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[Music bed under]
TSS HOST: This is The Sweet Spot where we take a closer look at the week’s biggest sports stories in Arizona. I’m Benjamin Yates, and welcome to the eighth episode of The Sweet Spot!
The Cinderella story that wasn’t, as Diamondbacks fall in 5
(Host Interruption): Excuse me Ben! Sorry to interrupt, we had hoped that the Diamondbacks would still be continuing their World Series run, but that didn’t happen. Their season ended Wednesday night when they lost Game 5 of the World Series- so with that in mind, we’re going to briefly look back at how their season went as a whole.
[nat: Game ending pitch to end World Series]
HEPOLA: The Arizona Diamondbacks’ improbable postseason run came to a sudden end as they were defeated by the Texas Rangers 5-0 in Game 5 of the World Series. It was a roller coaster of a year for the organization, as they vastly exceed expectations that most people set for the team at the start of the season. While the World Series loss will sting for awhile, DBacks manager Torey Lovullo still offered his congratulations to the Rangers, and let his own players know that they should still be proud of what they accomplished.
<<Tory Lovullo, Diamondbacks Manager: They were the best team, they beat us fair and square. I just got done telling the guys that I’m so proud of what they’ve done, and we have to step back for a minute and tell ourselves that we’ve done a lot of really amazing things this year.>>
HEPOLA: An emotional, Lovullo says that he will let the Fall Classic loss run its course. He wants the team to remember how this loss feels, and to not compartmentalize it.
<<Tory Lovullo, Diamondbacks Manager: I want to run away and hide for a few days. I want to go camping and just sit in a tent and suck my thumb, you know? And eat ice cream. Is that the weirdest answer you guys have ever had right there?>>
HEPOLA: Despite the crushing defeat, the 2023 season was nothing short of spectacular for the DBacks. They finished with a record of 84-78, led by 4 All-Stars- Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Zac Gallen, and Geraldo Perdomo. The team would go on to sweep the Brewers in the Wildcard round, sweep the Dodgers in the NLDS and then defeat the Phillies in Game 7 of the NLCS. To say this was a magical run would be selling it short, especially considering that the DBacks were not even favored in any of these games. The Diamondbacks are understandably going to take some time to recover from their World Series loss. Once they’re able to turn the page, look out for them heading to the 2024 season.
HEPOLA: For Cronkite Sports, in Phoenix, I’m Austin Hepola. We’ll take it back to Ben for your regularly scheduled program.
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And now, we return you to your regular programming…
TSS HOST: On today’s show we are looking at Arizona State football’s first win in the Pac 12, as well as the historic 28-3 comeback by the Cardinals in 1987. The dominance of Horizon girls volleyball and search for another state title.
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Sun Devils offense steps up as ASU football notches its first Pac-12 win of season
YATES: The Arizona State Sun Devils Football team won their first game since the start of the season this last Saturday. As the Washington State Cougars were not able to contain the high-octane offense ASU had. I was on the sideline at Mountain America Stadium.
<nat sound: crowd cheering to touchdown block play by ASU defense>
YATES: That was the sound of the crowd reacting to a clutch defensive play in the late 4th quarter by Arizona State. That stop held the Cougars and prevented them from scoring a touchdown to potentially get back in the game. While the defense was amazing for the Sun Devils, the story of the game came from the offense. Five total touchdowns were scored off of ASU’s rushing game. Redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourget would connect on several long passes, but the Sun Devil rushing game was firing on all cylinders so he resorted to handing it off to Cameron Skattebo who would run for 66 yards in one of his first possessions of the game.
<<Bourget: “It makes it easy for me, you know, I’m not having to throw the ball 50 yards down the field, Having running backs that can catch on the backfield is huge too.”>>
YATES: Junior running back Skattebo has been a key part of the ASU rushing game. But a recent return tailback DeCarlos Brooks has boosted the Sun Devil offense, The redshirt junior had a career night in Tempe, after returning from an injury. With five touchdowns on the night for the Sun Devils, Brooks was for three of them. Hurdling over defenses, spinning out of tough spots, he helped carry his team to a huge conference win. Skattebo would also get a touchdown, as he and Brooks would be swapped out throughout the night And when either one came in refreshed, they became the best player on the field. Brooks was dealing with an undisclosed injury from the Oklahoma state game earlier this season, and due to that, he missed four straight games. He returned for the road trip to Seattle to play against the Huskies, and d id fwell. head coach Kenny Dillingham was pleased with his return.
<<Dillingham: “He’s physical. He’s passionate. He runs hard runs through people, I mean, that’s the guy who’s battled a pretty severe injury and wanted to come back. He loves the game. And I think people feed off of that. So really good to have him back.”>>
YATES: Brooks would set his college career high in rushing yards in the Washington State game, and a career high for touchdowns scored in a single game for him. Last season he was playing for the Golden Bears in California, and only had one touchdown for the entire season. ASU would beat the Cougars 38-27, with Brooks as the catalyst on offense. The win would finally get Dillingham and the Sun Devils a W on the board in conference competition.
<<Dillingham: “If you’re going to be in a mindset that we’re gonna play to win games, and we’re not going to play scared, then you have to attack in every phase. And I think that’s just how we coach. It’s how we play. We play free and we play attacking.”>>
<more nat sound of football and cheering>
YATES: For The Sweet Spot… I’m Benjamin Yates…
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That time the Cardinals made football history, before they made St. Louis history
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TSS HOST: What is the first thing you think of when seeing the score 28-3? That time the New New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 of course, but what if I told you there was another team that pulled off that same comeback 36 years ago, and that team was the Cardinals. Alex Chenevey has more from some of the players in that game, and what the lead up to the game was like and what happened after the comeback.
CHENEVEY: The 1987 season was an eventful one for the NFL, but especially for the St. Louis Cardinals. As they played second fiddle to their baseball counterpart, it would be the football Cardinals last season in The Gateway to the West. Not only would it be their last season in St. Louis, but they would also have to deal with the players strike in 1987, which led to replacement players coming in for three games and would infamously be known as “The Scabs” For some Cardinals veterans like EJ Junior, this wasn’t their first time picketing against the league.
<< Junior: “It created a lot of distrust, because you had guys fighting who were willing to sacrifice their time and their salary and their energy to get benefits but then you had guys who wanted to get a chance to play to prove what they were able to do, so it was an interesting season and a difficult season.” >>
CHENEVEY: Entering Week 9 of that season, the Cardinals did not get off to a great start, going 2-5 in their first seven games and 1-2 in the games with replacement players. Up next for them was a matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but this wasn’t just another game. Just days prior to the game, Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill announced that the team would be moving out of St. Louis, but didn’t say where the team would be going, which resulted in an attendance at Busch Stadium of 22,449, the lowest in four years. For rookies like Rob Awalt, it was hard not knowing.
<< Awalt: “I recall being nervous about that as well. Everything was new, I was coming out of San Diego and St. Louis was a lot different than San Diego. I looked at do I want to move further east into Baltimore. We were looking over our shoulder quite a bit Alex (cut this?) that year. >>
CHENEVEY: With the impending move bound to happen after the season, the Cardinals struggled against Tampa Bay, going down 28-3 and entering the fourth quarter having to score four touchdowns in order to take the lead, a task that seemed improbable, but not impossible, Head coach Gene Stallings instilled a culture of doing what you’re supposed to do according to Ron Wolfley
<< Wolfley: “It was definitely a concerted effort of “do your job” and continue to play to the end. We weren’t a very good team, but we were a very physical team and we would fight you to the end and I’m not just saying that. >>
CHENEVEY: A fourth-down-and-one pass to running back Stump Mitchell, set up quarterback Neil Lomax to find Awalt in the back of the end zone for a 3 yard score.That was the Cardinals first touchdown of the game. Awalt would lead the team in receiving that game with 9 catches for 124 yards
<< Awalt: “Those several weeks in the park with Neil, he gained a lot of confidence in me. I think that rapport we built at the park and him just whispering in my ear a lot. There were a couple of plays we ad-libbed on but it was within the framework of the offense, but it was me recognizing it and doing it and him trusting probably seeing the same thing and we made a couple of plays that way.” >>
CHENEVEY: The very next drive, Cardinals linebacker Niko Noga scooped up a fumble and ran it into the end zone and all of a sudden the Cardinals were only down 11 points with 10 minutes left to go in the game After two touchdown passes from Lomax to wide receiver JT Smith, the Cardinals took the lead with less than two and a half minutes to go. The game had shifted into the Cardinals favor in less than 13 minutes.
[ AMBI of game noise]
<< Wolfley: “It was amazing to see but the momentum was the most clear-cut case of my 10 year career that I have ever experienced that kind of tidal wave, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were doomed, and you could see it on their faces.” >>
CHENEVEY: Despite the Cardinals coming all the way back, the Buccaneers drove the ball down the field for a last second 53 yard field goal attempt from Donald Igwebuike (EEG-WEH-BEEK-AY). The kick went up and looked like it had the distance, but hit the crossbar and bounced off no good, giving St. Louis the victory.
[ AMBI end of game noise ]
CHENEVEY: There were some mixed emotions on the sideline as the kick was missed, with Cardinals players being relieved and jubilant, and St. Louis would finish the season winning five out of their last eight games with a shot to go to the playoffs the very last week of the season. The game would be the Cardinals second to last victory in Busch Stadium, as they packed their bags for Phoenix before the 1988 season. Junior has great memories of St. Louis even after he retired.
<< Junior: “My time in St. Louis was wonderful, I still got a lot of people who still remember me, and it’s a great city. But I feel like a lost child, my playing days were mainly in St. Louis, most people actually remember me playing more with the Miami Dolphins than the Cardinals, which is very ironic, so you’re kind of like that lost child where you don’t really have a home, those things you wish could’ve been different.” >>
CHENEVEY: The Cardinals comeback over Tampa Bay still remains the largest fourth quarter comeback in NFL history. For Cronkite News, I’m Alex Chenevey.
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New coach, same old story as Horizon Huskies look for a state volleyball title three-peat
TSS HOST: With Horizon winning their section for the 8th year in a row the Huskies will make a playoff push after winning state titles in 2021 and 2022. Cronkite News reporter Brandon Tran has more in Scottsdale about the new look Horizon volleyball girls’ team.
[ Nat Sound: Volleyball dig, and spike ]
TRAN: After winning state last season Horizon named Mckenna Skaggs the new head coach back in March following the retirement of Valorie Mckenzie. Skaggs was a former player at Horizon who played under Mckenzie. She will look to carry the tradition and winning culture.
<<McKenna Skaggs: “It’s been just an honor to be once a player and then the freshmen coach and then now the varsity coach and I tell people all of the time it’s a dream come true.” >>
TRAN: With Skaggs being the second head coach in the history of the Horizon volleyball program the players had to adjust to her system. One of the players having to adapt to Skaggs system is senior middle blocker and Sacramento State commit Sky Gartin
<<Sky Gartin: “I think we started off having to get to know each other. It’s a really new team this year but we really bonded together and gotten closer and I think just our team in general are really working together on every game and it’s been good .”>>
TRAN: Another key player for the Huskies, leading the team with 506 kills, is junior outside hitter and Nebraska commit Teraya Sigler (Sig-ler). She has been through three different head coaches at two different high schools.
[ Nat Sound: Volleyball Spike and celebration. ]
<<Teraya Sigler: “I had a lot of coaches because of clubs and cause different sports so it wasn’t really a hard adjustment obviously coached by different people but it was great to see different coach styles, different ways to play the game and how to coach the game.” >>
TRAN: Horizon won its section and now looks to make a playoff push. The Huskies will be seeded in the top eight in the 5A state playoffs… They will face Buckeye Union in the first playoff round. For Cronkite Sports in Scottsdale I’m Brandon Tran reporting.
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TSS HOST: And this was The Sweet Spot. This show was produced by Benjamin Yates. Special thanks to Austin Hepola, Brandon Tran, and Alex Chenevey for their contributions to this week’s show. I’m your host Benjamin Yates. Until next time, thanks for swinging by the Sweet Spot!
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