Valley Sports

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver was on KTAR (620 AM) Friday afternoon. As the interview concluded he engaged in some off-color banter with co-host John Gambadoro. The dialogue was sexual in nature and completely inappropriate, not only for an afternoon talk show but for the owner of a professional sports team.
I could just imagine a father taking his kids to the game, tuning in to the team’s flagship station and hearing Sarver discuss topics that are better suited for Howard Stern and satellite radio.
I also thought: Jerry Colangelo never would say anything like that.
A piece of advice, Robert. You’re not 14 years old. Think before you talk.

Disgraced former NBA referee Tom Donaghy has made some serious accusations about his former co-workers in a book that he hoped to get published but won’t because there’s no corroboration for his charges.
One of Donaghy’s charges concerns the 2007 Suns-Spurs playoff series. You know, the series in which Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 5. I won’t name the referee here because there’s no way to know if Donaghy is telling the truth, but he alleges a certain official wanted San Antonio to remain in the playoffs because he liked traveling to the city.
The accusation seems ridiculous but it’s sure to rile up Suns fans who still believe the NBA and commissioner David Stern has it out for them.

As I write this, Game 1 of the World Series is less than two hours away. I was right on in my NLCS and ALCS predictions, so I thought I’d try to keep the streak going in the Fall Classic.
Clearly, this is a matchup of baseball’s two best teams. The Yankees and Phillies have proven their superiority, and that could make for a World Series classic.
Who do I like?
Well, both teams have unhittable aces (CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee) and powerful, deep lineups. The Phillies may be the only club in baseball that is New York’s equal one through nine.
The one huge advantage the Yankees have is their bullpen, despite Phil Hughes’ blowup against the Angels in the ALCS. And given the way New York makes pitchers work, thus shortening their nights, the Phillies’ suspect bullpen could be exposed in a big way.
That’s why I like the Yankees in 6.

Arizona State wide receiver Kyle Williams, who leads the team with 34 receptions, didn’t make the trip to California and won’t play in Saturday’s game against Stanford.
Williams has been bothered by a sore hamstring.
Williams’ injury could be significant that both of Stanford’s cornerbacks are making their first career start: Sophomore Johnson Bademosi and freshman Quinn Evans.
On another front, there are whispers throughout the ASU program that sophomore running back Ryan Bass needs an attitude adjustment. Bass was supposed to be a major part of the Sun Devils’ offense, but he is listed as the third-string tailback behind Dimitri Nance and Cameron Marshall.
Reportedly, Bass’ effort in practice hasn’t been to the liking of coach Dennis Erickson. Don’t be surprised if an unhappy Bass thinks about transferring after the season.

If last week’s Pac-10 football games taught us anything, it’s this: The conference hierarchy is still a mess.

You have Oregon and USC at the top, and Washington State on the bottom. From No. 3 through 9… well, take your pick. Stanford was making a case for No. 3 in the pecking order before blowing a 15-point lead to Arizona. Washington looked like it had turned things around with some impressive showings (knocking off USC) before self-destructing against ASU.

How will it shake out? It might be one of those seasons where home-field advantage and turnovers decide the majority of these games.

ASU already lost to Oregon State and still has games against USC and Oregon remaining. Assuming losses to those two, the Devils must win two of the following four games to become bowl eligible: at Stanford, vs. Cal, at UCLA, vs. Arizona. Anything more than two wins and they could be in the mix for third or fourth place in the Pac-10, which is a lot better than many predicted coming into the season.

PAC-10 STANDINGS

(Overall record in parentheses)

Oregon (5-1)……..3-0

USC (5-1)…………..2-1

ASU (4-2)………….2-1

Arizona (4-2)……..2-1

Oregon St. (4-2)…..2-1

Stanford (4-3)……..3-2

Washington (4-3)…2-2

California (4-2)…….1-2

UCLA (3-3)………….0-3

Wash. State (1-5)….0-4

A few notes of interest which emerged from ASU men’s basketball media day on Thursday …

–Practice can officially begin on Friday, but freshman forward Victor Rudd probably won’t be there. He’s waiting for some paperwork approval from the NCAA clearinghouse. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but while the vibe was it wouldn’t take long for this to be sorted out, nobody at ASU could give a reasonable timetable. It’s at the whim of the NCAA. Could be Friday, could be Monday, could be in two weeks.

Rudd is a 6-foot-7 forward from Los Angeles who played last season at Findlay Prep near Las Vegas last season before leaving the school early  following an altercation. He finished school at home (which might have something to do with this NCAA process).

–Apparently when you lose James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA, another shake-up was required. Acording to senior point guard Derek Glasser, this will essentially be his fifth different offensive system in four years at ASU.

(Replacing those two in some form was, understandably, asked about to players and coach Herb Sendek in about 125 different ways).

–For the little it’s worth at this point, freshman Trent Lockett (Hopkins, Minn.) drew the most praise among the newcomers.

–Juniors Jamelle McMillan and Ty Abbott looked like they gained 10 pounds.

–Sendek gushed optimism surrounding center Eric Boateng, predicting an “outstanding” season for the 6-foot-10 senior.

–Assistant coach Scott Pera was not in attendance for media day.  He was recruiting big men in New Jersey.

Let’s start with the National League Championship Series:
The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing great baseball, and their bullpen is so deep and talented it could make the difference in a seven-game series. Conversely, the Philadelphia Phillies have end-of-the-game issues with Brad Lidge as closer.
That said, I think the Phillies’ top two starters - Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee - will tame the Dodgers’ bats, and Philadelphia’s lineup is just too strong for L.A.’s spotty starting pitching.
Give me the Phillies in seven.
In the American League Championship Series, I just don’t see how the Yankees can lose to the Los Angeles Angels. Their starting pitching is superior, their everyday lineup is superior and they have the unhittable Mariano Rivera to close things out.
The Angels’ only chance is if John Lackey outpitches CC Sabathia in Game 1 and changes the tone of the series. But even then, the Yankees’ power eventually will have its way with L.A.’s pitching staff.
Yankees in six.

Is it just me, or are there more unbelievably bad NFL teams this season than ever before?
The Oakland Raiders won’t win another game this season. The St. Louis Rams are unwatchable. The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns on Sunday may have played the worst game of the past 20 years this past Sunday. Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson completed 2 of 17 passes, and the Browns won!
I haven’t even mentioned the winless Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Usually, there’s two or three teams that are the dregs of the league. This year, we could have six or seven clubs that fail to win four games.
Conversely, there will be more clubs that finish with at least 12 wins because they have so many sure things on the schedule. The Denver Broncos, for example, play Oakland and Kansas City twice. The Saints can feast four times on the Buccaneers and fading Carolina Panthers.
The disparity makes for some dreadful Sundays. Who wants to watch the Giants drill the Raiders so badly that Eli Manning doesn’t even play in the second half?
At least the Cardinals, even with all their inconsistencies, have a chance to win almost every week. That’s more than you can say for a lot of NFL teams.

Danny Sullivan will remain Arizona State’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Washington State, coach Dennis Erickson said Monday.
Erickson said Sullivan “did some awfully good things” in last Saturday’s 28-17 loss to Oregon State. “He threw it and successfully managed the game pretty well. He did nothing in that game to take away from being the starter in my opinion.”
Erickson also pointed out that, “Sullivan didn’t lose the football game by any means. Everybody was involved with that.”
Sullivan was 32 of 58 for 338 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
Erickson didn’t rule out the possibility of freshman Brock Osweiler playing against the Cougars this Saturday. He said he would make that decision later in the week.
Sullivan was much more composed Monday than he was after the Oregon State loss. He said he received moral support from family members, friends and teammates the last 48 hours and paid no attention to what was being written or said about him.
Sullivan was appreciative of Erickson’s support - “it means a lot,” - but acknowledged that he has to improve to hold onto the starting job.
“Am I going to pick myself up and get better or continue not to play the way I want to play?” he said. “On crucial downs I’m not helping the football team win. It’s frustrating. That’s not the way I want to play. That’s not the way I intended it to be. I’ve got to get better and help this team.”
Erickson said he knows fans are clamoring for Osweiler but that, “when it comes to football decisions, I think I’ll make those.”
In other ASU news:
Defensive end Dexter Davis, the only player in the country to have double-digit sacks the last two years, doesn’t have a sack after four games this season.
Erickson said teams are keeping a tight end or running back in to help block Davis.
“If I was playing us, that’s what I would do,” he said.
Erickson said he doesn’t expect to get injured linemen Matt Hustad (knee) or Zach Schlink (knee) back this week, but center Garth Gerhart (toe) will play, and safety Ryan McFoy (foot) should be back as well.

Tonight’s dreadful offensive output has Arizona State quarterback Danny Sullivan on the hot seat.

And, as the fans who chanted ‘We want Brock’ will attest, the popular choice to replace him is strong-armed true freshman Brock Osweiler. Osweiler has ascended the depth chart and has all the measurables to become a good quarterback.

But in the rush to anoint Osweiler ASU’s next big thing, Samson Szakacsy has been completely forgotten.

The big question mark surrounding Szakacsy is his health. Elbow problems have hindered him since high school, and I’m not even sure if he could withstand an entire season without doing more damage.

However, if Szakacsy is healthy enough to play, he’s an intriguing option for the Sun Devils.

Szakacsy will never put up consistent 300-yard passing games or be a long-bomb threat. But if you put him and Ryan Bass in the backfield, it becomes a lot harder for opponents to defend.

As it stands, the read-option that ASU does has bark but no bite, because Sullivan is not a threat to run. The same would hold true with Osweiler. While the possibility technically exists for the quarterback to pull back the ball and run it himself, Sullivan and Osweiler wouldn’t do it regularly.

But Szakacsy can beat teams with his legs, which would force defenses to stay honest. In turn, this makes play-action passes better and forces teams out of the Cover 2 packages that hinder big passing plays.

Oregon has great success using running quarterbacks in recent years. Arizona State should consider it.