Jordan Spurgeon
Well here we are, the end of 2025.
A year full of so many amazing moments and stories told by our Sports360AZ team. I love working with this group everyday, sharing the stories around sports across the great state of Arizona.
Here are my top 5 personal stories and stories told by our team.
Spurge’s Top-5
5. Experiencing a hot air balloon ride with Rainbow Ryders
Every spring, we produce a show called Brad Cesmat’s Spring Training AZ. Think spring training baseball with tourism, since it airs all over the country. That means we get to produce shows full of fun things to do in Arizona when people come to watch their favorite teams.
One of the most fun stories I got to share on that show was a hot air balloon ride. Doing an interview over 5,000 feet high in the air was pretty sweet!
4. Musically Fed helping food pantries in Arizona with leftovers
The sports tie-in is small in this story, but it’s an important story for our community. Brandy Agilar and I learned a lot throughout the process of sharing how Musically Fed takes food from sporting events and concerts and gets them to food pantries. It’s great work!
3. Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Fondation proving hockey belongs in the desert
When the Arizona Coyotes were here, I didn’t cover or follow much hockey. That’s a shame, because I didn’t know just how special that community is.
When working on a freelance project for the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, I learned a lot about the late Matt Shott. Seeing what he did for this community is astounding, and I’m glad I got to tell a story describing some of the ways his foundation is still giving back to this day.
2. Starting the Conversation – Jordyn Tyson
Starting the Conversation is our mental health in sports platform, which I’ve gone all in on. I enjoyed all my long form conversations on this platform, but my Big 12 Media Day Interview with Jordyn Tyson is my favorite. The future top-10 NFL draft pick opened up about his faith and the difficulties of overcoming injuries. He’s a great athlete and an even better person.
1. Park University Women’s Basketball Cancer Survivors
Park University is a small NAIA school buried in the heart of downtown Gilbert. I never knew much about this school or it’s athletic programs prior to this year.
When I learned that Ben York and Hayley Valencia are the only two college coach-athlete duo in the country to survive cancer, I knew a mini doc would be in the works. I really enjoyed them opening up to me and allowing me to share their story.
Sports360AZ Top-5
5. Eric Sorenson’s Zone Read
Every week, Eric Sorenson delivers top notch high school football related stories and columns through Zone Read. Each time you read, you will learn something new. My personal favorite this year was Zone Read: Blake Heffron’s Game of Life or Death.
4. Devon Henry’s Sports of Speed on CW7
If you love NASCAR or want to know more about it, Devon Henry is your guy. When it’s his time to shine and put together entire sows surrounding major NASCAR races here in the valley, there is no one more suited for the challenge than he is. Each show is incredible and is produced entirely by him.
3. Grandparent’s saying a continued motivator for CJ Fite
No one covers the college football scene across Arizona like Jordan Hamm does. Not only does he bust his butt to get to every possible thing, but he leans into all the unique story angles, sometimes tracking things on them for months because he wants each story to be the best that it can be.
That includes this story about CJ Fite. No one else tells stories the way that Jordy does.
2. Starting the Conversation – Alyssa Thomas
Eliav Gabay is a baler when it comes to covering hoops (and everything else). His work on the Phoenix Mercury beat has landed him the honor of being one of the most trusted voices in that space.
He works hard to get any story possible there, including this Starting the Conversation with superstar Alyssa Thomas.
1. Staying on Pace: The Sammy Chavez Story
We love working on documentaries and long form stories here at Sports360AZ. Claudia Collins delivers every time she produces one, and that is no different with this story on Sammy Chavez.
