Via Devilsdigest, came across this link to Ted Miller's ESPN Pac 10 blog with a great profile on Jeremy Staat, one of the key DL cogs on the famous 1996 team.  He joined the Marines in 2006, and served a 7 month tour in Iraq.  After leaving the military due to a medical discharge, he came back to ASU to finish his degree and graduated yesterday.  Great story, and I'm proud to have this guy as a true Sun Devil.

Jeremy Staat, from ASU to the NFL to Iraq and back again

FSN Arizona will be airing "Spotlight: A Tribute to Bruce Snyder" Thursday night at 6:30 PM.  It'll include rememberances from friends and players from the former ASU head football coach and will replay again at 10:30 PM.  In between, FSN will show Bruce's greatest game, and probably the greatest ASU moment in the last 30 years, the 19-0 shutout over Nebraska in 1996.  I know some of you who frequent this blog might be a little younger so you might not have seen the game before.  I was a junior in the stands that night and it still ranks probably just below the birth of my son as the greatest night of my life.  You owe it to yourselves to see this game, trust me. 

ASU's national title hopes took a severe blow when coach Pat Murphy revealed that left hander Josh Spence will likely not return to the mound this season and may have already thrown his last pitch for the Sun Devils.  He has a torn tendon in his pitching hand and while surgery isn't needed, he will likely be out for the rest of the year. 

Murph predicted that Spence will likely be a high pick in the June MLB draft and is unlikely to return to ASU, as he already spent 2 years at junior college and is eligible this season. 

I emailed Baseball America editor John Manuel asking about Spence's draft prospects and he indicated that while he likes Spence's makeup, he has doubts about how well he projects at the next level due to his low velocity, topping out in the mid 80s. So I suppose there is a chance that he could get drafted lower than he wants and could come back to ASU. 

Of course, it's not like he's going to start throwing any harder with an extra year in college, so he may just figure he wants to start his pro career and start drawing a paycheck rather than risk further injury. 

ASU is still capable of making it to Omaha, especially if they draw one of the top 8 national seeds and get to play at Packard through the postseason. But this young team would struggle to have the pitching depth to keep advancing, especially if they ever drop into a loser's bracket. Hopefully guys like Seth Blair and Jason Franzblau can step up and carry the Devils.

I know that college baseball has a lower profile than football or basketball, but baseball is inarguably the most successful sport on campus.  The team has been ranked in the top 5 in the country since the 2nd week of the season, and briefly rose to #1.  They just finished up a 20-3 beatdown against arizona in tuscum, following a 23-9 bludgeoning earlier in the spring.  They're on track to win their 3rd straight conference title, something they've never done before.  After this weekend at UCLA, they likely will not have to play another road game unless they make it to Omaha and the College World Series. 

Look, I know it's something of a niche sport to the general public.  But c'mon -- if you're gonna bill yourselves as the blog for all things Sun Devil, college baseball has gotta be part of the equation!

The Sun Devils will take on top ranked Cal State Fullerton in a 2 game midweek series March 31 and April 1st at Packard Stadium in the DeMarini Invitational.  ASU comes in having won 5 of 6 to get off to a great start in Pac 10 play against USC and arizona.  The Titans are coming off a series win against UC-Riverside.  Should be a good series -- the rivalry has died down a bit from the early part of the decade when it seemed like the Devils' hearts were annually broken at Fullerton (including one unbelievably unfair year when we were ranked in the top 5 and yet were sent to Goodwin Field for Super Regionals), but their fans are still lively and snooty so it should be a good time.  Definitely will be a great time to get out to Packard and make some noise!

EDIT: Excellent preview over on Pitchfork Nation.

Looks like the fates finally caught up with him, after he was able to get away with it a couple of years ago.  And nope, sorry I don't buy the excuse that "we've all done it..."  Uhhh, no we haven't, and it's stupid stupid stupid in the extreme for anyone who does.  Nor do I wanna hear about how we can't talk because Erickson's gotten one -- hey guys, doesn't Mike Stoops have one of those bad boys on his record as well?  All in all, a fitting capping off to the career of the "best" QB in au history. 

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/ua/articles/2009/03/09/20090309spt-tuitama.html

Tucson police arrested Tuitama early Sunday after a McDonald's worker flagged down a police sergeant, saying a customer who just left the drive-through window may have been impaired.

Police spokesman Officer Chuck Rydzak says the officer saw Tuitama run a red light and pulled him over.

When it rains, it pours...

Suns guard Jason Richardson was arrested and booked into Scottsdale City Jail on Sunday after a police officer pulled him over for driving 90 mph in a 35 mph with his 3-year-old son unrestrained in his vehicle's back seat, according to Scottsdale police.

Scottsdale police first clocked Richardson, 27, traveling at 67 mph in a 40 mph zone of the 6500 block of East Camelback Road before the vehicle turned northbound onto 64th Street. Police said that Richardson then reached a speed of 90 mph before being pulled over in the 5400 block of North 64th Street at about 8 p.m.

The police summary stated that Richardson identified himself as a Suns player and admitted speeding. The officer noticed that Richardson's 3-year-old son was in the back seat and was not in a child seat, as required by state law. Richardson told the officer he and his son had gone to dinner and were on their way to his Paradise Valley home.

Who would have ever thought that the Suns could somehow become the most dysfunctional, embarassing outfit in town?  As the dad of a 3 year old myself, I'm glad that the kid is okay but utterly beyond horrified that he was risking his son's life like that, and indeed only a few miles away from my neighborhood.  Wonder if a Shaq/Kerr/Sarver/J-Rich trade would find any takers?

Richardson charged with reckless driving

Wish I had remembered this one in advance cause it would have been good to take my son to get a taste of the way things should be!  But the score tells the story -- ASU obliterates u of a this afternoon by a score of 75-38!  Sybil Dosty posted a double double with 12 points and 11 boards, while Dymond Simon led the Devils with 19 points.  ASU has now beaten the rats 7 straight times and 9 out of the last 10. 

Link

Not sports related, but still worth discussing...article in the Trib today says that one of the options on the table to meet budget reductions for ASU is to close the Polytechnic campus out in east Mesa.  That would be a HUGE blow to the university, and to the communities out on that side of town.  Talk about a permanent solution to a (hopefully!) temporary problem! Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and alternate arrangements can be made somewhere.

Link

ASU released their schedule for the upcoming season and as usual, it's a doozy.  Heavily front-loaded with home games, the Devils start out with their first 19 games played either at Packard or over at Surprise Stadium.  They will travel to Arkansas, USC, Cal, Oregon State, as well as 3 non-conference games against au in tuscum.  In addition, they will also play Missouri, U of San Diego, and Cal State Fullerton in the Valley.  This freshman laden team will have their work cut out for them, but the talent is definitely there to make another run through the regionals and even a 3rd straight conference title.  Hopefully fans will be patient with the inevitable ups and downs that come with fielding a very young team. 

2009 ASU baseball schedule