10Dec/0911:43 AM

Roc’s Top 20 Arizona Sports Stories of 2009

By Roc

What a sports year in Arizona. 2009 marked a year that included five coaching changes, a team in bankruptcy, one championship and one for the ages, the Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

The following are my Top 20 sports stories in Arizona. I would love some feedback and/or if I missed something please email me at roc@callingallsportsaz.com:

Number 20 – Shaq Joins King: On June 25, the Phoenix Suns traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace, $500,000 and a 2010 second round draft pick.

Number 19 – Going Gonzo: On August 28, the Diamondbacks brought back Luis Gonzalez as a special assistant to team president and CEO Derrick Hall. The club hosted the “Luis Gonzalez Appreciation Night” along with a video tribute during a pregame ceremony on the field, and the first 25,000 fans received a commemorative “Gonzo” T-shirt.

Number 18 - Mercury Rising: On October 9, the Phoenix Mercury won the WNBA Championship, their second in their 13-year franchise history. On June 6, the Mercury and WNBA announced a sponsorship agreement with LifeLock to place that company’s logo on their jerseys through the 2011 season, making the Mercury among the first non-soccer franchises in the major leagues of North America to place a company logo on their uniforms.

Number 17 - Foul Ball: The ASU baseball team made a trip to 2009 College World Series, only to finished tied for third. They finished the season at 51-14. It was the 21st time in school history and the third time in the last five seasons the Sun Devils have gone to the College World Series.

Number 16 - Moorad Bolts To San Diego: On January 2nd, Jeff Moorad has resigned as Arizona Diamondbacks chief executive officer and reached an agreement in principle to buy the San Diego Padres. Moorad agreed to become the lead partner in a group that would buy the Padres from John Moores. Moores was selling the team because he was going through a divorce. Moorad and his group of 12 investors would own 30% of the team with Moorad serving as club CEO. Moorad’s group is expected to gain full control of the Padres from Chairman Moores incrementally over 5 years. However, Moorad also still owns a 12% share of the Diamondbacks, whose principal owner Ken Kendrick was reportedly, at the time, not happy with the circumstances of his departure.

Number 15 - Cactus League on the Rise: The 2009 Cactus League season was the best in history. Overall attendance reached 1.57 million baseball fans, a nearly 20% increase over 2008. The local benefit of the Cactus League is significant. 2009 welcomed the additions of the LA Dodgers and Cleveland Indians with two new stadiums in Glendale and Goodyear. According to the Cactus League website, “based on previous economic impact studies, the total impact is growing to an estimated $359 million statewide.”

Number 14 - Rattlers Are Back: On November 16, The Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football One named Danny White team president and Kevin Guy Head Coach & Director of Football Operations. The team will continue to play its home games at US Airways Center.

Number 13 - Back And Forth: On April 2, the Phoenix RoadRunners of the ECHL, announced that they had informed the ECHL Board of Governors that they will cease operations at the conclusion of the 2008-09 playing season. Owned and operated by the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association, the RoadRunners returned to the ice as a member of the ECHL in 2005-06 and advanced to the Kelly Cup Playoffs in 2007

Number 12 - Perry’s Playoff Win: On February 1, after the first two playoff holes, neither Kenny Perry nor Charley Hoffman looked capable of winning the FBR Open. They were both 1 over par, and it looked as if they might have to play until dark. Perry finally finished off Hoffman, making a 22-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole at TPC Scottsdale to win the FBR Open. Perry closed with a 2-under 69 to match Hoffman (67) at 14-under 270. It was the 13th PGA Tour victory for Perry. The attendance was 470,294, after a record 538,356 in 2008

Number 11 - All Star Weekend: On February 15, the NBA All-Star Game tipped off a celebration with a dance from its king, the Suns’ Shaquille O’Neal, who stole the show. Shaq captivated the crowd with his personality, charm, and play before, during and after the game as he led the West to a 146-119 victory over the East. He took home the co-MVP with his former teammate Kobe Bryant. Despite a week of speculation regarding the future of O’Neal, forward Amar’e Stoudemire and the Suns’ coaching staff, O’Neal seemed unaffected, igniting all of the festivities with a stunning two minute dance performance during the game’s player introductions. Side Note: The national anthem of both the United States and Canada were sung before the game. Arizona native and American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks sang U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. The Canadian national anthem, “O’Canada” was sung by Tamia, Canadian singer who is also the wife of Suns Grant Hill. This was the third time that Phoenix had hosted the All-Star Game; the city had previously hosted the event in 1975 and 1995.

Number 10 – NBA Devils: Pac-10 Player of the Year James Harden, a First-Team All-American by Associated Press, Sporting News, the USBWA, CBSSports.com and FOXSports.com, finished the year averaging 20.1 points per game; while Jeff Pendergraph led the nation in field goal percentage (66.0 percent) and was even better in Pac-10 play (67.3 percent). Harden was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder 3rd overall in the first round, while Pendergraph was the first pick in the second round by Portland Trailblazers.

Number 9 - Tiger Out Of The Woods: Tiger Woods, who had ligament surgery in 2008 and last played in a golf tournament on June 16, 2008, when he completed a 19-hole playoff victory over Rocco Mediate for the U.S. Open title returned to play in Tucson. He played in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., just outside Tucson on Feb. 25. It will be 254 days in between the time Tiger won the U.S. Open in a Monday playoff over Mediate and the time he struck his first tee shot in Arizona.

Number 8 - Sun Devils Shining Moment: The Sun Devils Mens Basketball team traveled 2,355 miles to win in its first NCAA Tournament game since 2003 when it topped Temple 66-57 on March 20 at American Airlines Arena in Miami in the South Regional. The Sun Devils finished 25-10 and posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1979-80 team went 22-7 and the 1980-81 team went 24-4. ASU posted 25 wins for the first time since the 1974-75 team led by Lionel Hollins went 25-4. ASU’s school record for wins is 26 set in 1962-63 (26-3). ASU also won 24 games in 1980-81 (24-4). That 1980-81 team had three starters become NBA first round draft picks in Fat Lever (21st pick in 1981), Fat Lever (11th pick in 1982) and Byron Scott (fourth pick in 1983).

Number 7 - Murphy’s Law: On November, after a 15-year career as the Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy resigned. Murphy was under contract through the 2011 season with a guaranteed annual salary of more than $300,000. The three-time reigning Pac-10 Coach of the Year was preparing for the upcoming season and had just completed recruiting on a class of 13 or more players who signed letters of intent. Vice President of Athletics Lisa Love replaced Murphy with Tim Esmay. Esmay spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach, including the last three as Assistant Head Coach. A former Sun Devil player and assistant coach, Esmay has coached a total of 10 seasons at Arizona State. He played two seasons as an infielder under Jim Brock in 1986 and 1987. Esmay began his coaching career following his playing days at Arizona State (1986-87).

Number 6 - Texas Holds ‘Em: Longhorns Colt McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State in the 2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 5. The dramatic strike capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took only 1:42. This 38th edition of the Fiesta Bowl was just the third meeting in the history of the two schools. The victory by Texas gave Ohio State their third straight bowl loss, their longest such streak since the early John Cooper era (when they lost 4 bowls in a row from 1989-92). This follows a four game bowl winning streak which tied for longest in OSU history.

Number 5 - Miller Time: After so much speculation, Sean Miller toke over the reins of the University of Arizona’s heralded men’s basketball program on April 6th. Miller, completed five seasons as head coach at Xavier with his fourth consecutive 20-victory season and fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last month. Miller succeeded Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Lute Olson, who retired last fall, and his interim replacement, Russ Pennell, who continued Arizona’s streak of consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament with the programs’ 25th in 2008-09. The first 23 of those came under Olson and the 24th under 2007-08 interim coach Kevin O’Neill. Side note: On April 9, Pennell was hired as head coach of the men’s basketball team at Division II Grand Canyon University, a member of the Pacific West Conference.

Number 4 - Snake Pit: On May 8, after going 12-17 in 29 games, the Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin and hired Director of Player Development, A. J. Hinch. Hinch, at 34 years and 357 days old, became the youngest person to be named manager of a big league club since Eric Wedge, (34 years, 275 days). The season ended with the Diamondbacks in last place in the NL West. The theme of the disappointing season was “Organizational Advocacy” tagged by Josh Byrnes after he hired Hinch. The team finished 70-92, 5th place in the NL West. They scored 720 runs and allowed 782.

Number 3 - Porter Out Gentry In: On February 16, the Suns fired Terry Porter after just 51 games, and replaced with assistant Alvin Gentry. The Suns had a 28-23 record, ninth in the Western Conference, with Porter. Gentry became the 14th head coach in franchise history. It paid off immediately. The Suns returned to a more up-tempo offensive style, the team made a late surge (58%) to close out the 2008-09 regular season. Winning his Suns-coaching debut by a 40-point margin, it marked the largest margin of victory in the first game after a coaching change in NBA history. In Gentry’s first three games as head coach, the team scored 140 or more points in every game. The first time since Portland accomplished the feat in 1990-91. The Suns also scored 30 or more points in 66 of 124 quarters after the All-Star break, including five 40-point efforts.

Number 2 - 35 Seconds: The Arizona Cardinals on January 3rd, won their first home playoff game in 60 years by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 in the Wild Card Round at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cards upset the Carolina Panthers 33-13 in Charlotte in the Divisional Playoffs. On January 18, the Cardinals at home defeated the Eagles 32-25 to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. It was their first championship game of any kind since 1948.
On February 2nd, the wild Super Bowl finish was won on a play right out of a schoolyard. Scramble right, scramble left, find someone open. Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes improvised the 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left that gave the Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl victory, 27-23. Holmes grabbed the ball with both arms stretched fully above his head in the back right corner of the end zone, his toes barely dragging inbounds.
This thriller certainly matched last year’s upset of the New England Patriots by the New York Giants that ended with Plaxico Burress’ TD catch — with 35 seconds left, too.

Number 1 - Dog Days of Summer: Where do we start, by far the biggest and longest drawn out story of the year, the Phoenix Coyotes.

Brief Breakdown –well, not really brief:

On May 5, the Coyotes’ holding company, Dewey Ranch Hockey LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a statement, Moyes announced that he had agreed in principle to sell the team to PSE Sports and Entertainment, headed by Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Basillie, for $212.5 million. As part of the deal, Balsillie intended to move the Coyotes to Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton already had an NHL-sized arena in place, Copps Coliseum, and Balsillie was already in talks with city officials to secure a lease for the arena.
Anyone who wanted to make a counteroffer had to exceed Balsillie’s bid by at least $5 million. At Moyes’ request, Balsillie has also agreed to post debtor-in-possession financing of $17 million. Balsillie’s efforts also including the creation of a large public relations effort, purportedly to curry favor among public opinion for the upcoming bankruptcy hearing.

The announcement came as a surprise to the NHL and even to Coyotes staffers. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had helped broker a deal that would have seen the Coyotes sold to Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. The Reinsdorf deal would have seen the Coyotes stay in Arizona.

The NHL responded by stripping Moyes of virtually all of his ownership authority. Bettman said that Moyes may not have had the authority to file the bankruptcy petition, and may not have even been in full control of the team by virtue of the massive financial assistance he’d received. Although it has been widely speculated that southern Ontario is big enough to support a third NHL team alongside the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, Bettman suggested that it was not likely the league would approve any plan to move the Coyotes to Canada, and accused Moyes and Balsillie of attempting to “circumvent” league rules. He also reiterated that the NHL was committed to the Phoenix area.

The bankruptcy hearing was scheduled for May 7. Court documents submitted by Moyes cite 30 creditors, including Moyes himself for an amount in excess of $103 million. The league’s position was that it was Moyes’ fault that he wasted money in attempting to make the team successful and that he was entitled to only $14 million of $103 million loss, which would have been the case if Reinsdorf’s lower bid was accepted.

At the bankruptcy hearing, the NHL argued that it had been in control of the team since November by virtue of a proxy agreement with Moyes. The NHL claimed this agreement, and several others signed by Moyes, specifically barred Moyes from filing for bankruptcy. Moyes claimed that the agreement only gave the league voting rights, not outright control. Bankruptcy court judge Redfield T. Baum scheduled a second hearing for May 19 to determine who actually controls the team.

At the May 19 hearing, Baum ordered the NHL and Moyes to settle the ownership question through mediation, while expressing skepticism for the NHL’s argument that the proxy agreements gave it control of the team. He said that he needed to decide whether to allow the move to Hamilton before the franchise was sold. However, the NHL claimed there was no way it could reach a decision on whether to allow the move in time for the 2009-10 season. The day after the hearing, Balsillie spokesman Rich Rodier told Arizona Republic that Balsillie was willing to keep the team in Phoenix for the 2009-10 season, provided that the NHL fund any losses.

However, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that regardless of how the judge ruled, the league owners would have the final say in whether to allow the Coyotes to move. Daly repeated Bettman’s doubts about Balsillie’s bid, saying Balsillie was acting “in total disregard” for NHL rules.

The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously against approving Balsillie as an owner, saying that he lacked “good character and integrity”. Balsillie responded in a filing saying that “the NHL has long tolerated indicted and even convicted criminals among its ranks”, noting that moral grounds and questions of character have never been used “in the entire history of the NHL to reject any applicant.”

On June 15, Baum ruled against the proposal, stating that the timeline imposed by Balsillie was unrealistic and did not provide enough time for the courts or the NHL to wade through the issues posed by the relocation. Baum also rejected the proposal in part due to the fact that Balsillie’s offer did not include any relocation fee to the NHL, to which they would be entitled since southern Ontario is potentially a more lucrative market than Phoenix. In the ruling, the judge also dismissed claims made by Moyes and Balsillie’s lawyers that the NHL was violating antitrust laws in not allowing the move. The ruling effectively ends any chance of the Coyotes moving for the 2009-10 season.

On July 9, the Court set two auction dates for the team. The first auction on August 20th, was to be the primary auction with the stipulation that whoever has the winning bid, must agree to keep the team in Phoenix for at least 5 years, after which they may relocate with league approval at any time. An undisclosed minimum bid must be met in this auction. Should this auction fail, the second auction on September 10, will be run with no minimum bid; in which the new owner will have the right and authority to move the team to another location at any time without league approval after the 2009-10 season.

On August 13, Judge Baum ordered the NHL to hand over documents regarding the Coyotes’ relocation.

On September 6, it was reported by the Toronto Star that the NHL set a potential relocation fee of $101 million to $195 million to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, Ontario, while economics professor Andrew Zimbalist in a study conducted for James Balsillie valued the move at $11.2 million to $12.9 million.

On September 7, Balsillie had reportedly sweetened his offer by US$40–50 million to buy out the lease of the Glendale Arena.

On September 9, it was reported that Jerry Reinsdorf & Ice Edge LLC had dropped its bid for the Coyotes, leaving only Balsillie and the NHL as bidders for the team.

If the bankruptcy case wasn’t big enough, it was announced on September 24 that Wayne Gretzky stepped down as head coach and head of hockey operations of the Coyotes. He had not attended the Coyotes’ training camp, leaving associate head coach Ulf Samuelsson in charge, due to an uncertain contractual status with the club, whose bankruptcy hearings were continuing. The Coyotes made a big splash by then hiring former Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett to succeed Gretzky.

In an interesting turn of events Judge Baum rejected both bids on September 29. This effectively ended any chance of a forced sale to Balsillie and relocating the Coyotes to Canada. However, the NHL’s bid was widely criticized for its failure to repay Moyes and Gretzky, two of the largest creditors, though the league has a chance to improve its bid. The NHL promised Moyes only about $14 million of his claimed losses of $104 million, which would be shared with Gretzky who has a claim of about $22 million. [

On October 26, Jerry Moyes reached a deal to sell the Coyotes to the NHL for $140 million. The NHL’s Bill Daly immediately reported: “It remains the NHL’s intention upon taking control of the club, to stabilize the club’s operations and, as quickly as possible, to resell the club to a new owner who is committed to operating the club in the Glendale/Phoenix market,”

The sale was FINALLY made official on November 3.

Unfortunately we lost some sports figures with ties to Arizona:

Bruce Snyder: We lost Coach Snyder on April 13 of melanoma in his Phoenix home. From 1992 to 2000, he served as the head football coach at Arizona State with a 58–47 record. His career record stands at 126–106–5. Snyder was twice named Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1990 with Cal and 1996 with ASU) and is a member of the Arizona State Hall of Fame. Snyder’s 21-year head-coaching career peaked at ASU, where he was consensus national Coach of the Year in 1996. That’s when the Sun Devils went 11-1, stunning two-time defending national champion Nebraska and coming within 19 seconds of a 1997 Rose Bowl win over the Buckeyes that would have clinched the school’s first football national championship. His 58 wins ranks second in Arizona State history and is the second-longest tenured football coach in school history. Snyder led the Sun Devils to four bowl games while at Arizona State.

Wayman Tisdale: Basketball player turned musician Wayman Tisdale lost his battle with cancer May 15th. He was 44. Tisdale starred at Oklahoma before heading to the NBA for 12 seasons with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. Tisdale averaged over 15 points and six rebounds per game in a 12-season professional career with the Pacers, Kings and Suns. In 1997, Tisdale retired to focus on his musical career. In 1997, Tisdale became the first player in any sport to have his jersey number (23) retired by the University of Oklahoma. However, Blake Griffin, now with the Clippers was granted permission to wear it during his career at OU (2007–2009), he sought and received Tisdale’s blessing before accepting it.

Johnny “Red” Kerr: Former Chicago Bulls head coach and broadcaster Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr died February 26th, he was 76. In the summer of 1968, he signed with the Phoenix Suns, another expansion team in need of its first coach. Unfortunately, the Suns finished with a 16-66 record in 1968-1969, and after starting the 1969-1970 season with a 15-23 record, Kerr was forced to resign. Despite resigning as coach, Kerr stayed with the Suns franchise for the remainder of the 1969-1970 season, working as a broadcaster with Hot Rod Hundley. Prior to his death he received the Basketball Hall of Fame’s John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Awarded, presented by Jerry Colangelo.

Marquis Cooper: On March 1, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that a 21-foot fishing boat was missing off the Gulf Coast near Clearwater, Fla.. The boat was carrying four passengers: Cooper, NFL Defensive lineman Corey Smith and two formerSouth Florida players, players, Nick Schuyler and Will Bleakley. The four men left Clearwater Pass on February 28 at 6:30 a.m. and were expected to return later that night. The Coast Guard began searching for the missing boat shortly after midnight on March 1. By 1:35 p.m. local time on March 2, 2009, the boat had been located, overturned, with Schuyler clinging to it.The search for the three missing men was called off by the Coast Guard, but friends and relatives organized their own search. The private search was called off on March 6. Cooper, Smith, and Bleakley are presumed dead. On March 11, Cooper’s wife filed for a death certificate in civil court.

Walter Cronkite: The legendary newsman died on July 17. He was 92. Many sports industry executives have attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State.

Gabrielle Schoeneweis: The wife of former D’back reliever Scott Schoeneweis was found dead May 20th in their Fountain Hills home. It was later reported in November that the cause of death was drugs. Gabrielle was 38.