This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports
fourteen fifteen powered by Nova Insurance Services. Hey sure, your most prized possessions,
katz R two SAD and I Heeart Radio Station. Hey, good afternoon,
everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball. This is Fox Sports fourteen
fifty. This is not a recording. I'm Steve Rivera, He's Jaken Zalez.
Welcome to Tuesday Afternoon. Lots to get to. I need a vacation.
For my vacation. You never very kay, you know you should have
taken another day off. Is your birthday? Oh yeah, thank you very
much. I'm only a hundred, but I'm fantastic for me, it looked
good for what are you seventy five? Yeah, something like that. Should
we should receiving Social Security? What do you notice any different about me?
You got glasses? I've always had glass both class whatever. These are nothing
else. You shave, shave, You're like clean shaving. I shave.
My mom hates it. I don't like it either, So I'm gonna go
back to I shaved. I shaved just because I haven't forever. Yeah,
and I just don't like it. So I'm nine. It's gonna grow back.
In two days. I'll be turned to my shape ship. It takes
me. Well, I can't grow what you have, Okay, I can't.
I could try, and this is right. Here's like four days for
you. Oh yeah, yeah, but what I have today, you don't
have a blood for it. I shaved on Saturday morning. Yeah, yeah,
three days exactly. I'm you're your five o'clock shadow. Is my three
day shadow? Four days? Yeah, well, welcomes. Good to be
back. It's hot, man, it was cool. I've never been to
Basis was that's not cool like cool weather, you know. But the evenings
are still nice though. We're here. Oh yeah here, yeah, I
know the evenings here was their day. It was unbelievable, how cool it
was. Yeah, but blood to be back. He was in got back
in yesterdays in the nineties and ticking holding Molly. It's gonna just around the
corner. But it's supposed to be nice, windy tomorrow, yeah, windy
tomorrow. Yeah, no, it's it's been nice. I gotta get out
to cut the grass. Yeah, speaking of you, I don't know if
you saw uh um Jim Harbaw's comments about that oh um at forty Sports Illustrated,
he's been on our show, did did? We're just doing a piece
on him, just a summertime piece on him, and asked Harbot, if
he had not been a college football player and then a coach, what does
he think he would have done? And he called himself. He said,
I would have been a lawnsman. I would have I would have gone into
landscaping because I love cutting grass. Yeah, so you know, he cuts
his own grass and wherever whatever plantation he's got. Or wasn't that the kid
from Who's Who's the Doctor McDreamy? Ye? Wasn't he the dude that cut
grass and two songs? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, at that over at
the hill farm, the place over there. Yeah. But he in fact
mentioned that he does because as he's gotten older, he actually does have a
riding lawnmarker. Yeah. Okay, that's difficult work, right, Yeah exactly.
I said, I cut grass, but you know, my my grass
is like you know, you know, sixty feet by thirty feet use more
yeah, more like older. I have a gas more thold school. When
when you know, when I when I first got that, I was a
two t ePIE, so I had an electric more, but that was a
pain in the butt because I had to be plugged in. It didn't have
the battery, it had to be plugged in. That I hated that.
So I turned that in for a gas more and now that that's got some
issues now, so I got to get a new more. I don't know
what I'm gonna get, but well it's it. You know. It takes
me literally eight minutes cut my grass. Oh the tough work. Yeah,
tough work. You're gonna do it in the morning or late at night?
Yeah, no, I do it. I generally do it in the mornings,
especially in the summertime. But you know, my grass is growing in
again pretty minutes. Yeah, well, you know, and not you know,
the other day I had we had our grandson over and somebody was doing
taking a tree down. So it was that you know that uh chipper that
they were throwing branches. It was so loud, hours and hours. I
hated that. So anyway, yeah, okay, but we welcome back Steve
with the boys, your kids, your kids and your kids, the interns.
Yeah that, you know, we had to. I thought we had
a good show yesterday. We got Kenzie Fower in here. We talked about
talked about the softball tournament at the sptball team. We did, uh,
not much, you know, just it's it's tough, you know, right,
you know, she thinks she her take was that they're just very young.
She was, you know, I went to a game the other day
and she said, the entire outfield was freshman. The short stop was a
freshman, the first baseman was a freshman, the pitcher was a freshman.
Said, they're they're just very young, and you know, they don't get
key hits, they don't have the pitching that they need. But she said
she had high hopes for them for the future. Obviously, you know,
not for this week, but certainly for the future. You know, well,
they got that they got stuck in that playing game tomorrow night. They've
got a su at six o'clock tomorrow winner that has to go play UCLA on
Thursday. Yeah, well not well, you put yourself in a situation now
here you are. Yeah, okay, and baseball, we're gonna have Brian
Peterson here in the first hour. Yes, right, we're gonna talk all
about that because as always driving back, luck to think about it to the
car for six hours. Just how we've at least I have bally hoo the
UA spring sports because they've been fantastic at least last year they were this year
not so much. Outside of the tennis team which is dual team has done
well. Women's golf still doing well, still doing well, sot hanging in
at the regional. I'm sure the track team is kind of baby, doing
some some good things with individuals, right, but the baseball and the suffer
two spring sports are not going well. What's up with Brian about that?
He always has a nice opinion about that, and then the second hour you
try to get him on. We'll get him in today. Corey Williams his
twentieth year or whatever year it is with his summer league tabs. Yeah,
yeah, we'll talk to him. We haven't talked to him since the basketball
season ended. Just how goofy of a year it was? Yeah, you
don't see because he was a lot of the games, right, he could
have analyze all the games because he was at the games and say what a
crazy tournament, what a crazy season it was? Yeah? And then how
much because they see ninety four ninety six, Fini ninety six. He went
through first round loss in ninety five first round loss in ninety three, so
he's been to two first four or you know after great seasons ninety three,
D one seventeen and one yea great ye seventeen one last two set of Clary
in the first round, does that whole body of work go to the crapper?
Yeah? After after that, yeah, I mean, can you think
about that team and people don't even talk about that team as being one of
the best teams. And it was, and it was unfortunately the way it
ended it wasn't so much. So we'll talk to him about that and maybe
just talk about a lot of different things, a lot of things going on
in the news. Um, you probably have a lot of bricky news.
Yeah, I'm piling it up right now. There's a you know, the
death, high profile, high profile death. We've got a big game boomer
thing to talk about. Okay, Okay, baseball? Uh no, saw
baseball? What did you talk about baseball? No baseball programs in the last
last in the twenty first century. No, this is this is something else.
A couple of a couple of u former UFA players got waved from their
teams. Okay, Um, women's golf, I mentioned um you know,
we have to circle back on a case that a criminal well knows the lawsuit
actually, but since we've reported it when it happened, we got to follow
up, follow up on let's come out of that. So it doesn't involve
an Arizona guy, um, but just something that we talked about way back
when it happened. Still still a lot of things from the Huggins a situation,
A lot of news still coming following from that. I was surprised what
happened. And I'm just talking about because I didn't have a chance to talk
about it. I saw Twitter and Facebook. You don't talk. Maybe Curl
come back or she that ain't happened. You know, he got in a
N I L deal and he's staying there. Yeah, but you you had
talked about something when he first moved and and you you're weren't alone. How
how is it going to be to play for Bobby Huggins? Right? Because
we know him as this old we've known we've been at this business a long
time. We knew thirty years ago and not knew him, but we knew
how we operated. Right. We saw him at Cincinnati, We've seen him
at at at West Virginia. You've been up close personal working from ancuble a
tournaments where he's a been. Yeah, so we kind of kind of saw
that. But in my mind, I thought he's going to be fine.
Kerr would be because he's kind of changed his ways in terms of he's got
older, softer, and by all reports that was the case, except and
how he speaks, and he got himself in trouble yesterday. Still he's still
a gruff old guy that let me maybe hasn't. This is a dumb question
that I'm not even sure I should ask it. But I am you're Hispanic
last I checked. I'm Hispanic last I checked. And I don't want to
go into politics, but I'm sure you have a lot of few friends there
a lot of friends. You think you have some friends that are a lot
of racist. Oh, I have family that's racist, perfect and I'm not
saying immediate family. But but but you know and you know that they are.
Do they know that you know that they are? I don't know.
Wow, See, because I know I do. I know I do,
and I have good friends. They're saying they know that I know they are?
Yeah, Um, probably okay, and they know that they're right I
mean, here's your situation, right, they'll talk about they Jay, I
love love seeing you, Jay, love seeing you, but go home and
see jays up. I know a lot of racist people, and I have
some racist friends set up. I would call them friends, I say,
people that I'm acquainted with, because I tend to you know, I tend
to stay away from people who I know where that Well, my point where
I was going was so they don't tell you into your face, but but
you find out, you know, you find out. They go back to
the room and the house or whatever, and they say stuff that was probably
a conversation that should not have been on the radio, but likely could have
been somewhere else, drinking somewhere. Well, if Bob Huggins said this thing
on the radio, all right, how many times does he say it when
he's not on the radio or right? I know, I mean, I
know people and you know, and you know, and they don't even have
to say those words to me, but they say things that you know,
you know, are you know, they're they're you know, they're racist,
they're they're And when I said and when I'm talking about sort of a blatantly
racist person, it's somebody who I think doesn't like a certain kind of person,
period of period, period of the color of their skin, they're you
know, just something about who they are. Ye, So you know,
on the radio or off the radio is just what it is. It even
if I didn't hear it. I didn't hear it. I'm not sure if
it's purposely or whatever. I read it, and maybe the context is different.
You heard it and you said maybe there was a tinge of joking laughter.
Well, they were kind of laughing about they were laughing about something that
happened at a Cincinnati Savior game. And I know that that he that rivalry
is right. And then he said something about those those Catholic You heard,
right, So what was the context? How did the context feel like he
was joking? Yeah? It did, it did, But you still can't
no no, no, no, no, no no no. I'm not
saying that, but but there's some context behind this this and I'm not saying
it's okay because it's not okay. But things don't translate into paper. You
know, I could say jerk, ja'son jerk, and then it'll be written
Ja's a jerk haha in the paper. And you're thinking, what what does
he say that for the immediate thing that I thought was, first of all,
why didn't those guys hit the dump? Well? Right, right,
but I'm understanding the host kind of laugh. They laughed along with it,
yeah, which which I think I think they are as culpable in this as
Bob Well, because neither one of them said, none of them said,
hey, Bob, you know you really can't say that. Well, let
me, I'll give to a smaller point to this. And I'm not even
sure why I'm talking about this. Trump goes on a bus, the celebrity
bus, what's his name, the kid whatever, the guy the news reporter.
Yeah, Trump says that who gets fired? That dum that guy.
So it's, you know, that's kind of how we have to watch our
words to. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. But uh, it's
it's it's a cruel, cruel world, though it is. It is,
And uh, you know, I mean we're we're we're dancing around this kind
of thing too, because I you know, I don't know, I I've
thought about it, not enough that it's been you know, on the in
my brain, you know, since yesterday. But you know, I think
I'm kind of where Dan Wilkin is the USA Today writer. You know,
he's been on our show, who said, if you say that and you're
a CEO of a company or a high love person coming, you're fired.
You're as simple as that, You're fired. You can't say that. You
can't say that anymore because there's some people saying, well, it's Bob Huggins
and he didn't really mean it, and he's apologized, and you know,
he's been around a long time. He's been a good guy. He's a
Hall of Fame guy. You know, he's apologized. Cut him some slack,
but Dan Wilkins right, no matter who you are, you know.
And then some guy called him out on that said he said he shouldn't be
fired. You know, people say things like that all the time and they
and they shouldn't be fired. And Dan Walkin said, Okay, walk into
your where you work tomorrow, go up to somebody and say to them what
Dan h Bob Huggins said, and see how it works out for you.
Or you're either gonna get them punched, you're gonna get fired, or you're
gonna you're gonna be in the HR office and you're gonna get fired. As
simple as that and says, say, why should it be any different from
Bob Huggins as anybody else? Yeah, yeah, and I kind of agree
with that. I don't know, Well, the verdict from West Virginia will
take a while, probably, Well, if West Virginia does that, if
they get they say we gotta get rid of him, He's gonna take a
while to figure out something. They're gonnaigure out some sort of financial settled.
Sure, they're not just gonna fire him for cause he's not give him seventy
something seventy ish. I think he's seventy is um uh, And then you
can't blame age. He's a smart dude, funny dude. Uh, well
the thing, Yeah, so he's still young, dude, he's he said
it twice. Yeah, that's a bit. And he also, you know,
he also insulted the Catholics, So he went after a religion and you
know, and and and uh and uh, you know, and somebody's gender
whatever you want to call it. You know what the right word is for
that. Um, you know, he went after two things. You can't
do that. Yeah, and so whether in jest or otherwise, can't.
And I get it. He's you know, he's been around for one hundred
years coaching, and he's got a pretty much a Hall of Fame career and
all those kinds of things. But you know, every there's a line for
everybody. I don't care who it is. Well, it got blurred,
you know, over the last let's say that four year period, right,
it got blurred. But the line still exists. If we're gonna if we're
gonna continue to exist as a as a wealth, as a rational society,
we'll see what happens. Really got to go. That was a quick fifteen
minutes. Okay. Brian Peterson on the other side, Jay, Yeah,
Brian Peterson will talk a whole bunch of stuff, all the basketball recruiting stuff,
everything else. Yeah, that's good. So let's let's get to We'll
give me here with Brian Peterson will back. For more than twenty years,
the Window Depot has provided the best price and the biggest inventory on in stock
vial windows, and now the Window Depot is more than a window store,
offering homeowners and contractors a one stop warehouse offering interior and exterior doors, granted
in quarts, countertops, in stock, caminatry, and skylights to finish your
project. Their team of professionals will help with everything from pre kitchen design to
custom orders from leading manufacturers like mill Guard and Gelwyn. Order online or find
a location near you at a window deepot dot com. Where do you buy
exercise equipment? Arizona Health Arizona Health Arizona Health. Of course, to feel
better and look better, it makes sense to buy your fitness equipment from the
people who know it better than anyone else. At Arizona Health, our goal
is to help you choose the equipment you need to reach your goals. Your
health and fitness deserve the best you deserve. Arizona Health the leading edge an
exercise reports on twenty seconds just west of Wilmot. If you think now is
not a good time to buy a refinance at home, think again. Interest
rates are at all time lows on most loan programs, and Paul Volpi of
Nova Home Loans is ready to help you find the option that best fits your
needs. If you're looking for your dream home or want to get cash out
to refinance on a current home, visit Volpetem dot com. That's Volpe Team
dot com. I'll call five six two six Today. It's a new year
and time to give a Creative Award to your student athletes winter and Spring awards
seasons, as well as for grade school, middle school and high school athletes.
Scholastic awards for those academic students just in time to recognize all their achievements.
Visit Creative Awards online at Creative Awards az dot com or visit their Idea
studio at two twenty eight West Drachmann Street in Tucson. It's also time to
get your creative promotional products for the upcoming conventions, giveaways to promot your company
and get your employees new apparel to look sharp representing you and your company.
Come see Creative Awards to twenty eight West Drachman Street or online at Creative Awards
AZ dot com. Neck pain, back pain, car accident, headaches,
sports injury or Nelli's Chiropractic's goal is to help our patients achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Combining chiropractic care with physical medicine modalities, therapeutic procedures and massage therapy not
only reduced pain, but helps the body heal itself as well as provide other
health benefits. Or Nelli's Chiropractic. We use a natural approach to improve an
individual's health and wellbeing don't suffer any longer. Call or Nelli's Chiropractic Today.
The holidays are fast approaching after a difficult year Worshore. Everyone could use a
little financial help. Pyramid Federal Credit Union is bringing back to Holiday Help or
Loan, a low interest, short term loan that can help get you through
the holidays. In support of our community, Pyramid is making out donations to
the Community Brood Bank of Southern Arizona from each a loan. For more information
apply online visit Pyramid SEU dot com slash Holiday Helper. All those are on
approved credit. Other restrictions may apply. Pyramid Federal Credit Union Insured NCUA.
Did you know sports cards that memorabilia are setting records sales last month of nineteen
fifty two, Tops Mickey Mantle sold for twelve point six million, Lebron James
Rookie sold for five points six Also, collecting cards is a family fund hobby
that can be very profitable. If you want to start a collection or expand
your collection, check out Showtime Cards. They are one of the leading card
shops in the country and have served our local community for twenty five years.
They are located on e Speedway. That's showtime cards by mining so important.
It's the foundation of everything, that defines a society. Everything you've seen is
a product of mine. Don't matter when, don't matter, how, don't
matter why. Every society on this planet has developed roan and latodies based on
the inner rules it could process. That's, my friend, is why mine
is so important. Brought to you by the Southern Arizona Business Coalition Steve Rivera
and Jaken Salez. They have their eye on the ball on two sid sports.
They yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live. I mean I heart radio
app. Hey, welcome back to win the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen
fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jaken's house. Now on the phone,
we have Brian Peterson from Aigy Desert Swarm dot Com. Brian, how are
you? I'm great? Thanks for having me sure sure, good to be
with you. Hey, um, just wanted to touch base with you.
I know you're busy. The spring sports this year have not been as nice
as they as they have been to us in the past, or at least
recent past. How are you guys handling it on your side with baseball not
doing so well, softball not doing so well in the key sports. Yeah,
I mean this is setting up to be um results in terms of going
to the postseason. All that the worst season in almost forty years. When
you look at those two school programs combined, Softball, unless it is really
loved by the committee or somehow manages to go deep and or win, the
PAC twelve tournament is going to miss for the first time since nineteen eighty six.
Baseball same kind of deal, though not nearly as far The last time
MS is twenty nineteen. But if you put the two together, this would
be the first time since nineteen eighty four that neither baseball or softball has made
the NCUBAA Tournament. Well, these things happen, I mean it's other programs,
other schools has happened more frequently. But when you have a program like
softball that essentially has been a nc double A tournament staple, and for the
longest time they were a guarantee to make the World Series every year, to
see them miss is just unfathomable. And I wouldn't say it's completely unexpected considering
the roster that was that it was in place for this year and the turnover
from Mike Andret Caitlin Lowe. It certainly brings up a lot of questions about
whether or not she's the right choice for it, But I also think it's
it's pretty early on that respect. And the same goes for chif Hale.
With the way baseball rosters and recruiting and everything are going, he's still mostly
using the previous coaches players with some of his own. And you know,
some of the veterans, particular on the pitching side, have not been as
good as hoped, so there is some regression here. But I think it
both cases, it's way too early to pst justman on these coaches. M
We had Kenzie Foller on talking about the pack Off tournament and you know,
we got around to asking about Yove. She mentioned their youth, and uh,
you know, I mean that Arizona has always had young players, you
know, throughout you know, I mean, yes, they keep players around
and that kind of thing. But you know, there've been periods of time
where they've had young players and they've always managed to get through this. So
what's missing? Do you think any ideas what it looks like it's missing.
We know pitching has been tough, but there's got to be something missing.
Sure, yeah, they're definitely missing that that great picture, that number one,
that ace, and it's been a few years since they've had that,
No, they've Arizona has always had a lot of youth on the team because
they've recruited well and they bring in some top name freshman. The differences this
team doesn't have the same kind of veteran group that last cantre A team had
all those super seniors who were able to stick around with the extra COVID year
and made the World Series. And then last year had a couple veterans but
still very young and got very hot right there at the end to make it
to the World Series. But you know, during the offseason, they lost
two of their best players in to the transfer portal who ended up at UCLA,
and we're not able to replace them with anything close to that. In
fact, something to be said to the you know, inability to grab much
from the portal is a big concern. But that's also something that everyone is
still figuring out when it comes to that, and I think that that may
be harder for newer coaches um to be able to figure out, like someone
without a lot of coaching experience and all that. But I think this next
recruiting class is supposed to be good. It's it's just a matter of being
able to blend the use with the veteran leadership. So, Brian, do
you think and this is maybe overthinking it from my end, but the two
key people that left here to go to UCLA UM probably had some NIL stuff.
I get that, But do you think that may have seen them writing
on the wall how they stayed UM? Maybe? I mean there's when you
have any sort of coaching change, you're going to have some and when in
a case like this where somebody from the staff that's taking over, you may
find out who really liked those assistants and the person who becomes a head coach
and who didn't. And you know that that's always an opportunity for a change,
that that's a possibility. But I think it was probably more on a
combination of the money side, the nil side, and the fact that when
you have an opportunity to play or UCLA, that's probably something that's hard to
pass up. Now, I mean that does show that there has become a
big gap between UCA and Arizona, because it used to be that those were
the two schools that essentially got first pick of every player. Now now that
the Trance reportal exists, there's there's other factors that come into it. But
I don't know if it's so much a matter of that, because you know,
if wouldn't you want to be part of something to try to build or
try to maintain rather than just you know, jump into the status quo as
it would be at UCLA. Yeah wow, it depends on how much money
they're waving at me. Yeah, yeah, I mean really a lot of
that goes into it, sir. I mean you're what you're you know,
you're watching a program like Oklahoma. You know that's lost one game all year
long. They've want to like forty two in a row or something like that.
I mean, you know what what's going on over there that makes them
different from everybody else. It's not just recruiting. You know, they're they're
you know, they're they have a believe you know, their fans have a
belief in their program, and they're getting the best players like because they can.
And you know, yes, it's why Arizona lost a couple of players
to USC football and that that was the case for Arizona for the longest time.
But you know, with Kendrea retiring, and even though it's one of
his former players and a decorated one in Caitlin Lowe, there is that uncertainty
and recruiting. It's just as much about negative recruiting as it is about positive
recruiting. And I'm sure that they're you know, people are saying, well,
you know Caitlin Night. You know, she she's one of Kendrea's players,
but that doesn't necessarily mean she can do what he did. So and
that's how it works. Yeah, let me ask you, how has the
m the season for both both teams affected the visitors to the site or maybe
the visceral two of the site. What do you mean by that? Maybe
the poor the people who we always have the NASA is saying whatever they say.
I see it on Facebook and just you know, pissed off about what's
going on. I'm sure you get that too, Oh sure, sure,
yeah, I mean, I mean we get that in all the sports.
It's the experts are always around when things are not going well. We saw
that a lot with Tommy Lloyd. The number of people this spring who believe
that he can't recruit and coming up with what he should be doing and all
that. When I mean it's it's clearly just people getting frustrate because they don't
see any activity. And then right after that they get a transfer from Alabama.
So yeah, I mean my mentions and the sites mentions are constantly on
the baseball side filled with they should not have hired Chapel blah blah blah and
going all about that, and it's way too early to make those kind of
decisions. Baseball is so weird that, I mean, you have kids that
have committed as high school freshmen for baseball. They can't actually beat in person
contacted by a coach until their junior year, but through intermediaries and all that,
they commit super early, so a staff, a new staff comes in
and they essentially have to grab what's available those first two years. The class
that is that signed in November for next year and the class that signs this
November for twenty five are the first ones that you can really start to be
like, Okay, they had a chance to analyze and see what kind of
players are out there. And the incoming class for Arizona that signed in November
has a kid, a pitcher, named Blake Walters, who may be a
first or second round pick, which is also part of the baseball vernacular in
that you can recruit really well, but that may that you picked up guys
that the pros want and then they're going to offer them a large amount of
money when they're drafted a high school and it's hard to get them to hold
off. So do you want someone to be a really good recruiter who loses
all those players or do you want somebody who brings them guys that the pros
don't want yet? Yeah, So when you when you've seen chip Hale,
what you know, what how's your approaches? You know there was that well
back where people were upset because he wasn't fiery enough, and then you know,
you get two fiery and people think you're too fiery and you're losing your
you know, you're losing your mind. I mean, how's he appeared to
be handling? You know, what's going on with this team this year?
Well, it's kind of ironic just right after that series where you're referring to
getting swept at Asu, right, and he didn't seem like he was tarrying
into players and all that. The next game at home against Grand Canyon.
He got ejected in the middle of the game and lost his mind more or
less just in a consit the situation and stayed out on the field for a
while, and they resulted in the two game suspension, and his absence may
have contribute it to at least one of those losses, because it was a
game they led to nothing and then lost thirteen eleven. His ability to make
certain moves might have changed stuff. So you know, sometimes you got to
be careful what you ask for. And that I mean anybody who has ever
met Chip Hall and has ever been around him to think he doesn't care about
this program is completely foolish, And I mean not everybody has to be a
guy that that screams at you and attacks you and all that. Like someone
like I'll go back to Tommy Lloyd. He is like that privately, but
he is not a public tear down his players, right. He is great
constructive criticism in front of them to them, but he's not going to throw
them under the bus publicly or do it in sight of other people, because
that's that's just not the message he wants to say. I just think that's
it's shortsighted. I no, I agree with you. Well, you know,
sports fans are a bunch of psychologists my heart. Hey, so unless
you talked about it, you brought it up the all recruiting. What do
you get from that so far? I mean, there haven't been much,
but I'm certain that there is stuff coming down the pipeline. I wouldn't be
surprised to see a couple of international players come around here shortly. These could
be guys that are in the going to the draft process that once they've withdrawn
from that, decide to commit to Arizona. I mean Arizona is looking at
their very interested in the transfer from San Diego State, who's going through the
draft process, so he has till the end of the month to withdraw.
I don't have any concern that when the summer is over and it's time for
the team to get together that they're not going to have a good ten eleven
players that are going to be strongly contributing to that. But the key is
is that it's the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth guys this year
need to be more involved. And if that's going to be a combination of
the returning young guys or of his teaching in and Andry Visaar, Dylan Anderson,
those guys, but also who they add so that you have a blend,
so that it isn't a situation where you're so reliant on seven players that
if one of them is struggling or something that you don't really have anybody to
go to. Well that and that was you know, that was such an
issue last year, and you know it did. I still think it's people
who feel that that kind of piled up on them at the end and that
they're you know, maybe you out of gas when they got beat by Princeton,
But you know, you're right, I mean you got I think you
got to go eight deep and maybe ninth. You know, a ninth that
you need once in a while if you have foul trouble or something like that.
And he's got what eight guys right now? Uh so yeah, eight
or nine? I mean, Tella Larson's gonna come back. I don't see
how he would leave. Um, there's a tiny, tiny chance that the
Julist would come back, but I don't expect that to be so I think
with Tella, you have eight or not. I think you might have nine.
But you, then he's not gonna He probably won't use all thirteen scholarships.
I mean, there's no point in using them just to use them,
especially in this day and age with how guys transfer so much. So I
expect one or two international players and at least one more trans And finally we
have like two minutes. I don't know if you want to talk about this.
I was here Thursday from a last day the news had just broke about
Dolora. Any thoughts on him and his situation, Well, I mean from
everything I've looked at, with the court documents and everything and all that,
there's still a lot of uncertainty in my opinion, in that the allegations against
him and the player from Wisconsin only exists via the civil complaints, including mentions
of charges and a guilty plea and a lack of a sentence and apology letters
and all this kind of stuff, and that it was in juvenile and that
it was sealed and all that that we have to kind of take as gospel
from a document that is meant to be incendiary when you are filing a civil
complaint. I'm not saying that any that it's untrue. It's just it hasn't
insubstantiated. So there's there's just so much that the public doesn't know beyond insinuations.
And I would have to hope that when Arizona learned about this last year,
they try to get as much information as they could, like from the
families, which I'm sure that the lawyer's family, if there is more out
there in terms of documents, that they have access to it, and that
they used all that to make their decision. If they were if they decided
back then that they're going to keep them, they had I think they had
to keep them now because you don't get rid of somebody just because everyone else
found out about what you knew about a year. That just looks like like,
oh, we we were hoping nobody would find out, and now that
you have, we have to let you go. That that actually makes,
in my opinion, the school look worse. I've heard a lot of I've
heard a lot of people say that that, you know, if they were
going to do something, they should have done it what they knew about it
when they found out about it, And yet you really care whatever they just
whatever information they had to make that decision, then you can criticize that all
you want, But I don't think that you can do that now because nothing
new has come up other than a document saying that they have gone to mediation
and that there's been a settlement reached hasn't been approved by the court, but
that there's some sort of a settlement reach. Some people can insinuate that and
infur that that means further admission of guilt or whatnot. But again that is
assumptions and all of that. Yeah, okay, Brian, as usual,
thank you very much. Yep, thanks for having me. Guy appreciated.
Peterson from Go Easy does at Hazy Desserts as he does from dot com gold
and find out everything you want about Arizona. They have everything. I mean,
it's a man got a good question about you know, how is that?
What? How bad things are in the in the spring sports? How's
that affecting? You know? Their business people like to come and read about
the goods. Sure right, sure, and then when when when it goes
bad, no, man, they come out of the wood. I'm an
example of that. When Arizona win some basketball and my stories get lunked lots
of likes. When they lose, I get like two or three, get
two or three, and that's when I'm at my best because I'm more critical.
You know what I'm saying. You know, you know, I know
exactly what you're saying. You're a bigger butt than you are when they win.
Kind of, but you know, like that, is that what you
meant? Kind of? All right, let's say, let's take our break
and we'll be back and we'll take your calls five to zero, four ward,
six, seventy four or forty. Anything I want to talk about,
we'll talk about. We'll grab back. If you're an Arizona Man's basketball fan,
you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look
back at the lud Olson era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot.
It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players,
coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who
led them, competed against them, and inspired them twenty five chapters for his
twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Loot is an insight to
how he built the program into a national powerhouse. What one email me at
Steve dot Rivera ninety five at gmail dot com. Hey, waldcat Nation.
Jake Fisher here, I got to tell you about my winning team over at
Arizona Health Insider. I was able to get a custom private health insurance plan
with no deductibles, no code, pays nationwide coverage, and I get to
pick my own doctor for less than two hundred dollars a month. If you
want to avoid getting gouged on the exchange and you want real health insurance,
call Arizona Health Insiders five two zero eight five zero six eight six six five
two zero eight five zero six eight six six fairdown. What's your goal a
new career or career advancement? How about transferring to a four year college.
Pima Community College can help you make Someday today and reach your goals affordably on
your schedule. With over one hundred programs to choose from and financially aid available,
it's time to earn the degree or certificate you need to prepare for the
career you want. Pima offers free career exploration classes so you can choose the
field that's right for you. Learn how at Pima dot edu. Slash Someday
is your old ac system struggling to keep your home comfortable during the summer.
I'm wrong from picture rocks, cooling, heating and plumbing. Do you dread
hearing that AC come on because of high electricity bills? Replace it now with
a new high efficiency system before the long hot summer. With rebates, text
credits and energy savings. It just makes sense. Call five to zero,
four four zero or zero six nine. Need more affordable auto and home insurance
while making sure your family has the courage it needs when mayhem happens. They've
got you covered at the Edmund Marcus All State Agency. Go see Edmund Marcus.
He's born and raised in Tucson and a proud graduate of the University of
Arizona. He's been an All State agent for twenty five years and has an
award winning agency which takes care of his clients. HOLMN today at five two
zero three two three nine three three three for annal and home quote and let
him save you money and make sure you have the courage you need. You're
in good hands with the Edmund Marcus All State Agency. Do you want to
be part of a winning team? A team? Security is looking for friendly,
outgoing event security guards and events staff to be a part of our team.
We've been providing our outstanding services to some of Arizona's biggest sporting events and
concerts for over twenty years. We want you to join the Action. A
Team offers a fun and exciting opportunity to work in the sports and entertainment industry,
with flexible schedules that are perfect for those looking for a part time job
or a second income. Come be a part of a winning team. The
A Team apply online today at a team security dot net. Stringy Live,
I mean, I heart rate. This is I on the Wall with Steve
Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports sporteen fifty. Hey, welcome back to
win the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, He's Jay.
We have about fifteen minutes left. If you guys want to give us
a call, please do five two O four one six seventy four forty.
Good to be back in the seat. Um. The Golden State disappointed me
yesterday. They disappointed me. The disappointed themselves. They had that game one
and then lost, Yes they did. They butchered it a little bit.
Yeah, it was a bad performance. Stuff worth quarter. Have you've been
getting beat up on the No? No, because as I won my trifect
my three teamer last week, so that was fine. And then I just
said, okay, you know the Warriors can't lose yesterday, couldn't They can't
lose Monday. Well, I got beat up in the Kentucky Derby, so
I haven't done any gambling. What did you go with the Japanese horse?
Yeah, yeah, so did I, but I included it with their course
except for the dawn, the one that finish we had. Well, we
end up with five horses as well. You didn't when you didn't put the
eight, didn't put the so I called I think you get because I texted
Richard they when Forte was When the Forte was scratched, fourte was one of
my favorites, right, I would have picked him. So he got scratched.
I needed another horse, and I says, what do you see that
would fit in? And he said that one, He said the eight,
he said may. I said, okay, then I'll put him in.
And you didn't text me with that information. You're on you're boy. So
I put him in, but I didn't And then I talked to d early
in the morning, said what did she ask me? Who do you like?
I said, well, I'm gonna bet the Japanese horse now the forties
gun. And she says, why, I like a pete whatever his name
is? The three? The three? Uh yeah, the three? And
I said, oh, okay, cool, whatever it was, and I
fin a second had idn't put it in And I didn't put it in because
I didn't remember. I just didn't remember. So we had a conversation either
last or today, and she said, she said, my horses. Oh,
that's that's right. Why did I well? About as we said,
about about ten seconds into the race, we knew we were done because you
didn't get out of the gate. Yeah, nobody got out of the gate.
The only horse of our five that we had was was six, who
came at third. Yeah, so I had that horse, and then then
heap in his fifth, I think of the Japanese horse fifth. So I
had it. I was all around it, and I had everything except that
damn three. And here's the worst part about it. See if I didn't
even get to see it on my big screen. So you were alone.
I had to I had to go to the Sugar Skulls game. I got
there early so that I wouldn't be walking in as the race was going on.
I race in there, put on my iPad, watched the race,
and it was like it was terrible. Yeah, I never had a shot.
Yeah, I know. It was not I was. It was not
traumatic. It was not to it was. So I was watching Vegas and
I was like, oh, okay, looky, I hit the race before
that. But it was just not the script. It was fun. It
was fun. Though it was fun. I still had fun and actually was
I was doing you know, races all day, you know that you do.
The card was not very good because Richard if that means Richard didn't do
right, he didn't he did not do race before. Well, okay,
so we yeah, we hit the race. Here here's what I ended,
just like it always happens. So it was just one race that you know,
he had been missing Missy, missmiss and so we had these He saw
his horse, I said, no, the guys on NBC picked a different
horse. So we went with that horse and Riches, one Richard horses,
came in and we would hit it for on a sixth dollar bed, would
he hit like forty bucks? And yeah, it would be it would have
been nice odds. And then we went back and took his horses and hit
eleven bucks on the six dollar bed and that was it. So I missed
all but that one race. It was bad. In fact, what reminds
me I got to collect from the guys that I was that we were all
betting to get on this. I gotta get my money back. It's funny.
It was funny. I'm sure they had a good time at Orto Park,
Rito Parito Park. It was funny, you know, and I still
love it. I mean, look, I don't bet so much that I
get to the end of the day and feel bad about what I've lost.
You know, I lost you know, maybe forty or the day or something.
Not a big deal. No, no, no, And if he
would have come in eight it was t was eight to one sex to one
year paying I don't know, sixteen dollars. That's a one hundred and sixty
bucks. Yeah, I would have been happy. Yeah anyway, Okay,
but yeah, no, it's a fun day. It's a it was a
fun day. It really is. It really is. You know, we
gotta get bad for it in there because we just always better. Well,
he's got he'll be back for the piblical because he was suspended in at the
so he gets the race that if he if he gets his horses back yet,
he'll help us, all right, you know. And and that's what
and that a thing. You know, we were betting on pleasure right right,
and he had just won the previous previous race. I think that's how
I hit it with him. And he's had a great year. I mean,
he's had a fantastic year. Yeah, we're gonna get him on eventually.
I have the connection who you you know, Halligan Halligan. I saw
him in um in Vegas and he said he'd get come on, we just
got the funere did you go watch them? M I posted something out mgm
Okay, that's right, you're right. You can see that right the mgm
uh because close by, close by and family had a lot of time with
their dinner. We'll kind of watch the races a birthday weekend soon. They
came from all around, you know. I try to make it a national
holiday. They said, No, I mean their family holiday. No,
it's nice that they come and see. Yes, they still love me.
I'm still I love you. I'm still painting the ast to them. But
they love me. Well, you're paying asked me too, But I love
you too. Am I not consistent? You are, George, there's no
doubt, no doubt. Gotta call we gotta call it, okay before we
lose them all. You're on the air and I on the ball. How's
it going today? What's up, Brian? Wow? Just Uh? I
was at the baseball I was at the baseball games over the weekend. Uh.
A little disappointing, but you know, just the way it is.
We don't have any pitching, and uh that's basically our problem with our game.
So you know they're Brian, you know they're they're not any good,
right. I don't know if that's too strong, that's too strong, But
do you know they're not any good? And you still go? Well?
An good? So but you still go? Great, but you still going
okay wait, wait, so you can but you still go because you enjoy
the game or you still want to support the game. Okay, okay,
yeah, I grown a back almost every baseball game. Wow. Okay,
So so what do you mean said? I want to say? Though?
I did finish your book, yes, and I did enjoy it very much,
thank you. One thing I would I did. I did like the
McClellin article chapter who which one mccle Oh, yes, yes, yes,
yes, everybody has a favorite chapter. And that was the first year,
the first to say about his because of the closeness they have. Well,
and people are in to realize, you know, and you know, I
forgot that his dad had passed. Yes, and at that time, uh,
Lute was willing to just say, hey, I'll give you your transfer,
no problems. I understand family, you know, and that comes first,
and uh, you know, and a lot of coaches, you know,
probably would have given him a release right away. But to go through
what Lute would have done, a petition to NCAA to have him play immediately.
Not many coaches would have done that, right right. Well, then
Juan said, you know, his dad would have not have wanted him to
leave. He would have want him to stick it out. So he stayed,
right. It was, It was, it was. And also one
other thing, I would have liked this scene you do, you know,
because you had on the last uh you had Todd Walsh is the last one.
Yeah, and that was that was very good. I would have liked
the scene you do the last chapter. Oh yeah, no, no one
needs to hear my story. Already heard my story. I mean Okay,
you were You were a writer on the basketball for over seventeen years. Yeah,
yeah, if you, if you, and I'm sure you had some
great stories. No, I did, in fact, in fact great memories.
So Brian I in fact, I've written a number of columns about him.
But when he passed, I wrote, I reprinted the one I did
when he retired, and then I did my own column when he passed.
So if you didn't see that, it's kind of like the same chapter.
I asked the publisher that I can do that. He says no, because
my introduction there was a lot like that where where I took you here,
you've heard this a thousand times. Where one day in nineteen nineteen ninety,
I think I was running my first book, and I said, do you
have time? Do you have time to go walk with me? Or do
you have time for me? I need to do another book. He says,
yeah, but you need to go walk with me. And I said,
okay, sure, I think he took me on this five mile crazy
walk with him about where he lives. He kicked the crap out of me.
The next day, I could not get out of bed. I could
not get out of bed, and he's thirty years old. Well that was
kind of funny, guys. Basically when Whiteman also said about going on those
walks, yes, yes, yes, crazy, crazy time for people who
want to get him a different kind of insight into Luke read the book.
Yeah, thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. It
was very good. Yeah, thank you, I appreciate it. Brand thanks,
oh batch man. I appreciate the call as always. Okay, let
see you later, Jay, because we've talked about the book a lot.
But I think you got a sense of how they feel about him through um
through Umu, Harvey Mason, right right, because they all had that special
and you feel like each one of them had a kind of a different relationship
with him, right, no question, each one of them. You know,
some got really close to him, Some didn't. You know what I'm
saying, Yes, because Luke was not a touchy feely du He wasn't.
You don't. In fact, in part of Steve's Stevens and I wanted to
talk to this with Huggins Coggins sixty nine, Lute was about that age just
when he finished like it's seventy two, I think it was, And I
talked to Steve about he says, well, he wasn't a touchy feely guy.
He didn't get emotional with the guys. That was a generational thing,
right. And now that you now, and I said, what a great
phrase, because those days they didn't do that, right, They didn't do
that. They did not It was a tough right, it was, and
it was it was a business like relationship, right you know. And and
I mean just look, I was a beat writer for two years, so
not even very long, but it was easy to see all of that.
You saw where the relationships were. You know, you knew the the that
that eighty eight team was great because of Ricky Bird's song and Kevin O'Neill.
You know, they they they they held the players together. Tony mc andrews
was was was a nice you know, strategists more more sort of on the
loot side of the line, you know, more old swords basketball related.
But you knew that that Bird song and and and O'Neill were the guys that
were keeping the players, uh, you know when they were having a tough
time with Blue, they were the ones that were kind of getting them through
those things. And you know better than me because you or we know the
same that you need that buffer and those were the look and he had Rocks
for all those years that between guy. If there was an issue, you
go to Rod's first. If you couldn't solve it, you to loot and
it really would to Lootenant. Yeah, you didn't have to because you had
a great guy like Rod. Right, And then that's what you know.
That's and again when you have all those pieces like that, that's how those
things happen. You know, that's how it happens because and it's it's those
it's those uh, programs or administrations that don't have all those pieces. Maybe
coaches don't get along, or coaches don't get along with players, egos get
in the way player you know, players are you know, difficult to work
with. Whatever, all that has to mesh together. And the teams that
become champions are the teams that everything massed together. Have you ever heard of
a team that won a championship that didn't say, man, we just all
loved each other in the locker round, no question. You never heard of
CC. Yeah we won a championship, but we hated each other. You've
never heard that. I'll give you twenty seventeen. What do you think that
was? Yeah, exactly. They didn't like each other. They all wanted
theirs and that guy was the way of me getting mine right, right,
and then boom there you go. Absolutely, And that's not to say that
every team that doesn't do as expected is in a bad situation like that,
because there's some team, you know, the the eighty nine team. Those
guys were, you know, yeah saying it was pretty much the same thing.
Just current Toilburn McMillan were gone. We had you know, Lofton and
and and Anthony Cook, and that team loved each other and that team got
run to bad luck and they just yeah, they just got you know,
they they a team came out at him, got stayed in the game and
then hit a shot that won the game. If that team, if that
team beats UNLV, they probably win the national champ They were on their way,
right, Yeah, there and so many others you can say, right,
I want to govern another final, right, yeah, I remember that.
Well, Sean was the player of the year though, yea, yeah
he was, and deservedly so. He should have been player of the Year.
I kind of try to give him on I'm trying to give him on.
I'm gonna get a shot off because he's the Spurs aren't doing anything.
You should have doing it. I'm not in the phrase it that way.
Shot you got nothing to do, Come on the show. By the show,
I'll see if we can kind of fight the dude's directors. Still,
it's tough to fight he is. Yeah, but but but it's true.
I mean, that's the way it is. All Right, we're gonna take
our break. I think we got our music for yeah, we do.
All right, we're gonna take our break top of the hour. We got
breaking news and there's all kinds of stuff, so be sure to come back
and then we'll take your call as also five two zero four one six seventy
four four Good lo