Monday, February 15, 2021
PHOENIX – Dale Earnhardt, or “The Intimidator” as most fans knew him, was probably the most-feared driver in NASCAR history.
His black No. 3 Chevrolet was almost always running at the front or near the front of the pack on Sundays. Even the asphalt he drove on seemed to be afraid of him.
This is why in 2001, while still at the top of the sport at 49, it shocked the world that a place Earnhardt had mastered, a race track, was where he lost his life.
On Feb. 18, 2001 – Thursday will be the 20th anniversary – Earnhardt was racing hard on the final lap of the Daytona 500 when he crashed and hit the barricade in what appeared to be a routine crash. Instead, he tragically passed away from the severe fracture to the base of his skull and the bruising and bleeding to the brain caused by the impact.
Memories of the driver came fast and furious in the weeks leading up to today’s Daytona 500.
The accident was a major wake-up call to those within NASCAR. Driver safety became a priority. Among the advancements is the Next Gen car, which will be introduced in the 2022 Cup Series season and was tested in Phoenix in 2019.
Additionally, experts outside the sport were consulted.
“I think it was the right thing to do to get outside opinions and have other people looking at the whole situation,” said Richard Childress, the owner of Earnhardt’s team and a good friend of the driver. “As terrible as it was, and we’ll never get over losing Dale Earnhardt, but there’s a lot that came out of it in the safety part going forward. There’s been some horrendous crashes. Austin Dillon’s (2015 Coke Zero 400), Ryan Newman’s (2020 Daytona 500). You go on down the list of crashes and these drivers have walked away because of the safety.”
Friday, February 12, 2021
PHOENIX – Batter up. Mask up.
Despite an offseason that suggested a delay to the start of spring training, Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report Tuesday, with games kicking off on Feb. 27.
Arizona is home to 10 stadiums where 15 Cactus League teams prepare for the regular season each year. MLB’s Players Association recently rejected a proposal by the league to postpone the start of spring ball because of COVID-19 concerns.
What will it look like?
Major League Baseball has not announced a blanket policy because many of the decisions will be determined by individual municipalities. Cactus League Executive Director Bridget Binsbacher said in a statement that cities “are working with stakeholders to finalize preparations for opening spring training camps. We expect to announce details soon.”
Although few teams have released specific details of attendance plans, most are expected to follow guidelines similar to the ones the City of Tempe announced recently. Tempe Diablo Stadium, spring home of the Los Angeles Angels, will open at 25% capacity. This would allow 1,800 to 2,000 guests to attend the games.
These rules are also included:
Friday, February 5, 2021
The 2021 Cologuard Classic is back at Omni Tucson National Resort last week of February, however, there will be no audience during the tournament’s scheduled events due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Tucson Conquistadores has confirmed they were unable to reach an agreement with the Pima County Health Department to allow spectators during this year’s Cologuard Classic despite offering numerous solutions to comply with social distancing measures, in an email by the organization’s staff.
“The Conquistadores have been working closely with Pima County officials to align COVID safety plans to allow limited spectators at this year’s tournament. Unfortunately, the tournament will go forward without spectators onsite,” according to the email.
Previously, the group’s chairman Dennis Caldwell said he thought the Conquistadores and local health department authorities were coming to an agreement and hoped to be able to announce the daily capacity during the tournament’s media day last month.
PHOENIX – Apprehensive Arizona parents of high school athletes can rest easier now.
Citing improving COVID-19 metrics, the Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board has amended its current attendance policy so that up to two parents or legal guardians of student-athletes can attend away games, the governing body announced via a release on Thursday afternoon.
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, parents and guardians could only attend home games of their children. The new rules will be in effect starting Feb. 8.
“It is at the discretion of the home school whether or not parent/legal guardian spectators are permitted,” the release said.
“Masks must be worn and social distancing requirements maintained.”
The news of the AIA’s decision comes after nearly a week of petitioning from local parents who believed their inability to attend games posed a safety hazard for their children. One Valley mother, Tiffany Hunt, organized this petition, which garnered nearly 4,000 signatures in a week.
Friday, January 29, 2021
PHOENIX – Anthony Gilich remembers March 16, 2020, the day when the National Junior College Athletic Association announced it was canceling the remainder of the spring sports seasons because of COVID-19.
The Central Arizona College baseball coach, now in his seventh year, had to tell his players something he never thought he would have to say – their season was over.
“It was one of the worst moments I’ve probably had as a coach to be honest with you,” Gilich said. “There is no way to sugarcoat (it).”
Yavapai baseball coach Ryan Cougill also remembers that day vividly.
“It was one of the worst things I’ve had to do,” Cougill said. “It was made worse because I didn’t get to do it in person.”
Before the pandemic cut its season short, Central Arizona looked to repeat as NJCAA Division I World Series champions from 2019, while Yavapai hoped to build on a 22-3 start.
Over 10 months have passed and with less than a week until the beginning of their spring seasons, two of the best Arizona junior college baseball programs are gearing up for a unique season under the COVID-19 umbrella.
Central Arizona and Yavapai,two talented ball clubs playing under the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC), both have been ranked in the Top 25 in numerous preseason polls, including Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
PHOENIX – The Cactus League has asked Major League Baseball (MLB) to delay the start of spring training in Arizona due to high COVID-19 infection rates in Maricopa County. The request came in a letter addressed to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
“In view of the current state of the pandemic in Maricopa County – with one of the nation’s highest infection rates – we believe it is wise to delay the start of spring training to allow for the COVID-19 situation to improve here,” the letter sent on Friday said.
BREAKING Arizona’s Cactus League tells @MLB it wants to delay start of spring training because of Maricopa County’s high COVID infection rate. #12News pic.twitter.com/H61DbDurVY
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) January 25, 2021
The board’s decision is “based off data from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which projects a sharp decline in infections in Arizona by mid-March (an estimated 9,712 daily infections on February 15 and 3,072 daily infections on March 15),” the letter stated.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, the state of Arizona has over 727,000 reported cases of COVID-19, with 5,321 new cases reported Monday.
Maricopa County has over 452,000 cases of COVID-19 and there were 3,763 new reported cases.
The letter is signed by Bridget Binsbacher, the executive director of the Cactus League; Martin Harvier, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community President; the city managers of Phoenix and Tempe; and the mayors of Mesa, Surprise, Peoria, Scottsdale, Goodyear and Glendale.
“We just wanted to let MLB know that if there was any opportunity to postpone the season that we collectively, as the host cities, the host municipalities, and the tribal community, would support that,” Binsbacher said. “What really inspired that letter was it allows for additional time for the situation to improve and certainly we’re seeing, even since the thought of that letter, the situation has improved and we’re trending in the right direction.”
Friday, January 22, 2021
PHOENIX – In the midst of a week in which three of his team’s games were postponed in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols, Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton overheard a statistic from coach Monty Williams that particularly unsettled him.
“Coach made a valid point that I think we were last in points in the paint in the league,” Ayton said. “So that opened my eyes up a little bit.”
Through his team’s first 11 games, Ayton was effective with his statistical output, averaging a double-double at 12.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game on 56.6 percent shooting. But as a former No. 1 NBA Draft pick in his third season with a group that has high expectations to qualify for its first playoff berth since the 2009-10 season, Ayton can no longer be just sufficient in the eyes of his coaches and teammates. He has to be dominant.
In the Suns’ first two games against the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets this week, Ayton took charge of that demand and controlled the interior on both ends of the floor. He averaged 22.0 points and 16.5 rebounds while shooting a combined 18-of-29 (62.1 percent from the field) in those contests and became Phoenix’s second player outside of Shawn Marion to post at least 25 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in the last 30 seasons during its 109-103 win over Houston on Wednesday night.
“I mean, this is the type of player I am as a whole,” Ayton said after the Suns’ win over the Rockets. “I mean, this is no surprise to me, to be honest.”
Friday, January 15, 2021
In his sports column in Explorer and Marana News, longtime TW columnist Tom Danehy pays tribute to the late Rich Alday, who coached baseball at Pima Community College and softball at Ironwood Hills High School. An excerpt:
Read the whole thing here.It is said that a good coach can coach anything. The story is told of Vince Lombardi, fresh out of college, being asked to coach a high-school basketball team. After admitting that he had never even seen a basketball game before, Lombardi studied a basketball rule book and then proceeded to coach the team to the State championship game.
After coaching baseball for 40 years, Alday pulled a late-in-life switch and became the softball coach at Ironwood Ridge High School. All he did there was go 107-33 in four years, guiding the Nighthawks to Class 5A State championships in 2014 and 2016.
Alday, 71, had been battling cancer. He and his wife, Norma, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last July. In 1995, the couple lost their beloved son, Ambrose, to cancer at the age of 16. Rich is a Tucson legend. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. He will be missed.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
After initially canceling the winter sports season last week, the Arizona Interscholastic Association voted 5-4 vote reverse course and reinstate the Arizona high school winter sports season at a special executive board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
The high school winter sports season will start Monday, Jan. 18, with a mask mandate for all coaches, student-athletes and officials during competitive play. Masks must be a cloth mask that covers the mouth and the nose, said David Hines, AIA executive director.
“Athletics is a choice and if a student makes the choice to play with their AIA school team, a mask will be required. No exceptions,” he said. “This is consistent with 16 states across the country that have the same protocols or modifications in place.”
The executive board also voted to not allow fans at winter season high school sports events, and teams will have to complete an AIA-issued COVID-19 monitoring form and give it to the opposing team prior to the competition or contest.
However, the board voted to allow up to two parents or guardians per home-team athlete to attend if state and local guidelines and the hosting facility’s occupancy under social distancing guidelines permit attendance.
Friday, January 8, 2021
The Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board voted 5-4 to cancel the upcoming high school winter sports season during a Jan. 7 special session.
The Sports Medicine Advisory Committee recommended the executive board cancel the winter season, citing hospital capacity concerns during a week when 93% of all ICU beds and 92% of all inpatient beds are in use. SMAC Committee Chair Dr. Kristina Wilson said their main concern is that injured students might be unable to receive proper care during this time.
“Unfortunately, it is expected that the state will see a continued rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations for some time,” Wilson said. “As medical professionals, we cannot in good conscience recommend that students engage in a winter season under the current conditions.”
While the board’s decision to once again cancel another high school season was not taken lightly, AIA Board President Toni Corona said at this point there isn’t enough time to have a winter season if delayed for a second time. The winter season was expected to start on Jan. 18 after originally scheduled to start in November.
“We do not see the situation improving very quickly,” Corona said. “Unfortunately, it does not appear that there will be adequate time before the start of the spring season for a winter season to occur.”
The Arizona high school spring sports season is still scheduled to start on March 1, but will depend on statewide COVID-19 metrics improving and continued evaluation by SMAC officials.
