Worst year ever?
That’s a tough question to ask in Arizona, a state where heartbreak is constant and where there’s a warehouse full of sports misery.
But 2024 is a terrible year, a combination of abject failure and unmet expectations. Losing an NHL team to Salt Lake City figures prominently in this discussion. Losing a franchise, even one as perennially cash-strapped as the Coyotes, causes great trauma and a sense of abandonment for a major city. To make matters worse, a majority of the fanbase would rather patiently wait for an expansion team than partner with billionaire Alex Merullo with a stake driven through their heart.
In a league full of skaters, Merullo is by far the cheapest and apparently the only owner capable of crushing our tenacious hockey team.
Just a few months ago, Frank Vogel promised that the Suns would be a superteam “monster” in the postseason. But the Suns were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Suns are no closer to a championship ring, they’re further away. With three straight NBA postseason appearances ending in humiliation and shame, most fans are bracing for the padded wall.
The Suns enter a low-powered NBA draft with few moves remaining on the chessboard. They have a lousy draft resume that includes Deandre Ayton over Luka Doncic and Jalen Smith over Tyrese Haliburton, as well as a strange affinity for Bronny James. The Suns have three great offensive players in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but they are still missing three crucial pieces: a point guard, an athletic wing and a vertical big man.
You’ll need a telescope and a great imagination to find a legitimate winning hope on the Orange Planet.
Meanwhile, Arizona State’s athletic department is no longer in free fall just because it finally hit rock bottom. As radio host and ASU avid fan Vince Marotta pointed out Monday, the Sun Devils are one of four Power 5 athletic departments that have missed out on a bowl game in football or an NCAA Tournament appearance in both men’s and women’s basketball. They’re at the same table as Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Stanford. Nope.
The Diamondbacks remain a wild card. They spent a lot of money to ensure a successful encore season. They were decimated by injuries and bad luck. If they can hold on until they have a healthy pitching staff of Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Fatt, they could make another run at the postseason. If not, they’ll take another shot at the mid-season. Either way, the tank of optimism is fading, as is the euphoric excitement that accompanied last year’s magical run to the World Series.
That’s why we all take great solace in the football team’s four wins.
Like the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals save us from the worst-case scenario. They seem to have the physical traits, quarterback and teamwork to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months. They seem poised to become one of those villa-to-penthouse stories we see so often in the NFL. After all, with Kyler Murray back, the Cardinals were one missed field goal away from being 4-4.
The national media and pundits remain skeptical and skeptical of the 2024 Cardinals, which means we risk looking like a bunch of rednecks clinging to a silver lining. But we know something they don’t know.
I mean, Monty Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon have yet to let us down, and in Arizona, that counts for something.
Bickley can be reached at dbickley@arizonasports.com Listen to Mornings with Bickley & Marotta from 6-10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.
