DPC is not Steve McQueen and that is a gift to Humanity

If I was to make a list of my all time favorite movies, which I have debated before as a proper former Blockbuster employee, Le Mans and Bullitt would be somewhere in the Top-20. I'm not sure where exactly but likely in the bottom 10.

This isn't a knock on McQueen. This has more to do with my love of Wes Anderson flicks and how my Top 10 would be littered with the Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic and possibly Rushmore.

With that said, I am a McQueen fan. This isn't exactly a bold statement. The dude has admirers by the millions and I am part of that clique. My fandom is why I wear a Gulf gas station attendant jacket and a Gulf Racing shirt.

A few folks probably assumed I was some type of hipster doofus and dressing like I pump petrol for a living but I was trying paying homage to McQueen and Gulf Racing.

The appeal of McQueen, at least to me, is that his coolness is unobtainable. It's out of my realm to be a handsome actor that is a racecar driver on the weekends. I can never be the King of Cool and that is a good thing.

Stanley Kowalksi wearing a bucket

What I mean is that McQueen and McQueen only should be the archetype for Cool.

Like a James Dean or Marilyn Monroe he died at relatively young age and never aged. We never had to deal with memories of an old McQueen like Marlon Brando in the Island of Dr. Moreau.

Tragically McQueen died fairly young and in doing so became timeless. There are no photos of him wearing a bucket in his later years

Hockey Saved My Life

I couldn't find a song in which hockey saved a life.

The title sounds like hyperbole and it really is. Obviously other facets of my days bring me joy, my family being number one on the list, but hockey and covering the Arizona Coyotes have made me happy.

Just that simple notion of being happy is a big deal for a writer that suffers from severe depression, amongst other psyche issues, and covering the NHL as an onsite reporter makes me happy.

It's such a simple notion being happy but due to some jacked up chemical imbalance it's hard for me to be stoked, glad all over, etc.

Press Box at Gila River Arena

My family is the best thing in my life. There is no doubt there and they keep me keepin' on. Working as a reporter on the side, covering hockey and motorsports, is the best hobby one could ask for. Yes, the hours are tough and the pay isn't great but it's a blessing that I alway cherish. Truthfully, I don't always feel worthy galavanting around Gila River Arena or Phoenix International Raceway with my media credentials and trying to come up with an angle for a story.

Even after four-years I feel like an imposter. Like someone will kick me out of and laugh at the notion that I was a reporter.

I don't cover any sports in the Summer and it's obvious to those that know me well that this has an adverse affect on my mood. No hockey or races at PIR make DPC a downer. I trivialize this notion of depression but it's true: I get worse in the Summer and peak in the Fall and Winter. I guess I have an odd version of Season Affective Disorder where I bloom when plants die. Maybe if I covered the Diamondbacks things would be different...

It's now September and it's a 100-degrees in suburban Phoenix. Despite the weather I have hockey on my mind and they are laying down ice at Gila River Arena.

It is unlikely that I will get hockey credentials this season. The site I used to write for went the way of the dodo and left me to blog. I am still a news man at heart, it's what I was trained to do at the University of Nevada, but I need a legit site to get sanctioned and unfortunately #PHOENIXSPORTSRISING is still rising from the ashes of my previous gig.

I'm not a loser. I just support losing teams

DPC and Ginger Spice share a love of Red Bull F1

It has been 23-years since I've witnessed one of my teams win a championship. I was 15-years old and the Montreal Canadiens shocked the NHL world and knocked off the Gretzky led LA Kings in 1993. Patrick Roy made my awkward high school years easier and then destroyed me when he demanded to be traded.

In a way the up and down years of Roy and the Habs could be an allegory for my dazed and confused teenage era but that's a mercurial story for another time.

I'm not a loser, I'm a happily married parent and gainfully employed, but the teams I dig are not championship material.

Life would easier if I rooted for the New England Patriots but I dig the Arizona Cardinals. It's not fair for to consider the Cardinals a suffering franchise because relative to my Chicago Cubs being the 1947 NFL Champs is a dynasty.

I can't expect my alma mater the University of Nevada to compete with the teams in the BCS Conferences but they've given me a fair amount of joy over the years. Four straight trips to the Dance. A Sweet 16 appearance in 2004 made my time in Reno kick ass as a basketball fan. But in all honesty I still haven't gotten over Nevada losing to Georgia Tech in the Elite 8. It was a winnable game, damn it.

I have similar sentiments with Super Bowl XLIII. To this day I cannot watch replays of the Cardinals last minutes loss to Pittsburgh and it created a lot of disdain for Ben Roethlisberger. Call me a petty man but I hold a grudge against someone I will never meet.

I'm a newby Phoenix Suns fan but it is my hope that Robert Sarver will have things worked out by the time I join AARP.

We've been over my Danica fandom and she is currently 24th in NSCS standings and has zero Top-10 finishes in 2016. When she finishes on the lead lap I consider it a triumph.

I sorta have an exception rooting for losing teams and this is Red Bull F1. Unfortunately I was not a fan of Red Bull F1 when they won four straight championships, I had just started watching F1 at the time and didn't really have a fave yet.

Twenty-three years is a pretty good drought. With some luck the Arizona Cardinals could win it all. I'm not counting on it but it could happen.

Maybe two plus decades of futility have made me pessimistic?

Vrbata is coming back to the Coyotes and my take on who should also return home

Radim Vrbata is close to making Arizona his home for the third time. Per an AZ Central report, the twice former Arizona Coyote is expected to sign a one-year deal and return to The Valley. Vrbata previously played with the Coyotes in 2007-08 and from 2009 - 2014.

With Vrbata coming back home it got me thinking about who should go back home again or at least return to their former team.

1. Paul Bissonette: BizNasty should be back with the Coyotes as a pugilist specialist and a solid locker room dude. You need guys that put the team ahead of themselves and BizNasty consistently did the grinders job. 
2. Anquan Boldin: 'Q' spent his first seven-seasons with the Arizona and he should end is solid career with the Cardinals. Yes he has a lot of mileage, off road miles at that, but he can contribute as a veteran presence to the younger receivers on the rosters. That and he has Super Bowl experience. 
3. Montreal Expos: I proudly wear an Expos chapeau and at MLB games I usually get a few positive comments. I guess there are a lot of former Expos fans in Arizona during Spring Training. Anywho, Montreal has a strong baseball history that began before the Expos, Jackie Robinson played north of the border. Move the Tampa Bay Rays and give us back the Expos. Also, they'll need a new stadium.
   

It's Time To Assign NASCAR Numbers Because No Man Should Have To Alter Their Dale Jr. Tattoo

NASCAR car numbers are the property of the team. #3 is owned by Richard Childress Racing, #24 is owned by Hendrick Motorsports, etc. This ownership of car numbers is a bit of a bummer. You identify the number with the driver, not the number with the owner. Except for Richard Petty.

Only in a Bizarro Universe would #3 only be associated with Austin Dillion, as opposed to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Yes, Chase Elliott is quite talented but #24 will always be Jeff Gordon. Aric Almirola seems decent but 43 is Richard Petty's. Because of the ownership of numbers Dale Earnhardt Jr. was forced to switch to 88 because his stepmom would not relinquish the right's to the #8 when Jr. left DEI. As a result, many a tattoo had to be altered because of Jr's number change.

F1 is leading the way for once by assigning number to drivers for their career. No matter how many times you switch teams you still have the same number you picked. Lewis Hamilton is always 44. Daniel Ricciardo is forever 3 and Jules Bianchi's #17 was retired after his tragic death.

NASCAR should follow in a similar suit. Forget giving the number rights to the team owners. Let the drivers keep them throughout their career and retire the ones that deserve.

Tim Richmond and Dale Earnhardt

In the last 25-years a few numbers should be retired when that driver hangs them up. That list is short and sweet:

#3 Dale Earnhardt

#24 Jeff Gordon

#48 Jimmie Johnson

#25 Tim Richmond

The first three drivers on the list are a given. You have legends of the sport that have a combined 17-NSCS Championships between them but then there is Tim Richmond.

Well Richmond admission to this list is based on conjecture and later influence. He wasn't Southern.

He was brash, loud and died of AIDS at a fairly young age.

His career was short, 13-wins in 185 Winston Cup races and no championships but he showed that a non-Southerner could do well in the sport and he was in Earnhardt's class as a driver.

"We can all speculate how far he could have gone if he could have just stuck around a little bit longer, " Jeff Hammond said. "But I feel like he could have been that rival that Dale Earnhardt would have probably met his match on."

Every time I see Brad K's number 2, I have flashbacks to Rusty. I've always associated the number 20 with Tony Stewart, not Matt Kenseth. I think I am being stubborn and/or I have a crappy memory but NASCAR can learn from F1 and let their drivers pick and keep their numbers. Because no one should have their tattoo altered just because their driver switched teams.

Cardinals Training Camp and I Hella Suck at Fantasy Football

Last weekend I took in Arizona Cardinals training camp at University of Phoenix Stadium. The trip was two fold: spend time with my son in an air conditioned environment and scout talent for the upcoming fantasy football season.

The Cardinals looked good and refined. I mean, I guess they did. I have no eye for judging athletic talent and my track record proves it.

In the past 20-years here are some of my more interesting predictions:

• RG3 will be better than Andrew Luck
• Matt Leinart was the steal of the 2006 NFL Draft
• Jeff George is a Hall of Famer
• Jay Cutler will lead the Bears to the Super Bowl (This could still happen)
• Edgerrin James was a good signing for Arizona
• Why did the Bears draft Devin Hester?
• Tom Hardy deserved an Oscar for Bane 
• Kirk Snyder will dominate the NBA

There are more predictions that blew up in my face but I have suppressed those memories like a Manchurian Candidate and only the sight of a Ramon Martinez rookie card can bring them back. 

My history of poor scouting should make me pick the opposite of my intuition but that takes logic and common. Two traits that I am lacking in. For example, if I have the intuition that drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey is a good idea, I should go with the opposite and realize that Michael Crabtree is the safer choice. 

So what can I expect in the upcoming fantasy football season?

Probably drafting Tom Brady seven-rounds too soon. 

Thinking that an aging Larry Fitzgerald is going to turn back the hands of time and have a huge season. Ditto for Carson Palmer and Drew Brees.

Predicting that RG3 will finally have his breakout season. That all he needed was a change of scenery in Cleveland.

Drafting any player associated with the Jacksonville Jaguars or Miami Dolphins

I'll probably pull a Lohan and be mocked the whole season...

Arizona cut ties with Antoine Vermette and I've spent too much time in the Coyotes' locker room

The Arizona Coyotes cut ties with forward Antoine Vermette. The team bought out the final year of his contract and in all likelihood the Coyotes faithful will get to see young phenom Dylan Strome in Vermette's spot next season.

Vermette gave the Coyotes five solid season with 70-goals and 79-assists.  Never a superstar but a solid player. One of the guys that you need on your roster that will make the proper sacrifices for the greater good of the time. The grinder who isn't overly concerned with stats and I've run out cliches.

My interactions with Vermette, and most players on the Coyotes, have been minimal in my four-seasons as an NHL reporter. Because I am low man on the totem pole I am usually pushed to the back when it comes time to interview players in the locker.

I'm ok with this because my fellow reporters are often better than me at asking the tough questions. That and I have a tendency to zone out when I find myself in confined quarters with a group of sweaty hockey players. The enclosed funk and poor ventilation make me yearn for the hallway and cleaner air.

Even after four-seasons of being in the locker room it is kind of a surreal experience for a lifelong sports fan. I somehow managed to cross that magical barrier where fans can't go but folks that spent four-years getting journalism degrees can. A simple lanyard with my face on it gets me into some cool parts of Gila River Arena and I know I am lucky dude to be granted access.

I may look pissed in the picture with Martin Erat but internally I'm hella stoked. That faces is my serious, journalist expression. Similar to Derek Zoolander's Blue Steele I have a signature facial expression.

Mine is serious, focused, driven and ultimately that combo makes me looked bored and or pissed off. I need more mirror time to perfect my signature look. Blue Steele was years in the making and I need some more time to get mine down, on the off hand chance I'm in the background of a postgame interview being filmed.

The Best NASCAR Drivers from Arizona

Marty Robbins: Yes, that Marty Robbins the country singer who came across some romantic issues in El Paso was also an occasional NASCAR driver.

From 1966-1982 Robbins ran 35-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, with one Top-5 and six Top-10 finishes. The Glendale, Arizona native was more than a novelty act and to some of his legendary peers he was a legit driver.
"He would give you all you wanted, I can tell you that," says NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby 

Alex Bowman: The 23-year old Tucson native is putting on a good show for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. After five races this season he has a pair of Top-5 finishes and has finished in the Top-10 each race.

Bowman replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr., due to Jr's concussion issues, at New Hampshire this month. Bowman got a DNF but just being selected was a honor and shows the regard that Rick Hendrick holds Bowman in.

JJ Yeley: In 235 career Xfinity starts the Phoenix native has 15 Top-5 and 42 Top-10 finishes but no wins. His winless streak carries over NSCS where he has 254 career start, with two Top 5 and eight Top 10 finishes. Yeley is currently 16th in the NASCAR Xfinity Standings.

Honorable Mention: Danica Patrick: She is an Illinois native that currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. Danica is a polarizing figure in NASCAR: admired by many for breaking gender roles and stereotypes but vilified by others because they think she's a pretty face, as opposed to a legit driver.

I feel the need to offer my two cents. Danica Patrick is the most important driver that NASCAR has had since Jeff Gordon. Like Gordon, she has broaden people's perspective on who a NASCAR can be. Whether it's a California prodigy with a bad mustache or a female open-wheel driver.

Danica's results have been lacking, no wins and six Top-10's in 138 NSCS races, but her societal results are greater. Because of her, a young girl can dream of being a racecar driver and can look up to a fellow woman that did it.

Not many NASCAR drivers create social change but Danica has. I'll take that over her lack of wins any day of the week.

WNBA Tryout

Last year I went to a Phoenix Mercury game, which I hella enjoyed, and as a result I am on their email list. I get notices of upcoming games and offers to purchase tickets.

In March I got an invite to tryout for the team's Male Practice Squad. I assume this was a mass email, spam if you will, because the Mercury have no idea of my basketball prowess or my lack of hoops talent.

I've played basketball in organized leagues. A younger DPC, 13ish, played in the Rincon Valley Christian Church League for a season and was the seventh option on a nine-man roster. I had flashes of glory but those moments have been lost to time.

After one-season of church league I continued to play pick up games at Rincon Valley Junior High. I considered myself a Pistol Pete clone but I didn't survive the first round of cuts from the RVJH basketball squad in 9th grade.

In my early 20's my friends and I started a rec league basketball team. Shaft won a single game its first season and peaked 4-7 by the second season. After three-seasons we disbanded and I retired. I'd like to say I matured as player during the Shaft era but I sort of evolved.

I limited my behind the back passes to a couple per game and essentially evolved into Steve Kerr. A Steve Kerr that smoked two packs of Winston Lights per day and never practiced. My highest offensive output was nine-points and that explosion included my Sky Hook. Every short guard needs a Sky Hook and to chain smoke before a game.

After Shaft I rarely, if ever, played basketball but with a 16-year hiatus I was well rested.

Despite being out of shape and out of practice I was definitely going to the Mercury Male Practice Squad tryouts. It was on my 38th birthday. You got a free T-shirt for going and it would make an interesting anecdote or blog post. Within reason, I'll do most things for a free shirt. Hence my disjointed fashion sense.

On Saturday morning I cruised to Talking Stick Arena, home of your Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Arizona Rattlers. I parked behind the arena where I noticed a line of folks congregating and made my way to the line. Like any moderately competitive guy, I sized up the competition and realized I may not be the worst player around, which was my main goal. I knew going in that I would not be the best player there, nor make the practice squad, but by the same token I didn't want to the worst player there. By my early stereotype of my brethren, I was at the bottom of the heap but not the lowest of the lousy lot.

Eventually a team rep came to the back door and made us form a line. We checked in and were given our free shirt, with a number on the back and I was 14. A positive number for baseball, Pete Rose and Ernie Banks, off hand I couldn't think of any basketball jerseys with the number 14. (Some later research determined that Bob Cousy and Jeff Hornacek wore 14 but I had no idea at the time).

After given out shirts and signing waivers we made our way to the practice court. I was hoping the tryouts would be held on the Mercury/Suns court, it would enhance my anecdote of being cut by a pro basketball team, but like usual my dreams were squashed.

I took off my glasses, I have 20-150 eyesight and can't see clearly 5-feet past my nose, and made my way to the court to get warmed up with 75 other folks. Poor eyesight, lack of talent and being out of shape is a nasty combination for anyone looking to excel at basketball or any endeavor for that matter and I generally looked terrible trying to hit a 10-foot jumper. No airballs but a of iron unkind.

After 10-15 minutes of warm ups an assistant coach huddled us up and gave a short speech on the practice squad role. I was too tired to pay attention, pathetically I was gassed after shooting jumpers.

We ran the three man weave initially and I was nervous. Simply put I didn't look like a punk during my time on court plus I forgot how to run the drill. After watching ten-teams run it I remembered my positioning and made the lay up. It was the last shot I made that morning.

After the three man weave we were broken up into six man squads and were given five-minutes of scrimmage I came off the bench and attempted to do my best Vinnie Johnson impersonation but time and talent were against me. My teammates were cool and let me shoot once but a 20-footer from the top of the key was wide left but grazed the rim. Knowing that poor eyesight would limit my offensive skills I focused on

defense and hustle and in the process of attempting to knock down a pass I wrenched my left knee.

I pointed to our bench and signaled that I needed a sub and ambled off the court. In the back of my head I knew my career was done, so I grabbed my stuff and made my way out of the gym and to the car.  One swollen knee for one shirt.

Preamble

What is Phoenix Sports Rising? It is the result of losing my previous writing gig, unfortunately the website I used to write for went belly up.

Like a Ronin with no master I've bummed around a lot lately without guidance or writing production. Unlike Ronin, I have not gone rogue to obtain an ice skate case. I need a creative outlet or an venue to vent my frustrations about sports and pop culture.

My recent writing work has been as an onsite reporter covering the Arizona Coyotes and local motorsports: NASCAR and IndyCar at Phoenix International Raceway, Barrett-Jackson, Red Bull Global RallyCross. I've written a few articles about the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns too.

PSR will focus on professional sports in the Phoenix area. I'm not really a college sports guy, unless the University of Nevada is involved, so don't expect a lot of Arizona State University coverage.