With their collegiate futures just around the corner, two of Southern Arizona's best boys tennis players will spend this afternoon looking to the past.
And, boy, will it be cheesy.
Mountain View's Nolan Alexander and Tucson's Joel Shapiro will compete in today's nonregion match at Tucson High School while sporting wooden rackets, 1970s-style snug polo shirts, headbands and the worst kind of retro garb.
"We're trying to get ahold of those small shorts," Alexander said. "If not, we're definitely hiking up our shorts."
Oh, God.
"We're going to play all retro," Alexander added. "We figured it would be a fun thing to do as seniors. … And we thought it would be a good idea."
It's hard to pinpoint when the "Anchorman"-inspired idea came about.
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Shapiro and Alexander first met three years ago, shortly after each player moved from out of state — Alexander from Portland, Ore., and Shapiro from Naperville, Ill.
The two stayed close, even though they ended up at different schools, and proved each other's best competition.
As seniors, the two figured they could be granted a little extra latitude. Plus, they figured they match up evenly with modern-era rackets. Why not try the wooden kind?
"We're seniors. We're at the same skill level," Alexander said. "We want to mix it up."
Both could easily pursue college scholarships in tennis, but are keeping their options open.
Alexander is planning to enroll at the University of Washington next year, but likely will not play tennis.
Shapiro is looking at either Northern Arizona or the University of San Diego.
If he attends San Diego, he might want to bring those little shorts with him.
Ron Burgundy himself would be proud.
O'Rourke fund grows
A fund established in the name of longtime Pueblo boys basketball coach Barry O'Rourke has been growing in the weeks since his death.
O'Rourke's daughter, Carynne, said more than $9,000 have been donated to the Barry O'Rourke Scholarship Fund, which was created to send one Pueblo High School student to college each year.
O'Rourke, 55, died a month ago from what coroners said this week was an enlarged heart.
"People have really been reaching out to us, which is great," Carynne O'Rourke said. "A lot of our family and friends have been sending money in."
Carynne said the family will be setting up a Web site for the foundation soon.
In the meantime, donations can be made to account No. 8096223840 at any Wells Fargo Bank, or sent to:
Barry O'Rourke Scholarship Fund, c/o Carynne O'Rourke, 750 E. Northern Ave., #1128, Phoenix, AZ 85020
Three and out
● Today marks the start of what I'm sure is the best sports weekend of the year in Tucson.
In addition to the Rockies, Diamondbacks and White Sox spring training games, and a killer UA basketball matchup with Washington, the weekend also has the Cactus Classic baseball tournament, the Dorado Classic and Trojan Challenge softball tournaments and the TUSD Invitational in boys volleyball.
The Cactus Classic started Wednesday night, and boasts 32 teams playing 64 games at Amphitheater, Canyon del Oro, Catalina Foothills, Ironwood Ridge, Flowing Wells, Santa Rita, Mountain View and Tucson high schools.
The Dorado and Trojan tournaments will feature 134 softball games over a three-day span, and the TUSD event will have 16 teams competing in a two-day, round-robin tournament, with the final slated for Saturday afternoon at Palo Verde High School.
Bring your scorebook and pencils. It will be a long weekend.
● Buried in the madness of the 2A, 3A and 4A state basketball championships Saturday at Glendale Arena was the performance of Ironwood Ridge starting point guard David Vanderwerf.
The Nighthawks' sharpshooter won the state three-point contest at halftime of the 4A-I girls state title game, beating a handful of competitors from around Arizona.
Vanderwerf helped spark Ironwood Ridge's magical end-of-the-season run. The Nighthawks (17-13) won seven of their last nine games, including an improbable upset of 4A-I state runner-up Rincon/University to win the 4A Sonoran Region tournament final.
They lost to eventual champion Glendale Apollo in the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
● And finally, it's nice to see Flowing Wells go in-house for its vacant football coaching job. While other, bigger names might have made a better short-term impact — Jeff Scurran, Jim Monaco and Shawn Wasson come to mind — it's nice to see athletic director Pat Weber take the long view.
New coach Mario Piña is a Flowing Wells grad who has degrees from Pima College, the UA and Northern Arizona.
And at the very least, he will bring some pride — and a sense of history — to a program that could use a little bit of both after two miserable seasons.
Contributors to this page:
Peter J. Stevenson (girls spotlight), Janelle Drumwright (boys spotlight). Prep Star photos by Jeffry Scott.
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