Brad Cesmat
Dropped in another score for the Valley on Tuesday.
The logo for the 2024 Men’s Final Four basketball tournament was unveiled. The distinct voice of Charles Barkley rang out over the speakers of a video that finished with the artwork. “We have to credit our intern, Tobi Joshuaville, who just reached and asked Charles if he’d consider doing it. Charles is a busy guy, but I think it speaks to his love of this area and the event as well,” Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior VP of basketball, told me afterward. My kind of intern…
The voice of Charles Barkley narrating the Phoenix 2024 Men’s Final Four logo unveiling. 😎 Great to keep mega-events coming to our area pic.twitter.com/fGC99Hcay6
— Brad Cesmat (@bradcesmat) December 6, 2022
A Final Four, a Super Bowl, or a College Football Playoff Champ game aren’t layups for The Valley. LA has built a new palace that will likely present competition for future events. The same goes for the growth of Las Vegas, the Bay Area, and Seattle. Outgoing governor Doug Ducey and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego were on stage with Gavitt Tuesday. 
“To have the governor and mayor here is not insignificant; it shows a commitment level at the highest levels of state and city to pull off an event successfully for our organization.” Wouldn’t you think most states would do the same? Not so fast. “It doesn’t happen everywhere, and that’s not a knock on other places. It just speaks to the commitment of this place. The way the event was run in 2017 paid off in spades. “The reason we came back again is that it was highly successful here.”
Tennessee Titans are heading to the playoffs, and they fired their General Manager on Tuesday. You know where I’m going here, right? Jon Robinson, who was shown the door, had his contract extended last March. You know where I’m going here, right? The biggest difference between the Titans and our hometown heroes is one of them will be playing meaningful games in January 2023. Reports are that Robinson lost a power struggle with head coach Mike Vrabel(who Robinson hired). I don’t care how the sausage is made; I want a competitive playoff team year in and year out. You know where I’m going here, right?…
In my circles this week, it’s all about Brock Purdy…
Are the Dodgers saving their dollars for Shohei Ohtani next winter?…
IF the Diamondbacks can just get a semi-respectable bullpen built in this offseason, they will be a wild-card contender in 2023. If they have to part with Jake McCarthy or Alek Thomas to drop off the remaining contract of Mad Bum, to bolster the pen, I’m good with that…
Who gets the Saguaro head coaching job once Jason Mohns joins ASU? Kinda like wondering who’s replacing Saban at Alabama…
780 players hit the college football transfer portal on Monday. Arizona and Arizona State had good players put their names in, which is no surprise. The bigger story is both programs’ star players did not(so far) test the portal waters. Elijah Badger is still with the Sun Devils and Tetairoa McMillan for the Wildcats…
I’m rooting for former USC, Georgia, West Virginia quarterback JT Daniels to make it a 4-4 on his college journey. Daniels put his name in the portal earlier this week…
Saturday, September 2nd 2023. Colorado at TCU. Coach Prime debut…
Deion Sanders is coming to the Valley next Fall. Don’t know the date yet, but the Sun Devil home schedule includes Colorado. Having USC, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Fresno State, and Sanders coming to Tempe should make the season ticket base grow. In the first week of the Kenny Dillingham era, the enthusiasm is noticeable…
Two names and voices on the radio this Saturday you may know from our platforms. Jordan Spurgeon will be on the mic doing the play-by-play of the 6A state title football game between Highland and Pinnacle, while Devon Henry will be the voice calling the Open matchup of Basha vs Saguaro…
