It’s time for Arizona Sports Ownership to take Ownership

Mired in decades of futility, it’s time for Arizona Sports ownership to bring fans the championships they deserve.

One.

That is how many major professional championships the Valley has.

In a time when Valley sports fans are desperate and hungry for a trophy, we find ourselves rolling our eyes…constantly. We’re caught saying, “Why can’t we have nice things.” Especially coming off the 2021/22 season where we saw the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Cardinals both be the most dominant team in their respective leagues, at one time or another, only to fizzle out in dramatic fashion.

Yet, following crushing losses and Game 7 heart breakers, we still find hope. But does anyone believe one of our beloved sports teams will actually break through that barrier and be the last team standing? What is it that keeps getting in the way of our teams winning? We have the talent. We have the destination. The fans are passionate. So, what is it?

The answer? Ownership.

To start, Robert Sarver has been at the brunt of every single NBA  ownership joke  since 2010. Arguably, one of the worst owners in the  NBA. Add the Sarver investigation on top of that, and no one in Phoenix wants this man to have  anything to do with the team.

Some of things that came out of the investigation were stunning, shocking and eye opening, to say the least. Even with the investigation aside, this is the first year he is actually willing to go over the luxury tax to win a championship – and he has gone on record saying so.

Remember when he could have had Joe Johnson on the cheap and JJ went on to become “Iso-Joe” and a perennial All-Star? I do. That was a franchise altering move. So was letting Amare Stoudemire walk away while Sarver said to him, “I can replace you.” Remind me, how did Hedo, Childress & Hakim Warrick turn out?

Meanwhile, Ken Kendrick and the Arizona Diamondbacks ownership group has turned a proud franchise into the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. For anyone who doesn’t know, those teams are known for putting an average team, at best, on to the field just to make a profit on the back end. No hopes of winning, just make the money.

Ever see the classic baseball movie Major League? The  owner wanted to put together the worst team in history so that the attendance would drop so low, they could get out of their lease and move the team to Florida.

Now, I’m not saying the team is trying to move to another city, but I am saying they are just putting out an average team, with no hopes to actually compete at a high level, and just collecting the dollars.

I will say, I am impressed they are the cheapest ticket in Major League Baseball. That’s hardly the problem. The problem is overpaying for free agent pitchers who are not true Aces anymore in Zach Greinke and Madison Bumgardner.

Having a mediocre manager year over year. You can even add replacing the purple and teal logo and uniforms with that awful Sedona red (cc the Coyotes). But always trading away your best players, is also NOT the answer. Think of Goldschmidt, Starling Marte, Scherzer, Upton, Pollock, Dansby Swanson…I  could go on.

Then, there is the Arizona Coyotes, who haven’t even had a legitimate ownership group. Have they? They’re actually going to play in the new Arizona State Hockey arena that fits 5,000 fans! Very LA Chargers of them.

I do, however, believe this new ownership group has a legitimate plan in place to keep them long term and build a winning franchise. 5,000 LOUD fans in that arena will absolutely be a “Vibe,” and I cannot wait to attend a game. But the jury is still out on them. At least they brought back the Kachina look.

All the while, Michael Bidwill has been our best owner to date. He actually has a winning record as owner. Crazy, right? Problem is, every player that leaves here, leaves on BAD TERMS! Then, the Cardinal name is dragged through the mud on social media, and we’re the same old Cardinals again.

Not to mention the crazy amount of nepotism he and GM Steve Keim have together. How Keim kept his job after his DUI is beyond me. Besides, has there ever been a GM to fire a Head Coach and trade away a top-10 1st round QB after one year…and get to keep his job?

The issues with Cardinals management is mind boggling and my brain is hurting just thinking about it. I do miss Calais Campbell. But again…Bidwill has a winning record, even though they have the worst jerseys in the NFL.

Now, do we even need to get into the lack of competency the entire Arizona State athletic department has displayed? Their fearless leader, Michael Crow, did nothing but support the former Pac-12 commissioner, Larry Scott. This left current commissioner, George Kliavkoff, to formally come out and say that the deals made a decade ago by leadership set this conference up for utter failure.

Ultimately, this resulted in USC and UCLA going running to the Big 10, while the rest of the PAC fights for relevance, as the financial gap continues to widen between the PAC and every other P5 conference in College Football.

Then, there is Ray Anderson, the Athletic Director who has said being a perennial top 15 team every year is our goal. The guy who hired his buddy Herm Edwards to run the football program into the ground. The guy who turned a blind eye and did as little as possible when a donor was verbally abusing Bobby Hurley’s wife. The guy that STILL backs Herm Edwards, who should have been fired after last season’s disastrous performance alone. Not to mention the whole illegal recruiting scandal during Covid.

You can say what you want about Jerry Colangelo, but he brought us a Championship. Yes, he sold the Suns and the Dbacks and left the Dbacks in a financial hole. But no one can take away Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. No one.

If our beloved sports teams ever want a chance to be that last team standing again…then our owners need to take ownership. They are the ones who need to lead. They are the ones who need to set the example. They are the ones who, ultimately, write the checks. Stop talking about wanting to win. Go out there and do it. Prove it. Prove it to the fans. We deserve it more than you.

So, don’t talk about it…be about it.