Sibling Mark by Mike's side through tough first season

Make no bones about it.

Arizona football is Mike Stoops' team.

But there's another Stoops lurking in the background of this year's Wildcats, looking to put his stamp on UA football the same way his brother Mike, now his boss, did at Oklahoma the past five seasons while coaching alongside another Stoops sibling.

"It's a lot of fun for me," said UA defensive coordinator Mark Stoops of the opportunity to roam the Arizona Stadium sidelines with his brother, Arizona's first-year head coach. "This is the first time I've coached with any of my brothers. I get to see my nieces and nephews." [Read article]

While center Keoki Fraser has been a mainstay on the Arizona football team's offensive line the past three years, he wasn't the first Fraser to start on a Wildcat line.

That would be his brother, Keoni Fraser, who played defensive tackle for UA during the last years of the Dick Tomey era.

"He was my idol when it comes to playing football, and he was the best defensive lineman I've ever played against," Keoki said. "I just looked up to him because he was so good and he played so hard every week. He was a great player, so it was good to learn from him." [Read article]

As the old folks start to roll in this weekend, and the foreseeable traffic brings back nightmares of my short stint on the 405 in L.A., we know that the 2004 Family Weekend fiasco is upon us yet again.

Most students bite their nails the week before, wondering what are they going to do with the empty bottles of Mickey's covering their windowsills and Bob Marley posters covering their walls.

The one thing that shouldn't be a worry is finding things to occupy your time. [Read article]

Pelletier brothers look to unify Icecats in 2004

A skilled and tenacious defenseman can give opposing coaches headaches.

Two can ensure a very good year for Procter & Gamble stockholders.

The Arizona Icecats hockey team has its own migraine-inducing tandem in brothers D.J. and Mike Pelletier, two keys to UA's attempt at a return to national prominence this season.

It's not hard to see why Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski has tagged the 6-foot-1 D.J. and 6-foot-2 Mike as his unofficial team leaders for the 2004-05 campaign. They were born hockey players, and their attitudes embody the Icecats' motto, "One team, one goal." [Read article]