The commercial was for one of the local radio stations, advertising a chance to win money every week the Wildcats played on the gridiron.
The voice-over guy said, "There's never been a better time for college football in Tucson."
Okay, I can understand why they would say something like that, I
mean, we are going to a bowl game for the first time in years, right?And then the laughter started in as I heard the second part of the advertisement.
A woman continued the dialogue, and in the sexiest voice she could muster, said the following, "the Wildcats are winning, and so could you..."
My immediate question, and what spurned me to write about this today, four days before the Dual in the Desert, was, "yes, but who have we played?"
And at this point, if you are a die-hard Wildcat fan who does not need any more sour press about the team, please stop reading this right now.
For those of you brave enough to continue, lets keep this train rollin'.
In Mike Stoops' five year tenure, coach has compiled a 22-33 record, while dropping so many close games, there's not enough room in this blog to write about them.
In the past three seasons, Stoops has been a game away from making the post season, and quite possibly turning the corner and bringing the program up from the ashes.
In his first year as head coach, the season was saved by taking the Territorial Cup from a decent ASU team, yet after the initial win, he has not seen the trophy for three past seasons.
But maybe this season, Stoops finally got it right.
Stoop's non-conference schedule was full of cupcakes, ranging from Idaho (2-10, at last check), Toledo (3-9 to one up the Vandals), and a pitiful New Mexico team (4-8, they just keep getting better) which was the Wildcats' first loss.
What a great way to get a few easy wins, right?
And then the early Pac-10 schedule, which, by all accounts, was not Stoops' fault, got the coach another couple of wins to settle at 4-1.
Why on earth would a Wildcat fan be annoyed with this? Four wins, one (ridiculous) loss, and in a great position to get to that elusive bowl game!
The first real test for the Cats came on the road against the up-and-coming Stanford Cardinal. Stoops, in all his glory, managed to lose by one point, 24-23.
4-2. Stoops tries again, and this time defeats a pretty good Cal-Berkley team, 42-27 at home.
At homecoming, the Wildcats put together a lovely bundle of errors to lose to perennial title contender USC, 17-10.
But the most important win came following the loss against bottom-feeder Washington State, which gave the Cats bowl eligibility.
So with a 6-3 record and a guaranteed bowl game, who the hell needs the last three games, right?
Well, two ill fated losses later, the Wildcats find themselves in the same position as the past three years, just with the guaranteed bowl game.
So lets have a quick recap, of how Stoops magically pulled out a bowl from under his sleeves.
Crappy non conference schedule. Check. Win all games against the bottom of the Pac-10. Check. Blame the close losses on how the team is, "just not there yet". Check. Beat ASU. Ah, put that pencil down.
The Sun Devils march into Tucson looking to put themselves into their own bowl game, and finishing the season 6-6.
If momentum is the key to any matchup, Stoops' troops have the gas gauge on empty, losers of the last two, while archival Arizona State struts into Tucson with three blowout wins to give themselves enough confidence to beat Arizona.
If history is a good indication of what is to come this Saturday, Arizona fans might want to stay home and finish up the Alabama vs Florida matchup.
So it is now up to Mike Stoops, to deliver what was promised to Wildcat fans 5 seasons ago, and get to that bowl game that has eluded the Wildcats for ten years now.
Yes, sexy voice over lady, "the Wildcats are winning".
But can somebody please tell me who we're playing?
-JMB
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