TIDBIT TUESDAY: 8/4/2020

Did you know 32 years today the Phoenix Cardinals made their debut in Arizona?  The team has since changed their name to the Arizona Cardinals.  The game was played at ASU's Sun Devil stadium and was the preseason opener.

The Cardinals hosted the Seattle Seahawks.  At the time Seattle was an AFC West team and the rivalry had not begun.  Seattle won 21-7 despite the Cardinials having more yards from scrimmage.  The difference in the game was the 5 fumbles the Cardinals lost.

Alot has changed in 32 years, espciealy this year when there will not be a preseason, and who knows if there will be a regular season.

SPORTS IS BACK!

Sports is back! And so is The Az Sports Guru.  Baseball, basketball hockey and football have all made the necessary adjustments to either resume or begin their season.

All sports were stopped in mid March chen Covid-19 hit the country hard and forced everything to shutdown.  The country is not out of the woods yet, infact some would argue that we are still not yet in a decline. 

States are open enough for sports to begin abd it could not have came at a better time. The country is salivating at the chance of any sign of normalcy. Sports brings that even though for the time being fans will not be able to watch a game in person.

Stay tuned to this blog, follow on Facebook and Twitter for scores highlights and commentary.  

 

NHLPA APPROVES 24 TEAM TOURNAMENT

The National Hockey League Player Association has approved a plan to bring back hockey. The plan is a 24 team tournament that will likely make hockey the first sport to return to live action.

Hockey has been away since March 12th due to the Corona virus. On Friday the Players Association approved the plan. There are a lot of details that still need to be worked out, but the plan brings us one step closer to having hockey return. 

Most likely they will take 12 teams from each conference.  If this is true the Arizona Coyotes are sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference.  This would put them in the playoffs and keep there hopes of a Stanley Cup alive.

WHY WE NEED SPORTS BACK

We have been without sports for a little over two months now.  Sports were halted in Mid-March, just like everything else due to the pandemic brought on to the United States by the Coronavirus.  Things are now starting to open back up cautious throughout the country.  

And now it is time to bring back sports!

Sports is more than just entertainment for the country.  When sports come back it will bring relieve with it.  A sense of normalcy.  People don't realize but when sports shut down in March tha's when this pandemic became real for most people.  Bringing sports will be a definite sign that we are on the other side of the Coronavirus. 

I realize there are a lot of logistics to bringing back sports and to that I say to all the deciding parties involved, Get it done!  Make the tough decisions that need to be made and adjust schedules accordingly and give the fans what they want.  To see a live sport of any kind!

DAN MARJERLE TO SUE GCU

Grand Canyon University recently fired Dan Marjerle as it's men's basketball coach.  The news was somewhat shocking because Marjerle was making huge strides with the program.  He is not going away quietly as he has filed a lawsuit against the school for money he says is owed to him. 

Marjerle was fired in March after he led the Lope's to a disappointing 13-15 season.  In the lawsuit Marjerle claims the University owes him money for time remaining on his contract.  Some experts sat Marjerle has a strong case.

Grand Canyon released a statement saying they plan to defend themselves in court, if need be.  

Marjerle played 7 seasons with the Phoenix Suns and was an assistant with the team before getting hired at Grand Canyon in 2013.  He spent 7 seasons at the school and put the team on the basketball map with 4 straight 20 win seasons.  

HOW I WOULD FINISH THE NBA SEASON

We have reached May and still no sports.  Places are begining to reopen.  People want to get back to some sort of normalcy and that begins with sports.

The NBA was one of the first, if not the first, sport to stop playing games. So will they be one of the first to start playing again?  Alot of people hope so.

The NBA will begin allowing their players to start working out in some sort of capacity om May 8.  There will be plenty of precautions and restrictions.  Just the fact that this is being allowed means basketball will be back soon.  The question is how soon and at what capacity?

The NBA needs to come back, but in my opinion it needs to be a modified return. If was commissioner of the NBA this is how I would bring basketball back.

Now keep in mine this is just my idea and some kinks would have to be worked out but that holds true for every plan. 

Once all teams are cleared to practice, weather it's in their own state or a neutral site, each team practices for a week than plays 3 games.  Those would be considered practice games but they would count. You add that record to you regular season record and rank all 30 teams.  This can be done in a two week time frame. 

Then you pick a location, and have a March Madness style tournament. A single elimination tournament played everyday for 5 days straight.

You crown a champion and your season is over in three weeks and teams and players can prepare for next season.

This is how I finish the NBA season now it's up to the NBA to find a way to finish that will be acceptable to players and watchable to fans at the same time.

BURROW GOES NUMBER 1!

                                                                           Photo from google.com

The much anticipated NFL Draft was held today and it started off with a roar.  A roar of a Tiger that is.  LSU QB Joe Burrow was the first overall pick to the Cincinnati Bengals.  This was not a surprise to anyone.

The Bengals now will have Burrow and veteran Andy Dalton to battle for the starting position.  If Burrow is not the opening day starter he will definitely be a starter by the end of the season.  In my opinion the job will be his by week 6.

WHAT TO DO AT NUMBER 8!

                   Photo compliments of steelers.com


Tomorrow is the 2020 NFL Draft.  With everything that is going on with the Coronavirus the draft will look a little different this year.  The draft was scheduled to be in Las Vegas, but now there will be no fans and the teams will participate from their team facilities over the internet.

It will be different, but hey it's football and the NFL draft so let's go with it!  With that being said a lot of questions will be answered in just under 24 hours.

So what should the Arizona Cardinals do when they pick at number 8?  Most people are saying they should pick on offensive lineman or trade down and get a 2nd round pick.  If you ask me the Arizona Cardinals should go wide receiver at number 8.

Most people will not agree with my, even more so now that they have acquired DeAndre Hopkins, one of the league's best receivers in the NFL.  My ideal pick would be Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, although I would be okay with Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb.

The team has second year QB Kyler Murray and promisses to be a high powered offense.  No matter how you look at last season the offensive line held there own and was not the problem.  They have improved and with Murray entering his second season he will be better also.  So why not pick a big talent reciever and stack your offense for the future?  Either way this should be a fun draft to watch.

WHEN WILL SPORTS BE BACK?

Most of the country is on some sort of lockdown. Either you must stay inside or there is a curfew. With this going on the TV ratings are at an all time high. For the sports fan we are stuck watching replays of games or going on YouTube to get our sports fix.

So, when can we expect to have sports back in our lives?

Well, unfortunately, not anytime soon. Many experts are saying this pandemic has not reached its peak and it will get worse before it gets better. The president said yesterday that we as a nation will get through this.  Then he said that we will lose many lives during the process.

We all miss sports and certainly want our lives to go back to the way they used to be.  Right now the only thing we can do is STAY HOME!

HOW THE CORONAVIRUS HAS AFFECTED ARIZONA SPORTS

The Corona Virus has spread so much that there is no way you can’t hear a story about it. The sports world has been affected just as severe as anything else.  In Arizona we are affected more than you think.

The NBA,NHL, MLB and College Basketball have all canceled there respective seasons. Arizona has teams in all of these sports. Besides the Suns, the Arizona teams were poised to make a run at a tittle. This most likely would not have happened but in sports, especially come tournament and playoff time, anything can happen.

The Coyotes may have made the playoffs and seemed to be a dangerous team.  The Dbacks were getting ready to start what was a promising season, and at some point they should start the season and compete for a playoff spot and make a run at the World Series.

College basketball is different, The Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils both had teams that were going to make the NCAA Tournament.  You could also make a case that they both could have went deep in to the tournament.  ASU was also a team that could have won thier first ever PAC 12 Championship.


All these hopes and dreams will have to wait until next season as these the country deals with the Corona Virus.