Deliberations of a Desert Rat

Ok, so why am I, a University of Arizona fan, writing about a JUCO transfer – who, by the way, is unrated by Rivals.com – that just committed to ASU?

Simple, because it’s extremely laughable.

Dunson’s stats are, well, rather pedestrian for a JUCO coming to a high-major Division I school: 12 ppg, 4 assist, 4 boards. The Arizona Republic states that Dunson shoots 44% from 3-pt range. But if he’s a 44% shooter, how many 3-pt shots is he taking a game to only get 12 ppg? Three?

Dunson last played at Wabash Valley JC in Mt. Carmel, IL. Translating the level of competition from there to the Pac-10 really knocks off almost 20% of his averages, meaning that really Dunson will be averaging around 10ppg, 3 assists and 3 boards.

But Dunson is supposed to be an “explosive” point guard. Really? At 3 assists and 10 points per game?

There’s a reason why Dunson was only recruited by a handful of schools – Oklahoma State, Nevada, Illinois, Gonzaga, and UC Riverside – and it’s because at the high-major level, Dunson is probably a backup-backup PG, or maybe a defensive replacement guard.

And then there’s this quote:

“I just wanted to play for a West Coast school and for a coach that can develop guards,” Dunson said.

Ok, so that’s why OK State and Illinois never had a chance, but when exactly did ASU turn into a place for guard development? Seriously?

So basically, this JUCO transfer wanted so much to come to Point Guard U (ie. U of Arizona) that he committed to the first school with “Arizona” in the name that came knocking. I think ASU needs to check his grades to be sure he can actually pass his classes, since obviously GEOGRAPHY is a problem for him.

What this does show is that Sendek CAN’T recruit the elite-level PG’s to ASU. The Josh Selbys and the Ray McCallums of the world aren’t giving Tempe Normal even a sniff. And why should they when Point Guard U is down the road with Sean Miller helming the ship, especially after Arizona shellacked ASU last week IN TEMPE. And please, all you ASU fans out there that claim Derek Glasser is elite-level… have you SEEN your schedule this season?

Yes, Glasser became the all-time assist leader at ASU this season, and he’ll probably finish with around 580 assists – and I’m being generous here because I’m giving Tempe Normal two games in the Pac-10 tournament and two games in the NIT (ASU making the NCAA Tourney is laughable at this point after the beat downs by Cal and Arizona). But seriously, there’s FIVE Wildcats with more than 580 assists in their careers – Arizona’s all-time assist leader is Russell Brown with 810; that’s 230 more than Glasser will see in his college career. (The others: Mustafa Shakur 670, Damon Stoudamire 663, Jason Gardner 622, Luke Walton 582.)

Dunson’s impact to ASU’s team? Negligible. Threat level to Arizona? Non-existent, especially given that at max we’ll see him for only two seasons.

Tempe Normal’s Herb Sendek is 5-0 against Arizona’s INTERIM coaches, but 0-3 against the regular HC’s (Olson, Miller).

That says volumes about Tempe Normal’s program – that it can jack it up against the interims but completely shuts down against the heavy guns. Oh, and by the way, Lute Olson’s record against ASU: 43-6. Miller’s record against ASU: 2-1 (includes 1-1 as Xavier HC). So, that’s a 45-7 record by Arizona HC’s (not counting interims) against ASU HC’s in the last 27 years.

Yes, that’s SEVEN wins over Arizona HC’s in 27 years. That five-game win streak in the last two was fool’s gold since it was over the interim HCs. Nothing against Russ Pennell and Kevin O’Neill, but it’s hard to recruit talent to a school when you have the “interim” tag over your head.

Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer is injecting herself into a conversation where she has no authority to speak.

At issue – she wants the Tohono O’Odham Nation to back off of its request to the US Department of Interior to take 135 acres near Glendale into trust, effectively making it tribal land. It then would place a casino, hotel, and other sundries on the land.

I’ve written on this at length before, most recently here.

Brewer wants to meet with the Nation (of course), but only if it withdraws its request with the Dept. of Interior. Unsurprisingly, the Nation declined to do so.

“For the past 358 days, we have stood ready to meet and discuss this project with any and all interested parties,” said Chairman Ned Norris Jr.

Now Brewer believes that the Nation has no right to place a casino on the land, assuming that the USDI will approve the request (which it most likely will), because of the 2002 law approving tirbal-gaming was, IN HER MIND, only limited to existing reservation lands.

Myself and countless others disagree with that interpretation. If the voters did not WANT new casinos built, then they should have voted against the law. Alternatively, they should have specified in the law language to prevent new casinos from being built in the way that the Tohono O’Odham Nation is doing.

In other words, THERE’S NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT WHAT THE NATION IS DOING. (Brewer gets her first STFU notice.)

Then, Norris reminded Brewer that the Nation signed a gaming compact with the state AFTER the 2002 measure which allows gambling on ANY lands subsequently acquired by the Nation – meaning, either Governor Hull (2002-2003), or Governor Napolitano (2003-2009) signed this compact. That means that Brewer’s hands are tied since her predecessor signed the agreement. (Brewer, that’s notice #2 to STFU.)

Next, Brewer believes that only private lands can only be taken into trust if they lie adjacent to existing reservation lands. But the federal government does not specifically state such, which, given current interpretation by the USDI, means that Brewer is incorrect. (Notice #3 to Brewer to STFU.)

Finally, Brewer believes that only she, as governor, can authorize the taking of non-adjacent land into trust. However, Brewer is an agent for the state, and the Nation is governed under Federal regulations, thus making Brewer’s “blessing” or authorization moot. (STFU #4.)

As it stands, the USDI’s acting director Paula Hart wrote a letter last year to the Nation (Brewer has since received a forwarded copy courtesy of the Nation) confirming that a casino would be permitted on the Glendale location. (Brewer STFU #5.)

The only roadblock left is whether or not the 2001 attempt by Glendale to annex part of the property was actually abandoned or not. If the land is in process of becoming part of Glendale, then the USDI can’t approve the request.

However, as I wrote in the previous post:

Maricopa County and neighboring Peoria filed letters to the contrary with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) stating that the land is in fact unincorporated. Public documents have also confirmed that for the last eight years, Glendale has treated the land as unincorporated, INCLUDING NOT COLLECTING PROPERTY TAX THERE, which directly contradicts the Glendale City Attorney who claims that the city had no authority to repeal the annexation. Even retired US Senator Dennis DeConcini, an original co-sponsor of the bill that allows tribes to take purchased land into trust, said that Glendale’s position is inaccurate.

So, Brewer, with so much else to worry about, like a $3 billion budget shortfall, needs to STFU. She’s wrong every step of the way, and she’s got no authority in the matter.

So, I’ve been busy with the Anime watching in the last couple of months. The rundown:

Real Drive – it took forever for me to get into this series, but once I was at around episode 8, I couldn’t stop watching. This is by the same author as Ghost in the Shell (Masamune Shirow), and I completely love his work to begin with, so that was the original reason for watching. Have to say, though, that the ending arc could have been done better – it was kind of a letdown. (3.5 out of 5 stars)

Toradora – This was a “WTF” series. I picked this one completely at random, but I’m glad I did. You knew right off who was going to end up with whom, but the whole point of watching is to see HOW they do it. (3 out of 5 stars)

Kurogane no Linebarrel – Giant robot series in general are always going to attract viewers. This one, though was so cheesy to begin with, I had to wonder about it. And 4 episodes in, I was starting to regret it. Then the midway ep came around and I was hooked – all the previous eps had little teaser bits that you looked back and went OH I GET IT NOW – and the storyline turned serious. If there was a sequel, I’d probably skip though. (3 out of 5 stars)

Shangri-la – Totally and without question a series that can hook you from episode one. If you missed this one, you need to go out and buy it. This is a keeper, all the way through to the end. (4 out of 5 stars)

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – Every so often, I like to see those “could be” series, where the timeline is the very near future. This is one of those – yes, it takes place in Tokyo, but you know, the same thing could happen in Southern California if the Big One hits. Worth a watch just because of the effects of the aftermath. (3.5 out of 5 stars)

Scrapped Princess – I dug into my bag of Classics Yet To Watch and found this gem. Why I didn’t watch it when it came out, I’ll never know, but I’m glad I did eventually see it. The interaction and growth of the characters makes it fun to check out, and near the end of the series, it was only reluctantly that I turned off the TV. (4 out of 5 stars)

Clannad After Story – This sucked – in a good way. I mean, it was so emotional and tear-jerking that any person who watches this and DOESN’T get teary-eyed has a heart of stone. I hated watching it because I knew something else was going to happen that I didn’t want to see, but yet I had to see it just to know what happens next. (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Eden of the East – Kind of a Bourne Identity theme, but nevertheless leaving you with wanting more than the paltry 11 episodes. This was one where I thought it ended way too fast – almost like watching a movie on the Lifetime network. (3 out of 5 stars)

Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka – Why I watched this, I don’t know. Unlike Toradora, which had endearing qualities, “Akasaka” (the shortened name of this series) does not. I couldn’t connect with any of the main characters, and there was nothing really outstanding by any of them – in fact, I can’t even name one of them, that’s how bad it is. (1.5 out of 5 stars)

Ride Back – For the love of everything visual, this series was absolutely outstanding. The storyline was tight and cohesive, I could actually get into the characters, and the action was perfectly paced. If you like motorcycles, this is definitely the series for you, because it takes bikes and elevates them at least a hundred notches. (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Gunsmith Cats – another classic I dusted off to watch, mostly because I had been going through and reading Sonoda’s manga again. Always a great watch. (4 out of 5 stars)

Toaru Majutsu no Index – “Index” was so good, I actually spent a Saturday watching 4 straight episodes. The beginning was a little hokey, but after you get through the first episode – and basically re-orienting yourself to the terminology and the theological references – this is a damn good series. In fact, so good that its spinoff (A Certain Scientific Railgun) will be another I’m going to be watching as well. (4 out of 5 stars)

Gundam G00 Season 2 – Holy @^#$&!!! Gundam G00 Season 1 was a 5-star series to begin with. This raised the bar even more. I mean, when I have servers at work named after the mecha AND pilots, I know it’s good. And I was never a real Gundam fan to begin with, but … well, holy &@#*$&*!!!! If you haven’t been watching this on Cartoon Network, GO BUY THE BLEEPING DVDs!! (6 out of 5 stars) — (yes, 6. It’s better than 5.)

Our dog of 13 years, Taz, had to be put to sleep today.

We got her the month after we were married as a present from my parents. She was a pure-bred Shih-tzu that someone had dropped off at the Humane Society in Tucson. The people there thought she was around 7-8 months old at the time, based on her weight and size, so they guessed that her birthdate was June of 1995.

She had her puppy moments, like when my wife and I (after we were married) went to a party at the house of one of my college fraternity brothers, she decided she was going to make a huge mess in the hallway area between the bedrooms of our townhouse. THAT was not fun to clean up.

But she had her grown-up moments too. Like when I had to take a job in Connecticut and my wife and newborn son stayed in Arizona. She watched over him protectively, making sure that nobody got near him other than my wife or her mom. She barked to let my wife know when people were at the door when my wife was upstairs with our son and couldn’t hear the doorbell. She whined when they went anywhere without her – she had never done that before either.

And when we moved into the small 1-bedroom apartment in Scottsdale while our new house was being built in 2001, she helped me take care of him while my wife was attending night classes at Scottsdale Culinary Institute. She would walk with me and him in the early evenings outside, she would sit protectively by the door if he was crawling around on the floor in the main room to make sure he didn’t get near it and would nudge him with her nose if he did. She even endured some family photos (we still have one on the wall) and let my son pull her tail and ride her like a pony.

When our daughter finally came home after a premature birth, Taz fell into that same pattern, making sure nobody came near her that shouldn’t be, always checking the doors to make sure someone (older brother) wasn’t getting out when the parents were doing something else.

She always was a part of our family, and so in the last couple of months when we noticed her health was seriously declining, I made the choice to try to get her through one last Christmas, knowing that my parents and my brother and his wife would be coming up to spend the holidays with us and possibly bringing their dogs, with whom Taz has seen and played with and knew.

Even through having to carry her outside so she could go to the restroom, and giving her baby aspirin to help her with her now-constant shaking, she still watched everything take place around her, albeit a little more sleepy and laid back. Her Christmas was spent with her and Tigger (another Shih-tzu we had gotten about 6 years ago) and my parents’ dog Diego all bunking together in the big kennel, and my brother’s dog Olivia in her own kennel right next to it. And I’m sure she liked all the attention.

When I took her to her final vet check today before they put her to sleep, the doctor commented that she actually presented with all her symptoms and problems to be around 15 years old, not the 13-and-a-half we thought she was. Who knew? She wore her age well – one final surprise for us.

Rest in Peace, old friend. You have definitely earned it.