via @Gregg Rosenberg

via @Gregg Rosenberg

via @Gregg Rosenberg

My official predictions will go up next week.

Monday-------6A
Tuesday-------5A
Wednesday--4A

Well here we go again.

Already know of 2 job openings!

We have almost 25 last year--I think it was 23.

The over under this year is set at 25

Last week, University of Arizona's new Head football coach, Jedd Fisch, says the magic two words in his opening press conference, "In-state Recruiting." He also went on to say "We need to swarm the state of Arizona...We will begin that today." Both UA and ASU programs have been criticized for their lack of in-state recruiting in the past couple of seasons. In your eyes, what would the new Arizona coaching staff have to do to efficiently recruit the state? Thoughts!?

via @Eric.Newman

Neither Shough or Brown were all that impressive for Oregon in today's Fiesta Bowl. Is there a legit shot Ty Thompson plays for the Ducks as a freshman? Or is it too early?

Long Live Andrew Luberda - One of Us

We'll miss you @aluberda

It's very trendy to rip officials at the youth and high school levels. My question to anyone who chooses to answer is what's been your experiences as a "zebra" or communicating with them. I personally have never officiated a game of any type. When I first started coaching youth football here in 2012 I definitely was a guy who chirped at officials when a bad call was made. Totally out of character for me in being a couple of words away from being thrown out of a youth playoff game in Orlando in 2014. It's almost comical at times if you look at the coaching staff at a given youth football game these days and collectively they are yelling holding essentially before the play even starts.
In youth ball (any sport) or even HS we give the kids a pass because they are in learning and developing mode. The officials however are supposed to be on point all game long. If they were great they certainly would be doing it a higher level. We've all heard "ref you suck", "get a new pair of glasses", "what game are you watching". Suppose an umpire fired back "your kid sucks too" or anything along those lines?? If an average guy has a choice of coaching, writing, or officiating a game he certainly isn't going to choose the later. While I will say refs deserve more money I don't think that leads to better officiated games. It's a passion that a small percentage of humans have.
I certainly don't have a desire to be in stripes (jail or otherwise) but I've gotten to learn the game angle from two guys who handle Big 12 Football games the last couple of seasons. Granted that's a different level than what I've been typing about but I appreciate what they do. There are still a few jackasses that do games in AZ HS football but engaging in brief conversation with them has been productive for me. While we will continue to see bad calls (some more blatant than others), they've got a tough job. They truly in parents and coaches eyes are held to MLB, NFL, and NBA standards. Props to them!!!

via @Eric.Newman

Former NFL CB Nnamdi Asomugha is starring in a new movie on Prime. What current AZ athlete/personality would make a good actor/actress in your opinion?

I don't know if Larry Fitzgerald can actually act, more than whatever cheap commercials he is in, but whatever movie or show he was in would get great ratings because people would want to see him.

I don't know how many of us are big readers here, but I am interested in knowing whether any of you have a favorite or most interesting book you've read this year.

Anyway, here are a few of mine, and now I'm realizing maybe the whole post was a way for me to just make recommendations myself.

Nonfiction - Mike Tyson : Undisputed Truth is his autobiography. It's long, like 600 pages. But it flies by because his stories are so interesting.

Fiction: Ernest Cline: Ready Player Two is the sequel to Ready Player One, which was released as a movie in 2018. The original is a bit better, but I thoroughly enjoyed the sequel.

Also it's been a couple years since I read this one, but I still think :07 seconds or less by Jack McCallum is one of the best sports books I've read. He is an awesome author and the story of the Suns and the players from that season is really fun.

6A

5A

4A

3A

With the news that Dan Hinds is retiring, I figured why not put together a list of who we all think may be candidates to take over the Desert Vista football program.

Here's a couple of guys I think could be up for consideration from an internal standpoint:

David Klecka -- current Desert Vista freshman coach. Responsible for grooming the talent we've seen at Desert Vista the last few years. Previously coached at Perry and played under the great Karl Kiefer at McClintock.

Sean Morin -- current Desert Vista offensive coordinator. Been with the program for several years and knows it inside and out. Popular among the players and could be a seamless transition.

Externally, don't be surprised if you hear some of these names:

Eddy Zubey -- current Higley head coach. Desert Vista is in his backyard.

Jeremy Hathcock -- current Desert Ridge head coach. Mike Deignan, the principal at Desert Vista, was previously at Desert Ridge so the relationship is there

My sleeper/long shot candidate:

Steve Belles -- while I believe the district would not approve this hire, some believe Desert Vista is looking to make a splash with a big name. There's obvious baggage with Belles, but at what point do you give him another shot?

Of course, this list is pure speculation. But I'm curious to see who you guys think could be candidates to take over Desert Vista.

Ok I’m not going to sit here and pretend a player on the UofA basketball program has been unfairly ineligible. We can go down that road another day. When I saw The quotes from Miller about just being happy that Kerr and the team finally have clarity when he will be able to be eligible, it broke my heart for the kid. An 18-19 year old that traveled across the world without family having to go to bed every night wondering if he made the right decision or what the future will bring. A mom halfway around the globe worried about her son and his future. And JUST NOW, finding out when the suspension will end from the NCAA just blows my mind. I get There are a lot of athletes out there that deserve a hard look at their situations but for it to have gone 3-4 months with no guidance or clarity from the NCAA to me is a complete joke from an institution that supposedly has the futures of young kids at the forefront of their motivations. Rule a kid ineligible and have a plan or create at least some sort of understanding. Not just close the door on someone indefinitely while they wait helplessly for a response and are forced to get lost in their own heads on what the right plan should be for them.

It kind of reminds me of the Paradise Valley school district at the moment....oops!

via @Eric.Newman

What are your feelings on the amount of bowl games that are in existence on annual basis? I'm seeing the Sun bowl has been cancelled which I believe is the 9th bowl game this year that will not be played. I'm a fan of the Sun Bowl because it has been around for a very long time. These others that have popped up over the years I'm not sorry to see them take a hiatus (outside of health/covid reasons). Fenway, Cure, Frisco Bowls and some of the others I can do without. 2020 is an abnormality that I hope never happens again but seeing teams and their fan bases celebrate being bowl eligible because they got to 6 wins has always been ridiculous to me. Is 6 wins and 7 losses really a successful season? I hear the reasoning of the team gets 15 extra practices but again for many teams that doesn't result in improvement the following season. Anyway I can do without probably half of these bowl games and I'm a huge fan of college football. No one needs to mention that "it's about money, etc....". Life is about money, I think we all understand that. I just don't get fired up about mediocre matchups during Capital One Bowl Week.

It's Bowl Season! I've put together a quick watch guide based on the matchups and the number of AZ natives on rosters. The first bowl game started 15 minutes ago.... so I'm a bit late.

Do I have to get a hobby or something?

Tue Jan 19th Horizon at Desert Mountain (Fr-V)
Wed Jan 20th Sunnyslope at St. Mary's (Fr-V)

Tue Jan 26th Cactus at Notre Dame Prep (Fr-V)
Thur Jan 28th Perry at Basha (Fr-V)
Fri Jan 29th Apollo at Sunrise Mountain (Fr-V)

Tue Feb 2nd Valley Vista at Sunnyslope (Fr-V)
Thur Feb 4th Sunnyslope at Desert Vista (Fr-V)
Fri Feb 5th Centennial at Sunrise Mountain (Fr-V)

Tue Feb 9th Liberty at Chaparral (FR)
Tue Feb 9th McClintock at Arcadia (JV-V)
Wed Feb 10th Shadow Mountain at Mesquite (Fr-V)
Thur Feb 11th Agua Fria at Higley or Carl Hayden at Apollo (Fr-V)
Fri Feb 12th Gilbert at ironwood (Fr-V)

Wed Feb 17th Estrella Foothills at ALA-Queen Creek (Fr-V)
Thu Feb 18th Paradise Honors at St Mary's (Fr-V)
Fri Feb 19th Brophy at Mountain Pointe (Fr-V)

Tue Feb 23rd Mountain Pointe at Pinnacle (Fr-V)
Fri Feb 26th Centennial at Casteel (Fr-V)

Tues March 2nd Sandra Day O'Connor at Chaparral (Fr-V)
Thu March 4th Williams Field at Casteel (Fr-V) ???
Fri March 5th Brophy at Perry (Fr-V)

Quarterbacks

The C-Town Rivals Podcast covers prep football and other sports in and around Chandler, Arizona.

Season Preview Breakdown (39 minutes):

1:35- Arizona College Prep

6:24- Valley Christian

12:44- Seton Catholic

19:00- Casteel

22:50- Basha

25:53- Perry

29:22- Hamilton

33:09- Chandler

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My question is why don't parents understand this at the HS level? Folks will gladly pay good money for a Cardinals ticket and or jersey without a problem. The same holds true for ASU and U of A. Many parents will spend THOUSANDS of dollars (maybe even 5 digits) on a kid's youth activities before the age of 13 and not even think about it. Organizational fees, camps, equipment, extra training even gifts for the team moms are all part of it. When they get to HS however parents seem to question everything. Pre season camps, uniforms, and everything that goes with it are all questioned. Shouldn't the school be covering this? Why is this trip so high? Those are questions I hear all the time.

At the higher level and I'm going to use the AIA since we are in Arizona folks consistently say the AIA is all about $$$. It's a business and they should be. Pandemic aside folks wonder why they have to pay $10 to watch a HS game at a big venue, the same venue that they will pay $100 to watch college or NFL. Is the kid not worth it, should it be free? Could the gate at the open division final outweigh the cost to have the game at ASU, probably but if a persons rent or mortgage is $2,000 per month and you make $2,100 per month it doesn't mean you're good. There are utilities to figure into a residence much like there are employees to figure into a business. This scenario I'm sure goes on in just about every state where folks care about HS sports, I just find it interesting that folks will give the TV stations and major sports entities a pass on anything financial but its the high schools, districts, and associations that have to consistently explain themselves. It seems like HS parents feel like they are owed something.

I gladly look forward to hearing from those who are familiar with other states and I'll glad share what I know about NYC.

via @Eric.Newman