azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Scorching Suns lead the charge as Phoenix resurfaces as sports hot spot
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
May. 22, 2005 12:00 AM
Admittedly, I have had a lot of caffeine in the past three weeks. Haven't had much sleep. Then there's the shortage of oxygen from all this breathtaking basketball.
But look, out there, off in the distance.
Light-rail trains are whizzing through Phoenix. Hip urban lofts frame a bursting metropolis. Buoyed by a string of athletic triumphs that have raised our national presence, John McCain has just defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton for the nation's premier trophy (a big, white house).
Just like that, a lengthy transformation is complete, from one-horse town into prime-time player.
As it is, you might not recognize the Valley these days. The Suns are four wins away from a berth in the NBA Finals. The new-look Diamondbacks appear capable of winning a division title. The Cardinals are on the brink of a new tradition, complete with new uniforms, a new stadium and a team that could shock the NFL. And when the NHL finally gets around to playing again, the sport's greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, could be coaching a promising Coyotes team.
Out of the abyss, it is shaping up to be quite a year.
"I think Phoenix is a great sports town," former Suns great Dan Majerle said. "But I think the basketball team is really turning things around."
Granted, we've all been fooled before. Just like the present, the last time our sports scene required sunglasses came after eliminating a team from Dallas.
That was January 1999, when the Cardinals won an exhilarating playoff game against the Cowboys. The following morning, the Dallas Morning News proclaimed the Cardinals as the new power in the NFC East.
A month earlier, Randy Johnson had signed with the fledgling Diamondbacks. The Coyotes were loaded with big names and big personalities. Then Anfernee Hardaway arrived in Phoenix, prompting Jason Kidd to predict multiple championships.
While the Diamondbacks' wild trophy hunt in 2001 did wonderful things for our collective esteem, most of the optimism was fools' gold. The Cardinals went back in their hideous shell, the Coyotes could never slay the Winnipeg jinx and the Suns began a remarkable era of futility.
What's happening now feels so much different. While we've been known to provide safe haven for aging stars (Mike Tyson, Emmitt Smith, etc.), these are young teams built for sustained runs, all occurring after major in-house shifts in leadership.
Appropriately, it all begins with the Suns, the Valley's first professional franchise. They offer something for everyone, a kaleidoscope of colors, backgrounds and personalities. They are young and restless and full of swagger. They do not believe they can be beaten, and a growing sports town could not find a better group in which to hitch its wagon.
"I think they're great," famed Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "They're really fun to watch, they get the ball up and down the court, they play team basketball and the open man gets the shot. It's just wonderful what's happened to the Suns because they've really brought this thing back to life in Phoenix."
No doubt, nothing can top the significance of the Diamondbacks' World Series triumph - a team that overcame heartbreak in New York to win in the ninth inning of Game 7, at home, against the most storied franchise in baseball history.
But most people forget that much of that season was a grind, that the D-Backs were a team that often struggled to find offense. The Suns don't have this problem, and they've been wildly entertaining since the first game of the season. Now, season-ticket renewals are near 100 percent, while additional revenue from salivating sponsors and this deep playoff gallop ensures the team will stay intact, despite a payroll that will surely soar in the coming months.
There is no reason to believe that the fun will end if they lose to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
"You never take anything for granted in the NBA," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But I think that's the wish of everyone in this organization, from top to bottom. And with more time together, I don't see why we can't be even better next year."
After joining an elite fraternity in 1998 - becoming a rare market with all four major professional sports - Phoenix has not seen results to match the ambition. You could find our teams in last place while our stadiums resembled cemeteries of empty seats.
This has led to great discussion over the fickle nature of Arizona fans, particularly since the region isn't lacking warm bodies or cool places to put them. Last year, Phoenix became the fifth largest city in the country. By September 2006 all four teams will be playing in new or upgraded arenas.
Simple truth is, our teams haven't won enough to make current residents turn away from their hometown teams and childhood allegiances. With one winning season in Arizona, the Cardinals have been rightfully tagged as the worst team in NFL history. Failing to advance in the playoffs since 1987, the Coyotes have been the poster boys of NHL futility.
And then we all hit rock bottom: From September 2003 to September 2004, two single victories on the last day of the season - a Suns' win against the Clippers and the Cardinals' Hail Mary finish against the Vikings - were all that prevented all four of our teams from finishing in last place.
Suddenly, you wake up, Steve Nash is back and the Suns are golden. If the other teams can keep up, this could be the perfect storm of success to unite a fragmented sports town.
Lest you think these are idle thoughts of a deranged mind, consider that the Suns eliminated a 58-win team in Mark Cuban's building Friday night, just after Brandon Webb flirted with a no-hitter. Then there's a recent edition of Sports Illustrated, which ranked the state of Arizona in its weekly "hot" category.
For once, no one was talking about the weather.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0522bickley0522.html
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
May. 22, 2005 12:00 AM
Admittedly, I have had a lot of caffeine in the past three weeks. Haven't had much sleep. Then there's the shortage of oxygen from all this breathtaking basketball.
But look, out there, off in the distance.
Light-rail trains are whizzing through Phoenix. Hip urban lofts frame a bursting metropolis. Buoyed by a string of athletic triumphs that have raised our national presence, John McCain has just defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton for the nation's premier trophy (a big, white house).
Just like that, a lengthy transformation is complete, from one-horse town into prime-time player.
As it is, you might not recognize the Valley these days. The Suns are four wins away from a berth in the NBA Finals. The new-look Diamondbacks appear capable of winning a division title. The Cardinals are on the brink of a new tradition, complete with new uniforms, a new stadium and a team that could shock the NFL. And when the NHL finally gets around to playing again, the sport's greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, could be coaching a promising Coyotes team.
Out of the abyss, it is shaping up to be quite a year.
"I think Phoenix is a great sports town," former Suns great Dan Majerle said. "But I think the basketball team is really turning things around."
Granted, we've all been fooled before. Just like the present, the last time our sports scene required sunglasses came after eliminating a team from Dallas.
That was January 1999, when the Cardinals won an exhilarating playoff game against the Cowboys. The following morning, the Dallas Morning News proclaimed the Cardinals as the new power in the NFC East.
A month earlier, Randy Johnson had signed with the fledgling Diamondbacks. The Coyotes were loaded with big names and big personalities. Then Anfernee Hardaway arrived in Phoenix, prompting Jason Kidd to predict multiple championships.
While the Diamondbacks' wild trophy hunt in 2001 did wonderful things for our collective esteem, most of the optimism was fools' gold. The Cardinals went back in their hideous shell, the Coyotes could never slay the Winnipeg jinx and the Suns began a remarkable era of futility.
What's happening now feels so much different. While we've been known to provide safe haven for aging stars (Mike Tyson, Emmitt Smith, etc.), these are young teams built for sustained runs, all occurring after major in-house shifts in leadership.
Appropriately, it all begins with the Suns, the Valley's first professional franchise. They offer something for everyone, a kaleidoscope of colors, backgrounds and personalities. They are young and restless and full of swagger. They do not believe they can be beaten, and a growing sports town could not find a better group in which to hitch its wagon.
"I think they're great," famed Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "They're really fun to watch, they get the ball up and down the court, they play team basketball and the open man gets the shot. It's just wonderful what's happened to the Suns because they've really brought this thing back to life in Phoenix."
No doubt, nothing can top the significance of the Diamondbacks' World Series triumph - a team that overcame heartbreak in New York to win in the ninth inning of Game 7, at home, against the most storied franchise in baseball history.
But most people forget that much of that season was a grind, that the D-Backs were a team that often struggled to find offense. The Suns don't have this problem, and they've been wildly entertaining since the first game of the season. Now, season-ticket renewals are near 100 percent, while additional revenue from salivating sponsors and this deep playoff gallop ensures the team will stay intact, despite a payroll that will surely soar in the coming months.
There is no reason to believe that the fun will end if they lose to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
"You never take anything for granted in the NBA," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But I think that's the wish of everyone in this organization, from top to bottom. And with more time together, I don't see why we can't be even better next year."
After joining an elite fraternity in 1998 - becoming a rare market with all four major professional sports - Phoenix has not seen results to match the ambition. You could find our teams in last place while our stadiums resembled cemeteries of empty seats.
This has led to great discussion over the fickle nature of Arizona fans, particularly since the region isn't lacking warm bodies or cool places to put them. Last year, Phoenix became the fifth largest city in the country. By September 2006 all four teams will be playing in new or upgraded arenas.
Simple truth is, our teams haven't won enough to make current residents turn away from their hometown teams and childhood allegiances. With one winning season in Arizona, the Cardinals have been rightfully tagged as the worst team in NFL history. Failing to advance in the playoffs since 1987, the Coyotes have been the poster boys of NHL futility.
And then we all hit rock bottom: From September 2003 to September 2004, two single victories on the last day of the season - a Suns' win against the Clippers and the Cardinals' Hail Mary finish against the Vikings - were all that prevented all four of our teams from finishing in last place.
Suddenly, you wake up, Steve Nash is back and the Suns are golden. If the other teams can keep up, this could be the perfect storm of success to unite a fragmented sports town.
Lest you think these are idle thoughts of a deranged mind, consider that the Suns eliminated a 58-win team in Mark Cuban's building Friday night, just after Brandon Webb flirted with a no-hitter. Then there's a recent edition of Sports Illustrated, which ranked the state of Arizona in its weekly "hot" category.
For once, no one was talking about the weather.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0522bickley0522.html
