Been a. busy week. I had the good fortune of taking in my 26th Opening Day of the hometown nine. I watched with amusement as the die-hard Arizona Wildcat basketball fans again died hard in March. However, I’ve found myself paying more attention to the LPGA returning to the Valley but to a new venue in South Gilbert at Seville Country Club. Our country is on fire for Women’s sports, and our little slice of heaven should always have a stop for the LPGA Tour. I walked the back nine of the Ford Pro-Am with Lexi Thompson, who played with Dan Majerle and Archie Bradley. There were a lot of laughs and pretty amazing golf (Archie can’t putt, but he can bomb it off the tee). My wife and I walked several holes on Thursday with Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko—two of the top players in the world. After the two teed off, the comments from the gallery showed just how far we have to go accepting/understanding the women’s game. I heard several dudes with their hats backward in t-shirts with their bro-dudes saying, “Wow, they can play.” Um, yes. This isn’t breaking news.
Former Xavier Gator Sarah Schmelzsel is atop the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round. Love the hometown kid making good.
Seville Country Club has put on a great show for the fans, even though I’m sure some of the club members are missing out on the golf course being closed for eleven days in late March. Perhaps the LPGA will rotate between a few other locations in the Southeast Valley. We have plenty of room to add more significant events. It’s been terrific having the ladies on the golf course this week.
This and that…
Early returns on the Diamondbacks upgraded sound system and video board have been mostly positive(you can never make everyone happy). The vibe reminded me of being in Citizens Bank Park Philadelphia last October for the NLCS. Can’t give a better compliment. Other ballpark have big speakers that are just loud. If the Dbacks can even get close to what Phlly has put together, it will be a homerun. Definitly a better experience for the fans, which is what matters most…
In next year’s Ford LPGA Pro-Am, we have a foursome with two former players each from ASU and Arizona…
I’m happy for Greg Byrne. The former Sun Devil grad, Fiesta Bowl intern, and Arizona Wildcat Athletic Director is coming back to the Valley this week with the Alabama Crimson Tide rolling into the Valley for the Final Four. Byrne is one of the best I’ve dealt with through the years. His role as AD at Alabama has never included a basketball team in the Final Four…
What will Mat Ishbia do if the Suns flame out in the playoffs? We can all guess, but my gut says he’s not one of those owners who will say, “We had a good season, but with some bad luck, we couldn’t stay healthy, and we’ll run it back with this group.” I can’t really do that with Kevin Durant and Father Time closing in…
How would Bobby Hurley coach against his brother? I’ll ask him when we chop it up this week on the show…
Walked and talked with former Diamondback Archie Bradley on Wednesday. He’s kinda liking this break from baseball, but he’s not ready to call it a career. He will be a media star once he’s done playing, but that’s not happening anytime soon if he has it his way. For now, he’s in the Valley tuning up for the right situation this season…
There’s an in-house candidate for the Arizona State Athletic Director job. I heard that the AD’s who were hired by Arizona and Washington, both wanted to get in on the Arizona State vacancy but didn’t get a sniff. Just so we’re clear, this job has been open since November 13th, 2023. That’s 139 days. Promoting from within???? Sure, it’s beats what’s presently happing out of the Harvard of the West’s office. I’m waiting for the white smoke…
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Brad Cesmat
Media personality Brad Cesmat first rose to fame in Southern California with the launching of "The Mighty 690" all-sports radio station in the late 1980's and early 90's. Brad came to Arizona in 1993 to begin a 10-year run at KTAR Radio followed by nine years at KTVK-TV in Phoenix. Brad is the Founder/ CEO of Sports360AZ.com. His vision of multi platform content marketing through sports began in September of 2011. Cesmat has served on the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army for the last 18 years. He and his wife Chris have four children.