Dry Heat Index: Nature Healing Arizona Sports
“There can be no true despair without hope.”
When Tom Hardy uttered this phrase in his almost unintelligible Bane voice in the Dark Knight Rises, I wasn’t quite sure I fully grasped what he meant. By definition, despair means the complete absence of hope.
Then I put it into the context of my Arizona sports fandom and it started to make sense.
Without the hope of Larry Fitzgerald catching that pass from Kurt Warner late in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIII and scampering down the field for a touchdown in the crisp Tampa Bay evening, the true despair of Santonio “one foot down” Holmes’ touchdown would be unknown. Without the hope that came along with the Suns magical comeback from 0-2 down against the Lakers, we wouldn’t know the true despair of John Paxson’s three. Without the hope of a new arena and Gary Bettman’s love for Arizona, Coyotes fans wouldn’t know the true despair of dysfunctional ownership since their arrival in the Valley.
Needless to say, the examples are almost endless when it comes to the hometown teams we love.
Which brings us to the present. In the midst of a global pandemic, a massive recession, and civil unrest, the return of sports after an almost four-month hiatus has provided some hope.
As part of it all, nature has begun to heal itself. No, not in the form of animals returning to places abandoned by humans that they hadn’t been in decades. But rather the nature of Arizona sports.
The Diamondbacks, after one series, have been the restaurant you didn’t quite like with the “under new management” sign hanging from the building. Despite your better judgment, you buy in and try the food only to realize, much to your chagrin, while the direction may be different, the same chef is still preparing the meal. With only 60 games, or until a COVID outbreak strikes to prove yourself, a 1-3 start with not many signs of life from the starting pitching or offense won’t get it done.
The Orlando bubble gave some Suns fans the hope that they’d see some magic happen in Mickey’s kingdom and that the playoff drought might come to an end. Too bad, back at home, it was being overshadowed by the despair that came in the form of almost 30 people being fired due to “business restructuring.” Fired in a building that a $150 million renovation project is underway paid for by taxpayers dollars.
The Coyotes are in a bubble of their own in Edmonton and hope seems to be springing eternal. With a new billionaire owner, the best goalie tandem in hockey, and a former MVP in Taylor Hall, things were looking up for the Desert Dawgs. That was until their wunderkind general manager John Chayka may or may not have interviewed for a job with another team before breaking his contract. Oh, and on his way out, the team shared in a statement that he had “chosen to quit on a strong and competitive team, a dedicated staff, and the Arizona Coyotes fans.” In what appears to be the first time in history, a team hasn’t claimed they and their GM have “mutually agreed to part ways.”
The closest thing left to true hope is Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. And, with our luck, they’ll be 6-0 and leading the NFC West when the second wave of COVID decides to cancel the NFL season this fall.
The nature of true hope followed by utter despair has been restored in the Valley. Isn’t it refreshing? It’s a reminder of just what we’ve been missing since March and almost enough to make us realize it may have not been worth missing at all.