Sports
FRONT ROW: Lost it by a fraction
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| A pass to Arizona's Delashaun Dean bounces off his shoe and subsequently lands in the hands of Washington's Mason Foster for a Husky interception in the 4th quarter on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 at Husky Stadium. Foster would take the ball all the way into the endzone for a score to seal the 36-33 come-from-behind victory for the Huskies. (AP Photo/John Lok - Seattle Times) |
By Nick Prevenas, www.gvnews.com
MILLIMETERS: An unofficial poll of my most enthusiastic Arizona football fans yielded one unmistakable reaction: “We were robbed!”
Fans often watch their teams through rose-colored glasses. If their team loses a game it should win, it must all be part of some grand conspriacy.
However, that is rarely the case.
Yes, the Arizona Wildcats fell victim to a handful of terrible calls in Saturday’s gut-wrenching 36-33 loss at Washington. First, there is little question that Washington’s Jordan Polk fumbled the ball on a wide-receiver screen. However, the officials determined that he didn’t have possession of the ball, even though he caught Locker’s pass, made a clear football move with it, then had it popped free by Devin Ross.
Shortly after, Jake Locker (hands-down, the best player in this conference) shook free of Vuna Tuihalamaka and sprinted for a long touchdown run.
And, of course, there was the disputed Delashaun Dean play (shown in the above photo). One could argue that the ball might’ve hit the ground, but it caught just enough of Dean’s shoe to qualify as an interception (and, as it turned out, the game-winning interception for Washington).
“What is ‘indisputible evidence?’” asked Mike Stoops in his weekly news conference on Monday. “It’s all subjective. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a freak play.”
These were some tough breaks, Wildcat fans. But face facts — the game never should’ve come down to these calls.
The Wildcats held possession for nearly 19 minutes longer and out-gained the Huskies 461-256. The officials didn’t cost you the game. Arizona’s ineffectiveness in the red zone did.
Nothing against Alex Zendejas, but he’s not someone you want to see every time the Wildcats have a possession in the red zone, unless he’s tacking on an extra point. He kicked four field goals against Washington — none of them longer than 29 yards.
Let’s also not forget Arizona’s inability to convert on fourth-and-three-inches after that wild did-he-or-didn’t-he-cross-the-goal-line play from Dean.
“We have to get better in the red zone,” Stoops said. “There’s no other way to say it.”
Arizona also committed eight penalties for 81 yards — many of the “bone-headed” variety.
Football is a strange game that often comes down to fractions of an inch. Weird stuff happens so often that weird is actually the norm.
If this Arizona team can channel its inner Alec Baldwin (“Glengarry Glen Ross” Baldwin, not “30 Rock” Baldwin) and start closing out its opponents, it has as much talent as anyone save for USC in this conference. It’s not easy to win on the road in this conference, and the Wildcats were millimeters away from snagging two victories in two of the toughest spots to play.
Instead of joining Oregon as the only Pac-10 teams without a conference loss, Arizona falls back to the middle of the pack. In football, millimeters can change everything.
MEDIA DAY: The football team is still dominating headlines, but it won’t be long before the basketball team takes over, yet again.
It might be hard to believe, but fans will get their first look at the Sean Miller era in two-and-a-half weeks, with the annual Red-Blue game scheduled for Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
This afternoon, Miller and the current Arizona roster will be hosting the annual Media Day at the McKale Center from 3:45 to 5 p.m. While many expect the Wildcats to struggle a bit with last year’s top-two scorers (Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger) now in the NBA, there will be no shortage of storylines and subplots in what should be one of this program’s more interesting press conferences since Lute Olson’s departure.
Go to www.gvnews.com to read my recap of what Miller, Nic Wise and the rest of the Wildcats have to say about this upcoming season.
CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE: Media conglomerates like ESPN catch a lot of criticism — often, rightfully so.
The network is the unquestioned sports information king. ESPN’s fingerprints are all over almost every sport. The way fans currently consume their sports is almost entirely influenced by ESPN and it’s all-powerful range of platforms.
This can often lead to burnout, overkill and (in the case of the network’s Brett Favre coverage) head-scratching homage.
But ESPN is currently in charge of the most fascinating project in sports media — the “30 for 30” documentary series.
Last week’s debut, Peter Berg’s “King’s Ransom,” covered the Wayne Gretzky trade to Los Angeles in ways I’d never explored the subject, and last night’s wonderful Barry Levinson film “The Band That Wouldn’t Die” told me a story I never really knew.
If the 28 remaining films live up to the standard set by these two (and with the list of talent ESPN has acquired, there’s no reason to think we’ll see a dip in quality), then we’re in for a treat.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
Fans often watch their teams through rose-colored glasses. If their team loses a game it should win, it must all be part of some grand conspriacy.
However, that is rarely the case.
Yes, the Arizona Wildcats fell victim to a handful of terrible calls in Saturday’s gut-wrenching 36-33 loss at Washington. First, there is little question that Washington’s Jordan Polk fumbled the ball on a wide-receiver screen. However, the officials determined that he didn’t have possession of the ball, even though he caught Locker’s pass, made a clear football move with it, then had it popped free by Devin Ross.
Shortly after, Jake Locker (hands-down, the best player in this conference) shook free of Vuna Tuihalamaka and sprinted for a long touchdown run.
And, of course, there was the disputed Delashaun Dean play (shown in the above photo). One could argue that the ball might’ve hit the ground, but it caught just enough of Dean’s shoe to qualify as an interception (and, as it turned out, the game-winning interception for Washington).
“What is ‘indisputible evidence?’” asked Mike Stoops in his weekly news conference on Monday. “It’s all subjective. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a freak play.”
These were some tough breaks, Wildcat fans. But face facts — the game never should’ve come down to these calls.
The Wildcats held possession for nearly 19 minutes longer and out-gained the Huskies 461-256. The officials didn’t cost you the game. Arizona’s ineffectiveness in the red zone did.
Nothing against Alex Zendejas, but he’s not someone you want to see every time the Wildcats have a possession in the red zone, unless he’s tacking on an extra point. He kicked four field goals against Washington — none of them longer than 29 yards.
Let’s also not forget Arizona’s inability to convert on fourth-and-three-inches after that wild did-he-or-didn’t-he-cross-the-goal-line play from Dean.
“We have to get better in the red zone,” Stoops said. “There’s no other way to say it.”
Arizona also committed eight penalties for 81 yards — many of the “bone-headed” variety.
Football is a strange game that often comes down to fractions of an inch. Weird stuff happens so often that weird is actually the norm.
If this Arizona team can channel its inner Alec Baldwin (“Glengarry Glen Ross” Baldwin, not “30 Rock” Baldwin) and start closing out its opponents, it has as much talent as anyone save for USC in this conference. It’s not easy to win on the road in this conference, and the Wildcats were millimeters away from snagging two victories in two of the toughest spots to play.
Instead of joining Oregon as the only Pac-10 teams without a conference loss, Arizona falls back to the middle of the pack. In football, millimeters can change everything.
MEDIA DAY: The football team is still dominating headlines, but it won’t be long before the basketball team takes over, yet again.
It might be hard to believe, but fans will get their first look at the Sean Miller era in two-and-a-half weeks, with the annual Red-Blue game scheduled for Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
This afternoon, Miller and the current Arizona roster will be hosting the annual Media Day at the McKale Center from 3:45 to 5 p.m. While many expect the Wildcats to struggle a bit with last year’s top-two scorers (Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger) now in the NBA, there will be no shortage of storylines and subplots in what should be one of this program’s more interesting press conferences since Lute Olson’s departure.
Go to www.gvnews.com to read my recap of what Miller, Nic Wise and the rest of the Wildcats have to say about this upcoming season.
CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE: Media conglomerates like ESPN catch a lot of criticism — often, rightfully so.
The network is the unquestioned sports information king. ESPN’s fingerprints are all over almost every sport. The way fans currently consume their sports is almost entirely influenced by ESPN and it’s all-powerful range of platforms.
This can often lead to burnout, overkill and (in the case of the network’s Brett Favre coverage) head-scratching homage.
But ESPN is currently in charge of the most fascinating project in sports media — the “30 for 30” documentary series.
Last week’s debut, Peter Berg’s “King’s Ransom,” covered the Wayne Gretzky trade to Los Angeles in ways I’d never explored the subject, and last night’s wonderful Barry Levinson film “The Band That Wouldn’t Die” told me a story I never really knew.
If the 28 remaining films live up to the standard set by these two (and with the list of talent ESPN has acquired, there’s no reason to think we’ll see a dip in quality), then we’re in for a treat.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
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