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.

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.

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.

However, we always encourage you to follow other people, not just us.

Today, we’re sending out our first call to arms.

We want you to follow James Harden as he makes his way through his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

His Twitter site is www.twitter.com/jhard13.

Get at the following. Now!

His freshman season was highlighted by not missing a single field goal, being named a 1st-team All-American and winning the coveted Lou Groza Award, which is given to the nation’s top kicker annually.

Last year, Weber had his struggle but they were not completely his fault. His sophomore campaign was highlighted by the offensive line’s inability to block properly (see: UNLV). He still connected for 19 of 25 field goal attempts and put up a 41.4 YPK punting average as he handled double duty throughout 2008.

Even before that season started, though, Weber was named to the preseason team that all college football players (or 20-year-olds, period) want to be a part of: the Playboy All-American Team.

As we saw with Derek Hagan on an episode of FS Arizona’s Sun Devil Insider years ago, Playboy AA’s get treated like royalty and even get to attend a pretty kick-ass party before the season starts.

Well, guess who now gets to do it all again? Thomas Weber. Today, he was named, for the 2nd straight year, to the Playboy All-American squad.

He’s the 2nd Sun Devil to be named a Playboy All-American twice. The other was CB Mike Richardson, who pulled the feat in 1981 and 1982. He’s the 14th ASU player overall to be named to the widely and highly regarded team.

I think PFN speaks for everyone when we say congratulations…and send us some pictures.

Now that the drama and tension of the College World Series is over, we’re going to resume the unveiling of the top 40 moments in ASU sports over the past decade.

When we left off a few weeks ago in The 10 Moments Project, we were going over some of the biggest stories and moments from ASU men’s basketball through moment’s 35-31.

This Friday, we’ll take a look at moments 30-26, which include visits to five of the most memorable moments from the gridiron and back to the men’s and women’s hardwood.

Stay tuned on Friday…we’re hitting the road down memory lane once again.

The Sun Devils got commit #7 today as DE and the program received a yes from Texas wide receiver Randy Knust.

Knust is the second wide receiver commitment the Devils have received; two weeks ago, highly touted JuCo transfer George Bell also announced his intention to sign with the Devils come February of next year.

Frankly, there’s not a whole lot known about Knust other than that the competing offer Arizona State contended with was from SMU. However, if it’s any indication, June Jones and his run-and-shoot offense tend to only recruit wide outs with speed and sure hands…something that became a staple of his Hawai’i offense through the years they were dominating the WAC.

He’s not ranked, however, by either of the major recruiting web sites. This will certainly be a wait and see situation with Knust, but it’s another body for the class at least, especially at a position which will be surely depleted of proven talent after this upcoming season.

Last night, he got his wish.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, picking 3rd after the Clippers predictably selected Blake Griffin and Memphis took UConn center Hasheem Thabeet, took the Sun Devil standout.

Harden is the highest Devil taken since Joe Caldwell was the 2nd overal pick of the Detroit Pistons in 1964 (and was actually the first ASU player ever selected). He’s the Sun Devils’ first lottery pick since Ike Diogu went 9th to the Golden State Warriors four years ago.

It will definitely be interesting to see how quickly James acclimates himself to the Thunder. In my opinion, Harden will become the additional perimeter scorere that Oklahoma City desperately needs to compliment Kevin Durant and the rest of the Thunder’s young corps.

I was a bit taken aback by some of the mock drafts, analysts and websites that claim Harden isn’t a a player who gives a consistent effort. Not to be a homer, but that was always the least of my concern. James doesn’t want to do anything but win. Those might be at a premium during his first year in OKC, but I don’t think there’s any reason to knock his effort level. He certainly had games in which he didn’t perform to his utmost abilities (see: Temple and Syracuse) but I’d never chalk that up to him not giving it his all.

The one discouraging about the entire thing last night, however, was that suit. It’s obvious that Jeff Pendergraph and his talk of linen suits automatically made him the trendsetter for last year’s team. That khaki-on-khaki getup made Samaki Walker look like a saint. However, just like we know about James, the bow tie screamed confidence.

Chris Silva from NBA.com has a cool article worth reading about how Harden wants to quickly fit in with his new teammates.

I’m thrilled for James (and Jeff Pendergraph, who is getting his own article later today) and really hope he finds success in OKC.

And if all else fails, he and Blake Griffin can go into the TV business together.

Either way, we here at PFN will be closely monitoring where James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph go at tonight’s draft. Harden will even be one of the 15 guys nervously waiting in the green room at Madison Square Garden, so at some point, we’ll get to see that toothy grin of his while he holds up the jersey of his new employer.

We’ve heard all sorts of things over the last few days; none of them really worth speculating and investigating too deeply.

The one note to pass along though is from what I’ve been told, the Chicago Bulls are very, very high on JP and, since they don’t have a 2nd round pick, might be tempted to take Pendergraph as high as their second first-round pick at #26.

We’ll also keep you updated when other Pac-10 players get taken, and brace yourself, there probably will be a lot.

According to the source, Murphy, who just completed his 15h season at the helm of the Sun Devils, has fired Tim Esmay, his assistant head coach of the past five seasons. Esmay, a 1988 Sun Devil alumnus, also was an assistant under Jim Brock from 1988-1990 and in 1994 before taking the head coaching job at Utah in 1994. He returned to Tempe the next season in time to help guide the ‘05 Devils to the College World Series.

“[Esmay] has been a great Sun Devil and always will be a great Sun Devil,” Murphy said in a statement. “He gave many years of his life to the program. We’ve just decided to go in a different direction for the staff.”

Now, here’s where it gets tricky. The Republic story says pitching coach/recruiting coordinator Josh Holliday and assistant coach Andy Stankiewicz will return in 2010.

From what I’ve been told, Holliday may have also been let go. I’m still awaiting confirmation on whether or not he and Stankiewicz, who just finished his 3rd year on Murphy’s staff, will in fact be back with Arizona State next season.

I feel like I’ve been able to get a good read on Pat Murphy’s personality over the seven years I’ve covered ASU baseball. My gut here is that this is not a knee jerk reaction to the Sun Devils stunning exit from the College World Series last week.

Murph is a rational, calculating coach and person. I feel like this decision was rational and logical though, to many, it may seem sudden. Frankly, it is sudden; none of us have come to expect major changes to the ASU baseball coaching staff, especially during this recent run of success where Murphy has taken the Devils on three trips to Omaha in the past five seasons.

Stick with us. We’ll have more as the story develops.

However, one of my favorite pastimes is to make fun of the Oregon Ducks uniforms.

To the left is a picture of one of the FIVE new uniforms the program, which bows to Nike, introduced today.

Yes, those are wings on the shoulders of the Ducks new road white jerseys.

Enjoy.

We’ve been updating you every time a 2009 Arizona State football game gets picked up for telelvision (3, thus far, if you haven’t been keeping score), but today I found a composite schedule for the entire Pac-10 in 2009.

This includes non-conference games as well.

It’s worth remembering that games later in the season are still subject to the 6 and 12 day advance window selections in which FSN has the right to pick from a weekend’s slate only a week or two out, which obviously in the past has affected the time game’s start and the like.

So, without further ado, start planning your Fall Saturday’s now.

September 3
Oregon Ducks at Boise State Broncos - 7:15 - ESPN

September 5
San Jose State Spartans at USC Trojans - 12:30 - FSN
Maryland Terrapins at California Golden Bears - 7:00 - ESPN2
LSU Tigers at Washington Huskies - 7:30 - ESPN

September 12
UCLA Bruins at Tennessee Volunteers - 1:00 - ESPN
USC Trojans at Ohio State Buckeyes - 5:00 - ABC
Purdue Boilermakers at Oregon Ducks - 3:45 - FSN
Oregon State Beavers at UNLV Rebels - 8:00 - CBS College Sports

September 19
USC Trojans at Washington Huskies - 12:30 - ABC
Utah Utes at Oregon Ducks - 12:30 - ESPN
Cincinnati Bearcats at Oregon State Beavers - 3:45 - FSN
Kansas State Wildcats at UCLA Bruins - 7:15 - FSN

September 26
California Golden Bears at Oregon Ducks - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 4:30 PM - Versus
TBA - 7:15 PM - FSN

October 3
Washington Huskies at Notre Dame Fighting Irish - 12:30 - NBC
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 4:00 - Versus
USC Trojans at California Golden Bears - 5:00 - ABC

October 10
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 4:00 - FSN

October 17
USC Trojans at Notre Dame Fighting Irish - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 4:30 - Versus
Washington Huskies at Arizona State Sun Devils - 7:00 - FSN

October 24
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
Oregon State Beavers at USC Trojans - 5:00 - ESPN Family of Networks
Arizona State Sun Devils at Stanford Cardinal - 7:15 - FSN

October 31
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
Washington State Cougars at Notre Dame Fighting Irish - 4:30 - NBC
USC Trojans at Oregon Ducks - 5:00 - ESPN Family of Networks

November 7
TBA - 12:30 - FSN
TBA - 4:00 - FSN
USC Trojans at Arizona State Sun Devils - 5:00 - ESPN Family of Networks

November 14
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 4:00 - Versus
TBA - 7:15 - FSN

November 21
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
TBA - 3:30 - Versus
TBA - 7:00 - FSN

November 28
TBA - 12:30 - ABC
Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Stanford Cardinal - 5:00 - ABC
UCLA Bruins at USC Trojans - 7:00 - FSN

December 3
Oregon State Beavers at Oregon Ducks - 6:00 - ESPN

December 5
Arizona Wildcats at USC Trojans - 12:30 - ABC

It’s officially football season, Pitchfork Nation!

The sun always comes up the next day, folks. Summertime always means a slowdown in news and info in the world of college and ASU sports, but we’ll do our best to make sure you’re getting the best insight and preview of the upcoming 2009 season.

Stay tuned, there’s still plenty to come.

Let’s face it. I’m used to getting knocked on my ass because of my teams over the past decade.

I’ve seen Garrison Hearst’s ankle fall victim to AstroTurf in an NFC Divisional Playoff game, Luis Gonzalez break up a dynasty in the state I now live in, Scott Spiezio and a dancing monkey derail a 1st world title since 1954, the greatest collapse in baseball history Alex Smith (period) and, most recently, a regular season dynamo get quashed by a band of Ducks in Round 1.

However, I’m usually quick to recover from crushing losses and bad memories. It’s just sport, after all, it’s not life.

Except for Alex Smith; may this era of the grand history of the San Francisco 49ers burn in hell.

This is why, naturally, I expected my usually optimistic personality and spirit to bounce back fairly quickly after Friday’s 4-3 walk-off loss to Texas to end the 2009 ASU baseball season four wins short of a National Championship.

However, when I sat down to write this here article yesterday afternoon, I couldn’t get the echo of the ping off Cameron Rowe’s bat out of my head.

This one hurt more because this one, out of all three of ASU’s College World Series apperances of this decade, seemed destined to end with a national title.

But you know what? It didn’t. And that sucks, especially considering the sudden end our Devils and all of us in Pitchfork Nation were subjected to.

In trying to find a silver lining outside of the superficial ones - Mike Leake’s ridiculous 16-1 season, Josh Spence’ and Kole Calhoun’s coming-out parties in Omaha, Jason Kipnis’ monster campaign, among others - I realzed that the real bright side is that we don’t have to get off this ride just yet.

After the 2005 and 2007 seasons, the Sun Devils lost a staggering amount of their core players to the pro ranks. It certainly showed in those two seasons immediately following.

The 2006 Sun Devils struggled mightily finding their idendity after losing guys like Jeff Larish, Nick Walsh, Jason Urquidez and Erik Averill. They never got the offense they needed all season and bowed out silently in the 2006 Waco Regional.

In ‘08, the Sun Devils showed a stirring lack of killer instinct, blowing leads and losing games they shouldn’t have. It all culminated on that horrendous Monday night on which we witnessed “The Incident” and, later on, an inexplicable 6 run inning to a Cinderella that went on to win a national title.

2010 will be like 2006 and 2008 in which it’s going to be a season where the program tries to get back from off the mat after coming up just short of the ultimate goal of being an NCAA champion.

What’s different here is the volume of core returning, something that should excite everyone here in Tempe.

Sure, we can dwell on the fact that Mike Leake and Josh Spence will most likely not be back. They were wonderful, dynamic and game-changing pitchers that will be missed.

Some may cry that the impending departure of Jason Kipnis will leave this team without a big stick in the middle of the lineup. It’s a fair assessment; he was only the 2009 Pac-10 Player of the Year.

It’s at this point which I can’t find any other reason to run for the Mill Avenue bridge and cleanly throw myself into Tempe Town Lake over this loss.

To the pitching dilemma, I say: Urquedez, Averill and Josh Satow were also dynamic game-chaning pitchers who left and we thought were irreplacable. I’m not standing here saying that in 2010, we’ll have another Golden Spikes finalist on the mound. I am saying that this program has a knack for finding tremendous hurlers year in and year out. I can’t tell you who right now, but I’m always optimistic that the next terrific arm is right around the corner for Arizona State. It’s just a hunch.

And to those who say that Kipnis’ impending departure will leave a gap in the lineup, I give you the upcoming senior seasons for Carlos Ramirez and Kole Calhoun, the steady eye of Zach MacPhee and Johnny Ruettiger and, again most likely, a fine crop of freshmen that always seems to produce a couple diamonds that will shine immediately upon their arrival at The WPB.

Despite the way it ended, and trust me, the echo of the ping will linger until next Spring, I’ve never been more optimistic about the immediate future of this program.

You should be too.

In a really ironic twist, the USC Trojans have hired Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Kevin O’Neill as their new bench boss.

O’Neill, of course, not two years ago was in line to be the next head coach of the Arizona Wildcats and guided UofA to a 19-15 record and the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08 in his one season as the team’s interim head coach. He assumed that role when Lute Olson took his leave of absence but then left the program when it was announced that Olson would return for 08-09.

Olson, of course, retired suddenly in October and Russ Pennell took over the program while O’Neill moved on to the NBA.

This all comes on the heels of the frenzy surrounding Tim Floyd, who reportedly turned down Arizona when they offered him their vacant head coaching position (which went to Sean Miller) because he was committed to buidling the tradition of USC basketball.

Floyd then suddenly resigned himself 10 days ago in the wake of the O.J. Mayo $1,000 scandal.

O’Neill’s hiring came only about an hour after this morning’s report that Reggie Theus, who was fired by the Sacramento Kings this season, had withdrawn his name from the coaching search. I wasn’t even aware that K-O was even in the mix to be the new man at USC.

All of you who know me personally or through this blog know that I’m never at a lack of words.

For the first time in a very, very long time, I’ve been rendered speechless. I had to drag myself off the couch just to write this brief post.

Don’t worry - in the near future, I’ll be back to dole out the feel goods to those who deserve them - Kole Calhoun, Josh Spence and, yes, even Mitchell Lambson - but right now, I’ve got nothing. I’m completely spent of emotion and energy.

To be brought up so high and then dropped to the floor, once again, hurts terribly.

Thanks for another thrilling run go out to ASU baseball. We’ll be back tomorrow here on PFN.

UPDATE (9:26 PM): It’s been decided here at Pitchfork Nation HQ that the official PFN ASU Baseball Wake will be taking place starting about 20 minutes from now at Rula Bula in Downtown Tempe. If you’re down about the loss, in the East Valley and need something to do, join us for a few beers and reflection on the season. Or just drink your sorrows away with us. We’ll be the ones in ASU gear looking semi-upset.

The heavy rain earlier in Omaha pushed back the start of today’s LSU/Arkansas game by nearly 2 hours. The game is currently in the top of the 7th inning and the Tigers have a commanding lead.

College World Series rules dictate that on double game days, the 2nd game will start 50 minutes after the first one ends.

So, right now, officials are generously guessing that the ASU/Texas game will start around 5:30 Arizona time. The game will still be carried on ESPN2 whenever it does start.

Plan on around 5:30, or an hour and a half after the the originally scheduled first pitch. Or, if you’re so inclined, watch the end of LSU/Arkansas (which has been anything but entertaining) and,when it ends, come back to the TV exactly 50 minutes afterwards.

The tarp is on the field at the College World Series and it’s currently delaying the start of today’s LSU/Arkansas game.

A loss for Arkansas would knock them out of the field and send the Tigers to yet another CWS championship series.

There’s no word yet as to how this will impact the start time for the ASU/Texas game, which is slotted for 6:00 Omaha time (4:00 here in Arizona).

We’ll keep you updated.

Who starts tonight?

We’ve basically got two options and both of them hurled against the Longhorns three nights ago in that 10-6 loss.

Seth Blair is one option…he came on in relief on Tuesday and didn’t get credit for an inning pitched. His box score literally should have read “0+” innings.

The other option, of course, is Mike Leake, who only lasted just over three innings in his most disastrous start of the season in the loss.

This is a quandry. It’s not as if you can justify not starting Leake, still your ace and still with a 16-2 record and sub-2.00 ERA, because he already went up against this Texas lineup and got knocked around.

Both are very viable options. I sincerely believe that Leake is at full strength after only throwing 77 pitches on Tuesday night and I’m not concerned with him possibly having to go deep tonight in what could be a pitchers duel as Texas will throw Cole Green (5-3, 3.08) against ASU.

Human nature, of course, is to declare that the Devils at least start Blair and save Leake for a relief appearance should the starter struggle and Arizona State gets down early…or if the Devils win tonight, we’d rather have the stud go in a potential Saturday pool championship game.

That argument is all well and good, but the cold, hard truth is that if Arizona State DOESN’T win tonight, we’ve got nothing to be concerned about on Saturday, because there will not be a game to play.

My gut, as one of the good friends of Pitchfork Nation said before the tournament started, is to dance with the guy who brought you.

Go with Leake.

Not now, of course. The Arizona State head coach is too busy preparing for two more games with the #1 team in the nation to worry about milestones.

However, we can’t let this go without at least giving Murph the kudos he deserves. Last night’s 12-5 victory over UNC was in fact victory #1,000 of his 24 year career in college baseball.

His career record stands at 1,000-455-4 and, if I know Murphy’s sense of history and humor as I think I do, he probably remembers each of those four ties vividly.

580 of those wins have come during his tenure in Tempe, including the 51 his team has racked up already during the 2009 season. These years at ASU also included that incredible 506 consecutive games between 1995 and 2004 in which his teams were not shut out.