The coolest commercial use of Twitter I have seen to date, Suns Twackle, was placed into production today by our hometown Phoenix Suns.  This application, included on the Sun's website, shows all the Twitter messages posted about the Phoenix Suns and allows Twitter users to log in using their Twitter credentials and post Tweets directly from the Twackle page.  Quite an innovative use of Twitter as an integral part of the Suns' PR strategy!

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With Steve Nash on the bench nursing a sprained ankle and Amare Stoudemire out for the season with an eye injury, Shaquille O'Neal has been playing inspired basketball - the old man against youngsters.  It was great to see him lead the Suns to victory over the Lakers today.

Do you want to be entertained between games by Shaq in a hip, social media sort of way?  Follow @THE_REAL_SHAQ (yes, it really is Shaq) on Twitter.  He's quite a character off the court as well.

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After yesterday's heartbreaking news about Amare Stoudemire's eye surgery, my pessimistic vibes cast a dark shadow over the rest of the Phoenix Sun's season.  It's good thing the Suns believed in themselves more than all us doubtful folk.  Last night, Leandro Barbosa poured in a career-high 41 points and Jason Richardson added 34 to lead the Suns to their third straight game of scoring at least 140 points!

Go Suns!

Technorati Tags: Phoenix Suns, Leandro Barbosa, Basketball, Optimism

Wednesday night I watched Amare Stoudemire score 42 points as the Suns scored 140 and 141 on successive nights against the hapless Clippers.  It seemed that the Suns might have a chance to climb back into the playoff picture after all, as they returned to their trademark uptempo style after changing coaches.

I was pleased that the Suns decided to keep Amare rather than trading him.  Then we learned today that he underwent surgery this morning for a partially detached retina, and will be unable to resume physical activity for about 8 weeks.  Arrgggh!

We do wish Amare a full recovery and will be interested so see what the Suns can do without him for the rest of the season.


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This video has apparently been around for awhile, but I saw it first today on my son's Facebook page.  It is the coolest sports story I've seen in a long, long time.

Technorati Tags: Basketball, Autism, Courage

Today's cover story from USA Today's sport section extolled the rising fortunes of my alma mater's football team.  I'm old enough to have been in BYU stadium to see the home games leading to BYU's 1984 national championship.  It is great to see the level of on the field and off the field performance by the current team. We are doubly excited to see the exploits of Max Hall, the BYU quarterback, who went to high school in Mesa, Arizona, where we now live.


Technorati Tags: BYU, Football, Brigham Young

The classic matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers is underway. The Celtics drew first blood as Paul Pierce came back from a knee injury to lead his team to victory.

I'm pulling for the Celtics to win, because I really want Kevin Garnett to get a ring.

It's going to be a great series!

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I just had a mashed up participation age experience. My daughter is visiting us this week with her husband and two little boys. At 6:15 this morning, I was studying at my desk when I got a phone call from Heidi on her cell phone. I didn't even know she was out of bed, but she was two miles away, running along on a ten-mile course, not letting her vacation get in the way of marathon training.

As she continued to run, she asked me to visit MapMyRun.com, a Google Maps mashup that plotted distances and checkpoints on a map. She was concerned that she had miscalculated the length of her course. So, in real time, as she ran along, we plotted a small course correction that would give her the full ten miles she wanted.

Cell phones and mashups - it has come a long ways since I was a distance runner, some 150 pounds ago!

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Congratulations to my alma mater, Brigham Young University, whose Cougar football team blew out the Oregon Ducks 38-8 in the Las Vegas Bowl last night.

This was particularly sweet because the 11-2 Cougars hadn't had a winning season since 2001 and hadn't won a bowl game since 1996. That, plus quarterback John Beck, the second leading passer in BYU's history of great quarterbacks, grew up just a few miles from my home in Mesa, Arizona.

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Steve Nash's face tells the story. Giving his all, but no more miracle finishes. No more overachieving. The Dallas Mavericks came back from an 18 point deficit to win over the Suns 102-93 in convincing fashion.

Congratulations to the Mavericks, who advance to the finals for the first time in their history. And congratulations, Terry Sigle. Your team won this year!

Tonight was bittersweet. It was agonizing to lose, but considering that most people thought the Suns would be a sub-500 team without Amare Stoudamire, the Suns had a wonderful season. Steve Nash repeating as MVP, Boris Diaw recognized as the most improved player, two seven-game playoff series wins, NBA highest scoring team and most of the active rotation achieving career-level statistics -- it has been a season to remember. Next year Amare will be back -- can't wait!

Technorati Tags: Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, NBA

Raja Bell unexpectedly stepped into the starting lineup tonght and sparked the Suns to a resounding 106 - 86 win over the Mavericks. Each Suns player seemed to elevate his game a notch in response to Raja's inspired play. Boris Diaw actually slam dunked over Dirk Nowitzki!

Now, back to Dallas on Thursday! It's a great series!

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The Suns lost another game to the Mavericks Sunday, falling victim to their short bench, reduced intensity and very visible lack of Raja Bell.

As reported by Jerry Brown in the East Valley Tribune, Steve Nash said, speaking of the injured Bell, "I think we really miss his leadership, the way he plays, just by example ... how he fights, and how he never gives in. It would be easy to say his talent and the depth it would afford us, but more than anything I think it’s his toughness and attitude.”

Will Raja be back for game 4? Will it make a difference? We'll wait anxiously for answers to both questions.

Technorati Tags: Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks NBA

Friday night, we attended my daughter Holly's dance concert during the Suns/Mavericks playoff game. It may be considered heresy in some circles, but we kept up with the score of the game via my Treo 650 PDA. Alas, the Suns lost. But they take home court advantage back to the US Airways Center on Sunday.

Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune reports that Phoenix Still Has Reason to Smile: "The Suns got what they came for - a split and home-court advantage. Beyond that, they proved they can hang with the Mavericks without Raja Bell."

I think Suns will win in 7 games.

Technorati Tags: Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, NBA, Ballet, Dance

The Suns won the first one: 121-118. Amazing finish. Boris Diaw had a career high 34 points to lead the Suns. It's going to be a great series!

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My good friend Terry Sigle sent me an email from Dallas today entitled "Go Mavs!"

I think he remembered last year when I blogged about the Suns beating the Mavericks in the NBA playoffs. Now, NBA MVP Steve Nash will battle his good friend Dirk Nowitzki in the Western Conference Finals.

Well, the battle is on! Phoenix is up 14-10 in the first quarter. We'll see what the series brings.

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