ASU-UofA in battle for California QB, Gibby on the hot seat, Eng brings hope for Arizona Soccer fans

Kirk Gibson has the honor of being the first manager on the hot seat in 2014. 9 of the next 15 games for the Diamondbacks are against the Dodgers and Giants, anything short of a .500 road trip by Arizona over the next week is going to guarantee a pressure packed home stand when they return a week from today against LA. I’ve covered Ken Kendrick enough to know that if the team is circling around 3-9 or 2-10 that he’s not going take too many more in the loss column before shaking things up. You can’t win the NL West or even a Wild Card in April, but you certainly can lose it…

Arizona and Arizona State are in a recruiting battle for one of the top QB’s on the West Coast. Newhall(Calif) Hart quarterback Brady White(6″3 190). The Wildcats offered him earlier this week, the Sun Devils are hosting him this weekend in Tempe.

ASU landed a verbal from Chandler QB Bryce Perkins earlier this week. Bryce’ brother Paul has made an impact at UCLA and his father Paul played at ASU and in the NFL. Something tells me that while he has given a verbal to the Sun Devils here in April, this one may have some twists and turns from other schools coming after him before next years signing date. Just so you know, I am a fan of having an August 1st early football signing date so kids like Bryce Perkins can just get it over with…

WR T.J. Johnson has been tearing it up in Arizona Wildcat spring football workouts, to the tune of a 4.3 40. If you look at the skill talent for the Cats for the coming season, it’s scary. Problem is, there hasn’t been separation between Connor Brewer, Anu Solomon and JC X-fr Jerrard Randle for the starting quarterback spot. I will be doing the show from Tucson next Wednesday…

Good luck to Kyle Eng. The President of Arrowhead Advertising in Peoria becomes the latest to take on the challenge of making professional soccer work in Arizona. I like his chances ALOT more than previous groups. I sat in his office earlier this week and heard the vision for Arizona United SC. Eng has a wealth of contacts in and out of the Valley and is smart enough to have surrounded himself with people who know the ins and outs of the sport. I can tell that this isn’t a hobby for him.
Head coach Michael Dellorusso is a former assistant head coach at the Univ. of Maryland, I spoke with him for a few minuets in Eng’ office. He played at Maryland and was team captain for his junior and senior seasons. Dellorusso’ wife is at the Final Four in North Texas this weekend working for Under Armour. The first game for the franchise is next Saturday the 12th at the Peoria Sports Complex…