2013 Sports Columns Archive Stories

There's a struggle Cibola distance running coach Kris Norton faces being the coach for Bernie Montoya. Recently I asked Norton if he ever allowed himself to take a step back and simply admire one of Montoya's races. As a lover of long-distance running, could Norton let himself stop worrying about the race and watch one of the best di

Monday night was the 18th sports banquet I've attended in my time here at this paper.That's almost two days of my life so far at these banquets. And something happened Monday that I can't remember happening before.Emcee John Blabe went off script before announcing the boys' track athlete of the year, which for the third s

In the words of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons: “See You in September” — actually, it'll be August. I have enjoyed writing this past year, mainly because of the responses I get from wonderful readers of the Yuma Sun. Your emails and letters more than make up for the lack of salary the Sun pays me.Bef

The students at Yuma High School are going to have to hear it from their teachers for another year.For the second straight time, the Staff brushed aside the Students 71-61 in the 2nd Annual Pros vs. Joes basketball game on Wednesday night at Palace Gym. “It's good that we don't have to hear about it for the entire y

There are grumblings going on at Cocopah Speedway.Some drivers in the 2013 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series don't like the track's progressive posture, specifically the move to two IMCA racing divisions starting in 2014. That's when what is now known as the Factory Stock Division will become the IMCA Hobby Stock Division. Then in 2015,

Riding home from Mesa on Saturday was a big moment for me. After covering the state track meets, it dawned on me that it was the final prep sporting event I'd cover during this school year. The sports seasons are all done now, ready to give way to summer. With that, allow me to look back and rank the some of the best game

I was listening recently to a conversation on TV with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles. Palmer was comically, but truthfully, recanting a conversation with his former manager Earl Weaver.Weaver was making a trip to the mound in the seventh inning. Palmer had already thrown 130 pitches to that point. &ldqu

On the first day of the Arizona Interscholastic Association Track and Field State Championship on Wednesday, Bernie Montoya did what Bernie Montoya does and won state in the 3,200.Ho hum.Fellow Raider Monica Huston racked up a pair of second-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600. Again, not a shock.T

It isn't often that I get chills and have to wipe away tears at a sporting event.But it happened last weekend down on the front straight at Cocopah Speedway during the opening ceremonies.I've seen a lot of openi

It was enjoyable watching this year's NFL draft. The predictions, the fanfare, the detailed analysis by 10 different experts. I especially enjoy the experts that say, “This is a can't-miss pick.”NFL teams spend more time and money on draft picks than we can imagine. Batteries of psychological tests, intelligence tests and

There is a certain fickleness to sports fans that does not carry over into everyday life.A pitcher can have a brilliant shutout one week and have the fans asking for his head when he gets shellacked for seven runs in his next start.A quarterback can become the king of a city with a 300-yard masterpiece, but might not be a

As I was prepping Matt for his shift Sunday laying out the Monday paper, I told him there could be as many as four NBA Game 7s.About an hour late I said there could be three. Than I saw the Hawks loss. So I said two.Then a couple hours later, the Rockets and Clippers both lost. And we went from four Game 7s to none on Sun

Trash talking in the NBA has gone too far.Now, I love trash talking. But during the past day, a couple of instances seem totally ridiculous.Take Jordan Crawford, Celtics bench “player” — player is in quotes because he doesn't technically “play.” He said something to Carmelo Anthony that I can

It doesn't matter if you are a racing fan or not, you have to find humor in the philosophy of Brian Schultz.The driver from Casa Grande started racing in 2006 and won his very first feature event last week at Cocopah Speedway in the IMCA Modified Division finale. Afterward he was talking about what he had gone through over the years

Baseball is weird.Baseball can get weird in ways that other sports can't even dream of. Last night I got home from work at about 10, then went to the gym and did some grocery shopping before returning home at about 12:30 a.m.I then get a text from my brother.“Are you watching this?” it

The Kofa softball team was quietly one of the best in the region this year, and snuck into the playoffs as a No. 24 seed in the last week of the season.Unfortunately for the Kings, their season came to a close Saturday when they suffered a first-round lost to Desert Mountain 6-2.After talking with Kofa coach Emma Morrison

On Monday, New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith won the coveted Sixth Man of the Year Award.And by “coveted,” I mean absolutely pointless. I get that a quality sixth man is important to the team — it usually is a scorer off the bench and Smith, who never met a shot he didn't like, fits that mold to

It's so refreshing to watch two opponents congratulate each other after a hard-earned victory.I'm referring to Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera at last week's Masters Tournament.We don't often see that kind of sportsmanship in all the games we watch. But maybe the reason is the game of golf itself. You are your ow

Coming into the final week of the regular season, four local teams are living life on the edge.With 24 teams making the state tournament, the San Luis (No. 22 in Division I) and Cibola (No. 24) baseball teams and Cibola (No. 20) and Gila Ridge (No. 26 in Division II) softball teams have very thin margins of error if they want a chanc

Since I cover baseball around town, I get to see an anomaly of sports.Baseball is the only sport I can think of where the coaches are required to wear the uniform just like the players. Even softball — the counterpart to baseball — doesn't require the coaches to dress in the uniforms. I couldn't imagine seeing — and

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to feel sorry for Brad Keselowski.Yup, you read it right.The driver I have openly criticized and made fun of has my sympathy.The word on the street is the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion feels NASCAR is out to get him. And you can't blame him. Aft

I've really enjoyed my time covering high school softball this season. We've seen several teams have ups and downs, dramatic wins and heartbreaking losses.But one of the things I haven't enjoyed is some of the treatment of umpires I've witnessed.It's a sad state of affairs when being outwardly rude, obnoxious and sometime

It's not often I get an inspiration to write a column from a letter to the editor, but thanks so much to the gentleman that wrote “Boomers are flaw in Obamacare plan.”There are two things I have to point out. First, I'm a “baby boomer.” Second, I don't understand Obamacare. Ignorant? Probably. Not up on issues

Since the baseball season is not even two weeks old, I thought I'd give my season predictions so we can laugh at me in five months.Bad start aside, I still think the Angels will win the AL West by 20 games. Tampa Bay and Kansas City will be the other two division winners, with the Tigers and Athletics getting the wild card spots.

Some friends and I have started this little deal we do every week at this time, called “Throwback Thursday,” where we post old racing photos on Facebook.And while digging around for a photo, I found a gem.Actually, it's not a photo taken by me, but a photo printed from an 8mm strip of home movie film, shot by