The funny and wacky of Arizona sports in 2022
Dec 31, 2022, 10:56 AM
It’s not just about wins and losses. The Arizona sports landscape provided LOLs and LMAOs in the past year, too.
After culling the past year’s archives of our Haboob Blog — Arizona Sports’ section for the viral, funny and wacky — let’s dive into the 2022 calendar year’s most laughable stories.
Kyler Murray’s agent makes a long statement with a weird font
A statement from Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray’s agent, @ErikBurkhardt: pic.twitter.com/qsWGZIZ0jB
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2022
Remember when Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, through his agent, was demanding a contract extension? It seems like ages ago.
Well, the best part of that was his agent made his desires known with a very long statement posted to Twitter that was hard to read because of its size and font.
Agent Erik Burkhardt did get that extension done, so congrats. Murray’s contract was signed with a clause that included a requirement that Murray does at least four hours of independent film study, which became its own saga before the Cardinals amended it by deletion.
Next time, just opt for simple: Times New Roman, Arial or something like that. And above a size 8.
Suns acquire ‘(Expletive) Jae Crowder’ shirts from Pelicans fans
Two Pelicans fans sitting in the second row tonight pic.twitter.com/llGxl5Drl1
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 28, 2022
Jae Crowder may not be jiving with the Phoenix Suns this year, but last season he was a fan favorite and very good at pushing the right buttons with opposing crowds.
During the Suns’ first playoff series, New Orleans Pelicans fans began chanting his name with some naughty words included. A few of those fans made shirts that Devin Booker and assistant coach Jarrett Jack somehow tracked down.
The Suns wore them in postgame press conferences.
J.J. Watt freaked out over not a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake Update: pic.twitter.com/XhFAf7lKAk
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 13, 2022
Still relatively new to the desert, Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt called the professionals when he found a baby rattlesnake in his house.
Turns out, however, that it was not a rattlesnake.
Cam Johnson loses a Super Bowl bet
Cincinnati Bengals fan Cam Johnson saw his team fall to Mikal Bridges’ favorite Los Angeles Rams in the last Super Bowl matchup. And there was a bet to pay off because of it.
The loser had to eat a sour loss by hosting a lemonade stand.
The Suns used it as a unique opportunity to meet their fans.
Johnson hosted a lemonade stand at a local park, where thousands of Suns fans dropped by.
Everyone is naming their dogs after Devin Booker
It’s hard to believe Booker is in his eighth year with Phoenix. Over time, he’s built a rabid fan base, and it’s shown not only in how many supporters wear his jerseys.
A lot of them are also naming their pups after the All-Star.
Our Kellan Olson stumbled into digging up a lot of Books who go “woof.”
Booker says hey pic.twitter.com/sjWOX0pE7M
— farrelli (@FarrelliAZ) March 29, 2022
Wait a minute… pic.twitter.com/Y0wKqfMxHA
— Alex (@alexdoesatweet) March 30, 2022
QuikTrip and Bridges beef
Wawa appreciator Mikal Bridges got in a tiff with a rival gas station.
QuikTrip’s social media account for some reason opted to engage in the discourse around the Suns’ connection with then-disgruntled Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. The convenience store suggested a trade that swapped Durant for Bridges.
Yall so hell 😭😭😭 and WEAK !! https://t.co/O6xFc4aS1q
— Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) August 2, 2022
Durant eventually rescinded his trade request and now is on the hottest team in the NBA, so that trade seems unlikely to go through at the moment.
Garrett’s dad wore the other team’s jersey during son’s MLB debut
Stone Garrett's MLB debut was a certified success.
Hear from the man of the night 👇 pic.twitter.com/OWLLSJKXCo
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 18, 2022
One of the brightest stories for the Arizona Diamondbacks this year was that of 26-year-old rookie Stone Garrett, who rose through the minor-league ranks after stepping away from baseball and made his MLB debut against the San Francisco Giants in August.
But because it was a long trip from Garrett’s parents’ home in Texas to the chilly Bay Area, his father, Rock, had to purchase a Giants hoodie to stay warm. He didn’t want to miss his son’s first big league at-bats.
Stone debuted with two doubles and an RBI — then forgave his dad for not packing enough warm clothes.
James the dentist isn’t who you think he is
Budda Baker, DDS https://t.co/bO304gASsE pic.twitter.com/sLD0qprJZs
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) May 24, 2022
Cardinals safety Budda Baker revealed that he took on a new persona during one solo trip to a bar.
Baker said he went by “James” and was prepared to tell others he fell into conversation with that he was a dentist.
It was a huge moment for introverts everywhere.
ASU’s opponent makes a bad prediction — like really bad
New episode of Roundball is out now!
– Trayce Jackson Davis Interview
– Hunter says Michigan is beating ASU by 20
– Texas vs The Frauds (Gonzaga)
– 2 Surprise visitors 👀🎤 https://t.co/ZJAwVYe9fJ pic.twitter.com/Pu9SrJOSGP
— RoundBall Podcast (@roundballpod) November 17, 2022
A signature win early on during a surprisingly successful start for the Arizona State men’s basketball team came via a Nov. 17 throttling of the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan was ranked No. 20 at the time, but ASU ran away with an 87-62 win. It was not lost on some that the Wolverines’ best player, Hunter Dickinson, said on his own podcast prior to the game that his team would win by 20 points.
It was 47 points off, and Dickinson struggled with a 6-for-14 shooting line in the blowout.
