Jim Davis / Arizona Daily Star 2006

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Other articles by Greg Hansen:

Opinion by Greg Hansen : Beavers, armed with Pac-10's top player, will fire 'best shot' Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats' success fails to fill seats, no butts about it Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats testing fans' faith, loyalty early in season Opinion by Greg Hansen : 'Underdog' will often describe UA Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats, Hoosiers on same path Opinion by Greg Hansen : Second half encouraging, but UA is long past moral-victory stage Opinion by Greg Hansen : Interim coach: a curse or a chance? Opinion by Greg Hansen : Ultracool atmosphere at UO fouled by some uncool fans Opinion by Greg Hansen : Film is Busch League work, and great Opinion by Greg Hansen : Dec. 30, 1998, is no longer 'last time'

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At 77, former UA linebackers coach and legendary locker room orator Tom Roggeman made a surprise visit to Tucson last week, honoring UA Hall of Fame linebacker Ricky Hunley.

Roggeman shook down some thunder in a vintage performance at the Tucson Convention Center.

Those privileged to see (and hear) Roggeman were stirred. It was like Santa Rita High School football coach Jeff Scurran said: "Years ago, I went to a coaches' clinic at the UA and signed up for a class that 'Rogge' taught. Well, only five coaches were in the audience that day, a big auditorium with space for several hundred, but Rogge didn't care. He was in full voice, emotional and inspirational. I'll never forget it. He's the best.''

On Friday, Roggeman limped to the stage (he has had two hip replacements in recent years) and tapped his cane against the podium. I thought perhaps he had lost his steam.

And then… BOOM! Roggeman, an American original who graduated from Purdue, served in the Marines and then played for the Chicago Bears, told a classic story about how Hunley disobeyed coaching orders in a win over Rick Neuheisel's UCLA team and yet came up with a QB sack to win the game.

"How in the blazes do I give him a BAWLIN' OUT WHEN HE GETS A SACK!'' Roggeman implored. "Ricky always played at ATTACK SPEED! ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!''

Retired and living near South Bend, Ind., Roggeman coached at Arizona from 1977-86 and is legendary for his locker room chats during the UA's epic streak of five upset victories over ASU, 1982-86. Perhaps Mike Stoops can bring Rogge back to Tucson on Dec. 6 — date of the UA-ASU football game.

October shaped up as a special month for Amphitheater High School football coach Vern Friedli. It got much better on Friday when the Panthers shocked heavily-favored Sabino 7-6 for Friedli's career victory No. 306.

About six hours before kickoff, Friedli quietly said the Panthers "would do a little more than just hang in there'' against Sabino. He had that trademark don't-sell-us-short look in his eye.

The next three weeks are even more provocative. On Friday, Amphi plays 4A-II powerhouse and long-time rival Jeff Scurran's Santa Rita club. Then, on Oct. 24-25, Friedli is to be honored for his selection to the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Among other activities, a luncheon and golf tournament will be held Oct. 24 at La Paloma Country Club; it is open to the public.

Those who play golf will get a ticket to USC-Arizona homecoming game on Oct. 25.

A tailgate party to honor Friedli will be held on the UA Mall, hosted by former Amphi, USC and NFL linebacker Riki Ellison, who has joined with ex-Panther and Stanford tailback Jon Volpe to honor Friedli.

Ticket information: 888-5593 and 618-5626.

Every Friday night, Patagonia-area photographer James Schrimpf e-mails me images of Patagonia High School's latest football game and a statistical update on Lobos running back David Soto.

Each week it seems to get more incredible.

Soto scored five touchdowns Friday in a 56-22 victory over Ajo. That gave him 33 in six games; he has not scored fewer than five TDs in any game this year.

Soto is within range of some serious records. The state 1A record for TDs is 48, set by Salome's Chuck Antoni in 1980. The overall state record is 51, set in 1997 by Sabino's Nathan Wize.

Coach Jim Paul's team plays at undefeated Valley Union on Friday in Elfrida; Valley Union is the defending 1A state champion. After that, the Soto Express goes to Gila Bend before entering the state playoffs.

It's about a two-hour drive to the Douglas-area community of Elfrida, but Friday's game matching the high-scoring Lobos and powerful Blue Devils qualifies as Southern Arizona's prep football game of the week.

After winning a pair of NCAA swimming championships and being part of the USA Olympic coaching staff, the UA's Frank Busch has a higher profile than ever. He was in Leicestershire, England, last week, invited by Great Britain's Olympic swimming organization to participate in clinics with coaches from Greece, Scotland, Germany and Belgium. He was a guest at the British Swimming Coaches Association annual convention. … Back from his European softball clinics for USA Softball, Arizona coach Mike Candrea scored one of the year's top recruiting victories. He got a commitment from Elk Grove, Calif., shortstop and left-handed leadoff hitter Chelsea Suitos, a high school junior who is probably the top slap-hitting prospect in the Class of 2010. Suitos visited the UA last week. She is also a 4.0 GPA student. … Sabino High junior Sarah Denninghoff, who emerged at the Olympic trials as one of America's leading swimmers in the Class of 2010, has been selected to USA Swimming's Junior National team, which means she will compete internationally and train periodically at USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Salpointe Catholic grad Sara Brown soared through the LPGA Qualifying School tournament last week, shooting rounds of 73-72-72-71 to finish 11th overall in Venice, Fla. Brown was one of 32 golfers to advance to the Q-School finals at Daytona Beach, Fla., in early December. … The Pima County Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 2008 induction ceremonies next Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 4550 S. Palo Verde Road. Tickets are $40; Wednesday is the deadline for ticket orders. Information: 747-7643. Among those to be inducted are ex-UA lineman and Pac-10 football referee Bob Beal and Sunnyside High School baseball coach Ernie Palomarez. … Indefatigable Tucson distance running standouts Pam Reed and Susy Bacal last week took part in Charlie Engle's Run Across America. Reed and Bacal ran with Engle for about 60 miles in Utah. Engle trained briefly in Tucson before he began the attempt to run across America in a record 46 days. Unfortunately, Engle injured his left leg and has been forced to complete the Utah-to-New York journey on a bike. … John Entz, a Salpointe Catholic and UA grad who was part of the UA basketball managerial/support staff in the 1990s, has been hired by Major League Baseball as vice president of production for MLB Network. Entz will be responsible for studio programming and game coverage. He attracted ESPN's attention while producing the baseball All-Star Game and college football's BCS pre-game coverage for Fox Sports Net.

Tucsonan Jamie Slone finished second overall in the 2008 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge, a seven-event series with races from Atlanta and Connecticut to Ohio and Utah. In only his fourth year of racing, the former Tucson radio executive won the Mid-Ohio Sports Car classic, leading the race from start to finish. Tucson auto dealer Jim Click, who has been a Paul Newman-esque auto racer since 1991, finished No. 13 overall in the '08 Mustang series. … Salpointe Catholic senior volleyball setter Pat Tunnell is being heavily recruited by Division I men's volleyball programs USC, Pacific and UC-San Diego. Tunnell plans to major in pre-med. The first day of the fall signing period is Nov. 12 . … Very sad to learn of the death of Sue Saffer, 58, who died in Tucson last week. She was married to education official Don Saffer, who played on John Wooden's 1967 UCLA national basketball championship team. Sue's sons are among the most accomplished athletic family in Tucson history: Jon, of Amphi, reached Class AAA in the Montreal Expos' baseball system; Mike, of Sabino, was an All-Pac-10 tackle at UCLA; and Jeff, of Sabino, was a 10th-round draft pick of the New York Yankees. About 1,000 people attended Sue's service Friday afternoon. … Palo Verde High School grad Ben Kern entered Saturday's final round of the Gateway Tour's 2008 championship event in second place, one stroke back. But he shot 73 and finished fifth overall in Norwalk, Iowa. Kern earned $11,700 to complete his year with $113,263, or No. 7 on the overall money list. The Gateway Tour is the nation's top mini-tour outside PGA Tour-sanctioned events.

The UA basketball program received further negative scrutiny last week when the father of Texas point guard recruit Reger Dowell told reporters that the UA reneged on a scholarship offer to his son.

That practice, while troubling, isn't altogether rare. The problem, according to the Dowell family, was that Lute Olson wouldn't return their calls nor inform them of the pulled scholarship himself. It was Olson who, in person, offered the scholarship.

One question emerges: Would Pac-10 coaches Mike Montgomery or Herb Sendek or Tony Bennett do something like that?