Does Pfaadt go Pffft?, ASU NIL, Cards 2024 Draft, No Open for Hamilton?

It can’t get any worse, right?

Torey Lovullo is left to start rookie Brandon Pfaadt in Game Three and a bullpen by committee to get through a fourth game. Who knew that the release of Zach Davies at the end of the regular season would end up being questioned now. But here we are. “Zac(Gallen) is not an option for Game Four”, Lovullo said on Wednesday afternoon.
While I am not of the opinion that Pfaadt can keep the ball out of the “nitro-zones” that the Philadelphia bats have found in the first two games. IF he can give Lovullo 4-5 innings without allowing crooked numbers, that would be a win. Then again, the “absolutely unacceptable” baseball that Lovullo witnessed Tuesday night, cannot be repeated if they want to have a chance in this series. No room for mental errors now.
Pfaadt said the right things on Wednesday – “we know how to bounce back, to get that momentum back on our side in our home ballpark”.

The powers that be in Philadelphia know how to build a sports community. The Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers all play on the same block. It’s really quite impressive. It’s not a fractured sports market like we have here in Phoenix where many people are from some place else and some ownership groups only care about themselves and eating the others.
December will be thirty years for me here in Phoenix. When a team wins, fans show up. When a team doesn’t, they don’t. Does it mean Phoenix is a bad sports town as some would suggest this week, with the Philadelphia fan base getting much of the deserved attention?

A few quick hits while traveling…

The Houston Texans are doing the Cardinals no favors by winning games. Remember the preseason chatter about Arizona holding the first and second picks in next April’s Draft? Dreaming is free, but reality is the Texans are 3-3 and that first round selection they sent to the Cardinals would be the 18th pick. Chicago would own picks 1 and 2, and your Cardinals would pick 3rd…

I’ll take Kyler and Budda back on the field. Get answers for the 2024 season. You don’t shut players down the third week of October. Too many lousy teams in the NFL to give up hope. If the Jets(who stink) and the Browns(who stink more) can knock off the Eagles and 49ers on the same weekend, then we have the definition of parity…

We’re not surprised by what is happening in Tucson with Jedd Fisch and the Wildcat football program. Barring a collapse, they are going to a bowl game(El Paso?). Talking with some of the high profile high school coaches from Arizona, the Wildcat staff has been aggressive, yet methodical in their approach. Fisch has convinced kids from the powerful Trinity League in Orange County to come this way. Not an easy task for a coaching staff. My jaw dropped when I saw the Saturday score from Pullman…

Arizona State plays at Washington on Saturday. The game should be a blood-bath, but I’m still on the side of the street of being interested in how hard and smart the Sun Devils play. Will Kenny Dillinghams team compete? I don’t know the answer to that because I’ve never seen him coach through the adversity that he’s currently facing. I’ll go back to Torey Lovullo managing a baseball team that until this current series, has competed and fought. It’s one thing for coach speak “I know this, our team will compete”(I’ve heard that line wayyyyy too many times)

From those I trust in the college coaching circles, UW has 9-million dollars of NIL tied up in it’s current roster, trailing just USC and Oregon in the Pac-12…

What is an Open Division Playoff without Hamilton?
Right now the Huskies would be out and for the first time appear in the 6A playoff. I’m thinking that the Huskies need Chandler to beat Basha Friday night and then Hamilton would have to drill the Wolves in the Battle of Arizona Avenue game the following week in order to make it in. Canyon Del Oro is the current #3 seed in the latest Open bracket. Something doesn’t feel quite right here…