Brad Cesmat
Football season gets started this week.
On Tuesday, I’ll be in Las Vegas for Big 12 Media Days. Kenny Dillingham and Brent Brennan will face the music from media who are coming in from parts of the country that pay much more attention to the sport than the deceased Pac-12. Disagree? More passionate fan bases, Kansas State or Stanford? TCU or UCLA? Need I go on? I rest my case. Regarding the quality of the product on the field, there’s no excuse for Brennan and the Wildcats not to have an excellent season. They have the 1-2 punch at QB/WR that usually leads to big win totals. Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillian will play on Sunday’s. Jacob Manu lead the Pac-12 in tackles and made Athlon’s fourth-team preseason All-American squad. Arizona handled the Sun Devils and Oklahoma to end the Jedd Fisch era. How will Brennan and his new staff handle the jump in talent they will face and the injuries that will happen along the way? Remember, Arizona lost to USC and Washington by a combined total of just nine points. Expectations should be very high for the Wildcats and their fans.
It’s nearly impossible to have confidence in Dillingham winning big for 2024. He took over a significant dumpster fire in November of 2022; the damage and chaos can’t be rebuilt in the less than two years that he’s been on the job. Developing and keeping talent in Tempe is the story that I will be watching. A player like C.J. Fite is a good example. Will this team embody their head coach? Dillingham is a fighter, a scraper. This team will have to have the same mentality on the field if they want to succeed. Hope and hype are no way to look at the situation in Tempe. What does the on-the-field trajectory look like from mid-October till the end of the season?
I have always admired Pat Murphy, who led ASU baseball to four College World Series appearances. However, I wasn’t a fan of how his departure was handled. (There are always three sides to a story) All Pat has done in 2024 is put himself right in the middle of the National League Manager of the Year conversation with the job he’s done at Milwaukee. We won’t see the Brewers in the Valley until the middle of September. I think there will be something on the line when the two meet…
Justin Martinez IS the closer of the future for the Diamondbacks. Why not get him started down that path now? I’m not saying that Paul Sewald should be canned, as some suggested Friday night after a second horror show this week. Bad things will happen when a relief pitcher comes out of the pen with a gas can and matches instead of a glove and ball. Brad Ziegler isn’t coming out of the swinging gate. Neither is Jose Valverde. J.J. Putz is in town. I might have a number for Matt Mantei. Remember when Greg Olson blew nine saves in 1999? I liked Ole, but that was a hard watch. Sewald has had a forgettable week. Do Brent Strom and Torey Lovullo consider it? I mean, does the front office tell them to do it?…
Gentle nudge – Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the Valley for a weekend series on July 26. Skenes is a must-watch if you’re a fan of sports. He brings the heat…
When ASU and GCU release their full men’s basketball schedules, several non-con games will be “must-see” though you may have to drive a few hours or get on a plane. BTW, the Sun Devils are NOT out of the Koa Peat sweepstakes. I like how hard they’ve gone after the Perry Puma star, currently playing on the USA Basketball U 17 team in Istanbul, Turkey. Easy to say, “it will never happen”, but Hurley and his staff are tenacious on recruiting the hometown kid…
Keep an eye on former Corona Del Sol star Alex Barcello, who was just named the MVP of the LEB ORO league in Spain. He led the league in scoring and four other categories. He’ll play in Spain or Italy this season with an eye on the NBA. More importantly, Alex is married with a child and one on the way…
Saw – Inside Out 2 and Beverly Hills Cop 4. Sequels are never as good as the original(unless it’s Godfather 2) Axel Foley is worth the watch, but not if Paul Sewald is pitching in the 9th. Inside Out 2 is the best movie I’ve seen this year…
Played – Golf at Dinosaur Mountain and Poston Butte. The “it’s too hot crowd” doesn’t work for me…
