Sky Harbor, The Arizona State Sun Devils are still on the ground in Arizona on Friday, their flight to Orlando not departed, and the team is not supposed to depart tonight at 9 p.m., ahead of Saturday’s game at UCF.
First reported by Chris Karpman.
The Sun Devils are not the only ones stuck. The stop hits travelers trying to get to the football games on Saturday. ASU plays at UCF on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.MST on ESPN2, and Arizona hosts No. 2 Utah on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.MST on FOX — with the teams and the fans trying to get there on flights that are not moving.
For now, whether the Sun Devils get out tonight depends on when the FAA lifts the stop — and with no estimate given, Saturday’s schedule is the thing to watch.
The ground stop came Friday afternoon, after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers across the country. The FAA advisory lists the stop as effective from 3:54 p.m. ET (1:54 p.m. in Arizona). Planes already in the air can land, but nothing on the ground can take off.
In a statement, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue.” The FAA said the stop was “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
Nationwide, nearly 7,000 flights have been delayed or canceled. Departures are grounded until further notice, though the advisory lists an end time of 11:30 p.m. ET, with no estimate for when normal operations return. It is the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since Sept. 11, 2001.
In Arizona, at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 351 flights were delayed and 7 canceled as of 2:40 p.m. Friday, with 6 more delayed at Mesa Gateway Airport.
Morning coffee at Berdena’s — espresso drinks and freshly baked goods.The breakfast sandwich is insanely good, and the avocado toast was voted “Best in Phoenix” by the Phoenix New Times.
Hike Camelback Mountain — Cholla is the easier trail, Echo Canyon is the challenging one for experienced hikers. Plan on at least 2 hours round-trip. Go early — Camelback and Piestewa Peak get busy and parking is hard later in the day, especially on weekends. Consider an Uber, and check the temperature before you go.
Studio 525 Disco Night at The Duce
Elvis Before Noon at Aunt Chilada’s, 7 p.m.
Foley Ranch, 6 p.m. — Dynamite Draw
RoadHouse Cinemas live music, 6–9 p.m.
Dino’s Git Down opens (Fri–Sat, Glendale)
Hondo Rodeo Show (Fri–Sun, Chase Field)
Music of the Knights (Fri–Sun, Phoenix Symphony Hall)
Canal Convergence continues (free)
ASU men vs Louisiana-Monroe, 7 p.m.
Saturday, November 14
Morning coffee at Schmooze — patio with outdoor seating, trees and water features, like a little garden oasis. The nitro cold brew is the go-to, and the breakfast burrito is massive. Fourtillfour is another option for the highest quality coffee.
Brunch at Lon’s at Hermosa Inn — gorgeous patio — or Acadia Farms Cafe, the go-to brunch spot for years, cozy patio and a French cottage interior.
PHXDriven Four Till Four, 7:30–10 a.m., 7105 E 1st Ave
Arizona Bao & Dumpling Festival, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Peoria (Sat–Sun)
ASU West Valley Veterans Pow Wow, 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Glendale
Cirque Mechanics: Tilt!, 7 p.m., Chandler
Foley Ranch Western Fusion, 6 p.m.
RoadHouse Cinemas, 6 p.m.
Dinner in Old Town — Olive and Ivy, Mediterranean-inspired fare right along the river canal in downtown Scottsdale, or Zinque, the trendy newcomer with everything from a hearty burger to an Alsatian flatbread, veggie bowls and shareables, patio strung with twinkle lights.
Sunday, November 15
Suns vs Lakers, 2 p.m.
Cardinals vs Rams, 2:05 p.m., State Farm Stadium (Beck’s first NFL start)
ASU women vs Penn State, 2 p.m.
Catch them out — Zipps, cold beers and a cheeseburger.
Bao & Dumpling Festival continues
Foley Ranch, 5 p.m.
Where to stay: Andaz Scottsdale and Omni Montelucia are the favorites.To splurge, the Global Ambassador Hotel — technically in Phoenix, 14 minutes from Old Town.Easier on the budget: Hilton Canopy, Mountain Shadows, Senna House Scottsdale, and Hotel Valley Ho.
Suns Coach Jordan Ott reacts after win over the Hornets 101-96
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns (5-6) beat the Charlotte Hornets (4-8) 101-96 on Thursday night at Mortgage Matchup Center, winning a game they had to grind out on defense and at the free-throw line while they are still learning how to play together.
Jordan Ott said it plainly after the game. The Suns won it even when the three-ball wasn’t carrying them, and the coach put the win on the other end of the floor. “Game even though we didn’t make a three. And that’s what it takes especially the way the league is moving. Defensive value. All of it.”
Ten, eleven games into the season, Ott said, the Suns are still finding ways to win while they do it. “That’s part of that figuring it out stage that we’re currently in.” Ott said the group is trying to create the right shot on every possession, not just one action. “It feels like we need multiple actions in every possession because defense is being celebrated.”
The one thing Ott kept coming back to was the glass. Charlotte won the boards 52-31, and the Hornets kept the game close on their offensive rebounds. “Close game on their offensive glass, so we need to take care of it.”
Ott said the same about a player still learning the group — and the group still learning him — praising the way he drove the basketball and took the extra dribble and the extra drive. “That’s what we need for our group. We’re a jump shooting team. We need some type of pressure that he provides.”
Devin Booker, who scored 30 points with 7 assists and 3 steals, was just as plain about where the Suns stand. “We’re still searching and still finding… certain lineups we come in we just can’t find that flow.” The fourth quarter was a mix of bench and starters, and Booker said the group is still learning which lineups mesh and which ones don’t. “It’s important for flow… seeing what lineups mesh well with each other and which ones don’t.”
Booker said the win came down to possessions. Charlotte turned it over 25 times to the Suns’7, and the Suns made the Hornets pay at the line down the stretch, with Booker hitting a 29-foot three and the Suns closing it out on free throws as Charlotte kept fouling. “It’s a possession game at the end of the day.”
And on his own shot, Booker said he will keep letting it go. “I’m going to keep letting them go when I get some space to hopefully stretch their defense out and open up other opportunities for my teammates.”
Booker saved some of his best words for Jordan Goodwin, who came off the bench and changed the game with his energy. “When Goody gets in the game you can almost feel the arena start getting ready for something. You can feel the energy.” Booker said Goodwin has a knack for the ball he hasn’t seen from anybody in his career — reading the game, reading offensive rebounds, knowing who he’s guarding, getting deflections and steals.
Miles Bridges scored 11 points in his first game against his old team, and the Suns are now one game below .500 with the Los Angeles Lakers coming to town on Sunday at 2 p.m. Booker said the mindset doesn’t change after a win — the group comes in the next day the same way it would after a loss, still with things to clean up.
The Suns host the Lakers on Sunday at 2 p.m., still searching for the flow Ott and Booker keep talking about — and still winning while they look for it.
LOS ANGELES — The New York Islanders (8-6-4) beat the Los Angeles Kings (5-10-2) 5-2 on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, and every time the Kings scored to make it close, the Islanders scored back.
The loss dropped the Kings to 2-4-0 on their seven-game homestand, which closes Saturday against the Calgary Flames.
The Islanders scored the first goal, Brayden Schenn at 5:50 of the first.Trevor Moore tied it 1-1 at 8:55, and Matthew Schaefer answered at 12:56 to make it 2-1.Victor Eklund built the lead to 3-1 at 5:35 of the second, Quinton Byfield cut it to 3-2 at 7:52, and then the Islanders extended it from 3-2 to 5-2 in the third — Simon Holmstrom 39 seconds in, and Bo Horvat into the empty net at 17:14.
The Kings were the more physical team, outhitting the Islanders 33-9, with Alex Laferriere landing 10 hits. But the Islanders back skated well — they kept their balance while the Kings came forward — and blocked 23 shots to the Kings’ 9.
Schenn opened the scoring at 5:50 of the first, from Mitchell Chaffee and Ryan Pulock.Moore answered at 8:55, from Brandt Clarke and Joel Armia.Schaefer’s power-play goal at 12:56, from Matias Maccelli and Schenn, put the Islanders back in front.
Eklund made it 3-1 at 5:35 of the second, from Schenn and Pulock.Byfield’s power-play goal at 7:52, from Artemi Panarin and Kevin Fiala, cut it to 3-2. Then Holmstrom scored unassisted at 0:39 of the third, and Horvat finished it into the empty net, from Holmstrom.
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves on 28 shots for the Islanders.Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves on 20 shots for the Kings.
Both teams went 1 for 3 on the power play. The Kings outshot the Islanders 28-21, and the Islanders won 52 percent of the faceoffs.
Schenn finished with a goal and two assists.Pulock had two assists and was plus-4.Holmstrom had a goal and an assist.For the Kings, Moore had a goal on five shots
Byfield had the power-play goal, and Panarin had an assist on five shots.
The Islanders moved to 8-6-4.The Kings fell to 5-10-2.
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns beat the Charlotte Hornets 101-96 on Thursday night at Mortgage Matchup Center, and the Hornets had three chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter — and blew all three.
Devin Booker scored 30 points with 7 assists and 3 steals to lead the Suns.
The first chance was the Hornets’ best.Early in the fourth, Coby White hit two free throws to tie it at 79-79 with 9:48 left, and Charlotte had the chance to take the lead. But the Hornets kept having problems with the ball — Naz Reid traveled, Collin Gillespie stole it from Reid, and Charlotte never got in front.
The Hornets had the rebounds all night, 52-31, with Moussa Diabaté pulling down 13. But they also gave the ball up — 25 turnovers to the Suns’ 7 — and that was the game.
Charlotte kept trying to make it close.Grant Williams’ layup cut it to 84-87, Grayson Allen’s floater made it 86-87, and Royce O’Neale’s three made it 94-97 with 21 seconds left.And every time, the Suns answered.Booker’s fadeaway made it 86-89, Dillon Brooks’ three made it 86-92, and Booker’s 29-foot three made it 91-97.
Then the Hornets started fouling, and the Suns made the free throws.Allen fouled Miles Bridges, who hit both at :18.4.Booker stole the ball from Allen at :12.5, and Allen fouled Booker, who hit both at :11.1 to make it 95-101.
It was Bridges’ first game against his old team.Bridges, who spent eight years with Charlotte, had 11 points and 6 rebounds and got the win.
Brooks added 15, Jalen Green 12, and Gillespie 13 off the bench.White led Charlotte with 21, Allen had 14 and 6 assists in his return to Phoenix, and Diabaté had 7 points and 13 rebounds.
The Suns moved to 5-6.The Hornets fell to 4-8.
The Suns host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at 2 p.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — Connor McMichael scored in the eighth round of the shootout, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Utah Mammoth 1-0 on Thursday night at Delta Center.
It was a divisional game, the first of four between the two teams this season, and Utah had the best chances to win it. The Mammoth outshot the Blues 29-22 and did their job on the defensive end — they kept the game scoreless and shut St. Louis down — but on the offensive end, they couldn’t find it.
Nobody scored in regulation. Nobody scored in overtime. Nobody had a power play goal, either — the Blues went 0 for 5 and the Mammoth went 0 for 4.
Utah was playing the second game of a back-to-back, a night after the 5-3 loss at Vegas, and the Mammoth played like a team that knew the job on the defensive end.Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves.Joel Hofer made 29 saves at the other end for the shutout, and neither goalie blinked through 65 minutes.
The shootout went eight rounds. Vincent Trocheck put Utah ahead in the first round, and Jake Neighbours answered right back for the Blues. Then nothing — five straight rounds without a goal on either side. Both teams finally found the net in the seventh round, and in the eighth, McMichael beat Vejmelka to end it.
Utah head coach André Tourigny said there was no moral victory in it — “There’s no moral victory in the NHL but we lost the shootout.” He said the Mammoth wanted the two points, but he could not have been more proud of his guys. “Tonight we were rock solid defensively.”
Tourigny pointed out the schedule — St. Louis was in town last night waiting while Utah was toe to toe with Vegas — and said his players bought in and went all in. He said Vejmelka was really, really good and a big factor in Utah getting the point.
He said he did not want to sound happy with one point — that was not what he was talking about. He was talking about the way they fought, competed, blocked shots and defended the net front, the way the goalie played and the way the penalty kill played, and the way the guys on the bench cheered for each other. “All that makes me really proud.”
The Blues moved to 9-8-2. The Mammoth fell to 10-8-2, opening a five-game homestand — their longest of the season so far — with a loss.
Utah hosts the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at Delta Center. The Blues return home to host the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
Yordan Alvarez won the American League MVP on a Houston Astros team that lost six prominent players from the year before — and he still led the major leagues in hitting.
The Astros lost Framber Valdez, Victor Caratini, Chas McCormick, Luis Garcia, Mauricio Dubón and Jacob Melton in the 2025-26 offseason, and the people around Alvarez were struggling. He carried them anyway.
Alvarez, 29, won the batting title at .316 and led the majors in all three slash categories — a .316 average, a .432 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging percentage.He hit 42 home runs and drove in 106, and he took every first-place vote, beating out Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.
He is the third Astro to win it, joining Jeff Bagwell (1994) and Jose Altuve (2017).
In the National League, Pete Crow-Armstrong did it from the top of the order.The Chicago Cubs center fielder was the leadoff hitter for most of the season, and he turned it into one of the best all-around seasons the game has seen.
Crow-Armstrong, 24, hit .280 with 45 home runs, 107 RBIs, 119 runs scored and 41 stolen bases, becoming the seventh player in major league history with a 40-40 season.His 45 homers tied Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead.
He took every first-place vote too, beating out Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers, and ending Ohtani’s streak of three straight MVP wins. He is the first Cub to win the award since Kris Bryant in 2016, and the first Cub ever to win it unanimously.
He also won the NL Hank Aaron Award, a Gold Glove and the Platinum Glove.
Two unanimous winners. One carried a team that lost everything around him. The other led off all season and did everything.
AZ Cardinals Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett speaks to the media tells us more about Carson Beck
GLENDALE — The buzz around the Cardinals this week is about Carson Beck, and the coaches are lining up behind the rookie as he prepares for his first NFL start Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
“You never really know until you get to the live bullets on Sunday,” head coach Mike LaFleur said. “I have all the confidence that he’s ready to roll.”
LaFleur pointed to what Beck has already done. He played big-time football in big-time conferences, in two different places, with 50 games of experience behind him.
“I know this isn’t too big for him,” LaFleur said.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett sees the same thing every day in practice.Beck loves it, Hackett said, and you feel it in every rep and every meeting.
“He’s a very fast processor,” Hackett said. “How he memorizes the plays, how he can retain the amount of information, it’s impressive. Once the ball snapped, how he reacts and how he sees things, you can see his experience.”
Hackett said Beck is an older rookie with a lot of experience, and that experience shows in his confidence — and in how the room responds to him.
“He’s definitely confident in himself,” Hackett said. “We’re all confident in him. If you exude confidence, other guys buy in.”
Tight end Trey McBride has seen it up close. He and Beck have gotten close since Beck came in, hanging out outside of football, and McBride says the talent is obvious.
“He’s very talented,” McBride said. “He studies very hard. He goes through his reads quickly. His arm strength, he can run around, he can throw off schedule, he can do the sidearm, he can do it all. There’s a reason why he won as many games as he did in college.”
McBride has no doubt about Sunday.
“I have a ton of confidence going into this game, and he’s ready for the challenge,” McBride said.
Beck himself said the moment is one he has waited for.
“Obviously, this is a dream of mine,” Beck said Wednesday. “I was ready to play right then and there.”
And he said confidence is something you choose.
“I think the coolest thing about confidence is that confidence is a choice,” Beck said.
Beck starts because he is the last resort. Gardner Minshew is out for the year, Jacoby Brissett was traded to Baltimore, and the Cardinals (3-6) turn to the rookie third-round pick against the Rams on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at State Farm Stadium.The Cardinals are 9.5-point home underdogs.
The challenge in front of him is as big as it gets. The Rams’ front has Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, and Hackett said building a protection plan for them is a task.
“They have a really good line up front,” Hackett said. “He tops it off when you put Aaron Donald in there. They’re really good.”
The Cardinals have also used six different starting offensive line combinations this week, and Hackett said it is always about the next man up — hungry guys, all willing to step in.
“It’s going to be all hands on deck,” Hackett said. “Whoever’s out there, we’re excited for them.”
The coaches have said their piece. Sunday, the buzz meets the live bullets.
Arizona Wildcats football coach Bret Brennan looking for tha extra buzz from fans this Saturdat Nig
TUCSON — The Arizona Wildcats host No. 2 Utah on Saturday night in the biggest game of their season, and head coach Brent Brennan says the size of the moment will not change how they get ready for it.
“The magnitude of the game or the fact that they’re ranked second in the country should not change our process in any way,” Brennan said. “What’s most important is that we have incredible meetings today, and then we move into a great Thursday practice with high level execution, the required physicality, the detail that is required 48 hours from kick.”
That is the message Brennan carried through his press conference Thursday — stay intentional about right now, drill down on the process, and let the game come to the Wildcats.
It starts with the quarterback. Noah Fafita prepares for the biggest game of his career the same way he prepares for every game, and Brennan says that is what makes him what he is.
“Noah’s preparation doesn’t change week to week,” Brennan said. “I think the consistency and the detail of how he goes about his business makes him one of the absolute best players in college football.”
Arizona (7-2, 4-2 Big 12), ranked No. 22, comes off a 29-28 win over TCU last week in Tucson. Utah (9-0, 6-0) comes in undefeated and ranked second in the country. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Casino Del Sol Stadium, on FOX, with Big Noon Kickoff on campus in the morning and Military Appreciation Day in the stadium.
Brennan is counting on the depth the Wildcats have built to carry them through it.The receiver room survived a wave of injuries hitting at once, and now the secondary is facing the same thing, and Brennan says the answer is the same — the next man has to be ready.
“You have to prepare like you’re the guy so that in the moment when you are, you are ready for that moment,” Brennan said. “When the opportunity comes, how ready are you?”
He pointed to Dejon, who spent 10 months rehabbing to get back on the field.The doctors once said he’d be lucky to play in the spring of 2027, Brennan said. Now he’s playing.
“That speaks to his incredible work ethic,” Brennan said, and to the work of the training room, the strength staff and the medical team together.
The stage is the biggest Tucson has seen in a long time, and Brennan is leaning into it.He has walked past the Big Noon Kickoff set going up every morning, and he opened his press conference with a line for the crowd.
“You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning,” Brennan said. “If there was ever an opportunity for us to get this thing started right, it’s with Big Noon Kickoff and roll that thing, run that race.”
He said the stage gives a lot more people a chance to see what Arizona already knows — an incredibly special place to go to college, to play college football, and the city of Tucson itself.
Brennan also talked about keeping his players steady in a week like this one, when the noise gets loud. He said the staff tries to educate the players on social media, and what it does to them.
“Some of the stuff that we read on social media is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die,” Brennan said. “It’s not healthy for them ingesting that, whatever it is, even if it’s positive. That’s not the real world, and that’s certainly not the game of football.”
The opinions that should matter, he said, are the ones from family, teammates and coaches — people the players love and respect — not someone they have never met online.
The week also carries Veterans Day, and Brennan spoke about what it means to him. His grandfather, his mom’s dad, fought in World War Two and was shot three times on the beach at Iwo Jima.His brother-in-law is a Marine.Every morning he sees the young men and women in the ROTC programs on campus, and every year he and his wife climb the stadium stairs with them in tribute to 9/11.
“Freedom is not free, and we are very grateful to everybody that has sacrificed and continues to sacrifice,” Brennan said.
And he pushed off everything that comes after Saturday. Players around the country are announcing they are coming back next year, and Brennan said there is a time for that — December is a quiet period, the portal does not open until January — but this week is not it.
“I really don’t want anything to distract us from the most important thing,” Brennan said. “And the most important thing is playing our best football Saturday night against the University of Utah. This team deserves my absolute best every single day I walk into this building.”
If something doesn’t feel right, he said, he attacks it and addresses it — with the team, with the staff, with school, with anything. High-level communication, effective leadership and consistent alignment, he said, give the Wildcats a chance to handle the highs and the lows.
Saturday night, the process gets its biggest test yet
Suns Miles Bridges speaks during shoot around about playing against his former team the Charlotte Hornets
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns (4-6) continue their season-long seven-game homestand tonight against the Charlotte Hornets (4-7) at Mortgage Matchup Center, with tipoff at 7 p.m. on 3TV and Arizona Family Sports.
The Suns come in off their best night of the season, a 133-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, when they made a season-high 22 three-pointers and Devin Booker passed Julius Erving into 78th place on the all-time scoring list. The win was the Suns’ fourth of the season and their second straight at home.
Tonight is also the first meeting between the two teams since the offseason trade that sent Grayson Allen to Charlotte. The Suns sent Allen, Royce O’Neale and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick to the Hornets for Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick. Allen comes back to Phoenix for the first time since the deal, and he is coming off a 27-point night in Charlotte’s 124-112 win at Cleveland on Monday.
“I spent eight years with these guys, nine years, so you know, I’m definitely excited but the W is the most important thing.” Bridges said.
The Hornets are short-handed, but they are not an easy team.Charlotte beat Cleveland on Monday without Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Dennis Schröder, all three of whom are out again tonight, behind Allen’s 27 points and Naz Reid’s 25 points and 13 rebounds. Grant Williams is probable to make his season debut for the Hornets tonight.
For the Suns, the injury report is short: only Mark Williams is listed, out after left shoulder surgery. That leaves the Suns with their full backcourt and the bench that put up a season-high 81 points against the Clippers on Tuesday, led by Jordan Goodwin’s 18 points in his return.
Booker is the story to watch. He passed Erving on Tuesday and keeps climbing the all-time list, and he faces a Charlotte backcourt missing Schröder and Knueppel. The Hornets are 4-7 and ninth in the East, while the Suns are 4-6 and 11th in the West, and the Suns are 6.5-point favorites tonight.
Phoenix Suns Host Charlotte Hornets Tonight At Mortgage Matchup Center
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