• Slug: Sports-Coyotes Owner NHL Commissioner Speak, 1,300 words.
• Photo available.

By Zach Mott
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A week of unbearable silence for Coyotes fans ended Friday with a spirited media session featuring two key players involved in the team’s relocation to Salt Lake City.

“I’ve been presented with the most painful decision in my life, in my 40 years of business,” Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo said. “My family and I are devastated.”

Meruelo and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the media on the heels of Thursday’s announcement that the Coyotes would become inactive and that Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and the Smith Entertainment Group would purchase team operations for $1.2 billion. Continue reading “‘Most painful decision in my life’: Meruelo, Bettman respond to criticism about Arizona Coyotes departure”

• Slug: Sports-ASU NCAA Infractions, 660 words.
• Photo available.

By Maxwell Williams
Cronkite News

TEMPE – As Arizona State prepares to shift from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big 12, it will do so with significant baggage.

On Friday, the NCAA Infractions Committee announced the athletic department faces four years of probation, scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions for violations that occurred during Herm Edwards’ tenure as football coach.

The Level I violations also include fines, a 2023 season self-imposed football postseason ban, a vacation of records for contests that ineligible student-athletes competed in and the dissociation with an involved booster for five years. Continue reading “Walk of shame: ASU football slapped with probation, scholarship reductions due to violations during Herm Edwards era”

• Slug: Sports-Suns Playoff Preview, 1050 words.
• Photo available.

By Mason Byers
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns have been consistently inconsistent throughout the regular season, but the team hopes it has figured out the championship formula as the 2024 NBA playoffs get underway.

The Suns (49-33), struggling to string together a stretch of wins during many points this season, earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference with three straight victories and help from other teams to avoid the play-in game. Phoenix’s postseason starts Saturday on the road against a tough Minnesota Timberwolves, who the Suns beat 125-106 at the Target Center last Sunday to close out the regular season.

Despite a favorable matchup against Anthony Edwards & Co., the Suns’ standing is a long fall from preseason expectations, which predicted the talented trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal would contend with the Denver Nuggets for the West crown. Continue reading “‘We want to win a ring’: Phoenix Suns close out regular season strong, begin championship quest”

• Slug: Sports-ASU Women’s Golf, 840 words.
• 4 photos available.

By Brevan Branscum
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Arizona State women’s golf is hungry for more.

Already leading the NCAA in national championship wins, the team begins its quest to win a ninth NCAA title in school history, starting Sunday in the 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championship in Pullman, Washington.

The Sun Devils, ranked No. 12 in the nation by Spikemark’s national rankings, last won the Pac-12 championship in 2009. This season will mark their last shot at capturing conference gold ahead of next year’s move to the Big 12. Continue reading “ASU women’s golf carries momentum into final Pac-12 title run, NCAA championships”

• Slug: Sports-ASU Pitcher Race Car Driver, 1,200 words.
• 2 photos available.

By Dorian Zavala
Cronkite News

AVONDALE – Even in these days of specialization, two-sport high school athletes who excel on the field and the track aren’t unusual.

Unless the track is a raceway and the athlete’s “other” sport is professional stock car racing.

Meet Cody Kiemele, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound highly touted left-handed pitcher from Arlington High School, in Riverside, California, who has verbally committed to Arizona State. Continue reading “Driven: Sun Devils baseball recruit Cody Kiemele excels on diamond, oval”

• Slug: Sports-Coyotes Youth Movement Sale, 1,000 words.
• Photo available.

By Zach Mott
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The action never seemed to dissipate for the Arizona Coyotes this season.

What turned into a whirlwind of a season – on and off the ice – began with one of the franchise’s best starts in the last decade. The high point came at the end of November and transitioned into early December, when the Coyotes beat each of the last five Stanley Cup winners in a row (Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, St Louis Blues, Washington Capitals). 

Heading into the All-Star break, the Coyotes sat firmly in contention for a postseason spot. But inconsistency followed an incredible stretch, as the Coyotes struggled to find their footing again. The season’s low point? A winless February, including a 14-game losing streak that hammered the team’s postseason hopes.  Continue reading “Arizona Coyotes’ turbulent season, young talent lay groundwork for fresh start in Utah”

• Slug: Sports-Coyotes Officially Gone, 620 words.
• Photo available.

By Zach Mott
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The Mullett Arena crowd roared as the Arizona Coyotes scored five goals Wednesday in their season finale. The onslaught started just under three minutes into the first period, when forward Liam O’Brien ripped one past Edmonton Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard. The Coyotes would pile on four more goals in securing a 5-2 win.

It was a season-ending victory that would normally excite fans as a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. But most everyone in attendance at the 5,000-seat arena – along with legions of fans who had followed the Coyotes in the desert for 28 years – viewed the game as an afterthought.

They were waiting on a definitive answer from the NHL about the team’s future. Continue reading “It’s official: NHL approves Arizona Coyotes’ $1.2B Sale, relocation to Utah”

• Slug: Sports-New ASU Swimming Coach, 970 words.
• 4 photos available.

By Stephen Buxton
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Eleven years ago, Herbie Behm was an athlete swimming at Arizona State. Now at his alma mater, Behm takes the reins of one of the country’s premier programs – a program completely shaped in the image of one man, Bob Bowman.

Bowman’s sudden departure to assume a newly-created role at the University of Texas after leading ASU to its first national championship last weekend left his replacement, Behm, with little time to process the move and sizable shoes to fill.

“I was told at 9:30 a.m. on Monday,” Behm said of learning Bowman was leaving ASU to become the Longhorns’ director of swimming and diving and head men’s swimming and diving coach. “We had a conversation with the (athletic directors), and Bob told me he was leaving for Texas.” Continue reading “Herbie Behm takes coaching reins from Bob Bowman, aims to keep ASU swimming on top”

• Slug: Sports-Coyotes Fans, Players Reax, 680 words.
• 4 photos available.

By Josh Jones
Cronkite News

TEMPE – As the season – and 28 years of ice hockey in the desert – came to a close, Arizona Coyotes players removed their jerseys and tossed them to chosen fans. There was no rush to get off the ice because nobody wanted to leave. The players stayed to sign autographs and tossed merchandise over the glass, while spectators and team employees choked back tears.

For upwards of 40 minutes postgame, the sold-out hometown crowd and the Coyotes shared one final moment in a season finale that brought on mixed emotions – from crying and cheers to hugs and shared memories throughout the concourse at Mullett Arena.

Wednesday night marked the end of a long, up-and-down era for the Coyotes, who are relocating to Salt Lake City after nearly three decades in the Valley, similar to how the game played out in Arizona’s 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Continue reading “Paradise lost: Coyotes, fans share emotional embrace in likely Arizona swan song”

• Slug: Sports-Coyotes Last Hurrah, 600 words.
• 2 photos available.
• 1 video available

By Zach Mott
Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – While so many questions remain unanswered, fans will say goodbye Wednesday in what is likely the final game for the Coyotes in Arizona.

As the day started, it was certain to be unlike any other for Coyotes players. At 10:30 a.m., the optional morning skate at the Ice Den in Scottsdale was already under way. The team had practiced Tuesday, so several veterans were granted the opportunity for the morning off.

Following the morning skate, Josh Doan remained on the ice, long after everyone else had departed. Why? To pick up pucks, of course. Continue reading “Farewell to the desert? Coyotes’ potential finale in Arizona draws emotions and memories”

• Slug: Sports-Writer Rockies Pitcher Connection, 1,800 words.
• 4 photos available.

By Josh Amick
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In early November 2022, my life, college career and aspirations came to a screeching halt. The discovery of a mass led to a diagnosis of Stage 3 testicular cancer.

I was devastated.

The cancer, which is the most common among men 20 to 40 years old, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, required extensive chemotherapy, which greatly affected my physical and mental well-being. After doctors initially told me I would need three rounds of chemo, it soon became four. Then I learned I would need additional surgery to remove lymph nodes in my stomach, which meant 8-10 more weeks of recovery. Continue reading “Life’s curveballs: A writer and a righty find connection through health scares”