Here's a new one. A major college basketball game called on account of rain. An Associated Press story this week explained that it happened in Phoenix, AZ of all places … in the middle of the desert.

A women's game between No. 10 Arizona State and Texas Tech was played at Chase Field, the home of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks. As it turned out, the game ended with 4:18 on the clock and ASU leading TTU 61-45.

According to the AP, the temperature was 56 at game time with partly cloudy skies. That caused fans to bundle up … Remember this is in Phoenix, and the NCAA had given the players permission to wear long sleeved shirts under their game jerseys.

The wind picked up in the second half and the rain came with The Sun Devils leading the Raiders by 20 points.

Chase Field has a retractable roof, but apparently someone failed to check the radar and it was open at game time. When the rain came and before the roof could be closed, the court already was wet and considered too dangerous to the players to continue the game.

The court had come from the U.S. Airways Center, which is home to the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. It was moved a block and put in place along the first base line.

Just under eight thousand fans were on hand in the 49 thousand seat baseball stadium.

Interestingly, this was the second women's basketball game played outdoors. The first one also had been held at Chase Field, which at the time in 2000, was known as Bank One Ballpark. That time, in the dry, Tennessee beat ASU 67-63.

In what may be another sign of some declination in the fortunes of NASCAR, a major player said this week it would be cutting back its financial participation.

Anheuser-Busch said that next season will be the last one in which it sponsors the title in NASCAR's undercard series. It's been the Busch Series for the past quarter century.

Prior to that the "junior varsity" had been called the Late Model Sportsman class. It was called Grand National for a while, when the top of the line series became Winston Cup.

In making the announcement, Anheuser-Busch said the withdrawal from the Busch Series is part of a reassessment of all of its NASCAR marketing. The sponsorship rights had been costing the beer company an estimated $10 million a year. It comes at an odd time.

According to the Associated Press, the entire Busch Series will be carried on ESPN beginning this year, instead of the earlier situation in which a fan had to hunt to find on what channel the races would be broadcast. The AP story said the arrangement with ESPN should make the sponsorship worth $30 million.

Steve Phelps is chief executive of marketing for NASCAR. He said serious work to replace Busch will start in January and be done in conjunction with ESPN.

Anheuser-Busch will continue to be "the official beer of NASCAR" and will continue as primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s No. 8.

They also will still be the major support for the program that rewards the winner of the pole at each Nextel Cup event and the Budweiser Shootout exhibition at Daytona each February.

It remains to be seen whether A-B is bailing out of the Busch Series at the wrong time. Originally conceived as a "training series" for young drivers to display their talents and have a shot at getting into "the big show," regular participation … and domination … by Nextel Cup drivers, have increased its image. AP says ESPN plans to treat both series similarly in its broadcasts.

A survey by marketing consultant Joyce Julius is said to show that A-B got more exposure from NASCAR than any other sponsor this past season. But the company's VP of global media and sports marketing said their effort has led a dilution of its message for the Bud and Busch brands.

And dilution is a word we don't like to hear used by a beer company.