Wired Devils

Sun Devils' future non-conference opponents

2011-12-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Updated 12/18/2011.

This post starts with a strong caveat: much of this information will probably change in the years ahead. With that said, fans are always interested in examining future schedules, so I wanted to keep an up-to-date summary of what we know. I will update this article over time as new announcements are made.

This topic became especially relevant prior to the 2010 season, where the scheduling of two FCS opponents kept the Devils out of a Bowl game. Fortunately, our future non-conference schedules are much stronger.

Remember that with the Pac-12 schedule, in odd-numbered years we have five conference home games, including divisional opponents USC, Colorado and AU. In even-numbered years, we play only four conference home games (including Utah and UCLA). It's going to be a lot harder to sell season tickets in those even-numbered years. The Pac-12 will no longer announce the conference schedule years in advance. They will now wait until the new year to set the schedule for the coming season. This allows the conference to ensure good games for the new Pac-12 Network based on each team's projected performance. However, we do know which Pac-12 teams ASU will play each season through 2018.

Let's review the out-of-conference schedule. As most fans know, the traditional philosophy behind the non-conference scheduling has been to have an "A", "B" and "C" level opponent. The additional requirement is to have at least two of the games at home in even-numbered years when we only have four conference games at Sun Devil Stadium. However, from 2011-13 we will see more of an "A, A, C" model. DevilsDigest.com published a Q&A with Associate Athletic Director Mark Brand in February 2010 that explains the process in a lot of detail. I never understand fan criticism of our scheduling, because most neutral parties see our out-of-conference schedule as one of the best year-in, year-out.

Jeff Metcalfe's articles in the Republic from September 2009 and February 2010 do a great job of describing the problems finding non-conference opponents.

The "A" level opponent is from a BCS Automatic Qualifier conference. In recent seasons, Georgia, Colorado and Iowa have been "A" level opponents. In the coming seasons, our "A" opponents include Missouri, Notre Dame and LSU. ASU was planning to play a non-conference series with Colorado in 2018 and 2019 but that series was canceled now that Colorado is a Pac-12 member.

Ideally, we should play an "A" level opponent at home in even-numbered years to counter the lack of quality Pac-12 opponents. We have achieved that goal for 2012, 2014 and 2016 after striking out in 2010.

The "B" level opponent is from a FBS non-AQ conference such as the MWC or the WAC. In the past, these schools may have played twice at ASU in return for one game at their site, but is seems like we will have a harder time finding "B" level opponents in coming seasons. New Mexico is the next opponent in this category in 2014-15, followed by UTSA and San Diego State. Each of these series are home-and-home.

The "C" level opponent is usually an FCS school, and is always going to be an opponent that does not require a return visit. We try to schedule NAU as often as possible for this slot, which is a nice way to keep the money in-state.

So let's review the current plans for future seasons. Click on links for announcements of specific games. Actual dates shown when known.

Year	BCS AQ	FBS non-AQ	FCS	Pac-12 Misses
2012	Illinois (9/8)	--	NAU (9/1)	Washington
	@ Missouri (9/15)			Stanford
2013	Wisconsin*	--	Sacramento State	Oregon
	vs. Notre Dame** (10/5)			Cal
2014	Notre Dame (10/25)	@ New Mexico (9/13)	Weber State (9/6)	Oregon
				Cal
2015	@ LSU (9/12)	New Mexico (9/5)	Cal Poly (9/19)	Oregon State
				Stanford
2016	LSU (9/10)	@ UTSA (9/17)	NAU (9/3)	Oregon State
				Stanford
2017	@ Notre Dame (9/16)	San Diego State (9/9)	TBD	Washington State
				Cal
2018	TBD	UTSA (9/1)	TBD	Washington State
		@ San Diego State (9/8)		Cal
2019	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

* The home game with Wisconsin was originally scheduled for 2012 but was later moved to 2013.

** The 2013 game with Notre Dame is going to be played at Cowboys Stadium as part of Notre Dame's barnstorming tour.

Todd Graham and wife on private plane on way to Arizona State

2011-12-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Why the age bias?

2011-12-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

Gaddabout returns with a follow up to his earlier article Why ASU needs a young coach and staff, which generated an unusually high number of comments.

Many of you have responded to my previous post. I will do my best to address my point of view on salaries as a response in that thread when I have time later in the day. I felt I needed more space here to explain my perspective about my preference for a young coach.

It’s not an age bias as much as it’s a perspective bias. Established head coaches have their own staffs and their own systems. It’s very unlikely they’re going to take input into how they run the program, and that’s a problem unless you’re hiring someone who already understands the unique challenges at ASU.

It requires a lot of money to hire a coach of good reputation, and ASU needs something else besides reputation. It does ASU no good if they receive a positive press conference review in the media only to be in the same position five years down the road. In the 31 years since Kush was forced out, ASU’s had six coaches and average about six wins a year. It’s time ASU worry most about getting it right more than winning the press conference. Instant perception should not matter. Selling a few thousand more seasons tickets next year pales in comparison to how many more tens of thousands season tickets the right coach will sell over the course of 10 or 20 years.

Why is that important? Because ASU isn’t just any school. It’s not any program. It’s not plug-and-play Top 25 football here, but I believe that’s the presumption with which we’ve been hiring coaches since Kush left.

It’s not enough to say ASU has to establish itself in recruiting. You have to say where. There have been three head coaches post-Kush that understood how to recruit for this program – Darryl Rogers, Bruce Snyder and Dennis Erickson – and only one of them understood the extreme nature of the problem (Rogers). You have to own turf in SoCal and the best 6 or 7 recruits in Arizona to compete at the highest level. Rogers said USC could take the best 5 recruits in this region and he’d take the next 25. If there were one line to explain ASU’s mission, that would be it. In this age that requires a whole staff dedicated to acquiring the best talent. It’s not a burden that can be carried in the majority by two coaches. Not anymore.

We’ve already tried experimenting under Cooper and Marmie in Texas, the Midwest jucos, and specifically Chicago. Those staffs had some very good recruiters who did a great job finishing second and third on key recruits. Meanwhile, the local contacts withered and Washington and Oregon cashed in on ASU’s absence in SoCal and even in Arizona.

You also have to supplement with the strong Arizona and SoCal JCs, you just can’t afford to have such major deficiencies that you’re constantly counting on juco transfers to fill key positions such as left tackle or defensive tackle. The success rate of a juco player – even a mid-year transfer – is very low. They’re best served as depth chart fillers for the four-year players you’ve recruited and had in your system from the start. If you’re taking more than 5 a year, you’re putting ASU’s program in peril.

Are there exceptions? Absolutely. Pete Carroll was pure enthusiasm and positive energy when he took over USC at 50. He was a rare gem of a hire that people mocked until he had two years to really get the program moving forward. The common myth seems to be that Carroll wowed recruits with his NFL pedigree, but that’s just not reality. Carroll had two things working for him as a head coach: He had superstar SoCal recruiters on his staff like Ed Orgeron, and he himself was the rare head coach recruiter with charisma to spare. He also understood the culture and could speak the language, in the same way Bobby Bowden understood the South and could recruit the entire region at Florida State. Recruiting involves three important things: 1) Relationship, 2) relationship, and 3) relationship. Carroll understand that in an intuitive way. He never had to think about it. It’s hard-wired into his personality.

Show me someone like that, who’s pure charisma in a coach’s shirt, who gets the culture, and who understands the unique challenges at ASU, and I don’t care what the age of the coach is.

An age isn’t an issue if you have someone like Rogers or Snyder, who came with strong California pedigrees and had a rebuilding plan that matched ASU’s needs. Without any choices like those two on the list, the coaching search requires more vetting and an explicit explanation of what works and what doesn’t at ASU. It requires finding a coach who will listen and learn before hard-coding the program agenda, and hire a staff with the energy to pull it off.

Can you make a mistake on a young coach? Absolutely.

I maintain high respect for Dirk Koetter. I still think he was one of the best offensive minds in college football while he was here and the man knows how to run a staff and a program in a general sense. How he relates to his players was a separate issue, but that’s a much more difficult thing to judge from the outside looking in. And I maintain there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with his commitment to the 4-2-5 defense; it’s worked with phenomenal success at TCU for years.

Koetter’s teams were always so close, full of “if onlys.” If only they hadn’t missed three years straight on this position or that position. If only they had one more X or another Y. There was just enough talent and execution to tease you, but fall apart against the best teams – usually the California teams. It created the perception that Koetter’s X’s and O’s were only fit for mid-major football, but that defies the reality that Koetter’s offense was well-steeped in the NFL one-back tradition, and ASU did in fact switch to a conventional 4-3. No, the one major drawback was holes in the recruiting. Small holes that became big holes over several classes, and those same holes that became canyons on the depth chart in Erickson’s second and third years.

When Koetter left, he uttered his famous assessment of ASU: “It’s not what it looks like from the outside.” Or something to that affect. And he was right, to a degree. I suspect he came here with the same assumption most people make about ASU, that the facilities, the weather, the size of this market would make it easy to recruit. He found out the hard way that it’s much more complex than that: Arizona weather is not the easiest sell to kids in California and Dallas and Houston are MUCH farther away than they look on the map the moment you ask kids to move here. There is no natural deep well of recruiting for this school, and the margins for resources spent are thin. This is potentially a very good job, but it’s not an easy one, and the constant churn of head coaching turnover shows a history of coaches who simply don’t understand the program.

I’m not trying to sabotage the school or strong-arm administration by writing this. I’m merely speaking out now based on my 35 years of intense observation of what works at ASU and what doesn’t. I believe I had an epiphany during Koetter’s years about what makes this program tick, and only now do I see an advantage to shouting my point of view as loudly as possible. I’m wholesale convinced that ASU needs to do something radical, something different to change the culture.

But neither am I going to automatically indict any coach ASU hires. Once that guy gets to the podium, I’ll be everywhere returning to my evangelist role for the program. Every new hire gets the benefit of the doubt from me because every new hire deserves the chance to prove doubters wrong. And I will not hesitate to admit it if I’m wrong. I hope all of you feel the same way. This is not the NFL. College football is family, and you always support your family even when you disagree.

Why ASU needs a young coach and staff

2011-12-08T04:55:00.002-07:00

Today's guest author is Gaddabout, a long-time friend of Wired Devils. This article was originally posted to the Sun Devil Message Board.

Reality check.

Howard Schnellenberger forever changed the game of college football, and he doesn't get his due credit. Before Schnellenberger (BS), the head coach was God of college football, and you could build a program pretty much anywhere. Even in the middle of the desert. Frank Kush would show up with a station wagon full of starving west Pennsylvania kids just trying to get away from bleak future in mining. Later in, he learned to steal kids out of LA and Dallas to supplement, along with making sure there was no stone unturned in places like Morenci and Ajo and Florence. A coach could do that back then because there were plenty of secrets to be kept, and could be kept.

After Schnellenberger (AS), we have an oligarchy of programs with the most money, centrally located near the best recruits, supported by recruiting staffs that are the envy of corporate headhunting culture. It's a science now. And there are no secrets that can be kept. If there's an athlete in some desolate Kansas town, he's in a database somewhere and he's going to be sent a letter from someone.

Miami was about to kill their football program when Schnellenberger stepped in. He noted that Alabama was winning national championships with Florida players, many of them right out of Miami's backyard. And Schnellenberger would know. He was Bear Bryant's offensive coordinator at Alabama in the early 60s and a big-time recruiter -- he recruited Joe Namath to Alabama. He also brought with him a pro-style passing game, honed as Bob Griese's offensive coordinator during Miami's undefeated season, but that's another story.

Schnellenberger's rapid turnaround because of keeping Miami recruits home in Miami forever changed college football culture. ESPN, a new thing, made sure of it. It's the kind of inside info they knew the fans wanted. Suddenly the average fan began to become aware of Dade County recruiting. Then they became aware of SoCal, east Texas, Ohio, etc. People everywhere started to learn about how Penn State thrived on recruiting New Jersey. Kids of Louisiana dockworkers were no longer looking for opportunity wherever they could get it -- every school in the country knew who they were and wanted them to come to their school.

This is a different game now than when I first started following. And ASU is much less of a sleeping giant. Why? Because:

They don't have a built-in home-state recruiting advantage, partially because it's still not big enough, and partially because you have to large athletic programs feeding on it. Compare that to, say, LSU, where they're the alpha dog in a state with comparable (or often better) talent, and you get a different picture.
That weather advantage I often hear about? It's an awesome sales pitch to a kid in Chicago, who would love nothing more than a free trip to Tempe while he makes his college plans for Notre Dame, where his family can still come see him play. It's actually a DISadvantage within the region ASU needs to make a pitch, like San Diego or LA County, where they see us as slightly crazy for wanting to live here.
The name ASU built in the 70s and 80s is completely washed away. Think about this: The kids ASU is recruiting right now were born in 1994. They were 3 years old when Jake Plummer was leading ASU to the Rose Bowl. They have no idea who Danny White or Frank Kush is. There are likely only three things they know about ASU football right now: They have cool new uniforms, the girls are unbelievably hot, and Dennis Erickson just got fired.

ASU has to start over. Right now, it's name is on-par with mid-majors. It's a secondary or tertiary thought on the minds of the kids they need to steal from SoCal to get the program even close to where we want it to be. There are no built-in advantages to ASU other than MAYBE facilities, where it enjoys some status for the next few years.

Here's something else to think about: ASU is offering what has become the middling price for a head coach, about $2.5. That's pretty much mid-major money for a head coach. Sure, it's still probably in better half of all salaries, but not if you consider what it would take, say, Washington to replace their coach right now. If they wanted Sarkisian right now, they would have shelled out about $3.5 million. We are not even in the same area code as the Top 20 programs. That's the cost of doing business, and we're not capitalized well enough to expand into that kind of competition.

ASU has to go young, even if it means hiring a coordinator. That's what ASU can afford, and it's what it really needs, because this program is starting over. We can pretend it's still 1984 and ASU really is a sleeping giant. Or we can really look long and hard at reality and accept the failure started about 30 years ago, and we've merely been repeating that failed history over and over ever since.

It's time to do something new and bold.

Chris Karpman: History Lesson/Reminder

2011-12-07T06:04:00.002-07:00

The best reporting of the coaching search has come from ASUDevils.com. Well worth the price of a subscription. (And no, I don't get a cut!) Chris Karpman posted this to The Gold Rush message board on Tuesday 12/6 and kindly agreed to allow me to share it for all to read.

People here know that I've been around the Herb Sendek program for 5 years and what that means. It's with that knowledge that I'd like to pass along this story, which is absolutely true in its details according to multiple direct participants I have spoken with subsequent to the initial reporting those 5 years ago.

When ASU fired Rob Evans Lisa Love immediately targeted Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and did the hypothetical offer dance ('We'd probably consider an offer at X if you were willing to accept an offer at X, hypothetically'), Dixon played it for all it was worth, teased ASU badly with his expression of interest only to use the opportunity to renegotiate with Pitt.

Subsequent to that, Love made a strong play for Rick Majerus and even made a tentative offer subject to his passing a physical, which he did not pass and is the reason he didn't end up coaching at ASU (he was coming off leg surgery, travel was a major problem for recruiting etc., plus his weight/heart issues, which he fully admitted to after the fact).

These things were reported by us at the time, some conventional media scoffed at it, but they were very true and people who were here on the site remember this probably or do now after having their memory jogged by this re-telling.

At any rate, ASU was using a head hunter at the time (a different one, not the one being used in this search) and it was the head hunter who made contact with Sendek and only then did Sendek decide that he was willing to considering jumping ship. It was kind of a quick thing that happened and was an emotional type of thing. He was dramatically under-appreciated at NC State in his estimation and others who coached with him at the time. In his last season at the school they'd gone 22-10 and 10-6 in the ACC and there was a large segment of the community that wanted him fired. And this was upon his fifth straight NCAA post-season berth.

So Lisa Love did not target Sendek, far from it. She became alerted to his availability only after the search had begun and only after she'd struck out with Dixon and Majerus -- though Majerus wasn't her fault in one sense (health) even though someone could argue he shouldn't have been a target for that reason in the first place.

When Love was at the press conference announcing Sendek's hiring, she said that Sendek was the first coach she offered the job to -- among other things -- which may have been factually true, but didn't speak to the chaotic nature of the search. It was an effort -- and this of course is what an athletic director would do -- to make everything appear as if it had gone smoothly and been under control.

It really wasn't though.

The reason I tell this story is two-fold. One, it's to show that no matter what Love or the others might say at the end of this process, it doesn't necessarily mean that's the reality of how things actually transpired in a literal sense. Perhaps more importantly, two, it tells me that not enough was learned by Love via that experience given the way this coaching search has unfolded.

When you're doing this job extremely well as athletic director, you are constantly researching prospective candidates, keeping files on guys, talking to coaches around the country, asking them who the best coaches are, the best bright minds, the things it takes to succeed. You're talking to the assistant coaches that have been in your program and left and the reasons why, the past head coaches not just when you were the AD but even before that to understand the destabilizing dynamics involved and what needs to happen to address them in the future.

And most importantly, when you have all that knowledge in front of you in your files and you know all of the top candidates you'd like to target should you elect to make a move on your job, you know their buyout status, their willingness to leave their job for your and how you can achieve that aim through direct and indirect means. You have your target list clearly delineated, your goals well articulated and understood by yourself and those you're working with.

It's readily apparent to me that there is no such level of comprehension and diligence that has been made by her or in the athletic department on her behalf in this instance -- and this is clear in a multitude of ways -- and when that's the case, there is assurance that your job of finding the next coach will be less inclined to success than if the preparation is excellent.

Where we are at here is a guy ASU brought into the equation who is a true outsider -- headhunter Bob Beaudine -- in terms of real understanding of ASU's culture and what the program truly needs in the wake of Dennis Erickson's dismissal. Yes, he knows several people on high close to the athletic department well who also went to SMU, and maybe they can tell Beaudine their view of what's going on, but it's not the same. It is not nearly the same.

You can't know the smell of the air based on how someone describes it to be. You have to go and smell the air yourself.

Lisa Love seemingly does not understand that history must be learned from. Steve Patterson is not to blame. He's not been here long and isn't a football guy who should be responsible for knowing all these things and the culture of ASU. Michael Crow is responsible because he has to ensure that plan of attack has been in place in the event of this for not just days, not just weeks, not just months, but years.

Have the target list. Know whom you can get at a bare minimum and how that can be accomplished and make sure that it's someone who embodies the characteristics and traits that you profess to want -- June Jones is a person I've spoken with many coaches about in recent days and the positives are clear and the negatives are as well, and many of the negatives are the same things that would be in the Dennis Erickson category; the things that Love has professed to want to not worry about with the next coach -- and know your approach and order and how the candidates would be responded to by the community you're responsible for selling him to.

Smell the air around this community and you know that Jones isn't the hire that would in any way resonate with your booster support or strongly address your stated goals in terms of addressing the cultural issues that ultimately derailed Erickson's tenure.

In short, know the smell of the wind and the way that it blows or it just might catch you under your sails and sweep you right out of town.

This article ©2011 ASUDevils.com. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.

Guest author: Defending June Jones

2011-12-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

By @a_zone. The views expressed in this article don't match my own opinion, but I wanted to give the author a forum to express his point of view.

NOTE: ASU’s head coaching search is constantly in motion, so much so that I started writing this on Sunday night [December 4] and it is already probably irrelevant. Still, this is my defense if June Jones gets hired by ASU, which seems less likely to happen as of this morning.

I see you ASU fan, I see you on the ledge. I know what put you there, the thought of ASU hiring June Jones as their head coach. I'm here to talk you off the ledge. I understand why you are there, but I believe you are there for faulty reasons.

I know why you are down. You've had dreams of Kevin Sumlin dancing in your head this holiday season. You spent a week reading rumors that Sumlin was practically on his way to ASU, only to have the rug pulled out from under you by Texas A&M. ASU has turned their attention to other coaches, with June Jones leading in the clubhouse. To you he is a “retread” an “old guy” and “another Erickson.” But let me tell you what he really is . . . Kevin Sumlin 10 years form now.

In my opinion, the only argument for Sumlin over Jones is age. Jones is in his late 50s, Sumlin in his late 40s. Don't bring Houston's 12-1 record this year into play, because I'll just counter with Hawaii's 12-1 record and BCS bowl appearance in 2008. But Hawaii didn't play anyone, you say? Well, take a gander at Houston's schedule this year.

Let me tell you what June Jones has done: rebuilt awful programs. People point to his 23-28 record at SMU as “average,” I see it as a borderline miracle. Since its death penalty in the late 80s, SMU had gone 58-153 since Jones' arrival. Take out Jones' first year with an awful team (1-11) and his record at SMU is 22-17. Still not impressed? I give you the 1999 Hawaii Warriors, who were 0-12 when June Jones took over and went 9-4 with a bowl victory the very next year. He also led Hawaii to back-to-back 11 win seasons and a BCS appearance.

Jones is known for being a disciple of the Run & Shoot offense, which is sort of a pre-cursor to today’s spread offenses. His offense is QB friendly, just ask Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan. From his days at Hawaii and SMU, he has experience recruiting in California and Texas - which is vital for someone coaching at ASU.

June Jones’ isn’t a sexy hire, but people are confusing “not sexy” with “terrible,” which simply isn’t true. Jones is a hell of a coach, and I would love to see what he could do with a BCS school with an existing talent base. Jones has spent his entire college career turning terrible programs into above average ones, it’s time for him to turn an average program into a great one.

Also, when UofA fans make fun of the hire, you can just tell them that the last Pac-10(12) coach from Hawaii was their beloved Dick Tomey. What's their comeback to that?

TV coverage and kickoff times for 2011 Sun Devil football

2011-11-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

Whether you live out of state or are planning road trips, it's important to keep an eye on the potential kickoff times. Remember, the TV networks decide some gametimes during the summer, but the majority of TV selections are made 12 days prior to gameday (and, in some cases, 6 days). For 2011, four games have been confirmed for TV prior to the start of the season (compared to eight at the same point in 2010).

I'll keep this article updated as the season progresses.

Remember, the new TV contracts recently announced by the Pac-12 come into effect in 2012, so we have one more season to go under the old, restrictive contracts.

For those games still listed as TBD, you can check the Pac-12 composite schedule and the conference website's listing of all the available 2011 Football Telecast Windows.

For a comprehensive, accurate listing of all games on TV, Matt's College Sports on TV Website is by far the best reference.

Here's how thing shape up for the 2011 season (all times local to Arizona):

9/1 UC Davis (Thursday): kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this would be a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates. This may well be FSN AZ's last production of a Sun Devil football game (all telecasts in 2012 and beyond will be national).

9/9 Missouri (Friday): kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

9/17 @ Illinois: kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. with coverage on the Big Ten Network. You need to get the BTN to see this game - no exceptions. This will be ASU's first appearance on the BTN.

9/24 USC: kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

10/1 Oregon State: kickoff at 7:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

10/8 @ Utah: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. with coverage on FSN. Confirmed for Fox Sport Arizona; other regional affiliates can be found here.

10/15 @ Oregon: kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

10/29 Colorado: kickoff at 3:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona, Root Sports in Colorado and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/5 @ UCLA: kickoff at 4:30 p.m. with coverage on Versus.

Clocks change on 11/6, which is significant because most kickoff times are anchored in Eastern time.

11/12 @ Washington State: kickoff at 8:30pm (7:30pm local time) with coverage on Versus.

11/19 Arizona: kickoff at 7:30 p.m. with with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Prime Ticket in Southern California ~~and Fox College Sports (nationally, but joined in-progress)~~. Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/25 California (Black Friday): kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. with coverage on ESPN.

12/2 (Friday) Pac-12 Championship Game: kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox (the over-the-air network, not one of their cable channels).

Bolden's Breakdown - USC @ ASU

2011-09-26T05:13:00.001-07:00

I think someone has a future in TV once his football career is over!

Southern Cal has NEVER beaten ASU in Pac-12 play!

2011-09-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting a long time for this defense to make big plays and shut out an opponent in the 4th quarter. It couldn't have come at a better time than against USC!

Vontaze's interception:

Greg Smith's sack and forced fumble:

Shelly Lyons' interceptions and TD return:

Second OT thriller in past three games

2011-09-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Humor: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott meets with Texas AD DeLoss Dodds

2011-08-13T12:20:00.003-07:00

Wired Devils has obtained the transcript of today's meeting between Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds. Also in attendance were Pac-12 Deputy Commissioner Kevin Weiberg and General Counsel Woodie Dixon. (With apologies to Francis Ford Coppola.)

CUT TO: The interior of SCOTT's office.

SCOTT
This is my Deputy Commissioner, KEVIN WEIBERG; Mr. Dodds. He's the one who arranged this whole thing through your man Worley.

DODDS
Yes -- Yes.

SCOTT
Sit down.

DODDS
Well I was under the impression that you and I would talk alone.

SCOTT
I trust these men with my life, Mr. Dodds. If I were to ask them to leave, it would be an insult.

DODDS
Well uh, it's perfectly all right with me, but I should tell you that I am a blunt man and I intend to speak very frankly to you -- maybe -- more frankly than anyone in my position's ever spoke to you before.

[SCOTT lights a cigarette]

The Pac-12 conference has done very well on the West Coast. You own, or, you control, six regional TV networks -- one national. The contracts were negotiated with the cable operators, so there is no problem with distribution. Now, my sources tell me that -- you plan to make a move against the Big XII. They tell me within a week -- you're gonna move Beebe out. That's quite an expansion. However it will leave with one little technical problem. Ahh -- The Longhorn Network will still be in the University of Texas' name.

SCOTT
Worley is a good man.

DODDS
Yeah, well let's cut out the bulls**t. I don't want to spend any more time here than I have to. You can have Texas in the Pac-16, the price is we get to keep the Longhorn Network. Plus a monthly payment of 20% of the gross -- of all conference TV revenue.

Mister -- Scott.

SCOTT
Now the rest of the conference schools have agreed to pool all media rights and divide the revenues equally, am I right?

DODDS
That's right.

SCOTT
Now why would I ever consider giving you more than that?

DODDS
Because I intend to squeeze you. I don't like your kind of people. I don't like to see you come out to this clean country in your oily hair -- dressed up in those polo shirts - and try to pass yourselves off as decent Americans. I'll do business with you, but the fact is, I despise your masquerade -- the dishonest way you pose yourself. Yourself, and your whole f***ing conference.

SCOTT
SENATOR - we're both part of the same hypocrisy. But never think it applies to my conference.

DODDS
All right, all right -- some people have to play little games. You play yours. So lets just say that you'll give Texas a larger share because it is in your interest to have us in your conference. But I want your answer by noon tomorrow. And one more thing: don't you contact me again -- ever. From now on you deal with Worley.

(then, to Woodie)

Open that door son.

[He starts to leave]

SCOTT
Uh, Mr. Dodds -- you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this -- nothing. Not even the fee for terminating the Longhorn Network, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.

DODDS (laughing)
Good afternoon, gentlemen.

[He opens the door and walks out]

The greatest Receivers

2011-08-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Originally published 9/11/10

The greatest wide receivers in Sun Devil history were J.D. Hill and John Jefferson. They are joined on the All-time ASU team by Todd Heap, the greatest tight end. Although not a criteria for making this team, it's noteworthy that all three were first round draft picks by the NFL.

According to Dean Smith's book The Sun Devils: Eight Decades of Arizona State Football, some call J.D. Hill "the greatest natural athlete in ASU football history." And those who remember him in the maroon-and-gold are quick to agree. Following coach Larry Kentera from Stockton, CA to Arizona State, Hill was an important contributor on the 1967-68 teams. After missing the 1969 season, Hill starred on the 1970 Sun Devil team, one of the top five teams in ASU's history. Hill caught 58 passes for 908 yards and 10 touchdowns as the Devils finished the season ranked sixth in the nation at 11-0 with a Peach Bowl win over North Carolina. Hill was drafted fourth overall in the 1971 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills (the second-highest an ASU player has ever been drafted). Hill experienced troubles after his football days ended, but turned his life around and is now running Catch the Vision Ministry, whose focus is mentoring youths and encouraging and supporting recovery.

John Jefferson is one of six Sun Devils in the College Football Hall of Fame. "JJ" is probably best known for "The Catch", the game-winning touchdown against the U of A that capped an unbeaten regular season and put the Sun Devils into the 1975 Fiesta Bowl where they beat Nebraska to finish the season #2 in the country. However, it would be a mistake to let that one spectacular play define his career. Remarkably, Jefferson led ASU in receptions in each of his four seasons (1974-77) and was ASU's third consensus All-America in 1977. In the pros, Jefferson joined Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow to give the San Diego Chargers one of the best receiving groups in NFL history. Dubbed "The Touchdown Man" by SI, Jefferson was the first receiver in league history to gain 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons. After a contract dispute, he was traded to the Packers where he teamed up with James Lofton. Quoting his teammate at Green Bay, Paul Coffman:

"James was so gifted and very intelligent. J.J. had so much enthusiasm and was able to go up against bigger defensive backs and come down with the ball. He didn't have very big hands, but he had great concentration. And the crowd would always go crazy when he'd go over the middle, catch the ball, and take a big hit."

A native Arizonan, Todd Heap signed with ASU in 1998 out of Mesa Mountain View High School. He played as a true freshman and "began his Sun Devil career by snagging a 15-yard touchdown pass with one hand in the first quarter of ASU's season-opener against Washington". Heap was a first team All-Pac-10 selection in 1999 and 2000 before leaving a year early to enter the NFL draft. Unfortunately, Heap's tenure at ASU coincided with the decline of the Bruce Snyder era, and his teams never won more than six games in any season. However, Heap did finish with a 2-1 record over the Wildcats. Picked with the final selection of the first round in the 2001 draft, Heap joined the Baltimore Ravens where he continues to be one of the NFL's most dominant tight ends.

The greatest Offensive Linemen

2011-08-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

Originally published 8/17/10

The offensive line on my All-time ASU team comprises three "Home Boys", one of the most visible former players, plus the most recent Sun Devil to be represented on this team. Each of these players was a member of a Pac-10 Championship team.

The tackles are Juan Roque and Danny Villa. Roque anchored the offensive line that protected Jake Plummer during ASU's unbeaten 1996 regular season. During his senior season, Roque did not give up a single sack. After an injury-abbreviated NFL career, Roque is now the color analyst for Fox Sports Arizona's coverage of the Sun Devils and a frequent blogger. Villa was a member of the 1987 Rose Bowl winning team that featured a starting offensive line of native Arizonans named the "Home Boys". Unfortunately, his accomplishments at ASU and in a 12 season NFL career were overshadowed by a serious conviction.

Both guards were also members of the "Home Boys" line: Randall McDaniel and Todd Kalis. McDaniel is, along with Mike Haynes, one of two Sun Devils in both the College and Pro Halls of Fame. Arguably the greatest guard in football history, McDaniel was a four-year starter at ASU and a force on the 1987 Rose Bowl team. He started 202 consecutive games for the Minnesota Vikings and was selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls. McDaniel now works in education in Minnesota. Kalis was a three-year starter and, together with McDaniel, led the Sun Devils to bowl games in each of those three seasons.

The center is Mike Pollak. A member of the 2003 recruiting class, Pollak is the youngest person on this team. A starter in 2006-07, Pollak led the Devils to a 10-3 record and a Pac-10 Co-Championship in 2007. A second round draft pick, Pollack is now a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

The greatest Safeties

2011-08-06T07:24:00.001-07:00

Originally published 8/12/10

Only three Sun Devils have been named consensus All-Americas in back-to-back seasons, and two of those were safeties, so this was one of the easiest positions on the team to select.

Mike Richardson (1979-82) was a standout safety on the Sun Devils teams in the early years of Pac-10 membership, including the 1982 team that came within one win of the Devils' first-ever Rose Bowl appearance. "L.A. Mike" want on to play cornerback for the Chicago Bears, and was a key member of their dominant "46" defense of the mid '80s. Sadly, Richardson has led a troubled life since the end of his football career, and was recently released from prison.

Following Richardson at ASU was David Fulcher (1983-85). Fulcher is best remembered for his hard-hitting but, unlike many other players with that reputation, he was a complete player and tremendous athlete.

From his biography:

David Fulcher was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and received both football and baseball scholarships to Arizona State University. During his career at Arizona State, he began as a Wide Receiver, then after requesting a shift to Defensive Back, he earned the coveted award of Standout Player at that position.

David's nickname, "Fo-Rock" was placed on him by his teammates after their game with Colorado State, where his teammates said he hit one player, "like a rock!" The nickname obviously stuck and stayed with him even to this day. While at Arizona State, David won All American honors three consecutive years. In November of 1996, he received the honor of being inducted into the Arizona State University Hall of Fame for his outstanding college career.

The greatest Cornerbacks

2011-08-06T06:57:00.003-07:00

Originally published 2/24/07

We start the unveiling of the All-time ASU team with the cornerbacks.

Mike Haynes is one of only two Sun Devils in both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame. He was all-conference in 1973, '74 and '75, and was named to six All-America teams at the end of the Sun Devils' unbeaten 1975 season. ASU's record was 40-8 during Haynes' four seasons and Frank Kush nicknamed him "luxury".

Eric Allen was a member of the 1987 Rose Bowl championship team. Listed generously at 5'10", Allen used his blazing speed and football instincts to shut down the best of them. He now appears regularly on ESPN.

Although not a condition for selection to this team, it is worth noting that both Haynes and Allen went on to stellar pro careers. Haynes arrival in Los Angeles midway through the 1983 season set the stage for the Raiders to win Super Bowl XVIII, and Eric Allen was a member of some great Philadelphia Eagle defenses during the late '80s and early '90s before moving on to the Saints and Raiders. Haynes was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

The greatest of the great unveiled

2011-08-06T06:49:00.001-07:00

Originally published 8/12/10

In the build up to the new football season, I will be naming my All-time ASU team. I will announce the team in a series of articles, position-by-position. Since I started this process a few years ago, I have received some great feedback from fans, and got in touch with some past players who provided invaluable insight. Many of the selections proved far more difficult than I ever anticipated. In the end, I had to make some tough decisions, so if I did not pick your favorite player that does not mean that I ignored your input.

I imposed the following rules on myself:

(1) This will be a true team, with the right number of players at each position. That means one halfback and one fullback for example. I'm not going to cheat like the NFL did when they named four quarterbacks to their 75th Anniversary All-Time team. This defeats the entire purpose: it's easy to say that Baugh, Graham, Montana and Unitas were all great; it's a lot harder to say which of them was the very best.

(2) The defense will be a 4-3. During much of the Kush era the defense was a 5-2, which is effectively a 3-4 in modern parlance. In the 80's and 90's the 4-3 was the dominant formation.

(3) Only players from the WAC era and beyond will be considered (that's 1962 onwards). It is almost impossible to fairly evaluate players from the Border Conference days.

(4) Players will be evaluated based on their college career, not their pro performance. For example, Jerry Smith was a great tight end for the Redskins, but it's his time at ASU that counts.

(5) Players will be judged at the position they played in college, not the pros, so Darren Woodson gets judged as an outside linebacker, not a safety.

(6) Football performance will also outweigh off-field contributions or all-around popularity. Nathan LaDuke was a fan favorite on an otherwise horrible team, but he wasn't necessarily one of the two best safeties in ASU history. Charley Taylor's historic contribution in breaking the color barrier for the Redskins doesn't influence his inclusion on this team.

(7) Extended careers will carry more weight. So while Derrick Rodgers' performance in '96 was one of the great single seasons in Sun Devil history, it's not enough for him to make the team.

(8) Individual honors carry a lot of weight, but do not make selections automatic. Multiple All-Americas (Woody Green, Mike Richardson and David Fulcher) and Hall of Fame inductees (Mike Haynes, John Jefferson, Randall McDaniel, Ron Pritchard, Pat Tillman and Danny White) are virtual locks.

Most importantly, this is "my" team. I feel comfortable that each of the selections I have made are the best at their respective positions, but in most cases there were at least two or three other candidates that deserved careful consideration.

Packard Stadium, RIP?

2011-08-03T08:38:00.002-07:00

As reported by the Arizona Republic, ASU is considering a move to the Chicago Cubs' new stadium in Mesa in 2014.

Predictably, this has produced a strong response. I was expecting 95% of the feedback to be negative, but right now it's tracking more as a 50-50 split. You can follow the discussion on the Sun Devil Message Board and Sparky's Pigskin Forum.

As I posted, I'm really torn. I'd much prefer to keep all sports on campus, but the opportunity to play in a state-of-the-art stadium for free may be too good to pass up.

On this day in Sun Devil History: Archuleta and Heap drafted in first round

2011-04-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

ASU has had two players taken in the first round of an NFL draft three times. The last such occasion was on April 21, 2001 when Adam Archuleta went to the Rams with the 20th overall pick, and Todd Heap went to the Ravens at #31. In hindsight, of course, Heap turned out to be a steal, while Archuleta's "tweener" status (too small to be a linebacker, too slow for safety) meant that he never fulfilled his high expectations, although the Redskins did sign him to the richest contract ever for a safety. However, in many ways Archuleta may be the most successful athlete in ASU history, since his wife is one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Above all other variables, talent results in wins in college football. There is no better way to explain Dirk Koetter's failure at ASU than to note that he did not recruit a single future NFL first round draft pick during his tenure.

A few weeks before the draft, ESPN guru Mel Kiper interviewed Todd Heap and asked him about his decision to leave ASU a year early.

The Sun Devil Photo Archive - 1962 in color

2011-04-16T10:02:00.001-07:00

Another picture from osulmb. In the original post, this picture is labeled as being from 1962. It's one of the few color pictures I have ever seen from that early.

If it is from the 1962 season then I have no idea who the opponent is. Incredibly, we played eight home games that season, and only two on the road. So the opponent could be Colorado State, Washington State, West Texas A&M, San Jose State, Texas-El Paso, Utah State, Utah or New Mexico State.

The Sun Devil Photo Archive - 1967 @ Utah

2011-04-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to osulmb on the Sparky's Pigskin message board for these great images. Consensus is that these come from the 1967 game at Utah, which the Devils won 49-32. Love the socks!

Here's All-America Ron Pritchard coming in for a tackle:

The Sun Devil Photo Archive - Goodwin Stadium

2011-04-16T09:34:00.001-07:00

This generation of Sun Devil fans needs to preserve our heritage. It's very difficult to find a lot of photographic content on the web from anything earlier than the '90s. So when I do come across some great images I'm going to try to publicize them.

I do not want to infringe any copyright, so if you own any images used on this site please let me know and I'll be happy to remove them.

To start, here's a truly beautiful image of Goodwin Stadium. Someone sent me this link a few years ago, but I forgot to make a note of who. So thank you to the kind person, whoever you are!

Here are two more pictures of Goodwin Stadium from the ASU Libraries archive:

Please contact me if you have images you would like to post.

Once you go black...

2011-04-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Quick thoughts from the public unveiling of the new ASU identity.

What I love:

The new Sun Devil Bold font. Very clean - looks good both in the lettering and the uniform numbers.
The consistency. One shade of gold; common look for all programs.
The way that black was introduced. If you are going to bring black in to the color scheme, do it right. And this is doing it right.
The matte black football helmets. Possibly one of the best helmets in college football.
The basketball uniforms. Sharp, clean, tasteful.

Meh:

The new "trident with flames" logo. It may grow on me, but I feel like the handle is too short in proportion to the prongs.
The all-white football combination (although paired with the black helmets, it could look good).
The "ASU" lettering on the football sleeves. Not sure what the point is; would have preferred numbers.

As expected, the message boards have exploded with people whining about the changes and bemoaning the loss of "tradition". ASU has very little tradition when it comes to branding and uniforms. Heck, we were the Bulldogs for many years, then wore numbers on our helmets (Alabama-style) for some of our "glory years". Sparky has only been on the helmets since 1980.

Change is good - embrace it and let's have some fun in 2011!

Postgame celebrations

2010-12-03T07:26:00.001-07:00

Thomas Weber spikes the pitchfork into the UNRB end zone!

No pity for the Kitties, 2010 version

2010-12-03T06:42:00.002-07:00

Junior's sack:

"The Block":

"The Block" part two:

No pity for the Kitties

2010-12-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest runs in ASU history, as Kevin Galbreath breaks one against UNRB in 1992.

Kickoff times / TV coverage for the 2010 football season

2010-11-30T14:49:00.001-07:00

Whether you live out of state or are planning road trips, it's important to keep an eye on the potential kickoff times. Remember, the TV networks decide some gametimes during the summer, but the majority of TV selections are made 12 days prior to gameday (and in some cases, 6 days). For ASU, 2010 is unusual in that 8 of the 12 games are already set before the season even starts.

I'll keep this article updated as the season progresses.

For a comprehensive, accurate listing of all games on TV, this is by far the best site.

Here's how thing shape up for the 2010 season (all times local to Arizona):

9/4 Portland State: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

9/11 Northern Arizona: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona Plus (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

9/18 @ Wisconsin: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. with coverage on ABC in much of the country and ESPN2 everywhere else.

9/25 Oregon: kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, so it will be on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona. Check your local listings!

10/2 @ Oregon State: kickoff set for 3:30 p.m., televised by FSN Northwest. Will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports Atlantic.

10/9 @ Washington: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m., televised by FSN Northwest. Will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ). For unknown reasons, this game was not picked up by Fox College Sports nationally.

10/23 @ Cal: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production. It will be on many of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona, but large parts of the country, including the entire North East, will not get this game.

10/30 Washington State: kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. No TV coverage.

11/6 @ USC: kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, so it should also be on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona, although we're now into the NHL and NBA seasons so this game could be pre-empted in some markets.

11/13 Stanford: kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/26 UCLA: kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, and given the unusual day/time it will be shown on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona.

12/2 @ UNRB: kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN (national).

2011 Schedule Announced

2010-11-05T12:04:00.004-07:00

It's official!

Sept. 3 UC Davis @ ASU
Sept. 10 Missouri @ ASU
Sept. 17 ASU @ Illinois
Sept. 24 USC @ ASU
Oct. 1 Oregon State @ ASU
Oct. 8 ASU @ Utah
Oct. 15 ASU @ Oregon
Oct. 22 Bye
Oct. 29 Colorado @ ASU
Nov. 5 ASU @ UCLA
Nov. 12 ASU @ Washington State
Nov. 19 UNRB @ ASU
Nov. 26 Cal @ ASU
Dec. 3 Pac-12 Championship Game (hopefully at Sun Devil Stadium!)

Initial reaction: this is a favorable schedule. Two home games to open conference play. Games at Utah and Oregon are probably the highlights for road-trips. We get to play au before Thanksgiving for the first time in many years.

Only negatives: no automatic "W" since we miss the Huskies. Also, only one home game in a six-week stretch in the middle of the season.

We miss Stanford and UW in 2011-12, and then miss Cal and Oregon in 2013-14.

TV Coverage for ASU @ Oregon State

2010-09-28T04:32:00.002-07:00

The Oregon State game is being televised by FSN Northwest. It is NOT a "national" FSN broadcast. The game will be on FSN Northwest, FSN Arizona and Fox College Sports only.

If you live outside the FSN Arizona or FSN Northwest markets, you will only see this game if you have a satellite package that includes FSN Arizona, or a cable package that includes Fox College Sports.

TV coverage maps for ASU @ Wisconsin

2010-09-17T05:51:00.003-07:00

Everyone in the US gets to see this week's game!

You can watch this week's ASU @ Wisconsin game on your local ABC station if you live in one of the areas shaded in green in this map:

Otherwise you can watch the game on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD if you live in one of the areas shaded in orange in this map:

If you can't get to a TV but have PC access with ESPN3.com, you can watch the game if you live in one of the areas shaded in blue in this map:

"That's one of the best catches you'll ever see!"

2010-09-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! Just wow!

2010-09-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

I wasn't expecting to post an article about baseball at this time of the year, but today's entry over at UniWatch could not be overlooked. Thanks to Randy Policar, Asst. Sports Information Director at ASU, we now have the best shots ever of the Sun Devils' "tequila sunrise" uniform. Anyone remember in what year(s) these were worn?

"I'm L.A. Mike, and I play it cool"

2010-08-12T09:38:00.002-07:00

Unlike Mike Haynes' horrific contribution to music videos, Mike Richardson can look back proudly on his participation in the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl Shuffle. #27 makes his solo appearance at the 3:30 mark.

I'm L.A. Mike, and I play it cool.
They don't sneak by me 'cause I'm no fool.
I fly on the field and get on down.
Everybody knows I don't mess around.
I can break'em, shake'em,
Any time of day.
I like to steal it and make 'em pay,
So please don't cry to beat my hustle
'Cause I'm just here to do
The Super Bowl Shuffle.

Isaiah Mustafa's latest commercial

2010-07-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Sun Devils' future football schedules

2010-04-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Originally Published 12/4/09
Last Updated 4/18/10 with the announcement of a home-and-home series with UTSA in 2016 and 2018
This post starts with a strong caveat: much of this information will probably change in the years ahead. With that said, fans are always interested in examining future schedules, so I wanted to keep an up-to-date summary of what we know. I will update this article over time as new announcements are made.

First, let's start with the Pac-10 schedule. Since the conference moved to a full round-robin schedule in 2006, the home-and-away lineup has been set. ASU's schedule in odd-numbered years is significantly easier than in even-numbered years (which makes the 2009 season even more disappointing). In odd-numbered years, we have five conference home games, including USC and AU. In even-numbered years, we play only four conference home games (Oregon, Stanford, UCLA and Washington State). It's going to be a lot harder to sell season tickets in those even-numbered years.

Next, let's review the out-of-conference schedule. As most fans know, the basic philosophy behind the out-of-conference scheduling has traditionally been to have an "A", "B" and "C" level opponent. The additional requirement is to have at least two of the games at home in even-numbered years when we only have four conference games at Sun Devil Stadium. However, starting in 2011 it looks like we're moving to more of an "A, A, C" model. DevistsDigest.com published a Q&A with Associate Athletic Director Mark Brand in February 2010 that explains the process in a lot of detail. I never understand fan criticism of our scheduling, because most neutral parties see our out-of-conference schedule as one of the best year-in, year-out.

The "A" level opponent is from a BCS conference. In recent seasons, Georgia, Colorado and Iowa have been "A" level opponents.

The "B" level opponent typically was from the MWC, or a strong school from the WAC. These may be schools that will play twice at ASU in return for one game at their site. In recent years, we have played UNLV, San Diego State and Nevada, but is seems like we will have a hard time finding "B" level opponents in coming seasons. San Diego State has downgraded their schedule, and does not have any future games with ASU scheduled. Boise State was looking for an opponent in 2011, and I'd love to see them visit SDS, but their requirement for a $1 million guarantee made that impossible. As predicted in this article, New Mexico is the next opponent in this cateogry in 2014-15. We may focus on finding two "A" level schools each season, such as Missouri and Illinois in 2011 and 2012.

The "C" level opponent is usually a FCS school, and is always going to be an opponent that does not require a return visit. We try to schedule NAU as often as possible for this slot, which is a nice way to keep the money in-state.

Ideally, we should play an "A" level opponent at home in even-numbered years to counter the lack of quality Pac-10 opponents. In 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 that will be the case, but in 2010 we play at Wisconsin, so the home schedule is particularly bad this year.

Jeff Metcalfe's articles in the Republic from September 2009 and February 2010 do a great job of describing the problems finding non-conference opponents. We came close to scheduling a 2010 home opener with Cincinnati and it sounds like we're trying to schedule more games with Colorado.

A final note: very little of this information comes from official sources. ASU's website has stopped showing future schedules. A good source is NationalChamps.net, but that site is not 100% accurate. A lot of the data right now comes from this article in the Arizona Republic from July 2009 and this press release from February 2010, which also includes the full schedules for 2011 and 2012. The Republic also keeps an updated future schedules page.

So let's review the current plans for future seasons. Click on links for announcements of specific games. Actual dates shown when known.

Year	A	B	C
2010	@ Wisconsin (9/18)	--	Portland State (9/4)
			NAU (9/11)
2011	Missouri (9/10)	--	Cal-Davis (9/3)
	@ Illinois* (9/17)
2012	Illinois (9/8)	--	NAU (9/1)
	@ Missouri (9/15)
2013	Wisconsin**	--	Sacramento State
	Notre Dame*** (10/5)
2014	Notre Dame (10/25)	@ New Mexico (9/13)	Weber State (9/6)
2015	@ LSU (9/12)	New Mexico (9/5)	Cal Poly (9/16)
2016	LSU (9/10)	@ UTSA (9/17)	NAU
2017	@ Notre Dame (9/16)	TBD	TBD
2018	Colorado (9/15)	UTSA (9/1)	TBD
2019	@ Colorado****	TBD	TBD

* There was some uncertainty about the sequence of the two games with Illinois. Most sources show ASU playing the Illini at home in 2011, and on the road in 2012. I am pretty sure this was the sequence when the series was first announced, but the schools later switched the years in which they would host. Many Illinois fan sites still have the 2011 game listed in Tempe but it is confirmed that the 2011 game will be in Champaign.

** The home game with Wisconsin was originally scheduled for 2012 but was later moved to 2013.

*** The 2013 game with Notre Dame is going to be played at Cowboys Stadium as part of Notre Dame's barnstorming tour.

**** The game at Colorado was originally scheduled for 2013 but was later moved to 2019 to allow ASU to play Notre Dame in 2013.

UNRB wins in a landslide!

2010-02-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

It's official, the people have spoken! From now on, at least on this website, the UofA will be known as the University of No Rose Bowls. In the runoff poll, UNRB received more than twice the number of votes of its closest competitor.

Thanks to everyone for voting. My personal favorite, CGU (Closing the Gap), trailed badly in the first poll, but I am very happy to jump on the UNRB bandwagon.

Go Devils!

A quick word on this week's poll

2010-02-08T15:10:00.002-07:00

I messed up with the new poll by opening it for voting before I had completed the list of answers. Apparently, Blogger does not allow you to modify a poll after voting has started. Therefore, I will leave the current poll open for a couple more days then post a follow up with the winner of this poll in a runoff against some of the most popular omissions.

Updated 2/11: OK, the runoff poll is up! au won the first poll, with Mildcats a solid second, so both have been carried over to the new poll.

2010 schedule completed: don't blame ASU

2010-02-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

As expected, ASU was unable to find an FBS (1-A) school willing to come to Sun Devil Stadium in September, so the Sun Devils will be playing two FCS (1-AA) schools to start the season.

Portland State visits on September 4, followed by NAU on September 11. Portland State will now not be visiting in 2011, so we now have two spots to fill next season.

The Athletic Department does not deserve much criticism for this one. San Jose State pulled out of their contract with ASU for a bigger payday elsewhere, and with only 4 home conference games in even-numbered years we had to have two non-conference home games. From all accounts, Mark Brand, the ASU associate athletic director who does most of the hard work with football scheduling, tried hard to find a more attractive opponent. Unfortunately, until we, the fans, start filling Sun Devil Stadium regularly for every game, we can't pay out-of-conference opponents the same type of money that other schools can offer.

When is a price reduction not a price reduction?

2010-02-03T11:44:00.008-07:00

The ASU athletic department performed some "fuzzy math" yesterday. In announcing season ticket prices for 2010, the press release claimed that one of the highlights was "No price increases over 2009". Sounds good, except that the 2009 schedule included seven home games but the 2010 schedule features just six, so on a per-game basis some tickets have actually increased in price. For example, tickets in Section 5 increased from $71 per game in 2009 to $83 per game in 2010.

A lot of people failed to notice this "minor" detail. In fact, in today's Republic Jeff Metcalfe wrote that "ASU is not increasing ticket prices", a claim that even the ASU athletic department did not make!

Credit to posts by Sole Diavolo and Devil Diver Down for bringing this to my attention. To be fair, some posters don't think ASU did anything wrong by ignoring the per-game increases in their press release.

An interested party posted some additional details, reproduced here:

Changes

Visiting band moving back from Sec 1 & 2 to Sec 24
Visitor section moved to Sec 230 & 231 from Upper of 215-220

Upper Level Changes

Upper rows of Sec 201-211 are now $99 from $179 to $199
Per game 09= 25.57-28.42 to 10=16.50
Bottom Rows of Sec 201-204, 208-211 & 237-243 now $199 from $260 to $525
Per game 09=37.14-75.00 to 10=33.16
Bottom Rows of Sec 222-226 are now $99 from $149
Per game 09=21.28 to 10=16.50
Bottom Rows of Sec 205-207 now $499 from $525
Per game 09=75.00 to 10=83.16

Lower Level Changes

Sec 1-3, 11-26 & 37-41 are now $199 from $250-$350
Per game 09=35.71-50.00 to 10=33.16
Sec 4, 10 & 27-28 are now $399 from $450
Per game 09=64.28 to 10=66.50
Sec 5, 9 & 29-31 are now $499 from $500
Per game 09=71.42 to 10=83.16
Sec 5a-9a are now $799 from $850-$900
Per game 09=121.42-128.57 to 10=133.16

Loge Changes

Sec 105-107 are now $1746 from $1800
Per game 09=257.14 to 10=291.51
Sec 112-122, 128-131, 137-140 & 145-154 are now $799 from $850
Per game 09=121.42 to 10=133.16
Sec 101-140, 108-111, 129-132 & 136-139 are now $1249 from $1400
Per game 09=200.00 to 10=208.16
Sec 123-127 & 141-144 are now $499 from $850
Per game 09=121.42 to 10=83.16

It looks to me like the best bargains now are lower row seats in sections 204 or 208, which are now $33 per game. These sections are in the upper deck at the 20 yard line on the west side. If you can get in the first 5-8 rows, the view is magnificent from these sections.

Click here for the new seat map (PDF).

Updated: this follow-up post by an ASU representative contains some additional detail, but still feels like a spin job. The revised ticket plan is good - no need to spin it!

Guess who's coming to Sun Devil Stadium?

2010-02-02T18:42:00.002-07:00

Still no announcement of the 12th and final opponent on the 2010 football schedule, but there was a significant development today. ASU published a revised schedule showing the NAU game (previously announced for September 4) moved to September 11. So the "TBA" opponent will now be visiting Sun Devil Stadium on Labor Day weekend.

The other notable announcement is that the Oregon game on September 25 is confirmed for a 7pm kickoff, so no risk of this game being moved to daytime for TV.

Look what I found!

2010-01-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

While surfing the web, I stumbled across some old content from the State Press.

1987 Sun Devil Spark Rose Bowl Coverage was actually published to the web 10 years later as part of the build up to the 1997 Rose Bowl. Unfortunately the scanned images are of pretty low quality, but anything is better than nothing!

Also fun to read is The Sun Devil Spark's detailed summary of the 1996 season that I do not recall seeing before.

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

2009-12-04T13:28:00.001-07:00

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.

Feeling green?

2009-11-04T18:32:00.003-07:00

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?

Television Coverage for Cal @ ASU

2009-10-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Nice Defense!

2009-10-19T04:51:00.003-07:00

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

Will the real Sun Devils please stand up?

2009-10-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

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.

A wasted game

2009-10-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Beat Oregon State and things will look bright

2009-09-29T05:57:00.002-07:00

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.

Strong chance of no TV coverage of game at Wazzu

2009-09-28T05:06:00.001-07:00

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.

Georgia: post-game open comments thread

2009-09-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Radar picks up Sun Devils descending on Georgia

2009-09-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Sun Devils versus History this weekend

2009-09-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Time to check your local cable listings

2009-09-14T14:00:00.004-07:00

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.

What the hell are we supposed to do this week?

2009-09-07T07:30:00.002-07:00

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).

NIT Tip-Off Tournament field announced

2009-08-12T11:20:00.002-07:00

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.

New football jerseys revealed

2009-07-13T10:21:00.005-07:00

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.

2009 football schedule is up

2009-03-09T10:39:00.004-07:00

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.

Clearing the archives -- Pat Tillman (part three)

2009-03-08T14:49:00.003-07:00

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.

Ranking the Pac-10 Road Trips

2009-01-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

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

2009-01-05T08:59:00.002-07:00

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!).

Jake Plummer... Handballer?

2008-11-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

From ESPN.com: Where in the world is Jake Plummer? Playing handball.

Clearing the archives -- Pat Tillman (part two)

2008-10-22T10:02:00.002-07:00

Much has been written about Pat Tillman since his death. The following articles are not intended to be a comprehensive listing; rather, they form a selection that gives good perspective and provides terrific reading.

First, a basic report from MSNBC immediately following his death. Note that at this time, it was still being reported that he had been killed by enemy fire.

After his funeral, Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an interesting article: Challenge yourself.

Tillman talked about everything, with everyone. According to the speakers, he had read the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and he underlined passages constantly. Garwood recalled how he'd mail articles to friends, highlighting certain parts and writing in the margins: "Let's discuss."

Tim Layden of SI wrote a tremendous personal essay Remembering Pat Tillman the morning he heard the news that Pat was dead.

A few minutes ago my 12-year-old son walked into my home office to check on me. I turned to him, and all I could think to say was, "Pat Tillman says hello."

Later in 2004, Layden nominated Pat as his sportsman of the year.

And there I sat in my tall chair, spouting off and thinking: Tillman would despise this. He would deplore that television anchors and journalists and politicians are making a fuss over his death or worse yet, using his death to push their own agendas. With each passing live shot, I felt more out of place, more desirous of running and apologizing to Tillman's memory.

In September 2006, SI published Remember His Name by Gary Smith.

Pat just had that way, with colonels and coaches and Nobel Prize winners, too, of slicing through rank and reputation, of turning every encounter into nothing more or less than two human beings talking. Hell, the guy introduced himself to strangers simply as "Pat," and if they asked what he did before strapping it on for Uncle Sam, he'd say he studied some back at Arizona State and quickly ask about them, never mentioning the summa cum laude or the Pac-10 defensive player of the year award, and certainly not the NFL. And still, something about him made you walk away wanting to learn more, laugh more, run more, give more.

The fallen soldier of fortune by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN includes some great insight from Doug Tammaro of ASU's Sports Information Department.

In the year since Tillman died during a firefight in Afghanistan, Tammaro has told a thousand stories that have undoubtedly reached millions of people. He's determined to make sure that people know all about the man Tillman was, about all the dimensions of his life and character that went far beyond the headlines and sound bites centered on the million-dollar football player for the Arizona Cardinals who left it all behind in the wake of September 11th to fight for his country.

Clearing the archives -- Pat Tillman (part one)

2008-10-17T05:43:00.003-07:00

After Pat Tillman's tragic death, I started linking to some of the better articles that had been published before he died. Of course, many great essays have been written since, but it's important to go back and read what was written while he was still with us.

A cut above was published in SI while Pat was still at ASU.

This season Tillman has become simply the best player in the country who doesn't have his own (fill in the blank: Heisman, Outland, Lombardi, Butkus) campaign, living proof that there is room at the highest level of the game for a guy without much size or blazing speed but with a brain and cojones. "He epitomizes what college football is all about," says Southern Cal offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who was an assistant at Arizona State during Tillman's first two seasons.

Privileged to Serve, by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal, was written after Pat had left the NFL to join the Army.

Right now he has 13 weeks of basic training ahead of him, then three weeks of Airborne School, and then, if he makes it, Ranger School, where only about a third of the candidates are accepted. "It's a long row," said the Fort Benning spokesman, who seemed to suggest it would be all right to call again around Christmas. Until then he'll be working hard trying to become what he wants to become.

On March 20, 2003, NFL.com published an article "Tillman follows beat of a different drum" by Tom Barnidge, but this has since been removed from the site (probably just lost in the shuffle, not deliberately deleted). If anyone can find a cached version, please send me the details.

The NFL's Lonely Hero, by Paul Beston, was published in the American Spectator in December 2003. All too prophetically, Beston wrote:

Tillman walked away from a three-year, $3.6 million dollar contract with the Cardinals for an $18,000 salary and plentiful opportunities to get his head shot off. That hasn't happened yet, and God willing it won't. But the pay cut kicked in right away.

Pat was killed on April 22, 2004.

Clearing the archives -- Sparky

2008-10-15T18:42:00.002-07:00

All ASU fans know about our beloved mascot, Sparky. For younger fans, a brief history can be found at the official site and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism published a nice article about The real life of Sparky the Sun Devil.

Not all current Sun Devils, however, know that the school was originally known as the Owls, and later the Bulldogs. Only after the Arizona State Teachers College became a four-year school named Arizona State College did the Sun Devils moniker arrive.

By the way, Sparky has his own blog!

Kickoff times for the rest of the season -- Update #4

2008-10-13T09:18:00.002-07:00

As expected, ABC selected UCLA @ Cal for their regional telecast on October 25, so the ASU/Oregon game will not be televised and will kickoff at ASU's preferred time of 7pm.

Looking forward through the rest of the schedule, two other games are in jeopardy of not being televised. To recap:

On November 1, the game at Oregon State is already set for 7:15pm on FSN.

Daylight savings time ends on Sunday, November 2.

The Washington game in Seattle on November 8 is unlikely to be televised, because there is only one open slot that day, at 1:30pm on FSN (California at USC has already been selected by ABC for 6pm). Oregon State at UCLA or Stanford at Oregon is the most likey selection. I think UW prefers daytime games so I would assume an early afternoon kickoff.

November 15 has two open timeslots: 1:30pm on ABC or 8:15pm on FSN. I would be shocked if ABC wanted to show Washington State so an early start is unlikely. Since this is the homecoming game, it's possible that kickoff will be late afternoon if not selected for TV, but unlike homecoming games in years past, this game is still listed as TBA on the ASU website.

The UCLA game is already set for ESPN2 at 7:30pm on Friday, November 28 (the day after Thanksgiving).

The contest with Arizona in Tucson will be televised, but the kickoff could be 1pm or 6pm.

Clearing the archives -- the Dirk Koetter years

2008-10-10T09:53:00.002-07:00

The Archives page will soon be gone. Today's recap starts with the announcement from November 15, 2000 that Bruce Snyder had been fired. Two weeks later, Dirk Koetter was introduced as the new head coach.

I think it's fair to say that the consensus option of Sun Devil nation at the time is that Snyder had to go. It was obvious that he had failed to keep the momentum of the 1996 season (and a pretty good 1997 season) going, and it was hard to present a solid case for his retention.

Meanwhile, Dirk Koetter was received with cautious optimism. Remember, we whisked him away from Oklahoma State at the last minute; he was certainly a hot commodity that winter. However, two red flags went up early following his hire: first, the announcement that he planned to retain the 4-2-5 defense he had used at Boise State; and second, when we saw photos of his coaching staff and realized just how young they all looked.

One thing was certain, however: Koetter was a much better selection than John Mackovic, who the Rats introduced as their new head coach at around the same time. In January, 2001, Rob Miech of SportsLine.com wrote a good piece on the challenges facing both men: Arizona schools' new coaches hope to beat heat in desert.

"As I told people when I took the job, my number-one objective is to go and win the Rose Bowl," Mackovic said. "It has to be. If it isn't, I shouldn't be here. No one should be here. It can't be any less, because we haven't done it. It's like scaling Mount Everest. It's there, and you have to do it."

Of course, things never did work out for Dirk in the desert, and six years of mediocrity later (was it really six years?) he was fired, to be replaced by his polar opposite, Dennis Erickson. The best summary of Erickson is Portrait of a winner, written by Jim Meehan of the Spokesman-Review in August, 2006, while Erickson was at Idaho. At the time of writing, the jury is out.

There's a chance

2008-10-10T06:45:00.001-07:00

Clearing the archives -- selling out

2008-10-08T06:57:00.003-07:00

The ongoing project to transfer the contents of the Archives to this blog continues...

You'll notice that a lot of the articles come from the New Times. Two primary reasons for this: the New Times has an extensive online history for free; and when they do cover ASU athletics, they tend to do so in depth.

Anyway, two articles today from the late 90's, both of which are still highly relevant.

In March 1998, John Dougherty's article ASU plays footsie with Nike detailed then-AD Kevin White's attempt to secure a $5 million per year deal with Nike. Funny, but 10 years later it's obvious that ASU is not one of Nike's "featured" schools. I can buy an FSU, Texas or UNC cap here in PA, but no sign of ASU merchandise.

In The Selling of ASU Football from September 1998, Dougherty reported on the commercialization of the gameday experience.

The real battle during ASU home football games pits fans against a high-tech marketing machine that employs a distracting array of audio, video, live stunts and bright signage to hammer commercial messages into a captive audience.

No matter how the game unfolds, no matter the situation on the field, Sun Devil fans face a fusillade of advertisements. The ads divert attention from the field and refocus the "market" on products and corporations being hawked.

Two years later, ASU was forced to announce that they were reducing the number of in-game commercial announcements.

Kickoff times for the rest of the season -- Update #3

2008-09-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Updated 9/29/08: as predicted, the ASU @ USC game on October 11 has been selected by ABC for the 12:30pm timeslot. As with the Cal game this coming week, this will be a regional telecast. If you live outside the far West, you'll need to sign up for ESPN Gameplan ($22 for the day) or head to a sports bar.

The next game with a kickoff TBD is Oregon on October 25 at Sun Devil Stadium. Expect an announcement on October 13. The only open slot that day is the 12:30 ABC telecast, and the only other possibility for that time is UCLA at Cal, so the game this week in Berkley will probably have a major influence. If the Oregon game is not picked by ABC, expect a 7pm kickoff with no live TV coverage.

------------------

Updated 9/22/08: the ASU @ Cal game has been picked up by ABC with a 12:30pm kickoff. This is a regional telecast, and given how poor the Pac-10 is doing this season you can be sure it will be shown in the Pac-10 region and maybe a few other western states only. For those of us outside that area, you'll need to sign up for ESPN Gameplan ($22 for the day) or head to a sports bar.

The USC game on October 11 is still TBD, with an announcement to be made on Monday, September 29 or Sunday October 5 if ABC uses one of its 6-day selections. ABC's other options that day are:
ARIZONA at STANFORD
UCLA at OREGON
WASHINGTON STATE at OREGON STATE

This is a pretty sorry slate of games, so I think it's likely that ABC will select the ASU/USC game, but no guarantees!

------------------

Numerous posts are starting to show up on various message boards asking when certain games will kickoff. Keep in mind that apart from a few games that are selected before the start of the season, most weeks' games are not selected for TV until 12 days prior to gameday. Twice per season, ABC is allowed to wait until 6 days to announce their picks.

Three invaluable resources are the full Pac-10 schedule, the Pac-10 TV schedule, and Matt Sarzyniak's excellent listing site.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you are planning to travel to a game, kickoff could be as early as 12:30pm or as late as 8pm, so keep your plans flexible. Typically if a home game is not selected for TV, it will kickoff at 7pm.

Here's what we already know about the 2008 season:

The first three games (NAU, Stanford and UNLV) were not selected for network TV and are being shown by FSN Arizona with a 7pm kickoff.

The Georgia game was selected by ABC prior to the start of the season with a 5pm kickoff.

The three big October matchups are all TBA:

The October 4 game at Cal is likely to be televised, and would kickoff at either 12:30pm on ABC or 4:30pm on Versus.

The October 11 contest at USC is also likely to be televised at either 12:30pm on ABC or 7:15pm on FSN. Remember, ABC cannot show USC every week (it just seems that way!).

The only open TV slot for the Oregon game on October 25 is 12:30pm on ABC, but UCLA @ Cal is also a candidate for that window. If the game is not picked by ABC, I assume ASU would schedule it for 7pm.

On November 1, the game at Oregon State is already set for 7:15pm on FSN.

Daylight savings time ends on Sunday, November 2.

If Washington keeps losing, the game in Seattle on November 8 is unlikely to be televised, because there is only one open slot that day, at 1:30pm on ABC. I think UW prefers daytime games so I would assume an early afternoon kickoff.

November 15 has two open timeslots: 1:30pm on ABC or 8:15pm on FSN. I would be surprised if ABC wanted to show Washington State so the early start is unlikely. Since this is the homecoming game, it's possible that kickoff will be late afternoon if not selected for TV, but unlike homecoming games in years past, this game is officially listed as TBA on the ASU website.

The UCLA game is already set for ESPN2 at 7:30pm on Friday, November 28 (the day after Thanksgiving).

The contest with Arizona in Tucson will be televised, but the kickoff could be 1pm or 6pm.

The greatest of the great, redux

2008-09-25T10:05:00.005-07:00

18 months ago, I started a project to name the All-time ASU football team. I received some great feedback from fans, and got in touch with some past players who provided invaluable insight. The project stalled for two reasons: mostly, I got distracted by work, but also, the selections proved far more difficult than I ever anticipated.

I don't want to quit, so the project is back on my front burner. But I need assistance.

First, a recap of the rules (which I set for myself): most importantly, this will be a true team, with the right number of players at each position. That means one halfback and one fullback for example. I'm not going to cheat like the NFL did when they named four quarterbacks to their 75th Anniversay All-Time team. This defeats the entire purpose: it's easy to say that Baugh, Graham, Unitas and Montana were all great; it's a lot harder to say which of them was the very best.

Players will be evaluated based on their college career, not their pro performance, and extended careers will carry more weight. So while Derrick Rodgers' performance in '96 was one of the great single seasons in Sun Devil history, it's not enough for him to make the team. Players will be judged at the position they played in college, not the pros, so Darren Woodson will have to make it as an OLB, not a SS. Football performance will also outweigh off-field contributions or all-around popularity, so while Pat Tillman was without doubt one of the greatest men ever to wear a Sun Devil uniform, he wasn't necessarily one of the two best OLBs in ASU history.

Realistically, only players from the WAC era and beyond will be considered (that's 1962 onwards). It is almost impossible to fairly evaluate players from the Border Conference days, although please let me know if you feel strongly about anyone excluded.

Some positions are relatively simple; others are very difficult. I already named the two cornerbacks: Mike Haynes and Eric Allen. Just 20 more to go. Please send me an e-mail with your suggestions or post comments to this article.

Clearing the archives -- hoops edition

2008-09-25T09:36:00.003-07:00

As we continue to retire the archives, today's selection features a recap of the roller-coaster ride that was ASU hoops from the mid '90s to the mid '00s.

The Bill Frieder era was a black mark in our program's history. I would gladly have traded the sweet sixteen appearance for some integrity. I have long argued that one of the most overlooked heroes in recent ASU history is Don Newman. We forget just how bad things were at the start of the 1997-98 history. The Sun Devils were expected to be awful on the court that year, and no one would have been very surprised had some additional scandals arisen off the court. Instead Newman led the team to an 18 win season, and NIT tournament berth, and (far more importantly) restored discipline and respect to the program. John Dougherty's article, The Stopgap Coach, published in March 1998 recaps Newman's season and the decision not to hire him as the permanent Head Coach. Others will disagree, but I said at the time, and I continue to believe that Kevin White should have had the guts to stick with him -- he earned it. I'm glad that things worked out well for him, and he has been an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs for several years now.

Kevin White's "splashy" hire was, in retrospect, a mistake. Rob Evans was the classic example of a great guy who could not, for whatever reason, take the program to the next level. At least he continued to improve the school's reputation in the national media, as evidenced by articles like this one from 1999 and another in 2001.

The Evans era peaked in 2003 with the NCAA tournament selection, as captured beautifully in Paul Rubin's essay Winning Season: Devils go dancing for the first time in years.

After eight years, Lisa Love fired Rob Evans and surprised pretty much everyone with her hiring of Herb Sendek. So far, so good.

Clearing the archives

2008-09-24T07:42:00.003-07:00

Back in the early days of Wired Devils, I maintained an Archives page where I could save links to articles of interest related to ASU athletics.

Blogging has rendered this page obsolete, so in a series of articles over the coming weeks I am going to post summaries of the archives and eventually retire the page.

We start with a couple of classics. In 1994 New Times writer Paul Rubin followed the baseball team from opening day in January until the last out at the College World Series. Coach Jim Brock died of cancer on June 12, four days after his team's season ended.

Rubin's first story BROCK SOLID was written before the legendary coach's death.

"Jim Brock's place in the pantheon of all-time-great college baseball coaches is secure."

The second piece, JIM BROCK LIVED FOR BASEBALL, was published a couple of weeks after he passed.

"The old baseball coach sits motionless in his chair, appearing sadly fragile. He is running on fumes now, his body wracked with liver and colon cancer that will snatch his life in just eight days."

Many years later Rubin wrote a fascinating piece on Brock's successor, Pat Murphy.

And so it all comes down to this

2008-09-22T04:35:00.003-07:00

It seems like every season there is a defining game. For ASU's 2008 edition, the next game at Cal on October 4 is just that. Win, and the Devils are 2-0 in Pac-10 play and looking good for a decent season. Lose, and the season could get very ugly very quickly. Can we beat Cal? Sure; Maryland was able to beat Cal, and Maryland is not very good. Will we beat Cal? I have no idea.

First Regular Season National Network TV Game since???

2008-09-18T06:14:00.003-07:00

OK, trivia buffs. This week's game versus Georgia is a national telecast on ABC. National meaning every TV in the country will be able to receive the game.

I cannot recall another Sun Devil regular season game ever being broadcast on national TV. We've been on ABC a lot over the past 20 years, but always on regional telecasts; the ESPN/FSN games are only available if you have cable.

There probably has been a national broadcast in the past. My first game was 1990 so I don't have direct memory from earlier than that. Maybe the Nebraska game (the 35-28 loss at Sun Devil Stadium) in 1987?

Please post to comments if you can recall another national broadcast.

PS It's Thursday and I am still not over the UNLV loss. I still feel gutted, and I'm finding it hard to care about this game.

Horrible

2008-09-15T04:51:00.003-07:00

It takes something like the loss to UNLV to make me realize that I take football way too seriously. I feel completely gutted, like the past 9 months of buildup have been a total waste of time. The Georgia game has gone from being the biggest day of the year to just another Saturday.

For those still interested, the Georgia Sports Blog will give you some good insight about the Bulldogs. Oh, what could have been...

All eyes on Pac-10 officiating this weekend

2008-09-12T07:02:00.002-07:00

Most people around the country will be watching USC host Ohio State this weekend. At the same time, ESPN will be televising Oklahoma's visit to UW. This will be the first time the Sooners have played at a Pac-10 stadium since the infamous Oregon officiating debacle.

Duck fans hate the Huskies. Trojans and Bruins don't get along. We despise the Rats. But one thing all Pac-10 fans can agree on is that our conference's officiating in terrible. I don't believe Pac-10 officials are biased, but I do believe they are incompetent.

In some ways, I hope that the Pac-10 officials do screw up a major call this weekend, because it may generate enough noise for change to happen. Of course, putting the words "change" and "Pac-10" in the same sentence is pretty funny.

The Hoff

2008-09-09T06:23:00.001-07:00

Must read post from the world's greatest sports blog, Deadspin: David Hasselhoff Is a Crazy, Wild Arizona Football Fan.

If I was recruiting against Arizona, I think I'd just play this video. Unless you're competing for a German basketball star. In which case Arizona is golden.

Could be a rough NFL season for ASU fans

2008-09-08T05:46:00.005-07:00

First, a little background.

When I moved to the Valley to attend ASU in 1991, I had no allegiance to any specific NFL team, so I quickly adopted the Cardinals. Sure they were terrible, but they were the hometown team, and they played on campus. I could scalp a ticket to most games for $5 and sit on the 50 yard line of the upper deck. Even if they were the worst team in the league, it was still NFL football.

After graduating, I became a season ticket holder for a few years, primarily to get into the Super Bowl lottery (I got tickets!). Even after leaving the Valley, I still followed them. In fact, I was at the Eagles/Cardinals game at the Vet where Jake Plummer made his pro debut.

All that changed, however, on the day that the Cardinals filed their lawsuit against ASU. Remember, this was just nine days after the citizens of Arizona had given the franchise a $400 million gift. How did the Cards respond? By suing a state agency for over $20 million. Nine days. Un-freaking-believable.

I said at the time, and I maintain to this day, that the lawsuit was unforgivable regardless of its merit. I don't care if the Cards were 100% right that they were due an additional $20 million from advertising. They should have simply held a press conference and announced: "Although we believe ASU owes us an additional $20 million, as a sign of gratitude to the people of Arizona, we are going to forgo all claims to that revenue."

Of course, as we later discovered, their claims were largely without merit, but that is not the point. The point is that the lawsuit should never have been filed in the first place. ASU still racked up nearly $1 million in legal bills, and for an Athletic Department that struggles to make a profit, that's a lot of money.

Ever since that day I have wished nothing but the worst for the Cardinals franchise and the Bidwill family. I have no ill-will to the individual players on the team, but I take great pleasure at watching them lose year after year.

2008 may be different. The NFC West is possibly going to be the worst division in NFL history. Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis are all terrible. Not just bad, but horrible. The Cruds could go 8-8 or even 7-9 and win the division by 2 or 3 games. I'm trying to find a way that another team will finish ahead of them, but I can't. So unfortunately, it's going to happen: the Cruds will win their division this season. My only solace is that they won't make it past the first round of the playoffs.

The most overlooked game of all time?

2008-09-07T07:39:00.003-07:00

So, hands up if you're excited about the UNLV game this week? As I posted earlier, I didn't think the Devils would overlook Stanford, but it's going to be awfully difficult not to overlook the Rebels. I know all the fans will be thinking about Georgia this week, but what about the coaches? Do they sneak a day to prep for the Bulldogs, or do they give 100% of their time and attention to UNLV? It's going to be a very strange week.

Sparky appears to be safe

2008-09-07T07:32:00.003-07:00

After last week's controversy, with Sparky gone from midfield at Sun Devil Stadium, the results of the Wired Devils poll were interesting: over 60% of respondents said that ASU should emphasize Sparky and the interlocking AS logo, and just 28% voted for Sparky only. I don't think Sparky is being eliminated, but I do think the University realizes that outside of Arizona, he may not be the most marketable symbol.

As the photo shows, Sparky is still present on the new basketball floor, but this time the sunburst ASU logo is the center of attention. Some people hate this logo; I quite like it myself.

Changes to Wired Devils

2008-09-04T11:25:00.005-07:00

As you will probably notice, some changes are happening at Wired Devils. I have found it difficult to maintain a current blog 24/7, so I am returning the main site www.WiredDevils.com to the links page. However, I have added a new feature: real-time links to the headlines from various news sources and blogs.

I will keep blogging, but will no longer feel embarrassed if I go a few weeks between posts. The URL of the blog is wireddevils.blogspot.com but I will link to it from the main page.

This change also allows me to make use of Blogger's toolkit, including their polls service. This week you can vote on your preferred logo: Sparky, AS or both.

Thank you for your continued support of Wired Devils. I am continually amazed by the number of visits I get each day.

Annual NFL Pigskin Pick'em Contest

2008-09-02T05:19:00.003-07:00

Have some fun this NFL season by playing Pigskin Pick'em on ESPN.com. I have created a Wired Devils group so that you can compete against other ASU fans. No prizes -- just for fun!

This game challenges you to select the winner of each game throughout the 17-week NFL season. No points spread to worry about -- just pick the winner. Best of all, it's FREE to play.

Click here for the group page.

Remember to pick against the Cruds every week!

Pac-10 falls even further behind

2008-08-29T10:23:00.002-07:00

A must read column from Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Excerpt:

I was still getting calls late Monday night about the SEC’s staggering 15-year deal with ESPN that will reportedly pay the league about $2.25 billion. That deal, coupled with the 15-year deal the SEC has signed with CBS will give the league financial security for a long, long time.

In addition to the SEC, the Big Ten and Big XII have pretty impressive TV deals in place. Meanwhile, the silence from the Pac-10 office is deafening.

Devil Dome pics

2008-08-29T06:48:00.002-07:00

A severe storm hit Tempe last night and pretty much destroyed the Devil Dome. Thanks to tiptap for the picture. Additional photos here and here.

The most important game of the season is...

2008-08-26T10:19:00.003-07:00

Forget UGA, forget U$C. One game stands out as the most critical on the Sun Devils' schedule: Stanford. That's right, the trees. Why? Because it's the Pac-10 opener, and this game has historically been a strong predictor of the season.

Consider these numbers (which count 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 11 seasons in which we have won our first Pac-10 game, the composite record is 56-31-0 (a 64% 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, 1994 was the only season where the Sun Devils won their conference opener but finished below .500 in the Pac-10.

So feel free to overlook NAU, but don't overlook the Cardinal. September 6 in Sun Devil Stadium is the most important game of the season.

I thought he retired 10 years ago?

2008-06-30T07:35:00.002-07:00

Probably the most significant offseason news, in terms of its long-term impact on ASU, was the announcement that Tom Hansen will retire as Pac-10 commissioner next summer (what, he has to hang on for another year?).

I'm surprised that the guys over at FireTomHansen.com didn't update their website in celebration. Let's face it: this guy was inept. Many people will claim that the lack of TV exposure is his biggest "crime"; personally I think his inability to secure a New Year's Day bowl for the second-placed team is the biggest indictment of his tenure.

Phil Knight as the next commissioner? Lisa Love? It really doesn't matter: whoever the Presidents select will be better than Hansen.

While blogs review his accomplishments (or lack thereof), other authors use the opportunity to re-open the discussion about Pac-10 expansion. This article makes the huge mistake of assuming that the Utah TV market is relevant. Let's be clear: Salt Lake City brings negligible additional viewers, and that is all that matters. The only schools that make sense for the conference to add are Texas, Texas A&M, Colorado or Missouri. And that will only happen if the Big XII breaks apart. Given their recent TV deal, however, that is unlikely to happen.

RIP, Uga VI

2008-06-29T07:56:00.003-07:00

The ASU-Georgia game is one of the most anticipated non-conference games of the season, and will be one of the biggest games in Sun Devil Stadium history.

Unfortunately, Uga VI will not be part of the spectacle. The bulldog passed away Friday night.

Uga is one of the best traditions in college football (and Georgia is lucky enough to have another: the hedges). Hopefully Uga VII is waiting in the wings and can make it to Tempe for the festivities.

Worth remembering that ASU's original nickname was the Bulldogs.

2008 schedule

2008-06-28T09:33:00.003-07:00

One of the most popular features of Wired Devils is the football schedule, with links to the opponent's website and local newspaper coverage. After each game a link to the boxscore is added.

And don't forget that you can also review all the schedules since 2001 on the Football page.

For those of you already planning trips to Athens or Madison, the official site has the future schedules through 2010, but don't make any firm plans just yet. Remember, planned games often change, and you really have to wait until the spring before each season to know for sure, especially with out-of-conference games.

The Annual Misconceptions About Recruiting Post

2008-02-03T15:16:00.001-07:00

I haven't done this in several years. At least I don't recall doing it in several years. Every year, when I read the boards, there's always about 10 cats jumping to wild assumptions based on their preconceived notions about how college football recruiting works. Here's a primer list of misconceptions:

1. Recruiting is just like they show it in the movies.

- Not even close. For one, they have no way to show the endless hours coaches spend watching film, talking to coaches, talking to parents, and especially talking to players. Furthermore, recruiting is not about SALESMANSHIP it's about RELATIONSHIP. I don't want to get into a chicken vs. the egg issue, but Mack Brown did not suddenly become a superstar recruiter at Texas. He was hauling similar classes at North Carolina, too. This leads to my next point, and probably the most important:

2. Winning always means great recruiting.

- Way off. Great recruiters recruit greatly regardless of the program. Never, ever forget that. Pete Carroll isn't a great recruiter because he's at USC. The man could have recruited almost as well at Washington State, he just wouldn't have had the added benefit of being in the heart of one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country. Winning does not recruit. Winning opens doors to recruits you did not previously have access to. This is always what trips up fans. Putting three or four successful years can definitely have an impact on getting recruits, but in the end it's about the people you have recruiting, not really about the product you've previously put on the field. There's also a side misconception that the offensive line coach recruits the offensive linemen, the secondary coach recruits defensive backs, etc. Not true. Staff members are given a geographic region and direction towards which recruits to focus on. They're also responsible for attending games in that region and spotting previously unknown talent. So it's more common, for example, to have your secondary coach recruiting Fresno to be working with a wide receiver, a tight end, and a linebacker. Those kids may not even know the names of their position coaches until they come in for an official visit.

3. Head coaches must be great recruiters to have a great recruiting class.

- Not entirely true. What is true is the best recruiting staffs start with a great recruiter at the top, but it's not entirely necessary. What's most important is each staff has two or three people whose most special talent is developing trusting relationships with teenagers, preferably starting at, say, 16-years-old. Then it's important that the head coach can close, or at least come off genuine enough with the parents to not damage the work the star staff recruiters have done. At most programs, the staff does 80 percent or more of the hard work in recruiting. Head coaches tend to focus on the impact players, but if it comes down to the wire on any player the staff wants, the head coach will almost always get involved there.

4. Recruiting rankings aren't important.

- This is going too far, IMO. The bulk of people involved in ranking recruits: (a) have no playing or coaching experience at any level; (b) know much less about football than they think they do; (c) are almost entirely reliant on the opinions of their peers to justify their rankings. That said, all of those people can't be that far off about the overall group of players. They may whiff hard on a top-rated quarterback or running back. That makes sense. There's too many variables there (type of offense, stability of staff, surrounding talent) to expect them to accurately project every skill player. They'll usually puff up a few players that are workout warriors but have shown real football ability. But the overall rankings ... if a school lands three jumbo athletes with skill-type speed, what are the chances those kids won't produce in big ways? If USC recruits 10 Top 100 players, that's a high-ranking class that deserves the props, because it will be a success if 5 or more of those players have big impacts on the field. What's the difference between the No. 5 class and the No. 20 class? It could be a huge chasm or nothing at all depending on attrition, injuries, and how many kids from the No. 20 class stick around for four or more years. Also, if a program has one No. 5 class surrounded by three classes in the 40s, the program that regularly recruits in the Top 20 is likely to out perform the other every year. Or at least it's fairly safe to say the the team the recruits the most consistently has more available talent.

5. If my coaching staff can't land high rated classes, they should be canned

- I will never understand the hostility from fans regarding recruiting classes. Most of them never seem to see the bigger picture. Recruiting is always, in the end, about performance. If you have a program that is stuck on 6 wins and the coach elevates you to an 8+ win plateau, is there a reason to gripe? Ten years of 8+ wins puts you in a very elite class -- the annual Top 20 -- and a program that has the respect of other coaches, if not national worship. It also puts the program in the position to take another step up with luck and pluck. College football is an endurance sport. Keep your winning coach on the sidelines for a long time and make a financial committment. It's not how a coach recruits in ONE SPECIFIC YEAR. It's how a coach (and his staff) recruit for the duration of their stay at a program. That defines a coach's recruiting. Always. If a coach lands, say, a No. 30 class for four straight years, there's plenty of talent there to be successful and possibly exceed the ranking of the classes with a little luck and a few players who improve. It's even better if the attrition rates mean keeping those playres in school. Solid attrition almost always = winning football; never underestimate a team with a consistently stable second team.

Uniform madness

2008-01-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Nothing seems to generate more discussion that suggestions to change the football uniforms. One thing we can all agree on is that the banana uniforms from the Marmie era were awful.

I see lots of requests for pictures of these atrocities, including today's Uni Watch, so for your viewing pleasure...

Note that the back of the Woodson card indicates that these uniforms were worn versus USC. They were also used in at least one game versus CGU. If anyone can provide the exact dates when these were worn, please post to the comments.

Updated 1/10/08: Today's Uni Watch follows up with some additional pictures provided by the ASU SID here, here (an especially ugly close-up) and here. Also, confirmation of the comment left here yesterday that these monstrosities were used for two games: CGU in 1989 and USC in 1990.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to SI for an early Christmas present to all Sun Devil fans (well, the guys at least!).

Holiday Bowl announcement

2007-12-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Don't bother watching Fox with baited breath at 6pm AZ time tonight. I looks as though the Devils are headed to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, meaning they have not been selected to a BCS Bowl. UW's failure to hold on to a 21-point lead over Hawaii ultimately doomed ASU.

So it's ASU and Texas in the Holiday Bowl, to be played Thursday, December 27th at 5pm (PST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Champions!

2007-12-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

I must admit, when Dennis Erickson was hired I was optimistic, but never thought he would deliver a conference championship in his first season in Tempe. On Saturday night, ASU won a share of its third conference title by beating the Rats 20-17. The catch by Chris McGaha may be one of the best 5 in ASU history -- just a pity that he did not fall into the end zone to score his first TD of the year.

This team will not receive the same accolades in future years as the '86 or '96 championship teams, but they deserve a special place in our hearts. Just remember all those games in recent years where a win meant a trip to Hawaii for a meaningless bowl.

The Save Mike Stoops' Job Fund

2007-12-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

Mike Stoops has now lost 3 straight to ASU and has gone four straight years without a bowl game. He continues to weed out Arizona recruits by hyping the future flops, allowing ASU to step in and pick up future success stories.

UA administration has said Stoops will be back for another year. We here at the Save Mike Stoops' Job Fund feel there are few people more important to ASU's success than Mike Stoops and feel it necessary to let the Arizona president and athletic director know ASU fans are in full support of UA keeping Mike Stoops on the payroll. We feel he is due at least a five-year extension.

Please, if you have spare change in your pocket, stick in an envelope and send it to this great cause:

Univ. of No Rose Bowls
1401 E University
Tucson, AZ 85721

Beat the Rats

2007-11-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

And so it all comes down to this. Yet again, the game against CGU ("Closing the Gap Univ") will define the season. With a win over the Rats, we can declare this season an unqualified success. Lose, and there will always be a bitter aftertaste to an otherwise good season.

What's impossible to know right now is whether the beating we took from the Trojans will impact this game. Hopefully the 9 day gap will give the kids time to recover.

Bummer

2007-11-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

There is little need for an in-depth analysis of the Thanksgiving day loss to USC. When the team with the superior talent plays its "A" game, it usually wins. As much as people like to criticize the "star" ratings of the recruiting services, USC demonstrated what a team full of 4-star and 5-star recruits looks like. Could ASU have played better or done some things differently to pull of the upset? Sure. But if we played that game 10 times, USC would win at least 8 of the games.

The main thing that this game proved is how insane USC's loss to Stanford was. If they had won that game, they would be right at the top of the National Championship conversation.

I don't see this game as a setback for the program. "Reality check" would be a better term. We can't get to the next level until we get more studs on the roster. What happens next February on signing day will have far more impact on the program than what happened on Thanksgiving.

Beauty and the Beast

2007-11-11T07:39:00.001-07:00

I cannot recall a more bipolar display by a unit than the performance of the Devils' special teams in the win over UCLA.

First, the good. Thomas Weber was nearly perfect: his long field goal at the end of the first half changed the momentum of the game, and
he pinned the Bruins deep on several punts. Normally I would never say this about a kicker, but Weber deserves serious consideration as ASU's MVP this season.

However, the game was kept close by two lapses: a punt return all the way back to the 1 yards line, and a kickoff return for a TD. Hard to tell from the TV coverage exactly what caused the meltdown -- you can't really blame poor tackling when the returners weren't even getting hit!

Never apologize for winning ugly

2007-11-11T07:29:00.001-07:00

Some will be upset with the manner of the win, but a win is a win, especially when it's a conference road game. Take away the two long Bruin kick returns, and the score would not have been close, thanks to another outstanding effort by the D. Let's review: The Devils are 9-1, 3-0 versus teams from California, 3-1 in conference road games, in control of our own destiny for the conference championship. You couldn't really ask for more from a first-year head coach, could you?

We now get 12 days to heal before the Thanksgiving night game versus the Trojans. Ohio State's loss gives Oregon a good chance of finishing in the top 2 of the BCS standings should they win out, giving the Devils a clear path back to the Rose Bowl should we finish 11-1.

Bowl scenarios

2007-11-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

Despite the loss at Oregon, the Devils can still have a "special" season. A BCS Bowl is still well within reach. There are multiple scenarios where ASU can make a BCS game, but all require the Devils to win out and finish 11-1.

Scenario 1: Oregon wins out and goes to the BCS National Championship game. If Oregon ends the season ranked #1 or #2 in the BCS standings and plays in the National Championship game, the Rose Bowl will have to select an at-large team to fill its spot (or two, if Ohio State is also in the National Championship game). The Rose Bowl is not required to select a Pac-10 team in this circumstance, but it probably would pick the Devils.

Scenario 2: Oregon wins out and goes to the Rose Bowl. If Oregon ends the season 11-1 but ranked #3 or lower, it will go to the Rose Bowl. ASU and Oregon would be co-champions of the Pac-10, but Oregon would get the Rose Bowl berth based on the head-to-head victory. One of the other BCS Bowls, most likely the Fiesta, would probably pick the Devils.

Scenario 3: Oregon loses another game. This would leave the Devils as undisputed Pac-10 champions and in the Rose Bowl.

Coaching ups and downs

2007-11-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

The game at Oregon proved yet again how good this coaching staff is. After giving up 21 points on the Ducks' first three drives, ASU surrendered just 14 points the rest of the game. Meanwhile, I think most fans would agree that the problems on offense were mostly due to execution, not coaching.

However, two incidents cause concern. First, the clock (mis)management at the end of the first half. We should have been able to take two shots to the end zone before attempting a field goal. Second, why didn't we go for two after getting to within 13 points (35-22)? This is one of those "no brainer" decisions -- a two-point conversion would have given us the chance to tie with a field goal and TD, while failing to convert wouldn't have made any difference (12 and 13 points both require two TDs).

I don't want to make a big deal out of this -- I'm still thankful that DE is our coach -- but I hope both issues are addressed in this week's press conferences.

In depth analysis: Oregon just a little better

2007-11-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

No need for me to write much this morning, because Paola Boivin's column really sums things up nicely.

The verdict is in, and the national championship is out. All charges of fraud against Arizona State should be dropped.

Elsewhere in the Republic, the headline writers appear to be confused. One article claims that the Sun Devils can't engineer rally while another tells us that Oregon withstands ASU rally. Did we rally or not? In my humble opinion, we really didn't. If I was an Oregon fan, I would have been concerned a couple of times, but I'd never have felt that the game was slipping out of control.