The Star's longtime columnist checks in with his vote for the best No. 1 in UA history, why Johnnie Blockburger's decision to transfer stings, and how fans of "The Black Cactus" can watch his Olympic race in Tucson.
Who's No. 1? Jedd Fisch will let nine Cats battle it out
One of Jedd Fisch's revelations during Pac-12 football Media Day was that a UA football jersey, No. 1, hangs in the rafters at the Davis Sports Center. Typical of Fisch's approach, it is a motivational tool.
Fisch said that nine UA football players requested to wear jersey No. 1 this season. The NCAA allows two players to wear each jersey number, an offensive player and a defensive player or punter/kicker.
In previous generations, requesting jersey No. 1 in college sports was off-limits, an unspoken violation of the team-first mentality. A rush of ego. Fisch said that the two players who exhibit the most leadership, production and team-first nature will be awarded the coveted No. 1 jersey.
Jedd Fisch answers questions during Pac-12 media day on Tuesday. The Wildcats' first-year coach struck a mostly optimistic tone, even though the UA has been picked to finish last in the Pac-12 South.
Things have changed in the 30 years since future College Football Hall of Fame lineman Tedy Bruschi said that one of the reasons he chose to attend Arizona was because he was allowed to wear his high school number, 68.
Few request jersey No, 68 these days. It's No. 1 that turns heads. Or should.
In the last decade, Arizona football jersey No. 1 was worn mostly by journeymen players, if that. Proof? Tellas Jones wore No. 1 for three seasons. So did Mike Turner. Do you remember them?
For the last four seasons, reserve wide receiver Drew Dixon of Sabino High School wore jersey No. 1. Dixon opted out of most of the 2020 season and then entered the transfer portal, although there has been no announcement where Dixon will play football this season, if at all. No. 1 was also worn by Kylan Butler, Jesse Scroggins, Derek Babiash and Louis Holmes. If you ask “who?,” you are not alone.
The leading No. 1 in UA football history is quarterback Bruce Hill, who led Arizona to seasons of 9-2, 9-2 and 8-3 from 1973-75. The leading No. 1 of the last 20 years was Bobby Wade, the school's career receiving yards leader. Another wide receiver, Syndric Steptoe, wore No. 1 and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns; he's now a UA support-staffer.
Wearing jersey No. 1 in UA basketball is even less impressive. Only nine Wildcats have done so: Fendi Onobun, Kyryl Natyazhko, Sidiki Johnson, Gabe York, Rawle Alkins, Devonaire Doutrive, Daniel Batcho, Nico Mannion and Leon Wood. Of all those, Wood turned out to be the best college player — although, unhappy with playing time at Arizona, Wood transferred to Cal State Fullerton in 1981 and went on to be a six-year NBA point guard.
My choice as the leading No. 1 in UA sports history is Chuck Johnson, Arizona's gold-glove type center fielder in its 1986 national championship baseball season. Johnson hit .392 in the regular season, 1986, and bought into the team-first mentality by hitting eighth in a stacked lineup and not complaining.
Fisch is trying to find a Chuck Johnson-type player with Arizona's 2021 football team.
Schnell profits from Olympic silver medal
After Tucson’s Delaney Schnell won a silver medal in synchronized diving at the Olympics last week, she modestly spread the credit, citing her UA coach, Dwight Dumais, the UA’s competitive schedule and access to off-field benefits for helping her reach the medal podium.
She will also be paid $22,500 for a silver medal, which is the pay scale of the USOC. If she wins a gold medal in the 10-meter platform competition Wednesday, she will earn $50,000.
In a post-competition interview, Schnell, who attended Tucson High School, said, “College gives you more access to medical treatment, weight rooms, and whatever else you need. The competition is really intense. It helps to make you better.
“Also, a lot of the better coaches in the U.S. are college coaches. Coach Dumais is by far the most influential person in my diving career.’’ UA swimming coach Augie Busch knew what he was doing when he hired Dumais three years ago. Dumais, a former Stanford All-American diver, comes from a diving family. His brothers Justin and Troy were Olympians,
“Dwight really knows what he’s talking about,” Schnell said. “He brought a lot of confidence to my diving. He’s helped me mentally, too. Not a lot of coaches in the past worked with me on that. They worked more with technique, getting in a lot of repetitions and training really hard. But Dwight was very much about: ‘Let’s learn how to make you a better competitor. ‘ That was missing in my career until now.’’
Johnnie Blockburger's transfer to USC a blow to Arizona
Johnnie Blockburger, left, and his twin sister Alyssa have transferred to USC.
A year ago this month, Arizona jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger and UA head track coach Fred Harvey mutually parted ways. It was essentially a clash of personalities.
Blockburger had probably been the Pac-12's leading jumps/decathlon coach of the last 15 or 20 years, coaching national champions Jake Arnold, Nick Ross and Liz Patterson as well as Olympic silver medal winner Brigetta Barrett. Blockburger went to USC for three years and coached All-American jumpers Randall Cunningham and Dominic Smallwood before returning to Arizona in 2018.
It had to be difficult for Blockburger's children, twins Johnnie and Alyssa, to continue at the UA in the 2020-21 season. Johnnie, a Tucson High grad and state champion sprinter, became the Pac-12 men's champion at 400 meters. He set the UA school record earlier in the year. Now he's a USC Trojan.
It helped that USC just hired Joanna Hayes as its full-time sprints coach. She is a 2004 Olympic gold medalist who worked with Sheldon Blockburger at USC and got to know his twins.
The Blockburgers left the UA two weeks ago, choosing to transfer to USC, where they spent three years watching their father coach the Trojans. If you search the list of elite athletes to transfer from Arizona since it joined the Pac-10 in 1978, Johnnie Blockburger is at or near the lead, a loss of great significance.
He joins the following:
• Dwayne Evans, the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist at 200 meters, transferred from Arizona to his hometown ASU after one season (1977) at Arizona.
• Amy Van Dyken, who went on to win six Olympic swimming medals, including a then-record four medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, transferred to Colorado State after two years (1992-93) at Arizona.
• Will Bynum, a guard who played a year and a half for Lute Olson at Arizona, transferred to Georgia Tech in the winter of 2002-03. In his senior year with the Yellow Jackets, Bynum averaged 12.5 points per game and helped Georgia Tech to the Final Four.
• Turner Washington, this year's NCAA discus and shot put national champion, transferred to ASU two years ago. The Canyon del Oro High School grad spent the 2017-18 season at Arizona.
Trident to hold watch party Saturday
Abdi Abdirahman will take part in his fifth Olympics next month, when he runs the marathon in Sapporo, Japan. The Tucson native and UA and Pima College product has gotten this far by carefully monitoring his training and nutrition.
Tucsonan Abdi Abdirahman will compete in his fifth Olympic Games Saturday, one of three marathoners on Team USA. Abdirahman, a Tucson High, Pima College and UA grad, created the term “Black Cactus,” by which he chooses to be known. The Trident restaurant near the intersection of Speedway and Campbell will hold a watch party for Abdirahman at 2 p.m. Saturday. Abdirahman's Black Cactus T-shirts will be available for purchase …
Chip Hale's first recruit a UA legacy
Salpointe Catholic's Mason White gestures to his dugout after hitting a triple during this year's Class 4A state semifinal game against Canyon del Oro.
Chip Hale's first recruit as Arizona's baseball coach, Salpointe Catholic shortstop Mason White, Class of 2022, has deep ties to UA baseball. White's father, Ben White, was Arizona's 1992 Gatorade Player of the Year, a Salpointe lefty who went 10-0 with a 0.96 ERA and a .482 batting average. Ben played four seasons at Arizona. Ben White's father, Tim White, was a catcher at Arizona in 1968 before signing with the Cincinnati Reds before his sophomore season. Tim White played two minor league seasons. The only other UA baseball family with three generations is the Bill Hassey (1948), Ron Hassey (1973-76) and Brad Hassey (1999-02) connection.…
Ex-Wildcat in hunt while Annika leads
Tucsonan Christa Johnson has been on the leaderboard most of the week at the ongoing U.S. Senior Women's Open, 14th overall entering Sunday's final round, trailing another ex-Wildcat, overall leader Annika Sorenstam, who is on track to win the championship Sunday. Johnson, who graduated from Arizona and turned pro in 1980, is a two-time winner of Tucson's LPGA championship, winning in 1984 and 1991. Now 63, Johnson won nine LPGA Tour events, including one major, the 1997 LPGA Championship. …
Dejah Mulipola found at-bats hard to come by at Olympics
U.S. softball player Dejah Mulipola takes batting practice during a training session at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Fukushima, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Arizona's All-American catcher Dejah Mulipola only played in one game at the Olympics for Team USA. She went 0 for 2 against Mexico, before the medal round. USA coach Ken Eriksen has been second-guessed for some of his personnel decisions. He started former Florida catcher Aubree Munro ahead of Mulipola; Munro went 1 for 11. Eriksen did not start UCLA's Rachel Garcia in any game. Garcia was the best player in college softball the last three years, yet was only 0 for 2 as a pinch-hitter in Tokyo. Sabino grad Kelsey Jenkins Harshman, who hit third as the starting left fielder for Team Canada's bronze medal-winning team, went 4 for 18 at the Olympics. …
Chase Silseth signs
Arizona pitcher Chase Silseth was taken by the Los Angeles Angels in the 11th round of baseball's amateur draft.
Chase Silseth, Arizona's No. 1 pitcher during its Pac-12 championship and College World Series season, signed with the Los Angeles Angels rather than return to the UA for the 2022 season. An 11th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels, Silseth entered Saturday among seven unsigned 11th- rounders. No terms were immediately available, though Wake Forest pitcher Will Fleming got a $125,000 bonus and Florida junior-college pitcher Andrew Baker signed for $200,000. Silseth went 8-1 in 18 starts for the Wildcats last spring. …
Son of ex-Toros GM eyes gold
Monty Hoppel was a young and aspiring baseball executive, 27, when he was named general manager of the Tucson Toros in 1989. Hoppel had worked on the Toros staff for five years. After the '89 season, he left to become general manager of the Double-A Midland Angels of the Texas League, who are now the Midland Rockhounds, a Single-A team. Hoppel will enter his 32nd year in Midland next spring but this week his thoughts are with his son, Bryce Hoppel, who is trying to win the 800 meters gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Hoppel easily qualified in Friday's preliminaries. Bryce was an All-American at Kansas, winning four Big 12 titles and was a two-time NCAA champion at 800 meters. …
Ex-Desert Christian pitcher climbs ladder
Andrew Edwards of Desert Christian holds-up the trophy after defeating Ray High at the Division IV state championship game on Saturday, May 16, 2015.
When Desert Christian was in the process of winning three straight state baseball championships from 2013-15, lefty pitcher Andrew Edwards was the ace of the staff. He is getting closer to the big leagues. Edwards was promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Mets' system in July after averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings for the Brooklyn Cyclones. Edwards has gotten even more effective in Double-A, not allowing a run in his first 8⅓ innings, with 10 strikeouts. …
Anthony Sanders' son honored
Tucson's Anthony Sanders, an outfielder from Santa Rita High School and former big-leaguer who won a gold medal when Team USA won the 2000 Sydney Olympics, will be paying close attention to his youngest son, Troy Sanders, this weekend. Troy, a Class of 2023 shortstop at Catalina Foothills High School, was selected among the nation's 44 elite high school players to participate in the Hank Aaron Invitational this weekend at Truist Park in Atlanta. The coaching staff includes Pat Mahomes, a former big-league pitcher and the father of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Ken Griffey Jr. Troy Sanders hit .333 as a CFHS sophomore last spring. His father, the first base coach of the Baltimore Orioles, was one of Tucson's top baseball prospects of the last 30 years, joining Sabino's J.J. Hardy, Sahuaro's Alex Verdugo, CDO's Shelley Duncan and Palo Verde's Will Smith. Troy Sanders is on a path to being recognized in the same company. ...
My two cents: Arizona Bowl part of changing TV scene
Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, celebrates while walking on stage during Tuesday's news conference at Stevie Eller Dance Theater. Barstool Sports is the new sponsor of the Arizona Bowl.
When the Arizona Bowl last week announced it will become the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl and will not air on linear television on New Year's Eve — no CBS, no CBS Sports Network, as in Arizona Bowls past — I assumed the game was doomed.
But after I researched Barstool Sports, I realized I had not paid enough attention — and that many traditional models of sports TV seem likely to be blown up. Sort of like NBC charging $9.95 last week to watch Team USA in its opening Olympic basketball game.
Barstool Sports, which will stream the Arizona Bowl for free on its platforms, is the third-largest sports media company in the country, trailing ESPN and Warner — and that's without having any television distribution. But it does have 1.5 billion average monthly social media views.
It's not like this is the Rose Bowl yielding a half-century of tradition and taking on Cheez-It as a title sponsor.
“Barstool is the content destination for the Millennial and Gen-Z audience,'' said Arizona Bowl co-founder Ali Farhang, a Tucson attorney. “They have 100 million plus monthly consumers, 130 million social media followers and 1.5 billion monthly video views. They also have the No. 1 sports podcast in America.”
There are almost 40 bowl games each year. The Arizona Bowl audience is near the bottom of that mostly faceless group. If any bowl game should be bold enough to take a chance on a new presentation model and new streams of revenue for local charities, why not the Arizona Bowl?
Now I just need someone to show me how to stream something.
