• Slug: Sports-Big 12 Tiebreaker Championship, 450 words.
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By Chase Clemens
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On the eve of Week 2 games for Arizona and Arizona State, the schools learned more about how their new conference will crown its champion.

The Big 12 announced its new tiebreaking policy Friday, which determines who will play in the conference title game if there is a tie.

Both teams are 1-0 and host games Saturday night. The Widcats face Northern Arizona and the Sun Devils will take on Mississippi State.

Continue reading “Big 12 reveals tiebreaker procedures to determine 2024 conference championship teams”

• Slug: Sports-Phoenix Mercury Resurgence, 830 words.
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By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The NFL has always claimed that it prioritizes the health and safety of its players above everything else. Yet, as the 2024 season begins Thursday night, a topic that has concerned participants for years continues to linger. 

 The field-surface debate seems to grow louder with each passing season, sometimes with each passing down. Gruesome lower-extremity injuries appeared to consistently transpire on synthetic turf surfaces more often than natural grass in 2023, according to data from Sharp Football Analysis.  

Among the group of injured players, none was more notable than New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon four snaps into his Jets’ debut on Sept. 11. His injury occurred at New Jersey’s MetLife Field, which uses a synthetic turf surface.  Continue reading “Grass is greener? NFL’s field surface dilemma still a concern as 2024 season kicks off”

• Slug: Sports-Phoenix Mercury Resurgence, 830 words.
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By Aya Abdeen
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – One year ago, the Phoenix Mercury were a train wreck on an 11-game, season-ending losing skid that curtailed their consecutive postseason streak since 2012, with Diana Taurasi and other key players sidelined due to injuries.

Fast forward to September, and the organization appears re-energized following an offseason overhaul that saw only three players returning, along with the installation of a new coaching staff. The team’s energy on and off the court has improved thanks to the additions of Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and Kahleah Copper, bolstered by the playoff and championship experience from the duo of Brittney Griner and Taurasi.

It is also clear there is still work to do. A tough loss Thursday to the Washington Mystics that saw no starters come to the postgame interview room afterward suggests the Mercury are still trying to right the ship. Continue reading “Year of change: From last place to playoff berth, Phoenix Mercury beginning to find their stride”

• Slug: Sports-Brandon Aiyuk Extension, 630 words.
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By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Former Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has evolved into one of the top NFL wide receivers, much like first-year Arizona State wide receivers coach Hines Ward accomplished during his playing days. Now, with a fresh four-year, $120 million extension from the San Francisco 49ers, Aiyuk is also one of the top-earning players at his position like Ward. 

Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers came to terms on a four-year, $120 million extension last week, according to NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. Aiyuk’s new deal includes $76 million in guaranteed money. The deal comes as the NFL season opens this week, with the 49ers hosting the New York Jets Monday night.

Aiyuk is now one of the NFL’s top 10 highest-paid wide receivers, trailing only Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown, Cedee Lamb and Justin Jefferson in average salary per year. Continue reading “Former ASU WR Brandon Aiyuk’s gamble pays off with San Francisco 49ers”

• Slug: Sports–Women’s Sports Betting. 1212 words.
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By Anne-Marie Iemmolo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – When sportswriter Jim Turvey arrived at his in-laws for dinner, he was shocked to hear his non-sports-centric relatives discussing Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.

The WNBA rookies rivaled each other at LSU and Iowa in a memorable championship game in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball tournament, with a rematch the following April that drew a women’s college basketball record of 12.3 million viewers in the women’s Elite Eight. Clark and Reese’s high-profile matchups and competition have spiked growth in women’s basketball.

“It’s truly broken through to everyone and anyone. Unless you’re living under a rock, you know about women’s sports and women’s basketball in particular,” Turvey said. Continue reading “Risk and reward: Sportsbooks cash in on rise of women’s sports betting, but at what cost?”

• Slug: Sports-Arizona Football McMillan, 620 words.
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By Saleh Awwad
Cronkite News

TUCSON – For a half Saturday, it appeared Arizona wasn’t quite ready for the Big 12 Conference as the Wildcats struggled against New Mexico in the debut of coach Brent Brennan.

Before the night was over, however, the Wildcats demonstrated that the offensive firepower of sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita and junior wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan will be all that the team’s new conference can handle as the Wildcats gave Brennan his first victory at the helm.

With a handful of NFL scouts in attendance, McMillan – affectionately known to his teammates and UA football fans as “T-Mac” – hauled in 10 passes for a school-record 304 yards, scoring four touchdowns as the Wildcats trounced the Lobos, 61-39. Continue reading “304 yards for receiver Tetairoa McMillan casts attention on Arizona football, new coach Brent Brennan”

• Slug: Sports-ASU Quarterback Follow, 600 words.
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By Tucker Sennett
Cronkite News

TEMPE – In an era when some college quarterbacks are as old as 25 – hello, Utah’s Cam Rising – Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt is just a young pup. However, in his first collegiate start against the University of Wyoming, the native of West Linn, Oregon, proved age is just a number.

“I wasn’t too nervous going into this game,” the 19-year-old redshirt freshman said after Saturday’s 48-7 victory over the Cowboys. “That’s a testament to the coaching staff and the team.”

The Sun Devils as a whole showed few nerves while pummeling Wyoming 48-7 in their season opener at Mountain America Stadium. Continue reading “‘Be yourself’: Quarterback Sam Leavitt proves experience isn’t everything in strong ASU debut against Wyoming”

• Slug: Sports-Grass League Golf, 1,540 words.
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By Jack Reeves
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The World Series, Super Bowl, World Cup, Olympics, and the Rose Bowl all have something in common. Yes, they are among the world’s most famous sporting events, but one unique feature ties them together: each event is played under the lights.

While that may seem obvious, not all sporting events benefit from playing under the lights, especially in golf. Countless golf tournaments have been postponed due to darkness, requiring an early morning finish. But what if there was a way to play not just a few extra holes, but an entire round during primetime hours?

Enter the Grass League. Established in February, the startup league has brought a new vision to the game loved worldwide. Continue reading “Golf after dark: Grass League ushers in new era with primetime professional, amateur tournaments under the lights”

• Slug: Sports-CFP Format Clark, 1,100 words.
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By Doyal D’angelo
Special for Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – Richard Clark, the newly appointed College Football Playoff executive director, is not going to reinvent the wheel under his new title, even as the landscape of not only college football, but also all of college sports, is shaping and shifting like never before.

“Right now, there’s a lot of change already, and it’s exciting,” Clark said Tuesday at Fiesta Bowl headquarters. “I think people are going to see things that they never imagined in what happens during this playoff.”

Part of the change is the novel 12-team CFP playoff format that Clark is inheriting, which he is preparing extensively for with training and the reliance on his selection committee to make the proper choices. Continue reading “Seismic shifts: New CFP director Richard Clark visits Fiesta Bowl, reflects on 12-team playoff”

• Slug: Sports-Paralympic Archer Bennett, 750 words.
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By Sydney Lovan
Special for Cronkite News

PARIS – Full-time teacher by morning, Paralympic athlete by afternoon and a father always, Team USA archer Eric Bennett is embarking on his fifth Paralympic Games with his sights set on a prize bigger than the gold medal: his family in attendance to watch him shoot.

Bennett, a Surprise native and graduate of Northern Arizona University, began practicing archery when he was 7 and quickly found a passion for the sport until he lost his right arm at 15, when a drunk driver hit the car in which he was a passenger. It wasn’t until about 10 years later that he started shooting again, this time with help from his father.

“When I realized that I could shoot again, that’s when a fire was lit, and I had gotten my love back,” said Bennett, who is set to compete in the recurve Para Archery event beginning Thursday in Paris. Continue reading “Arizona archer Eric Bennett prepares for fifth Paralympics, this time with family by his side”

• Slug: Sports-WNBA Salary Minimum, 1,400 words.
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By Joshua Heron
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On June 27, Liz Dixon sat on a furniture top in the Verizon 5G Performance Center hallway, discussed the difficulties of living on a WNBA minimum contract and knew she was vulnerable on the one-year, $64,154 deal that offered little to no security and stability.

Five days later, the Phoenix Mercury waived the forward.

“One of the hardships is teams can get anybody under minimal contracts,” Dixon said. “You’re already paying me less than everybody else, but what if one day they don’t need you? They’ll want somebody else they can get. They can get another vet at the exact same price as a rookie. So it’s more like, ‘Hey, even though I am making the minimum payment, am I still needed? Am I still an asset to them?” Continue reading “Minimum salaries, max effort: The unseen financial hardships of Phoenix Mercury and WNBA players”

• Slug: Sports-Olympic Pins Paris, 730 words.
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By Tyler Bednar
Cronkite News

PARIS – From Snoop Dogg blowing Olympic-looking smoke rings to a heart with gymnast Simone Biles’ name in it, the pins of the Paris Games are still creating a buzz even weeks after the competitions ended.

Pin trading at the Olympics is popular for athletes and spectators. Some fans travel across the world specifically to collect and trade them.

The tradition can be traced to the first modern Games in 1896, when the pins were used to identify athletes, officials and media members. In the Athens Olympics, only 241 athletes – compared to the more than 10,000 in Paris – competed for 14 teams in 43 events.

Continue reading “From Snoop Dogg blowing Olympic-like rings to Simone Biles’ heart, pins remain the talk post-Paris Games”

• Slug: Sports-Olympics Sports Courts Paris, 1,900 words.
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By Zach Bradshaw and Doyal D’angelo
Cronkite News

PARIS – The enhancement of sports facilities at the Paris Games wasn’t limited to Olympic venues.

The City of Paris also reinvigorated community sports courts, a vital component of any neighborhood’s urban culture.

This isn’t a new concept. When Phoenix has hosted big events, professional leagues and local organizing committees often contribute money to improve youth fields and and athletic structures. But it was particularly important in Paris, where updating the sports landscape requires a deft touch in a city knows for its one-of-kind architecture. Continue reading “Olympics bring vibrant sports courts to Paris’ often forgotten neighborhoods”