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👋 GOOD MORNING
Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week, and just about all the way through April. CRAZY. It has been a quiet April — there are no professional Arizona sports teams currently in the postseason, most collegiate sports are winding down, the Mercury have not yet kicked off their schedule, and the teams that ARE playing right now aren’t exactly shattering expectations.
So that got me thinking: Ever the eternal optimist, there’s still plenty to be excited about, and I wanted to look at that today. Make sure you sound off in our poll at the bottom of this email, as well — I’m curious who you think is closest to a championship.
One last note: Remember, if this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up for the newsletter right here, and I’ll keep you in the loop with everything going on this summer! Don’t miss a beat!
On to the show!
1 Reason For Optimism About Every Major Arizona Sports Team
No NBA Playoffs. No NHL team. D-backs have won just once in their last six games. Rising FC has yet to win a home game.
This April has been depressing, but it’s not as bad as it seems for Arizona sports.
There’s plenty of reason for optimism no matter who you cheer for, and I’m here to highlight why! Summer is getting ready to kick off, but as we near one of the quietest sports times of the year, I thought it would be a fun exercise to highlight some of the good that’s going on around the Arizona sports landscape. Forget about the Suns‘ coaching search, which is being led by a GM that no one is sure will still be here next season. Pay no mind to the Roadrunners, who have suffered a first-round exit in the AHL Playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
There’s plenty to look forward to.
Arizona Sports Feature Young Talent Poised to Take a Leap Forward
Arizona sports fans are starving for a championship. Rising FC claimed the title in 2023, while the Mercury last hoisted a trophy in 2014. Beyond that, though, our local teams have seemingly gone through transformation after transformation without yielding results. Sure, the D-backs and Suns have both been painfully close, but that only adds to the angst.
Fret no more, though — there’s still plenty to be excited about.
Arizona Diamondbacks A team that entered the 2025 with rather large expectations has been relatively flat as of late. Even so, their current 15-14 record is better than where they were last year at this time, and their offense remains one of the top RBI producers in all of baseball. Plus, it’s a little early, but they’re just one game back in the NL Wild Card race, and four games out of first in the NL West. And there’s a lottttttttt of baseball left.
Arizona Cardinals How can you not be excited following that NFL Draft? The team was universally celebrated by national pundits — I didn’t see any grade less than a B given to them — and is in a prime position to build upon its 8-9 season last year, in which they felt strikingly close to turning the corner. As with the NFL, so much needs to go right throughout the course of the season, but the Cards may take a big step when fall rolls around.
Phoenix Suns Yes, there’s plenty of positives here, too. Two words: Devin. Booker. He’s as talented as they come, and regardless of what happens this offseason, most other teams would be salivating if they had the opportunity to build around a player of his caliber. The team really needs to knock its coaching hire out of the park, but with Booker to either rebuild or reload around, this team still has a window to be dangerous.
Phoenix Mercury PRESEASON STARTS NEXT WEEK!! It won’t be the same without Diana Taurasi, but there’s so much upside to the upcoming season. The arrival of two-time MVP Alyssa Thomas cannot be overstated, and then All-Star Satou Sabally was the cherry on top of an offseason that featured a lot of change, but also created a lot of promise.
Phoenix Rising FC Been a rough start to the year for Rising, but the good news here is there’s still so much to go. Phoenix is 1-3-3 on the very young season, and will continue to play through the entire month of October, so there’s still plenty of time to right the proverbial ship.
Tucson Roadrunners At this point, I’m just happy there’s still professional hockey in Arizona. Don’t take it for granted, Tucson, because their longterm future is still very much in the air. In the near term, though, we still get to see some of the sport’s brightest young stars compete against each other, and though it’s not the NHL, it is top level hockey, and we still have it right here in Arizona.
Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley
Snakes Not-So-Alive: The D-backs were hammered by the Mets 8-3 yesterday, marking their fifth loss over their last six games, and putting them in extreme danger of dropping their fourth consecutive series. The road doesn’t get any easier, either. After the Mets, Arizona’s schedule looks like this: Phillies, Mets (again), Dodgers and Giants. Tough draw.
What’s in the Cards?: Yesterday’s newsletter focused on the national media’s grades of the Cardinals‘ draft, now check out what ALLCITY draft expert Fran Duffy had to say. Catch up on the entire draft, and where they rank among the other teams in the NFC West.
Deal Beal?: Gerald took a look at a number of scenarios in which Bradley Beal could be traded, and you should check them out. The deals he came up with are as informative as they are creative, and it’ll be interesting to see what transpires this offseason.
🧢 Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills
Anthony is pumped, and if you’re an ASU fan, you should be too!
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