Well, it certainly was a year.
It wasnโt just a pandemic that brought Tucson down in 2020. There were sudden losses and seasons put on ice, self-imposed wounds and those brought upon by others.
The only thing we know is this: Thank the heavens thatโs over.
Here are the 10 worst moments in Tucson sports in 2020, and Tuesday, weโll share our hopes for a brighter tomorrow with our 10 biggest wishes for 2021.
Tucson loses a legend
On Aug. 27, the lights went out in Tucson. Lute Olson, the adopted son who had turned a city into a destination, died less than a month shy of his 86th birthday. His passing, which came a year after he suffered a stroke, rocked a community that was already reeling from a pandemic and the fall from grace of Olsonโs once-lofty program.
Coronavirus shuts it all down
March 12, 2020, will long be remembered in infamy as the day the NCAA officially canceled the Division 1 menโs and womenโs 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. In one fell swoop, down went baseball and softball, golf and tennis, track & field and beach volleyball. Tucson, a city that relies on Arizona athletics not just for its entertainment but for its soul, was especially impacted.
Territorial Cup
Two years after a 61-14 shellacking at the hands of ASU in 1951, Arizona bounced back with a 35-0 shutout over the Sun Devils. So there have been blowouts in the Territorial Cup before. Thatโs nothing new. But 70-7? Thatโs not a blowout, thatโs an implosion. Thatโs an all-out collapse. Thatโs a battle only one side is fighting with silly string. It sure ainโt fun.
Wildcat women shelved
Adia Barnes had already missed out on one Sweet 16: After a crushing 80-74 loss to No. 2 Georgia in the 1997 NCAA Tournament โ Arizonaโs first appearance in program history โ Barnes graduated later that year, only to see the Wildcats advance to the second weekend just one year later. The Wildcats havenโt been back since. They might have been last year, had the NCAA Tournament not been canceled. Now UA has its sights set on the Sweet 16 and beyond.
Tucson Rodeo on the ropes
February of 2020 was such an innocent time. The Coronavirus was but a faint whisper, we ate in restaurants, danced to our heartsโ content and moseyed on down to the La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo. Little did we know it would be one of the last remaining rodeos of the 2020 season, which was mostly canceled due to the pandemic. Such uncertainty still plagues the rodeo circuit, and it was announced in November that the 2021 rodeo would be canceled, the first time in its 95-year history. Even worse, erstwhile general manager Gary Williams announced his retirement, dealing another blow to the local institution.
El Tour pushed to spring
In 2019, El Tour de Tucson charities raised nearly $6 million, pushing the overall total across the $100 million mark since its inception in 1983. One of the cityโs best fundraisers and community events, Tucson lost a great deal with the postponement of the event to April 2021. Perhaps the delay will renew a sense of giving, but what was a yearly November fixture sadly went by the wayside.
Basketball self-bans from postseason
Losing one NCAA Tournament because of a pandemic is bad enough. Losing a second because of improprieties by the coaching staff? That especially hurts. The school announced a one-year postseason ban on Dec. 29, adding even more insult to 2020โs injury. And speaking of insult, howโs this for casting stones: โThe decision is an acknowledgment that the NCAAโs investigation revealed that certain former members of the menโs basketball staff displayed serious lapses in judgment and a departure from the Universityโs expectation of honest and ethical behavior,โ the schoolโs release said. Ouch.
UAโs Jessie Harper, left, and Alayna Hicks were part of one of the countryโs best softball teams before the virus hit.
Softball misses its chance
The Arizona softball team was once the standard-bearer in all the land, the program by which others are judged by. But after going 0-for-the-decade in national titles โ after winning eight from 1991-2007 Arizona watched its last best chance go by the wayside as the pandemic ended the softball season prematurely, with the Wildcats at 22-3 and ranked fourth in the country. Things are looking good for the squad this year, but last season will be an all-time What if?
Search and rescued?
Itโs far too early to judge Jedd Fisch, and he may lead the Arizona football team to six Rose Bowls and two national titles. That could happen. But even if it did, it wouldnโt explain the complicated process and the convoluted justifications offered by the Wildcat administration. Were they looking to bring back tradition, or werenโt they? Was a sense of the familiar a key to the whole thing โฆ or nonsense altogether. Even if Fisch won the press conference, he still has some winning over to do.
Roadrunners on ice
A Pacific Division title was a nice consolation prize, but 58 games into the 2019-20 campaign, the Tucson Roadrunners had their eyes set on a higher plateau. When play was halted in mid-March, Tucson had a three-point lead in the division and one of the most potent offenses in the league. Play is set to resume in early February, but thatโs a small consolation.
