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101 Reasons to love the Arizona Wildcats today, by John Button Salmon

by on Feb. 14, 2013, under Sports

From Arizona Stadium to the Zona Zoo, what’s not to love about the Arizona Wildcats today, Valentine’s Day and the 101st birthday of the Grand Canyon State?

To celebrate, legendary University of Arizona quarterback John Button Salmon takes us through the 101 things he loves about his Arizona Wildcats:

101: Beating Arizona State in Water Polo

31 Mar 1997: Coach Lute Olson of Arizona Wildcats hugs guard Miles Simon and center AJ Bramlett after the NCAA Championship game against the Kentucky Wildcats at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Arizona won the game 84 – 79. Mandatory Credit: Bria

100: The hidden tunnels of Bear Down Gym

99: The Nov. 21, 1986 wedding of Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat. Happy Valentine’s Day, you two love kittens!

98: Terry Francona. Tito!

97: “Nice shot, buddy!”

96:  The baddest alumni ever: Jay Dobyns

95: The smell of Wilbur’s fur after an August football game

94: Beating Arizona State in Track & Field

93: From Brian Anderson to Alan Zinter and the 68 other ex-Cats’ who reached the Major Leagues

92: The anticipation that builds from the muffled roar of the crowd and UA Band as you enter McKale Center for a basketball game

91: UA alum Jim Furyk’s loopy swing

90: THE OOH AHH MAN!!

89. Beating Arizona State in soccer

Seth Mejias-Brean (5) and Brandon Dixon (22) hug. Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

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Who’s on first: The history of sports names

by on Feb. 09, 2013, under Sports

WHO MIGHT BE ON FIRST, BUT SMITH, JOHNSON AND WILLIAMS ARE EVERYWHERE ELSE

 

Julio Jones is No. 1 to the Atlanta Falcons, but how common is his last name in the history of sports? Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

There is only one Zarley Zalapski.

That’s not necessarily a testament to his 12-year, 99-goal career in the NHL, but, rather a reference to his first name – a handle so rare, it doesn’t appear inside the top 1,000 on any of the internet’s myriad baby name generators.

Conversely, there’s Bobby Smith.

Which one? Pick one. Fourteen of them have taken the field, court or ice in the history of the Big Four sports (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL).

Since the inception of pro sports in the late 1800s — from the Anaheim Ducks’ Antti Aalto to NHL journeyman Andrei Zyuzin — there have been 54,284** athletes to reach The Show.

And while it appears all the good names are reserved for hockey players, the most common surnames are spread throughout all four sports.

So what is in first when it comes to the most common last names in pro sports history?

A LOOK INSIDE THE NAMES OF THE GAMES:

The answer is fairly obvious. The aforementioned “Smith” easily outpaces the field in, well, the field and outside the parameters of pro sports.

  • “Smith” is the most common surname in the United States, according to the 2000 U.S. Census — with about 2.5 million of them running around — athlete or not. It’s the only surname with a whole number (1 percent) in terms of the total percentage of the American population.
  • The number of professional athletes named “Smith” is no different. In the history of the Big Four, 612 players named Smith have cashed a check from a pro franchise with their name on it.

University of Arizona joins the @KUBoobs #Boobment

by on Jan. 25, 2013, under Sports

Twitter trends — social media trends in general — are difficult to ignore . Especially when they’re pointed in your face.

Some are clever. Others are terrible.

Photo Tweeted by @ZonaBoobs

Then there’s the #Boobment – the latest craze to blend collegiate loyalty and skin, while teetering dangerously on the precipice of sexism and objectification.

The #boobment began in mid-January at the University of Kansas when the Twitter handle @KUBoobs went as viral as the West Nile Virus. @KUBoobs is basically as the name advertises, offering the kind of amateur co-ed photos that force Big Jay to cover Baby Jay’s eyes.

Says their bio:

“We support our #kubball team by tweeting ourselves in KU shirts and apparel. We dont promote nudity.”

Naturally, other schools had to follow. And by “follow” we don’t mean join @KUBoobs’ 32,000-plus (in nine days) fan base. Off-shoots have bounced onto the scene at virtually every major college — including the University of Arizona.

Queue @ZonaBoobs.

In the name of, let’s call it…journalism, here’s a breakdown of how the Pac-12 puts ‘em on the glass:

  • Since the sweaters first came up on Jan. 16, @ZonaBoobs has added 1,289 followers. That’s a disappointing number, in that, @SunDevilBoobs is sitting hairy at 1,838 presumably toothless followers.

(Hey, it’s a post about breasts, proper decorum left the conversation after the third graph)

  • Like their father’s before them, the @ZonaBoobs girls should be proud. @ZonaBoobs sits at No. 2 in the Pac-12 in total followers. In fact, @ZonaBoobs has about the same amount followers as California, Oregon State, Southern Cal, Stanford, Washington and Washington State combined.

 

  • Washington State is the lone Pac-12 school keeping their clothes on and is not yet a member of the #boobment. Stanford’s lone entry is a blank, gray page that claims to be a photo of Manti Te’o's girlfriend’s boobs.

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