– Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, an Arizona alumnus and long-time employee of the UA athletic department, has “borrowed” from his old school. When Utah opened the football season last week, the Utes' helmets all had a notable “ALKEME” sticker on the back of their helmets. Harlan got an estimated $1 million a year to display the name of the insurance company that last year signed a long-term deal to be known as McKale Center at Alkeme Arena. Alkeme is officially known as Utah's equipment sponsor.
Utah Utes wide receiver Braden Pegan (7) makes a catch against the Idaho Vandals during the third quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Sept. 3.
– Victor Yates, who led Palo Verde High School to the 2005 state football championship and later played four years at Arizona, has had a remarkable career arc since leaving Tucson. He has worked for the ASU, Arizona and UTSA athletic departments in fundraising. Last week, Yates was named the senior director of major gifts at the Barrow Neurological Foundation in Phoenix. Not bad for a former UA walk-on who earned a scholarship and has made his post-football career a success.
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– A week ago, Brent Strom was living in Tucson, retired from his 40-year career as a major league (and minor league) pitching coach, which included the 1991 and 1993 Pacific Coast League championships with the Tucson Toros. Strom, who was the Houston Astros' pitching coach from 2014-21 and the Diamondbacks’ pitching coach from 2022-24, retired a year ago. But last week, at 77, Strom accepted an offer from the Astros to come out of retirement and work as a consultant on the Astros' pitching staff. Strom moved to Tucson in 1980 as a pitcher for the Toros.
– Salpointe Catholic retired former Lancer running back Bijan Robinson's No. 5 jersey Friday, which, as I can remember, is the first of its kind at a Tucson high school? Can you remember another prep athlete from Tucson having his jersey retired? Until Friday, the top honor for an individual athlete at a Tucson high school was surely when Cholla High School named its gymnasium after Sean Elliott a dozen years ago.
– Bruno Fina's bid to follow his father's footsteps and play football for the Buffalo Bills has stalled. Fina, a free agent offensive lineman for the Bills, was released last week. It's not that the Bills didn't give him a full evaluation. Fina, a starter at both UCLA and Duke in his college days, played almost three quarters in the Buffalo's final preseason game. He was not retained to be part of the Bills' 16-man practice squad. His father, John Fina, a Salpointe grad and former No. 1 draft pick while at Arizona, was the Bills' first-round draft pick in 1992 and played 11 NFL seasons.
– When UCLA fired athletic director Martin Jarmond last week, it was almost a “what took so long” transaction. It was Jarmond who quietly gave temperamental basketball coach Mick Cronin a five-year contract extension a year ago, extending the hot-headed Cronin through 2030 without making a public announcement about the extension. Bad move. Cronin has gone 63-40 the last three years, failing to advance past the second round of the NCAA Tournament and not finishing in the AP Top 25 poll. He is the anti-John Wooden.
– If you're going to attend one sporting event in Tucson this week, I would suggest Tuesday's men's soccer game at Pima College between the No. 3 Aztecs and No. 1 Phoenix College, which is probably the top rivalry in men's juco college soccer. Coach Dave Cosgrove's team always has to get through Phoenix College before it can think about winning a third national championship. The match starts at 5:45 p.m.
Will Kreamer’s influence on Tucson high school football spans decades | Greg Hansen
