PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Arizona Sports 2022 Wish List

Episode Date: January 5, 2022

New Year, New Goals! The PHNX Crew shares their hopes, resolutions and wish list for Valley teams and players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, hello, and welcome to the Phoenix Sports Podcast, presented by drafting Sportsbook America's top-rated sportsbook app. I'm Lindsay Smith, and today I am joined by Leah Merrill, Derek Montia, and Sean DePaz. Guys, how are you doing today? Fantastic. Lovely. Leah? Oh, Leah's muted. Can't hear Leah.

Wow. Good start, you guys. Yay. Listen, listen, the coyotes haven't been playing. I'm off my game just like the coyotes are. It's fine. Yeah, we forgive you. Yeah, we forgive you.

It takes a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things. I totally understand. And it's like a weird mid-season, like pause. So it throws everyone for a loop. That's for sure. So we're going to get started today with our Valley Sports temperature check. We're going to go around the room and just kind of see what is going on in the world of Arizona Sports. So we're going to hold it down on all the different fronts today.

Leo, why don't you get us started with the coyotes? Because they played a game at home last night. They did. They did. It was their first home game since I believe December 15th. Just their second game in 18 days total, which is insane. They lost. But, you know, what else can you expect from the coyotes? They're doing everything according to plan. But nothing really major a report. There's no coyotes currently in the COVID protocol, which is great. Jacob Chikrin is injured right now, but is close to returning. Otherwise, they're just continuing to lose, and that's what we all thought was going to happen. So that's the coyotes report. Have you seen that did this kind of like almost pause-ish of the season? Do you think that it actually helped with COVID numbers within the

NHL? Maybe it helped the coyotes at least. I think it's really, though, affecting the Canadian teams who are still in pauses because now there's all these attendance issues and they don't want to play games in empty buildings for revenue purposes. So the Canadian teams are actually getting a little bit screwed over because they're going to have to make up more games in a shorter time. So I would say it helps teams like the coyotes but hurts teams, all the teams in Canada. more so from a revenue standpoint though not necessarily COVID number wise not COVID number wise but it'll hurt them when they have to make up more games in a shorter time yeah that's the it's the double edge and blows right of just yeah figuring out COVID protocols in the middle of the season when you

don't really have all the information because it's constantly changing I mean you're doing the best you can but how did it feel to finally have a game though to cover even though it was a loss I'm sure it was No, I mean, we're used to it. It was fun. And it was just great having everybody back on the postgame show because even Craig and Petey and I haven't all three of us been together on a post game show in a while. So it feels good. And hopefully we'll get another win soon to, you know, break up the losses. It happens every once in a while. Yeah, absolutely. All right, Derek. So you're going to hold it down for us on the D-BACs and the Cardinals front today. We'll start with the Cardinals because they are in, season. They're doing things right now, preparing for the final game of their regular season. They beat the Cowboys this past weekend. Back to winning ways, hopefully here on out. I think that's the biggest thing there is trying to regain that confidence and reestablish who they are, right? They had this success early in the season, and it wasn't just a fluke,

I don't believe. I think that the injuries played a key role in this. Having Rodney Hudson back, you just can't say enough about what he does for the offensive line, and in particular, Cotam Murray, right? Having his center back has just made such a huge improvement in the offense. The defense really stepped up. Isaiah Simmons did a great job. Zaven Collins got some playing time and showed that he deserved, I think, in my opinion, more playing time.

So definitely some things rolling in the right direction. They're going to be a wild card now. So there's not, I don't think that there's, much to play for there other than mostly trying to just keep this, you know, the success rolling, right? They have the Seahawks in the final game of the season, which obviously is a division rival. You'd love to just step on them one last time before you go into the playoffs. But mostly it's that confidence. It's building that confidence towards playoffs and believing that this team is a winner once again after their struggles midseason.

Do you feel like this team has kind of gotten their mentality back to that space, or are they still kind of working through to some of the pain points of dropping a couple games there. I think, I mean, the injuries obviously are key, right? And I feel like the injuries actually changed their game plan. They ran a really unbalanced offense passing to run to run game. Against Dallas, they established that run game early, and it helped open up their offense, which is exactly what the run game tends to do. Chase Edmonds did a tremendous job. And Kyle Murray did a great job running the ball as well. So I think most, it's about getting these guys back.

You know, we talk about the kicking game a few weeks ago, but we had guys holding for our kicker that had never even held in a professional game before. One dude was literally practicing mid-game so he could come out and take over for Colt McCoy, who was doing a terrible job. You can say, oh, you're going to blame the kicker, the holder. Yes, when the laces are in and the holding is bad, the kicker can't necessarily do his job as effectively as we saw him do earlier in the

season, right? Prater was money this season and his ability to hit long range field goals helped this offense, you know, a lot. There was, there was a lot of points put up on the board through field goals this season and that helped the Cardinals, you know, with their drives and help them consistently put up points. And, you know, again, you can't say enough about the kicking game sometimes, even though it can easily be disregarded. So you mentioned this weekend's final game of the regular season, wanting to come out and just spank that. And you know, But do you have any predictions for that game or how do you kind of feel like it's going to go? I think we're going to see more of the same that what we saw against Cowboys.

I think the Cardinals are going to take this game. I'm hesitant only because it's a home game. And they've been so terrible at home that I don't know what exactly to expect out of this team. I hope that they come out and show up for this game and give the fans one last, you know, amazing regular season performance before going into the playoffs. It's critical. It's just a mindset. I don't think you can lose this game. Again, it's not as big of an impact. It's not going to help them win the division or anything at this point. But it's just a confidence level that can take them farther in the playoffs than, you know, whatever their record is right now. All right. And Sean, we're going to head on over to you. You cover ASU for PHNX. So how has that been for you? You're kind of new to the organization here. welcome officially from me.

This is the first time you and I've gotten to work together. Not necessarily off to a great start for 2022. Games are being postponed. Things haven't exactly gone the way we wanted them to. I thought you were saying Sean isn't off to a good start. I was very forward right away. I know. Sean's doing great.

AISQ on the other hand. I appreciate it. But no, yeah, it has not been a great start for either the men's or women's basketball team. the women have not even played in 2022 yet. They've had all three games that have been scheduled. Well, one game that's been scheduled and two that were scheduled for this week were all canceled, all postponed due to COVID issues. And ASU men's team, they have played one game.

It was a game against Cal that went pretty terribly. And then they had two games this week also postponed because of, and the interesting thing is that this is the first time for the men's and women's team, that it's actually COVID issues within the Sun Devils program and not the teams that they're facing. So it's still to be seen how long this is going to linger on. But obviously, even going into 2022 and of 2021, the seasons haven't been going particularly great for either of the teams, especially the men's team.

So maybe this is going to be a little bit of a blessing in disguise, the time off, especially for the men, they were supposed to go in starting Pac-12 play against the three best teams in the in the Pac-12, top 10 teams in the country. So maybe it can be a blessing in disguise, but it's definitely been a tough start for the men's and women's teams. No real update on Marcus Bagley, the big centerpiece for the ASU men's team. Don't even know if he's going to come back at all this season. So that's still to be seen.

But everything is just kind of up in the air. Both teams are supposed to get back on the 13th. The women are in Oregon and the men host Utah. So we'll see if those have. or if any games get scheduled before then. But yeah, like I said, it's all kind of up in the air for a. Yeah, very fluid over on that front. It's a tough battle.

But when those games do, hopefully, like you said on the 13th, when they do actually happen, even though it may not have been the start or the season that we've been wanting, why should people still continue to tune in? Yeah. I mean, like I said, this could end up being a blessing in disguise. The biggest problem with this team is there's a lot of, especially the men's team, is there's a lot of transfers and they haven't exactly been jelling on the court together. And there's been questions about how Bobby has been performing as a coach.

The time off like this can just kind of give you a chance to gel. Obviously, there's COVID issues, so you don't know how much time many of these guys are getting to spend with each other. But it can just kind of hopefully give them a reset and give them a chance to kind of get back on track and figure some things out. not to mention the fact that like I said, they were supposed to start this week was supposed to kind of be a gauntlet for the men's team. They're supposed to face three really good teams.

And starting like that and potentially losing all three of those games can just kind of kill any momentum you have in conference play. So hopefully that kind of getting shaken up, having some more winnable games or games you at least expect them to win to start off conference play can set them off on a better path. And maybe when they do get to those teams, those games, especially that Arizona game, which is obviously always huge for ASU. Once they get there, they have a better chance.

They're in a better spot with this team. So hopefully, like I said, there's a little bit of a silver lining in all of these cancellations and postponements. I feel like oftentimes the only game that really matters is the UA ASU game. Yeah, yeah. I mean, with as bad as things are going, if you can get up for that game, and even if you could just make it close, because I don't think a lot of people are really expecting it to be much of a contest.

If you can make that competitive, and especially if you can somehow win that game, it's huge. It changes the entire outlook for this season. So it could be, it's going to be a huge game regardless of how the rest of the season goes. Whose camp are you guys all in? ASU or UA. I went to UAE. I went to UAE. I'm severely outnumbered right now.

I'm obsessed. It's okay. Well, I'll be laughing when UA crushes the A. You actually will be. probably but we have to seven to hold over your life yeah i've had to suffer through all the football outcomes for the last few years let me have this and now now you have a football is getting a bunch of big transfers so you might not have to worry about that longer either not only that leah but with with the season you've had to endure with the coyote i appreciate it yeah you deserve this one lea so

we'll give you that one all right and then i will handle the sons because over on that front. They had a little bit of a slump, if you will, for a while there to end the year. But they're back to their winning ways, which we all know and love. They got a win over the Pelicans Tuesday night, 123 to 110. They play the Clippers on Thursday night. Today is an off day for them. Things have been really fun over on the sun's front, despite the fact that so many players are in health and safety protocols from, at least as of right now, 1243 on Wednesday the fifth. It could change in 30 minutes.

It could change in 30 seconds. But as of right now in this moment, still as far as we know, DeAndre and Javille McGee, Jay Crowder, Landry Shamet, are all in health and safety protocols. But they did bring in Bismack Diombo on a 10-day contract. And he has just been such a great storyline so far for this team. You know, he's an NBA veteran. He came in like seamlessly just. added himself into this team's rotation, seems to be doing really well.

I know he lost his father a few months back and he was having a really hard time kind of wanting to play basketball, which you can completely understand. I think he was saying that, you know, before every single game he ever played, his dad would always send him a text message. So that's got to be a hard situation to kind of navigate and want to get back into playing it. But I think he's, you know, he's spent that time going through the emotions, going through the grief, and now he's back and doing the thing he loves.

And I'm sure it's very therapeutic for him, I can only imagine. So he's been a great storyline. And then Jalen Smith sticks as well, been taking full advantage of the minutes that he has been given due to having so many people in the health and safety protocols. And kudos to that young man for taking advantage of this opportunity. You always love to see it when young players get the opportunity and they really grasp onto it and run with it.

I think that's, oh, sorry, Lindsay. I was just going to say, I think that's the one, like, positive to this whole situation with everyone going in and out is really giving a lot of people, opportunities to step into roles they might not otherwise have had the chance to. So it's great to see for a lot of these teams, you know, what we're looking for bright spots in this disastrous scenario for everyone involved. Way to be positive. Which, I mean, you kind of have to because it becomes one of those things where you're like,

I'm just so tired of always having every day to try and navigate this situation that nobody can seem to get a handle on. At least you can find some bright spots, some storylines to really hold on to you that brings some joy and positivity to this space because it is tough. Let's be honest. It's super tough. All right. So we're going to circle back around to Derek because you also cover the debacks for PH&I. So tell us what's going on in the world of the Diamondbacks these days. days. Nothing's going on in the world of the Diamondbacks these days because nothing is going on in

the world of baseball. The owners and the Players Association still haven't met. There haven't been much talks at all. They took the holiday season off and decided to extend their vacation well into January. There is, according to reports, there is no plan talks this week at all. So nothing with this lockout situation will get resolved, at least in the near future. My co-host on the show, Jesse Friedman, has predicted for a while that January 28th is going to be the date that they get it done. And that date is in jeopardy, let me tell you, because they're not even talking. There's, and when I say they're not talking, there are kind of levels and steps that they kind of have to go through in this negotiation process. And the most important being some financial details that they have to iron out that they have to get through that first before they even get to some of the changes and potential, you know, playoff.

expansions and designated hitter expansion to baseball that they plan that they want to do, right? So it's it's getting to the point now where the season, the start of the season, appears to be in jeopardy just a bit because we are roughly less than 40 days away from when pitchers and catchers are supposed to report. Baseball is a weird sport where you can't just all of a sudden get the deal done, especially in this situation where they cannot go to the facilities, They cannot train. They can't do anything until this deal gets done. Everything that they have to do involving their training right now is on their own.

And that would all, you know, would proceed until the deal gets done. So if the deal doesn't get done until mid-March, they're still going to need to ramp up the players. You know, it's just one of those situations where they won't be ready and they won't be able to start the season just because a deal gets done. You also have this same scenario from, you know, the pandemic where they couldn't really decide when they were going to, you know, play baseball and the, you know, the details of the 2020 season and it being a shortened season. We saw catastrophic injuries around baseball. I mean, we saw such a huge number of injuries around baseball that that half a season and beyond. And a big reason why is because these guys didn't get the normal amount of. time it takes for them to prepare for a baseball season. I'm really concerned about that being a

factor here in 2022 as well. Well, yeah, because each player is also different with what they have available to them, right? Like some of the top guys might have all the equipment and access to all the people and things that they need to stay in the shape. But some of the lower level guys or entry level guys, like, they don't have those. especially guys that just came into the majors and are no longer a minor league player, because minor league teams can still are still going, they still have a season. They're not impacted at all in any of this. So minor league players at least will still start on time.

They'll still have their season. They're still that, you know, they won't be in camp up during spring training when pitchers and catchers and the team reports, which is valuable time for those young guys to be around, you know, Tori Lovolo and the management team and the coaches and stuff, right? But at the same time, they'll they won't be. impacted. But like you said, Lindsay, the guys that just got called up that are newer guys that might not be making that much money yet or might not be established on their own as far as their training regimen, they might not be ready at all, like, to take on doing this on their own. There's such an unfortunate situation. And I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer here.

But what does this kind of do overall for the sport? Like, does this like, It's, it's, it's, it's, I feel like there's, diehard baseball fans that are furious about this. And obviously, it's those people that can see that this is already, you know, starting to impact the season. Unless all of a sudden we get some negotiations rolling where people are agreeing on something, this is going to be a lengthy process. Right now it feels like both sides think they have the advantage of time putting pressure on the other side, which is not the case. What, what you're going to have is you're going to have is you're going to. have fans losing interest in a sport that they already are starting to lose interest in, right? There's already a regression of fans being interested in baseball. You know, some cities,

they're not going to have that problem, but a city like Phoenix, they're going to absolutely have that problem, right? So, and there's a lot of, there's a lot of teams that are going to experience that same thing. There's, you know, not everybody's going to be like the Giants and the Dodgers where their stadium is going to be full regardless of how long it takes to get back to baseball. The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, People are still very relevant and very good are still going to pack their stadiums. But it's the rest of baseball that's going to be hurt by this. People just don't care.

And that's scary. You know, it's that indifference about the sport that, you know, really could cause people to just turn off to it. You know, like there's just so many options. I can't even get through my Netflix shows that I want to watch, let alone. Like if I could cut out a sport that plays 162 games, you know, that I don't care about anymore, That frees up a lot of time. It does. I love baseball and I hate to say that.

I think there's also baseball alternatives that people could turn to if this takes too long, like we did with the KBO during the pandemic. So baseball doesn't have that same, you know, like, hey, we're got a like monopoly over the United States. We can actually get baseball here from other countries through Hulu and other, you know, services and watch it. And, you know, if one of those, like, sports, you know, organizations, or like those leagues decides to take advantage of this, you could easily see people start to latch on like people did

when there was no other sport going on. That's such a bummer. I feel really, really bad for diehard MLB fans right now because at the end of the day, I understand that money is on the line for the organization and the players, but at the end of the day, the person that's getting hurt the most in this situation, I feel like are the fans because they're the ones

who don't get paid to do these things. They're the ones who are investing money to enjoy these things. And so if there's if there's costs, if there's, you know, if the owners take on some additional costs, they're going to pass it along to us as the paying, you know, fans as well, right? So there's there's ramifications like that of higher ticket prices and such. And yeah, you're right. I mean, it's, it is millionaires fighting with billionaires. And the rest of us as normal people are kind of left to say like, hey, can we just

Can we just get this figured out? Like whatever, right? But I mean, there is a lot on the line here. And baseball wants to change things about the game that is important to change competitive balance, to get more teams in the playoffs, to make things just more exciting about the sport. It's just, unfortunately, the financial stuff is going to be the bigger part of the negotiation. And, you know, service time, when guys become free agents, things like that are really the two things that are the things that they're not really even close to right now as far as as as far as negotiating.

Well, fingers crossed, they can get it together and figure this whole thing out so that we can get a baseball season this year. And closer to on time than not. Please. Thank you. Yes. All right, guys, that is our valley temperature check. We're going to take a quick break because we have hit the final week of the pro football regular season. and college football is heading into the national championship. Draccan Sportsbook has an unbelievable offer to get all fans in on the action for this exciting time on the football calendar. So new customers can bet just $5 on any football team to win their game.

And if they do, you're going to win $200 in free bets. It is that easy. So get in on the action and let's wind down the season with a big win. So right now, go download the Draft King Sportsbook app and make sure you use that promo code P HNX because when you use that promo code and you bet just $5 on any football team, college or pro, to win. And they do $2 in free bets is coming right to you. So once again, that's promo code PHNX this week at DraftCain Sportsbook. Now, just a reminder that is 21 and older only, Arizona only. if you have a gambling problem called 1-800 next step new customers only eligibility restrictions apply

see drachings.com slash sportsbook for details have you guys made any uh any bets on the drakeen sportsbook app recently yes how'd they go not good what's those too great i made the mistake of betting against shame earlier and uh it did not go well for me so never bet against the deep that's shame i guess never I bet on a first TD score in the Pittsburgh Steelers game just because I needed to back up what I said on the bet show and it hit and yeah I did a little victory lap around my house uh $20 won me $200 so that was a nice way out yeah nice I just keep losing $5 because I don't like bet enough like I feel like you have to bet a lot and then it's like okay you can see your up or down but I only bet a little and then I'm like I'm down 10 everything's over but it's like that's like that's like that's That's like not how betting works anyway. But it is a very easy app to use, I will say. Lee, I fail you because I'm like, if I lose $5 on a bet, it's like I lost $500. Yeah.

So I'm like, well, wait, hold on. I could have bought you with that. There's so many things. I could have done with that money. Shane's coming for us in the chat. He said loser mentality. Wow, Shane. Wow, Shane.

Yeah. I saw that you can bet on Gaelic, hurling. I'm not even sure exactly what that is, but I might just throw some money on it just because if I'm guessing, I probably still have a better chance of winning money than I do if I am delivering. Gayleck hurling? Yes, Gaelic curling. I have no idea what it is at all. Well, you know what they say. They always say like beginners luck or if you ask somebody who has no idea what they're doing to pick what you should bet on that oftentimes you end up hitting. So maybe that's something that...

Why did you do that? Don't do that. Look it. That's just him self-promoting himself. You fell for it. Shane Diebenbach in the chat, calling himself a winner. I don't know, Shane. I think I need to see the receipts before we can confirm that one way or the other. I'm just like... We were just talking on the Sun Devil show yesterday

about how much money he lost playing craps at a casino. So I don't know who is calling the winner, but... Oh, Shane got us the definition on Gaila Curling, by the way, over here. I read it for us. Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men, one of Ireland's native Gaelic games. It shares a number of features with Gaelic football.

So now we have to look up Gaelic. Yeah, I don't know if that is. Because I don't know what that is. I was like, James were giving us more things to have to look up. Who knew that Ireland had such a rich... You've never heard of Gaelic football? What's wrong with you? All right, guys.

So it is the beginning. of 2022 and hopefully the start of bigger and better things for all of us, but especially in the sports world. So we're going to do a little valley outlook for the second half of the show today and just kind of, you know, our wish list or things that we think might come to fruition this year for each of our teams and or players. So we'll kind of just go around the horn, but feel free to chime in on any team you guys want to talk about or any player that just seems to be standing out to you to maybe have a breakout year or an even better year in 2022. So what do you guys think the year will hold?

We'll start off with the Cardinals since they are in a really good spot right now, at least playoff-wise, being in the playoffs or having a playoff ber. What do you guys think this year is going to hold for them? A Super Bowl. Yes, I love it. A Super Bowl championship or a Super Bowl visit? You take that. Take it for whatever you want to take it for.

I feel like I'm being like greedy defining that, but just let's just say a Super Bowl. I just think that this team has performed so well this year. And I think, again, there's a lot of questions and they've had significant losses. They've lost their star key players that got them to the point of being undefeated for a decent part of the season. But if they can rally and get some of these guys back throughout the playoffs, get D. Hopkins back. I know J.J. Watt is working with scientists

on some sort of new healing method. He's a mutant now, I understand, but whatever. Get him back as soon as possible. I do love the fact that that man is out there running wind sprints during the opening of games. And he's around his teammates, consoling the kicker when he missed some field goals in that game. Like, JJ Watt is such an outstanding leader even when he's injured.

So to have him potentially back, even though that might not happen, would just drastically change the outlook for this team, I think, you know, to get those guys back. I think Cliff might silence some haters and doubters because, I mean, especially if they get that Super Bowl run. I saw a stat. I don't remember the exact numbers, but he struggles in the second half of season. So if he gets a chance to go get into the, I mean, obviously in the playoffs, but going a little bit of a run there. Yeah. It's going to be hard.

Get out of the season, right? And get into the playoffs. Yeah. It'll be hard to hate on him the way a lot of people have. I have been guilty of it in the past, too. But I mean, if, like I said, if that team can even just win a playoff game, I think it'll go a long way, even just going into next season. So it's just a world of potential for the Cardinals right now, especially. We want to say we hate him for his coaching schemes, but realistically, it's just because of how damn good looking he is.

That's what it really seems. I'm just, I'm jealous of his house more than anything. Oh, his house. That's awesome. Oh. How could you like him after that? Unless he invites you to the house, how could you like him after seeing a picture of that house? It's incredibly jealous.

Yeah. All right. Do you have any resolutions for the Cardinals or any of the players on? the team or around the organization. I can start this one. So a resolution that I would like to see change basically this year, which I guess this is just kind of like a wish list, I guess you could say. I want a Larry Fitzgerald send off. Like I know, I saw this circulating a lot on Twitter the last few, like 24 hours or so. I know that Larry is not the person who wants this big celebratory like all eyes on me, like give me all the attention, call it a day kind of

retirement send off, but selfishly as a fan and selfishly as somebody, like in Arizona, like there's Larry, Larry is one of the best to ever do it in this state, right? Like I think as a fans, we kind of deserve a little bit of something, like some celebration of him in his career and what he's done here. Speaking of the gala curling, he gave us the Irish goodbye, right? He just snuck out of the party without saying goodbye to anyone. He was like, no, I'll be right back. I'm just going to go get something from my car.

And he just left. And like that part about it sucks. You know, like, you're right. We, you know, we were worried there for a minute that he might come back maybe with a different team. We were worried, you know, whether or not it was always kind of a mystery. So honestly, and what up, Robert York. Good to see you. I think that you're right.

I would love to see something, right? Like, I don't necessarily need him to be back on the team, but some sort of, you know, some sort of just celebratory event. in honor of Larry Fitzgerald. But again, like you said, I think he's just too humble of a guy for that. He doesn't want all of that pomp and circumstance over his career to be made. Yeah. And then, like, you know, put a statue out front is what I want. You know, whatever.

Yeah. It's hard to believe that they won't do something for him. I mean, he's just way too important. And I feel like at a certain point, even he will do it for the fans. He's always kind of been a man of the people. So I feel like it's a matter of time. Yeah. I would want to see for the Cardinals to get the respect that they deserve.

And I think that part of that that's in their control is like what we said before is just making a deep playoff run, winning some playoff games, hopefully more than one, maybe making it or even winning a Super Bowl. And I think that's the part of it they can control. And hopefully then they will get the respect that I think that they deserve. I want to see them have, oh, go ahead. No, no, please, go ahead. I was just going to say obviously a Super Bowl and Run would be great. One thing that they definitely can control, and I've heard other people say before, is I want new jerseys.

I want something to freshen up. Because regardless of how this season goes, like, the jerseys are still boring, in my opinion. I would love to see something a little more fresh, a little more modern. I just love any time a team doesn't matter where it is, what sport, anytime they get new jerseys, something to fresh up their luck, I love it. to see new Cardinals jerseys, it would just be chefs kidding me. I mean, assuming that they're good.

Or I'll tell you this much based on feedback that we get on our, on our pictures of Frank Sanders, anytime we post old pictures of Frank Sanders playing, bring back the old jerseys because apparently people want that as well. Old as new. I'll look at the white kachinas for the coyotes. Retro jerseys always win. That's the truth.

All the Valley team should bring back. all the team should bring back just retro jerseys. I love all of Arizona sports, like old jerseys. I think they're all beautiful. I agree with James Lee, too, by the way. The New Jersey's for Arizona basketball. I'm surprised at times when I see them that they're still wearing the same, like, look that they've had for all of these years.

Like, yeah, it's just something redesigned, something fresh, you know? Absolutely. All right. Anything else? I want Kyla Murray to, everybody said they want him to like not talk so much. much. I want him to talk more shit. I want him to talk. I want him to exude more confidence. This is a guy that has been underestimated his entire career and he's proven people wrong constantly and he's a winner everywhere he goes. So I don't want him to stop talking. I want him to talk more.

I support that 100%. I'm always in support of players talking out, talking their trash. Like, you're the one who's doing it. Like you're the one who's playing the sport. You're the one who's succeeding, who are we on the sidelines to tell you to like stop talking or whatever? Like, you do you. I support it 100% of the time. All right. So let's move on to the Phoenix Suns. What do we think this year we'll hold for them?

Derek, I'm going to take a page out of your book and I'm going to say NBA Finals. Please. Thank you. I don't know which way it's going to go, but just NBA finals. I'm going to step one up and I'm going to say that Larry O'Brien trophy, bring that bad. I mean, you know, that's the resolution from last year to this year. Yeah, that's right. Get to the, yeah, get to the finals, but win it this time.

Yeah. Just getting there was fun. I had a good time. You guys had a good time. We all had a good time. Let's win it this time. And then same with Leah. I'm going to go with Leah again on this one. Put some damn respect on that team.

You know what I mean? Like this whole season, we've been having this conversation about how does the national media respect the Phoenix Suns? They continue to call it a flu, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, just put some respect on that name because they're obviously doing it. They're obviously been able to make changes that are sustainable. So in 2022, let's just respect what they have been able to accomplish. Yeah, I mean, and more respect on like an individual basis.

I mean, Monty Williams, I think is arguably the best coach in basketball. I don't think he gets enough respect. Devin Booker and Chris Paul has always been like even before he played for the has always been one of my favorite players. And it's not that he doesn't get respect, but I think everyone, all of the players on this team, top to bottom deserve more, like, individual respect because I think this roster is just so, so talented.

And especially Devin Booker, I think he gets so much respect from guys in the league and not the level of respect he deserves on, like, a national platform. So just kind of giving him, especially the love that he deserves, I think, is just, I think it's important. I think they all deserve a little more.

on a team-wide basis, but an individual basis as well. Especially Chris Paul. I hear all of your old jokes. I hear him on Twitter. Like put some respect on that man's name. Yeah, he's doing it at a better level than any of us could do it. So let's put some respect on it, right? Absolutely.

He's fantastic. And I think that's something, especially before the season, I thought that there were some question marks about Chris Paul and I was, my thought was why. Why? I mean, I get it. I get it. The season is close to when the finals, you know,

the Suns didn't have a long layoff as far as their off season, but this guy has been outstanding his entire career, and now he's surrounded by a great team with a great coach. Anything else resolution-wise or hopes and dreams for the Phoenix Suns for the 2022 year? Don't get backdoor swept in the finals. If you're going to lose in the finals, at least make it look good. That's fair.

My last thing would be Devin Booker, an all-star from the jump. Not like a replacement. Like, let's just make it official. Devin Booker is an all-star. That's my last thing. Yeah, on the suns. All right, let's head on over to the coyotes.

Leah, start us off. What do you think the year is going to hold or resolutions for this team, maybe resolution is a better place to start? Okay, resolution number one, get up to date on all the payments. Pay your bills. Pay all the bills, okay?

Number one. Number two, find a place to play next year because right now, nobody knows where they're going to play next year. And the season starts, the new season starts in October. In June, they're getting kicked out of Healer River, Rueen and Glendale. So find a place to play. And then the third thing. Leah, I don't mean to stop you, but this sounds like you're talking to like a degenerate family member and having a home of Jesus meeting. Pay your bills.

You're like, we need to find you a place to live. And honestly, we need to talk about the kids. The kids are out of control. It's the problem child of the family. Honestly. And then the third thing would be then secure your long-term plan. So hopefully that's securing the Tempe Arena deal and then bridging the gap from today until then, which is probably three to five years down the road.

So that's my three things that I resolve hopefully and hopefully will be accomplished because if not, then I don't know anymore. Honestly, I feel like you could sum it up by just saying, can we please just have some stability this year? That's not about to say. It was that same thing. Stability is the word of the year for the Arizona Coyotes. Yes, please.

That's it. That's what you need to manifest into existence, do all the things you've got to do to give this fan base some sense of stability because they freaking deserve it. Like I worked for the Arizona Coyotes years ago, and it was the same way. And then before I worked there, these fans were still dealing with it.

Like, if any fan base genuinely deserves nice things, it's the coyotes because they've stuck around for so long. They continue to support this team through all of it. Like, they deserve to have nice things. And so, please, stability to get to the point where that fan base can have nice things. Please and thank you. I want to build on Leah's comment about the home, though. it needs to be built in the East Valley.

That's my resolution. Stop ignoring your fan base. Stop ignoring where your season ticket holders live. You have the data. You have the information. It's not information that internally they're not aware of. So the decision, the whatever you want to call this entire Glendale situation, stop embarrassing the family.

That's another thing. Like, stop embarrassing. Like Arizona Sports already gets enough crap. Let's stop embarrassing yourselves. because this entire situation has been embarrassing. The Glendale fight has been embarrassing. The not paying their bills was embarrassing. It's just one thing after another for an organization that, again,

constantly has these rumors surrounding it almost every single year that they're moving to some other city as well. So that backs up Lindsay's point about stability, you know. Just become stable. The fan base just deserves answers at this point. Even if next year is going to be some weird hybrid where you're playing in Tucson, and Prescott Valley and ASU's new arena, like wherever it is, I feel like the fan base just deserves to know what's going to happen instead of having, because like it's been talked about, the longer these questions arise, the more Houston and Quebec are going to kind of sneak in there. And the fan base doesn't deserve that.

They're loyal. And even if it is going to be some weird, unideal playing situation here in Arizona, they just deserve to know what's going to happen. So I feel like that just answers and, I mean, its ability is kind of the word of the season for the team. just knowing what's happening. And then a nice bonus to all of that would be the first winning the draft lottery and getting the first overall pick in this year. Let's go. You can't even lose right.

Yeah, right. Wishful thinking, though, let's get a building first, honestly. That's my priority at least. Let's make sure they're here. Let's make sure they're here first. Can't get excited about a future prospect if they're not, the team's not even going to have a place to play. But Leah, do they have good prospects in their system now? Like, do they have things to be excited about?

down the road or is it that bleak? No, there's, there's only things to be excited about, but it's not what it's going to be, especially after this year's draft. They have so many picks in this year's draft. It'll be like this time next year, it'll be a whole different picture. So fingers crossed.

Anything else on the coyotes? They're one team that doesn't need New Jersey's. Oh, yeah. You're not wrong. Bringing the white back was the solid move. That was the best move they made all season. All right. We're going to head over into the Diamondbacks real quick.

We'll round out the quote unquote big four here in Arizona. So D-backs, what are a baseball season? Yeah, I know. It's kind of the same thing as a coyotes like stability. Yeah, a new CBA, perhaps. At least the Diamondbacks, I will say, they're in a little bit better of a spot than the coyotes are. They have a home. It just needs some renovations.

So it's a crappy home that they don't take good care of because they cost them. They blame their landlord for not taking care of it when reality they could do, they could pick up a wrench is what I'm saying. But they, I will say that if they're, once the season resumes, once we're back to baseball, I am oddly, cautiously optimistic about this team's future. I think that next season, we're going to see a substantial increase in success. I mean, we talked about it on last night show on the PHNXD back show, but, you know,

they had the most one run losses since like a Braves team. team from the 30s. There's a lot of, there was a lot of potential wins there, even though that might just be a loser mentality, have we been talking about in the comments today? There's just a lot of games that they were close on. Between the coaching additions and the changes to this team, I think that the young players have a fantastic opportunity to come up and do an amazing coaching situation. And honestly, the guys that are there, I think, are going to.

get substantially better based on, you know, based on these guys that can't say enough about the additions that they made at coaching. You know, they assembled an all-star team at coaching, but they still haven't made very many moves to make the team much better, right? So I guess that's what I would want for a resolution this year is to try to make the team better and don't completely rely on your farm system to make this a better team. I think that they could be a surprisingly good team next year. You know, one of those stories that's like, wow, look at this turnaround of the debacks. Well, you know, a lot of things impacted this season for them being as bad as they were this season.

You know, so it wasn't all just, you know, bad coaching or bad luck or whatever. You know, there was a lot of injuries. I mean, they called up, they used the most players they ever have historically in franchise history. So that's not, that's a dubious. mark to make because that means you're calling up a lot of minor leaguers and you're trying to replace guys with, you know, free agents and people you pick up during the season. It was a mess, but I think, again, the stability that they'll probably have next year at coaching. I can't say that they have it yet, but I think that's going to change this team significantly.

Yeah. I was going to say, it's just progress, like just showing that they're actually the other not just stagnant. I feel like we talked, we mentioned earlier, just kind of like the potential for like, the team to struggle holding on to the fan base. And I mean, not improving at all is not going to help that.

Like if you just show some signs of life and just make it fun to be a Diamondbacks. And even if you like, no one's expecting the Diamondbacks to be World Series contenders. I don't think that's what they need for sure. This to be fun. Even, even like little things.

Like I keep bringing up jerseys, but like when they brought out the Serpientes jerseys last year, like those things sold out almost immediately. And they brought back the World Series jerseys for that, the World Series weekend, like just little stuff like that that could make it like make people want to go to games and make it fun to be a Diamondbacks fan, just at least to kind of bridge this gap

before we get to a point where we are like a really good team, just make it fun, make it make people want to be interested in the devatch. Sean hit what I want. That's another resolution. Bring back the purple and teal jerseys. Just do it. Stop all. of this stuff.

I'm thinking they're going to wait until their 25th anniversary to do it, but I feel like that, the support for that is trending in that direction. You're right about the Serpientas jerseys. I bought a special edition hat from the Hat Club, and that thing sold out in 30 seconds. I couldn't believe I got one, but I also couldn't believe how fast it sold out, right?

People still want Diamondback stuff. There's still the interest out there. It's not like people have completely lost interest in this team. However, it is one of those things. but it's kind of, you know, building it again from the ground up. And you're right about the success of this team. This team needs to be better. And it needs to be substantially better in order to justify Tori LaVolo sticking around

his manager. I love Tori Lovolo. I'm a huge Lovolo fan and a supporter of him, probably more so than I should be as a member of the media. But he's just a great dude and it's hard not to like him as a person. So that makes it harder to want to go on to shows like this. and scream about him needing to be fired. However, with that being said,

he has all the tools this season to improve this team, not to win the NL West, not to win a World Series, but to improve. And if there's no improvement, I mean, even if it's a small, minor improvement, then I have to start thinking that there might be a problem, you know, with the manager of this team. It might be an issue there.

I don't think that's going to be the case. But I also have a lot of, I hold the coaches that they brought on in high regard. Yeah, I mean, even if it's just small improvement, improvement nonetheless makes a big difference in the eyes of the fan base. So you have to show that you're doing what you need to be doing to get to where you need to be. So even if it's small steps, substantial though, like tangible evidence that you are making those steps will go a long way in 2022. All right. Shall we go over to ASU and see what are her resolutions for them?

I mean, there's a lot of places I could go with this. Listen, I'm not, no one is expecting men or women to win the Pac-12 to be national champions, anything like that. I feel like that especially for this season, you just have to be competitive. And when you, especially when it comes to the Arizona games, you just have to, if you can get, if you could somehow sneak out a win against Arizona. that I feel like whatever happens this season, you can hang your head on that. You just got to give the fan base some excitement, something to like,

if you can beat one of these big ranked teams that you have to play, every game from then on out gives you something to be hopeful for because you know the team, the teams have talent, and so you want them to prove that they have this talent so you can actually get up for any of these games that they play.

I've talked about it with Shane a bunch, just like when they get to the tournament, like the Packed Ball tournament, anything can happen. So if they can make a run last year, Oregon State was predicted to be the bottom of the conference, and then they won the Pactwell tournament. So when you get to that tournament, if you could figure it out then, anything can happen. So in terms of basketball, that's kind of what I'm looking at. Baseball, just showing that your ASU baseball again, we have New Coast, Willey Bloomquist, right?

So just like proving that this is still ASU baseball and that there's something to get excited about there. And then I saw Doug Allen's comment in the comments. I don't think ASU-based football is going to be that bad. I understand why there's reasons to be pessimistic about it. We're losing a lot of talent. We lost our best running back and best receiver and his backup. And Jay and Daniels still the quarterback. But I just think there's reason to be excited.

We have Kevin White coming. We have Daniel and Goda getting a chance to show who he's going to be. I think there's a lot riding on this season, specifically his job. for Herm. And I think Jaden is going to be a lot more pressure on Jaden, and I think it's going to give him a chance to kind of step up as a leader. And so there's just, and on the defensive side, there's a lot of people kind of filling holes for people that, for guys that are leaving. So I just feel like there's a lot of opportunity and there's not as much expectation as there was coming into this past season, where people expected a lot from this team because they were, they were returning so many starters. I feel like there's just a, I feel like there's a chance for them. to surprise some people. And I feel like that's all you can really ask when the expectations are as low as they are. So I'm not down completely on ASU football specifically. I think the season has, I think there's potential for the season to be good.

All right. So in the comments, James Lee asked, how bad does it have to be at a fire Bobby? What do you guys think? I mean, they have to start, like, dropping. I mean, they need a bunch more of these Cal games. I think this season is going to start kind of having some built-in excuses with all the COVID cancellations and all the games getting moved around. So there's going to be reason to kind of give him a second chance. But, I mean, if you keep dropping games like you did to Cal, it's one thing if you're losing games like that to Arizona, UCLA, USC, these teams that you're supposed to lose to like that.

But if you're losing to Cal and other teams like that by 20-some points, I feel like then it's going to get bad. I don't think they're going to fire him mid-season or anything like that. but if you do that and then you throw up a goose egg in the in the pack 12 tournament and you miss uh march madness completely i feel like it's going to it's going to get bad i mean james mentioned the the washington state game i feel like that was tough but it's that the games like that are an anomaly um they you're not going to see something like that you see something like that once in a blue moon and i mean defensively as u didn't perform poorly like they held Washington state to less than i think less than 60 points, I think.

So it's, I don't throw a lot of weight into that game, but there's definitely a potential for things to get bad for Bobby, but I don't think it's, it's, I don't think it's quite there yet. Anything else on the ASU front? I have an honorable mention. ASU hockey is moving into a new building, starting in the fall. It's a brand new 5,000 seat arena. And I think in terms of their program going forward and how they'll do in recruiting and asserting themselves as a competitive NCAA Division 1 program.

I'm really excited for them. So something else to look forward to in 2022 for ASCO sports. I mean, I feel like if you're a diehard Sunday, well, there's so many, obviously there's these big two sports that people get down on, but there's so many other things to get excited. Wrestling is also going to be moving into that arena. Like, they're a very good program. I think they've been a fourth in NCAA tournament last year.

So, like, they're really good. We have like the best triathlon team in the world. They've won like four straight national championships. That new swimming facility is incredible too, by the way. Yeah, there's just so, there's a lot of things to get excited about if you're a Sun Devil, even if it is not football and basketball, especially hockey, the new arena. That team, that program is just, I think, going to take a huge step. So there's a lot to get excited for.

All right. Leah, since you're the only U of A member on this show. You want to hold it down on you? Well, I was just going to say what I hope. And I'm just, well, there's a few things. One, to see the men's and women's basketball teams make deep runs and even for the women's team to hopefully get back to the championship and maybe this time win, much like what we talked about with the sons. The men haven't had a deep run since I think it was 2015 or so. So things are shaping up for them to look good.

And then talking about football, I mean, this was a disastrous year for U of A football. But I think looking toward the future, the recruits that the team's been getting, it, there's a lot of hope there. So I think there's good things ahead for the big Arizona programs. Arizona football is going to be better. They're getting people, they're getting recruits, they're getting attention that they were not getting last year. So I think it's going to be an improvement for there. And there's, I mean, if you've watched this U of A men's basketball team, they're, Very good. There's no reason they can't win. They should win the Pac-12, I think. They can win the

Pac-12, at least. They can make a run. I think they can make a, if they won the tournament, it wouldn't surprise me. So I think the sky is the limit for Arizona sports right now, unfortunately. Well, guys, thank you so much for tuning in to the Phoenix Sports Show. We appreciate it. Speaking of resolutions, if one of your New Year's resolutions was to look and feel better, a very easy way to get a W in that area. It's a year-long improvement, but a very easy way to get a W and start it off is to head on over to PHNXLocker.com and pick up some new gear to rep your team. So we've got some amazing merch over at phnxlokker.com And we've got some sticker packs as well. So you can head over there. You can get sticker

packs for just five bucks or any shirt for just $29.99. You can be the envy of all your friends. You can look the most amazing at any game you had hit up or any bar you go to watch games in. So if you just need a little boost to look and feel a little bit better to start off the year, that's the place to go and get that big. So that's one more time, P-H-NFlocker.com. Well, thank you all.

I appreciate you. Go ahead, Derek. you say? No, I was going to say that back the A shirt is awesome. Incredible. It's incredible. And I don't even like you of A, but I mean, I retweeted it and I literally had somebody be like, I'm about to unfollow you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That is not who you are, Lindsay. And I was like, I know. You've changed. How do you? I know. I was like, it's for the greater gear down. That's amazing. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't really, yeah, I don't have. Yeah. Thank you guys all for tuning in.

Leah, Derek, Sean, thank you guys for joining me today. Don't forget to follow along with us on Twitter, PHNX underscore sports, rate, review, subscribe, turn on notifications, all the things. We greatly appreciate all the support you guys have given us since we launched this venture back in 2021. And we're very excited to have you here with us for the journey of 2022. So until next next. time. Have a great day and we'll see you guys later.