Friday, December 4, 2009

2010: The Year We Make Contact (with the top of the Pac-10?)

I have posted the 2010 schedule on the main page, primarily to get rid of memories of 2009 as quickly as possible.

Keep in mind that the Pac-10 opener will be Oregon on September 25 -- this game was moved up from its original date so that both schools get a bye week in the middle of the season.

With 2009 wrapped up, the conference opener predictor worked again. Counting conference games only, since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, ASU has lost the conference opener 18 times, and in those seasons has gone a combined 59-77-2 (a 43% win percentage). However, in the 12 seasons in which we have won our first Pac-10 game, the composite record is 60-36-0 (a 63% win percentage). We tied our opener in 1983 and 1986 and finished a combined 9-4-2 in those seasons.

Since 1982, ASU has only once (in 1999) lost the conference opener and finished with a winning record in the Pac-10. Conversely, 2008 and 1994 were the only seasons where the Sun Devils won their conference opener but finished below .500 in the Pac-10.

Next season's home schedule is ugly, with five Pac-10 road games and our "A" out-of-conference game at Wisconsin. Remember, we are still looking for a replacement for the September 11 game at SDS.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Feeling green?


Different time, but same deal as last week.  Those living in the green states will see ASU try to get their biggest win in the past two years on their local ABC station.  Those elsewhere need to subscribe to ESPN GamePlan, have access to ESPN360.com, or go to a sports bar.  The Trojans will come out angry -- can our defense prevent an early deficit for once?  Please?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Television Coverage for Cal @ ASU



Those living in the green area get to see ASU and Cal on their local ABC station.  Those elsewhere need to subscribe to ESPN GamePlan, have access to ESPN360.com, go to a sports bar, or watch a different game and hope that the ticker does not show another early lead big for the bad guys.  As I have said before, ASU will not win a game this season in which they trail by 14+ points.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Nice Defense!


Update: watch at around the 1:00 mark to see Nick Holt snort! Thanks to B.L.Z. Bubba for the tip.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Will the real Sun Devils please stand up?


Well, we're 5 games into the season and yet I still feel like I don't know the 2009 Devils. We've beaten three bad teams, and lost to both of the decent teams we have played.

Whatever you think about this season's team (and the coaching) Saturday is a great test. UW is clearly a "good not great" team -- the sort of team we should beat at home.

If we do win, then the noise should quieten a lot. If we lose, it will become deafening.

One thing is for sure: by the final whistle of the UW game, we will know a LOT more than we do today.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

A wasted game

It's a pity we had to waste a conference game to make a change that most of us realized was necessary after the Georgia game. Danny Sullivan deserves no criticism, because it is obvious he has given everything he has got. Unfortunately most of us won't get to see Oz's debut as a starter at Wazzu, since this week's game will not be televised.

I hate agreeing with Bickley and Bordow.

Sullivan was the best option when the offense needed a caretaker, when a daring, daunting defense seemed good enough to carry the day. Now, the defense has some explaining to do, the ASU faithful have lost belief in their senior quarterback, and the head coach can't be far behind.

Maybe we’ll find out the freshman isn’t ready for Pac-10 football. But what’s the risk? It’s not as if the Sun Devils can do much worse offensively. And — news flash — they’re well on their way to a 6-6 or 5-7 season. Might as well see if the kid can do something.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Beat Oregon State and things will look bright


Updating my original research from last year, Oregon State is the most critical game of the 2009 season. Conference openers have historically been a strong predictor of the season.

Counting conference games only, since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, ASU has lost the conference opener 17 times, and in those seasons has gone a combined 57-70-2 (a 45% win percentage). However, in the 12 seasons in which we have won our first Pac-10 game, the composite record is 60-36-0 (a 63% win percentage). We tied our opener in 1983 and 1986 and finished a combined 9-4-2 in those seasons.

Since 1982, ASU has only once (in 1999) lost the conference opener and finished with a winning record in the Pac-10. Conversely, 2008 and 1994 were the only seasons where the Sun Devils won their conference opener but finished below .500 in the Pac-10.

This season's opener versus Oregon State is especially important because the  four following games are all winnable, so if we beat OSU a 4-1 Pac-10 start is perfectly realistic.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Strong chance of no TV coverage of game at Wazzu


As expected, neither of the Pac-10 TV network selections for October 10 included the ASU @ WSU game.  It's tough to argue with the games selected by ABC and FSN:
  • Oregon at UCLA, 12:30pm PT ABC
  • Stanford at Oregon St., 4pm PT FSN

If I understand the Pac-10 rules correctly (they are hard to follow) the only way that FSN AZ could show the ASU game live is if it kicked off at 7pm PT.  However, I assume Wazzu will not want an evening kickoff, especially since this is Homecoming Weekend in Pullman.

Hopefully I am wrong, but for now it seems likely that the only way to watch this game live will be to travel to Pullman.

Update: now confirmed; no live TV coverage on October 10.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Georgia: post-game open comments thread

Heartbreaking loss.  #8 for UGA was the best athlete on the field, and his two plays at the end were the difference.  Comments are open.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Sun Devils versus History this weekend


I'm not a big fan of examining historical records in college sports, because the kids playing today were not responsible for most of the results.

However, here is a stunning fact about Sun Devil football that cannot be overlooked in the build-up to the game at Georgia this weekend: ASU has never won an out-of-conference road game against a team that is currently in the BCS which finished its season above .500.

Never, as in never, ever.

The closest we got was in 2004, when we beat a Northwestern team that finished 6-6.

Since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, ASU has gone 0-8 in road games versus "BCS +.500" teams, and 5-4 in road games against BCS teams that finished .500 or worse. In road games versus non-BCS schools, we are 4-1 in that timespan. However, the streak goes back through ASU's entire history -- Coach Kush never even played a winning Pac-8 team on the road whilst ASU was a member of the WAC.

Of course, there is no guarantee that Georgia will finish above .500 this season. But if we do win in Athens on Saturday, and if Georgia goes on to finish with 7 or more wins, then the streak will end.

If anyone would like to double-check my research, please feel free and note any corrections in the comments. Here is a good site. For the purposes of my research, I counted our 2002 game against Nebraska as a road game, since it was played in Lincoln, even though technically it was a neutral-site game.  I ignored Bowl games.

Updated 12/6/09: Now that Georgia has finished their 2009 season at 7-5, the streak continues. We are now 0-10 all-time in road games versus "BCS +.500" teams.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Time to check your local cable listings

The Sun Devils' game at Georgia will be televised on ESPNU (kickoff at 7pm Eastern). As far as I know, this will be ASU's first-ever telecast on ESPNU. Most decent cable/satellite carriers should offer ESPNU, but many include it in a premium tier, and some do not offer the HD version. Cox Cable in the Valley includes the SD version in their Sports Package on channel 164, but no HD.

So you have 11 days left to check your own carrier. Remember, many cable operators allow you to sign up for a premium tier without a minimum commitment, so you could try adding a package and then canceling it after the game. Or just find a good local sports bar.

Another option: the game will probably be offered on ESPN360.com, which is a free service IF your ISP is affiliated.  Looks like ESPN360.com is not streaming this game, so you will need to find ESPNU to see this game.

Monday, September 7, 2009

What the hell are we supposed to do this week?

By the time the Devils kickoff their second game of the season, at 10pm Eastern on September 19, most teams will have already completed three games. These next couple of weeks are going to be rough. Not many games on the September 12 schedule to get excited about from a TV viewing perspective either. Everyone will be hyping USC @ Ohio State, but that has 45-10 written all over it. Probably the most interesting game is ND @ Michigan, because the losing coach will be on a very hot seat.

Gametime for ASU's visit to Georgia on September 26 should be announced next Monday (September 14).

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

NIT Tip-Off Tournament field announced

ASU is one of four regional hosts for the NIT pre-season tournament. Full bracket (PDF) here. Would be nice to see the hoops team at Madison Square Garden for Thanksgiving.

Monday, July 13, 2009

New football jerseys revealed

No official verification yet (that I have seen) but Cactus Sports has posted an image of the new ASU football jersey.

Overall, not too bad, especially in comparison to some of Nike's atrocities. My only complaint? The introduction of black into the color scheme (as a thin border around the numerals). Overall though, thumbs up.

Will be interesting to see if the pants get the same piping. Most important will be to see them in a game under lights.

Updated 8/12/09: These are confirmed as official. Poll results show about two-thirds of fans dislike the new unis.

Monday, March 9, 2009

2009 football schedule is up

The main page now has the 2009 football schedule. If anyone can find a better "local" newspaper for Louisiana-Monroe, please let me know.

As most Sun Devil fans know, the athletic department generally follows the formula for out-of-conference games of having an A, B and C opponent. Unfortunately, this year's B opponent (BYU) backed out, and our A game is on the road at Georgia, so we're left with two C opponents at home. Since this is an odd-numbered year, we get five conference home games including USC and au, so the October-November portion makes up for a weak September.

Let's sum things up really easily: if we're not 2-0 going into Athens, then the season is already over. Joking aside, I don't see any reason we shouldn't be 4-1 in the Pac-10 going into the SC game. As usual, the conference schedule is back-loaded, so a fast start is always critical.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Clearing the archives -- Pat Tillman (part three)

I am finally retiring the Archives page. All the content has now been published to the blog. Just click on the Archives tag link at the bottom of this article to see all the related posts.

This final set of links are resources dedicated to Pat Tillman's legacy. Most important, of course, is the Pat Tillman Foundation which organizes Pat's Run.

Kevin Tillman's essay, After Pat’s Birthday, published in October 2006, is a must-read.

The Guest Book for Pat's obituary in the Arizona Republic continues to be signed to this day, and is sobering reading. The official ASU athletics remembrance page has not been updated for a while, but is still worth referring to.

Last, but not least, is Chris Valentine's personal Pat Tillman Memorial Video.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Ranking the Pac-10 Road Trips

I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion regarding which are the best (and worst) road trips in the Pac-10. Criteria include the city, the stadium, the gameday experience, etc.

Thanks to those of you who responded to my post on Cactus Ranch. Based on your feedback I have revised my original order slightly.

I am leaving au and Tucson out of this.

Full disclosure: I have been to 9 of the 10 schools (WSU is my only miss) and my trip to Stanford was prior to the stadium renovation.

My list:
1. Oregon -- best fans, unique stadium, relatively close to Portland
2. Cal -- I love the bay area; can travel by BART to the game
3. UCLA -- clearly superior to SC for an LA trip, IMHO
4. Washington -- great city/setting but stadium is surprisingly poor; track around the field means you are some distance from the action; take the ferry to the game for a unique experience
5. USC -- LA is fun but stadium is in rough neighborhood; good crowds since SC's re-emergence
6. Stanford -- was shocked how little there was to do near campus; new stadium is by all accounts very nice
7. Oregon State -- I literally walked past the stadium thinking it was a High School or JuCo stadium the first time I visited
8. Washington State -- haven't visited, but the hassle of getting there puts it last

Feel free to add your own comments; everyone has their personal favorites.

Updated 1/5/2009: Dan Zeiger published his ranking of Pac-10 stadiums in November '07. Keep in mind that he's ranking stadiums rather than road trips, so there will be some significant differences.

Farewell, Dan Zeiger

As the East Valley Tribune turns itself into a free handout, Dan Zeiger posts his goodbye column.

I'll leave the links to the Trib up for now, but I suspect that they will have little original coverage of ASU athletics. Their report of last night's hoops game at Cal is just the AP story, whereas the Republic had a a reporter on site (or watching TV!).