Latest from Abby Sharpe
Flipping the script: ASU gymnastics team eyes bid to NCAA Championship
TEMPE – Even though COVID-19 postponed Wednesday's season opener, the ASU gymnastics team is optimistic about the season and hopes to make a team run at the NCAA Championships. Junior Hannah Scharf is ready to lead the Sun Devils.
Cardinals players to wear customized cleats against Rams to support meaningful charities
PHOENIX – Sixteen Cardinals players will wear customized cleats against the Rams Monday night to represent organizations that are important to them.
‘I’ll never forget’: Pearl Harbor survivor Jack Holder remembers surprise attack
PHOENIX – Eighty years after the attack at Pearl Harbor, survivor Jack Holder remembers that infamous day. Others share why commemorating this day is important to the history of the U.S.
‘Either shut up or lose your whole career’: Arizona coach among those calling out NWSL’s toxic culture
PHOENIX - The NWSL has faced numerous allegations of abuse from coaches and organizations alike. Now, many, including Arizona’s soccer coach, are calling out the league’s culture and calling for change.
MLB to provide housing for minor league players, but are more changes needed?
PHOENIX – MLB owners approved a plan to provide housing to eligible minor leaguers starting in 2022. But that’s not the only issue MLB needs to address.
A memorable presidential pitch, a head rub: Ari Fleischer, Curt Schilling reflect on 2001 World Series
PHOENIX – Though the Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series in seven scintillating games, a different fandom was equally affected by the emotion and weight of that extraordinary postseason: the fans of the New York Yankees, and especially then-press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Fire or forgive? Debate about Brennaman slur continues as more broadcasters use derogatory language
PHOENIX - In August of 2020, former Diamondbacks broadcaster Thom Brennaman was suspended by the Cincinnati Reds for using a homophobic slur. He is far from the only announcer to face consequences for similar transgressions.
3 ex-Suns among former NBA players charged in scheme to defraud league health care plan
PHOENIX - Nineteen people, including three former Suns, were charged with health care fraud after filing claims worth almost $4 million to the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan for medical and dental services they didn’t receive.
No Maluma, no Disney princesses: Mercury return to home court after much-debated scheduling issues
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Mercury played its first two playoff games at arenas belonging to college teams. A look at why as the team prepares to play the Las Vegas Aces at Footprint Center with a chance to punch a ticket to the WNBA Finals.
A coach, a player, a journalist: 3 lives forever changed on Sept. 11, 2001
PHOENIX – The tragic event of 9/11 impacted the sports world in different ways. From teams to players to coaches to journalists, memories remain vivid 20 years later. Here are some whose lives were changed.
Rise of the underdog: Undrafted free agent Michael Stefanic knocking on Angels’ door
PHOENIX – Michael Stefanic is on the last rung of the minor league baseball ladder, waiting for the call to join the Los Angeles Angels. His professional career started in Arizona.
‘It’s just something magical’: Bisbee’s historic Warren Ballpark facilitates sports in a small town
BISBEE – A decades-old ballpark in Bisbee continues to host every sporting event in town and provides a glimpse into how much sports can impact a community.
‘It’s about time’: Remembering Ford Smith, the lone Arizonan to play in the Negro Leagues
PHOENIX - Ford Smith, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs after returning from World War II, is the lone Arizona to play in the Negro Leagues.
‘It’s about everybody’: Joe Black, Jackie Robinson’s roommate, also was MLB trailblazer
PHOENIX - The late Joe Black was the first Black baseball player to win a World Series game, in 1952. The Arizona Fall League MVP award is named after him.
Special Olympics athletes build connections, form community through esports
WADDELL - Special Olympics athletes immerse themselves in esports teams to help alleviate the loss of social connections due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arizona sports community speaks out against violence targeting Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders
PHOENIX – Stop AAPI Hate released a national report on March 16 that showed the increase in hate incidents against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. On the same day, eight people, six of them Asian American women, were gunned down in three Atlanta spas.
