This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jaken Zalis on Fox Sports
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R Two Sad and I Heeart Radio Station. Good afternoon, everybody, Welcome
to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera.
He's Jacome's loss here. It's Tuesday afternoon, the start of the week.
Man, I don't know if I want to be here start of the
week. I don't. It doesn't it already long? I feel like Thursday.
I know, That's how I feel. I toe long day. I've
had two days in a row. I've had to get up at five thirty
in the morning because your other thing one to go. You had to get
up for the guy get you know, five thirty in the morning. It's
not easy. No, I did that. I did that Saturday. I
tell you I wouldn't golfee Saturday. I cursed when I got up. I
wish I had not agreed to this, that I got there to the event
I got Saturday. I'm thinking, why do I like you get to my
friend? Who am by the mean? I shouldn't be here, I should
still be asleep. Yeah. I enjoyed the day, but after not playing
for three years, it was like, what the hell am I doing here?
Because if you would have seen my shots, you would have said the
same thing, what do you do? And wasted my time chasing snakes exactly?
Now? You know, well I got I started doing that. You
know. I was a paper boy for the morning paper back in the day.
Yeah, man, I had to be I had to be at at
the place where I was delivering papers. I had to be there at five
o'clock in the morning. I did that for like almost two years because that
my parents had to be delivered by six and would take me an hour to
roll them too. Yeah, to roll them and deliver them. I delivered
an apartment complex, two buildings, an apartment complex, but it was a
lot and uh those was the dead time man getting up at quarter to five.
Those near my house. I'd get up at quarter to five. I
hated the days that I did papers when it was still dark when I got
up to this day, I hate getting up when it's still dark shop.
Did you I think that's the easiest part this, in my opinion, Did
you have to collect to Yes, so that would be my tough part,
and that was not easy. You want to pay, yeah, well not
only that they don't. You had some people, because you're supposed to collect
by the month, right, you pay at the beginning of the month.
Some people said, I'm not going to pay till the end of the month
when I've already gotten my newspapers. There were other people would say, and
we're talking, oh, we're talking five dollars a month, right, And
there there were some people would say, I want to pay by the week,
and so I'd have to go once a week to collect the quarterbuck in
a quarter. You know, I don't even know how they do it anymore
because you only see cars filling. They don't do it very many. Yeah,
but I'll tell you what though, I will say that that was something
that at a very young age, I learned a lot about responsibility and having
to show up every day, having to show up on Christmas Day, having
to show up on Thanksgiving Day, having to show up if the weather was
awful. You know, no matter what um it was, you know,
it was hard and what the two summers I did it though, my golf
game got really good because of what I would do is I deliver papers and
then my dad, who would leave for work at six thirty in the morning,
would give me and my friends a ride down to Randolph and would play
golf all day in the summer to Okay, So but anyways, I don't
even know how we got to that morning. Um yeah, so if I
you know, I hate it and I've got I've got one more because I've
got one more on Friday, because my wife has to go on a business
trip to uh to Switzerland. I took to the airport. We gotta leave
at five thirty in the morning. She really tooks like three out of five
days she goes a lot to the road on to Switzerland. That's her company's
headquarters. So that's why she goes. Chucks. Sorry, sorry to hear
that. I've got a good at Switzerland whole. Hey, that means there's
a pot roast coming up next week sometimes, Yeah, probably another golf roast
at my house. Maybe a big giant tea bone. Uh you know,
stuff that my wife did not that fondo. So yeah, m hmm,
Okay, A lot of things going on. I think I can't tell you.
The NBA playoffs obviously, kind of interest with Chris, and you're talking
about the playoffs tonight. You you and you and he were just you know,
going It was funny watching you guys talk. You know, Chris,
he kept asking your opinion. You kept giving it to him, and then
he'd ask it again. Right, I said enough, already enough, called
him a name, and that was funny. I was going to kick out
of that, out of so I asked me, if we're gonna listen to
me, I'm you know, I'm watching the playoffs. I'm paying attention to
the playofford. I'm not betting on the playoffs. Smart, smart, Yeah,
you know, I'm having fun watching golf. Put a little bit of
money on golf. I missed out, like, you know, just a
five dollars bed. I had Patrick Cantley, who finished a stroke up from
miss from making the playoff between a Speed and Man fitz Patrick, so would
have had a chance at that. But you know, just a little something
to do with my whistle and you know, keep me interested. Yeah,
okay, So so in about ten and fifteen minutes, we're gonna have the
George Modus again, one of our favorite guests. People love hearing him because
he's the card Guy, one of our great sponsors. Guy and Chris made
a transaction with him. I think we talked about it, you know,
two thousand dollars cards. We'll see how that went. And then he has
a show this weekend that's kind of high. I'm gonna be part of the
show. I'm gonna have someone to do my books. Yeah, yeah,
so yeah, that's one of the reasons why we're having him on. See
what's going on in the town. And then in the second a half,
we're gonna talk about Sons. Yeah, Phoenix Suns. We're gonna have Jody
Ailer from Fox Sports nine ten in Phoenix, sort of a sister state,
or we're a sister stationed in them because they're the big boys. But Jody's
got a morning show up in Phoenix. We always go to Jody for knowledge
on all things Phoenix, the Sons, the Cardinals. That you can start
the other draft coming up with the Cardinals, and there's just a lot of
speculations to what they're gonna do. So I think the Cardinals will be another
another thing to talk about with Jody, and then we'll, uh, you
know, we'll just get into all of that, but uh, you know,
the Sons are you know, they're they're already you know, they've already
lost some home court advantage to the Clippers. Um, you know, this
is an important game. They can't they can't lose two at home, right,
It's it's unbelievably important. Yeah. You remember the time when Um west
Fall was the coach and this is we're not gonna lose, guarantee. They
were one seats the name, I'm not guaranteed. They went to oh and
then they swept the Rustle. I remember that because I remember watching his you
know, just the highlights of his press conference saying, you know, what
are you gonna do? Since we're gonna go win game three, right,
and then we're gonna win game court and then we're gonna wine. We're not
gonna lose the exactly what they did. But this is a seven game set.
But you know, home court advantage is really important, and the Suns
have got to get their stuff together and they you know, they just let
Russell Wilson, Russell Wiston, Russell, Um Um Westbrook, you know,
just beat up on them. And you can't do that. Can't that guy
can't be the guy that beats you? No, right, No, and
you had a horrible game. Still they still won. Clippers are are halfway
decent. I'm not sure how good they are. They're playing without Paul to
Paul Georgie, Yeah, but uh, Kawhi Leonard. It came alive in
that game, and a lot of discussion about if Kawhi Leonard keeps being Kawhi
Leonard plays the entire series the Sun, he's gonna be trouble for the Sun.
And no one's talked about him for a while, right to Kawi Leonard
this morning. So he's been so injured, hardly injured and kind of mercurical.
It just kind of hard to talk to and all that stuff. But
someone today, uh jj Reddick, who was on Stephen A. Smith,
and he talked about how he plays. He plays They said he pays a
lot like Jordan when he's really on and in terms of how he moves,
just kind of fluid, calculating and stuff and and and Stephen A. Smith
agreed. I'm thinking I have to look at it again. I can't really,
but he hasn't played like that forever, so it's hard to see it
happen. Well, it's hard to know what you're gonna get from him,
right because right again, because as we said, he's he's never around.
Well, this is the guy that they had hoped to get when they got
him originally, and then obviously to have Paul there now Westbrook and a couple
of others that they're gonna be good if they'll play together. Yeah, we'll
see. We'll see what Phoenix does. I think I think the Phoenix has
to rebound for this one. They have to. They have to. I
mean they can't. Yeah, I mean, they absolutely one percent have to.
The question is you know, can something like that cause like an immediate
funk? Right? You know, can you all of a sudden you lose
a game like that? Now you're questioning yourself, you start doing some stuff.
Is it an immediate funk? And can you now can you fix that?
Uh? In a in a very short period of time? And I
don't know. I don't know, can you? So I don't. I'm
trying. I'm trying to look up how many games he played this Kawhi Leonard
played this year. I'm making it easy to find that anywhere on any of
the stat any of the stat things are I'm finding. But you know,
again, the knock on him is he doesn't play a lot. He's not
around much. And uh and you know, if you're I mean, you
can be great. But if you're not playing, what the hell's the use?
Right M look at you. I like that. I'm making you into
a philosopher. You said a lot of like Rivero, we just got sad.
They can be very sad. It could be. I understand, Vera.
Don't bring me down like that. I understand river I can understand what
you're telling you. I feel good about myself. You don't bring me down
like oh well you said like Professor Goozales, I can figure things out one
in a while, but I can remember what I'm trying to figure out,
and I'm talking out what. Okay, So we're gonna hope to get some
calls. You have to. We have to, you know, Gabe,
call us Nico and some other suit. You can't give us a call.
Uh well, if you want to call us after or maybe even now to
you have a card that you're interested in, what it's worth it you have
like five minutes, just give us a quick George is on right. So
and now if you have your curious curiosities about your card, let us knows
what it is. We'll tell George and you can go over the weekend to
his big show. He's a big card show. I guess a lot of
people have good cards are gonna show him and display him and sell them at
this It's a geek fest, That's what it is. That's that's exactly what
it is. He has those things. I tease them about it because now
I'm involved because about my book. I'm gonna be among the geeks. I'm
gonna wear my thick glasses, little paper. But that's what it is.
Hey, what's surprised on this car? Yeah? You get funny, funny,
you know what you know. I'm fascinated by that. And for a
period of time towards the end of when I was working at the Star,
there was a uh, one of our artists, you know, uh,
guy named Pete Spino who I'm going on whatever happened, But he was big
into the card collecting back then. And I actually it's funny because I went
out and bought a bunch of baseball cards and I kept them and I still
have them. Yeah, probably stacked maybe about a three in stack of baseball
cards and I still have that I bought at that time and then put him
in a box and I still have That's where everybody has them. And that's
why they don't They either they hold the well or they don't hold well,
you know. And I went to look at you the first time we had
George, and I went and looked at you know, just looked at him,
looked at a few of them up on the up on the internet,
and someone worth five bucks, worth ten bucks. You know. There wasn't
anything, you know, really fancy, but sure, you know, just
it was fun. It was fun to go through that to my stack of
cards and cards. Did you see I saw they celebrated him recently. They
put him to return his number something. I saw that a couple of days.
Yeah, something with the Dodgers, and I think they retired his number.
I didn't know his complete story. I know he's a great story,
but I didn't realize he kind of while he pipped the guy he replaced one
of his his first start. Did they said it was the anniversary of the
opening day or kind of like the first pitch or whatever. He came in
because somebody was hurt one of the things about that. So he came in
and then he yeah, he great on opening day, first game, full
game, full game, back in the day of the year, and the
dude to us, you know, Rawlston or one of the brothers, one
of the brothers, Nicro, but one of those guys. And I'm thinking,
that's how you got a starting kids like Mark the Bird. I don't
remember that. I remember him starting because I remember i'd seen him in spring
training that year and nondescript. Yes, another dude, I mean, you
know from Mexico. He looked like me. I didn't want to say that
I got. I got actually mistaken for him one time. It's a funny
story, you Francisco Romero, And yeah, I actually had. I was
at an Arizona baseball game and I had one of those Dodgers sat in jackets
on three little kids that thought I was him. You got a little pooch.
Yeah, we had the same hair, Fernando. Yeah, we had
the same hair. We had the same skin color, yeah, kind of
the same and the same body. Yeah. You know, three little kids
we're kind of behind, walking behind me, and they thought I was Fernando
lenzu Uh. Three people were walked into a bar. Fernando, George Lopez
and Jakenzos walked in the what or some tequila, exactly. It's kind of
fun. I wanted to have some fun with him. But then either one
of them came up to me, I'd already made up my mind. If
someone came up one of them came up to me and asked me if I
was say him. I was going to say that I was, at least
for a little bit and then and then, you know, then let him
know that they none of them did could send his big ball. It's him.
It's him. I know it's him. It's him. You're probably he's
probably about how tall was he he? I think he was like six foot
six four. Looked at that spring training game. I got a baseball and
I got his autograph, so I so you would. Yeah, yeah,
I stood with him. He wasn't a lot bigger than me. I'm not
five nine, yeah, so five nine. He was maybe five eleven five,
you know, six foot maybe, But you know, we had a
lot of the same thing. Pretty funny, But you probably looked more like
him now because he slimmed down a little and he's kind of no now I
look like old Fernando, and he's allow, and he dresses a whole lot
better than I. Do you know, but he doesn't even were one of
my all time favorites, man, just one of my always he will took
it, took it by storm, took it my storm. Okay, oh
yeah, we'll look. Well, you can find out that story. I
just found it kind of strange. I didn't really realize that he kind of
stepped in and became this guy. Yeah, I'll have to look that up
because I don't I remember him starting open day. I just don't remember the
circumstances. Some guy got hurt or sick or something. Yeah, all right,
okay, cool, So we're gonna George hearing about four minutes, three
minutes, yep, and let's go. Okay, well, let's go and
take our break. We'll come back. We'll get we'll get George Midas on
and we'll talk some some collectibles and and just listen up and then uh,
you know, we'll uh we'll just hear where he's got to say. But
all kinds of stuff going on with the show this weekend. So stick around,
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on the I Heart Radio WAP. This is I on the Ball with Steve
Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. We welcome back to our
on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, He's
Jaken Zass. Now on the phone. We have George Modas from Showtime Cards.
George, how are you. I'm doing well. Thanks for having me
on guys. Yeah, well, you're one of the favorite guests because everyone
has questions about cards and how much they're worth. You know. It's funny,
Jet I have a car that you know, when you buy your car
and people talk, well you'll get it good when when you resell it,
I'm I'm gonna sell this carment a driving But cards they buy him for the
purpose of reselling, and I guess my boy here Chris Chris Gordman sold sold
his beloved card to George A good one too. Yeah. I had a
great Hey, George, what's going on in much great? My experience was
great there, so just to bullet point it so it'll take too long on
it. George set the card off to get grated. So George was great,
My experience is great. Let me go behind the desk here showing me
all the eBay quotes, the prices, telling me the car. He was
showing me like, he's not selling me a bag of goods unless he's rigged
eBay. You never know, you never know. He could have an eBay
template. Yeah, he could be like, hey, Chris, look for
this. This is what this card's going. But here's the thing. So
George set it off. We have a bat and we're gonna do a review
at some point, right George, when the card comes back, Absolutely,
when he comes back, we could go on the air and do a live
or be all. That'll be cool because that's one of the things which collectibles
is just like a coin or fine art or anything. Condition it's based on
conditioned, So you have to send it off, get it professionally graded and
then you could see the real value. Right, do we discuss the price
on the air now or do we wait till we do the revealed so he
can discuss what the card's worth and what he sold it for me to me,
let's wait, because I feel like I do. And that's the roll.
Well, that's the dice I rolled, because he said it's either a
PSA one PSA two. He gave me somewhere in between, because if it
comes back great At PSA one, no, I won probably one, he
gave me. I'm not gonna tell the price yet, but because back at
PSA two, oh, I sold him at a decent price. But he
made a good chunk of change on it. And that's that's the dice I
rolled. I sold it to him thinking it's going to be a PSA one.
We don't know yet. It's gonna come back and get graded. So
if it's a PSA two, He's taking me to Texas Roadhouse because I've never
been. So he's gonna take men. Say, good deal, and I
may have to take him if it's a PSA one, so wait, wait,
so either way we're having steak. Is PSA one the worst work.
So this card had one levels, another two, one, one to ten.
So this card and George explained it. He took me the back this
card he got the It had a major seal in the middle, a major
crease, excuse me, it was it was which the card was crisp,
though I think George right. It wasn't wilted either. It was a strong
card, but it was wall centered, nice corners. It just had several
creases. Other than that, it's a great card, but it's also forty
eight sixty. It's a seventy year old card. Almo, So I,
well, we'll see if it comes back at PSA two it could be somewhere
to thought. Well, we're gonna find out when we'll reveal. I feel
like I got a decent price. Um, either way, one of us
is getting staked. That was your color, with your probably with your prices.
Now you're hoping the Warriors making a better price. Absolutely, That's another
thing with cards. It's also based on you know, player performance or which
teams are doing well. So if um, if the Kings do well,
they upset the Warriors and some of the players you know Dear and Fox as
well, his prices go up immediately. Well then he's soaring. He's soaring
right now. And I will tell your listeners here eye of the ball.
When you go to showtime sports, if you've got a good card, A
guy walked in, I walked in. The guy had it was the fifty
five Jackie Robinson. It was George is very fair with I don't know whatever
happened with that guy. We made the deal. I bought the card.
I send him off with that card. So when we do the reveal,
well reveal, I want to know that card. So this guy walked in.
This card was Christine like it made my William Mays looked like it was
out of it a coffee, right, But it wasn't a rookie William Mays.
But it was a fifty five Jackie Robinson. Wow, won the world
Yeah, this was centered glossy. It was you know the last time the
Dodgers won the World Series. You're kidding, I'm turning off your microphone your
time here is something kee off your Yeah, I'm sorry, sorry, but
no, but that card was great and George took the time and showed him
the problem. Like I felt like I got a good experience out of it.
He wasn't selling me a bag of goods. He did always preface,
but going you can sell this on your own. You can do it.
You can go to eBay, you can take out the advertisement, pay the
taxes to eBay. All right, or he'll do it and you know it's
you make more when you sell it on eBay. Right, Well, you
know, George is like circle, Okay, you walk in there, it's
convenient and you're paying for that, or you're qut. You're qut. You're
not qut here though, can bab the experience? You know? One guys,
there's another option, a way to sell cards. This weekend we're having
a big card show at the shop Sunday, So that's the thing, Like
you could buy sell trade cards or just come check it out and see what
does card community is about. You know, my fiance now it's she's like
I had no idea this world existed and how how it goes down, and
now she loves it. I was gonna say, she's still with you,
finding she's still your feeling that I didn't realize you were that much of a
George. Well, he's got these great Marvel comics and pokemonmon Besides sport,
you've got sports cards. But what you know, besides sports stuff, what
other stuff do you have store? George? Well, Pokemon is a beast
right now. Pokemon it's been We've been selling for twenty three years and I
kept thinking, you know it's gonna die off. We gotta saw our inventory
and it just keeps going and going, and you set comes out, we
sell out of it, and that's a beast, you know a lot of
Let me ask you question, does Wall too? Let me ask you a
question on the pokemon because I just read Blake Martinez, the linebacker from CDO
played with the James Packers. He's now he signed a big contract years ago.
I think he got like, you know whatever, forty million guaranteed at
the time. Big contract. He's now out of football. He's in the
pokemon business apparently. Have you big breakers online? Yeah? Have you dealt
with him at all? Or no? No, No, not really,
But I see him online all the time and I'm chatted with him. We
try to get him in here and do a store signing, but his agent
was a little higher than we wanted to pay, so it still didn't work
out. But that's okay. And he says he's making a couple million dollars
a year moving these cards. Really yeah, really, well, he's got
a lot of money to buy the obscure cards too, right, George,
And then turn it around, I mean he's got a lot of money in
the bank exactly. Yep. Well, anyway, my experience is great.
Oh, thank you, George. I had a great time. I can't
wait for the reveal with you guys. Let you know the price. I
appreciate it, and I hope it comes back at two and I'm willing to
take it a steak dinner if it does. And if it doesn't, we're
going to Flemings. On your pockets one. I'm taking to Flemings PSA two.
I'll take the Texas roadhouse I've never had and I'll go bone and reb
yep. Okay, thank you, Chris, thank you, George. So
so tell us more about your show on Sunday, George, What's what's gonna
be going there? So the show is people. We actually sell table to
the public. So a lot of people have these collections or and you know,
sometimes they do want to sell. You know, sometimes you have your
own personal collections. But a lot of times do you buy cards to invest
in cards, And there's for many reasons, you know, nostalgia and you
know whatever. People like to put sets together, organizing them things. But
at these shows you can actually sell your own cards. So we have tables
set up and the you you know, set up your tables, you sell,
and people come in and buy cards. They sell to dealers or sell
to us and trade cards and it's just a big card community. It's open
to everyone, free admission and just like if they're interested in like sports or
even sports cards, just come out and look. I mean there'll be a
lot of people. There'll be three or four hundred people and come through those
doors. So it's just it's a neat way. These these shows only happen
twice a year. This is our biggest one this Sunday, very cool,
and it's pretty much eleven to two. What time is it two eleven to
five pm. I'll be there from one to two with my book. So
anybody getting some inquiries, I'm not okay, cool, let's get here.
So I say, okay, I'm a little more education here for me.
George, you talk about you talk about a set, and I guess this
Willie May's card is you've you've told Chris as part of a set that you
have what's the set? So a set they have these card sets, so
that's that's the nineteen fifty two bowmen set baseball card set. And each card
has a number associated with it on the back of the set. So the
Willie Mays you have a Mickey Mantle and so forth. You even have Sammy
Stars, common players, and some people, like the old traditionalists, like
to put the entire set together. I'm actually building that set. That's one
of the key cards. I'm missing three cards. That was one of the
key cards I was missing. So my set. So when you say a
set, it's like, you know, like, my son's got a I
think he's got the two boxes of I want to say a nineteen nineteen ninety
something, uh two okay, unopened boxes. That's the set, right,
So you're trying to get every card in that set. How many year in
a set like two hundred, three hundred, Well, the one year your
son has is I think seven hundred and fifty six cards. Those are complete
factory sets back in those days been in make factory sets. You actually have
to hand coal late them together. So that's that's the Set's that's a set.
Cowmen, you're in that fifty two set that you have that you got
that you wanted. This Wily May's card for it's under two hundred. I'm
not sure the exact number. I've been working on this set for a decade.
Okay, so and it's just that's crazy. It stumbled apart, you
know. I guess hosted with Steve and Chris came in. He goes,
hey, guess what I have this card? I was like, whoa,
I'm looking for that card. Yeah. So how much is that set worth?
Now? Is it? Um? It depends on the condition. Um
My my mannals a PFA seven. So it just tond of depends on the
condition. But overall the second be five to twenty thousand dollars. Wow,
this is your bitcoin? Yes, yes, similar, but this is actually
a tangible product, right, you know you're right. No, And the
NFT's member, they still confuse me. But I mean I understand it,
and I get it, and I think eventually it's like it's going to move
to a lot of digital stuff, but I'm not ready for it, but
eventually it will. No, but you're right. You have these in your
hand, you see them, you know what they are, you know what
they're worth compared to all the bitcoin and the NFTs blah blah blah. This
is the good old this is us. Well, let me ask you that
exactly. That's a big part of collecting to the nostalgia, Like, hey,
I remember buying a packet looking at these cards of these players, or
I was at the ballpark and I bought the team set and I see these
players that it kind of gives you that nostalgia happy feeling when you're a kid.
Well, let me ask you, because I don't know if we've asked
you this and other times that you've been on but you fell in love with
this at some point. How did that happen? I mean what, because
you know Steve collected cards. I collected cards, but I didn't make a
living out of it. I mean, how did this happen that you fell
in love with this and then made a living out of this? So I
don't know if I told this story before, but we had I grew up
in LA and we had season ticket tho little Odgers. I used to keep
score for my dad on the way out. If I did a good job,
he would buy me something at the souvenir stand. Sometimes of mindy helmet
a little baseball. One time I'd seen a team set and I was like,
hey, Pops, can I get one of those? And He's like,
all right, it's too much, And I grabbed it and I clipped
it over on the back. They actually had stats on the cards, and
I know, keeping score of every game. I just I was a statistic
fanatic and I just fell in love. And from there I just never stopped
it. And you just always collected. And then but at some point you
said I'm gonna make a business out and he was young. How did that
happen? Yes, you know, I started doing card shows in California,
and I was I was going to school and I was waiting or busting tables
out chet at the time. I was in high school. But then I
would do these shows on the weekends a Saturday, and I was like,
wow, I'm making It's much money, you know, these eight hours at
the show, that all week at the restaurant. I was like, there
could be some money into this. And then when I was down here,
I thought I was going to open a shop and do it for three years
and then grow up and get a real job. I was twenty five at
the time. Here we are twenty five years later, and the business is
growing and we're sometimes breaking records. Wow, that's that's fascinating to me,
because, like you know, we all had boxes of these cards, like,
I know you hear that story all the time. And who knows,
right right, who knows where my cards ended up? I don't know.
My mom hated him, but that she was like, oh, you know,
like I don't under see you worked so hard mowing lawns and stuff,
and you're spending all his money on the stupid cardboard. But I was just
nuns and how she's like he shakes her head, She's like, unbelievable.
Now, my mom's thing was pick these damn things up off the floor and
get him the hell out of here. You're saying, both sobs were like
that, and the generation is get those darned legos off the floor because they
hurt that my step on the lego man, right right. That's that's fascinating
to me because it, I mean, it is quite an industry. Oh
huge, huge, what's the biggest card or the best card you've received while
in Tucson? Like like you said, Wow, the holy Grail that you've
received and I've gone through. I mean there's all sorts of things you know,
we sold. I think I talked about like we sold that Emmy trophy
that a guy that shot like the nineteen eighty six World Series and his son
actually had the Emmy Award and he brought it. Hearing he had a box
of memory billion. I was like, hey, what's that I ended up
buying and now it turned out to be like the twelve thousand dollars I mean
award, but it's probably worth one hundred k. Now, well, well
I'm speechless. Yeah, I'm a speechless to that. I'm still going to
ground sales and looking for that special drink it this diamond real they're out there.
It's harder to find now because everybody has this. Not baseball cards are
worth millions of dollars, not all of them, but there's still some fines
out there. Yeah, yeah, tell us one more time before we go
the Sunday thing. It's this Sunday, April twenty third. The show's here
at the shop show Time Cards on Speedway East the Craigcroft and where the show
is going to be from eleven to five pm. Steve, you're gonna be
here from one to two. So it's gonna be a great show. Yeah,
okay, I mean even if you're interested, just come by and look.
It's really neat. Right. So we have a lot of different people
and then you're stow your store. Will you open as well? Absolutely?
Okay, all right, George, thanks so much, man, appreciate it.
This was fine. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you guys. Have
you me on right? Thanks George. Anybody would have digging those boxes in
years? I mean, thank you. I may sing bad with my cards.
Who knows what I'm doing with my stuff? All right, let's go
and take our break. We're gonna come back and uh hey, we'll take
your calls five two zero four one six seventy four. A lot of news.
We'll cover a lot of that stuff from breaking news. But if you
want to give us a call, spring football is out there. There's a
lot of transfer, portal stuff happening, all kinds of things going on.
If you've got some cards that you want to tell a story about, we'd
love to hear that as well. So stick around. If you're an Arizona
men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for newly forty years. Now.
Take a look back at the Ludolson era in my new book, Lessons
from Loot. It was a labor of love to the eyes of twenty five
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one zero again rescue home improvements in HVAC. Call to to Hey. This
is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen
fifteen. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeart Radio while just surgeony I
on the Ball and welcome back two Fox spots fourteen fifty on Steve bo you're
jagnzals. You have open lines for next twelve minutes to want to cost seven
five two huety that's our number five two number four six. Yes, Smith
just remembered it. It was good. That was fun with George. It's
always fun with George. He's first of all, he's, you know,
a good dude, good dude, he knows his stuff. Um, there
is a you know, there's just a large segment of people out there who
were interested in this stuff. Yeah, Howard. Howard likes to argue because
he was in the business before. Remember who recalled Yeah, I was in
providing a far George. I hope he's doing okay in South Dakota, North
Dakota. Whatever Dakota, whatever Dakota he might be in. You know,
watch out for those people they do, those bikers. The man. Yeah,
but no, I I you know, I love talking to him every
time. And again. The fascination to me is, you know how he
ended up doing this as a business, right and started out when he was
a kid. And how was it garget much younger fifty because you said he
twenty five, he started twenty five years later. Fifty looks about fifties in
shape. I hate the guy. It's a shape. I got all those
muscles. I looked like this. I got the dad bob. But you
know when you think about that, and you know, twenty five years ago,
right, uh you know, I mean this has been a business for
a long time. Again, I again, I remember those you know guys
at the Star where you know, collecting cards and then I mean I left
there. I left there start ninety one. So we're talking before that that
U you know, this was this was a deal. And now you know,
somebody like Georgia has this, you know, very successful business doing this.
Yeah. No, it's like it's one of the reasons why he got
into the business. So twenty of the reasons why I got into this business
the only thing I've ever wanted to do. You know, you get you
it's not really work. Yeah, but you know what I'm saying, I'm
sure, how many years have you worked? Yeah? How many of your
sixty one sixty three old? So you started working when you're let's saying eighteen.
I was nineteen when I started at the Star. This put in perspective.
Okay, so you've worked, uh, forty forty five years. How
many years have you worked? Oh, I'm gonna say the two years I
did at the City. No, No, that's okay. My time both
at the Star and that Tucson Electric were it was worked, but it was
I It was work. I enjoyed. I love doing it. I love
going to work. And then you know when I got out and started doing
my own stuff. Yeah, I haven't worked a day soon. So two
years out of forty five years. Yeah, it's pretty doting good, pretty
good. Yeah. I've worked thirty thirty give and take thirty eight. I've
worked three year, four years. There are times during the newspaper business you
can't have to deal with ps, but four years total, which is fantastic.
Yeah. Yeah, no, I I you know, I got up
looking forward to stuff every day now and I did then. Um, like
I said, you know, when you worked for the city and you work
in a in an area of the city where people just if they think it's
their job and their right to just step on your neck every day, that's
that's hard. That's really hard to do. That's a heck of an endorsement
for the city of too well. In the position I was in, I
was. I was in the in the UK, I was working in the
city manager's office in the communications thought and the only people you heard from where
people were pissed you. Yeah, that's just that was the nature of what
we did, right, you know, it was the nature of what we
did so that that was hard and I could only take it for that couple
of years. So if you want to give as call, nothing would be
an interesting topic. How long have you worked really worked really well? I
mean, how long have you worked that you considered what you did on a
daily basis just really just be a stuff. I don't want to do this,
I mean. And of course there's some people out there you know who
are like you, and they stay in these jobs too because of what they
pay. Well, sure they're stable Um, you know, they're not going
anywhere. They have skills, and yeah, that's what they do so and
that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. And there are also people who
like to make other people's lives miserable. There are those, and that was
working at the city too. For me. I did well, and really,
in a nutshell, that's why I left because there were too many people
who I work with on a daily basis who that's what they wanted to hear.
They wanted to make your day as miserable as possible. Reason what was
the reason? Politics? For what talent? For their enjoyments they wanted?
They they God, you're gonna get me. You're gonna we're gonna go into
the weeds on this. Well, you don't get There were some city council
members who didn't like the city manager two thousand and two to two thousand and
four, and those city council members didn't like him, mostly because he was
so much smarter than him. So they just wanted to make it as hard
as possible for him to manage the city. And that's and that's what they
felt was their their daily duty, and they did that. They were elected
officials who didn't want things to go well in the city of Tucson because they
wanted to get rid of the city manager. So they did literally sabotage things
because they wanted him out until he finally quit. And you know where he
went to work, Sanford University. That's how smart that guy was, right,
uh, because then up ended up becoming the city manager of Paulo Alto
because he couldn't stand these people any longer than I sure, sure, no,
no, that you know. That's what That's what that group of council
members did at that period of time. They were the most dysfunctional, idiotic
group of people who had been in the elected in elected position that I've ever
run across. Ever, I'm not sure you go, Okay, you guys,
know who you are, who I'm talking to, and the people who
were listening and know who where I was at the time, know who I'm
talking Yeah you get think this is welcome to the political twenty years ago.
Yeah yeah, okay, So listen, if you want to call us,
how many years have you worked? But actually worked among those years? It's
like some people who love teaching, they get into teaching and they really don't
work. Some people think teaching it's crazy. I was a substitute teacher.
I'll never do it again. No, uh you know, uh no,
I that thankless job, thankless job. And the kids are crazy. Yeah,
you kids are crazy. Yeah, they run the show they do,
which is I couldn't believe it. I think we would have got our butts
kicked. No, I hear you know, you know I did enough.
I didn't enough speaking at at high schools and middle schools. You know when
I was a journalist to see how a classroom runs, now, I would
you know, they would give me their attention because but getting to that,
yeah, to see the things that a teacher had to do to you know,
to do I'm like, there's no way I would want to No,
no, and every day for whatever. Shoot, now you don't know if
you're gonna get shot, why would you ever want to do that? Very
said, hey man, those people are saints, right without questions, deserve
to do the work that they're doing. We'll get off the political soap,
okay, because we keep getting on it. We tell you other things than
basketball, So everyone they could be hearing any time from If I'm crating,
there's a guy from from California. Bea break oh, okay, so I
won't talk about that. So there's a lot of things going on. The
women's women seems got a recruiter two right coming back, So things are looking
at least promising. Yeah, you know, it's shaping up. It's what
it is. I think. Did I ask you this or we talking about
this? Okay, so everyone talks about a lot of people talk about Okay,
well, who's your recruiting are they? Are they talented? YadA YadA?
Are they good enough to play at Arizona? And I'm saying they know
what they're doing one and over the last few times Arizona has lost in the
tournament, they've lost to teams that weren't as talented. So so much for
being talented, right right? Yeah, I mean there's so many pieces of
what you have to do right you do that? You know, with Connecticut
really the most talented team in the country, I couldn't tell you, but
they had some good pieces, right and then pieces that fit in, right.
Isn't that ninety seven? They fit they fit in at the right time.
Ninety seven. Come on, you had to apologize to aj because he
wasn't wasn't the guy, He wasn't the guy. Jean wasn't that guy,
but he fit in. Yeah, you had you had, you had Miles
Bennet Davidson could do one thing. Jump by Jem. You couldn't shoot,
but he could rebound and jump out of the put stuff back. No,
they had the right It's about having the right pieces. This is like a
good marriage. Whether you're a good looking couple or a bad looking couple.
If you know how to work it, you'll work it. If you don't,
if you're selfish, blah blah blah, it doesn't work. It doesn't
work exactly. And and that's yeah, I mean it all has to fit
together. And that's what these teams do. And that's what you know.
Anybody who's up there, you know, wondering, you know, what's Tommy
Lloyd doing? Why doesn't he Why hasn't he you know, signed any you
know, brought any transfer guys in guys. He's out there trying to put
the pieces together, and it's he's got. You gotta do it carefully,
even as if you're off, if you're wrong on a guy or two,
you lose the season. Lose the season right, right, And you don't
know if you're off or messed up until it happens, right, until it
gets on the floor, gets on the floor, and you work out.
You said, God, maybe this guy doesn't this guy. Yeah, it's
like in ninety seven. I don't know if you remember this. Ninety six.
Ninety seven they had the pieces and it was kind of a nondescript team,
right, and the baby and Simon and Dickerson, JT Nother he read
him off their big names. Ninety eight was better than ninety seven, But
ninety eighty at work, there was a guy named Stephen Jackson. Remember,
right, he couldn't get in, couldn't get in right. What imagine how
he kind of happen? What would have it? Could have thrown off the
dynamic of the team, as talented as he was, because you're gonna have
to sit one of these guys, probably Miles because he played the kind of
Samuel positions, or Dickerson, Dickerson's you know what I'm saying. Right,
Well, my mind goes to Sean Miller's team, the twenty twelve team,
okay, being Duke in twenty eleven, Mumbo Jones. Uh yeah, the
guy who missed a shot, Derrick Williams. Then he goes and gets these
two guys, Josiah Turner and Sadiki Johnson. No, no, there were
the first there was in his first class. There was his first class class
because he got rid of Momo Jones, well the first first years, because
he can't. He inherited whatever they was left. But he got rid of
Momo Jones so that Josiah Turner could start right. Didn't Mambo Jones come in
afterwards? I'd have to see. I believe that because because he lets Momo
Jones go, Mamo Jones transfers to Iona. I think, because he's gonna
start, he wants he thinks Josiah Turner's the answer that Sadiki dude doesn't last
a semester. And Josiah Turner was a mess and he was gone, and
it's like, you know, he made a choice. That's how I that's
how I remember it. Twenty thirteen he went into the draft, so he
went other places. I have to see his two thousand and twelve was was
he came in and he started and he was terrible. And Sadiki Johnson again
he quit at the at the semester. So you make these choices. Mamo
Look, Mamo Jones wasn't great, but he was good for what Sean Miller
was doing right game that he had against against Duke in the in the in
the sweet sixteen. You know, I mean, like why, you know,
why would you say I can't use that. I'm gonna go get I'm
gonna I'm gonna take this guy. But Josiah Turner was such a you know,
he was so highly rated, right, and he was terrible. He
in fact just said blah blah blah blah. He founded in during twenty nine
games, he averaged only six point eight games. Rumors had it that he
was kind of a party year to go back seat blah blah blah, which
is kind of true. Um, I can't find that in two thousand and
twelve he got two thousand and twelve. It must have been freshman year he
was. He was a freshman in two thousand and twelve. Mamo Jones was
the was the point guard in two thousand and eleven and then and Sean I
don't know if you ran him out, but he basically said, Josiah Turner
is gonna be my starter. So Mamo Jones left and Josiah Turner comes in
and he used and he was terrible yeah, because Momo went to Iona Iona,
right, I had that much. Yeah, I mean I'm gonna trying
to go back to him. All right, Well, look it up,
how we're while we're at break. If we're gonna go, we're gonna come
back. We're going to have breaking news here at the here at the top
of the hour. A lot of stuff going on in a lot of different
directions, so we'll be sure to cover as much of it as we can.
And s Hee's gonna come back and tell us the history of Josiah Turner
at Arizona. Will be right back