Phoenix.BloggersPub

Tangara likely will need surgery on his skull, UA assistant coach Josh Pastner said Wednesday night. Tangara was discharged from the hospital and returned to the training room at McKale Center by 11 p.m.
More from azcentral.com.
Also, Williams is good to go for WSU:
Arizona coach Lute Olson said the Wildcats should have Marcus Williams back […]

When watching professional athletes compete do we as fans ever sit back and really comprehend just how athletically freaky these guys are? Well the video above, of Arizona Cardinals strong safety Adrian Wilson, will not only humble you but also put things into perspective. In the clip, Wilson jumps a 66 inch bar after taking […]

Tangara likely will need surgery on his skull, UA assistant coach Josh Pastner said Wednesday night. Tangara was discharged from the hospital and returned to the training room at McKale Center by 11 p.m.
More from azcentral.com.
Also, Williams is good to go for WSU:
Arizona coach Lute Olson said the Wildcats should have Marcus Williams back […]

There is a fascinating article at DenverPost.com regarding Ted Haggard’s accuser, Mike Jones and his visit to New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Much credit is due to the people of New Life Church for their reported gracefulness and openness towards Jones.

For 63 days I have successfully dodged the piercing glares and probing discussions from my wife as she has attempted to get me to commit to work around the house. If I kept up that pace I may be about to slide through the next 19 days until pitchers and catchers report. At that point I could plead that baseball season had started and I had so much work to do between the blog and preparing myself for Opening Day that I could not possibly be expected to do chores. Today Trina was preparing her weekly calendar. This is a ritual that happens every Monday where she writes down important events that each family member has so that we can make sure everyone is where they need to be each day. Usually my activities never make the cut on this schedule. I am not sure I understand why that is so today I made the mistake of actually asking. Trina explained that “go to the Team Shop” was not an important event especially since I had written it on every day of the calendar. With the month nearly over, Trina flipped the page to begin filling in events that were scheduled for February. It was at that point she noticed that I had circled February 17 in red and put hearts next to it. She commented how thoughtful that was that I had remembered to make a note to myself about Valentines Day but that I had marked the wrong date and that Valentine’s Day was actually February 14. There are sometimes that I just don’t know when to leave well enough alone and this happened to be one of those times. I told her the markings on the 17th were not for Valentines but were to remind me that was reporting day for pitchers and catchers at Tucson Electric Park. It wasn’t a heart she saw; it was a Sedona Red baseball diamond. I’m not exactly sure why but this seemed to trigger something in my wife replacing her normally sweet disposition with that of Linda Blair from the Exorcist (without the pea soup). She began to speak incoherently; ok maybe it was just that I wasn’t completely listening since I was still thinking about Tucson Electric Park and what non-roster invitees the Diamondbacks would bring to Spring Training. Anyway, when I tuned back in I found that Trina had produced a stack of official looking papers and laid them in front of me.

Borrowing a line from Limp Bizkit, the Phoenix Suns Keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, enroute to their 17th straight win.  The winning streak is the longest in Suns franchise history and one of only 5 streaks in NBA history of 17 games or more.  Phoenix is only 4 wins away from having the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history and 17 victories away from overtaking the L.A. Lakers streak of 33 straight wins in 1971-72 (ok, so they’re half way - but they’re only the 5th team to get this far).

Led by a spectacular game from Steve Nash, the Suns cruised over the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 115-100 win (in Cleveland).  Sunday afternoon’s game marked the return of Lebron James who missed Friday’s game w/ a sore toe.  James’ statline doesn’t exactly reflect the injury, but I’m sure the rest helped him; he finished w/ 30 pts, 9 rbs, 5 asts and 2 stls, while shooting over 50% from the field - only 50% from the charity stripe however. 

Despite the gaudy win streak and 1st place in the NBA right now, the Suns still maintain that winning during the regular season isn’t the team’s objective.  Team leader Steve Nash says that the streak is great and all, but the Suns won’t be happy until they get to the NBA Finals and win the championship; anything less will be unacceptable.

“People don’t talk about the 33-game streak, they talk about who won the championship that year,” Steve Nash said, noting the Lakers won the league title in ‘71-’72. “I don’t feel unbeatable. We’ve got a lot of improving to do.”

Nash and Shawn Marion both finished w/ 23 pts to lead the Suns, but Nash’s 15 assists and zero turnovers were much more impressive.

With the Suns routing each of their opponents since late November (only 2 losses after Nov. 20th), it will be interesting to see how many players All-Star coach Mike D’Antoni will pick from his own squad to participate in the main event: Nash, Marion and Amare Stoudemire could all end up going.  I’m sure he wants to reward them for their play, but he may want to consider letting them rest as well so they can keep playing deep into the season.

The Suns will face the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, as they attempt to win their 18th in a row.

Went out last night with our peeps Jay and Carrie, who promises she’s going to draw me some day soon. (She’s got mad artist skillz.) Anyway, Jay alerted me to the possibility of a MySpace page for Q-Tip, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest. We questioned its legitimacy, as fake […]

The Phoenix Suns killed a bit of the Cavaliers’ confidence yesterday when they swept the season series with a 115-100 win. The Cavs were baited into playing a game that they never should have agreed to and it was clear early that the Suns should take this game.
The Cavs were playing well early and kept […]

Normally, the Fan Forum at diamondbacks.com isn’t the kind of place I spend much time. Certain posters there are just so irritatingly reactionary, in their “you can have my purple cap when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers” way, that reading the threads there is usually more depressing than informative, educational or even entertaining. I certainly hope the forum there is not an accurate pulse of the state of Diamondbacks fandom. However, there is the occasional pearl of thought-provocation to be found: witness this post from micmac99 [He used to comment here occasionally, then vanished, though I vaguely recall hearing he was going to start his own blog, which would certainly be welcome!]

In it, he runs out the interesting idea of fan ownership of the Arizona Diamondbacks, suggesting it could be done on lines somewhat parallel to the Green Bay Packers. It’s a nice idea, but I genuinely don’t think that democracy is the best way to run a baseball team. [Actually, I remain fairly unconvinced it’s necessarily the best way to run a country, but my views on that depend on how long it’s been since I saw an episode of Jerry Springer…] “What better, more logical, more common sense group exists to look out for the best interests of the fans, than the fans themselves?” says micmac99?

Well, fans tend to let their hearts rule their heads, and would make decisions based on what was best for the team, rather than what will be. For example, I’ve little doubt that a fan-run franchise would be playing Luis Gonzalez in left-field, likely past the point that he needed to be wheeled out there. People like familiar faces, and so “veteran presence” in general would be over-valued, even in the face of CBY alternatives [CBY = cheaper, better, younger. I think you should get used to that phrase in 2007!] Woe betide management forced to pander to that, in order to keep their jobs: they’d never have the strength to make necessary, but unpopular decisions.

I’m also not sure there would be sufficient interest to raise the funds. Micmac99 estimates, at an absolute minimum, the sale of shares would need to raise $325m. Reaching that would mean, as a scenario, selling 25,000 shares for $13,000 each. Given the team was only getting about 25,000 per game last year - and even that required a capacity crowd for “Farewell to Gonzo” weekend - this seems optimistic, to say the least. It would be a difficult sell, especially given the lukewarm fanbase locally, with many residents still clinging to the previous teams they supported (hopefully, that aspect will change in time, as people “grow up” alongside the Diamondbacks). But would even the most die-hard fans - raises hand - be prepared to shell out, at a minimum, several grand? My hand drops, staying firmly in my pocket.

In contrast, Green Bay has a long, storied history, having been a non-profit entity since 1923. The corporation also had no problem adding more than a hundred thousand new shareholders, the last time there was an issue in 1998. The structure there is also radically different from the one proposed by micmac99: while shares do get voting rights, they can only be sold back to the team, no dividends are paid, the stock cannot appreciate in value, and you don’t even get any ticket privileges. [Speaking of which, the team has over 70,000 names on their season ticket waiting list - despite the city only having a population of 100,000.]

There would certainly seem more credible cities for such an attempt: Chicago, where the Cubbies fanbase is perhaps the most rabid in all baseball [certainly, when you take into account their success, or lack thereof, over the past 80 years]. There’s an interesting section in micmac99’s post, “Fan interest in the team can generate enthusiam that can carry the team to great levels. On the other hand, fan apathy can cause the team to lose - if the fans don’t care, the players will tend not to care.” I venture to suggest the Marlins and Cubs are strongly suggestive this is probably not the case over the past decade.

Another suggestion is, “the creation of a Diamondbacks stand-alone cable sports network (similar to the YES Network of the New York Yankees) focusing on the desert Southwest.” I doubt this would work, for similar reasons to those described above; there isn’t the degree of interest to make it viable. Boston, Chicago and maybe St. Louis would seem about the only three cities outside of New York where such an operation might work. We also don’t have enough content, since there is a limit to how many interviews with Bob Melvin a paying audience will stand. [Though as an aside, the idea of an Arizona channel, combining the output of the Suns, D’backs, Coyotes and Cardinals… Hmmm, that might just work]

So, I think this probably falls into the category of a pipe dream, but I just enjoyed the concept being floated immensely, and it’s good to see fans, who may or may not agree with recent decisions by the owners, coming up with constructive suggestions on how they think things should be run. It certainly beats the hell out of the “boycott” talk still being cranked out from certain quarters, which helps nobody at all in the long run, and simply comes over as spiteful childishness. Hey, you don’t want to support the Diamondbacks, that’s entirely up to yours; but please respect those of us who will continue to do so.

Finally, here’s a cool thing, coming to Peoria soon. Noted Seattle blog, USS Mariner are having a spring training get-together at a game on March 3rd - and this one features Q&A sessions with both general managers involved in the game. Sadly, it’s not a Mariners vs. D’backs game, so there’ll be no Josh Byrnes, but as well as Seattle GM Josh Bavasi, Padres head honcho Kevin Towers will be there, so we can get an insight into one of our premier divisional rivals perhaps. Currently, I am aiming to attend, hopefully with Mrs. SnakePit, if her work schedule permits, so if anyone else is interested in going, see this link for full details.

Ah, someday, perhaps, we at AZ SnakePit will be a blog-behemoth like USS Mariner, and Arizona celebrities will be begging us for an invite to our get-togethers… But at the moment, I guess we’re more patrol boat than battleship!

After nearly losing a digit in an electrical near miss today, I found this to be appropriate.