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On Lute, the Utes and a whole lot of boots

By Corky Simpson, Special to the Green Valley News
Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 2:18 PM MST


Looking fit and trim, retired University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson was on hand for — and was honored at — the Wildcat football team’s 48-7 homecoming victory Saturday over Washington State.

Already a member of the Naismith Memorial Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Lute was given a thunderous ovation at halftime Saturday when he was introduced on the field as one of the newest members of the Arizona Hall of Fame.

“This is really great and I’m honored,” a smiling Olson said, watching the game from the athletic director’s box at Arizona Stadium. Answering a friend’s inquiry, Lute added, “I’m feeling just fine.” And he looked it.

The current Wildcat basketball team, coached by Sean Miller, defeated Augustana College from Sioux Falls, S.D. in its first exhibition game last week, 92-76. One report mistakenly said the Cats had defeated Augsburg College from Minneapolis. “Now that would have been something, wouldn’t it?” Lute said with a chuckle. Augsburg is his alma mater ...



  • Without a lot of noise and hoopla, the Utah football team has climbed up to No. 16 in the BCS poll this week. In my own ranking as a member of the Harris Poll, part of the BCS, I put the Utes (8-1) at No. 14. Utah takes on No. 4 TCU (9-0) this week in Fort Worth. I ranked the Horned Frogs No. 5, behind (in order) Alabama, Florida, Texas and Boise State ...




  • If you think there’s an overabundance of field goals in college football today, be glad you weren’t in attendance for the Montana versus Billings Polytech game in the season of 1924. A fellow by the name of Forest Peters of Montana — just a freshman, mind you — kicked 17 field goals that day. Yes, I said 17! . . . .



  • It’s been suggested that Marcus Jordan is wearing the most expensive pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes ever laced up. The son of Michael Jordan is a member of the University of Central Florida team, which had a five-year contract with shoemaker Adidas — until Marcus chose to wear the sneakers named after his father and made by Nike. Adidas immediately issued a statement saying its contract to supply shoes for Central Florida is off ...



  • OK, so maybe when you buy a ticket you buy the right to boo, but it stinks when it’s friendly fire. Arizona State played a great game Saturday in a 14-9 loss to Southern Cal at Tempe. And the Sun Devils unwrapped a real future star in true freshman Brock Osweiler, a 6-foot-8 quarterback — but only after the home crowd booed Danny Sullivan off the field. Sullivan is a great kid who worked hard as the No. 2 guy for three seasons ...



  • Bob Crawford, retired Phoenix Gazette sports editor and now a part-time copy editor with the Arizona Republic, was a co-chairman for homecoming activities at UA Saturday. “B.C.” and fellow 1959 Arizona grad Jon Alquist, long associated with his alma mater in sports publications and records, had a chance to get together in the press box.

    “Bob, you did an absolutely amazing job,” Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood told Crawford when Jim happened by as B.C. and Alquist were chatting about the old days ...



  • Two other Arizona grads in the media, Anthony Gimino, who was sports columnist of the Tucson Citizen, and Sean Fitzpatrick, interface guru with long experience in news gathering and statistics, recalled an unforgettable trip they made as college chums. “A bunch of us piled into a car and drove from Tucson to New Orleans for Mardi Gras,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was a blast.”



  • Sadly, there are a lot of empty seats these days on Press Row at Arizona and elsewhere. In Tucson, with the Citizen having ceased publication last May, and with cutbacks in staff at newspapers around the country, there are fewer and fewer news hounds covering college football. Root ‘em or roast ‘em, the boys and girls who write the news are an essential part of the fun and games we love so much.

    Corky Simpson is a former Tucson Citizen columnist who writes a weekly column for the Green Valley News.



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