Mark Reynolds' gargantuan home run off of Ubaldo Jimenez not only broke up a no-hitter, it tied the game 3-3. The Diamondbacks went on to win 4-3 over Colorado.

Jimenez had struck out 7 in running his string of scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks to 19 before Reynolds’ shot which magnified back-to-back walks by Alex Romero and Stephen Drew.

Dan Haren, who on Sunday was named to the National League All-Star team for this year’s Midsummer Classic in St. Louis, wasn’t his dominant self against the Rockies, but was good enough to earn his 8th win on the season. Haren allowed 7 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings, and was supported by his bullpen. Jon Rauch, Scott Schoeneweis, Tony Pena and Chad Qualls combined on 3 innings of scoreless relief.

The series win was only the Diamondback’s 6th of the season, and 2nd over Colorado. The Diamondbacks improved their record to 33-49 while Colorado fell to 42-39.

Arizona returns home to Chase Field for a 7-game homestand beginning Monday night against the San Diego Padres.

Highlights From ESPN.com/Fox Sports Arizona

MLB.com : Box Score | Diamondbacks Wrap | Rockies Wrap

The D-backs trailed the Rockies by a score of 4-3 heading into the eighth inning. With out out in the 8th Miguel Montero would double and score one batter later when Gerardo Parro followed with another double. The next two batters, Chad Tracy and Felipe Lozez would walk loading the bases with only one out. Chris Young would pinch hit for pitcher Scott Schoeneweis and clear the bases with a double giving the D-backs the lead. After a pitching change Stephen Drew would homer and the D-backs grabbed a 9-4 lead.

The D-backs needed the extra cushion as Clay Zavada’s recent struggles continued. Zavada allowed thre runs, but the D-backs were able to hold on for the win.

Don’t forget…as we always tell you…go enjoy yourself, but if you drink, don’t drive.

Independence Day is a time to reflect on how good we’ve got it here in America, so go celebrate it the only way we know how: by blowing up a small portion of it with roman candles and M84’s.

Candace is back! (photo by WNBA.com)

On Friday, we got some news that shouldn’t have surprised anyone - Candace Parker is planning on making her first appearance of 2009 against the Mercury this Sunday.

Why doesn’t that surprise me? 3 reasons…

• It’s at home, and the Sparks haven’t lost at home all season
• She dunked the ball in practice this week
• It’s a nationally televised game on NBA TV

Some may think she’s rushing it, but Gaines has been preparing for the game Sunday as if both Parker and Leslie would play. “They’re saying Candace and Lisa won’t play, but I don’t believe that,” Gaines said at practice Friday morning before the official announcement came out that Candace will, in fact, play. “I’m prepping the team and staff as if they’ll both play.”

After Sacramento beat the Lynx on Thursday, the Mercury jumped into a two-way tie for 1st place in the West with Seattle just a 1/2 game behind.  With as tight as the race is, it just makes every game that much more important. “With basically a three-way tie for 1st, we just have to keep looking forward,” Gaines said. “There is no easy game in the WNBA.”

After a tumultuous start to the season, mostly due to injuries and absent players, the Sparks are now 3-5 and suddenly healthy again. Candace won’t need much time getting acclimated to the speed of the game again and Lisa Leslie could return in just a few games. In their absence however, L.A’s bench has really stepped up. “Oh, their bench is amazing,” Gaines said. “They are so deep that their bench players would be starters on other teams.”

In order to hand the Sparks their first loss at home, the Mercury will once again need to do what they do best - score. “We just have to play Phoenix basketball,” Temeka Johnson said. “We’ve had some great practices and if we play our style of basketball we are hoping it will carry over in L.A.”

In their last game against the Sparks, the Mercury needed a big run late in the game to secure the win. Fueled by Temeka’s 10 points in the period, the Mercury ended up going on a 13-2 run with just under 3 minutes left and won the game 89-80. In spite of being out-rebounded by 17, giving up 22 2nd chance points, 21 offensive rebounds, and allowing 40 points in the paint the Mercury found a way to win.

However, with Candace back in the line-up, Phoenix won’t be able to rely on a run to end the game. “They’re coming off a big win against Seattle,” Diana Taurasi said on Friday. “It’s going to be a tough game but we’ll be ready.”

Key Player - Temeka Johnson

The Mercury go as Temeka goes, both offensively and defensively. They’ll need her to be her usual energetic and passionate self on Sunday and allow her to distribute the ball to her teammates, something she does exteremely well (averaging 5.1 assists a game).

In the last game versus the Sparks, Meek virtually won the game for Phoenix scoring 10 of her 18 points in the 4th quarter to go along with her 7 assists and 3 rebounds on the night.

When Temeka dishes out 6 assists or more, the Mercury are unbeaten.

Key Stats - Scoring and Turnovers

When the Mercury score over 90 points a game, they haven’t lost. The Sparks have improved their defense of late and now hold opponents to an average of 69.9 points per game so the key for the Mercury will be spacing and keeping their turnovers below 10.

On the road the Mercury average 18.3 turnovers which is good for 2nd in the league.

Keys to the Game

• Limit turnovers on the road
• Floor spacing
• Getting out in transition and pushing the ball for a full 40 minutes
• The usuals: rebounding, 2nd chance points, and points in the paint

Oh I’m sorry, were those sentences hard to read? I just wanted to write with the same effort the D-Backs have been playing with this season. As you can imagine it didn’t turn out too well. The last article I wrote was about two weeks ago and it was entitled “What’s Left to Say?“. I wasn’t sure how else to write about this 2009 D-Backs season. I, like a lot of D-Backs writers on the internet , have been struggling to come up with anything new to say in a season that has been the same story over and over again. I haven’t even managed to watch many games lately, partly because of my vacation and partly because they have become hard to watch. After a long day of work do you want to come home and watch the D-Backs or a rerun of Seinfeld? The latter would surely be more entertaining. When fans are debating whether they should watch the Bachelorette or the D-Backs game, what does that say about the 2009 season?

Is this 2009 season worse than 2004? That 2004 team consisted of over the hill veterans and young players that never should have played in the majors. The dearth of minor league talent led to a team that was woefully unprepared to play competitive baseball. The 2009 team seems to have talent, three probable all-stars, yet they are losing games at a clip similar to the 2004 team. What is the difference? Effort. The effort on this 2009 team is awful. It is a complete embarrassment to the fans of this team. It is hard to swallow when players like Felipe Lopez, Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton play with a complete lack of focus on the defensive end then refuse to talk to the media or, in Upton’s case, mock the fans. Justin Upton rightly apologized for his fake toss of a baseball into the stands but it shouldn’t excuse what he did. The fans have had to put up with a ridiculous amount of crap this year, there is no excuse for him to mock the fans. Upton should just be happy they are there. Perhaps we should cut him some slack because he is 21, but it was still an awful move on his part. As for other players refusing to talk to the media after their bad games, they need to suck it up and talk to the media. It is not like the Arizona media is a tough media, like New York. It is not like they are looking for any story to jump on and report negatively. If players are so unfocused they are blowing routine defensive plays and then ducking the media it displays a complete lack of class and courage on their part.

No one on this team is being held accountable. AJ Hinch isn’t the sole problem but he sure isn’t the solution. His credibility in the clubhouse has to be called into question, again. He has held multiple team meetings that have had no lasting effect. Players are still making stupid plays, the bullpen is still blowing leads and the hitters are still coming up empty. The frustration level is at an all time high. I, like most fans, would like to know why the D-Backs are playing as bad as they are but no one will talk to the media.

Somewhere along the road this became a team of losers. There is no clubhouse leadership. Tony Clark doesn’t play enough or effectively to demand a leadership role anymore. Eric Byrnes is still leading by example, that example being piss poor defense and a low batting average. There is no veteran player on this team to whip anyone in gear. Even the manager is a rookie! It is clear the D-Backs sorely miss the leadership and bat of Orlando Hudson. His replacement, Felipe Lopez, may have a good batting average but he can’t get traded from this team fast enough. This 2009 D-Backs team sorely needs players like Orlando Hudson and coaches like Bob Melvin to instill some leadership. They would have even benefited greatly from signing Luis Gonzalez this off-season for his clubhouse effect, and his bat would probably be light years better than most of the players on this team.

I don’t know if this 2009 team will lose 110 games like that 2004 team. At least that 2004 team had the excuse of being over-matched. This 2009 team has players that have succeeded before, they just completely lack the effort or wherewithal to keep competing. The D-Backs hit rock bottom in 2004 and are right back there in 2009, only this time they gave their in-over-his-head interim manager a three year deal. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, right now it’s all dark.

The 10 Moments Project has resumed.

If you’re just joining us, we here at PFN are recapping the 40 biggest and/or most exciting moments in ASU sports since the turn of the decade. We’re counting down by 5 each week until we reach the top 10 (hence the title of this countdown) and then recap each of those top 10 moments with an article of their own.

The last time around, we spent a lot of time focusing on some of the most pivotal moments for ASU men’s basketball over the past decade or so.

30-26 is no different as we open with three more men’s hoops entries.

#30) Harden Gets America’s Top Honor  - March 30, 2009

2008-09 was a dream season for James Harden.

Not only did he lead the usually outside-looking-in Arizona State program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003, he averaged over 20 points per game, over five boards a night and nearly an astounding two steals per game over the course of the season. All of that garnered Harden the 2009 Pac-10 Player of the Year award, making him the first Devil to win it since Ike Diogu in 2005.

Despite pulling off an unfortunate disappearing act in the Sun Devils’ games with Temple and Syracuse in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the tourney, more often than not throughout the course of the year, it was The Beard who paced ASU to victory.

At the end of March, he received an honor that no one before him in ASU basketball history had been bestowed.

On March 30, Harden was rewarded for his efforts over 08-09 as an AP 1st-team All-American. He joined the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, Blake Griffin, DeJuan Blair and Stephen Curry as one of the five best players in America.

Only two other Sun Devils had even been 2nd or 3rd team AP All-Americans: Diogu was a 2nd teamer in 2004-05 and Lionel Hollins was named to the 3rd team in 1974-75.

Harden then, of course, was drafted 3rd overall by Oklahoma City in the 2009 NBA Draft, becoming the highest Sun Devil drafted in decades.

29) The Baltic Bomber Strikes Again - February 22, 2009

About a year before to the date, I was on this here blog saying that I didn’t think Rihards Kuksiks would make it as a Pac-10 basketball player. I just didn’t think he had the court intelligence or intensity to keep up in what was then one of America’s top basketball leagues.

Boy, was I wrong. Once Tempe’s Favorite Latvian(tm) found his groove as a quick wing defender and dynamite three-point shooter, he fit in with Arizona State just fine.

The Arizona Wildcats made their annual trek to Wells Fargo Arena in late March already having lost three straight games to ASU. It was a see-saw affair in front of the first pro-ASU crowd at one of these games in years. The Devils ran out to an early lead but the scrappy Wildcats, trying at that time desperately to stay on the NCAA Tournament bubble, kept scratching and clawing to stay in the game.

But then the Sun Devils started to pull away again, extending their lead to 14 with just over 12 minutes left in the ball game. Just like that, though, Jordan Hill and the Cats found themselves back in close game, hitting clutch jumper after clutch jumper.

With 2:30 left, Hill hit a turnaround jumper down low to give the UofA a 66-65 lead and once again grab the momentum down the stretch.

Cue Kuksiks. The sophomore, who ended up hitting five treys in the game, found himself wide open on the right wing after Jeff Pendergraph outmuscled Hill for a rebound off a Chase Budinger miss. Derek Glasser pushed the pace and found the Latvian, who coolly knocked down his final three of the night, giving the Sun Devils a 68-66 lead and sending the Maroon and Gold faithful into a frenzy.

Pendergraph hit two clutch free throws to put the game away just over a minute later, sending Arizona State to a 70-68 win and an unprecedented 4th straight victory over the Wildcats.

28) The Defensive Clampdown - January 17, 2009

It goes without saying that Arizona State and UCLA field two very different basketball programs.

In January of this past year, the Bruins were coming off their 3rd consecutive trip to the Final Four while ASU was still trying to prove to the nation that they were a force to be reckoned with this year. A Saturday afternoon CBS national TV window would prove just the trick if the Sun Devils wanted to do just that.

Mind you, Arizona State hadn’t defeated a top 10 team on the road in 11 seasons and, coming off their poorest effort of the season two nights earlier at USC, this one didn’t look promising.

Then tip off came.

The Sun Devils roared out of the gate to start the game at Pauley Pavilion, controlling the tempo and the scoreboard for the better part of the first half. James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph were combining to tear up the UCLA defensive unit. The Bruins, however, were able to get themselves into it in the latter stages of the first 20 minutes and, after leading by as many as nine at one point, Arizona State had to have been thrilled to be going into halftime with a two point advantage.

Then, Nikola Dragovic and the rest of the Bruins woke up. UCLA hit three after three after three to start the second stanza. With 8:05 left, Michael Roll knocked down an 18-foot jumper to give the homestanding Bruins their largest lead of the afternoon at 54-43.

And those, friends, were the last points UCLA would score in regulation and last field goal they’d hit until the clock read 0:55 left in overtime.

What occured with the Devils down 11 will go down as one of the most impressive and improbable defensive stands in ASU basketball history. Thanks to the combination of the Bruins going totally cold from outside over the last 8 minutes (0-for-7 from the field), clutch shooting from Harden and Pendergraph (they combined for the Devils last 11 points of regulation) and two pressure-packed free throws from The Beard with 21 seconds left, the Sun Devils shut out the Bruins 11-0 down the stretch to force overtime.

UCLA finally got on the board early in OT with two Darren Collison free throws, but the damage was done. ASU dominated the overtime period from start to finish and Harden ended up putting home the game-winning layup with 35 seconds left. The Devils remarkably won the basketball game 61-58 and announced to the nation that Arizona State was not to be toyed with through the rest of the Pac-10 season.

27) An Inside-The-Park Round Tripper - May 31, 2009

The most recent entry in The 10 Moments Project happened just about a month ago.

The 2009 Arizona State Sun Devils weren’t expected to come two wins away from playing for a national title, let alone even make the trip to the College World Series. Lo and behold, though, Pat Murphy and his band of coaches did it again, finding incredible pitching and just the right combination of players to let the Devils roar through another regular season and to a 3rd straight Pac-10 title.

ASU once again hosted a 4-team regional to open the 2009 NCAA Tournament, welcoming Oral Roberts, Cal Poly-SLO and Kent State to Packard Stadium. The Sun Devils roared through the first two games of the regional behind the stellar pitching of Mike Leake and Josh Spence, dispatching KSU 17-1 and ORU 4-1 to advance to a Sunday regional championship game.

They’d once again face the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts, the 14-time defending Summit League champions, in that regional title game. One win would send ASU to a 3rd straight Super Regional appearance, but the Eagles would not go quietly, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top 0f the 1st. The Devils would be held to a surprisingly paltry one hit over the first five innings while Seth Blair settled down and dominated Oral Roberts after that rocky opening frame.

In the 6th, the Devils potent offense went to work. After Johnny Ruettiger scored on a bases loaded walk to make it 3-2, Kole Calhoun scored on a wild pitch to tie it up only three pitches later. Zach MacPhee then banged a 2-run single into center field to give the Sun Devils a two-run lead.

The Devils wouldn’t need any more than that, but with a 6-3 lead and Riccio Torrez on 1st base, Jared McDonald stepped into the batters box and sealed the Golden Eagles fate.

After battling ORU pitcher James Burleson through a tough at-bat, McDonald smacked one down the right field line that P.J. Sequiera misplayed off the fence. James rumbled around 2nd, then 3rd, and finally came sliding home to finish off a dramatic and regional clinching two-run inside the park home run.

The Devils won 8-3 and advanced to take on Clemson in the 2009 Super Regional.

26) Defense Plays Offense - November 28, 2008

It’s no secret that the Arizona State offense didn’t click at all during the 2008 season. By late November, the Devils were fighting for their bowl lives and, the day after Thanksgiving, hosted the fellow 4-6 UCLA Bruins in what would be a bowl-elimination game. The loser would be assured to be shut out of going to the 2008 postseason.

After a largely unremarkable 1st quarter in which neither Rudy Carpenter or Kevin Craft could move the ball at all, the Bruins held a 3-0 lead off a Kai Forbath field goal.

Then, the Sun Devils defensive explosion began. Just two and a half minutes into the 2nd quarter, Craft got belted on a blitz and fumbled; the loose pigskin was picked up and returned for a 17-yard touchdown by the little used Paul ‘Unga. Six minutes later, ASU extended their lead to 8 when Travis Goethel, who up to this game was having a tremendous season in his first year as a full-time starting LB, picked off Craft and returned it 38 yards to the house.

The teams traded field goals in another drudgery of a 3rd quarter and the Sun Devils entered the final quarter clinging to a 17-9 lead. After ASU went 3 and out to start the 4th, UCLA mounted an impressive 14-play drive which took them all the way down to the Devils’ 6 and within striking distance of a score that could potentially pull the Bruins back into a tie game.

No one gave Troy Nolan that memo. With 9:50 left, the senior safety stepped in front of a Craft pass at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a backbreaking touchdown, the 3rd ASU defensive TD of the game.

Two plays later, after the Sun Devils kicked the the ball away with a stunning 24-9 lead, Mike Nixon cut across and read a dying quail from Craft perfectly, picking him off for the 2nd time in three plays from scrimmage and taking that one back 45 yards to the end zone, putting the game away.

The Sun Devils 4th defensive score of the game, 3 by pick six and 1 on a fumble recovery, tied the NCAA record for most touchdowns scored by a team defense in one game.

The stirring defensive performance led ASU to a 34-9 win on Senior Day, but it wasn’t enough to vault them into a bowl game, as the Devils would lose their season finale at Arizona to drop to 5-7. However, the night when defense became offensive at Sun Devil Stadium remains one of the most dramatic highlights of that ‘08 season.

Here are some random notes to get you through the day. I will post my preview of the Sparks game tomorrow morning before I head to Miami (Arizona) for the 4th.

WNBA Notes

• Looks like Candace Parker will play on Sunday. More about this in the preview piece tomorrow but it’s not necessarily surprising, considering it’s going to be on ESPN2. Gaines also said today that he was preparing for both Candace and Lisa anyway for the game.
• Silver Stars player Sophia Young participated in a Twitter discussion with fans you can find here.
• Alex Chambers of 13 Teams, 1 Journey blogs about his latest travels to Atlanta and more.
• WNBA Rookie Rankings (DeWanna is 1st!)
• Q posted a great video at Rethinking Basketball of the New York Liberty doing a version of Thriller, RIP Michael.
• The Fever are playing very, very well
• All-Star voting still taking place - vote, vote, vote!

Mercury Notes

• DeWanna Bonner has updated her latest rookie blog. Read it all here!
• Great interview with Kip Helt by PhoenixMercury.com.
• Mercury President, Jay Parry, blogs about joining former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano in D.C. at the Mercury/Mystics game
• Diana nominated for another ESPY!
• You won’t find much coverage of D’s situation here as I consider that a personal issue and you can find that information in numerous other outlets. All too often, it paints the player in a bad light and I simply won’t do that here. All I will say regarding Diana and what happened early Thursday morning is to please reserve judgment. Everyone makes mistakes and she is a genuinely good person, cares deeply about others and the community, is both responsible and honest, and I’ve come to know her as one of the nicest people in the business.  In addition, no one knows the entire story and the whole thing could be blown out of proportion. Thus, keep supporting Diana and the Mercury, especially with their tough game Sunday against the (suddenly healthy) Los Angeles Sparks!

I’ve always been a guy that thinks steroids and other performance enhancing drugs used in football haven’t fully come to the surface yet. I don’t have any hard evidence but I think the drug testing in the NFL is a little bit lax. I’m not saying it’s like what baseball was in the late 90’s but I think there are more football players than we realize using performance enhancing drugs. I’ve heard different rumors and stories about how players figure out ways around being caught, so it makes me suspicious of a lot of guys in the NFL.

With that being said… Former Arizona Cardinal Calvin Pace who was recently hit with a four game suspension for violating the leagues drug policy said he didn’t know the substance he used was illegal. As fans we’re only left speculating whether the player is telling the truth or not. I think we as fans are often being ignorant when we believe a player didn’t know the supplement he was taking was illegal. The teams trainers extensively go over what substances are banned and what are good to take. So it would take a real brain lapse or great amount of irresponsibility to not know what you were taking.

But in some cases I wonder if these players are telling the truth? I recently put up a blog post and video on former Arizona Cardinal Obafemi Ayanbadejo who was released by the team in 2006 when the Cardinals became aware of a possible suspension due to a failed drug test. As explained in this interview with Obafemi’s attorney, Ayanbadejo didn’t know there was any illegal substances in the supplement he was taking because the company did not properly label its product. Because of this the company was sued by Ayanbadejo and his attorney. The former Cardinal fullback took the victory on the case because the company realized it did indeed mislabel its product.

Maybe some of these players are telling the truth. Maybe Manny Ramirez really didn’t know it was wrong to take womens fertility drugs (I doubt it). I’d explain why I don’t buy his excuse but I don’t have time because I have to get back to work, but I digress. I’m not saying what happened to Ayanbadejo is what happened with Calvin Pace but you never know. But I do know that most of these players have a good idea of what they’re putting in their bodies. So they have to be held accountable for when they break the rules.

• Positional QB Rankings - Essentially, the Cards are 1½ players deep at QB, led of course by the veteran Warner — coming off leading the Cards to their first Super Bowl appearance. Hall of Fame or not, even in his late 30s he delivers huge passing numbers (4,583 yards, 30 TDs in 2008). The big question: If Kurt got hurt last year, could Matt Leinart have led 'Zona to the Super Bowl? Likely not, though at least Leinart's working hard this offseason.
• Defensive tackle rankings - Darnell Dockett analysis: He is quick and relentless and was a big reason whey the Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl. His contract issue is clouding things heading into this season.
• Top 50 Players - One name on this year's list is sure to ignite the you-know-what storm. It's Andre Johnson, the Houston Texans receiver, who is fourth on my list. Some might say he's not even the best receiver in the league -- with Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald getting the nod -- but I beg to differ.
• Dockett wants top-5 money - No real surprise here but via Twitter: "I want to thank Rod Woodson and @jamiedukes. For picking me in the NFL TOP 5 D-tackels "I wish I can get paid like the top 5"
• NFL's top defensive tackles - Though he fails to play to his potential consistently, few defensive tackles are capable of taking over a game like Dockett, which makes his inclusion on this list mandatory.
• Keyshawn Johnson on Anquan Boldin - "I keep seeing where Anquan Boldin wants to be traded from Arizona, or he wants to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald,'' Johnson said. "Anquan, you're a glorified T.J. Houshmandzadeh, so cut it out. They're the same player. You want $11 million? Why don't you take the $8 million they're offering and be happy? You're not Larry Fitzgerald.''
• Rashad Johnson's Impact - The last two times the Cardinals have drafted a safety -- Antrel Rolle doesn’t count -- it came in the third round. Adrian Wilson turned out to be a pretty good pick. Rashad Johnson hopes people will one day say the same about him.

• The fastest Card - Who ya got? Breaston or DRC? Oh wait, should Garvin be in the race as well?

• Where did all the MLB's go? - Most impact NFL middle-linebackers today are either relics, such as Zach Thomas and Tedy Bruschi, or hybrids playing the inside-linebacker spot in the ever-popular 3-4 defense, like Karlos Dansby and Bart Scott.
• Rookie revelations before training camp - The front runners for NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year are Arizona running back Chris Wells and Miami corner back Vontae Davis. Just an early guess on my part, but both players have the opportunity to shine early. The bruising Wells is the front runner to replace departed starting running back Edgerrin James in one of the NFL's most explosive offenses. Wells missed most of Arizona's off season program because of a league rule prohibiting participation from non-graduates if their college is in session, but the Ohio State product shouldn't have a problem catching up.
• SI.com - The Fortunate 50 - #45 Antonio Smith - The former Cardinal was lured away from the defending NFC champs with a five-year deal that pays $15.5 million up front. That up front money means that only 44 other American athletes earned more money than the Strongest Right Arm in the NFL.

• NFL overtime silent auction system? - No one seems to be satisfied with the NFL’s current “Win the coin toss, get the football” overtime system. I’ve been against changing it, though, mainly because I haven’t heard any ideas that I’ve liked better. Until today, anyway.

Arizona jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when Gerardo Parra reached base then stole second. Parra moved to third base on a ground out and with two outs Chad Tracy delivered a hit to left field and scored Parra. Mark Reynolds would add another run in the sixth inning with his 22nd homer of the year. On the day Arizona would have only four hits off the Reds staff.

Leading by a 2-1 score in the eight inning Arizona brought in reliever Chad Qualls with 2 outs and 2 men on and Qualls delivered with a big out. In the 9th Qualls did not have as much luck and scored one run to tie it up. In the 10th inning the Reds would get to Clay Zavada and score the winning run.

The Diamondbacks now head to Colorado for a weekend series against the Rockies.

It’s not your fault, A.J. Some may think the Diamondbacks’ dive into oblivion has been hastened by your hiring but I’m not among them.

You see, I was at the ballpark during the forgettable Al Pedrique era. I’m sure you remember Al even if alot of Diamondbacks fans don’t. Pedrique took over during the 2004 crash after Bob Brenly was fired. Arizona was 29-50 at the time Al took over. And then they went a stellar 22-61 down the stretch.

It wasn’t a question of whether the Diamondbacks were going to lose. It only was a question of how. Maybe that’s the case during your brief reign as well, though the three-year contract you received gives you the slightest air of authority that Pedrique never had.

These are your players in as much as you were in charge of the team’s player development department. But it wasn’t you who decided who was going to appear in a major league uniform and when. It wasn’t you who signed Eric Byrnes to the overvalued contract, making him an albatross the team just can’t shed.

You didn’t let Orlando Hudson walk away.

You didn’t settle for Jon Garland and a 200-year-old Tom Gordon as your pitching improvements.

You weren’t behind Justin Upton’s incredibly slow start (which means you aren’t going to get credit for his recovery, either. Sorry about that.)

There’s no question the Diamondbacks are worse this year than anyone had anticipated. But this never was a team that was going to contend for the division title. Los Angeles had that wrapped up before the World Baseball Classic started, even before Hudson traded Sedona Red for Dodger Blue.

Have you ever played tabletop baseball, A.J.? Probably not … it seems to be the private reserve of statistics-obsessed sports nerds. And columnists. But here’s why I ask … as you play enough back seasons and attempt to “manage” a truly terrible team, you realize there’s not a damn thing you can do to make then any better.

No matter what you do, the 1962 Mets are awful. You could try to use this reliever instead of that, play this first baseman instead of that, and it’s not going to matter a bit. On the 2004 Diamondbacks, once you get past the starter you’ve got a world of trouble ahead — Stephen Randolph, Mike Koplove, Brandon Villafuerte, Andrew Good … it goes on and on.

During the heat of the season, lukewarm as the heat may be with this team, it’s often hard to realize that the team just isn’t very good.

A.J., this team just isn’t very good. Watching them throw the ball around Chase Field like the Bad News Bears this past weekend should have erased any doubt anyone had.

It’s not your fault, A.J. Not this year …

Just make sure that enough individuals show enough improvement that they are at least respectable next season.

The odds have been in the Suns favor for the last four years or so. Vegas has liked them to be in the mix to win an NBA championship. An odd thing happened on the Suns road to a championship though, they never won regardless of how much Vegas was in their favor.

If they want to win the title in 2010 they’ll have to beat the odds. After having 13 to 1, 11 to 2 and 9 to 2 odds to win it all over the last three seasons Vegas has the Suns as 50 to 1 odds. That’s right, the Suns odds to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy are not looking great (but you didn’t need Vegas to tell you that). To make you feel better though we’ve looked up some things in life with better odds to happen than the Suns winning a championship (OK so maybe they won’t make you feel better).

The odds that a person will get away with murder is 2 to 1. That’s bad news for Suns fans but good news for the Suns front office as that means Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver will most likely get away with killing this team. Don’t worry though, the odds were already in the favor of Diesel coming to town and killing this team. The chances of a person being killed in an accident with a vehicle is 77 to 1 (it’s not better odds than the Suns winning but it’s close).

The pain in your ass that you are feeling might not actually be caused by the Suns front office mismanagement after all. Odds are better than the Suns chances to win a title that they are hemorrhoids, 25 to 1.

Think the Cavaliers basically stole Shaquille O’Neal? That’s OK there was a 20 to 1 chance that the Suns and Steve Kerr were going to be a victim of a major crime in their lifetime.

Feeling sick yet? It may not be because your hopes of seeing an NBA Championship in your lifetime has been dashed. There are decent odds of you having a stroke, 1 in 6 chance in your lifetime, or contracting the flu, 1 in 10 chance this year.

This should make you feel better though, you have a 200 to 1 chance of dating a millionaire. Although if the economy keeps heading in this direction those odds will go up as guys like Robert Sarver won’t be part of the millionaire club anymore.

There is some good news though, when the Suns start losing and the newspapers stop covering them, (see the Coyotes and comments of local columnists), and you are between the ages of 18 and 29 there is a 3 to 1 chance that you won’t notice as you don’t read the paper.

So cheer up, because odds are that it could be worse.

This years rank: 33

Last Year's Rank: 84
Title Track: 56
Ownership: 82
Coaching: 11    
Players: 41
Fan Relations: 65
Affordability: 60
Stadium Experience: 24
Bang for the Buck: 14 

The site defines the above categories:

Bang For The Buck (BNG): Wins during the past three years (regular season plus postseason) per revenues directly from fans, adjusted for league schedules.

Fan Relations (FRL): Openness and consideration toward fans by players, coaches and management.

Ownership (OWN): Honesty and loyalty to core players and local community.

Affordability (AFF): Price of tickets, parking and concessions.

Stadium Experience (STX): Quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment.

Players (PLA): Effort on the field and likability off it.

Coaching (CCH): Strength of on-field leadership.

Title Track (TTR): Championships already won or expected in the lifetime of current fans.

Nice to see the Cards getting some respect. No more Rodney Dangerfield quotes for us.

With the introduction of Shaquille O’Neal as a member of the Cavaliers today, we here in Phoenix thought it would be an appropriate time to have a little talk. We understand what you are going through today. We went through it on February 7, 2008. You feel excited, enthralled with every word Shaq has to say and dreams of championships are dancing in your head. It’s like Christmas, minus the fat guy in the red suit (that was a different introduction when Denny Green came to town). You’ve come so close over the last four years but were always missing one piece. With the introduction of the Big Aristotle you feel you have found that missing part. That one thing that will help win a title and keep King James in a Cleveland uniform for the long run. We felt it all here in Phoenix just a short year and a half ago and boy that championship parade felt even better.

During the press conference today, Shaq said all the right things. He talked about fitting in, being able to play any style of basketball and knowing his roll. All things that sound oddly familiar to the tune the Big Shaqtus sang when he arrived in the Valley. Too bad it was all talk.

Don’t believe us? Today he stated his motto for this season is “win a ring for the King”. In 2008 he said he was going to take Amare Stoudemire to the next level and called his motto for 2008/2009 the “Amare Stoudemire Project” (the Allan Parsons’ Project proved to be more successful over the last two years).

“This is something I couldn’t turn down. You guys already are a damn good team,” O’Neal told the Cleveland media today. When Shaq was introduced in Phoenix, he fed the fans and media a similar line saying, “I just want to come in and fit in with a damn good team”. Shaq’s ego proved too big to fit in with the Suns, but now the team doesn’t have to worry about that or about having a “damn good team”.

Not enough to prove that Shaq knows the company lines? How about this? Today he told reporters “I’m not here to demand 40 or 50 shots. Thirty (laughing). I’m just coming in to do my part.” Funny because during his introduction in Phoenix he said almost the identical thing, “I’m not a ball freak I’m not going to be asking for 30 or 40 touches. I just want to fit in”. We all saw how that worked out for the Suns. By the 2008-2009 season Shaq was demanding more touches than a frat boy at a strip club and instead of advancing the Suns fans’ dream of a title, he and his personality helped to dash them.

Don’t get us wrong Cleveland, stay optimistic as long as you can. Try not to lose faith until it becomes abundantly clear that you have to. Just remember, when Shaq came to the desert, the Suns were a first place team in the west, they were a title contender for four years running and they just couldn’t get over the proverbial hump to win it all (sound familiar?). One hundred and three games, thousands of tweets and one playoff win later the Suns are no longer a contender and are on the verge of losing one or two of their stars, Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, (if you’re not careful it will sound familiar sooner than you think). Buyer beware, because once you buy into the hype that is Shaq the process begins and, at least in Phoenix, it ends with the fans still urning for a ring and with the feeling of a “Big Disappointment”.

All the Best,

Sports fans of Phoenix

It ended a 26 year run as the head honcho of the West Coast’s premier NCAA conference; one that started with much fanfare back in 1983.

Then, the Pac-10 had literally been the Pac-10 for 5 years with ASU and Arizona joining in 1978. Therefore, the conference is losing the man who really guided this league through its time of modern, significant growth.

Not that this brought him any more fans, however. In fact, amongst his brethren of commissioners in the BCS, Hansen may have been the most publicly reviled league bosses in college sports.

There were several reasons for this public hatred. There was his absolute resistance for his, along with the Big Ten’s, resistance to joining the Bowl Alliance in the early 90’s, shutting out both league’s teams from a legitimate shot at an undisputed national football championship. More recently, he went on record to The Sporting News to say that he’d take the conference immediately out of the BCS if they were to adopt the +1 system that everyone else wants.

There was his botched attempt to court Texas and Colorado to join the conference in the era when the Southwest Conference was disintegrating. Rather than effectively turning the Pac-10 into a league with a lucrative conference title game, the conference remained status quo and he then built fierce opposition toward rapid expansion, even while his buddies in the ACC were pillaging the Big East.

Then you’ve got the paltry bowl lineup that the Pac-10 sports, with it’s lack of big ticket and hot destination bowl games, let alone only having one on New Year’s Day. San Diego is nice, of course, but El Paso and San Francisco in December don’t strike fans or even teams as places where they want to spend a celebratory week and a half during the postseason.

The outcry over his dealings with TV contracts still remains a large sticking point to why Pac-10 fans reviled Hansen. While Fox Sports Net has been a viable and reliable broadcast partner over the past decade or so, the fact of the matter is that due to the regionalized coverage FSN prides itself on, the Pac-10 has not been able to gain on the Big 12, Big Ten or SEC in terms of drawing national interest to their games. The reason? They can’t watch them.

On the other side, Hansen did oversee two football national titles, two NCAA men’s basketball championships, nine Pac-10 Final Four apperances, four women’s basketball championships and dozens of national titles in the non-revenue generating sports.

Other than the still simmering Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo situations at USC and the notorious Hedake Smith point-shaving scandal here in Tempe, the conference has largely remained free of major violations or controversy.

So, after all this, what will Hansen’s legacy be as Larry Scott takes over?

Hansen, to me, will always be the guy that, in 26 years of service, never took the Pacific-10 to the heights which it should be at.

Thanks to his inability to court big time bowl games to the league’s postseason (moves he made because he says fans wouldn’t travel to destinations such as Florida and otherwise), the league has not been able to earn national attention and respect for what our teams do in the football postseason. Does anyone even remember that just a few months ago, the Pac-10 went 5-0 in their bowl games?

Maybe that’s because outside of USC’s win in the Rose Bowl over a game Penn State squad and Oregon’s win over Oklahoma State at the Holiday Bowl, the other three wins weren’t wholly impressive. Oregon State eked out the ugliest win possible in a terrible Sun Bowl, Arizona beat a BYU team in Vegas that didn’t want to be there and Cal knocked off Miami in an unremakrable Emerald Bowl.

Wins in those kind of minor bowls don’t earn respect across America.

And, as for that whole TV debacle, Hansen tied the conference’s hands so much with this long-term contract with FSN that there’s no way it will change significantly until 2012. In a time when the SEC is on CBS every weekend, the Big Ten has a dedicated spot on ESPN every week, the Big 12 dominates the afternoon national TV slate and the Big Ten has it’s own TV station, the Pac-10 still remains a very regional conference that garners no real national interest.

ESPN’s most recent move to include more Pac-10 prime time games certainly help; however, most of these games occur late in the season and involve teams that hold no allure to the national viewer. I personally love the Civil War and the Duel In The Desert, but the ratings for those games on ESPN last season were in the toilet nationwide. In two seasons of Pac-10 ESPN games, the most notable one they’ve run was that 2007 USC/Arizona State game that was to determine who would most likely be the outright Pac-10 champion. More of this would be nice, but juding by the numbers, it will not happen.

I will not miss Tom Hansen because to him, progress doesn’t equal success. He was so enamored with the status quo and resisting necessary change and advancement recently that the Pac-10 is now behind the other five BCS conferences.

Now, we wait and see what Larry Scott can do.

To piggyback on this, you should read the interview ESPN Pac-10 blogger Ted Miller, who is the best in the business, did with Hansen on the day he retired. It’s quite the read and should leave you with an even stronger feeling of dislike for the outgoing commish.

Trade Amare? That's un-possible, says Bruce Jacobs, co-host of today's 'Show To Be Named Later' on Fanster.com (Photo: Matt York/AP)

STBNL for Thursday July 2, 2009 - Vince Marotta and Bruce Jacobs

Download audio file (show702.mp3)

Segment 1 - (0:00) - Day two of NBA free agency and still nothing on the Suns’ front. Bruce thinks the Suns even considering a trade that includes Amare Stoudemire is absolutely crazy. But more importantly, do the Phoenix Suns have a strategy?


Segment 2 - (24:25) - The talk shifts over to the Diamondbacks, and their struggles in 2009. Who’s on the untouchable list as far as trades go? Hint: the list may be shorter than you think.


Segment 3 - (45:19) - Manny Ramirez will be back in the lineup tomorrow for the Los Angeles Dodgers following his 50-game suspension for a positive PED test. The guys get into it, and Bruce declares Manny as his “favorite steroid player” ever. That’s just the tip of the iceberg on this subject.

Mark Hansen dominates the Show Low Native New Yorker in Week 17 of the Battle of the Bone Wing Eating contest. Hansen chowed down over 2 pounds 3 Ounces to earn a seat in the finale at Chandler Harley Davidson in September.  He now has an opportunity to win the Grand Prize, a Harley Davidson from Chandler Harley Davidson or grab a pair of season tickets for the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks season.

Special thanks to all of the participants and fans who came out to the Native New Yorker in Show Low. 

Battle of the Bone 2009 is courtesy of Native New Yorker, Chandler Harley-Davidson, Arizona Diamondbacks, Bud Light, Fanster.com, W. Steven Martin Police Toy Drive and The Fan AM 1060.

Next week: Native New Yorker in 101 and Cave Creek.

Note on our weekly results: Nutritiondata.com states that one whole chicken wing (both the paddle and the drumstick portion of the chicken wing) weigh on average 1 oz.  Thus providing us with the figure that each wing portion (the drumstick and the paddle) each weigh a half an ounce.  So, when it is stated that a contestant has eaten 57 wings, they have eaten the weight that is the equivalent of 57 wings.  In actuality they have eaten more than 57 wings, but the actually weight of the meat they have eaten is equivalent to the weight of 57 whole wings.

However, what might be surprising is just how strong.

The list is somewhat confusing with several players listed in different positions than you might think (Cappie as a Forward, Lauren Jackson as a Forward etc.), but here are some interesting tidbits none the less…

Mercury Dominating West Votes

• Diana Taurasi leads all players with 32,921 votes, and is obviously 1st in her category (Guards)
• Cappie Pondexter is 1st in West Forwards (yes, Forwards) with 26,701 votes
• Tangela Smith is 2nd in West Centers with 16,730 votes
• Temeka Johnson is 4th in West Guards with 17,775 votes
• DeWanna Bonner is 3rd in West Forwards with 17,973 votes
• Total votes for the Mercury (112,100) are the most out of any WNBA team, (next closest is the Fever with 101,148 total votes)

Other Notes

• Candace Parker received 9,579 votes (we knew this would happen)
• DeWanna Bonner has received only a few hundred less votes than former MVP Lauren Jackson and by far, the most total votes out of any rookie this season
• Lisa Leslie will undoubtedly start in the All-Star game with almost 10,000 more votes than her closest competitor Tangela Smith
• Temeka Johnson (17,775) trails Becky Hammon (18,050) by just a few hundred votes
• Unless something drastically changes, the All-Star starters for the West will be Cappie Pondexter, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Lauren Jackson, and Lisa Leslie
• For the East, it looks like the starters will be Tamika Catchings, Candace Dupree, Sylvia Fowles, Katie Douglas, and Lindsay Whalen

The All-Star game will air nationally on ABC on July 25th.

Mark Reynolds' frustration after being struck out by David Weathers on Wednesday night summed up the evening for the Diamondbacks in a 1-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. (Photo: Al Behrman/AP)

The Diamondbacks managed only 2 hits, and were shut out for the 6th time this season. Lost in the loss was a solid effort from D-Backs’ starter Jon Garland, who allowed only 6 hits and 1 run in 6 innings of work. Garland lowered his road ERA to 2.47 on Wednesday, but his record fell to 4-8.

Today, the Diamondbacks send lefty Doug Davis (3-8, 3.28 ERA) to the mound in hopes of clinching the rubber game of this 3-game series. He’ll be faced by Cincinnati right-hander Aaron Harang (5-8, 3.95 ERA).

Davis, who has been the subject of recent trade rumors, is 6-3 lifetime vs. the Reds.

Here are the starting lineups for this morning’s matchup…

Arizona Diamondbacks (31-47)


1. 2 Felipe Lopez - 2B
2. 6 Stephen Drew - SS
3. 10 Justin Upton - RF
4. 27 Mark Reynolds - 3B
5. 9 Gerardo Parra - CF
6. 26 Miguel Montero - C
7. 18 Chad Tracy - 1B
8. 28 Alex Romero - LF
9. 49 Doug Davis -P

Cincinnati Reds (38-38)


1. 3 Willy Taveras - CF
2. 15 Jerry Hairston - 3B
3. 19 Joey Votto - 1B
4. 4 Brandon Phillips - 2B
5. 31 Jonny Gomes - LF
6. 29 Ryan Hanigan - C
7. 21 Chris Dickerson - RF
8. 7 Paul Janish - SS
9. 38 Aaron Harang - P

Browse more photos »

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner Update: For the second consecutive week, Irishcardinal wins our "Caption this" contest and this week it's a complete blowout with his caption receiving nine recommends/votes. The turnout was much better this week so look for our contests to become a weekly event and hopefully someone can knock Mr. Irish off his pedestal. 

ROTB's second official "caption this" contest kicks off today with a picture of Arizona Cardinals greats, Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. Last week our picture contest was won by IrishCardinal who's winning caption generated four votes and finishing a close second was badmatty who's caption garnered three votes. We'll name the winner sometime tomorrow afternoon so think fast and get your caption and votes in quickly. The winner will receive bragging rights about all things Cardinals until the next 'caption this pic' contest. Instructions for recommending are after the jump. Enjoy.

To recommend a comment, all  you have to do is click on the link that says "actions" under a comment and then "recommend." Got it?