The Bounce: Kingston thrilled about Pima Hall of Fame honor
by Ken Brazzle on Oct. 13, 2008, under Sports
<h4>That's one for the scrapbook </h4>
Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald (right) makes a one-handed catch over the Dallas Cowboys' Anthony Henry in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday in Glendale. The Cardinals beat Dallas 30-24 in overtime.
> Go to <a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com">www.tucsoncitizen.com</a> for more sports photo galleries.
Juanita Kingston joined her mentor Mary Hines on Sunday when she was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame.
Kingston was of one of 12 to enter the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. Clarence “Stub” Ashcraft (deceased), Robert Beal, Jan Boyd, Jason “Red” Greer, Mike Hayes, Bob Jones, Eduardo Nuñez, Ernie Palomarez, Armando Quiroz, Bill Roemer and Kristie Geiger Stevens also were inducted.
Hines was in the first group to be inducted into the Pima County Hall of Fame in 1990. She was a longtime successful coach in Tucson.
A telephone call from Hines years ago convinced Kingston she should return to coaching.
“I had never told Mary Hines no,” Kingston said. “She called me and told me, ‘I think you want to get back into coaching at Rincon (High School).’ ”
Kingston, who retired as Rincon/University volleyball coach last season, has more than 34 years coaching volleyball, softball, basketball and track and field at the high school, junior high and club level. She had been the Rincon volleyball coach since 1988 before retiring last year.
Kingston led Rincon to the state title in 1993, finishing with a perfect 26-0 record.
“It’s an incredible honor,” said Kingston of her induction. “It’s amazing to even think about it. I really think I am here because of the gifts people have given me in my life.
“Mary Hines has been giving to me for some 38 years. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my family, the administrators, kids and parents.”
Palomarez has been a baseball coach at Sunnyside High School and the youth league level for 29 years. Twice Sunnyside has finished as state runner-up – in 1991 and 1994.
“This is awesome,” Palomarez said. “It’s something I would have never thought of. I just love the game of coaching baseball.”
Asked if he thought he would be involved in high school baseball as long as he has been, Palomarez said, “I think so because I love it. It has never been about anything else except the kids especially Sunnyside kids.”
That winning feeling
The questions have stopped, and Tucson High football coach Vince Smith isn’t complaining.
“Everyone always asked about it, and it was like a biography because you had to tell the whole story every time,” he said. “But now that is over, I am glad we experienced and learned from it.”
Tucson High started the season with a 23-game losing streak on the field. Tucson High was awarded a forfeit last season that erased a 34-6 loss to Phoenix North Canyon.
The skid reached 25 games before a 54-7 win over Phoenix Alhambra on Sept. 19.
Tucson has rattled off two more wins and is 3-3.
“To see the players feel good about themselves after three years of feeling miserable is the best part,” said Smith, in his third season at Tucson High. “They are happy to come to practice. It’s the same bodies but different players.”
It has been quite the turnaround and should provide solace for teams such as Flagstaff Coconino and Phoenix Carl Hayden, which have lost 21 and 60 consecutive games, respectively.
“They are working hard, and once we figure out how to put together four quarters we can get it done,” Coconino coach Tadd Ragan said.
Once that elusive win comes, Smith can provide insight about what it does for a team.
“Everything changes,” Smith said. “Each mistake doesn’t come with the ‘here we go again’ attitude, and instead they fight through it. It’s an amazing transformation.”
JASON P. SKODA
Brrrr! Suns play in cold
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The forecast for the first NBA outdoor game in 36 years was expected to be in the high 60s or low 70s Saturday night.
That nearly held true for the score, too, as the Suns’ and Denver Nuggets’ shooting looked as cold as they felt during the outdoor experiment.
The unique concept began with concerns about how warm an early October desert night would be, but the Nuggets’ 77-72 victory at Indian Wells Tennis Garden played out to temperatures in the 60s and winds that were over 10 mph.
Players who don’t wear pants on the bench were in layers with towels draped over their heads and their breath blowing into their hands. TNT analyst Charles Barkley donned a scarf courtside, and the breezier upper deck cleared out early.
“It felt like Edmonton, Alberta, not Palm Springs,” Suns guard Steve Nash said. “You shoot the ball, and it starts slicing right.”
Denver shot 36.3 percent from the field, scoring only 13 of its points outside the paint, as the Suns could be faulted for letting the Nuggets penetrate their front line of defense too often.
The Suns shot 31.6 percent in a game that the teams went 3 for 27 from 3-point range combined.
The Suns scored 31 in the second half even with Nash, Raja Bell and Shaquille O’Neal playing half of the fourth quarter.
“You can’t evaluate tonight,” coach Terry Porter said, referring to the conditions that included a slippery floor.
“I’m not going to spend too much time looking at the film.”
PAUL CORO
QUOTABLE
'This season isn't going to go straight down this narrow path and be a nice and cozy Sunday drive.'
TONY ROMO,
Cowboys quarterback, after Dallas' lost to Arizona on Sunday
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TRIVIA CORNER
What NFL team is the oldest continuously run franchise in league history?
Answer: The Arizona Cardinals, founded in 1898. They’ve also been known as the Phoenix Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals, Racine Cardinals, the Normals and the Morgan Athletic Club.
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NUMBER OF THE DAY
16.7
Points per game allowed by Arizona, the No. 25 mark in the country. Other leaders:
1. USC 9.4
2. BYU 10.2
3. Kentucky 10.5
4. Georgia Tech 10.7
5. Iowa 10.9
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SPORTS SOUND-OFF
UA fans livid about loss to Stanford
• Third-and-goal, fourth-and-goal. Result: field goal.
This was the game. Willie will be gone next year. Who else? Stoops & Co?
ALR
• Five years and absolutely zero progress. Stoops must go . . . and so must Livengood, if this program is to have a chance to be Pac 10 caliber again.
SARA G.
• Did anybody notice we had the same offensive game plan against Stanford last year.
I remember ineffective passes and runs to the sideline and predictable deep passes on third downs. What about the decision to go for a field goal on their goal line? . . .
Put a fork in this team, we are done!
DANIEL C.
• Hey Livengood! You don’t need 6,000 more seats in the stadium. You’re going to have more empty seats next year than you can possibly fill.
BO B.
• The good news is ASU looks even worse than us. The bad news is our coaches are terrible.
Sonny Dykes doesn’t give us a chance. We didn’t throw downfield, didn’t use Gronkowski and when we need a TD to ice the game we are running it up the middle playing for the field goal. Just throw it to Gronk.
Totally outcoached.
TOM H.
• Fire Stoops. End this pain.
LUPEE F.
• I can see the Wildcats losing five out of the next six games. Another 5-7 season is a big possibility.
NEAL M.
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ON THIS DATE
1903: The Boston Pilgrims win the first World Series, 5 games to 3, with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1947: The NHL holds its first All-Star game with the All-Stars beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.
1960: Bill Mazeroski opens the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series championship.
1961: Jacky Lee of the Houston Oilers passes for 457 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-31 tie with the Boston Patriots. Charley Hennigan of the Oilers catches 13 passes for 272 yards.
1985: Phil Simms of the New York Giants passes for 513 yards with an NFL-record 62 attempts in a 35-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Simms completes 40 passes with 29 for first downs, also an NFL record.
