“Aaron passes Ruth!”

“Nixon resigns!”

Those headlines helped me sell a lot of newspapers in 1974, when my journey with the Tucson Citizen began as an 11-year-old hawker. Wearing my “Citizen Charlie” smock, I pitched the paper – which cost 15 cents back then – in front of my father’s East Side liquor store.

In between begging for tips, I pored over the sports section. I studied box scores and Citizen writers such as Regis McAuley, Corky Simpson, Jack Rickard and Bruce Johnston.

The newspaper bug had bitten me.

I took journalism at Catalina High School under J.G. Carlton, and began calling in prep box scores to the Citizen for $3 a game. By the time I landed a correspondent’s job in 1980, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

Except for a five-year stint at USA TODAY, I worked many different jobs and many crazy hours at the Citizen until Gannett announced our closure.

Some of my favorite memories:

• High school: Sahuaro quarterback Rodney Peete threw for a then-state record 424 yards and five touchdowns in 1983 against Amphi. It ended in a 34-34 tie but was the greatest game I ever reported. Amphi countered with 361 yards on the ground in a contest that saw three TDs and one field goal scored in the final 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

• College: After covering Sean Elliott for three years at Cholla High, I watched him break Lew Alcindor’s Pac-10 career scoring record in 1989. Elliott needed 34 points and scored 35 – with six 3-pointers. It’s the loudest I’ve ever heard McKale Center, and we had a special section printed after UA routed UCLA.

• Pro: Curt Schilling sprayed champagne on me and other reporters in the locker room after the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees to win the 2001 World Series. When Luis Gonzalez singled in the winning run, strangers began hugging in the aisles at Bank One Ballpark.

• Embarrassing: On a hot night, I fainted in the elevator at Arizona Stadium during UA’s 1986 football home opener vs. Houston. When I came to, then-sports information director Butch Henry stood over me, asking in his Arkansas drawl, “Is he dead?”

• Initiation: Two Cleveland Indians players, who shall remain nameless, tried to stuff me in a locker when I was 19. To the locker-room attendant who saved me, thank you.

• Sadness: When I was an assistant city editor, I had to wake up Lute Olson to tell him that former UA basketball assistant Ricky Byrdsong had been gunned down in Evanston, Ill. After Olson’s wife, Bobbi, yelled, “No, God,” Lute gave me an eloquent quote.

• Proudest: Watching our sports staff pull together some of the biggest stories of the decade: UA football coach John Mackovic’s firing; the death of UA women’s basketball star Shawntinice Polk; Olson’s retirement and Sean Miller’s hiring as basketball coach.

I’m biased, but I considered my sports staff to be one of the hardest-working and professional in the nation.

The Associated Press Sports Editors agreed. It named us a top 10 daily sports section in the nation seven of the last nine years for our circulation category.

Credit goes to my second “family”: Steve Rivera, John Moredich, Anthony Gimino, Bryan Lee, Ken Brazzle, Geoff Grammer, Raymond Suarez and Michael Schmelzle. Correspondents Ash Friederich, Rodney Haas and Christopher Veck deserve high-fives, along with past staffers Dave Petruska, Paul Schwalbach, Michael Caccamise, Shelly Lewellen, David Pittman, Stephen Sharpton, Jessie Vanderson, Charles Durrenberger and Christopher Walsh.

More thanks go out to all the page designers I annoyed with my suggestions, Simpson for his inspiration and guidance, and Peter Madrid, who I succeeded as sports editor in 1999.

Finally, I’d like to pay tribute to all the coaches, players, parents and readers who helped suggest stories and make my job easier.

I’ll miss this place.

MIKE CHESNICK

Former Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama is apparently exploring opportunities in the Canadian and Arena 2 football leagues after failing to land a free-agency shot in the NFL.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have claimed Tuitama’s negotiation rights, the Stockton (Calif.) Record reported Thursday.

The newspaper also said the Stockton Lightning, an Arena 2 minor league team for the Arena Football League, has offered Tuitama a roster spot. His mother, Nancy, is the Lightning’s travel agent, the Record said, and Tuitama is a Stockton native.

Jeff Sperbeck, an agent for Tuitama, told the Record that he has been in contact with CFL teams but was unaware of the Arena offer.

“We’re talking to some teams in Canada and trying to find an opportunity,” Sperbeck said. “Willie wants to show that he can still play.”

The CFL season begins in June, and Tuitama could negotiate with other teams if he chose not to sign with Saskatchewan, the Record said.

Sperbeck told the paper there’s still a chance Tuitama could be invited to an NFL training camp. Tucson police arrested Tuitama on March 7 on suspicion of extreme driving under the influence, which may have hurt his NFL prospects.

Meanwhile, former UA basketball player Fendi Onobun is still trying to land an NFL free-agency shot after working out for scouts for several teams, including Buffalo.

MIKE CHESNICK

Holladay Intermediate Magnet and Booth-Fickett Magnet schools earned bragging rights in local track and field for another year.

For the third time in seven years, Holladay captured the Tucson Unified School District elementary school city title April 25 at Drachman Stadium with 250.7 points, followed by Fruchthendler (212.7), Marshall (181.5), Henry (165.5) and Sewell (125).

Holladay fourth-fifth grade winners were Simon Mahaffey Bentley (high jump, Class B); Malual Amor Arob (high jump, Class D); Anita Eichenour (500-meter run, Class B); and Aria Paxton (500, Class C).

The school’s 400-meter relay team of Yelitza Partida, Ana Herrera, Melvy Garate and Ayla Condo also won the Class D title.

Holladay is coached by Walter Legan and Michael Carpio.

In the TUSD middle school meet April 25 at Catalina High, Booth-Fickett (448.5) won the city title over Utterback (244.3), Townsend (227.4), Magee (221.5) and Secrist (151).

Multiple boys winners for Booth-Fickett were eighth-graders Jordan Hughes (100, 200), Sunthi Danh (100, 200, long jump, 400 relay) and Danny Robles (100, 400 relay); seventh-grader Jude Ruiz (800, 1,600); and sixth-grader Jarrett Corkill (100, 400).

Eighth-grader Brianna Schneider (400 relay, 800) and seventh-grader Katie Jenkins (1,600, 800) were multiple girls winners for Booth-Fickett, coached by Jason Karn and Andrea Lopez.

• Go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/blog for more blogs.

MIKE CHESNICK

Arizona’s basketball connection in New York City is faring well in postseason all-star action.

UA signee Kevin Parrom and UA prospect Lance Stephenson helped the Panthers AAU team advance to the semifinals of the Nike Spring High School Classic in New York over the weekend.

Parrom, a 6-foot-6 small forward, scored 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter to lead the Panthers to a 91-81 second-round win Saturday over N.Y.A.B.C.

Stephenson, a 6-6 guard-forward, pumped in a game-high 38 points Sunday as the Panthers ousted N.Y. Elite 84-76 in the quarterfinals.

The Panthers will meet New Heights in the semifinals Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Tucson time in the prestigious tournament.

Arizona and Memphis are reportedly interested in signing Stephenson, a McDonald’s All-American who set the New York schoolboy record for career points. He averaged 31.9 points and 12.8 rebounds during his senior season at Lincoln High in New York.

Parrom told Five Boro Sports that Stephenson said he would visit Arizona shortly. The final day of the early signing period is May 20.

TOROS OPENER

• Chico (Calif.) at Tucson, 7 p.m. May 21, Hi Corbett Field

• Tickets: 325-1010

MIKE CHESNICK

mchesnic@tucsoncitizen.com

Concern about the swine flu has caused a Golden Baseball League team from Mexico to cancel its season, forcing the new Tucson Toros to try to fill six home dates and six road games.

The Tijuana Potros, also an expansion team in the independent league, were scheduled to visit Hi Corbett Field on June 23-25 and July 7-9. The Toros were set to visit Tijuana on May 26-28 and June 5-7.

Toros owner Jay Zucker said he would look for other opportunities to fill the lost dates, such as exhibitions or fantasy camps.

Mexican soccer teams have banned fans from attending recent games because of the flu epidemic, which has killed 44 people in the country and two in the United States.

As a result, the Tijuana team couldn’t risk launching its season with uncertainty about sponsors, ticket sales and stadium availability.

“We weren’t worried about our players being infected,” Zucker said. “The league just felt it couldn’t wait any longer” for the concerns to subside with the season only two weeks away.

The Toros, who now have 38 home games set, begin their season May 21 against the Chico Outlaws at Hi Corbett.

With Tijuana out, the league is down to nine teams.

Tucson will be in the South Division with Yuma, St. George (Utah) and Orange County (Calif.).

The North Division will feature Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria from Canada and Chico and Long Beach from California.

Tijuana plans to return to the league next season, team president Jose Manuel Peña said in a statement.

“We know this will pass and the Potros will be ready for next year,” he said, “but realize the timing of this natural disaster has left us with no other choice.”

MIKE CHESNICK

It’s been a tough few days for two former University of Arizona football players.

Dallas Cowboys kicker Nick Folk is recovering from surgery Tuesday to repair a torn cartilage in his hip.

And the Washington Redskins have cut rookie free-agent linebacker Ronnie Palmer after signing him five days before.

The Cowboys would like to see Folk, a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie in 2007, resume light kicking in about eight weeks. They hope he can handle full kicking work in 12 weeks when training camp starts.

For insurance, the Cowboys drafted USC kicker David Buehler in the fifth round last month.

Folk had surgery in Colorado to repair a right hip labral tear, a condition that can be caused by repetitive motions such as kicking.

If Folk doesn’t make a speedy recovery, it could be a big blow to Dallas. He’s never missed a game and has the best field goal accuracy rate among active kickers, making 46 of 53 field goals (86.8 percent) in his two-year career.

Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller’s first recruiting class is already getting raves. Adding McDonald’s All-American Lance Stephenson would make the class one of the best in the nation.

It’s unclear how interested Arizona is in getting Stephenson, a shooting guard/small forward who is rated the No. 8 player overall for the 2009-10 class by Scout.com.

Fox Sports, citing unnamed sources, says Arizona likely won’t “make a move on the talented, yet enigmatic wing player” from Coney Island, N.Y. UA is concerned with the player’s off-the-court issues, Fox said.

But the New York Daily News, also citing an unnamed source, says Arizona is making “a big-time push” for the 6-foot-5 Stephenson, who passed NBA player Sebastian Telfair as the leading scorer in New York schoolboy history.

One thing working in UA’s favor: new assistant coach Emanual “Book” Richardson has strong New York City ties and has coached Stephenson before.

Fox Sports and the Daily News report that new Memphis head coach Josh Pastner, a former UA assistant, is pursuing Stephenson.

Kansas also was in the running, but the Jayhawks opted to take Xavier Henry instead. St. John’s and Maryland also wanted Stephenson.

Stephenson also could go the route of former UA recruit Brandon Jennings and head to Europe for a year before entering the 2010 NBA draft.

Three top-100 players already are headed to Arizona: forward Solomon Hill, center Kyryl Natyazhko and wing Kevin Parrom.

As for Stephenson, he already has his own online reality documentary site, BornReadyTV.

Despite the current inflation rates for coaching salaries, University of Arizona officials don’t appear to be breaking the bank with their proposed contract extension for Mike Stoops.

The football coach would receive $1 million for the 2009 season and a $100,000 raise the following four years. Regents could approve the contract during their meeting next weekend, or as early as April 30. Stoops, who helped give UA fans their first bowl win in 10 years last season, made just under $700,000 a year in his old contract.

UA, conversely, is scheduled to pay new basketball coach Sean Miller $2 million a year as part of a five-year deal worth $11 million.

Of course, $1 million a year is still A LOT of money, and Stoops would stand to make even more under incentives of up to $655,000:

• Athletic: Participation in a preseason game, $50,000; Pac-10 champion, $125,000; non-BCS bowl game, $75,000; BCS bowl other than national title game, $100,000; BCS national title game, $150,000

• BCS national rankings: 1-10, $50,000; 11-15, $40,000; 16-25; $30,000.

• Win-loss record for 12-game season (excludes preseason or bowls): 7-5, $40,000; 8-4, $50,000; 9-3, $60,000; 10-2, $70,000; 11-1, $80,000; 12-0, $90,000.

• Average home paid attendance: 48,001-50,000, $45,000; 50,000-plus, $60,0000

• Total season tickets sold: 35,000-40,000, $60,000; 40,000-45,000, $70,000; 45,001-plus, $80,000

• Coach of the year honors: Pac-10, $30,000; national, $50,000

If UA fires Stoops for cause, it is liable for salary due at the date of termination. If UA fires Stoops without cause, it must pay him one-half of the remaining value of the guaranteed compensation.

If Stoops leaves before 2013, he must pay UA $250,000 in liquidated damages at school president Robert Shelton’s discretion.

Mike Chesnick

One of new Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller’s biggest recruiting tools is playing time.

“There’s never been a period of time where there’s more opportunity to play as a freshman and get some great minutes,” Miller said Thursday on the Dan Patrick Show, telling the national radio host how he would pitch the UA program to prospective recruits.

Arizona is losing Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill to the NBA, and junior guard Nic Wise said he will test the draft waters.

Patrick, acting as a recruit, asked Miller, “How many shots will I be able to take?”

“That’s when a red flag goes up,” Miller said, joking that he probably wouldn’t consider a recruit who is a ball hog.

Miller said he has talked to former UA players such as Steve Kerr, Luke Walton and Andre Iguodala, and is using their NBA careers as ammunition to sell the UA program to recruits.

“If you ask most (recruits), they want to play in the Final Four, win an NCAA title and play in the NBA,” said Miller, who pointed out that UA has had 13 first-round picks, nine lottery picks and possibly two more with Hill and Budinger. The Cats have been to four Final Fours, including winning the 1997 national title.

Miller said one of the reasons he came to the Pac-10 was the competition, and he cited how well teams such as Arizona State, Washington, UCLA, California and Stanford have recruited recently.

The new UA coach agreed with Patrick that he’s “happy” about not having to face ASU guard James Harden, the Pac-10 player of the year who left early for the NBA. Harden helped ASU trounce Xavier his freshman season.

Patrick kidded with Miller about a YouTube video that shows a 10-year-old Miller demonstrating his Pete Maravich-like ball-handling skills.

“I peaked at 10,” Miller joked. “It’s been all downhill since then.

“Hopefully, I’ll redeem myself at Arizona.”

Mike Chesnick

Sports editor

Arizona’s and interim coach Russ Pennell’s unlikely journey to the Sweet 16 caught the nation’s attention.

On Monday, Pennell was the subject of a USA TODAY cover story and was interviewed on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” by Washington Post columnists Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.

Kornheiser asked how being a “co-coach” with assistant Mike Dunlap, who calls a lot of the Wildcats’ plays, has worked out.

“The best part is that I get paid more than him,” Pennell quipped. “Mike is an unbelievable basketball mind. It would be very foolish for me not to draw upon his wisdom.”

Pennell said he and Dunlap are like Kornheiser and Wilbon: “Just like you guys, we take turns playing good cop and bad cop.”

Kornheiser put Pennell on the spot with his final question: How sweet would it feel to beat Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who has been rumored as a candidate for the Arizona job? “The reason I want to beat Rick is to go to the Elite Eight,” said Pennell, giving the politically correct answer.

Whatever happens, Pennell should be able to use the national exposure to help land a decent head coaching job next season.