As I read John Haro’s article from Wednesday about the arrogance and disrespect shown by UA when ASU was to become a university,  it reminded me of an event that took place just last week.

The UA Athletic Department led by “former” ASU Alum, Greg Byrne, kicked off their “Arizona Road Tour.” The road tour is similar to ASU’s Sun Devil Caravan, where Ray Anderson, Todd Graham, Herb Sendek and others will travel to meet with fans & boosters in outlying areas to build support.

ASU has five stops planned, starting with Downtown Phoenix on Monday. The next four locations include Southern California (this Wed. May 15, at American Junkie in Newport Beach), Yuma, Flagstaff and Scottsdale. UA’s Greg Byrne, Sean Miller, Rich Rod and others are meeting fans at four locations, the first of which they already visited on Wednesday here in the valley. The following three are in Tubac, Pinetop and Prescott.

It’s that first stop that has a story worth telling.

There is a healthy population of Wildcat alumni in the valley, and in their marketing efforts Byrne has gone as far as calling the city of Phoenix “Wildcat Country.” Obviously, he has an uphill challenge contending with ASU, it’s fans and alumni who have such a dominant presence throughout the Valley of the Sun.

Still, UA has just enough of a presence to irk the DieHard Sun Devil fan or alum. Naturally, Byrne embraces his fans in this community and knows it’s one of his best regions to build support and generate booster dollars.

We get it.

But  in what we all know is truly “Sun Devil Country,” Greg Byrne and Co. have either an underscored envy or arrogance that is on display from time to time. We’ll let you decide which one.

When Byrne and his staff looked at the best location for their “road tour” stop in the greater Phoenix metro area, they chose Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe. For fun, I took a look at Google maps and found that Four Peaks is just over a mile from the front door of Sun Devil Stadium.

Picture it. The UA Athletic Department sits down to plan out this years tour, and when they consider Phoenix (arguably their most important market outside of Tucson) they say to themselves, “Hmmm. What if we did it somewhere real close to ASU? How about Tempe?” — not Phoenix, not Paradise Valley and not Scottsdale where a large part of their base lives and works, but Tempe.

A few weeks before the event, Sun Devil fans got word of the development. And as testament to the Maroon & Gold blood in their veins, ASU alumni & fans let Four Peaks have it. Stern phone calls were made, angry emails were sent, and fans took to twitter regarding the news. 

Say what you want about Four Peaks originally booking the event. Say what you want about them backing out of a commitment just one week prior. This is not about Four Peaks. (In fact, stop buy and have a cold one as a sign of approval.)

This is about Greg Byrne, UA and the Sun Devil fans who took matters into their own hands. Once again, alumni and fans proved that they represent ASU as much as anyone in an official capacity. (Remember the fan reaction to the near hiring of June Jones after Dennis Erickson was let go?)

The guys from down south unwittingly gave Sun Devil fans another excuse to unite and fight. That’s the best part of rivalries. People come together as one city, one team, one family — and together they are a force to be wrecking with. So much of a football program’s success hinges on a passionate fan base, and it’s awesome to watch when Sun Devil fans step up and prove that they have their team’s back.

Like Coach Graham, D.J. Foster, Taylor Kelly, Paul Randolph, Mike Bercovici, Mike Norvell, Jamil Douglas, Jaelen Strong, newcomers Manny Wilkins, Conner Humphreys and Tyler Whiley, we as fans have our eyes focused on the best teams in the country. And as one unit, we will take them on.

As for Byrne and UA, it’s probably a combination of envy AND arrogance that leads to ill-advised decisions. Trying to draw their fans and boosters to the doorstep of ASU is proof. And it only emboldens fans of the Maroon & Gold in our own territory.

In 28 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours and 42 seconds as of this article, coaches, players and fans will head down to the heart of “Wildcat Country” and remind them to tread lightly moving forward. ForksUp