Scott Bordow is the Flat Stanley of Arizona sports. He’s been everywhere there is to be and he’s written about it all along the way.
That’s because Scott has covered local sports for almost four decades for the East Valley Tribune, Arizona Republic and now The Athletic. He’s been a beat writer covering the Cardinals, Suns, high school and more. He also shared his opinion on every aspect of Valley sports, yes, even golf, as a columnist.
While I have not always agreed with Scott, I have always had an immense amount of respect for him. While others are not always genuine and honest, he has always been true to himself even when it’s not what someone wants to hear. It always struck me as if he felt a sense of duty to call ‘bull$@%+’ when the local sports scene needed it the most — despite whether I or anyone else felt it was warranted.
It was for that reason I wanted to learn a bit more about him, what makes him tick and even what he might regret in his long-tenured career. That’s why I invited him to be part of the Dry Heat Index: The Four. A version of the column where we ask four questions of our guest, three about their career and one about what they truly believe.
Without further ado, here is the DHI: The Four featuring Scott Bordow.
You’ve covered multiple sports as a beat writer. Which was the most challenging and why?
Bordow: The NFL is by far the most challenging because there’s so little access and what there is is controlled by the teams. When I covered the Phoenix Suns for the Arizona Republic in 2017-2018 on a typical game day the players and head coach would be available after the morning shootaround, the head coach would do another news conference before the game and then we’d get the coach and players again after the game.
Compare that to the NFL. We get 45 minutes in the locker room on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. That’s it. The starting quarterback speaks just twice, on Wednesdays and after games. Also, because it’s the NFL, there are far more media around on a day-to-day basis. I was the only reporter on the Suns beat who traveled, so I could get players by myself pretty much whenever I needed. But on most days there are at least 20 reporters in the Cardinals’ locker room. Trying to get an interview on your own can be difficult, if at times not impossible. Finally, in other sports like the NBA and Major League Baseball being on the road makes it so much easier in terms of access and opportunity. If I’m in San Diego for three days with the Diamondbacks, for instance, I can meet a player for breakfast at the team hotel or get the head coach in his office before the game. In the NFL, there is no road access other than after the game, when the locker room is so crowded with players and reporters that you’re just trying not to step on a guy’s foot. I enjoy the NFL, but, man, do I miss the access that came with the NBA.
Was there one story that you wrote that you wish you could re-do in retrospect and is there one you could have written that you didn’t and wish you had?
Bordow: Yeah, in my early days as a columnist at the East Valley Tribune I wrote a column saying why it was OK for The Masters, which is a private club, to exclude women. I used some line to the effect of, “Men need some time to be themselves, to feel comfortable burping and farting,” or something of that sort. Even now, as I write that line to you, I’m embarrassed. My wife read it and rightly chewed me out. It was a sexist, ill-informed column that I hope is forever lost in the cloud. As for the one story I wish I would have written, it probably would have been the fascinating relationship between Kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley. They were as different as two men could be, yet they co-existed and even got along in the confines of a locker room. In retrospect, I would have loved to have done an in-depth piece on their friendship.
What athlete that you’ve covered was the most complex and interesting subject to write about that we might not expect?
Bordow: It wasn’t an athlete. It was former Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy. He was, without question, one of the five most interesting people I’ve ever covered. I’ll tell you a story. One day, I walked into his office at Packard and he told me to write down a list of numbers. When I asked what the numbers signified, he said it was the number of his divorce case that was currently going through the courts. “Look it up,” he said. Every interview with Murphy became like a one-hour therapy session. I felt more like a psychologist than a reporter. Once, I started a story on Murphy this way: “You don’t interview Pat Murphy. You listen to him bleed.” I’m still proud of that one. Murphy could be profane one second, introspective the next, cursing you up and down one day – as he did in objection to a column I wrote on his decisions in the College Baseball World Series – and extending his hand the next, as if he had completely forgotten the profanity-laden tantrum 24 hours earlier. Plus, there’s this Murphy nugget: Shortly after ASU named Lisa Love athletic director, Love held a staff meeting with all the Sun Devil coaches. When she asked for questions, Murphy raised his hand and said, “Do you wear an L on your sweater like Laverne in Laverne and Shirley?” Oh, I almost forgot the time Murphy blamed me for his divorce. I could go on and on but you get the point.
What is one thing you truly believe in?
Bordow: In journalism? That if you do your job honestly and accurately, and are willing to show your face in locker rooms or clubhouses after writing something critical, athletes will respect you, even if they might not like you in that moment.
In life? Give to others, whether it’s your wife, kids or less-privileged in the community. It’s amazing how quickly your supposedly major problems become less so when your focus is on others.
