The Explorer Newspaper is a 45,000-circulation weekly newspaper established in 1993. The Explorer services northern areas in the city of Tucson, Arizona, as well as the outlying towns of Oro Valley and Marana, and the unincorporated communities of Catalina, Saddlebrooke, Oracle and Picture Rocks. This coverage area crosses the border between Pima and Pinal Counties.
I receive all mail/email/phone calls addressed to the sports editor/department, and generate my own original story ideas.
High schools Canyon Del Oro, Marana, Mountain View, Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, Catalina Foothills, Ironwood Ridge , Green Fields Country Day and Immaculate Heart round out our prep coverage zone.
It’s not all high school sports at The Explorer. I’ve written stories on the University of Arizona, professional sports, parks and recreation activities, little league, even a youth soccer team traveling from England to play in the desert.
Here are some pieces I have written for the Explorer, as well as a short description of their content.
Columns:
With the Explorer, I have been lucky enough to be accorded the privilege of writing columns from time to time. While nowhere near the amazingly proficient and entertaining level of output achieved by many of my sportswriting heroes (Jim Murray, Red Smith, Hal Lebovitz, Shirley Povich, and many others), as an example of growth, I believe they are solid.
Thankful for a special homecoming – This column was (and is) a deeply personal one for me. It was written about my father, who coached for many years at Canyon Del Oro High School, and passed away, too early, in 2006, and my experience in returning to the field that was a lynchpin of my life for 20 years.
Perhaps American soccer is already here – A column addressing the seemingly widespread trend among sports media to simply write off soccer as a viable sport in the U.S. Written after Brazil won over the U.S. national team in the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Brett just can’t step away from the game – A column written about Brett Favre and his inability to leave the NFL, and what might be the reason people still care.
Defend A-Rod? He cheated, and that’s wrong – This was, of course, written at the time when Alex Rodriguez’s steroid use came to light. I actually tried to utilize a little humor to balance outrage, and I think that it worked out nicely.
Even though they lost, the Cardinals won – Written after the Arizona Cardinals’ Super Bowl loss this past season. As a long-suffering Cards fan, this certainly reflects the grieving process post-loss. I actually utilized an article about grief from a psychiatric journal to analyze the steps.
Say it out loud, Card fans: ‘The Super Bowl’ - Another column on the Cardinals Super Bowl run, this one written after Arizona’s victory in the NFC championship game.
Farewell to Lute, a legend – This was my first column. It had a special significance for me, as it addressed the retirement of a long-time University of Arizona coach, whose teams I grew up cheering.
Profiles:
CDO’s Nugent takes on big Pima grid challenge – This article is about an extremely successful local high school football coach leaving the program he revitalized for a previously dismal local college program. With the lead, I tried to utilize a slight lessening of punctuation to indicate the frenzied pace of Nugent’s first day as Pima’s coach.
Stepter may be CDO’s greatest female athlete – A profile of the most decorated female track athlete in Canyon Del Oro history, a future collegian, and the daughter of an Olympic hurdler. She will be moving on to Stanford University in 2009/2010 to run track for the Cardinal.
Asher brings fun, skills, passion to CDO 9 – A national prospect softball player reflects on her future at Oklahoma State University, as well as her final season with the prep team she has helped to win three straight state titles.
NW power lifter makes a name – A profile of a very inspirational Northwest YMCA personal trainer and competitive powerlifter currently setting his sights on the Olympics.
Ridge mentor Lang back to both worlds – The coach of powerhouse Ironwood Ridge girls’ volleyball returns to the boys’ team he coached for years, in order to rebuild that program.
Pusch Ridge’s McLeod taking her game to Pima Aztecs – An outstanding senior at a four-time consecutive state champion school will move on to play basketball at a local college.
Game Summaries/Coverage:
These are the types of stories every sportswriter is required, and in my case, enjoys, to cover. Game summaries: playoffs, regular season, all sorts.
Dorados claim OV skirmish – The perfect season opener for 2009 – two perennial playoff contender football teams, six miles apart, met for the first time in three years. Incredible atmosphere and a great game.
Falcons fly in a pool – Catalina Foothills, one of the most dominant swim squads in the state, continued their winning ways at the regional meet.
MV homecoming not all white roses – Covering a loss is always difficult, but a loss on homecoming… Well, not the most fun. Despite this, the article seemed to work well as Mountain View’s football team lost big to visiting Sunnyside.
After a roller coaster, CDO swings its way to a crown – Canyon Del Oro’s baseball team, a dynasty that had previously sent many players to the major leagues, won its first state baseball championship since 2002.
Regional loss halts Pusch Ridge’s four-year streak – Pusch Ridge Christian Academy has an amazing record of excellence in girls’ basketball. They came into the season in pursuit of tying a state record for the most consecutive state titles in any classification (1A-5A). Unfortunately, this game halted that quest.
In thrilling fashion, CDO takes state – The Canyon Del Oro soccer team, led by UNLV recruit Nick Marshall, won the 4A-I state championship.
Fischer rumbles, Nighthawks advance – The Ironwood Ridge football team won in the playoffs against a huge rival, the Sunnyside Blue Devils.
Athlete of the Week:
The Explorer runs a short story on a local athlete that has had an outstanding performance in the previous week, often times very helpful in gauging what is to come for their teams, and to get to know the local players. Here is a sampling of a few of these articles.
Corey Fujimoto – A “consumate teammate” and catcher on Canyon Del Oro’s state championship baseball team.
Nick Marshall – A record-breaking soccer player who earned a scholarship from UNLV to play there next season.
Seth Wilson – A senior volleyball player for Marana High School. Quite a character, in addition to a fine athlete.
Malyree Harper – Senior volleyball setter from a powerhouse program at Ironwood Ridge High School. She was awarded regional Player of the Year honors in 2008.
Ronald Tadoum – An incredibly hard-working senior midfielder on the Canyon Del Oro state title-holding soccer team.
Brandon Flores – Senior cornerback for Ironwood Ridge’s semifinal-contender football team.
General/Parks & Recreation:
These are stories of a timely nature, deemed by myself or my publisher to be of high interest to local readers.
Helping the sport live on – Olympian Misty May-Treanor inspires volleyball players in Tucson – This was my first interview with a professional athlete/Olympian. It went well, and the combination of interviewing her old college coach, players she inspired, and of course, herself, proved to coalesce into a great article.
Nighthawk grid coach Gary Minor resigns post to make personal time – This was a very large story when it came out. Minor was finishing his, and Ironwood Ridge’s, most successful football season ever when he decided to step down. I was able to get the story online on Tuesday (even though our paper does not do up-to-date Web dispatches), beating the local dailies by a number of hours.
Northwest schools sending several grid recruits to Pima – A large amount of recruits joined ex-CDO coach Pat Nugent in an endeavor to revitalize the Pima Community College program.
CDO boys more than fancy passing – The Explorer usually tries to do periodic updates on different sports before the playoffs. This is one such update, built on game coverage of CDO vs. Cholla.
Leeds club brings its own style to CDO soccer tourney – This story was written about a team from England that came to Tucson to play in a youth tournament held in the area. This was excellent, as I’ve been able to keep in contact with the British coaches of the team, and they’ve been able to help me make sense of world soccer in general!
Marana coach Willie Dudley resigns, but he’ll be around – Head football coach Willie Dudley resigned from Marana’s program after five years.
‘Cats give themselves a gift — trip to Vegas – This was an article I had to write in about 15 minutes, as we were unaware that we needed it for Wednesday’s paper until Tuesday morning. Still, it was a pleasure to write, as the Wildcats had not been what you would call a “power” for some time.
Saturday moonlight hike in OV for trails celebration – An advance on a night hike planned for a celebration of National Trails Day.
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