star career stalled after that, but if you’re a member of the…
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…
NBA No. 1 Derrick Rose makes his US Airways debut. From the January 26, 2009, morning paper: “Leading by as many as 16 in the first quarter and shooting 57.6 percent through three quarters, the team collapsed down the stretch by shooting 8-for-29.” Sound familiar? The quote isn’t about one…
