• Slug: Sports–Hockey Returns Prescott Valley, 1,100 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Chase Beardsley
Cronkite News

PRESCOTT VALLEY – In 2014, the sports scene in the Valley was on fire. The Phoenix Suns recorded one of the best winning percentages of a team that missed the playoffs, the Arizona Cardinals went 11-5 and the Phoenix Coyotes officially changed its name to the Arizona Coyotes.

However, up north in Prescott Valley, a different kind of sports scene was making waves. The Arizona Sundogs, a minor league professional hockey team, slipped into the Central Hockey League playoffs as the eighth seed with a 32-27-7 record.

The Sundogs upset the top-seeded Missouri Mavericks in the first round, winning in six games. Despite losing in the second round to the Denver Cutthroats, it seemed like the Sundogs were on the precipice of having a breakout season in 2015 and could challenge for the franchise’s second Ray Miron President’s Cup, their first since 2008. Continue reading “Grand Canyon College Hockey Classic brings sport back to puck-craving fans in Prescott Valley”

• Slug: Sports–Brophy Prep Football, 800 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Saleh Awward
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – After securing its 500th victory in team history, Brophy Prep is all in to bring home a football state title.

The sixth-ranked Broncos (10-2), who last won an Arizona high school championship in 2007, toppled Perry High last Friday and have their eyes set on the 6A trophy, but a heavyweight semifinal matchup this Friday against No. 3 Mountain View Toros (11-1) stands in the way of ending the title drought.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve even been in the state championship game. We were one play away last year, now we’re one game away,” Brophy coach Jason Jewell said after his team beat Perry, 31-13. “(It’s) gonna take a tough week of preparation. It takes luck, it takes some grit. I think our kids got it though.” Continue reading “Brophy Prep football eyes state title, but first must top Mountain View in 6A semifinals”

• Slug: Sports–Arizona State CFP, 740 words.
• Photo available.

By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News

PHOENIX— So nice, they did it twice.

Not only is that true of the Arizona State faithful’s field storming on Saturday, but it can also be said about the team’s past two weeks, as the Sun Devils beat consecutive ranked opponents and moved to 9-2 on the season, 6-2 in the conference, and most importantly, first place in the Big 12 with just one week to play in the regular season.

That resume was good enough to land the Sun Devils at No. 16 in the College Football Playoff rankings. However, they still sit five spots behind No. 11 Boise State (10-1), with a host of three-loss SEC teams in between them. Based on that, it feels like a far cry for the prospective Big 12 champion to leapfrog that high to grab the final first-round bye without a loss from the Broncos. Continue reading “Arizona State rises to No. 16 after back-to-back upsets as College Football Playoff hopes hang in balance”

• Slug: Sports–Arizona Wildcats Football, 650 words.
• Photo available.

By Caleb Campero
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES – With just days left in the regular season, the Arizona Wildcats have accepted a difficult truth: Postseason football is not in their immediate future. That said, no matter what transpired during the season, one game on the calendar is always marked, and beating Arizona State Saturday could dramatically shift the Wildcats’ mood.

“Huge week for us,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “Obviously the ASU game is such a special rivalry in college football and it means so much to everybody here, everybody at this university, everybody in Tucson and thousands in the state of Arizona.”

Arizona sits at 4-7 heading into the Territorial Cup matchup in Tucson and is in 13th place out of 16 teams in the Big 12. ASU, meanwhile, was initially picked to finish last in the conference but is first at 9-2. The Sun Devils are likely one win away from a Big 12 title game appearance in their inaugural season with the conference. Continue reading “Spoiler alert: Arizona sees Territorial Cup meeting with ASU as a potential culture builder”

• Slug: Sports–AI Gambling,  2,200 words.
• Photo illustration available.

By Doyal D’angelo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Sports gambling operators are using artificial intelligence to track and limit problem gambling exposure for their users, but the introduction of this technology and the use of personal data also raises questions about whether it could be used for the wrong reasons.

The sports gambling world is still largely unregulated, relying mostly on self-governance, which raises the possibility of a conflict of interest when it comes to responsible gambling.

Access to bettors’ data, behavior and habits opens the door to the potential for predatory behavior by sports-gambling operators. Continue reading “As sportsbooks implement AI to drive growth, identify problem gamblers, door opens to potential predatory behavior”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Hockey Sweep. 798 words.
• Photo available.

By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona State is fresh off one of the hottest weekends a school can have.

The football team continued its miraculous run in their opening year in the Big 12, beating No. 14 BYU 28-23 before a packed house at Mountain America Stadium, making good on coach Kenny Dillingham’s promise to “activate the Valley.”

He might have activated the rest of the athletic program in the process. Continue reading “ASU hockey’s stunning sweep of No. 1 Denver suggests ‘Activating the Valley’ extends beyond football”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Football Fine. 600 words.
• Photo available.

By Aya Abdeen
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The Big 12 Conference slapped Arizona State with a $25,000 fine Monday for failing to keep fans from storming the field Saturday at Mountain America Stadium with a second remaining in a chaotic 28-23 victory over BYU Saturday.

The Sun Devils might have gotten off cheap.

The SEC imposed a combined total of $300,000 on the Oklahoma Sooners and Auburn Tigers because of similar celebrations following their upset wins Saturday. Continue reading “Bill comes due: ASU football fined $25,000 for failing to keep fans from storming field during BYU victory”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Dillingham Play-calling, 940 words.
• Photo available.

By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The lasting image of Arizona State’s exhilarating` victory over No.14 Brigham Young might be the thousands of fans streaming onto the field at Mountain America Stadium to celebrate one of the biggest wins in the school’s history.

However, it was ASU coach Kenny Dillingham’s late-game clock management that remained the hot topic in the wake of the victory. Dillingham tried to bleed the final seconds off the clock with quarterback Sam Leavitt running backward on a couple of plays, then sailing a pass high into the air and out of bounds as the clock appeared to expire.

That started a premature celebration. Continue reading “‘It worked horribly’: ASU’s Kenny Dillingham takes accountability on late-game chaos vs. BYU”

• Slug: Sports–Sporttrade Sportsbook Arizona, 980 words.
• Photo available.

By Brenden Paul
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Like many sports fans, Alex Kane struggled to understand the traditional moneyline odds system placed by sports bookmakers on events.

So he helped launch a new sportsbook modeled after a stock-trading platform that uses probability to simplify wagering.

“I never understood the odds,” said Kane, chief executive officer of Sporttrade, the Philadelphia-based sportsbook operation. “I built this whole thing because I wanted to create more of a Robinhood-type of experience, where you can just turn on the game, see the win probability, buy in at that win probability, and as the probability changes you can either make or lose money. And you can cash out at a fair market price at any point.” Continue reading “Sporttrade expands reach to Arizona with innovative stock market-style sportsbook”