PAC-12 NOT GIVING GROUND IN DIRECTV DISPUTE
My Sunday best ...
For the first Saturday this season, both the Arizona and Arizona State football games were carried by Pac-12 Networks. Both were pivotal meetings for the state teams. Both went unseen by stay-athome fans with DirecTV. Conference Commissioner
Larry Scott, who attended the ASU-Washington game at Sun Devil Stadium, understands fans’ frustration about the lack of a deal between the conference and the satellite distributor but said there is no way the Pac-12 will settle for a lesser agreement just to have a deal done.
“We won’t do that,” he said. “First of all, we have an obligation to over 50 distributors we already have deals with on the same basis. And in fairness and legally, we can’t do a different deal that we wouldn’t have done for someone else.”
Scott said “eventually I believe (DirecTV) will take the network” and said the conference came into the process knowing there likely would be holdouts. He mentioned that he recently spoke to the president of the NFL Network, who acknowledged his negotiations with Time Warner Cable took eight years to get done.
As a DirecTV subscriber, I have only one reaction. Gulp. … One of the participants in the Nov. 3 New York City Marathon is ASU athletic equipment coordinator Mark Zimmer, who oversaw football equipment operations for two of Pat Tillman’s four seasons with the Sun Devils. Zimmer also volunteers with the Pat Tillman Foundation.
On Tuesday, Zimmer received his corral and bib numbers and, wouldn’t you know it, he was assigned 42 and 42133, respectively. Tillman, you may remember, wore 42 at ASU. …
Not surprised Russ Pennell has decided to move on from the Mer- cury and pursue something in the college-basketball realm. Pennell enjoyed his experience as interim coach but always has had a passion for developing talent and coaching at the college level. … The Mercury also lose Amber
Cox, who stepped down as team president. Hard to imagine the organization finding another person who cares as much about the growth of the women’s game as Cox. …
I mentioned in my Sunday Showcase today about linebacker
Sam Acho that he and Cardinals teammate Jonathan Cooper have formed a tight bond since being sidelined for the season with fractured fibulas. The two have matching knee scooters that help them get around in casts.
Be careful if you run into the pair. They have been known to scooter race each other whenever a long hallway presents itself. With Cooper at 6 feet 2 and 312 pounds and Acho at 6-3, 257, it’s a pretty amusing sight.
It’s funny because neither are attention mongers. Acho admits that if he were approached by someone asking who he was last year, he would say he was a running back at Chaparral High who hoped to secure a college scholarship. People often believed him. …
Playfully stretching the truth is not uncommon for athletes. Arizona State defensive lineman
Jaxon Hood, who has been slowed recently by a hamstring, admits he would occasionally exaggerate his injury on campus so a girl might feel sorry for him and carry his backpack. …
Northern Arizona men’s basketball coach Jack Murphy and sophomore guard DeWayne Rus
sell, of Peoria High, visited the Valley this week to promote the Lumberjacks’ season that opens Nov. 9 at Texas-San Antonio. NAU will miss its senior leadership from last season, but Murphy is clearly pleased with how much
more athletic this season’s team is.
“We may have had five dunks (last year),” he said. “I literally remember every one. … It doesn’t always translate to winning, but (it means) you have length and you have athleticism and you have speed. I can see it in practices. Practices are more competitive.
Russell, too, has noticed the improved athleticism in practice.
“It’s the little things like fast breaks,” he said. “You can’t just lay the ball up anymore. You’ve got to make sure nobody’s behind you because we’re so athletic they’ll block your shot off the glass.” ...
NAU’s schedule includes meetings with Texas Tech, USC and Arizona. Murphy said he welcomes a tough schedule and “likes to play either Arizona or ASU every year, and the Wildcats are welcoming.”
A playful nudge from Murphy, perhaps? The Lumberjacks have defeated the Sun Devils twice under Herb Sendek. …
Murphy praised the growing talent of high basketball players in Arizona.
“I think as a state it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves,” he said. “But it’s definitely improving. Ten, 12 years ago we might have had a handful of Division I players. Now you’re in double digits almost every year.” …
Quote of the day: “Thanks for the support. If you were wondering, the boards are not edible.” — Winnipeg Jets rookie defenseman
Jakob Trouba after falling facefirst into the end boards against St. Louis on Friday and being taken away on a stretcher.