Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wow! Just wow!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
"I'm L.A. Mike, and I play it cool"
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.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sun Devils' future football schedules
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.
* 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.
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.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
UNRB wins in a landslide!
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!
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!
Monday, February 8, 2010
A quick word on this week's poll
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.
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
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.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
When is a price reduction not a price reduction?
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!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Guess who's coming to Sun Devil Stadium?
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.
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.
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