Hamlin and Gathers, Tyler Shough, Suns no-panic, Hanks in “Otto”…

I was sitting here in my office watching when Damar Hamlin went down in a heap. ESPN showed the replay twice, and that was enough. At that moment, I thought of Hank Gathers. 

In 1990, Gathers died on the basketball court at Loyola Marymount. He led the nation in scoring and rebounding. LMU was a must-see.  A furious style of play that was near impossible to stop. 

I was in my radio days at Southern California’s powerhouse, The Mighty 690. Gathers and the Lions were just up the freeway from our studios so going to a LMU game was something that I did on more than one occasion. When Hank Gathers passed away on the court, I was sick. I didn’t want to talk about it on the show at great length. How do you make sense of watching a big man just fall to the ground in a gym and die? 

Monday night, I watched how ABC/ESPN handled the unfolding situation. The replay of Hamlin falling to the ground and the sound in the voices of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were chilling. Many have spoken about the exceptional coverage that the broadcast crew on site and in the studio did on Monday night in real time around the Hamlin story. Social media had its positives but as always, a voice or two simply tried to take advantage of the situation to benefit their platform. It was a time for analysts not opinionists.

When Hank Gathers died on the court, no social media outlets existed. We saw some footage. We read newspaper accounts. We were sad and moved by our emotions, just like today. Empathy hasn’t changed over time, even though some would disagree with me on that…

The Hamlin toy drive topping $6 million(and growing) brings a smile to my face. How about you?…

After this Sunday night’s home game against Cleveland, the Suns will be at the halfway mark of the season. Remember this strong start in October? (6-1 on November 1st) Remember the MVP chants for Booker? Remember Klay Thompson getting thrown out of the Suns v Warriors’ first meeting? Chris Paul missed 14 games. Booker 9. Cam Johnson 28. Cam Payne 11. It’s a looonngggg season, too long, actually. So, while the team is lost right now, get back to me after the February 9th trade deadline. 

The Arizona Cardinals have had five playoff victories since the 2000 season…

I like the Diamondbacks signing Evan Longoria. They’ve had a good offseason. That said, Mad Bum, Carson Kelley, and Nick Ahmed should be able to bring back something to strengthen the bullpen…

I went to a screening of Tom Hanks new film,  “A Man Called Otto.” I want to think that my wife and I both had onions with our popcorn more than a few times. Bring more than one Kleenex.

I like Tom Hanks movies, don’t you? Hanks playing Rick Gassko in Bachelor Party was classic. Forrest Gump? Saving Private Ryan? Sleepless in Seattle(chick flick, but so what). “Big” is underrated in the Hanks film lore…

Go see Hanks in Otto!

Sickened to hear that KTAR lost one of their own to a drunk driver over the New Year holiday…

Former Hamilton Husky’s WR Brendan Rice(USC) and QB Tyler Shough(Texas Tech) looked great in the bowl season. I was a bit surprised to see Shough is planning on staying in college for the 2023 season with the Red Raiders. He looks NFL ready, but I’ll never chase a player out of college to get to the NFL  The deadline to declare is January 16th. Could he change his mind?…

Pinnacle beat Perry in boys’ basketball! My Sports360az teammate Eric Sorenson dropped me a couple of texts from the game. Saw both teams in the VisitMesa event over the holidays, and I won’t be surprised to see them meet again in February…

It feels like the Coyotes have 60 road games and 20 at the Mullett. They can’t win away from Tempe…