There’s a new sheriff in town, Joe
0The Toughest Sheriff in America
People all over the world know of the sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona. It’s Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed “Toughest Sheriff in America”. As a resident of Maricopa County for a bunch of years, I remain more convinced of Joe’s foibles than his toughness, as is the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division currently investigating Joe and his crew for civil rights violations, specifically allegations of racial profiling and civil rights violations. Joe’s office stalled the feds for nearly a year and a half, refusing to turn over records to investigators, taking a tough stance so to speak. A recent flurry of activity and proclamations by Joe’s law dogs of cooperation with the investigators is now over and the investigation continues after the feds divulged what they felt were the facts behind the allegations they had found support for.
My personal dealings with ANY deputy of Maricopa County or any other county in Arizona have been professional and respectful, I have no complaint with any of them based on my experience. I’ve seen them go above and beyond the call of duty and have a lot of respect for the men and women who do their job patrolling a huge area, there is still a lot of “Wild West” out here.
Joe, by the way, has the unwavering support of enough of the citizens of Maricopa County to nearly guarantee him an election win whenever he decides to run. Of course, any election with or without Joe might have issues as in 2010 when the Arpaio campaign against a county attorney he didn’t like (Joe wasn’t even running for office) was fined $154,000 for violating campaign finance laws and using his office for political means. Joe eventually only paid $76,000 and didn’t admit wrongdoing. Maybe he’s the toughest sheriff because of his plea bargaining toughness?
Tough Politics
In an earlier election, 2004, Joe was running against Dan Saban in the Republican primary. There were scattered Saban for Sheriff signs in enough neighborhoods to make Joe nervous, apparently, so he assigned his right hand man Dave Hendershott to see what he could dig up on Dan. As an aside, Hendershott has taken quite a number of bullets for Joe, he had been a faithful consigliere for many years. Had been, you say? Yes, Dave finally got fired for the last time in April, 2011, partly for some questionable dealings with local developer and bankruptcy expert Steve Ellman. Click here to read a story about it if you like. Anyway, Hendershott sent some troops down to Pinal County to investigate some old allegations against Saban, allegations that Saban had raped his adoptive mother. Ouch, Dan, you shouldn’t be sheriff! Turns out that the statute of limitations had run out, however, yet Hendershott made sure that the allegations were broadcast to the salacious story loving media. It also turns out that Saban, 17 at the time of the incident, claimed he was the victim of statutory rape. Didn’t make any difference, the damage was done and Joe was the Republican candidate for sheriff.
Tough Jails
Joe is famous for providing colorful pink underwear and colorful green bologna to his prisoners, particularly the ones in the famous Tent CIty jail and the nearly equally famous chain gangs we have all see so often on our televisions. Ask for a tour, if you have a microphone and a camera you’re in.
Certainly enough people have died in Joe’s jails under suspicious circumstances to warrant his rep as a tough guy, although we citizens of his county have often been required to pay his legal bills and fines to help bolster Joe’s street cred. The local Phoenix paper found, between1998 and 2009, that the county had paid $13 million in legal fees, settlements and jury verdicts to inmates and their families for injury and death claims. Not included in that is another $1 million (November, 2011) payment to the family of Juan Mendoza (yes, there seems to be a pattern of ethnicity, according the the feds) who dies after a physical confrontation with Joe’s deputies in jail.
Now, I am not naive enough to believe that people in jail are angels who don’t thrive on aggressiveness, confrontation and physical violence. I know that many of them do, and I know that many of them goad and bait anyone in a postion of authority. Of course, my opinion is that being “in control” means exactly that. Having Joe Arpaio dismiss the above $1 million payment as “the cost of doing business” is a perfect indicator of his attitude and style of leadership. There is actually some truth in his statement, of course, some cases are, financially, better resolved out of court and out of the press. Some allegations are completely false and probably rigged, just a lowlife going after the deep pockets of a government agency with some historical weaknesses. However, the constant barrage of these negative statements directed at Joe and his boys attracted the attention of the federal government and their dogs of war.
Tough luck, sex crimes victims
At the end of 2011, stories resurfaced about Maricopa County deputies failing to investigate or rudimentarily investigating more than 400 sex crime cases between 2005 and 2007. While Dan Saban’s case OUTSIDE the county received attention from the same deputies, an astounding number of sex crime cases, including molested children cases, went mostly ignored by Sheriff Joe and his crew. The most disturbing quote I saw while this was in the national news was in the New York Times:
One young woman said her cousin has tried with no success to get deputies to investigate the molestation of her three daughters. “The person who did it is still out there,” she said. “We see him all the time.”
Joe has weathered a lot of heat like this before, usually shrugging it off successfully to his constituents with bravado and dismissive quotes. This time, though, eventually he calculated that he needed to apologize to the victims, calling a press conference to do so and promising to make sure his deputies (at least the ones not assigned to dig up dirt on opponents) would do a better job from now on.
Most people didn’t believe Joe, and his smirking press conference didn’t completely bail him out of the mess prompting even staunch and exasperated apologists for Joe Arpaio Jon Kyl and John McCain to issue a joint statement of gentle rebuke.
There are many thousands of words to be written about Sheriff Joe Arpaio, his entourage and his dealings. Maricopa County is in the difficult geographic position of being at the crossroads of a tremendous amount of illegal immigration traffic and everything that goes along with it. The elected job of sheriff of this county is NOT an easy job. Whether doing that job requires the constant search for media attention is debatable.
So who is the new guy?
Remember Pinal County, where Joe sent henchman Hendershott to investigate sexual crime allegations involving a political foe? That’s the county where the new guy, Paul Babeu, is in charge.
Babeu is the first Republical elected sheriff in Pinal County, having defeated his Democrat opponent in 2008. Paul was asked by Sheriff Joe to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing in the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) which, six months later, resulted in the aforementioned dismissal of Hendershott and another MCSO employee.
Babeu came through on his promise to rid his county of speed cameras, streamlined his office and purportedly reduced response times in his county by forty percent. He should also be considered a media hound of nearly Arpaio proportions, having made a national face for himself with tough border control talk and a national spot with Senator John McCain. He also helped Sens. McCain and Kyl draft their “10-Point Border Security Plan.”
Sheriff Babeu is now running for Congress in his district.
Sheriff Babeu is also gay.
So what if he is gay?
Sheriff Babeu, having cultivated a following of extremely conservative supporters, is likely to run into some roadblocks to his future success in politics. Most of these roadblocks will be invisible, but they will be there and the end result will be the same.
Apparently there have been whisperings and winks for years about Sheriff Babeu’s sexual orientation. Perhaps he decided that, as a law officer rather than a politician, it wasn’t wise to divulge the information. Really, it isn’t anybody’s business, is it? No, it is NOT.
The sensationalist story, broken by the Phoenix New Times (click here to read) was as much about the alleged threats made against an ex-lover of Babeu’s, called “Jose”, as it was about Babeu’s sexual orientation by itself. The New Times, by the way, would be easily dismissed by many as a crackpot leftist pinko rag with a lot of axes to grind. Some of that is true, they make no bones of their political leanings, yet they have been show to be a credible source of real news. Whether they are in THIS case remains to be seen.
It’s those allegations, not Babeu’s sexual orientation, that are the only things that matter. It’s possible to question the judgment of the man in some of his public displays of questionable images of himself and his relationship with a man who may or may not be a documented alien but who is certainly Mexican. The voters can decide that for themselves.
So what’s the problem?
The irony of his situation isn’t lost on anybody, the man who would be the poster boy for tough immigration policies admittedly involved with a Mexican man who, allegedly alleged by Babeu’s lawyer, could be deported back to Mexico. The question that, when answered, should determine fate of Sheriff Babeu is whether he used his position and his influence as a man with a reputation as a border enforcement bulldog to intimidate an ex-lover who happens to be a citizen of another country.
If he did, he should pay the price.
If he didn’t, everybody should just shut up and get back to having Sheriff Joe as their media go-to guy.
The Savior is… Jeremy Roenick?!?
2Okay before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, this is not a sacrilegious blog entry, it has nothing to do with religion at all. In this case ‘savior’ is just a descriptive word.
What’s New in the Coyotes Saga?
Word all over the tweetyverse today is about Jeremy Roenick (JR) and his involvement in the purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes. Why? Here’s what JR said (from AZSportsTalk.com):
“I have been involved with a group that is trying to get into the game. I do have people in New York, friends of mine, that are ready and willing to wait to see. But everything moves at a snail’s pace.”
“I have been involved in the background. I do have people that are willing to look at it and have the dough behind it. But getting involved in the National Hockey League … it’s kind of a boys club.”
“We’ll see what happens. But the team is very, very interesting. If you can somehow get a hold of the building along with the team, then it becomes a different scenario.”
Roc (Mike Muraco), of “Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch” (AM 1060) is a Coyotes fan, he knows hockey and the history of the club. At times, the only real coverage we would hear anywhere about our NHL hockey club were consistently negative stories from both the Canadian hockey press and our local press AND from Roc. He has the street cred to talk about the Coyotes.
Here’s a tweet from Lisa Halverstadt this morning (Arizona Republic/AZ Central, @LisaHalverstadt) summarizing her conversation with JR:
“Jeremy Roenick on his status with ex-Sharks CEO Greg Jamison’s group: “It’s very early.” Nothing on paper yet. #Coyotes”
Lisa has taken over the Coyotes saga reporting (not the sports side) chores capably. She follows leads, makes the calls, and stays on top of as much as she can, all the while dealing with the rabid Coyotes fans through the typical social media outlets. She has the street cred to talk about the Coyotes.
Craig Morgan (Fox Sports Arizona and CBS @cmorgancbsfoxaz), however, tweeted:
Roenick on his involvement in #Coyotes purchase: “Everyone is blowing this way out of proportion. I have a group that wants to look at it.”
Craig also has the cred and the tweet was later in the day than the other information.
Frustrated Coyotes fans (which, three years into bankruptcy and torture, incudes EVERY Coyotes fan) have lately taken to bickering about who said what when where how and why. We’ve also taken to, even after swearing we won’t do it yet again, grasping at any straws of hope including this one. I submit it isn’t important, and additionally you have to give the people covering this story the benefit of the doubt that, in deciding to share information with us, they have the best interest of the fans and the truth in mind. It should be obvious at this point that none of the players involved (City of Glendale, the NHL, the multiple potential buyers) have been forthcoming with accurate information at ANY time in the ordeal, making it nearly impossible to write an accurate story or make an accurate statement TO THE FANS in trying the to inform them what is happening with the negotiations. Rodney King said it best.
So, who is Jeremy Roenick?
JR lives in Scottsdale, we hear. Jeremy Roenick is an American NHL center who played for five different teams, one of which was the Coyotes. He retired in 2009 with 513 goals and 703 assists after having played in 1,363 games and appearing in a bunch of All-Star games. JR is in the US Hockey Hall of Fame and is included ’in the game’ NHL12 on the NHL Legends team. Good stuff in anybody’s book, JR is the real deal. He’s now an analyst with NBC Sports.
Those of us who have been around Phoenix and the Coyotes (or NHL hockey for that matter) for any length of time know all about Jeremy Roenick. None of us have an opinion that’s shaded gray, the way JR is forces you to mentally choose the hate or love side. I’ve had the pleasure of having JR personally insult my magnificent mustache when I opined to him that having Donald Trump beat him in golf was actually funny, considering the athleticism and advanced age of Trump. Let it also be said that, having decided chosen which side of the Roenick fence to sit on, you will stay there forever. I dare say most people on either side have been on the other side of that fence at one time or another. That’s what JR does.
Jeremy Roenick was skating with the Flyers at this year’s Winter Classic alumni game. Beside the fact that he skated like a creaky old man while being schooled by Ron Duguay (yes I was/am a Rangers fan and can’t stand the Flyers and yeah Duguay also has better hair than JR), he was invited and participated enthusiastically from start to finish. One should at the same time note the absence of a famous Ranger from that same game, but more on that later. JR’s enthusiasm for the game of hockey, love him or hate him, can never be questioned.
JR played for the Coyotes from 1996-2001 and then again in 2006-2007. The second incarnation of Roenick in Phoenix was less successful, probably due in part to friction with then head coach Wayne Gretzky. JR has never had much use for anybody who didn’t want to play him every minute of every game, getting him into hot water throughout his career when he voiced his displeasure. That’s what JR does.
Another thing that JR does is give 100% to the game he is playing. The best example of this, in my mind, is the ‘broken jaw’ incident. Roenick was plastered into the boards by Stars player Hatcher in retaliation for a penalized hit JR made on Mike Modano, breaking JR’s jaw. There is a YouTube out there of JR after that incident wiggling his jaw back and forth, testing it. People get hurt in hockey, so what? The ‘so what’ is that Roenick played another 2 or three shifts AFTER that. That’s badass in anybody’s book, and that’s what JR does.
So, what can JR do for the Coyotes?
The best and worst things about Jeremey Roenick are the same, he is full of himself and will say whatever happens to cross his mind. While that may not be the best thing in a society of polite people, it would be the absolute best thing for the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes had Wayne Gretzky as a very expensive frontman (and head coach) for many unsuccessful years. Yes, THAT Wayne Gretzky, the only guy to have his number 99 permanently retired from the entire NHL. Everybody is second string compared to 99, right?
Wrong. Gretzky was too private a guy to do the frontman job for the Coyotes, or any NHL team. Gladhanding and schmoozing are not high up on Wayne’s list of ‘things I like to do’ while, on the other hand, they are five of the top ten things that Roenick likes to do. That’s what we need. We had Charles Barkley here with the Suns, that’s the kind of instant quote on a slow news day guy we need. We need a guy who is instantly recognizable by hockey fans and, more importantly, NON hockey fans in the valley. JR is the PERFECT guy for the job.
A perfect example of the potential marketing genius we’d get with JR is exemplified by the fact that I’m taking time out of a work day to add a blog entry and plenty of people are talking about the same thing. It is NO coincidence that Jeremy Roenick is playing (I think) in a Coyotes alumni game this evening (Friday, 02/10/2012) at the Ice Den in Scottsdale and then being inducted into the Coyotes ‘Ring of Honor’ tomorrow. How many more people are now at least interested in talking to JR than yesterday? Tons. Just what JR wants. Is it good for the Yotes? Yeah!
This is all based on the assumption that there is a competent group, such as the oft-mentioned Jamison group, to actually manage the club.
So, what now, Nostradamus?
I don’t have a clue. I remain more hopeful for a successful resolution resulting in keeping our team in Glendale for the forseeable future. I’m not sure what seeds, if any, of truth are within what JR has said. It could easily be all smoke and mirrors. I think that yes, potentially, Jeremy Roenick could be seen as the savior of the club.
That’s what JR does.
The Dangerfielding of Shane Doan
2Phoenix Coyotes staff, coaches, players and fans have come to be used to the derision and lack of respect directed at them by hockey fans, particularly the elitist brand from Canada. It’s sometimes entertaining to bait the anti-Coyotes trolls that inhabit the social media outlets of the Internet.
To be honest, some of the lack of respect is well deserved and thoroughly earned.
The History
Since moving to the desert from Winnipeg in 1996, club ownership drained the life and money out of the Coyotes with questionable business and sports moves. The initial venue, America West Arena, for the Coyotes was NOT a good hockey arena, yet plenty of tickets were sold and the team hit the playoffs every but one that they were owned by the Jerry Colangelo consortium. After some years of successful ticket sales, the team was again sold in 2001 to local developer Steve Ellman. That sale marked the last day the Coyotes hockey team was owned by people with a sports business background and the beginning of the comedy of errors that contribute to the virtual clown hat the team wears today.
The search for placement of the planned new arena involved some incredible machinations by then owner and perennial bankruptcy court attendee Ellman. An unfavorable lease with the City of Phoenix had Ellman looking towards the site of a then-defunct eyesore shopping center, Los Arcos, in Scottsdale. The citizens of Scottsdale didn’t like the proposal, and somehow the shopping center was demolished and surrounded by chain link fence to add to the pressure on the city. When that didn’t work, Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that he was considering the site for another one of his press-grabbing “tent cities”. That also didn’t work, and the view turned west toward Glendale.
In Glendale, a new and beautiful for hockey arena was built and a shopping center, WestGate was conceived and constructed by none other than Steve Ellman. Yes, that business venture of Steve’s has also been down the bankruptcy road. Apparently, judging by the endless failed negotiations that have since spotlighted the arena agreement with Glendale, that lease agreement was also completely unfavorable and unworkable for the Coyotes hockey team. Ellman once again threw in the towel on a business he couldn’t successfully manage and sold the Coyotes to his pal Jerry Moyes (of Swift Transportation fame) in 2005.
What seemed to be the culmination of the ownership fiasco was a last minute declaration of bankruptcy in 2009 that, to the interested observer, appeared to be a deliberate attempt by then owner Jerry Moyes and Jim
Balsillie (of BlackBerry and egotistical blowhard fame) to circumvent the wishes of the National Hockey League (NHL) in finding a new owner for the troubled Coyotes. The story is that the head of the NHL, Gary Bettman was on his way to Phoenix to present an offer sheet, presumably already approved by the NHL, to Moyes. When Moyes and Balsillie got wind of it, they trotted out the necessary lawyers to file for bankruptcy before Bettman got off the plane. Let it be said that Balsillie had already made a few enemies in hockey circles with his steamrolling techniques trying to buy two prior hockey teams. It had also become known that the NHL was secretly injecting millions of dollars into the team through Moyes pockets in an attempt to stem the tide of massive losses. Their plan was foiled by the NHL and a US Federal Bankruptcy Court, which put the fate and ownership of the Coyotes firmly in the hands of the NHL.
There are thousands of words that could be written about the circus of failed negotiations and the bizarre series of events that we, the Coyotes faithful, have witnessed since the bankruptcy filing. Suffice it to say that there are many players in the tragedy that is the Coyotes business saga and many are joke-worthy. We’ve heard them all and even joke about them ourselves when we feel like indulging in gallows humor. That said, there are some things that we don’t joke about and a lot of people that we hold in the highest regard.

A Younger Don Maloney
Both General Manager Don Maloney (refered to reverently as GMDM) and Head Coach Dave Tippett are respected by hockey people as well as Coyotes fans, recognized as GM and Head Coach of the Year respectively.
Our (yes, OUR) team also has our respect. There are few, if any, ‘superstar’ calber guys on the team, yet they managed to reach the playoffs two years in a row. They work hard on the ice and, usually, keep banging away until the end of the game. We’ve had disappointing runs, but it’s a sport and we expect them.
In all that, there’s one guy I’m fairly comfortable saying we all respect the most. It’s our (yes, OUR) Captain, Shane Doan. Again, Doaner could be the subject of thousands of words written by people more capable than myself. None of those words, however, would be or could be disparaging. We’re proud to have him on our team and any knowledgeable hockey people know that Doaner is, in fact, THE MAN.
So, last night, January 7, 2012, we attended another Coyotes hockey game at Jobing.com, we don’t miss many. I admit to a little trepidation because the team was on a bit of a bad streak and climbing down the standings. This game against the Islanders was the best game I’ve ever seen, and I have been participating in and watching hockey every year since 1959 (or so). Why was this my favorite game?
Shane Doan got a hat trick, pure and simple.
For the uninitiated, a hat trick is scoring three goals in one game. It’s a tremendous accomplishment and rare, but not EXTREMELY rare. In fact, ex-Coyote Danny Briere scored a hat trick last night as well.
Doaner, even though he had played as a power forward in 1160 NHL games over 20 years, never scored a hat trick. He had scored two 38 times before, and he even admitted to getting hat trick advice from his son. Yet, the hat trick elude Doaner. Until last night.
The Game
The attendance at the game was good, but not spectacular. We’ve come to expect that, with the turmoil surrounding the team and the nearly complete lack of support from the local press (more on this later). After Shane’s second goal, things changed perceptibly in the arena. Everybody in the arena knew Doan was eligible for a hat trick, most knew it would be his first. Did I mention that we love this guy? So do his teammates.
Some Islanders fans left, it’s not much fun watching your team having their Wheaties eaten 4-1. Everybody else stayed and held their breath, hoping against hope that maybe THIS time Doaner would get his hattie.
Hockey is a game of sprints, a typical shift in the NHL is 30 to 45 seconds, after which the player exits the rink until his next shift. The sport of hockey, particularly at the NHL level, is lightning fast and rough, demanding complete attention for each intense shift. Seriously, it’s tough.
In the last five minutes of the game, Shane Doan was on the ice for what seemed to be 4 1/2 minutes. I saw him collapse to the bench, nearly completely exhausted, in the last two minutes of the game and knew that he wouldn’t be effective on the ice the rest of the game. It looked like he would, once again, come up just a little short regardless of his huge effort and that of his teammates who got him the puck for repeated scoring chances. People in the stands gasped, shouted, slapped their forehead each time Shane got a shot that looked like it had a chance yet missed.
The clock ticked away and it got quieter in the arena as we all were slowly losing hope. The shouts of ‘Doan-ER, Doan-ER’ were gone, we all watched the game dwindle down to a close. When the Islanders finally fought off the flurry of Coyote attackes and the puck ended up down the ice with maybe 10 seconds (very little time in a hockey game) left, we were pretty sure that we’d go out to our cars happy with a win but disappointed for Shane Doan.
Then it changed.
Ray Whitney snagged the puck, Shane started down the ice toward the Islanders goal. Ray took a few strides and passed it to exhausted Doaner skating as hard as he could toward the goal. The pass was right on Doaner’s stick, so he leaned into it with a hard slap shot as the clock ticked down past zero.
The puck, Doaner’s first NHL hat trick, went into the net with .1, yes one/tenth, of a second left on the clock. Jobing.com erupted.
The rest of the celebration and the noise you can imagine. Hats flew from the stands onto the ice. Everybody screamed and clapped as loud as they could. Did I mention we love this guy? Hard core fans eyes teared up even while they were screaming, none of us could believe it actually happened and that we were lucky enough to be there to see it. The Coyotes team mobbed their captain, every single one of them as happy, maybe happier, than if they had scored the hat trick themselves. Keith Yandle talks about Shane Doan’s hat trick (OffTheIce, arizonasports.com).
It was magical, the angst and drama surrounding our team was washed away by our pride and happiness.
The Coverage
Forgetting for the minute the chicken and egg argument that ‘winning sells’ (in car racing we called it ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’). Our entire world is mired in an economic mess of crazy proportions, entire continents are in economic danger and turmoil. Here, in the Phoenix Coyotes, is a local BUSINESS that has struggled for some time with low attendance figures, they could use a boost. The local paper (NOT locally owned, by the way, and partnered with a local television station as well), on the day after such an inspiring sports event, features a football goal kicker and a headline that has absolutely nothing to do with local sports. Shouldn’t they, in the interest of their readers, provide information about a local business working through tremendous adversity to hopfully succeed eventually in generating local revenue?

AZ Central disses Captain Doan
There remains a distinct lack of standup guys in professional sports, in fact wasn’t Phoenix the home of the professional athlete who declared that sports figures should not be considered role models? Yes, it was Charles Barkley and, in his case, he is absolutely correct. In Shane Doan’s case, however, ‘Sir’ (where did that moniker come from?) Charles would be completely wrong. Shouldn’t the presence of an adult male professional athlete who is captain of his team, the recipient of a leadership award from his league, a father and, from every account I have ever heard, ‘the nicest guy you will ever meet’ be featured as often as possible in ANY one of those capacities by the local media? My opinion, and I vote with my wallet, is YES.
Sure, being a hockey fan, I am biased and would love to see more mainstream press coverage of the sport I enjoy so much. The local media here in the Phoenix metro area, with the exception of maybe six print and radio people and the Fox Sports Arizona crew, are disinterested, misinformed and undereducated about hockey. Does withdrawing my support (subscriptions, viewing, advertising dollars) affect their decisions about what to cover in their papers?
Let’s find out.
In the meantime, read these:
Off the Ice: Doan’s hat trick a top moment in sports
Look up Jim Gintonio on the web site mentioned, I’m not providing a link.
Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan finally gets his hat trick.
Craig Morgan, Fox Sports Arizona: After 16 years, Doan finally gets his hat trick









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