PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Heartbreak City - Which Arizona Sports Playoff Loss Hurts the Most?

Episode Date: January 20, 2022

The Arizona Cardinals got destroyed in the first round of the NFL Playoffs this week. Pretty much every Arizona sports team has made the playoff and loss in heartbreaking fashion. While no hardware has been brought home, there are some that sting more than others...Join host Makayla Perkins and guests Craig Morgan, Gerald Bourguet and Anthony Totri in heartbreak city. 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.

Welcome in to the Phoenix Sports Podcast presented by Dracking Sportsbook, America's top-rated sportsbook app. Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe wherever you get your podcast, and leave us a five-star review. I'm Michaela Perkins, and joining me today to talk some heartbreak is Gerald Borgay, Craig Morgan, and making his Phoenix Sports podcast debut, Anthony Totry, our new host of PHNX Sun Devils. Welcome to the show, Tootry. Thank you guys for the warm welcome. The whole PHNX family has been great just in the first week, so I'm excited for more. Well, good.

We're glad to have you here. Sorry, we're talking some sadness on your first show. It's okay. Welcome. Yes, it's no better Arizona welcome than talking about sad things. Before the show, I blew everybody's mind with how much money I spend a month on Starbucks. So I figured we just need to share this because the reaction is hilarious. For those of you that don't know, I drink a coffee a day.

I'm addicted to caffeine. and I spent almost $300 a month on Starbucks. The coffee a day is okay. The price tag is not. Yeah, everybody here was appalled by that. Well, you made the comparison to, like, if you're spending, what, you said $2.80 a month? Yeah.

$2.80 a month on coffee versus, like, a new pair of Jays. So, like, at the end of the month, the coffee's gone. Like, forever, like, whatever that's worth to you at the end of the month. I still got the new J's at the end of the month. So I'd rather put $2.80 a month toward the Jordan's. What can they say? I'm addicted to caffeine. It's horrendous.

I'm a middle-aged guy. I just put it toward my SRP bill. Oh, boy. Your AARP membership, maybe. There it is. See? Here we go with the ages again. You see what I deal with here.

Just kidding. Before we get into our temperature check, if you're on Twitter, watching it on Twitter, head over to YouTube. Join us in our comments. We love it when you guys watch along and comment on what we're talking about. We always want to include you on the show. Chris is already in our comments, as usual, our Queen Chris, welcoming Anthony, saying Anthony made me show up.

Good job, Anthony. You're already pulling your weight around here. Running that paycheck. We love to see it. Hi, Chris. It's good to see you. As always, let's get started with our Valley Sports temperature check. And I feel like we should start with the coyotes because it is rare that the coyotes

win, but it's even more rare that they win back-to-back games, beating the Canadian and then the Jersey Devils, New Jersey Devils last night. Craig, this is great. You don't look excited. See, when we started this season, the whole idea was to tank to get as high a draft pick as possible. Correct. As you mentioned, they just beat the Canadians

who are now below them in the standings. And the Devils who are still fairly close, they're probably not going to catch them, but you're still competing with these teams for the best odds to win the lottery. The coyotes aren't accomplishing their goal right now. It's early in the season. We're not even halfway through the season yet, so it's probably not time to pay attention to that yet.

But there's got to be some concern, right? You don't want to finish where you're picking fifth in the draft. When you've done everything that you've done and then you end up picking fifth in the draft, that's not a good thing. Yeah, that would probably be the most coyotes thing ever to somehow manage mess up. And there are a lot of so coyotes things to talk about. Well, on one hand, it's good that they're winning. On one hand, it's not. But I feel like it's going to be okay.

They're going to figure it out. They are not like Craig Morgan, they're no longer the worst team in the NH. What am I saying? They're no longer the worst team in the league. They finally hit double digits in the wing column. They got 10 wins. There are some players in COVID protocol. What is the latest on Dzingal and the other COVID protocol?

They'll just have to go through the protocol days now. It's down to five days now, but you, of course, you have to test out of it. You have to test negative. And then they can come out two tests, I believe it is. So it's going to happen. And then the NHL and PA recently agreed after the All-Star break to only test symptomatic players following other leagues lead. So I think after the All-Star break, the COVID issue is by the most part,

Doug, just going to go away for the NHL. Interesting. All right. Speaking of the COVID issue, the coyotes had a bunch of games recently rescheduled due to COVID. What is the latest on their newly scheduled games? Yeah, they packed them all into that three-week window that was supposed to be the Olympic break. Of course, NHO players are not going to the Olympics now. So there was this three-week gap and they were able to jam them all in.

And they actually still have like a week break where they're not doing anything. So if there are any more postponed games, they could always slide them in there as well. But it actually worked out really well. So you're okay with the rescheduling? Yeah, it looks good for most of the league. There's some teams that had more games postponed than others. So it's a little more compacted for them. But it worked out okay.

Well, good. We're happy that worked out for the Coyotes. And hopefully the rest of the teams that had some games rescheduled, it worked out for them too. Moving on to the Sons, they are scheduled to take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight. They are, the Sons are riding an eight-game win streak against. against the MAVs, which I didn't know until I was preparing for the show. Gerald, what are you looking forward to you in this matchup tonight? Two red hot teams, actually.

I mean, the Suns obviously have the best record in basketball, but the MAVs have quietly won 10 of their last 11. They have a top five defense, which boggles the mind because they don't have any, like, elite defenders. So it's an interesting game between two Western Conference playoff teams and obviously no DA, so that's going to make a difference. You know, the Mavs have Christopps Porzingis. He's a seven footer, so you'd like to have.

DA for that type of matchup, but it's, it's always fun with Luca and the Sons play each other, especially given their history with that 2018 draft. Yeah, absolutely. For those of you that don't watch our PHANX sun show, Espo is on this bender that the sons are the best team in the NBA. So I'll ask you, Gerald, do you agree that the sons are the best team in the NBA? I do. I think you look at the fact that they've only played, I think, 33% of the season or something

like that with all three of their big three healthy. They've had guys in and out of the lineups all year long. You know, nobody too major, but DA's missed time, Bookers missed time. And the fact that they're, I think, two and a half games up on the Warriors right now is pretty impressive. Yeah, absolutely. They've had so many guys in and out, and they have one of the best point differentials. They have a top five offense, top five defense. Everything checks out. Whether they're built to beat some of these teams like the Bucks or the Nets or the Warriors in a seven-game series. That's to be determined. But right now, yeah, they're the best team in the NBA. We love to hear that. What a turnaround going from, what, 19 win season a couple years ago

to... Speaking of heartbreak. Yeah, no kidding. I feel like you're setting the table for heartbreak. I know. I'm slowly walking us there. I'm dipping our toes in so we don't get there right away. Totri, how do you feel about NBA All-Star voting? Do you think it's rigged? Are you a fan? I mean, it's 100% rigged. All right. There you have it. There's no reason what was a couple weeks ago before Clay had even stepped on the court, he was already, what, above? Above Booker? And that's why I asked, because they did a second update,

and Clay is still ahead of Devin Booker in their rankings, and he's played maybe one or two games before they released that update. I think if Book wants to pass Clay, he needs to get on the same level of headband game. Oh, okay. I think there needs to be a competition there, like, just in that. And I think, in all seriousness, I think Clay is deserving just from a talent perspective.

to be an All-Star, but in terms of beating out book before he even steps on the court, that's just kind of embarrassing, I feel like, for the NBA. It's not great. I think we need to ban the fan vote. I'm on the ban the fan vote wagon. Until all of you learn how to vote fairly, your rights should be revoked. The trade deadline, February 10th, is quickly approaching. Gerald just wrote a fabulous article on go-pHNX.com.

If you haven't signed up to be a member, please do so. you'll get access to all of Gerald's written content as well as Craigs and everybody else is. I know Tochry's going to be writing some fire articles about the sun devils. So you have that to look forward to you. So make sure you go head over to go p.ch and sign up to become a member. If you sign up for an annual membership, you'll get a free t-shirt, which is great. None of us are wearing them today. We failed in that department.

But that's okay. Check out our website. So the trade deadline is approaching. Do you foresee the suns going after anybody and adding to this roster? I don't know if they have to make a move, but they're a team that should. should make a move. I think when you're this close to a title, if you can make a move that brings in one piece that just pushes you, even slightly a little bit forward in that race, you do it, especially because, you know, you look at guys, they have Dario Sharich's contract that they can

put together and build a kind of trade for a medium tier guy. Jalen Smith, who's, you know, player option, they declined for next year, so he's probably not going to be around anyway. And then throw one or two picks on top of that and try and get someone like an Eric Gordon or Robert Covington or someone who can either defend multiple wing positions or provide you with a scoring punch off the bench. You know, they need somebody that can score on their own when Chris Paul and Devin Booker get double teamed or when defenses focus on them. So they need somebody like that. And I think if you can, like this is the time to go all in on a championship window. Like who cares about draft picks that are probably going to be in the 20s or 30s anyway.

Throw them out there. Bring in someone who can help you. Your window is now. Who would be your ideal? Like if you could pick one person, who would you want it to be to come join this team? I'd probably go Eric Gordon. You know, the Rockets are really bad this year, but Gordon is having a great season. I think he's second in the NBA and three point percentage, and he's a guy who can create off the bounce or off the ball. So he'd be my ideal fit. And I think you can get him from Houston if you are willing to throw in a draft pick or so.

All right. Well, if you want more information on all of the breakdown that Gerald did on potential trade acquisitions for the Suns, like I said, he wrote an awesome article that you can go check out on go phnx.com really quickly checking in on the diamond back slash baseball there's nothing happening it's really sad uh the league they met for the first time to do an economic proposal a couple of like two weeks ago i want to say and it went absolutely nowhere which we all pretty much anticipated um do any of you follow the cba negotiations no nobody cares all right well um in my opinion it's going to be forever until we get baseball i'm almost positive the beginning of the season is going to be delayed

at this point. The league has not met again since that initial economic proposal meeting two weeks ago and it's not looking good. So unfortunately, not much on the baseball front. And then of course, in terms of the Cardinals, that is our main topic of the day. So I'm going to hold off on that. But do you have a comment here? There's a lot. Okay. Let's, uh, oh, Gerald. Gerald's getting some love on the pond. It's mostly just Shane. Um, Christine, all of Gerald's articles are fantastic. Yes, they are. Love to see that. Does she ask a question?

I can't see. There's also a couple people just offering up names that they'd like to see, I think, as trade acquisitions. Got it. All right. Well, I mean, I guess they share your opinion that, although the sons don't have to, they probably should add some more help there. Especially if they can make a move on the fringe of the roster without breaking up the core. I don't see anything splashy happening. But if they can get an extra bench piece that'll be part of the playoff rotation, I think you'd do it.

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All right, guys. That was radio quality speedy. Oh my gosh. It's all the caffeine hitting me. It's your money's work. Yeah, I got to get my $280. All right. Let's talk about some heartbreak. I hate to do it. But geez, oh man. Did the Cardinals ever disappoint on Monday? I don't even know what I watched. PHNX was in LA. I was there at the game

covering helping out with our content. And good Lord, that was horrible. I just don't understand it, you guys. The Cardinals, they came into the season. They started the season 7 and 0. Kyler Marie was an early MVP candidate. We made a TikTok about it. Go check out our TikTok. channel we're blowing up. Follow us on TikTok. It'll make me really happy. But they just started the season so well. I mean, they brought in JJ Wan in the off season. They signed Zacherts in the middle of the season. All things were going for them. And then they get into the playoffs for the first time since 2015. And they, for the lack of a better term, crap the bed. Yeah. That was so disappointing. I mean, how did you guys react to that game? I didn't see a blowout

coming, but I thought the rounds would win that game. I just, I didn't see it being so lopsided. That was it was just such a poor showing. They weren't in that game at any point. It was just a non-competitive game, and that's a damning analysis of your team, and I wonder how it colors the off-season. I wonder how they feel about a lot of things at this point. What was the most disheartening thing to you in that game, Tochry?

Oh, that J.J. Watt was back for that. There was so much buildup for JJ's return, and it just kind of felt like everyone around him, players, coaches just let him down. After, you know, weeks, months of strenuous rehab for a guy that surprisingly has anything left of a shoulder, came back and played well defensively, probably played better than anyone defensively on the Cardinal side. And then it just wasn't even kind of like Greg said.

It wasn't even a game. Yeah. How did you feel about it, Gerald? I mean, I only watched the first half and that was split between the sons. Yeah. Well, because, like, the sons were playing and Devin Booker dropped 48 that night. So I was like, thank God, Arizona sports fans have a reprieve that they can change the channel to because book dropping 48 on the spurs, getting waxed by the Rams. Like, it's rough because they started the game, I think, with like four three and outs.

And then the next two possessions were somehow worse because there was that awful pick six. And you look at like Cliff Kingsbury's record as his teams go through the season, it's really bad. And I don't know, I don't, I mean, it sounds like they're not going to make a move. and remove him, but I don't know how or why they would keep him around after what he's shown the last few years. It's just, it's maddening. The second half collapse, I think, is always worse. You get your hopes up so high just to get it absolutely shattered. Solomon comments saying Kyler just threw another interception.

I need some glasses, man. I honestly think I do. Did I read that right? Yeah, yeah. You read it right. I think all the caffeine is affecting her pupil. He probably did throw another interception. I wouldn't be surprised.

The one that he threw that resulted in a pick six was horrendous. Absolutely awful. I wanted to get your guys thoughts on this because I was trying to put a band-aid over my heart and rationalize what it was that I watched on Monday. And I was scrolling through Twitter and this video came up. I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of the person who's speaking, but I want to get your guys' insight because it. It did make me feel a little bit better.

So I want to see if it also makes you feel better, too. All right, let's talk Arizona, and let's take a deep breath. Let's take a deep breath. Kyler Murray didn't play well. Cliff Kingsbury didn't coach well. But let's add context. The NFC West is the best division in football. And Arizona made the playoffs.

They made the playoffs. And for most of the year before he got hurt, Kyler Murray was spectacular in the toughest division in football. And we know this to be true. Generally in the NFL, it's baby steps. A coach gets hired. He cleans up the culture. You start winning some games.

Ooh, then you get to the playoffs. And sometimes your first playoff trip on the road is ugly. It's won and done. And Nick Seriani, started winning games, go to the playoffs. Oh, good hell. Let's just close shop and get on a flight and go home. And that's what happens. Cliff Kingsbury has gotten better every year as a coach.

Let's talk Kyler Murray. Yes, he looked nervous and anxious. And that pick six, my wife doesn't even like. sports. She's like, that was terrible, right? Yeah, that was awful. But Josh Allen was awful in his first playoff game. And Lamar Jackson was awful in his. So he makes some points there. What do you think about that, Totry? Do you agree with what he's saying? Not at all. I disagree totally, especially, I mean, we talked a little bit about it yesterday. It's one thing to improve, right, year after year in terms of win totals. But if the season ends the same with the second

and a half collapse year after year after year, then progressing as far as wins doesn't really matter to me because you're still failing to do the one thing that you need to do or the one thing that you have proven you can't do these last couple of seasons. And as far as, you know, it takes time. Like, that's not really true either. Like you look at Joe Burrow and the success that the Bengals are having right now, right? Completely different as far as they are built much younger than the Cardinals are. Which is why I think the Cardinals would have more playoff success, right? It's because you've got DeAndre Hopkins, you've got J.J. White, you've got Zackertz,

all these guys that have been in the league and they've been around winning organizations and teams for the most part. You figure that they would just have a better overall performance. But as far as it taking time, this is, everyone knows the NFL is a win now league. So you don't really have time to second half collapse. Greg, as someone who rationalizes loss for a living, Oh my God. What are your thoughts on that?

You're pulling that clip. What are your thoughts on that logic? See, what Tudri just said is this was a veteran-laden team. They brought in a bunch of veterans to get them to this place in a hurry. And you're right, windows are like three to four years in the NFL. It's not like, oh, we can build over six years and hopefully get there. That's concerning to me. You had all these veterans, and yet they turned in the performance.

that they did. But when they go into the offseason, to me, this is still, the whole focus is around Kyler Murray. This is a quarterback-driven league. If you have an elite quarterback, you can win. If you don't, you can't. It's that simple. The NFL has constructed all their rules. Everything about this game is about the quarterback. So when they do the analysis, obviously they have to look a lot of other things. Roster construction. I don't think anybody should be immune to analysis at this point. Cliff Kingsbury, certainly, also general manager, Steve Kime. But it all focuses again on Kyler. Do you still believe he's on an upward trajectory? If you do, okay, ride it out another year, see what happens. That's, that to me is the central focus of the

offseason. Yeah, I agree. No, that worries me because the quarterback that he compared him to was Lamar Jackson. And like Craig was saying, your window is only like three to four years in this league before somebody figures you out. Like Lamar Jackson was going to be the guy a couple years ago. Yeah, unless you're Tom Brady or a generational like quarterback. Like Lamar Jackson's great, but his team didn't make the playoffs and every time they have made the playoffs the ravens have shit the beds so like if you're kailer murray like if you want that better future that better ceiling like you don't want to be compared to lamar jackson right now like you want and that's the whole point of bringing in these veterans and if you don't get there obviously not having hopkins hurts like

yeah he was keiler's biggest weapon so we need to factor that in i agree with some of his points but it's just too rational of a take that lets the cardinals off the hook a little bit. When you start a season 7 and no, when you have those championship expectations, and you end the season on a fizzle like that, and then with your worst game of the season, like, there are some changes that have to be made. Yeah, absolutely. Can someone save my eyeballs and read NFL AZ Cardinals comment for me? Yeah, we have a bigger issue than Cliff. Kime is the real problem. It's Kime's job to get 53 men on the field. Since Butler left, he failed to fix our secondary and especially our O line. All fair points. Yeah, those are all really good points. It's

true. Chris, please someone help me. Kyler still has room to improve, but something has to change. You're not going to get different output without changing input. Yeah. That's true. One thing for me is I didn't understand, like, the offensive game plan going in. You've got so many weapons, right? You've got what, James Connor finished the regular season, tied, I think, for first or second

in total touchdowns. And he just was non-existent. Like, he wasn't in the game whatsoever. Like, at least just try and feed him the ball, right? Like, if it's the Titans, right? Like, Derek Henry is going to get the ball 25 times a game regardless of if they're losing or if they're winning. Like, your best players have to have the ball in their hand. And without D-Hop, I felt like James Connor was the guy that needed to have the ball in his hands.

Yeah, I agree. You just want to establish the run game, right? I mean, it was just a bizarre game plan. Yeah. I think it was Ken Somers, right, that tweeted. Is it time for the Cardinals consider changing their offensive game plan, whatever that game plan was? Yeah, it's a good point. So we're going to compare all of the wonderful heartbreaking losses the teams in the Valley have experienced since being here in Arizona.

And before we get to other teams, I want to finish wrapping up talking about the Cardinals. Obviously, this was disappointing, especially considering how the season started. where do you think this stacks up, Anthony, among other heartbreaking playoff losses, specifically for the Cardinals. Oh, specifically for the Cardinals? This has to fall. I think you've got, and we'll get a little bit. There's not a lot to talk about it.

Later. I mean, you've got the Super Bowl. You've got that Super Bowl with Pittsburgh. And then I think you've got, you know, a big gap. And then you've got what happened this season. Yeah, I agree. The expectation going in after the 7 and 0 start with Kyler. And then, I mean, I just remember the season opener.

against the Titans. Like, the Cardinals were, like, the NFL's big thing. Chandler Jones started the season, what, four plus sacks, five plus sacks. Like, it's disappointing given just how the whole season kind of wrapped up. Yeah, I mean, the reason that I thought it was just heartbreaking in general is just because how the season started. Obviously, you know, we started to slowly get let down throughout the season as they collapsed in certain games, like the games against the Panthers and whatever else it was.

So, I mean, I would still consider this heartbreaking just because it was the first time they'd made it to the playoffs since 2015 and the expectations were so high and we're finally thinking this is going to be Kyler's best game of his career. Obviously it's nowhere near the absolute just devastation of Super Bowl 2008. But in terms of the other teams in the Valley, I'm curious, Gerald, the sons, they've had some heartbreakers. One very recently. How much time do we have? Yeah. It's, you know, being Arizona sports fan, it's difficult, but we're all in it together and we're all here to help each other muscle through the lowest of lows like the coyote season and the highest of highs like the sun season so it's going to be okay uh we're here for you we're going to just do

some therapy really quick work through it uh gerald the suns they've had some heartbreakers um one so recently is last year obviously losing game six to the bucks after starting that series up to nothing what uh what do you think would be some heartbreakers for the suns so i mean I mean, we could probably do a whole show just on Sun's heartbreaking playoff moments, but just off the top of my head, there's the one that we're definitely going to talk about in 93, game six. There's Mario Ellie's Kiss of Death in 95. That was just a semi-final series, but it was in a game seven in a series. The Suns were up three to one, and just a ridiculous shot to lose a series. Last year had two games.

You know, there was game, I think it was games four and games five. There was the Aleoup that Janus had. and then there was the strip that Drew Holiday had on Booker in game five that led to an alleyute for Janus. And that pretty much, I mean, that was the third loss in the row for the Sons. And then the series went back to Milwaukee. At that moment, it was like, oh shit, this is probably over. Like, they're not, they might not win this series. And you could, I mean, you could go to a number of moments with Nash's teams.

Like there was the game where he got checked into the stands and Boris Dio and Amari Stadamar got suspended. and that team would have gone on to win it all. That was one of the best Sun's teams in history. So so many heartbreaking playoff moments for the Suns. It's hard to pick just one. I could probably do a top 10 if I had to. I think that team that you just talked about, and I was covering the team at that time,

that to me, NBA leadership failed as well in that moment because the punishment didn't fit the crime. The Suns end up losing two key players. The Spurs lose one. It's just nuts for what happened in that incident. I do think that team was going to win the NBA type. that year. And the Spurs went on to win the title that year. So that was basically the series that decided at all. Oh, out. That hurts. Um, where do you, group therapy? We love it. Where do you think the

2020 finals compares to the 1993 finals? I think it's probably just right behind the 93 finals. Because I feel like you can't really top what happened in 93, the heartbreaking way in which that team went out. And that was until probably this year the best Sons team ever, if not for the 07 team. Do you want me to imitate John Paxon's two-step right here? No, please, please. We're in Chicago. Yeah, I mean, that was just devastating. Last year was up there, though, because that's only the third time they've ever been to the finals.

For a lot of Sons fans that have, you know, grown up watching terrible Sons teams for the last decade, that was the most fun they've ever had watching this team play. It was exciting. They felt like a team of destiny. and then they ran into a Greek god that was just like, nah. And it was devastating. Nah, today, fam. Yeah, that sucks.

That hurts to talk about Craig. The coyotes, actually, I'm going to be, I'm going to expose myself a little bit here. I didn't realize that the coyotes had so many heartbreakers. You sent me a really well detailed list last night that kind of made me cry a little. I was shocked, though, but where do you think the kids? coyotes playoffs losses stack up in this? Certainly not ahead of the Super Bowl or the 93 finals, probably not even the last year's final. Look, the coyotes haven't gone deep enough.

A lot of people would probably think I'd pick 2012 because they were in the conference final that year. But L.A. was on just a complete role. There was no way we're going to beat the Kings that season. For me, the top season for the Sons is 2000, or for the coyotes, we're talking so much It's 2009, 2010, because it was such an improbable season. It's still the franchise record for points with 107. They started the season.

They had lost $30 million the year before. They hadn't made the playoffs in six years. In May, the owner of the team tried to put the team into bankruptcy, and the league had to seize control of it. In June, Wayne Gretzky announced they was leaving as coach, so they didn't have a coach. Like a week before the season's due to start, they bring in Dave Tippett.

It's this collection of just no names. They didn't have any high scores on the team. They lost Scotty Upshaw in the middle of the season, but they somehow finished with 107 points, and they look like they're a real contender. They go up to one on the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, the vaunted Detroit Wettlings who had been to the cup final the past two seasons, and then Shane Donne slams into the boards and separates his shoulder,

and he's out for the series, and they lose the series. So that one is the one that I think I point to, because it was just such a great story all season, and to have it end like that is, As we said earlier, so coyotes. So coyotes. Oh, just absolute heartbreak. That kind of reminds me of maybe not as far as making the playoffs and having an injury

just ruined what was a feel-good season. But like the 2013-14 sons, that team that like was led by Goran Dragach and won 48 games but didn't make the playoffs. It was like the lone like feeling good season, especially because they were supposed to tank that year. Nobody thought they'd be good. They win 48 games. and I think they were tied for the second best

or second most wins in NBA history for a team that didn't make the playoffs and then after that it just all fell to shit so it was like that was a fun season and it's kind of fun when those seasons like take you by surprise but it makes it that much harder when it doesn't work out

especially because the suns have been trying to build from the middle after that season they're like okay maybe we're good and they weren't that good so it just ruined their whole their whole tank plan. I asked a question that was similar to this on last week's episode of the Phoenix Sports podcast.

So Craig, I'll kind of phrase it this way to you. Would you rather have a playoff showing like the 2020 Coyotes versus Avalanche where, you know, the Coyotes get out scored, I want to say like 22 to 6? And it's just like a blowout, like not even close. Or something like what happened in 2009, 2010,

where, you know, you have your hope so high and bad things continually, like, happen and you get chained down injured. Which experience would you rather live through? I'm not sure where fans sit on that from a reporter's standpoint. I'd rather have the 2010 because players and coaches are so hard to talk to after a series against the avalanche. I mean, they were just, they were humiliated in that series. And that really was the start of, you know, the tear down of the coyotes because they

realized that that group wasn't going to get them anywhere, but, you know, maybe in the playoffs and they had to start all over again. And it was, it was so demoralizing. Nobody was in a good mood and ready to talk after that series. Yeah. Wow. Our existence is Arizona sports fans sucks. I'm just kidding. I feel like this happens a lot in every city, you know? Sports is the highest highs and the lowest lows. So just got a muscle through it. One title. One title. It's true. Well, speaking of the Diamondbacks, Jacob, I don't know if you've got your mic standing by if you want to way in here. Our producer Jacob is a baseball nerd. Um,

understatement on that one. Um, yes, it is an understatement. So I mean, the diamondbacks, they really haven't made very many playoff appearances or at least deep playoff appearances. Obviously, they won the World Series in 2001, which is the values only major sports title outside of the three championships at the Mercury and won. Um, they've had a couple, a handful of NLDS appearances that just never really went far. Um, and then the one time that they made it to the NLCS outside of the 2001 World Series, obviously was 2007 the year of the Rockies and went to the World Series.

I would probably say that the 2007, I would probably say the 2007 season was probably the most disappointing in postseason. Would you agree, Jacob? Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think a lot of people might say that 99, 2017, I think a lot of people might say 17 is one of their least favorites to watch just because it came to the hand of the Dodgers. But for me, it was 2007. I was 10 years old actually at the time. I had my heartbroken because they had just swept the Cubs in the NLDS, and I think I went to two of those games. I had been to two of those games.

And I think I went to a couple of the Rockies games as well, and they got swept in that series. It was really hard to watch. It was deflating. I think it was one of the first sports memories that I had. So 2007, to me, it rings out as probably the most gut-wrenching loss by the Diamondbacks in the playoffs. That was sad. That was not good.

By the way, you're going to have Rattlers fans in your mentions. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry Rattlers fans. I know you guys have a ton of championships and like win every other year. I'm sorry. I feel mixed feelings about the 2007 season, obviously, because I'm from Colorado. But regardless, you know, the Diamondbacks haven't made it back to the NLCS since then. So that definitely... I'll mention to this one.

The NLDS loss in 2011. after the season, Ryan Braun got struck with the juicing scandal, and that one stings a little bit too. That definitely sings. Jesus asked us a question. If you guys had to choose right now, who would you take Joe Burrow or Kyler Murray? You've got to stop drinking so much coffee. I know, I'm sorry.

I can't see. I'm literally as blind as a bat. Thoughts on that? Probably, man. I don't want to be the person to say it, but I'd probably say Joe Burrow. You're about to get kids on Twitter. I know, I know, but I just, I look at the two different playoff performances, and obviously, you know, we can talk about Kingsbury versus Bengals coaching all day,

but like one quarterback looked very comfortable and one did not. It's only one playoff game, so, you know, this isn't definitive, but like right now I would take Joe Burrow. Anybody else want to? Can I choose Justin Hurt? Oh my God, no you can't. And all seriously, if I had to choose between those two, like if I'm legitimately a coach or a general manager, I think I'd choose Joe just because of the way he carries himself. Like, you could argue that the Raiders going, and this is probably a hot take, but you could argue that it was tougher for the Bengals this coming week to beat the Raiders off of the performance that Las Vegas had against the Chargers.

versus the Cardinals having to play a Rams team that just lost a heartbreaker against the 49ers. And that they'd already seen twice. Yeah. For me, the Bengals did what they were supposed to do at home. And, like, you got to give credit to Joe. You look at the Cardinals game, a lot of that does fall on Kyler's shoulders. Craig? I'm going to stay in so these guys get all the shade.

There we go. All right. There's a smart man. That's a season vet. right. Elon has joined us. Hi, Elon. Nice to see you.

Some new faces here. Yes, Totri is joining us for the first time. If you missed it, he is the host of our new, or not our new, the new host of the PHNX Sun Devils podcast. Craig, I think this is only what your third time on the show. Gerald is only your second. So yeah. Yeah, we got a new cast here.

We're loving it. We're talking about very sad things, but the people are great. That's all that my eyes is. Elon hasn't seen my face much either. Yes. I know. We try to hide your. I love the Chris Collinsworth slide in that you had right when the team back started.

Can we see your best Chris Collinsworth impression right now, Jacob? Oh, here it goes. Oh, wait, it's coming. There it is. We have our own Chris Collinsworth on the set. We love it. NFL Azie Cardinal saying Joe Bro has a much better GM than us. Ooh, okay.

So bringing up the GMs in the situation. they nailed it with the picks. Pickups like you can do it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I swear I'm trying my best. I can't see anything. Yeah, that's definitely a good point. Arnold asking how many dingers will Kyler hit as the in the Las Vegas athletic organization? Well, first of all, the athletics, they need to figure out where they're going first. And then we can figure out how many dingers Kyler is going to hit.

that would be pretty funny if Kyler switched gears like that very unlikely but Jacob's in the comments while he's producing alright well so because I like to punish us and I like pain I've actually decided that we're a hell of a segue Matt we work in Arizona sports pain is our existence

I decided that we're going to rank we're going to rank the four major sports most disappointing playoff appearances. And I made us a cute little graphic with the assist from Arnold. We can throw up my ranking. This is what I chose as the most disappointing, heartbreaking easy playoff appearances, starting with the Coyotes 2010 quarterfinals. And then moving up to the DeBacks, 2007 NLCS loss.

And then in second place, I have the Cardinals 2008 Super Bowl, which I had a hard time picking between one and two because those were both like devastating. Obviously, you had that catch, that stupid freaking catch that will obviously live forever in infamy. It was a catch. Undecided. The jury is still out on that. And then obviously the Sun's 1993 finals was two seconds left on the clock, three point make right there. So that is how I chose to rank the most. heartbreaking playoff appearances in Arizona sports history.

I'm interested to see how you guys did it. Gerald, I think we have your ranking up next. Please rationalize to us why you picked what you picked. Yeah. So I mean, obviously, as the son's guy, I didn't want to come off as bias. I think, so I put them second. But I think, okay, so full disclosure, I have grown up my whole life a Steelers fan. So please don't hate me everyone in the comments.

Oh, no. But I know how depth. My thing was going into that Super Bowl, I was like, if this Steelers win great. If they lose, the Cardinals are a really fun team. Like, you can't root against Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. Like, if we lose this game, I'll be happy with that because the Cardinals are a damn good team. And then Larry Fitz had that touchdown to put them ahead, a couple minutes left. And I was like, damn, we're going to, yeah, we're going to lose. Watch it himself. Yeah. It was incredible. It was an incredible moment. And I was like, all right, that sucks

for my team. And then the Steelers come down and ruin it for every Cardinals fan. Was he in bounds? He was in bounds. I mean, I, of course, I'm going to say. Jay Promen in the comments saying it was it was not a catch. It was a catch. There are pictures of it. But we got to stop with the conspiracy theories guys. But look, I put that up there because it was a heartbreaking moment because it was like the Paxson shot a championship ending play. Like you needed a stop.

You didn't get it and you lost the title because of it. Like that's devastating. The Suns one I think is devastating just because in the fourth quarter that game Michael Jordan had scored all of their points in the fourth quarter. And then John Paxson hits the shot. I think that adds an extra layer to it because they had to stop anyone, like just stop Michael Jordan and you could force a game seven. The difference here is like there would have still been a game seven.

I wouldn't have bet against Michael Jordan in a game seven. So I think that's why I demoted it to number two. But yeah, number one is hard to top. That's just, I mean, that's one of the iconic Super Bowl moments. So it's devastating being on the opposite side of that. Well, not that you would know, but... I wouldn't. I'm very sorry.

It must be tough. I want to keep you on this show right now. I didn't know you were a Steelers fan. If it makes you feel better, we got smacked in the playoffs this year, too. So same boat as Cardinals fans right now. It's retribution. Yeah. It is what it is. Don't you break down your rankings for me.

Why did you pick what you picked in the order that you picked it? I don't know what's worse, that all those are up there or that none of, We don't have any, like, recent ones in the last, since I was, like, 13. Like, I got the coyotes at 2010. That was, I was 13, 14 years old. You're just exposing your age right now. But I remember so vividly watching that Cardinal Super Bowl. Yeah.

Like, friends, family, like, there was just so much hope. And that was just such a great game. I remember Larry Fitzgerald's just touched out, what was it? He caught a slant and just turned it up, feel. Like, it was just crazy. And then the ending to that game. You want to talk about heartbreak. It doesn't get any worse than that catch.

Like, San Antonio Holmes' career, you could talk about it, like, however you want. But, like, his entire career was made on his two toes being down. We actually don't use his name in this office. He is very much like Baltimore. He who shall not be named, just so you know. No, I'm just kidding. You know who. All right, Craig, give it to us.

You can put me up here. for the old guy who can't remember what he picked. Got to get a little memory refresher for Craig. Here's the thing. And Gerald was saying this earlier. To me, I already talked about the Coyotes pick. But to me, the reason I took the Super Bowl, first of all, it's the NFL.

It's the marquee sport in the U.S., right? And that was, as you said, it was a game-ending play. He won the championship on the final play of the game. That was big in choosing that as well. When I look at the sun, series in 93. It was heartbreaking for Suns fans. Again, confession, I was a Bulls fan. And I just arrived in the valley. Oh my God. What is it with you people? And here's the thing that I knew about Michael Jordan and it just rang true throughout his career. He wasn't going to lose in the NBA

finals. I know Suns fans think if said Zabalas had been healthy, maybe we would have won the no, you wouldn't have. You weren't beating, you weren't beating Michael Jordan. It just wasn't happening in the NBA finals. He went six and no in the finals. Probably would have gone eight and no if he and retired for two years. So I put that a notch below because I never in that entire series believed that the Sons were going to win that series. And I think, yeah, and that's the hard part is I wrote about this months ago. I was doing like a weekly what if series with Sun stuff.

And that moment came up. And it was like, okay, if Paxson misses that shot and the Sons win game six, they're still at home for game seven, I'm still not betting against MJ in a game seven. Like the dude was averaging, I think he averaged like 45 for the series or something. He had 55 in one game in that series. And that was in an age where they were averaging like 95 points a game or something stupid like that. Like he was just not going to especially because, and that was a great season for the suns. Charles Barkley wins MVP.

They kind of have that team of destiny vibe. Like we can overthrow the bulls. But like MJ just used that as fuel. Like, oh, you gave the MVP to my good friend Charles Barkley who I played on the Olympic team with. Like now I'm going to demolish you. And that's what he basically did. So I just, that shot is still definitely. It hurts watching that footage back, but like at the same time, are you really going to beat the Bulls in game seven?

I don't see it. Bulls didn't lose at America Western Arena that year. They won all three games in America Western. Didn't Jordan bring that up in the last dance? He's like, you can have the MVP. I'll take the championship or something like that. Fair point. All right.

Well, that's how we ranked the most heartbreaking playoff losses in Arizona Sports history. I'm going to be posting that on Twitter. So make sure you're following us at PhNX. underscore sports so you can weigh in on your thoughts. I think we had some honorable mentions, obviously, the Rose Bowl, holy cow. Yeah, I mean, if I'm going to choose a top four, the Rose Bowl is definitely on that list, the way that ended too. And to have it, after Jake Plummer season, an undefeated season, to have it end with a homegrown

talent, Joe Germain, come back to bite you for Ohio State and win the game. They had a couple past interference. And then David Boston, as somebody mentioned, catches the touchdown. He ends up playing here as well. That was a devastating finish because I think ASU, I mean, we don't know how the voting would have come out, but they could have been national champions that year. They could have been that close. Thanks for the reminder, Craig. I'd add the Mercury's last finals lost.

Yeah, the Mercury's finals. They missed so many layups in that game. That was a winnable game and they just missed so many layups down the stretch. It was hard to watch, especially because this might have been like DT's best last shot at winning a title. It was hard to watch. Oh, my God. All right. Thank you.

for that. No problem. But I mean, I think there are some positives that we can take away from this conversation. You know, I think the suns are a great example of how sports ebb and flow and there's always going to be peaks. There's always going to be valleys. And the suns are probably at the highest of highs that you can be on right now, sitting with the best record in the NBA.

They came off a great final's appearance last season. So although there have been some heartbreak and there will be more heartbreak in the future, now is a great time to really enjoy this son's team because I think it's probably one of the best they've ever put together. And hopefully, I don't even want to jinx it. But hopefully there is another deep playoff run this season. So, you know, there's still some positives. I mean, if you had anything to say to Sun's fans to keep the positivity going. I think it's enjoy the hell out of this team because, you know, obviously losing four straight for the only time all season that they lost four straight in the finals, that was devastating last year. But we've seen over the

last 10 years how hard it can be to put together a winning team when you don't have the right people in place. James Jones is the right person. Monty Williams is the right person. They have stars. They have young talent that they're going to keep around. So just enjoy the hell out of this team. Obviously anything less than a championship this year would be a disappointment. But don't let that cloud your judgment as far as like this is a really fun team. This is the best son's team we've ever seen. So just enjoy watching them while you can. There you have it. Totry, if you would put a band-aid on Cardinals fans' hearts. What do you think the Cardinals fans have to look forward to?

I think for me, I mean, free agency and the draft is always so much fun. Yes, they're going to lose some players, some key guys that they just can't afford. But at the start of every free agency, every draft, there's so much excitement. You're getting new guys. You're getting new faces. It's a new season. And I think it's just start fresh. Like, I know there's the. the whole second half collapse thing for Cliff in his career, but next year's a new season, and this is only going to fuel their fire, right? They've heard from that last whistle about the second half collapse, about how it's Kyler's fault, about this and that, and I would

still be scared if I'm an NFC team to go against the Cardinals next year. That is a great way to make Cardinals fans feel a little bit better. Craig, again, is someone who makes people feel better about a really bad team for a living. Well, it's not the 2020-23 season, because that's going to look a lot like this season. Correct. They're going to be at the bottom of the standings, but it's all about the future for the coyotes.

Look, we could have some clarity on the Tempe, the proposed Tempe Arena soon. That would obviously be a major piece in what they want to do for the future. But then you look at the draft, all the things that GM Bill Armstrong accomplished, they have eight picks in the first two rounds of this year's draft. If they execute them all,

that will be an NHL record. And I know a lot of people say, well, you don't know what's going to happen in the draft. And you're right. It's a crapshoot, especially in the NHL where you're drafting 17 and 18 year olds who still have to develop physically, emotionally, mentally. But this is Bill Armstrong's bread and butter. He came up through the scouting ranks with St. Louis. He knows what he's doing. And the coyotes have, and I've been around for all of the coyotes renditions. This is the most complete scouting staff they have ever had, experience-wise, accomplishments. So hang your hat on that. That's the, that's the, hope for the future. Oh, I feel better. That's encouraging. You guys feel better? Yeah, I feel a lot better.

You need a coffee after that. Well, I know where we could go. If you need a recommendation, there's a Starbucks. 0.5 miles away. I hope you all feel better after that. I know the topic of heartbreaking moments wasn't the happiest, but I feel like the ending was a lot better. We got some therapy in there. I know that we like to say that we're a family, and we definitely are. So we want to make sure that you would take advantage of this and become a part of our family. Head on over to go p hnx.com and sign up to be a member. You get your first month for only 50 cents or you can sign up for an annual membership and get a free t-shirt from the phnx locker. We have a ton of great shirts in there. When you sign up to be a member, you get a ton of great

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