phoenix sports metropolis

by Charlie Vascellaro

The population of Phoenix has nearly doubled since 1990 with the most recent United States Census Bureau counting more than 1.5 million people in the city (5th largest in the nation) and more than 4 million in the greater metropolitan area. During the same time the Valley of the Sun has become a sporting event Mecca, with the NFL’s Super Bowl, a pair of college football bowl games, and one of the Professional Golf Association Tour’s major tournaments kicking off the sporting season. All of this comes in addition to Arizona’s regular 12-month calendar of professional and college sports.

Golf Tee’s Off in Phoenix

One of golf’s premier events, this year’s FBR Open (formerly the Phoenix Open now sponsored by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey and Co. Capital Markets) PGA Tour event’s opening rounds begin at the beautiful Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale on Thursday, January 31st concluding with the championship round on Sunday, February 3rd.

The 2008 edition marks the 73rd playing of the Open, and the fifth as the FBR Open, making it one of the five oldest events on the PGA TOUR.

It might seem hard to believe now, but Phoenix was not always such a sports metropolis. Before big league baseball, football, basketball and hockey, before the Valley started hosting the Super Bowl and college bowl games and even before major league baseball teams began coming to Arizona for the spring training season, the one constant in Arizona has always been golf. In fact it was only 20 years after statehood that the first Phoenix Open was played in 1932.

After a brief hiatus from 1936-1938, the tournament was revived largely due to the efforts of businessman and civic leader Bob Goldwater Sr., brother of former state Senator Barry Goldwater.

An avid golfer, Goldwater also served as “Big Chief” of the Phoenix Thunderbirds civic organization which still runs the FBR tournament, and was chairman of the Phoenix Country Club, that hosted the event from 1939-1987, with the exception of a 20-year period when the Arizona Country Club alternated as event host from 1955-1975.

Ralph Guldahl won the first Phoenix Open (originally the Arizona Open) in 1932 capturing a $600 purse and Byron Nelson finished two strokes in front of Ben Hogan to collect the $700 first prize in 1939. Last year, 26-year-old Aaron Baddeley became the FBR’s first million-dollar winner ($1,080,000) edging John Rollins by a single stroke, 263 to 264 after four rounds of play. In an incredibly close finish, Jeff Quinley, 265, Bart Bryant, 266 and Billy Mayfair, 267 rounded out the top five.

About a half-a-million spectators attend the FBR Open annually including practice rounds, which begin on Monday, January 28th.

The Coors Light Birds Nest Entertainment tent is almost as much of a feature attraction as the golf tournament opening at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30th and remaining the hot spot to party throughout the week.

This year’s entertainment schedule:

Wednesday: Duck Soup at 6 p.m.
Super Diamond (plays Neil Diamond hits) 8 p.m.

Thursday: Duck Soup, 6 p.m.
K.C and the Sunshine Band 8 p.m.

Friday: The Chadwicks at 6 p.m.
Tainted Love (dance hits of the 80s and 90s) 8 p.m.

Saturday: The Groove Merchants, 6 p.m.
Metalhead (hard rock), 8 p.m.

Liz Kaplan, a business account manager for Phoenix Woman magazine, says the Birds Nest is the place to be for single mingling during FBR week.

“I’ve been going to the open for the past 15 years and I feel that the Bird’s Nest is the premier spot for singles. People look forward to the event all year and it has become bigger and more popular as the years have gone by. It’s not about the golf for a lot of single people it’s more about the party. I know someone who met her husband there,” says Kaplan.

Another major component of the FBR Open are the fundraising opportunities it creates for the Thunderbirds association. Millions of dollars of FBR Open proceeds have been donated to organizations and individuals, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Scottsdale, Phoenix and East Valley and the affiliated agencies of the Valley of the Sun United Way. The Thunderbirds are also a premier sponsor of the Special Olympics, and the mission of Thunderbirds Charities is: “To assist children and families, help people in need and improve the quality of life in our communities. Our charitable giving will be directed toward organizations based or with a significant presence in Arizona.”

More information on the FBR Open can be found online at www.phoenixopen.com and at www.tpc.com/scottsdale.

Super Bowl XLII
Arizona Gets its Second Super Bowl Glendale Gets its First

Traffic on the 101 Loop West is going to look like the Fiesta Bowl Parade as many of the more than 90,000 golf fans attending the FBR open, snap on their chin straps and head across town to University of Phoenix Stadium for Super Bowl XLII.

It’s been 12 years since Arizona has played host to football’s grand pageant, when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 at Sun Devil Stadium on January, 28 1996.

No matter who wins or loses this year, the real star of the game will be Glendale’s spectacular new stadium, home of Arizona’s football Cardinals but built even more specifically to host showcase events like the Super Bowl and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and the NCAA’s BCS National Championship football game. Top to bottom, University of Phoenix Stadium is a consummate state-of-the-art spectator sport venue, the first in North America with both a retractable roof and removable field. That’s right, the entire 100+-yard natural grass gridiron can be rolled out of the stadium on an 18.9-million-pound tray for safekeeping until game day. The field is actually kept just outside of the stadium for maximum exposure to the sun and other nutritional elements. Who thinks of this stuff?
Architect Peter Eisenman, designed the $455-million crowning jewel of Glendale, inspired by the shape of the state’s squat barrel cactus. The regular seating capacity is 63,400 but can be expanded to 73,000 for major marquis events like the Super Bowl or National Tiddly Winks championship. University of Phoenix Stadium was voted “Best NFL Facility” by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily and also named one of the Top 10 Stadiums in the world by Business Week magazine.

Of course all 90,000 of the golf fans will not be able to fit into the stadium for the Super Bowl and many Arizona residents will be among the one billion watching the game on television. But tickets for the game are still available at numerous web sites as well as Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee Hospitality Packages offering premium club seating with private VIP pre and post game hospitality, hotel accommodations and access to exclusive events. Be prepared to dig deep however, packages available on the www.azsuper.com website begin at $5,000 per person Big Ticket Package that includes a seat to the game, VIP Pre and Post-Game party at the Glendale Renaissance Hotel and Spa, Spa, Game-Day parking pass included in packages of four or more, and a ticket to the NFL experience.

The $10,000 Fairway to Field plan that includes: a South Oasis Lower Level End Zone ticket, VIP Pre and Post-Game party at the Glendale Renaissance Hotel and Spa, Game-Day parking pass included in packages of four or more, Corporate Village on the 18th green for each day of the FBR Open (Wednesday - Sunday), as well as a Foursome at Blackstone Private Country Club (any day Thursday - Sunday), and Golf at Grayhawk Golf Club (Saturday, February 3). The Package also includes a double or single occupancy stay (from January 31-February 4, 2008) at one of four great Valley resorts including: Millennium Resort, Scottsdale, Gainey Suites Hotel, Scottsdale, Scottsdale Embassy Suites, Buttes Resort, Tempe.

Of course, there are a multitude of peripheral events surrounding the Big Game beginning with the 17th NFL experience, a traveling interactive pro-football theme park constructed by The Home Depot adjacent to University of Phoenix Stadium offering participatory games, displays, entertainment attractions, kids' clinics, free autograph sessions and the largest football card show ever.

Taste of the NFL Tackling Hunger in America, the Super Bowl’s culinary fundraising extravaganza, is also celebrating its 17th anniversary this year at the Phoenix Convention Center on Super Bowl Eve, February 2, 2008. Originally presented at Super Bowl XXVI in Minnesota, Taste of the NFL features dishes prepared by 32 chefs representing the home teams of all of the NFL’s cities. Since its inception, Taste of the NFL has raised and distributed more than $6.8 million to hunger relief groups like America’s Second Harvest food banks in each of the NFL cities in the name of their home teams. Tickets for this year’s event start at $500, with VIP tickets going for $600 and corporate table seating for 10 at $6,000 and are available at www.tasteofthenfl.com or by calling 952-835-7621.

College Bowl Games Bring Sense of Community and Spirit of Volunteerism

While on it’s surface, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl might appear to be all about parties and parades, Arizona’s premier college football event is ultimately the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work conducted mostly by a staff of more than 2,000 volunteers. Mark B. Fast, of Phoenix is among the volunteers and one of the165 member Fiesta Bowl Committee.

“For me it’s about giving back to the community and for the love of college football,” says Fast, an ASU alumni and football season ticket holder.

“It starts every year right after the game is over, the planning for next year begins for both games. It’s really about volunteering and the spirit that goes into it. I remember a cold rainy day four years ago. I was the leader of a 10-day event it was bitter and cold I was depending on 45 volunteers to show up and all they were receiving was Tostitos and Pepsi. I was wondering how many people would come out and they all showed up. It made me feel good that community volunteers would come out on such a miserable day,” says Fast, who works as a player liaison once the teams arrive in town.

“It’s an absolute blast I’ve made lifetime friends not only in the valley, but throughout college football. I become one of them. We live with them for the week before the game. We eat with them. We go to practice. We are part of the team for that week. I’ve become friends with coaching staff and administration. We watch the game from the sidelines and support the team if they need anything.”

Last year Boise State won a closely contested overtime battle over Oklahoma 43-42. This year’s game pits Big East champ number 9 ranked West Virginia (10-2,6-2 Big East) vs. Big 12 leader Oklahoma, ranked 4th nationally (11-2,7-2 Big 12) at University of Phoenix Stadium, January 2, 2008.

Like it’s translated namesake The Fiesta Bowl really is one big party stretching across the valley at the most festive time of year and while the game is played in Glendale many of the related events and activities still take place in the Tempe neighborhood and ASU campus where the game was played before the arrival of University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party is Arizona’s biggest New Year’s Eve bash running the length of Tempe’s Mill Avenue District and Tempe Beach Park, attended by more than 100,000 revelers annually. With more than 40 local bands playing on 11 stages from 4:00 p.m. until after midnight, this year’s headliner, Barenaked Ladies will ring in the New Year from the main stage at Tempe Beach Park. Fireworks shows are scheduled at 10:00 p.m. and the bewitching hour.

It just wouldn’t be the Fiesta Bowl without the Fiesta Bowl Parade a familiar sight running its two-mile distance down the streets of central Phoenix. This year’s 37 annual Fort McDowell Fiesta Bowl Parade “Celebrating Arizona – 95 Years of Statehood” is being presented by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

For additional information on all Tostitos Fiesta Bowl activities visit www.tostitosfiestabowl.com.

The entire holiday/sports season begins with the 19th annual Insight Bowl taking place just blocks away from Tempe’s big block party at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium on December 31, 2007 just prior to he beginning of the bash at 3:30 p.m. Last year Texas Tech beat Minnesota 44-41 in a double overtime thriller. This year’s game matches the Big 12 conference Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-6, 4-4) vs. the Big 10 Indiana Hoosiers, (7-5, 3-5) making its first bowl appearance since 1993. More information on the Insight Bowl can be found at www.insightbowl.org.

The college bowl games, Super Bowl and FBR Open represent both the end of their seasons and the beginning of another busy year of passionate spectator sports viewing in Arizona.

While the past year comes to a close and the New Year begins, most of the rest of the country will be hunkered down in front of fireplaces and televisions watching as Arizona grabs the national sports scene’s center stage.