This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jakonsalis on Fox Sports fourteen
fifteen powered by Nova Insurance Services. Make sure your most prized possessions Katz R
two Son and iHeart Radio Station pay Good afternoon. Everybody. Welcome to I
on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, he's
Jagon's ass. We're by ourselves today, so expect the unexpected and get used
to it. I always chuckled when you start the show like that, because
because we're such a circus without that. Mike godf Hey, as I was
listening to the show today, I'm gonna do some a little fun. We
didn't talk about this because we never do uh the last night's piece. Okay,
but we'll do this on the second part of today's show and then maybe
get some callers on sec best athlete that you may Wait, did you take
notes on the on the thing that you put around your cup? Hot coffee
cup? What are your notes? Oh, it's I find you. I'm
on the desk here, I find whatever's available. This is a hat.
Oh that's the insert to a hat. Okay, come on, I didn't
write on the desk. Look, I looked like that. You know the
coffee is too hot. I know they have those in in in the break
room. Yeah, my name is Steph today from the best Athlete at Ubay,
Best Performance, best Coach, best moment, best team. Okay atributed.
We'll talk about it after this after our first guest. Who is who
is Um Hurt his chin head coach of the two on Sugar Skulls. They
got there. The regular season finale this week or day after tomorrow at six
o'clock taking on the Green Bay Blizzard. It's a game that still has some
meaning because they could They're right now in the three spot in their division for
a playoff spot. They can, I think drop to the four if they
lose. Um, I don't think they can move up. Who's the one
Phoenix? U? Yeah, the res Rattlers are one Bay are your Panthers
or two the Sugar Sculls. I'd have to look at the tiebreaker, but
I think the Sugar Skulls could possibly fall out of the three spot. They
don't want to do that because you don't want to have to play the Rattlers
in the first round. The Rattlers are they have gotten their mojo back,
they got the quarterback back. They're on a winning streak, and they're gonna
be tough to beat. I think they I don't know if they're the favorites
two in the league, but certainly the favorites. You come out of the
Western Division, so you know, you want to take your chances and play
Bay Area. You've beaten Bay Area at their place this season, so that's
really what you want to hang on. So it's a big game, so
so being I don't want to see an insider, but you're kind of an
inside. Uh good season to this point, yeah, you know, Um,
it's been up and down. I think they've won two games in a
row. Well, they won their first three, yeah, and then they
only one another time during the season that they put back to back wins together.
It's been up and down. They've they've won on the road, lost
at home. They're they're two and two and five at home, uh six,
and uh where are they? You know, they're not good at home,
but they're terrible l at home, great on the road. Six and
one on the road and uh yeah, I think two and five at home
and uh so you know, the home fans haven't had a lot of fun
walking out of the arena this year. But they're in the playoffs in the
place past range for the third time in four years as a franchise, so
no home field advantage now. Bed has been good, crowd has been growing
good over the course of the season, been getting They hit a you know,
there was a jersey night, a kid's jersey night. They had like
forty three hundred that night, which was a really good crowd. I mean,
they've been in the threes, you know, the last couple of last
couple of So you're telling me that they've realized you got to give to get,
Yeah, I think so, you know, people want stuff. Yeah,
and this week's another giveaway. Um, I can't remember what it is.
I should know. We'll talk about it. I'll get that before we
get hurt us on but um, you know, and it's the season finale,
so there's some other stuff going on with uh, you know, fan
appreciation night and all that kind of stuff. But at six o'clock at the
arena, at the at the bone Yard as we call it, and Pat
Paris and I will be calling the game on YouTube. You'll be able to
if you're in your car, you can listen to it Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
You'll pick up our our play by play there and uh and you can
watch a live or you watch on YouTube, or you can go to the
game. You're really give you encouraged to do. Give it try. Don't
listen to Jay, go to the game, give it a try, or
go to go to the game and listen to Jay on the radio. Oh
yeah, go to the game and wave at me and throw me the finger.
Whatever youone is. You got to start being a little like Bill Wild.
Yeah. So you know I was on I was on Justin's show on
yesterday morning talking about it, and we were talking about my bad luck,
my my ability to bring bad luck, you know, to everything that everything,
everything that happens we're talking about. You know, I keep trying to
pick a tie that I think will be a lucky tie to the point where
the last game I wore a purple time and no color do you need?
Yeah, I have to wear I have to work. This would be professional.
Yeah, yeah, because we're on camera pre game. So Kevin Kathy
guy want to se let's professional parison he's got you know, he hasn't warned
the same suit. You know, all year all year long. Well they're
sponsored black Gun about or whatever they're sponsored about, you know, uh,
big man, big and small and whatever. It's just this is my third
year doing that, doing the games with Patri where we have a lot of
fun. Uh, it's exciting. We have a great time. The games
end and we kind of slump our shoulders and go, what the hell was
that? And uh then we talked about it later. But we're having a
good time. We're we'll be wrapping we'll be wrapping up our season on on
Saturday, so it'll be fun. Yeah, okay, could maybe they'll win
this weekend. We'll see what happens. Good luck to them the rest away
because it's it's it's win or diet or die right after that. And the
cool thing about the cool thing about the league now it's it used to you
know, it used to be where you know, somebody was the home team
ever you know, Well, the championship game is in Vegas now every year.
Okay for Vegas. That's good and they I think they had a really
good crowd last year. There's a there's a new arena and Henderson and uh
it's called the I can't remember the name of the arena something Green Valley Casino
or something. No, yeah, it's something you know, but it's a
it's a it's a brand new arena and that's where that's where the Vegas Nighthawks
play and uh and so that's where the game is and I you know last
year that had a pretty good crowd there. Um, the game was between
Northern Arizona and I can't remember who they beat, but in order the Arizona
from Prescott right up the road, right do they they fall they won?
They fall off that well, they're in fourth place. They're they're gonna be
they're probably gonna make the playoffs. How many teams make you? Four in
each division? Okay, so it's it's four in each division, and it's
a it's a bracket, and then you're starting your division. The first two
games, uh for for each are each other, and then the champions of
each division go play in the in the championship game. Okay, and then
at four fifteen, who do we have We have a John Perlman, the
president and owner of FC two on. They've got their last match coming up.
Fan Relaciation Night also Saturday at seven o'clock, you know, North Stadium
so you can go to that. Uh, they're they're they're wrapping up.
Like their Tuesday game got canceled. I wasn't sure why it was the weather
thing. Yeah, no, I don't think so. It was supposed to
be a micham outa Mica Mountain. Yeah, and then it got canceled for
some reason. But their their game now against Arizona Arsenal will be this Saturday
at the stadium at Keino and that too is fan appreciation night. You can
get your tickets also on their website. UM clicking on this odyssey how much
tickets are It's taking its time, but John will command, we'll talk about
this season that they've had. I give him grief. I'll explaining too later
with John. Okay, So I'm gonna ask you the second half, second
half, the hour, best athlete, are you may best best performance,
best coach, best moment, best team. If you come come up with
else, we'll do that. Feel free to call with do with. I
don't I didn't study this because I don't know. I'm just I think my
obvious ones are maybe your obvious one. So we'll talk. Okay, that'd
be fine. Okay, Um, so summary is finishing a lot of the
guys are playing. Uh Matherin doing very well, Dylan Terry, Uh okay,
you know, underscript um Dalen had a tough first year. I think
it was up and down and down, up and down, consistent. You
notice what isn't playing there, which is not a surpriser. Maybe it is
is uh Cooco you know. Yeah. Second, he's not on the roster.
He's so I guess they felt enough of him not to go down and
play, which which is good for him, I guess. Uh. With
Manion doing okay and some of the other guys doing okay, we'll see what
happens. Pretty much in the NBA, they already know what they're gonna do.
Yeah, I have a good idea. Yeah yeah, So we'll see
what happens with them as they moved to the playoffs this weekend. Um anything
so that we need to talk about growing, No, you know, just
uh, you know, just the usual stuff. Um. Uh, there's
they've announced who's going to be a Pactwave media day uh next next Friday.
Unfortunately for us leg maybe for me, I won't be. I'll be traveling
that day, so I couldn't help it. I have to travel that day.
Since Steve will be handling that handling that stuff on that day. Been
to talk about media, but as expect at least I expected it, and
I think you expected that, Steve. But I think some of the other
local media did not expect that Jaden Delora was going to be one of the
guys, one of the one of the athletes going on there. I think
you have to, Yeah, you have to. In fact, we said
that they should make them available before the prior twelve right, just to just
to make the locals happy. Yeah, you know, well not just to
make them happy, Steve. But I think you can knock some of the
tension off of this if you as as they say, pull the band aid
off ahead of time. But I think the time for that was like a
month ago. Sure, you know, sort of in the dead time.
Let Jayden get up there. Let him have his say about you know,
what he wants to say about it, because he's got to say something about
it, because he's gonna get asked about it. Yeah, I don't know
if they're gonna instruct him. You know, if you get asked a question
about just say I'm not talking about it. Are you gonna do that?
I would as a PR guy, I wouldn't advise that. No, I
don't go into detail, just say look, I'm dealing with this, you
know the way I have to deal with it. It's an unfortunate situation for
everybody. I'm sorry all this happened. I want to move on with my
career. I've done what I could to make it as right as it can
possibly be, and I you know, I want to move on and say
that that's it. That's all I got to say. Right, he might
even come up with a statement, and if he said, he might even
say something at the beginning that somebody's gonna say, Okay, this is what
I'm gonna say. This is all I'm gonna say. Sure, And I
would say that's okay, but don't say I'm not saying anything. Yeah,
thanks for your all have questions. This is what my one and only statement.
Right, move on and say but say something right, don't say nothing,
say nothing without saying nothing. Sure, no, no, no,
you that's your PR job to make you say that you're right. And that's
if I'm advising. If i'm if I'm a PR guy for the athletic department.
Now hopefully they've got they're smart people, you know, figuring this out.
You say something like that, and you know, don't let him read
it right right, Let it come from sure, from him to say,
you know, I know everybody wants to know everything that's going on with YEA,
practice it, yeah, practice it right. This is a This is
all I'm gonna say about it. This is all I can say about it.
You know, I'm sorry. It's an unfortunate situation for everybody. I'm
sorry this happened. Uh. You know, I've done what I could to
make this as to make this as as right for everybody as I possibly can.
And now I need to move on with my my career and I don't
want to answer any more questions about it, and I'm not going to boom,
you're done. But he could have done that a month ago, right,
And I think you've done that a month ago. Maybe gone a little
deeper a month ago with you know, some of the local media, but
not much right, right, much? Yeah? Interesting to see there are
first up on Oh no, I take it back, they're not. They
have an alphabetic quarter in my bad um. But it's at ten thirty in
the morning. Jet Fish comes on the main stage this morning and then Uh,
Jaden Delora and Trade and Stokes the cornerback come on at ten fifty five,
So they'll be on the main stage. And I'm sure that then later
on they'll be you know, stuff they'll do and they'll do. We go
out next week. We are gonna get Yogi promised he would come on with
us next week ahead of Pack twelve. We'll ask Yogi, y do what
do you what do you advise? What do you advise Jade Delora to do?
Uh? Excuse me? On Friday? Yeah, okay, no,
So it's it's quarterback loaded, ums it with all the quarterbacks in the league.
Got Shdor Sanderson very interesting things when the announcement they put out on on
on you know the list of coaches in schools, says Dion quotes coach Prime
Sanders. I like, really, are we gonna feed this? Because that's
what you want, that's what he wants to do. Are we gonna feed
this? He'son Sanders, right, He's not Jed the something Fish. He's
not you know, Kenny the fixer Dillingham. You know he's not you know
Klin the bear deboror you know, he's deon Sanders. Anyways, Shadoor Sandersons
kids their quarterback bow Knicks, the quarterback at Oregon, Caleb Williams obviously the
quarterback at USC, Cam Rising, the quarterback at Utah, Michael Pennocks,
the quarterback at Washington and Campbell. Cameron Board, the quarterback at Washington States.
Seven quarterbacks at the very least, this year's final Hurrah or the Pac
twelve as we know it should be a fun one. Yeah, given the
given the quality of players right the quarterback spot, so it's gonna be a
heck of a go away party. And that you know, nationally, um
a lot of a lot of a lot of attention being paid to the fact
that the packtalk could be really good, all the quarterbacks, that the pack
telf could actually be really good. I even heard some guys I can't remember
who it was, some guy who said I could see two packed twelf teams
in the in the in the playoffs. Was really what that would But that
would requires two teams to go undefeated. One of them loses in the in
the in the Pactelf Championship game, so one has no losses on loss.
I don't see that happen. No, I don't either. I don't either.
It's gonna be too tough of the league to survive that, right,
it is, it is, it is. I mean, well they and
again when you see all these quarterbacks that are in the league, Yeah,
you know, somebody's gonna win some games and somebody's gonna lose some games.
Also, the players are important in the quarterbacks obviously essential. But but but
they're loaded. And you know, a team like Arizona, who most aren't
predicting, finished in the top half of the league as one of the top
quarterbacks in the conference. Interesting to see. Probably we're gonna take a break,
We're gonna come back. We're getting hurt his chin, head coach of
the two Soon Sugar supposed we'll talk about their home finale coming up on Saturday.
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We'll put the work in for you breaking down all the exes at alls.
It's Steve Rivera and Jagen Summings. This is I'm a Ball on Fox Sports
fourteen different. Hey, welcome back to our on the ball here Sports fourteen
fifteen. I'm Steve Ribera, you're Jakin's Awsome. On the phone. We
have Hurdish Chin, the head coach of the Sugar scoach. How are you
hurtis? I'm better than wonderful. How are you all well? I wish
I were. Come on, I know you spent time outside every day,
so you gotta be a little bit. Hey, I take what comes with
it. Yeah, well, how are your guys taking the heat? Because
this is bad, man, this has been really bad the last the last
few weeks. Have you have you had a chance to practice at the arena
at all since there's no hockey going on over there. Oh no, we've
been outside and doing the weather and you know, it hasn't the mindset has
been you know, pushed through it, but it hasn't been a fun thing
for some of the players. It has been getting to some of them.
But you know, we try to treat it like life in translation to football,
just to push through even when you don't like it, you know,
to get to the other side of that rainbow. Go ahead and asking your
question about the home court. Okay, so all rights, have you ever
had a season like this? Work? You just, you know, it's
just so flipped that you're so good on the road, not very good at
home. I'm not gonna say so bad, but just not very good at
home. Your home record is not good. You got a home game left.
I mean, how are you? How are you dealing with all of
that? I'm having fun with it, even doing something even though it something
fortunate that you know, the you know, the home winning record has not
been good this year. We've been fortunate enough to still, you know,
find ways on the road to get the job done and make it into these
playoffs in one of the probably even the commissioners said, which is the toughest
year ever the IFL. So we've came up short at home a couple of
times, and trust me, we've tried multipooling the multitude of different things just
to try to fix the way we are approach it. And we're just gonna
keep on churning at it until we get it right. This last game along
those lengths up until this point, how would you grade or talk about the
year to this point. Um, you know, if you look at the
other you know, across the league, so I would say we, you
know, we've done a pretty good job. We've just been unfortunate at home.
So this year has been wonderful again, which is the toughest year the
IFL, you know, which everybody who's been around this league can agree and
attest to that. But you know, dealing with a quarterback take it for
instance, for us, we have a quarterback who hasn't played. This is
his first full season in IFL. You know, we have a bunch of
one and two year players, just a couple of veterans that never played with
each other, so no camaraderie coming into the season, you know, no
familiar at or with all of those guys coming in. So when you look
at all things is considered, honestly, we've done a pretty good job and
taking a defense that was you know, one of the poor on the fourth
side of things last year, one of the least fortunate ones to one of
the top ones and turning that around. And then you look at from the
beginning of the year offense, we were last. Now we've turned up and
moved towards the middle of the pack, so you can just see progress all
around. So I would say a pretty good job that I'm I've been having
a ball with. So, uh, this is gonna be like kind of
asking you, you know, which kid is your favorite kid? But you
know I got asked you. I got asked yesterday. You know who I
thought, you know, the let's say the MVPs on offense and defense are
in my mind. I thought defensively, I think I feel like you could
give it to you the Rashi Hodge or Maurice Jackson, a lot of other
guys have done a great job because your defense has been so good. Offensively,
i'd probably leaned towards Carrington Thompson. What are your thoughts on that?
Um, I want to agree with you, you know, given that the
proof is in the pudding when you talk about right now, Carrington is tied
for first in the league in receptions, and not only that, it's just
big plays, it's just what you don't get to see. It's a lot
of growth in him and just personal growth. So I've been you know,
around him last year as officers Accordinas and they get to see his growth off
the field is amazing compared from last year and to this year. You know,
he's also like a little assistant coach out there helping all the new guys,
the new receivers, you know, catch up to speed. So and
he continues to make big playoffs, the big playoffs, the big play for
during the course of this season. So that would be fair to say on
office he's been our guy. I'll go to guy that has been coming up
time at the time. And again you can flip a point with ROSSI has
and uh, you know Maurice Jackson. But some of those interceptions from Hard
just attested to the pressures that that front gets from Jackson, you know,
which is a part of it, just his tackles for loss actually just the
way he's approached practice the same as Hard. So you talked about a guy
in Maurice Jackson that hasn't missed one practice this whole year. You gotta take
your hat off to a person like that. So, uh, in talking
to some people out in the public, uh, they love you. You
think you're a great guy, a very good, very good coach. And
obviously in talking to you on this thing and having never met you, very
very optimistic, very friendly, happy, go lucky almost. How has this
gone for you in your first year as the head coach. It's been well,
you know, again, a lot of people just don't it's you know,
it's unfortunately you don't get to see the locker room side of things,
you know. So when I say it's been well, I'm talking about from
top to bottom, from the organization standpoint to the fan base has been tremendous
for us this year, and we're so appreciative of that. And just the
young men in those locker room are assistant coaches. Everybody has just skipped in
to where this thing has just been a ball. Even to our bus rise
back home from away games. We get the equipment guys involved, the trainers
involved, and we literally have swun So I've always said to all right guys
that you know, just meet us halfway from a coaching standboy to the players,
just meet us halfway. And it's only to say to them, like,
you know, we have experience in this game. And for me personally
being offensive coordinator coming here in nineteen as the first year organization, even when
Nebraska I was a officsive coordinator, then get we won six games, then
went to the head coach and won nine games, and then getting my second
go round as a head coach. So since twoy thirteen, either way,
I find a way to get to a playoff game or a championship game.
And not many that's been around this league that long can say that. Well,
you know, we we've talked a lot about the fact that this is,
you know, three times in four years as the franchise at the Sugar
Scall have gotten to the playoffs. I mean, that's that's not an easy
thing to do, especially when you got you know, some of the teams
that have been around for a while, the Rattlers right up the road and
whatnot. So quite an accomplishment on your part, that, you know,
is that something? Is that something that sort of keeps you and you think
about that or do you just let the season develop the way it develops unflead
something you don't think about it until you think about it, so to speak.
So you don't go through the season think about that. You just do
the work. And that's what I've always done personally. I just actually I
believe in me. But to me, honestly, it just sea. It
taught me a life lesson to if you push through, if you find a
way to translate and communicate and to you know, correlate with these young men
from a course of a season, you find the growth. You will see
the growth, and they'll finally catch on at some point they'll catch on,
you know. Like again at the beginning of the season, with turnovers and
things of that nature, just how we was playing on offense. You know,
it wasn't where I would want to see us be in the end.
But now you know, we've hitting our scride so well. We might get
stopped once and maybe twice at the most in the game in the last month,
so to speak. Coming into these games, so you get to see
the progress. You get to see young men. By end, you get
to see them grow get better, you know, and that's whether it keeps
you going. So just thinking about those things, uh, not so much,
but just thinking about enjoying the journey. Yet, this may be a
hard question to ask off the cuff, like this, but what do you
know about your team today that you really didn't know or really weren't sure of.
You know at the beginning of the year, you know, what what
what's developed with them or something like that. You know they played together when
it matters, and you know some of that from off the field. It
starts from the locker room. It starts from those guys you know outside of
football, just building a bun of brotherhood. It starts with that whole the
trust into the discipline and to not put football down once practice is done.
So once you get you know, back to your home and you get comfortable,
what are you doing the rest of the day. Are you calling the
teammate? Are you still trying to get better? So all of that builds
trust in the course of a game. So now you know, again when
you own the road like we've been and being successful on the road, it
comes times in the game you gotta look at your teammate and trust and believe
in them. And going into a season or the beginning of the season,
you don't know how that will play out when it matters. So now that
I can say on office and defense, when it matters, they've been doing
things or showing such progress that I'm proud of that. But when you say
that, because I totally agree with, can you go to this and you
work on the things you need to work on. But it's the stuff you
do beyond the practice right to get better. Let me ask you your roster's
what eighteen the twenty five guys, how many of you think could do that?
What you just said, do the practice and then go home and do
some more stuff. Um, so we get from a film standpoint, you
see a large percentage of them because we can actually log in and see who's
been watching film outside of practice. So do they know that? Well they
do now. Yeah, So once you do that, you know it makes
you feel better honestly. Then they come back. You know, like if
you send the script out a game playing script parts plays on office indeceness.
When we come into building the next day and they have questions from the script,
we know that they had to been looking over these things. So you
know in a large percentage of them and started doing it in new players when
they come come into Tucson. They started catching on to that. And that's
been a beautiful thing. Also when you when you talk about that and you
get these guys for as much time as you get them, how simplified does
a lot of this stuff have to be right? You gotta do things,
you gotta keep other teams off balance, but you still have to do this
in a way that guys can get it in a short period of time.
Is that a true statement? Yes, so very true. And it takes
time. And once you get to that point, you can even see it
in other people or other coaches that understand that they just haven't found that yet,
you know, because it's not a lot of coaches that could bring a
player in and see him give you something right away or in two weeks,
you know, because it takes time. So once you come to a point
where you can simplify things, you know, even if it's complicated to the
defense, but make it in a way that to the offense, you can
understand it easily, simplify it, and then you can catch on and you
can bring guys in. It's just to plug and play, you know.
That's that's actually an art to do and it's not hard to do. It
takes time to do. But that's a very true statan. So your quarterback
first, your guy, he I guess he had an up and down.
So how has he done for you overall? Overall? He's developed, you
know, even through the time when he was turning the ball over a lot.
And this again from it's always in from the outside and just stuff people
wouldn't understand on the day to day basis. Even when he was throwing interceptions,
he would tell anybody, I'm a better quarterback than I was, you
know, a couple of months ago before I got here. I'm a better
quarterback, you know, even though I didn't have a full year under my
belt. So I got here. But to somebody watching him throw an interception
here or turning the ball, they would not understand what he even mean by
that, you know. So just watching him actually grow and develop and depend
and you know, on his teammates and them learn to trust and believe in
him and vice versa, that's just the one of fool thing to watch,
Just a wonderful thing for him to accept accountability and not for me to have
to say nothing to him for him to know and believe that, man,
that was on me. I have to do a better job here, okay,
you know, just okay, is you know, talking himself through situation
in football. So well, as soon as he comes to me to get
to play, he understand, Okay, coach, I know I can't take
the sack here. Hey, I got to get the ball out here because
they're doing this. But just to see if he was able to get an
opportunity from a CFL, NFL, XFL, he would do better for them
because of his growth since he's been here. Okay, so you got Green
Bay, a team that's not been it's not been to Tucsons since the Sugar
Sulls have been in the league. They're they're they're eliminated from the playoffs,
but they're still playing for a winning season. What are we gonna see?
We're not giving up the game plan obviously. What do you think we're gonna
see from Green Bay on Saturday? I always under just see a fighting team
that's pretty balance, you know when they come to offense and defense, green
Bay is pretty balanced. That's why you know this season is they're trying to
you know, go above five hundred but days. That's a pretty solid team
that was, you know this last week still had a chance to make the
playoffs. That team is solid on both sides of the football. You got
a offensive coordinator that's there that you know who played for me, that learned
a lot from me, that um that has grown into his own at this
point, and a decordinator and UH coach Robinson who's always been had a solid
decense. So we're just gonna see a fisty team that's gonna be disciplined on
on both sides of the ball and gonna come in here and play hard.
All right, Well, herds, we appreciate it. Uh, you know,
go get one, really, go get a home game. It'd be
nice. Touch me. I feel the same way. I don't feel nothing
about it when you stay because I'm on the same page as you. Appreciate
it. See you Saturday. Okay, thank you. He's a good sport
man. But dang, she's just win a home game. You know,
there's the last you know, last chance home home. People want to you
know, let people walk out of the walk out of the arena with the
win because you know they're really The thing is, the losses have been tough
losses. You know, they come down to the end, right, they
come down to the very end, and all the games are like that,
I mean last uh you know, and then you know they played really well.
Asked what they scored every time they had the ball, but they had
to in order to win the game. They won the game by a touchdown.
So um, it should be a lot of fun. Hope everybody comes
out and uh and checks this out on Saturday kickoff as at six oh five
and at the boonyard. Okay, all right, let's start our break.
We're gonna come back. Take your costs five two zero, four one,
six seventy four forty we'll talk about whatever you want to. What are we
gonna do the Okay, we're gonna do the our own little local espies here
and Steve's gonna put me on the spot with some of these questions, so
we'll see, we'll see where we where we come together. So we'll be
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I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fift
day. Hey, welcome back to on the Ball. Here a Fox Sports
fourteen fifty on Steve Rivera. He's Ja Genzos. Now we'll have about twelve
minutes. If you guys want to call it and Finn help us outinger,
please do five two h four one, six seventy four forty. We have
a some time now, we'll probably do it more in this in the second
hour. Okay, So the best athlete, best performance, best coach,
best moment, best team. I haven't looked into anything. I haven't I
don't know. I just from the people we've talked to, the you know,
lathletes, we've talked to Okay, so this year only this year only?
What do you mean this year? Oh? This school year? Oh
just this school year? Yeah? Oh right, I was already going back
to the nineteen eighty eight No no, no, no, yeah, this
school year. School year. Yeah, best team, best best us.
There were best athletes, so we could best athlete this year, athlete this
year. Oh god, I think I I I think you got to go
with either Jordan Geist or Delay. That's the only two the national champions.
Right, they could be coach, they could they could be Olympians, cod
Code winners of this right. Um, uh you know you want I mean
you want to say, you know, a zulus I was almost packed up
player of the year. But I mean you got a couple of national champions,
you know, and I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Jordan Guist.
That's who I would have gone with. And I don't I do this naively
because I don't know. Hey, I couldn't dive off that thing, right,
right, I could? I don't think about To me, it's almost
like a one and one a I mean or one right one or a coin
not a coin, touse, but you together, yeah, you put both
them there, right, because you know they're national champions. The best yeah,
best athlete or biggest performance, and that's kind of like one of the
same. Give them what they what they've done, right, Okay, if
anybody wants to call in them, maybe give us some thoughts on whomever.
That'd be great too. I think the second maybe third person Zulas could be
a could hope run here a local girl. Yeah yeah, well you know
Alice Skags who didn't make an error at second base. You know all season
great great loss, was a great hitter. So you know you could you
could argue there. Okay, Uh, there's that Okay, best performance,
best performance? Um, god, well you know there was that game that
is Zulas had thirty at halftime, right, confitions for forty and change.
Everybody thought he was gonna get he was gonna get the record, the record.
Um, that one sticks out again. You have to go, you
know, best performance. You know that the two the performances were you know,
Jordan guys and won their national championships. Um, there's there's that.
Um you know it's maybe it's because I've seen I've watched this game over a
couple of times, but the game that Jayden Delora had against UCLA in that
upset at Ucla. You know they fell behind, it was the fourth quarter,
you know, they drive down the field put a touchdown on the board.
Um hent, I don't even know what his yards were to that game,
but the way he played that game and in Arizona, you know,
beats a ranked team on the road when you least expect it. I think
that's got to be up there among the performances. Um So, but I
think I'm gonna go with I think I'm gonna go with that. Zula's forty
plus point. Yeah, that's that's the one that sticks out to me the
most. He could have easily broken that record to but we just didn't think
we wanted to give him baskets at the stat table. We kept wanting to
give him baskets that week. But I can't remember his his stat line,
uh, in terms of how many games shots he took to makes and all
that stuff, it wasn't a lot. I mean he was efficient. He
was very efficient, very efficient. Yeah, but I'd had to grow with
you on that one. Also. T T. Mac had some nice,
nice two games for this first year, um that were very impressive. Obviously
ignoring not ignoring the geist and the diny snow stuff. Yeah, but I'll
go with you on the zewist. I think so too. Very visible,
Yeah, yeah, I'm very visible. Try to look up that box scores
if I can. Oh, here it is he uh, it was.
It was the I had the date of the game. But his line was
he was sixteen of twenty one field fantastic, only shot one three point or
eight and nine free throws, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals in
the block. No, that was a fantastic game all around, all around,
and he didn't do it with the intention of doing all that, right,
He just played his game. He just played a game and it went
on all his fluidity, if that's the right word for him, because he
his knock is that he can't shoot the long distance shot right, and he's
not a good defender. But but that was kind of what he can do.
Yeah, flawlessly. One turn he had no turnovers. Oh take back,
one turnover he did. He did fat four falls, he almost filled
out. But forty points and what do you he had thirty one they think
at halftime, Yeah, and then kind of eased off. Yeah, and
they wine. Yeah, I'll go with you on that with the other guys,
with the other two that we mentioned the best athletes being second and third.
Maybe okay, okay, let's go with best moment. Best moment.
If that's not it, I don't know what it is. But your Dolora
thing and the team, well, see, I'm gonna I'm gonna say,
I'm gonna say, you know, beating Ucla on the on the road,
Yeah, that could be ranked you know, a ranked team, um on
the road? Um? You maybe maybe a close second. There's a score.
Who's the score of that game? I don't remember. Well, Ucla
could could have won the game. On the last play of the game.
Threw a ball into the endzone. The guy was open, but they threw
the ball out of bounces, so it was you know, it was a
less than a one score game. I think they won by three or four.
But um, another one, that one that I don't know, Maybe
somebody doesn't think about this one, but Courtney Ramy's three point shot that essentially
won the UCLA game in the Black twelve championship game, again, Arizona,
they've been going back and forth. It just didn't look like Arizona was gonna
pull that thing. Out at the end. UCLA kept making plays, Arizona
kept missing free throws, and then Courtney Ramy hits a step back three D
and that wins the game. I think that was a great moment. Could
being in the arena two for that was really cool. Yeah, you would
win nuts. You went into this softball game when they lost the UCLA in
their final game, right, that would have been a great that would have
been. They could have pulled that one and they were people on base and
the whole right there, right right. But I'm gonna but I'm gonna I'm
gonna stick with you know, I'm gonna stick with the with the you see
the beating U c l A uh at the Rose Bowl, you know,
a ranked team. Okay, so I'm gonna go the opposite way, just
real close, uh, just quickly. The worst moment, the worst moment,
oh Los principal. Yeah, I agree because of the magnitude of it.
But when they lost Washington State at home, oh man, you don't
do that. You don't do that again the state. Yeah. But you
know what, that game, except for you, is forgotten. It's taking
over, taking over by taking over by the prince. I don't disagree with
that, right, let's take this call. You're on the air and on
the ball for you guys. Um hey, yeah, what you're talking about?
Um uh? You know, to me from the outside looking in the
get what impressed me that I was nineteen ninety two Arizona versus Miami. Yea,
the emergence of the Great Defense. I think they became Desert Swarm,
right, that was where Desert Swarm was born that day. And I mean
to tell you all, that was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.
And to me, Mike Skirlock is probably like my favorite Arizona Wildcat over
the years to watch fund it was a tough dude and he was he got
put in positions that made it made it tough to be Mike Scurlock. But
he was a guy joy high school. Right. Let me tell you,
lot man, there was nobody you you you least wanted to be tackled by
them. Mike Scarlock. It's funny you bring up that name, because that's
kind of like an out of the blue nie, but a guy. I
started noticing him out of nowhere, and I was like, what in the
world. Yeah, and then you know, of course he had a very
successful NFL career. So, I mean he was great. He's a great
football player. I remember him in where it was like, holy crap,
that guy, it's hard did kill you. You know, he had leverage
and Mike's not the tallest person in the world. And you know he played
linebackers, playing inside linebacker and then and the end the family played a lot
of safety. Yeah. I thought, you know, he's just a great
athlete and he's just an incredible That was incredible defense they had for a few
years that, Richard, So your old you team gonna live it up in
this final year, I think. So. I think we're gonna be getting
ready to head to the FCC and they're very positive. Evil we'll see what
happens, you know. Okay, my expectations are low. I really don't
have any expectations, you know. Okay, Richard, thanks so much,
man, appreciate good call. Thank you, Richard. Anybody else want to
change? So I saw Washington. I get the Princeton thing. I totally
get it because it was the magnitude of it. But you don't do that
to Washingtons day, and we just don't. That's kind of like that was
a micro cost him about this whole year, like you did get the lead
and yeah that was yeah, you know, epitomize what happens that that Yes,
that was a sign of who they were exactly, and then you could
kind of say, how did this happen? Prison, No, you can
go back, right, you have a lead and then dwindle, have a
lead, then dwindle. Okay, Okay, so now we'll go to uh
the best coach, best coach this year, best coaches. This is tough
man. There's no right answer, wrong answer. No, you know,
I mean, I mean you want to come out and say Tommy Lloyd,
but then when you think about how it ended, you kind of that's a
you know, that's a demerit on you know, on that and you still
could be right. Jet Fish had a nice job, right, um you
know uh, you know god uh um. And the two golf coaches you
know they did you know Clancy Shields right, Actually you bring him up.
I'm gonna go with Shields. I think, yeah, I'm gonna go with
that one. I think that I think That's where I'm gonna go to,
especially after last year. They played really well last year, did things that
they had never done before, right, and he repeated it and went further
this year. Right, Yeah, I like that. I'm gonna go Clancy
Shields because you know, um, a better feeling at the end. Yeah,
right, but they did right, there was not that disappointment right last
year. Right, Yeah, I'll go Clancy Shields. Okay, no,
I'll take you on that. That's a little one. And the best team
it might have been the tennis team. It could have been the tennis the
golf team, the women's golf team, women's golf team. They got to
they got to the the uh they got out of their region. I didn't
you know, but um, it could be women's golf. I think I'd
stick with tennis on that as well. Yeah, you know yea again,
Look, you know Tommy Lloyd did. Tommy Lloyd did what Tommy Lloyd does.
Thanks, we got a call, but we won't have one minute left,
Yeah we got Yeah, we gotta get out of here to the top.
Yeah, let's let's take your call. Call us back during breaking yews
right after the break. We can't we can't take this car. Now,
I'm going I'm going tennis again. You've given all the circumstances even tracted really
well for Harvey's kind of understated. But okay, that's that's good. But
if you guys want to chime in on the other side, please do.
Yeah, we love you. Well. We'll take your calls during break,
duram breaking news. There's some breaking stuff, a lot of things going on,
but uh, you certainly want to hear what you have to sound some
of this stuff, but interesting, interesting stuff. See when you brought that
up, I thought we were going, Yeah, okay, so let's for
the year. Yeah, I get it. All right, let's take our
break, we'll come back. We'll hit some breaking news and again take your
calls on all these topics, best and worst of the Arizona UH sports season.
We'll dright back