I'm taking the week off from everything this week due to spring break, including my weekly column. Still, I didn't want to leave my devoted fanbase with nothing, so I thought I would take this time to just put some random takes out there I have concerning some things that are currently happening in sports. Some of them might be hot, I don't know. If you would like to weigh in, leave a comment or DM me on Instagram, and I will be sure to write back.
I wouldn't want to be Joe Burrow right now. I've thought about writing an entire article about this, and I still might do that; for now, however, all I'll say about it is that the Bengals are perennially horrible for a reason, and that the talent of a great quarterback is not always enough to bring a poor franchise to the promised land. Just ask Dan Marino, who, in his 17 seasons with the Dolphins, only went to the Super Bowl one time - it was his second season in the league.
The Coyotes will be just fine as far as revenue is concerned when they move into ASU's 5,000 seat arena for the next three seasons. They sell around 10,000 tickets a game right now, and that's while they're still bad and in Glendale. You do the math. Coyotes tickets will skyrocket in price, and they will sell every one of them. They'll be one of the hardest tickets to acquire in the valley. I wouldn't be surprised if their revenue actually increases from what they make now.
The Cardinals have to pay Kyler Murray. I originally was not on the pay Murray train, but since the Cardinals decided to give massive contracts to head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim, it is now obvious that Murray was right all along in that the Cardinals were using him as a scapegoat for the Cardinals' playoff loss. Murray is far more deserving of a contract extension than those two, and it's a bad look for the organization to be treating their young, talented quarterback this way. It is also now obvious that the Cardinals are fine with mediocrity, so why not pay a player who is definitely better than mediocre. In my opinion, he's a top ten QB in the league.
I'll follow up that on last part here. My top ten QB's are, in no particular order, Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Jackson, Rodgers, Stafford, Herbert, Wilson, Brady (he's coming back, I just don't know when), and Murray. Carr barely misses the cut, and obviously, I'm not counting Watson. If I were, I would take Murray out and put him in there, although I'd prefer to forget Watson exists.
ASU's football program. Wow. This looks. Really really bad. The problems they are having are going to take many years, and the right coaching staff, to fully come back from. ASU's dominance in football over Arizona is over. Breathe a sigh of relief. I might write an article about this too, as I have a lot to say on this. Until then, many dark days lie ahead in Tempe, and I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Sticking with college football, Arizona needs to prepare to open up their pocket book. If Arizona wins five games this season, which I think is well within reach (I do a schedule prediction for the Cardinals and Wildcats every season, and I'll publish those here in August), other schools will be scrambling to hire Jedd Fisch away from Arizona. Between his recruiting classes, the obvious culture change, his top-notch coaching staff, and this hypothetical five-win season, his coaching talents will be in high demand at more prestigious football programs. Now, there are many reasons I think that Fisch would not necessarily be interested in leaving Arizona, but that's also what every college football fan says about their own team's coach, when in reality, more than 90% of college coaches would probably leave their job to go coach at a more prestigious program.
I obviously hope that Kerr Kriisa's injury that he sustained today in Arizona's game against Stanford is not serious and that he will be back for the NCAA tournament. If he is not, however, I think that Arizona will be fine. I think that he is Arizona's least valuable starter and that he is massively overrated by Arizona fans, as well as college basketball fans in general. Justin Kier is a more than capable replacement for Kriisa in the starting lineup. I think it is also worth pointing out that if 2023 five-star point guard Kylan Boswell reclassifies to 2022, which is very likely, Kriisa will probably transfer away from Arizona, as I don't see a situation where Kriisa maintains his starting position over the number two point guard prospect in the country. Kriisa does not strike me as the kind of guy who would be fine with coming off the bench, and he wouldn't have to be, as I think that he would easily start at any school that didn't have a point guard as talented as Boswell.
That's all I have for now. I'll see you all next week.