Greg Hansen's top 10 sports villains in Tucson history
- Updated
Politicians, frauds and a Badger all made the list.Β
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today's list: the top 10 sports villains in Tucson history.Β
In the mid 1990s, the culture of high school football in Arizona changed forever, and with it the destiny of Tucson prep football.
The East Valley schools in the greater Phoenix area β particularly Scottsdale and Mesa β became magnets for top prospects Most notably, Scottsdale Saguaro, Scottsdale Chaparral and Mesa Mountain View became year-round football factories.
They had the resources, bulging enrollment numbers and the welcome mat that even the Arizona Interscholastics Association had difficulty regulating. The key words to become a football power were these: relocation and recruiting.
No one has felt the sting from the growth of suburban Phoenix football more than Tucson.
Over the last 20 years, those East Valley high schools have become a sports villain like few others in Tucson sports history. From 1997-2016, Saguaro, Mountain View and Chaparral are 9-1 in state championship games against Tucson teams. (And that doesnβt include Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep's 2008 state title win over 11-2 Santa Rita.)
In all, Tucson state championship game participants who were 136-7 have gone 1-10 against the East Valley in that stretch. Five of those Tucson teams were undefeated entering the state championship game Hereβs what happened:
Amphitheater, 13-0 in 1997, lost to Mountain View.
Sabino, 13-0 in 1997, lost to Mountain View.
Sunnyside, 13-0 in 2000, lost to Chapparal.
Canyon del Oro, 13-0 in 2010, lost to Saguaro.
Cienega, 13-0 in 2011, lost to Chapparal.
"Itβs like youβre fighting against a bank with an endless vault," Amphi coach Vern Friedli said in 1997. And wouldnβt he know it? Friedliβs 12-1 Panthers of 1990, lost to Mesa High School, a precursor of an era of high school football that has been dominated by the so-called villains of the East Valley.
Hereβs our Top 10 list of sports villains in Tucson:Β
When the politicians debated where to build a spring training facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, political allies Raul Grijalva, Steve Leal and Dan Eckstrom insisted on an Ajo Way and South Country Club site and fought against a stadium near Interstate 10 downtown.
"We are potentially setting up a jewel," Grijalva said on May 31, 1996. "Itβs a place that will automatically attract people, whether itβs for services or entertainment. Weβre establishing the magnet and the interest."
That interest was never developed. The Kino Sports Complex was not a jewel but an out-of-the-way bust. Tucson no longer has spring training or minor-league baseball.Β
From 1958-79, Kushβs ASU football program routinely humbled Arizona, winning 16 of 22 games, including nine straight from 1965-73. Until Kush was fired in β79, ASUβs sports profile dominated that of Arizona.Β
The Tucson businessman sold the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders to a group who moved the franchise to Reno Nevada, in 2008, and although the Tucson Padres played at Kino Stadium from 2011-13, it effectively ended minor-league baseballβs 40-year run in Tucson.Β
He coached Arizonaβs football program to a 16-18-1 record from 1977-79, but an NCAA investigation discovered illegal payments and a slush fund to benefit players and coaches. The UA was placed on an NCAA probation from 1982-84, preventing it from playing in bowl games and on live TV.Β
In back-to-back Elite Eight basketball games against Arizona, 2014 and 2015, Wisconsinβs 7-foot center scored 57 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, crushing the UAβs Final Four hopes in painful exits in Los Angeles and Anaheim.Β
The only Tucson winner against the resources-laden schools from the East Valley was Dennis Beneβs 2013 Salpointe Catholic team, which beat Chaparral 46-20 in the title game.Β
As Arizonaβs basketball program rose to power on a national scale, the No. 1 Wildcats of 1987-88 and the No. 8 Wildcats of 1988-89, both lost at Stanford in years they went 17-1 to win the Pac-10. The common theme: Stanford shooting ace Todd Lichti scored 58 points in those two down-to-the-buzzer finishes, including a 35-point outburst in β89 when he scored 21 of Stanfordβs final 32 points.Β
The Sooners eliminated Arizona from the NCAA tournament three times (1988, 1999, 2002), including a Final Four and a Sweet 16. The connection to those three exits: defense. Arizona shot just 39 percent overall against the Sooners, including Steve Kerrβs heartbreaking 2-for-13 total at the 1988 Final Four.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Most UA fans know the Peete story: He was probably the stateβs top high school athlete at Sahuaro from 1981-84, helping the Cougars to state basketball and baseball titles, and becoming the stateβs most coveted quarterback recruit. But he transferred to a Kansas City suburb for his senior year, 1984-85, and chose to play at USC, where ex-UA coach Larry Smith was in his first season as head coach. Peete was 3-0 against Arizona, effectively knocking the Wildcats from the 1986 Rose Bowl race in a 20-13 win in Tucson, completing two touchdown passes. In all, Peete beat three UA teams that were a combined 13-4-2 on game day. Peete was a key player in two Rose Bowls at USC. Arizona? None.Β
The latest entry on this list is the Washington State coach and quarterback tandem. In 2015 and 2016 victories over Arizona, Falk, using Leachβs system, has passed for 982 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. Last yearβs 69-7 victory over Arizona was the UAβs worst loss since 1949. Bad news: Leach and Falk are scheduled to play at Arizona Stadium on Oct. 28.
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today's list: the top 10 sports villains in Tucson history.Β
In the mid 1990s, the culture of high school football in Arizona changed forever, and with it the destiny of Tucson prep football.
The East Valley schools in the greater Phoenix area β particularly Scottsdale and Mesa β became magnets for top prospects Most notably, Scottsdale Saguaro, Scottsdale Chaparral and Mesa Mountain View became year-round football factories.
They had the resources, bulging enrollment numbers and the welcome mat that even the Arizona Interscholastics Association had difficulty regulating. The key words to become a football power were these: relocation and recruiting.
No one has felt the sting from the growth of suburban Phoenix football more than Tucson.
Over the last 20 years, those East Valley high schools have become a sports villain like few others in Tucson sports history. From 1997-2016, Saguaro, Mountain View and Chaparral are 9-1 in state championship games against Tucson teams. (And that doesnβt include Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep's 2008 state title win over 11-2 Santa Rita.)
In all, Tucson state championship game participants who were 136-7 have gone 1-10 against the East Valley in that stretch. Five of those Tucson teams were undefeated entering the state championship game Hereβs what happened:
Amphitheater, 13-0 in 1997, lost to Mountain View.
Sabino, 13-0 in 1997, lost to Mountain View.
Sunnyside, 13-0 in 2000, lost to Chapparal.
Canyon del Oro, 13-0 in 2010, lost to Saguaro.
Cienega, 13-0 in 2011, lost to Chapparal.
"Itβs like youβre fighting against a bank with an endless vault," Amphi coach Vern Friedli said in 1997. And wouldnβt he know it? Friedliβs 12-1 Panthers of 1990, lost to Mesa High School, a precursor of an era of high school football that has been dominated by the so-called villains of the East Valley.
Hereβs our Top 10 list of sports villains in Tucson:Β
When the politicians debated where to build a spring training facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, political allies Raul Grijalva, Steve Leal and Dan Eckstrom insisted on an Ajo Way and South Country Club site and fought against a stadium near Interstate 10 downtown.
"We are potentially setting up a jewel," Grijalva said on May 31, 1996. "Itβs a place that will automatically attract people, whether itβs for services or entertainment. Weβre establishing the magnet and the interest."
That interest was never developed. The Kino Sports Complex was not a jewel but an out-of-the-way bust. Tucson no longer has spring training or minor-league baseball.Β
From 1958-79, Kushβs ASU football program routinely humbled Arizona, winning 16 of 22 games, including nine straight from 1965-73. Until Kush was fired in β79, ASUβs sports profile dominated that of Arizona.Β
The Tucson businessman sold the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders to a group who moved the franchise to Reno Nevada, in 2008, and although the Tucson Padres played at Kino Stadium from 2011-13, it effectively ended minor-league baseballβs 40-year run in Tucson.Β
He coached Arizonaβs football program to a 16-18-1 record from 1977-79, but an NCAA investigation discovered illegal payments and a slush fund to benefit players and coaches. The UA was placed on an NCAA probation from 1982-84, preventing it from playing in bowl games and on live TV.Β
In back-to-back Elite Eight basketball games against Arizona, 2014 and 2015, Wisconsinβs 7-foot center scored 57 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, crushing the UAβs Final Four hopes in painful exits in Los Angeles and Anaheim.Β
The only Tucson winner against the resources-laden schools from the East Valley was Dennis Beneβs 2013 Salpointe Catholic team, which beat Chaparral 46-20 in the title game.Β
As Arizonaβs basketball program rose to power on a national scale, the No. 1 Wildcats of 1987-88 and the No. 8 Wildcats of 1988-89, both lost at Stanford in years they went 17-1 to win the Pac-10. The common theme: Stanford shooting ace Todd Lichti scored 58 points in those two down-to-the-buzzer finishes, including a 35-point outburst in β89 when he scored 21 of Stanfordβs final 32 points.Β
The Sooners eliminated Arizona from the NCAA tournament three times (1988, 1999, 2002), including a Final Four and a Sweet 16. The connection to those three exits: defense. Arizona shot just 39 percent overall against the Sooners, including Steve Kerrβs heartbreaking 2-for-13 total at the 1988 Final Four.Β
Most UA fans know the Peete story: He was probably the stateβs top high school athlete at Sahuaro from 1981-84, helping the Cougars to state basketball and baseball titles, and becoming the stateβs most coveted quarterback recruit. But he transferred to a Kansas City suburb for his senior year, 1984-85, and chose to play at USC, where ex-UA coach Larry Smith was in his first season as head coach. Peete was 3-0 against Arizona, effectively knocking the Wildcats from the 1986 Rose Bowl race in a 20-13 win in Tucson, completing two touchdown passes. In all, Peete beat three UA teams that were a combined 13-4-2 on game day. Peete was a key player in two Rose Bowls at USC. Arizona? None.Β
The latest entry on this list is the Washington State coach and quarterback tandem. In 2015 and 2016 victories over Arizona, Falk, using Leachβs system, has passed for 982 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. Last yearβs 69-7 victory over Arizona was the UAβs worst loss since 1949. Bad news: Leach and Falk are scheduled to play at Arizona Stadium on Oct. 28.
Tags
View this profile on Instagram#ThisIsTucson π΅ (@this_is_tucson) β’ Instagram photos and videos
Most viewed stories
-
Ring in 2026 at these fun local New Year's Eve events π₯³
-
Looking ahead to Tucson's new and cool for '26
-
What a delicious year: the best meals I ate in Tucson in 2025 π
-
New eats! 10 new restaurants that opened in Tucson this fall
-
23 exciting events to start your new year, January 2-4 2026! πͺ©β¨
-
Over 20 fun events to do in Tucson December 26-28 π
-
Tania's 33 and 12 other places to find bomb menudo in Tucson
-
A list of places that will be open on Christmas Day 2025
-
Can Arizona wineries woo Gen Z? Vineyard owners say they have to π·
-
Over 40 free events happening in Tucson this December! β