One Fine Day

Dawn came around 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Converging weather fronts caused the local sky to be scattered with clouds of various sizes, shapes, and colors. A thin veil of cirrus clouds covered enough of the eastern horizon to delay full daylight for another 15 minutes. Swirling, angry thunderheads roamed the western horizon. Thunderbolts fired from their billowing tops as they moved en masse to the northeast. Arizona hasn’t had much rain in the last couple of years, so any rain is welcome even if it comes on a Saturday.

We surveilled the first fairway in partial darkness. The morning dew dampened our shoes and chilled our toes. Practice swings and stretching exercises began in earnest. Light overtook the darkness and before us, like Brigadoon appearing from the mist, the emerald contours of a desert links course emerged. We were to be the first golfers out this glorious fall morning, a special treat indeed.

The weather systems took the entire morning to sort themselves out. We finished our round in 3.5 hours, less than half the time it would take people who teed off later in the day. Our rounds were decent, a few negligent shots tempted our patience, but the fact that the course was open and ours deflected the ill-effects of squandered birdies and pars. A few sprinkles sputtered onto us on the 13th fairway.

By afternoon the storms had found common ground, gathered their forces, and moved on Phoenix. Thunder, lightning, some hail, and a steady rain soaked area. I was safe, dry, and comfortably ensconced in football watching chair when the rains came. A number of fine games graced the tube: Notre Dame winning, Michigan losing, Miami winning. Better yet, my brother and I would be setting off to see Arizona State and Washington play this evening. It would be my first football game of the year.

Arizona State hired a bright, innovative coach last year. In his first year, Dirk Koetter’s Sun Devils were physically and emotionally outmatched by bigger, stronger, PAC 10 opponents. Koetter was hired from Boise State where his teams were known for their attacking vertical offense and inventive defense. He replaced Bruce Snyder, a gentleman and intellect, who had lost his taste for coaching. Koetter inherited a team with considerable talent albeit infected with Coach Snyder’s malaise. Coach Snyder’s upperclassmen deserted Coach Koetter. The unhappy Sun Devils were drilled week in and week out.

Koetter weeded his team of malcontents during the off season. ASU came into season with a handful of upperclassmen on the roster and most experts picked the young ASU team to finish 9th in the PAC 10. The season got off on an ominous note when the Sun Devils visited Nebraska in the season opener. First game jitters, the horrifying specter of playing before the bloodthirsty, front-running fans in Lincoln, and special team foul-ups lead to a misleading 48-10 defeat for the young Sun Devils.

Since that first game, the Sun Devils have won six of the seven games they’ve played. They have marquee wins against Oregon and Oregon State. They’ve overmatched a couple of non-conference cream puffs Eastern Washington, Central Florida, and San Diego State. They demolished Stanford. Their lone loss was to North Carolina in a very strange, yet educational, 38-35 game. Tonight’s match against the powerhouse Huskies would test the mettle of Koetter’s young team.

My brother and I were born and raised in Michigan. Weather is part of our heritage. Neither he nor I would miss a football game because of rain. When the weather’s bad, a fan gears up to ward off the elements. I inventoried my wardrobe as the rain fell. Desert living had taken a toll on my foul weather gear. I was short the parkas, gloves, hat, and boots that most Michiganders have at the ready. I’d need Mother Nature’s help to keep me warm and dry.

Mother Nature’s run lasted 90 minutes, or so. A good soaking cleansed the air of dirt, dust, and particulates. The desert smelled of wet creosote. Drought hearty plants, such as lantana, sucked in the moisture and would later burst forth in flower. The air was damp, heavy, and chilled. It was perfect football weather.

All fans love winners and Phoenix is no exception. Phoenix loves winners and ignores losers. The young Sun Devils are in the no man’s land between winners and losers. Front running fans haven’t yet embraced them. Tickets are easy to find and cheap to buy. Right now, they’re the best entertainment value in town.

The population of Phoenix is nearly three million. Most current Phoenicians are from somewhere else. Sports loyalties of most Phoenicians work like this: fans root for their previous hometown team/alma mater first. Then they root for whichever Phoenix team happens to be winning. It is not uncommon for Phoenix teams to play home games where more Phoenix residents are rooting for the opposition, especially when the local team plays teams from the Rust Belt, New York, or Philly. Most Phoenicians are more loyal to their hometown than they are to their new neighborhood.

Phoenix teams rely on rabid fans for their season ticket base. They know if they open the gates that rabid fans will come. There are enough rabid football, hockey, baseball, and basketball fans to fill the local arenas and stadiums to half their capacities. The remainder of seats sit empty for next Phoenix team to win regularly or for the next big out of town draw to come to town.

Phoenix teams spend aggressive courting loyal fans. Loyal fans are a much harder catch. Loyal fans spend their ticket money to connect with the past and the present. Loyal fans take time to nurture. Oftentimes, loyal fandom is passed from generation to generation. Loyal fandom is sometimes a birthright. The longest tenured professional team in town, the Suns, began playing in 1968. At best, two generations of Phoenicians share Suns memories. Compare that with multiple generations of Detroit Lions fans swapping tales and memories from the Lions’ glory days as they settle into their Thanksgiving dinner. The Lions are threaded through life. The Suns are looking for the eye of the needle.

So it is that my brother find the stadium sixty percent filled for what looks on paper to be a fine college football game. Washington, though a little off their normal form, has an illustrious football history. Thousands of fans have made their way from Seattle to Tempe for tonight’s game. Washington fans come in all shapes, sizes, and ages—a testament to their generations of loyal, loving fans. Maybe the rain kept people away. Maybe.

Too bad for Washington fans that the powers that be at UW settled for the overrated Coach Neuheisel, the enfant terrible of college football coaches. Neuheisel, who guided Tempe McClintock High School to the Arizona 5A State Championship, unexpectedly jumped from the University of Colorado to Washington a couple of years ago. Earlier this year, Colorado was put on NCAA probation for violations incurred during Neuheisel’s tenure. Neuheisel coaches Washington while Colorado suffers for his sins. Hmmm! What’s wrong there?

Anyway, when it comes to coaching, Neuheisel is all hat and no cattle. When the going gets tough, Neuheisel takes off. He left UCLA in a pique when he didn’t get the head job there. He left the Colorado program in the gutter. And if Saturday night’s performance is judge, the Washington program is beginning to sputter. Neuheisel paced the sidelines without enthusiam. His team was looking down the barrel of three straight losses. Huskie fans, a long way from home, didn't like what they saw.

ASU dominated the Huskies 27-16. Washington scored twice in the last four minutes against the ASU scout team. Neuheisel’s charges were lethargic and unprepared. ASU was two steps quicker all night long. Huskies fans were grumbling. ASU fans were delighted.

Koetter’s charges were brilliant. They were well prepared. On change of possessions they sprinted into formations and called signals quickly. Washington was left to run all over the field trying to match ASU’s deployments. Receivers were free to run by defenders who were sprinting into their positions. On fourth and short, ASU lined up in the hoary T formation—two halfbacks and a fullback all lined up in the backfield. Washington had no idea who was getting the ball and where they were going. (On one fourth and short the fullback carried for a first down; on the second fourth and short a halfback dropped a pass when he was 10 yards behind the Washington defense and about to score an uncontested touchdown.)

Not a bad day. First off in the morning. A Sun Devil victory at night. Wish everyday was like this.