Every sports season is going to have its fair share of disappointments.
But it sure seemed like 2016 was chock full of tragedy for Tucson sports fans.
There were harrowing losses — the passing of Arizona center Zach Hemmila still haunts the Wildcats — and near-misses, like Tucson Roadrunners winger Craig Cunningham’s brush with death on the ice. There were also losses on a much smaller scale, albeit devastating to the town’s favorite teams, like Arizona’s surprise loss to Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Ultimately, the entire year begged one question.
Is it over yet?
Here are the six worst sports moments in Tucson in 2016:
Arizona loses one
of its own
Arizona’s football program was dealt a difficult blow just before the season.
Zach Hemmila was expected to take over as Arizona’s starting center, but the senior from Chandler died in his sleep amidst fall practices.
The Wildcats honored Hemmila, naming him an honorary captain for the season-opening game against BYU at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale and presenting his family with a plaque before the home opener against Grambling State. Players wore a sticker on their helmets with Hemmila’s “ZH” initials, and coaches did the same on their hats.
It made for a somber Senior Day. Arizona’s senior class ran out without Hemmila, a member of Rich Rodriguez’s first recruiting class, and openly stated they would play the game in his honor. The Wildcats went on to defeat Arizona State.
— Zack Rosenblatt
Cunningham suffers cardiac arrest on ice
It was going to be just any other game, until, shockingly, it wasn’t.
On Nov. 19, just as the opening faceoff was about to get underway, Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham collapsed to the ice.
Teammates looked on in horror, fans were stunned into silence, referees skated over and frantically beckoned medical attention. Trainers, EMTs, even a group of firefighters who happened to be on the ice to perform the national anthem, rushed to his aid.
Recently, Cunningham’s doctors detailed the frightening situation: He’d suffered a cardiac arrest on the ice and required more than 85 minutes of nonstop CPR.
The 26-year-old former Boston Bruins and Arizona Coyotes forward held his first press conference since the incident on Dec. 21, announcing his imminent release from Banner-University Medical Center.
— Jon Gold
Miller, Cats sweat it out
in NCAA Tournament loss
To the vast majority of college basketball viewers, the lasting image of the Arizona Wildcats’ brief 2016 NCAA Tournament appearance is probably this: Their coach yelling and gesturing frantically, jacket off and white dress shirt fully soaked in sweat.
Three weeks after Wichita State upended the Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, UA coach Sean Miller said it was probably a good thing if that’s what stuck in everyone’s mind.
The game itself was not the sort of thing the Wildcats want to be remembered for.
In their first-ever first-round NCAA Tournament loss under Miller, the Wildcats were chewed up by the Shockers’ tenacious man-to-man defense, which extended out and occasionally pressed.
Miller called a timeout 53 seconds into the game to avoid one potential turnover, but the UA missed 11 straight shots early in the game and things never improved. The Wildcats had 19 turnovers, seven of them by point guard Kadeem Allen.
The loss put a quick end to the college careers of four seniors: Kaleb Tarczewski, Gabe York, Ryan Anderson and Mark Tollefsen. Tarczewski and York were four-year Wildcats, while Anderson and Tollefsen both transferred to Arizona for a chance in part to play in the tournament.
“I love all these guys,” Anderson said, tearing up in the locker room afterward. “I love all the coaches. I love everyone involved in this program. It’s just tough when it’s over.”
Miller said he would miss the seniors’ leadership, resolve and character, and a few weeks later he expressed “great regret” over one other thing: That dress shirt.
“It seemed like something happened to me, like I was sick or I was a raving lunatic on the sideline, that I sweated at a level that’s never been seen before,” Miller said. “But the truth be told, I tried a new shirt that was positioned to me as being more breathable ... which means less material.
“Clearly I made an error not having an undershirt, and no question I had a bad night, coupled with the fact that we lost.”
— Bruce Pascoe
Wildcats come this close
Make no bones about it — Arizona made a remarkable run to the College World Series final, and there really is no way to view the Wildcats season other than in a positive light.
That doesn’t make the ending sting any less.
The Wildcats, a team picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 in the preseason, trailed Coastal Carolina by one run in the final inning of the college baseball season.
Ryan Haug, Arizona’s catcher, was at the plate, two outs, with two runners in scoring position. A hit would win College World Series, an out would lose it.
Haug struck out swinging. Coastal Carolina stormed the field in celebration as Arizona watched, in agony.
“I wanted that so badly for them,” UA coach Jay Johnson said at the time. “It’s not going away for a while. We’ll regroup, because we have each other. (But) this is going to stick, and it’s nothing personally.”
Key Wildcats kept
from competition
Elliott Pitts wore khakis. Allonzo Trier prefers the sweatsuit look.
The UA basketball players’ inability to suit up over long periods of time without an explanation has combined to create a continuing opaque cloud over the Arizona basketball program, adding to an understaffed roster that lost Ray Smith when he tore an ACL for the third time in the preseason.
Pitts, a key reserve last season, played in eight games before sitting out for 18 games for what Miller would only call a “personal issue,” and then he disappeared from the team completely in mid-February.
While Pitts was never charged by police, the Star later found that he was suspended from the school over a finding of sexual misconduct. Pitts is now attending a junior college near his Northern California home.
This season, it was Trier’s turn to sit on the bench. Miller said in mid-October that he would not address “rumors” about Trier’s eligibility status and his stance hasn’t changed even as Trier has now sat out 13 games because of an unexplained suspension.
The NCAA also declined to comment on Trier, though there have been some clues about his situation: Miller said in early December that the NCAA had cleared Trier to travel with the Wildcats when he was not allowed to in November, and Miller said that the academic calendar is not related to Trier’s issue. That could suggest that the case is fully back in the NCAA’s hands and that academics are not an issue.
Since the NCAA usually announces suspensions related to improper benefits, Trier’s case appears to be of another sort and the length of his unexplained absence suggests it is highly unusual or precedent-setting in nature.
Trier’s absence has left the Wildcats with just seven active scholarship players for much of the season, considering Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s high ankle sprain, Talbott Denny’s torn ACL and Smith’s heartbreaking retirement.
Smith, sidelined with ACL tears first before his senior year of high school and second during the 2015-16 preseason, went up for a layup in his first college exhibition game Nov. 1 and suffered another tear.
He fell to the floor and swiped his hand across his neck, perhaps signaling the end. Two days later, he announced his retirement from the game on Twitter.
“In the 25 years I have been a college basketball coach, I have never felt as helpless as I did when I saw him go down on Tuesday night,” Miller said.
“No 19-year-old kid should have to experience three season-ending injuries in a 30-month period of time. I have watched Ray work with our strength and conditioning coach tirelessly for two years. I have seen him in our training room around the clock, doing everything he can to play the game he loves. To witness his extraordinary efforts and see this happen to him once again is beyond disheartening.”
— Bruce Pascoe
Wildcats, RichRod
bottom out
Two years ago, Rich Rodriguez and the Wildcats football program were on cloud nine after a shocking run to the Pac-12 South title and 10 wins.
Everything went right that season.
Everything went wrong in this one.
It started with the passing of Hemmila and continued as the Wildcats were decimated by injuries at quarterback, running back and linebacker.
At one point against USC, the Wildcats were playing their third-string tight end at quarterback (Matt Morin) and a converted receiver (Tyrell Johnson) at running back. Samajie Grant eventually established himself as the Wildcats’ best, healthiest option at running back after spending his first three years at wide receiver.
The Wildcats lost all but one conference game, and the loss to Washington State (69-7) was one of the worst in school history.
Arizona finished 3-9, saving a near unforgivable collapse with a win against Arizona State. The troubles extended into the offseason, too, as cornerbacks coach and top recruiter Donté Williams bolted for Nebraska and quarterback Anu Solomon announced plans to transfer.
– Zack Rosenblatt
