Relive Onward State’s Trip To Arizona
Arizona has some amazing weather in January, folks.
Two of our photographers took to the skies last week, flying to Arizona to cover the 2024 Fiesta Bowl, which also served as Penn State’s College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchup against Boise State.
To cover the full scope of the bowl week, our photographers went out a few days before the game. The week was filled with beautiful sunsets, delicious Mexican food, and a rhino named Chutti. Let’s take a look back on our long weekend in the Valley of the Sun.
Friday
I had a pretty late flight on Friday, December 27, so after enjoying some post-Christmas chill time with my family, I headed to Newark International Airport. I had heard this was a particularly busy travel day, so I grabbed a bite to eat and a beer (thanks to former staffer Ryan Parsons) near my gate before boarding my flight.
Officially boarded and westward bound. I’ll see you folks in the desert
— Mikey DeAngelis (@mikey_deangelis) December 28, 2024pic.twitter.com/9OaOIVeihy
My flight was pretty smooth. I caught up on some 2024 movie releases I hadn’t seen yet like “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” I also spent some time doing some file management after a long season of taking thousands of football photos. The Phoenix metro area emerged out of nowhere in the dark as we prepared for landing.
I took an Uber to the media hotel, the JW Marriot Camelback Resort. This isn’t a hotel Onward State could usually afford, but thanks to a very generous media discount rate, we got to enjoy this beautiful property for a few days. I met up with Hailey, who had arrived a few hours earlier, and took in some starry patio views before hitting the hay.
Saturday
The first media event of the week was Saturday morning: the Fiesta Bowl Parade. Hailey and I got our things together and took an Uber to downtown Phoenix where the parade was being held. The parade featured a number of floats and the Boise State marching band, but unfortunately, the Blue Band hadn’t arrived yet.
Since we were in Downtown Phoenix anyway, we decided to take a stroll around. We stumbled upon the weekly farmer’s market, where we admired some local artisan products and picked up a breakfast burrito. We then headed to nearby Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., a local brewery I had heard good things about. I got a flight, and they were all delicious.
With media events wrapped up for the day, we went back to the hotel. I did some work on a few graphics for Onward State’s social media before hitting the pool to relax a bit. The temperatures all week were in the 70s with lots of sun, the perfect winter swimming weather.
After enjoying a little of Scottsdale’s vacation atmosphere, we grabbed a bite to eat at the media hospitality room and admired an absolutely stunning sunset. This wouldn’t be the last pretty sunset we’d see this week.
After the sunset had faded, we decided to go check out downtown Scottsdale. The town had an awesome Western vibe, with dozens of cool bars and restaurants. With limited time in the valley, we hopped around to a bunch of spots, but our favorites were Pattie’s and the Rusty Spur Saloon.
Sunday
Sunday’s media festivities started nice and early with Penn State’s media day, which began at 8:30 a.m. After listening to James Franklin’s introductory press conference, I went around to different players asking them different questions and taking their photos for our social media. I then hopped over to the media workroom to edit those photos and review my sound.
After editing my work from Penn State’s media day and writing a quick photo story, I headed back into the Arizona ballroom for Boise State’s media day. Most of the attention there was around Boise State’s star running back Ashton Jeanty. I talked to Jeanty for a bit about Penn State’s defense and what he was expecting from the game.
After getting that sound and talking to a few other Broncos, I headed right back to the media room and wrote a sidebar on Penn State’s defense from Boise State’s perspective. I also finalized my pre-prepared graphic for if when Penn State won the Fiesta Bowl. I accidentally worked right through lunch and headed directly to the shuttles for Penn State’s practice media availability.
Penn State was practicing at Tempe Diablo Stadium, the spring training home of the MLB’s Los Angeles Angels. James Franklin joked (or maybe didn’t joke) with the media that he made our open practice window intentionally boring he didn’t spoil anything for the game, so there wasn’t much to see.
Photos edited, articles written, job done for the day. Time to enjoy this Arizona sunshine.
— Mikey DeAngelis (@mikey_deangelis) December 29, 2024
After getting back from practice and editing a few more pictures, we enjoyed some more time at the pool. Once it got closer to sunset, I decided to take a little hike up Mummy Mountain to enjoy some views of the city with the setting Arizona sun.
As evening fell, we headed to the Fiesta Bowl’s media party. It was super nice of the bowl organizers to host all of the media at a private event at a bar called Pour Decisions in downtown Scottsdale. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out with our fellow media members and enjoying a few drinks.
Monday
Monday was another early morning for the media. I started my morning at James Franklin’s joint press conference with Boise State’s head coach Spencer Danielson. After editing pictures from that conference, I headed to the zoo.
Why was I heading to the zoo? Well, the Phoenix Zoo is home to Chutti, a one-horned rhino who picks the winner of the Fiesta Bowl every year. Well, technically the team he “picks” is the loser, according to the zookeepers. Chutti “picked” Penn State, which means his official prediction was that Penn State would lose. To be honest, I doubt Chutti’s methods because he has an awful record. Maybe the zookeepers need to re-evaluate the way they interpret Chutti’s choice.
I didn’t have a ton of free time at the zoo before my afternoon plans, but I took my time on my way out, stopping briefly at the giraffe exhibit and seeing some other safari animals. I headed back to the hotel and grabbed some delicious Mexican food at the media dining area for lunch.
After lunch Hailey and I headed to the Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe for a tour along with a few other Penn State students. Huge thanks to Mike Poorman for organizing this amazing experience for us and to Penn State alumni Zach Gershman and Kathryn Tague for showing us around. We got to see the practice field, media spaces, and sit in on the head coach’s press conference.
After enjoying another beautiful sunset, I headed back to downtown Phoenix to meet up with fellow Onward Stater and good friend of mine, Aidan Conrad. His family very graciously invited me to join them for dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant. After dinner, Aidan and I got a beer and watched the end of the Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers game.
Tuesday
Gameday. New Year’s Eve.
Anticipating my short night of sleep later this night (you’ll see what I mean in a minute), I decided to sleep in on Tuesday, especially since there weren’t any media events that I’d miss. I caught the first shuttle over to State Farm Stadium, about five hours before kickoff.
From there, I was locked in on my work. As you already know, Penn State ended up defeating Boise State 31-14, winning the Fiesta Bowl and moving on to the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl. Hailey and I shot the postgame celebrations, edited our pictures, and headed back to the hotel.
When we got back to the hotel, it was already 2025 on the East Coast. I took a quick shower and finished packing my bags before heading down to the lobby to meet up with Onward State staffer Sophie Yadzinski and her mom. We split some delicious appetizers and I got a complimentary glass of champagne from the hotel as we counted down to the new year.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
Wednesday
…Happy New Year!
It was officially 2025 in Arizona, and that only meant one thing to me: I had a flight in only a few hours. Yes, my flight was at 6 a.m., but my Uber was scheduled for 3:30 a.m. That meant I only had about three hours of sleep ahead of me. I went back to the room and tried to sleep for as long as I could.
In the blink of an eye, I was awake again. I gathered my belongings, said goodbye to the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed at, and hopped in my Uber to the airport. I got to the airport with a bit of time on my hands, so I wrote an article at about 4 a.m. (not the first time I’ve done that — thanks, THON) and then got ready to board my flight.
Editor’s Note: This dude needs some sleep.
After an easy four-hour flight, I was back on the East Coast. This isn’t goodbye quite yet, blog readers. I’ve got at least one road trip recap left to write. I’ll see you all in Miami.
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