Arizona, ASU are not one in the same
Outside of the state, schools get mistaken for each other often
Arizona and Arizona State are Pac-12 schools separated by 115 miles. They have different mascots, different colors and different histories, but as the football season sets to kick off this month, they are bound by an infuriating truth:
Outside of Arizona, many can’t tell the rival schools apart.
For two fan bases that want nothing more than to be nationally relevant in football, this stings something fierce. It never fails: Every year, usually multiple times, folks on national TV or radio will refer to ASU as the “Arizona State Wildcats,” totally unaware that mixing ASU maroon and gold and UA cardinal and navy doesn’t work.
Bear Up?
Forks Down?
It’s gone on for so long that the schools have discussed the possibility of making some sort of public service announcement video to politely yet firmly explain that the Wildcats hail from Tucson and the Sun Devils live in Tempe.
“It just shows a lack of respect for both schools,” said Shawn Malkind, a 2013 ASU graduate. “I’d like to think that a mistake that some ESPN broadcaster makes or someone else makes couldn’t make me mad, but it certainly is annoying.”
In 2013, well-known sportscaster Dan Patrick picked up an ASU helmet on his show — which was great publicity — until he identified the school as the Arizona Wildcats.
In 2014, CBS Sports Network analyst Aaron Taylor apologized after repeatedly calling ASU “Arizona” during an ASU game at New Mexico. Later that year, the American Football Coaches Association sent UA running back Ka’Deem Carey’s All-American plaque to the school in Tempe, not Tucson.
Media relations officials at both schools say they regularly get interview requests for athletes who attend the other school. On road trips, ASU basketball players have boarded a bus that displayed a sign that read “Welcome Arizona State” only to see the UA logo at the bottom.
Just last month, a major news organization distributed a photo of ASU coach Todd Graham at the Pac-12 media days but referred to him as coach of the “Arizona State Wildcats.”
“I’ve tried to wrap my head around why it doesn’t happen with say Florida-Florida State, Oklahoma- Oklahoma State, places like that,” said Blair Willis, associate director of communication services at UA. “And I really don’t have a good answer. Somehow, I just think Arizona and ASU get lumped together as this big Southwestern state with sunshine and hot air and it never rains, and that’s all people think about, even though our colors are different, our mascots are different and the schools are different.”
Cody Havard, an associate professor of sports and leisure commerce at the University of Memphis, has studied college rivalries for nearly 10 years and says he’s never heard of anything like this. Told that New Mexico and New Mexico State suffer similar identity issues, Havard said, “That’s a little understandable because neither one is competing at the highest level of college athletics.”
That’s not the case for UA and ASU.
The crazy thing is, Havard not long ago researched every rivalry in college sports. He asked fans how they felt about academics at their rival school. How they felt about their rival’s fan behavior and if they ever would support their rival in a championship or postseason game. Havard took that information and ranked the
“25 Most Intense Fan Rivalries” in college sports. ASU-UA ranked No. 1.
Yet somehow that intensity doesn’t leak out of the state.
“People are confusing them with their rival school, so it’s not like they’re saying, ‘Oh, you’re better than your rival,’ ” Havard said. “It’s almost like (they’re saying), ‘You’re the same as your rival, and neither one of you are that important because we get you confused all the time.’ That has to be frustrating.”
Pac-12 Networks analyst and former UA standout Glenn Parker said a lot has to do with simple geography. In 1997, when he left the Buffalo Bills to play with the Kansas City Chiefs, people often told him, “Oh, you must be so happy to play closer to home.” Parker politely explained that Kansas City was nowhere close to the West.
“Let’s face it,” said Parker, who played for the Wildcats in 1988 and 1989. “We know for a fact the average human being is not the brightest bulb in the box. If it’s not in their backyard, they don’t know. They just don’t. Ask people in New York City. They think it goes New York City to L.A. with nothing in between.”
Matt Barrie, an ESPN SportsCenter anchor and 2001 ASU graduate, hears from fans on Twitter whenever his network confuses the Arizona schools. (One example: Last year, an ESPN.com headline read: “Arizona State Wildcats quarterback Manny Wilkins expected to play against Colorado.”) It’s not often pretty.
Barrie’s response: “I say, ‘Look, win more games and be nationally relevant for more than two or three years at a time, and it will take care of itself.’ And I don’t mean that as a slight. It’s my alma mater. I grew up there. ... If you get yourself to the level of national — and by national conversation I’m talking about top 15-20 every year — when you get to that point, the confusion will stop.”
In the meantime, the schools will do their best to correct the mistakes. It’s their intention to inform, not to embarrass. That’s why they’re somewhat serious about the PSA. If it happens, ASU media relations director Doug Tammaro said it would just explain the differences between the two schools.
UA, Lute Olson.
ASU, Frank Kush.
UA, Tedy Bruschi.
ASU, Pat Tillman. Maybe then, folks outside of this great state might start understanding another basic truth. Wildcats and Sun Devils don’t mix.
“It’s like we should morph into one team at some point,” Tammaro said. “Wild Devils? Sun Cats? I don’t know.”
Haller writes for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, part of the USA TODAY Network.