We all know what happened in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, so we’re moving on. And why not? It’s March! It’s awfully tough to beat this time of year when it comes to sports in Arizona and life in Tempe.

When was the last time March came around and the ASU men’s basketball team was a lock for the tourney? The trip to Washington and more specifically the loss in Seattle was painful on a few levels, but the fact remains we’re going dancing. No doubt.

And we’re confident ASU can roll over Stanford and then send Jeff Pendergraph out in style against Cal. Let’s make sure Wells Fargo Arena is rocking, and Pendergraph gets the appreciation he deserves.

Speaking of March, where else in America can you get all this at once?

• Packard Stadium. The baseball team lost a tough one yesterday, but the Sun Devils are 8-1 and a perennial contender for the College World Series. Where would you rather catch a college baseball game in March than on the berm in Packard?
• The Cactus League. Some of us at Echo from the Buttes are quite partial to the boys in blue who train in Mesa every year. Our friends and family from Chicago come to visit, there’s cold Old Style served out of the painter’s bucket and plenty of ASU coeds in bikini tops. Enough said.
• The patios at Four Peaks and Casey Moore’s. Nothing is more enjoyable this time of year than sipping a cold Kiltlifter under the stars at either of Tempe’s two best bars. In fact, any of our top five Tempe bars will do this time of year.

Even more to love: Golf at some of the best courses in the world. The Great Arizona Beer Festival in Tempe. All the out-of towners making Mill Ave. even more fun.

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
What do you love about March in Tempe? Let us know in the comments below. And quit cursing Taylor Rochestie. It was a lucky shot.

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Los Angeles television station KNBC recently reported that the CDC had linked the spread of oral herpes on university campuses to shared red party cups during rounds of beer pong.

Michael Crow apparently agreed with the theory, according to the report. We now turn the story over to the East Valley Tribune:

The article — headlined, “Unprotected Beer Pong May Give You More Than a Buzz” — announced that the federal government had found a massive increase in college student cold sores. It quoted Crow as saying that ASU is instituting a program to halt the spread of herpes akin to giving intravenous drug users clean needles.

The fabricated quote claims that Crow said, “We’re aware that we cannot outright prevent (beer pong), so we have provided new red cups available to all students in the dorms.”

ASU, of course, is denying Crow said anything of the sort. The CDC has also not announced any link between beer pong and oral herpes. And KNBC has since admitted that it fell at least a tad shy of that whole journalism thing.

The reporters and editors at KNBC clearly did not attend the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Then again, they were members of the electronic media.

Maybe UA’s oral herpes epidemic is the reason Wilbur the Topless Wildcat sticks with flip cup.

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• Read the story in the Tribune.

The furloughs extend to the athletic department. For example, Dennis Erickson will lose $20,800 of his $450,000 annual salary and Herb Sendek will lose $13,600 of his $292,000 annual salary during 12-day furloughs.

To our knowledge, neither has made a peep publicly, choosing instead to pitch in and do their part to help see the university through this mess.

And then you’ve got UConn coach Jim Calhoun. Enjoy the video.

Our nation’s economic struggles have impacted every industry—including education. Even after Arizona State posted 10 incredible non-sports accomplishments in 2008, president Michael Crow has said the university is in serious trouble.

Here now is a message from the Sun Devil Advocates about the potential impact of budget cuts and what you can do to help fight them:

“ASU needs you now more than ever. As anticipated, a war on education has been declared by the Arizona Legislature, which has proposed budget cuts that would lead to the largest reduction in higher education spending in Arizona’s history. These proposed cuts will lead to dire consequences – tuition increases, reduced aid to students, reduced per-student funding, staff layoffs, lengthy employee furloughs, program reductions, school closures and campus closures.

“Register to join the Sun Devil Advocates and take bold actions to help ASU. Again, thank you for your continued support and advocacy on behalf of Arizona State University!”

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
What are your thoughts on the proposed budget cuts? Let us know in the comments below.

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About a week ago, we took a stab at ranking the top five Sun Devil sports stories of 2008. Fortunately, we won’t have to list Arizona State’s top non-sports accomplishments of the year.

Our alma matre did that work for us by publishing an excellent series of 15 articles on the ASU website. Our list of the top 10 accomplishments is below (words by ASU, rankings by us, fearless leadership by Michael Crow), but we suggest you head over to the university’s website for the full scoop.

1. ASU commemorates 50th anniversary: A Maroon and “Golden” Homecoming week kicks off Nov. 7, commemorating the historic 50th anniversary of Arizona State University.

2. Fall enrollment tops 67,000: ASU official enrollment numbers for fall 2008 are even higher than predicted at the start of the semester, topping the 67,000 mark.

3. SkySong opens doors to tenants: Skysong, ASU’s Scottsdale Innovation Center, is ushering in a new chapter in global engagement with the opening of its first building

4. Institute puts university on ‘green’ path: The new home of the Global Institute of Sustainability is one of the most eco-friendly buildings on ASU’s Tempe campus, taking advantage of natural light, recycled materials and wind power.

5. Professors see solutions in slime: Milt Sommerfeld and Qiang Hu are doing their part to harness the power of algae as an environmentally friendly fuel – and beyond.

6. Researchers document mammals in crisis: One in four mammal species on Earth is being pushed to extinction according to an assessment of the world’s mammals, created by a team that includes ASU researchers.

7. Scientists announce top 10 new species: ASU’s International Institute for Species Exploration and an international committee of taxonomists – scientists responsible for species exploration and classification – are unveiling the top 10 new species described in 2007.

8. ASU announces new research initiative: ASU is launching a major new initiative that will revolutionize academic research through the innovative convergence of science, engineering, social sciences and computing.

9. Humanities programs illuminate university innovation: As ASU emerges as a comprehensive knowledge enterprise committed to discovery, creativity and innovation, the humanities are playing a vital role in that mission.

10. ASU professor disses George W. Bush: An ASU professor took a swipe at our president by named a nasty slime mold-eating beetle after him. (OK, that one’s made up. Click here to see what we’re talking about.)

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Yes, this is mostly a sports website. But do any of these stories get your heart beating as a proud ASU alum? Let us know in the comments below.

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Exhibit A

The fine for criminal covering of the state name? Up to $135.

So please do yourself a favor. During halftime of the Rose Bowl this afternoon, run out to your driveway and get in compliance.

Or, if you must wait, we’ve written this catchy jingle (sung to the tune of “give a hoot, don’t pollute”) to remind you to perform your civic duty in the coming days.

Follow the law; don’t tempt fate
Don’t cover the word “Arizona” on your license plate

See, wasn’t that helpful?

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(Photo courtesy: East Valley Tribune)

In previous years, a special workweek in August would end around lunchtime on Friday and by 2 p.m. we’d be making that right turn at the Payson McDonald’s towards Camp Tontozona.

We made the turn again this year, but it was later in the evening and there was depressingly little football at the end of the drive.

There’s something special about that time of year. Some have called it the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. The students are back. Mill Avenue is springing to life. Football is weeks away. And you know the weather is about to turn.

For those of us who’ve lived in the desert our whole lives, Camp Tontozona is not terribly dissimilar from Spring Training. Just as Chicago Cubs fans dream of Arizona’s palm trees and swimming pools as they wait out the last few weeks of winter, Arizona State fans think of their Sun Devils working on a patch of grass in the tall cool pines of Payson and know that cooler temperatures are just around the corner.

Camp Tontozona, like Spring Training, was about the rare opportunity to see the Sun Devils up close. We remember conversations with beeming parents, listening in as position coaches explained the nuances of the game to freshmen, and watching Rudy Burgess get mauled by autograph-seeking youngsters. He seemed to oblige every one.

We also remember one year claiming a particularly choice spot in the shade on a hill to watch an afternoon practice from our lawn chairs. Dirk Koetter walked over to throw away a Power Bar wrapper and remarked to us that the only thing missing was an ice chest full of beer.

We were nursing hangovers from a night on the town in Christopher Creek, but we couldn’t have agreed more.

The Payson Roundup reported last week that the university has officially put Camp Tontozona up for sale. Michael Crow is a businessman and Camp Tontozona is an asset that has outlived its full usefulness.

We understand progress. We understand the college game has changed. We understand that if donors are willing to build you an $8.4 million practice bubble, you say, “Thank you, sir, now may we show you around Packard Stadium?”

But we don’t have to like it.

What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
What’s your favorite Camp Tontozona memory? Let us know in the comments below!