This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jakon Zalez on Fox Sports
fourteen fifteen powered by Nova Insurance Services. Hey sure your most prized possessions katz
R two side at iHeart Radio Station. Hey, good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome to I on the Ball. You know, Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm
Steve Rivera, He's Jagon's. Also got a guy Jason in today handling the
booth or board. Welcome to Tuesday. Lots going on. We have I
show. Yeah, you know, God, Jim young Man came here fifty
years ago, sive oh years ago, so I've never really met him.
I'm sure you have. I know I've never met him, So that's cool.
Then we have uh, Greg Hanson the second hour. Right, So
one of our buddies texted me and says, it's the old guy day to
day. Well I told Greg, I said, Greg, would love to
have you on the show today, and I'll tell you what, you won't
be the oldest guy on the show. And he said sure. I thought
to myself, Gun, I'm gonna be the youngest dude. But yeah,
Jim young um, who's just recently. Um, there's a letter that he
wrote, and he wrote it to He'll explain, but it was written to
somebody. It got out. Our friend Lee Schappell put it up on Facebook,
and it's a it's a letter that Jim Young wrote, Uh, trying
to get some attention on Bruce Hill getting into the quarter his quarterback from his
days here at Arizona. Getting Bruce Hill into the Ring of honor. Um,
you know, you got to be as old as me to know how
good Bruce Hill was at Arizona. He played, he came here in seventy
three, played three seasons with Arizona, seventy three, seventy four, seventy
five. Um, those teams were all really good. And uh, you
know, I think I don't know if I said this on the air yesterday,
Steve, if we're talking about it, but you know, Bruce Hill,
you know, when you really think he's he's a quarterback that's kind of
forgotten. But when you really think, yeah, probably one of the top
three quarterbacks ever in Arizona. Yeah, we should kind of raise my eyebrows
because well, I don't know really the history of it, but there's been
some pretty good quarterball. Name your top two quarterbacks, the guys I've seen.
Come on, you will find him, right, Nick Vols, right,
because he was a Super Bowl winner and he was really good. And
I couldn't tell you number two. Really in my time good quarterbacks, come
on, I've been here thirty years, so that's well, Arizona hasn't had
no great quarterback. Good quarterback. You know, Keith Smith and Ortie Jenkins
were good as a pair. Danny White won a bunch of games. Uh.
You know with the Desert Swarm teams, there were some kids that under
rich Rod that had a lot of good numbers. I knew Solomon had as
good a year, as good as single year as anybody, but no injuries
and stuff, and so his career didn't didn't wind up well. So really,
I mean, Bruce Hill, you know, did it for three years?
Those teams went I think eight three eight three, and what really so?
And what type of offense? It was really weird too, And Jim
you talk about this. They ran a beer which was an option offense,
so two you know, two half backs basically in the backfield, so there
was an option offense. But then they also threw the ball all over the
field and he had his maybe maybe the best arm of any quarterback. It
was really Ever what happened to him? He never went pro I don't think.
I don't think he did because of the style of play that probably yeah,
well could play, yeah, but that was it. You know,
a time I was in you know, those are my high school years,
right, I was in high school when he was here, and so I
you know, I went, I went to those games with my friends and
you know, went to all those games and they were blast and they were
really good. I mean, Jimmy Young came in here in his first year
and went went eight and three, a team that they had fired its coach
the year before him, wasn't it, you know, And they weren't any
good. I think you were five and six the year before. So and
then he went he went eight eight three, nine two nine two, then
five and six, and then he left and went to Purdue, Yeah,
okay, And then what happened there. It was a Purdue for a few
years, and then he coached a bunch of years at Army Okay, and
then he came back here as an assistant under Dick. At one point.
If I recall, there's an assistant or a consult I think he was an
assistant, Right, Yeah, he did a lot of talk about that,
ye coming back to kind of help out. Yeah, but again he's trying
to get Bruce. He's he feels that Brucelle should be in the Ring of
Honors. So we'll talk ask him that about that first and why he thinks
that. But I think I'll bring back memories for a lot of people,
but like, well maybe not a lot, because I don't know how many
of us are there left. But um, you know a lot of people
who were here in the in the seventies and saw those teams, you know,
t Bell, Willie Hamilton, Jim up Church, those a bunch of
those guys aren't even here anymore. So but Bruce, I think he was.
He came back to the last UM alumni reunion. I think he was
here. So i'd like, you know, maybe get him on the show
at some point. Okay, Yeah, And then we just told Greg would
like to talk about that, and you know, just stuff his impressions of
PAC twelve Media Day, that kind of stuff. So a lot of a
lot of that still being kicked around all over the place. Big ten Media
Dambili starts tomorrow, so there's more Northwestern stuff today, so you know,
more stuff coming out. Cool. Okay, where'd you find him? He
was looking Tahiti or the mountains. I didn't even ask a golf course somewhere
in him. Yeah, I I didn't even ask. I just you know,
threw it out there, said if you're if you're available, we would
love to have you on. And you won't be the oldest guy in the
show. So he replied pretty much right away. Yeah, I mean,
so he'll be he'll be one of the young guys. Okay, cool,
cool, cool. Anybody want to call please do five two o four one,
six seventy four forty. Uh. Some people liked our interview yesterday with
the Crepia. I thought it was very good, very informative. Uh about
what happened with with the boss of the Press Calff. Yeah, right now,
what didn't happen with him? Kind of? I mean, like I
you know, when I plus I said, it went nearly viral because I
mean everybody was talking about Yeah, I mean all the national media was talking
about choice piece of the conversation right of what happened at that exchange with with
Crepia. Yeah, and I did. I don't think it was favorable no
people saying that, you know, in fact, we've just continuing to show
that it doesn't have that together, which which is which is crazy because it's
it should be one of the best conferences in the country, and it's probably
the fifth right this and then this year, And let me tell you something,
Jay, if they can't prove themselves this year with the people they have
one, right, then they're gonna be in trouble right well and again,
but you know, you run that, you're they're running the risk that that
you know this, these leagues, this league just beat each other up over
the course of the year, and every team's gonna have two losses, right
right, Yeah, Well it's because it's done that in the past. Because
one thing, you know, Yeah, you've got four great teams, and
other other conferences have three or four great teams. But the bad teams this
year aren't bad, right right. Washington State can beat you, Oregon State
can beat you, Ucla can beat you. And you can even argue that
Arizona can beat you. And and so the teams that are generally bad are
better. Uh, you know, I've I've long thought this, Steve,
I've I've thought for a long time. You know, what are the differences
between why I thought the PAC twelve was better than some of the other leagues.
It was not about the top teams. It was about the bottom teams.
There are you know there until recently when Arizona went winning the eleven Cardo
and eleven, the worst team in the league was never as bad as the
worst team in other leagues. Right, you could lose to any team in
the league on any day. They've had a lot of that. Yeah,
well, this is gonna be the year where the if the if the top
teams don't get prepared or they're gonna get kind of like basketball. I mean
last year Arizona played basketball, right, and then Washington State comes into town
and gives the year they beat them here, which that never happens, and
it happened, right, Um, you know, I'm sorry to say that.
So you know, no, there're they're the PAC twelve is in that
position where you know, they're good teams could lose to the middle of the
road teams. They're not unbeatable, they're not Georgia and they're not Alabama.
But there's also no Vanderbilts and no you know Runners in the Pac twelve.
Yeah, so we'll see what happens. Are good that we're gonna get to
talk to coach Young. He's in town, right, he's a he's a
local guy. Now, yeah, yeah, he's here. He's here,
he's in town. And funny how these guys all come back, right,
Smith came back and there's a lot of people in town. Dick Tomy spent
a lot of time here, don't they understand? It's one hundred and ten
year I know. But when and when you think about that, you think,
okay, so how bad is it where you where you come from?
Why you want to be here? You know, the Dallas you know,
you know, talking about my trip to Dallas or somebody exchanged uh messages with
on Facebook on Facebook, I just said, damn it was hot in Dallas.
We guy couldn't wait to get back to our heat. It's so different.
Yeah, you know, no, it is so different anyway, son,
but yeah, you know, um, yeah, we'll talk to Jim
Young and uh get talk a little bit about Bruce Hillton and about those teams
that he had had here at Arizona. Okay, look forward to that.
Look forward to that a lot actually, uh and then Grigg in the second
hour, so what's going on and what else is we were here about five
more days before foot Paul starts. Yeah. News of the day, Ronnie
James, right, boh yeah yeah yeah yeah. Um, cardiac arrest you
know, during the workout and uh had to be revived and went to the
hospital. Was an intensive care and he was already out of intensive care,
which you're saying is a good sign. But you know, in a time
like this, it doesn't you know, it doesn't matter. But his you
know, basketball careers in jeopardy. Sure, sure, it's it's um,
how can I say this? Uh? Uh? Lebron wanted to stick around
for a while, so maybe if you mention play with him. It's funny
and not funny, just weird. How all your plans, all your plans
could end just like that, like that, just like that. You know,
people pass away just like that too, where you have all these plans
and then what happened? Everything changes And then for this happened to USC for
a second time. They had a player that that happened to last year,
right he had he ended up coming back to play, right, so you
know what happened. What was Shaquille's son's issue? Was he just his was
a hard issue. Well that's what I thought. That's what I thought.
He had a hard issue that he you know, it never it never uh
you know, never I would say, recovered from it. He just wasn't
able to go continue playing basketball. He did, he did, he did,
I know, he just wasn't as good. Yeah, but I mean,
you know, what will kind of impact that shirt overall? You know?
And and you know, again we still don't know Bronie James is going
to be an NBA player noting. I mean, I guess the chances we're
pretty good with having lebron as yours, your dad and uh, you know,
the pulling strings and whatnot. But um, you know, right now,
the big concern is what's his life going to be like, you know,
what's the rest of eighteen years old? Yeah, but it's it's it's
weird too that that, uh, it doesn't get checked because you're eighteen years
old, right because you're you're in the peak of your career, your peak
of your health or with all that, you don't start going to cardial just
to check your heart until you're are No. And I just went, yeah,
yeah, I did that a few months ago. You got it,
got a nice you know, a nice bill of health on that but clean
bill of health. But you know, you're eighteen years old, you've been
active all your life. Uh, you know, but you know, I
guess probably, I don't know. I guess I shouldn't speculate because I'm not
a doctor or any kind of a scientist. You know, if there's a
there's a cardiologist out there listening to us, i'd loved it. Have somebody
call in and you know, let us ask a couple of questions, because
one question I have is, you know, some of these kids who start
playing really competitive athletics at such a young age, six, seven, eight
years old, you know, are you wearing your body out by getting started
so early? Right? Yeah, I think, Well, I'm not a
doctor either, scentist. I like the question. Um, but but it's
like it's like a car you drive. It's you're not a you're not you're
not a car. You're not two hundred and fourteen thousand miles into it.
But the you know, but but you know, when you get a brand
new car, they say, don't be going eighty miles an hour. And
you know, for given, given a month or so before you start doing
that you know, our kids are our kids using their bodies or or attacking
their bodies at at a young age, that some of them, not all
of them, because you know, there's so many athletes who don't have any
problems like this. Maybe it wears out, you know, they say that
about kids who play the same sport, you know, forever and never start
playing start playing baseball or tennis, whatever, that the things that you use
in those sports can wear out your knees, your shoulders, your arms.
You know that that over time, over time, overtime. By the time
you're eighteen years old, you've pitched so many innings that your career is gonna
end, you know, in your mid twenty because you wear your arms.
Well, here's here's a thing against that. And I don't know if this
is true. Scott ericson right, he comes here, he puts his his
his butt off for a long time in for Ua, and they say,
well, he's never gonna do well in majors because he's already blew out his
arm. He did pretty well. That's why he did pretty well. It
just depends on the body. Well, and right there, I think that's
it, right. It depends on the time, place, person and all
that, but you know, why does you know, why does this Ford
Mustang breakdown at fifty thousand miles when this one goes for two hundred thousand miles.
Heredity probably has something to do it, That's what I say. Uh,
you know, jeans all that stuff, That's what I'm saying it.
You know, it has something to do with your body and then how you
use your body. But you know, you look at you look at Lebron
the guys, he's still going hard at what is he thirty nine, thirty
eight, thirty eight years old, and he's still playing high as high a
level of basketball as anybody well, and then his eighteen year old kid has
this heart issue. How many kids does he have? Yes, three,
So so I'm sure number two and three could be fine. And so you
just yeah, yeah, chances of the world of happening, you know,
if that makes any sense. Yeah, I mean it could have been something
on his wife's side that you know, Yeah, has a good point,
GRONI Yeah, I just never known. Like you said, we're not doctors.
Yeah, but uh, if there's a cardiologist out there, would love
to get a call from you. Uh, after after the after Jim Young
comes on as a guest or in the in the third segment of the second
hour, just to guess a little background of you know this, these kinds
of heart issues that will kind of seem to see them more and more and
more and more in athletes, especially in athletes, and in athletes that you
think their bodies are should be able to handle these these kinds of things,
yet they're there's just one little thing wrong that can can can cost them their
lives. Yeah, be interesting to have a conversation about that, all right,
Jim Young coming right up after the break, we'll talk about some long
ago football and former quarterback Bruce hil We'll be right back. For more than
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on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifty subscribe
now to the podcast on the iHeart Radio app Just Surgeon I on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to Win on the Back here on Fox Sports fourteen
fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jakin's ass. Now on the phone,
we have Jim Young, former U of A football coach, longtime college football
coach coach. How are you doing. I'm doing just fine. Yes,
happy to have a chance to talk with you all. We're very excited to
talk to you. We know how important is the program is and how they
loved you here back in the day and still love you. Jim, can
you play? I don't know. Go ahead, we did, Jim.
I I can say I was one of the ones here. I'm gonna say
I was in high school at the time, So I'm an old guy,
and which I guess makes you an old guy. But can you make believe
it's been fifty years since you got here? Does it seem like that at
all? Uh No, I can't imagine that really it's been fifty years ago.
But unfortunately that's true. So, um, I saw the letter that
you had read that you wrote it ex explained to me how that came about
because you told me yesterday. It wasn't intended to kind of get out there
and cause an uproar or anything like that, but you just feel that Bruce
Hill should be in the in the Ring of Honor at the A and you
you wrote this letter. Yeah, yes, I really didn't, you know,
pay much attention to the Ring of Honor there. And then um,
I got thinking when some of the players contact me about having the reunion here
this fall, that that would be a good time to bring up maybe Bruce
should be in there. And then as I started pursuing it a little bit
more and I friend of ours, we go out to dinner with Carl Porter,
used to be a sportswriter here, and I wrote up about Bruce and
gave it to him, not intending because I give him a lot of the
things I write up. And I guess he then contacted somebody that had been
on the staff here and over in Phoenix, a newspaperman, and so that
all sort of proceeded, and I guess you through different people. You got
it on the air, and I don't know where all that came from.
But then I just decided, after I looked up the Ring of system and
saw who's in there and so forth. I couldn't understand why Bruce wasn't in
there, and that's what got me thinking, Okay, do you think eventually
that will happen? I sure, I certainly hope. So I think he's
certainly deserved that. I don't know if you've seen the thing I wrote up,
but he has the best one lost record of any quarterback that's been around
here, and he was in our You know, football has changed greatly and
certainly in fifty years, so it was entirely different concepts then. But to
be a drop back passer pro passer and run a triple option the outside veer
and reading the option, those are very difficult things to put together when I
wanted to. When I first came here, they said, well, you
can't do those two systems, and I wanted to do them, and we
did them, and we did them because Bruce was capable of doing that,
and that's why I think we were able to win a fair share of games.
Well, you know, when you when you think about it, that
you know, this was all fifty years ago and he's still having this kind
of impression on you. What was it about him that's made him kind of
stick in your mind as somebody that you'd want to, you know, have
this kind of conversation about Okay, when I first came here and I was
interviewing the players, and they told me that a freshman quarterback was transferring,
he dropped out of the program, and I or to talk to him,
and that was Bruce. And Bruce came in and we sort of hit it
off, and I said, you'll have an opportunity in the spring, and
he decided to stay. And he had a great spring game with throwing a
lot of passes and running a lot of options, and so he just became
our quarterback because well he was number one for one thing, if you remember,
they were all one, two and three up Church Hamilton in the hill
and he started for us then for three years. What made him so special
athletically or on the field, Uh, well, he was a talented the
athlete. He he had good speed, he was a leader, he was
a very competitive individual. We played a different kind of football back then.
If we ran a sweep, he pitched the ball out and then led as
one of the blockers. So he was a tough quarterback. He had some
excellent players with him. One stretch in nineteen I guess it was seventy five.
He went five and a half games without having a turnover, and in
the last game against a su when we lost in the when Jefferson made the
great catch in the end zone, he threw an interception at the end of
the game. If he hadn't thrown that interception, he would have at that
time been the all time college leader in fewest interceptions in the season. So
he did a lot of things. So you know too, and I think
he's kind of even over the years because uh, you know, so much
happened, you know, when Larry Smith got here, and I know Tony
Mace was in between you guys, but you know Larry and then Dick too.
He's sort of almost like one of the great forgotten quarterbacks. So there
haven't been a lot of great quarterbacks in the Arizona history, but he's kind
of because it was sort of back away, they were in the whack and
all that kind of thing. You feel like maybe he hasn't gotten a due
because of that. Well, yeah, I think you you hit something right
there the whack and there when the Arizona But if it hadn't in my opinion,
if it hadn't been for Bruce. Uh, it might never have been
in the pack at ten because Arizona when I came here and when Bruce became
the quarterback, had lost nine straight times to Arizona State, and then we
lost the first year and then he won the next year. But to go
into the pack ten at that time they wanted both Arizona Arizona State, and
Arizona was not quite up to it. And you know, and so I
think that the fact that we won, and we won with him a quarterback
certainly help. And I know another thing it did was put the stadium edition
going up right because we we drew the fans right. That happened well while
you were here. So so you know, when you got here back in
that time again, they were coming off some tough times, the previous coach
that had been fired. What did you see in the program that you thought,
you know, I can make this work. Well? I of course,
I was an assistant at Michigan when I came out here, and the
most impressive thing for me when I got here was the speed that we had.
We had so much more speed, not necessarily in Bruce Hill, although
he had good speed, but in up Church and have a and Darryl Davis
was another guy. We had just great speed compared to what they had in
the Big Ten at that time. And that means sound strange, but that
nevertheless was the way it was. And uh, we were lucky. We
had a good returning number of players and in Dawson and and just and t
Bell a lot of a lot of excellent talent. And I think we gave
him a brought him together and made him a unit as a team that maybe
they hadn't been in the past, and and got off to a good start.
And from then and on we won. And you want a lot um
it's what do you talk about speed? Because not being from here, I
got here in the late eighties, Arizona and the West is not is not
known for being big, it's known for being fast. That's what I was
saying. Yeah, I was surprised. I remember this a long time ago,
but when I came from Michigan to Arizona, we had about six players
that were faster than anybody that we had at Michigan. I'm talking about running
backs and receivers and so forth. And yeah, you're you're right. Yeah,
So I don't know where that's still true anymore, So I do think
so I think it. I think the Pact twelve or the West Coast teams
were still seen that way, even though even though the Mountain West easton that
that speed and all that kind of thing. So you get here seventy three,
you guys go eight and three? Did you see that coming? Uh?
I know I've ready coach, every coach thinks are gonna win. But
you come out, you win. I'm looking at the schedule. Now you
win five in a row, loss of Texas Tech won three more. And
you know, I mean, did you see an eight in three season coming
when you got here? But you know, h I want to say,
yes, I believed that. I don't know where it would be eight and
three, but I certainly didn't think I was good. We were going to
lose. Yeah, And once I saw the talent that was here, the
speed, and I think we put in a discipline program that the players adjusted
to. And I just might uh mentioned because the players are always talking about
it. The first meeting we had in a meeting room over there in McHale
and it was start at four o'clock. And at four o'clock I locked the
door and about five or six guys hadn't come in yet, and I think
that's set a tone that enabled us to proceed to become a real team.
So I want to I want to throw this back because this is one of
the games that I've always remembered. Uh uh, you know, of all
the games that you know, I've been to that Texas Tech game in seventy
five, I think you guys were down like twenty eight to three or something
like that and came back and won that game, you know, at the
very end, and that is a game that will always stick out to me
as one of the great comebacks, great wins at a time when Texas Tech
was considered, you know, a really tough opponent for Arizona, and you
guys came back and win that game. Do you remember much of that game?
Well, only that at the last three seconds, I think we went
ahead, yep, and uh yeah, it was uh you know, I
have a picture, a huge picture of celebrating. I was at twenty eight
to twenty seven or something like that. You guys kicked a field goal and
why I remember the guys kicked a field goal to go ahead and then got
a safety on the kickoff, and that's yeah, yeah, you're right,
You're right. I didn't remember. The game that sticks out in my mind
so much was seventy five when Arizona stayed beat us with John Jefferson's great catch
in the end zone, uh laying out and uh if we I think if
we had had instant replay at that time, Uh might the ball might have
bounced a little bit in his grasp as he hit the ground, But nevertheless,
we didn't have it. Then one time I saw him when uh this
was fifteen years later, and we were talking, and but he said he
caught the ball. I think everybody sought the Castle Grants thinks it was a
drop, and everybody North thinks he caught it. So that's yeah, that's
what I say. And and actually, being an old time guy, I
wouldn't want to replay might give us a victory because I hate those replays that
they do all the time. And then he always they're always talking about speeding
up the game, and you can't speed up the game as long as you're
going to have those replays. Do you know what Bruce Hill is up to
now? Have you spoke to him? Yes, I saw him last year.
He's in la U. I honestly, he was a teacher. I
don't know whether whether he's doing that now or not, but he lives.
He's been in LA all that time. It's when I left here and went
to Purdue and Bruce had been gone graduated the year before, and he was
at that time teaching in school in LA and I wanted him to offered him
a job to come Purdue and he won this. He thought he could be
a pro player, and he said, I want to stay in work to
become a pro. So that was really the last time that we were together.
Right, Well, why why do you think he was not a pro.
He was not passing wise, he didn't have a great accuracy. He
had a strong arm, his accuracy was not predicted great. In our system
was more run than passed. We were a drop passing, but we also
we ran a lot of triple option. We're split back what they used to
call the Houston beer and uh so, you know he was a quality athlete,
but not necessarily just an accurate passer. Okay, great, Jem,
It's been a pleasure talking to you about this. This was fun. Threw
me back to my high school days, riding the riding the city bus,
to go to the go to the football game. Just you know, I
rushed the field when you guys beat as you tend to nothing because I was
one of those people who finally you guys, you guys want beat a su
So that was great, yes, yes, uh, and that was a
great feeling for me. And Willie Hamilton scored right at the end of the
game or it had been three to nothing, yes exactly, but that was
a great uh victory. Maybe down the road we can have you on talk
to you more about today's world of football. The craziness started going through now
Okay, okay, be happy to do that sometime. Thanks again, be
well and we'll talk again. Appreciate it. Thanks, thanks for the call.
Yeah, what a nice gentleman. You know. To me, he's
one of those guys because I don't know him. I've seen him through the
always back in the day, like you're you're intimidated a little because he's this
guy. Well again, that's another one of those interviews that we done.
I can't remember the last time who who it was, but just just kind
of tingly feeling talking to him because again, you know, seventy three the
whole time he was here, I was in high school. Well Herman Harris,
remember the herman with his guys degree, and he broke down and he
started. So you know that time of my life as a sports fan,
I get it. I get it, um and and you know, and
he's you know, the east section, the upper deck and the east side
got built because of them, because he was here. You know, they
got into the pack Pac ten because of what they had done those three years.
So that was great. A lot of winning, a lot of winning.
Maybe he could make it contagious. That was fun. Was all right,
we'll take your calls five to zero four, one seventy. We'll be
right back. 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
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a team security dot net. Steve Rivera and Jacome Samians they have their eye
on the ball on two Sons sports station Fox Sports fourteen fifty. They welcome
back to twining about you on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Steve Rivera, He's
Jackins House. Gotta go with Jason here with us. We have about two
minutes. Yep, if you don't call, please do what you can come
about our Jim Young interview. That that was fun. It was very cool.
Again. You get to be like a little boy. I do.
I do. I get a look giddy with guys like that because you know
they come from a time when you know, my first US not experience is
just kind of my upbringing. It sports took place, you know, and
I know that's fifty freaking years ago, so long ago, but I thought
that was very cool to be able to talk to him, and he,
I mean remembers all the things like we remember it. I mean, he's
got some years on me, but you know, it was it was a
big deal. And you know, Arizona football is a big deal back to
me way back then, and uh, you know obviously continues to be.
So let anybody want to call five two, four, one, six,
seventy four, forty would appreciate you calling. Let us know what's going on.
Yep. Um, so many things happening day. I don't know how
many, how much of this stuff you're gonna have in your breaking news,
But we already talked about Bronnie James and and all of that, and that's
just, you know, highly unfortunate. But um, I don't let me
throw this one out there, because you know, we talked about Jayon Delora
going, you know, going to Pack twelve media Day, you know,
taking the questions, you know, answering you know what he could answer.
The three Northwestern football players who are going to be going to Big ten Media
Day have said we're not calling and they're they're not taking any players. Um,
you know, they don't want to have to answer the questions, and
so just interesting contrasts and how you know, And I guess you can't make
these guys go, right, I guess you can. You can say if
you don't go, you're kicked off the team or something, but they weren't
going to do that. But interesting that they would rather not answer the questions
than you know what Arizona did to have their guy go ahead and deal with
it, because they're gonna get asked, you know, whether you whether they
like it or not, whether they go to Big twelve or Big Ten Media
Day or not, they're gonna get asked those questions at some point, don't
you think. Yep. So here's their statement. After talking with our parents,
our teammates, and coach Abraun, we have made the decision to not
attend Big Ten Media Day. This was very difficult since we were excited about
the opportunity to participating in this great Big Ten tradition and to talk about the
game we love and the season ahead. But given the recent events involving the
Northwestern football program, we did not want our participation to be dominated by the
hazing issue and steal the focus away from football in the upcoming season. We
are proud members of the Endia football program and want our on a performance and
not feel conduct to always reflect the values of the university and our fans.
Go Cats. It's Bryce Gallagher, Rod Herd and Bryce Kurts. And my
first reaction to that was, Okay, are you hazers or are you you
know? You? Are you? You know? You know what I'm saying.
I don't have to talk about Yeah, I know what you're saying.
I think it's a good move. I think it's a good move, um,
because it's gonna dominate the whole conversation. But if I were them,
but I don't know how. The look is not good, right, it's
a bad it's a bad look. Um, I don't know. It's a
mess. I don't know. You know, it's it's funny. Are you
a kid? Are you a kid? Yeah? What sense? Um?
What do you mean? Are you? Are you a kid? You're a
young man? Are you an adult? I'm a young man. Yeah.
So so these kids are young adults. They know what they're in for,
so they should know. They should know. Um, they're not kids.
I can not kids. Um, they're not kids, and they you know,
But I ask because you're a student. I think you know, when
you're a college athlete like this, you girl faster than the guys who aren't.
Right, Yeah, for sure. But you know again, look the
way it sounds is that this thing that's been going on in northern Arizona,
it involves everybody. You know, You're not gonna be able to tell me
that every player on the team hasn't had an experience with it one way or
another, don't you think? Yeah, of course. I mean, if
it's happening on the team, everyone you know you've been hazed, you're a
hazer, or you've seen the hazy Yeah of course. And you know all
the above has happened, right, All the above has happened. Um,
it's a tough situation. But but the coaches, like I say, this
is not this is not a one off. You know, you know deep
down this happens a lot of places. Sure, and and now you know
that other places are saying we better stop this crap right right now or else.
I mean, I'll be surprised if we don't get you know, a
run of lossuits from a bunch of others. Yeah, maybe I don't know
how many, or maybe you know, somebody says your ghost the administration.
But you know this happened to me. I'm going to see the school if
you don't do something right now about this, whether I mean give me a
bunch of money or and or stop what's going on? Yeah, right right,
we'll see what happens. I don't you understand what whether or not doing
it. I know you're just kind of giving me an example, but uh
uh, not going it's probably smart because that's the topic of conversation. Uh
well, it needs to be explained. How much more can you explain it
that it's already been written and said, because now it's up to the attorneys,
Yeah, to figure this out, and that's that needs doing for What
are they suing for? They want damages for what they went through? Oh,
personal injury would be personal injury. You know, they want to an
emotion of distress, you know, sexually abused, YadA, YadA, YadA.
Yeah, well we saw at your Mexico State. The guys got millions,
four millions. When they're going and they're going after the university. You
know the university has got money too. You know they have to put into
this, and they're gonna have to put into this. The question is how
much are they gonna have to put into this? And what does this do
to the university? You almost wonder if if this was so the so widespread,
if you maybe I don't know, maybe it's just too dress. Do
you think you don't play a football season? You're cleaning this up? Yeah?
You know. I mean the New Mexico State and their football seasons,
basketball season for for a lot of different reasons, but yeah, because of
the shootings and then this showed up, and no questions that I saw you're
gonna have a football season with this hanging over you, You're not gonna have
a very good one. Uh. We've seen disasters from these things where they'll
win no games. And the things about it, too, is that they
were already bad, They were already mad. What the hell are you doing?
This doesn't improve your team? Now? A bunch of a bunch of
guys who are aren't any good getting this done. And I'm sorry, but
to me, it tells me that the atmosphere around the program is so bad.
That's why they got so bad. Yeah, because they were good for
a while during this part of the culture. But then at some point people
got sick of this and said, I don't I'm not giving my offer a
team that does this to me. Jay, we talked about this all the
time, and and um, Jason, are you going to a job that
you absolutely hate? How much do you enjoy going to work to work with
a bunch of jerks that you're working with you don't, don't ye? And
in practice, God, I gotta go to practice and possibly be abused.
How God, I hope I don't cuss. I'm almost ready to cut whoever.
You know enough, Yeah, at least for jobs you get paid,
right, A lot of these guys aren't probably making a bunch of I own
money, you know, no endorsements and whatnot. So they're just you know,
going to practice every day in this bad environment kind of dealing with sure.
So yeah, no, I I agree. I mean, you know,
again, if we've talked a million times, Steve, that you know,
in order for you for a program to be good and be good a
long period of time, people gotta love being there, right, without questions,
the locker room has to be great, you know. To win championships,
you have to have a great locker room horrible. Locker rooms don't win
championship, don't. The Golden State Warriors this last year talked about how the
issues with Jordan Pool and ray and Draymond Green, you know, and before
that locker room was fantastic because well, winning kind of that. But but
you still have the same people, yeah, kind of the same people.
Said. Now, if you don't like each other, forget it, right,
it's like marriage, all things being equal, it's hard enough to win
championships, you know, when everything's great, you know, everything can be
great, and it's hard to win championships. But when it's bad in the
locker room and guys don't like each other and don't want to play for each
other, it's it's almost impossible. I mean that's the way I see it.
Yeah, it's it's it's gonna take years for this to get better,
to get fixed, right, because you just don't wait for one and say,
Okay, this is not a Colorado state Colorado. It's where you can't
even replace people. No, this is a culture of a school issue.
School issue, because that's become an issue. It's in the it's in the
other sports. Yeah, it's a thing that's gone into the other school.
That's I'm sure the football. It wasn't the chicken egg and the football,
So so other people saw it in the football, so I thought it is
okay. I still say you have it in other schools because it's it's uh,
it's accepted in society where you have the bullys and you don't have the
buoys, and people bully you for a reason because I think they can have
some power. Yeah. No, yes, you're you see that marketplaces or
jobs where you know the boss is the boss and I am the boss.
You can listen to me no matter what I say, and the guy says,
well, I need the job, so I have to put up with
this crap. Yeah you've been there, I've been there, I have,
we all have. Yeah, you know I saw I mean I saw it
in high school. I saw it exactly. You know everywhere it starts,
every it starts and until it stops, which it never will. You just
gonna deal with what you have to deal with. Oh, you just kind
of say enough for ready, You just say enough? And that's how do
you? How do boys get beat? You stand up to them, kill
you beat the crap out of them. You beat them if you don't at
least you make a dance. You can make a dance. And they say,
well, now I know this guy's gonna have fight with me all the
time. I mean, I was gonna say, don't give him attention,
you know, just kind of distance yourself from them. And yeah, but
you can't. You can't go the other hallway the rest of the four years
of high school. You don't saying you can't avoid them. If he's searching
for you, that's that's true. Yeah, you have to say enough either
I'm gonna get my ass kicked today, but I'm gonna stand up for what
I believe in. Yeah, and maybe you get your ass kicked again.
But but you have to you know, it's easy to say I was sitting
in a chair over the way, but you know what I'm saying, you
have to do something, and and north Western didn't do anything. Yeah,
which makes no sense, especially in the boss when you're making millions. Yeah,
yeah, no, yeah, And that's that's the thing. Um uh.
You know Pat Fitzgerald, you know, the millions of millions of obvious
just yet he thought it was okay to you know, let all this go
on. So, man, I don't know, this is a long again.
This this is a long way, a long way from getting fixed in
Northwestern and they're gonna, I mean, this program is gonna be a mess
because of this for a long time. You don't, you don't just roll
in and clean it all up in one in one or two years. Is
something that's gonna take a long time to get past. How much of the
coaching staff did they turn over only the head coach? And the thing is
that they're they're starting to be new lawsuits naming other coaches as having been part
of it. Right, There's there's more to come on all that. So
now Jay, okay, so now you have the the oh god, we
have to go. Okay, we'll talk about the slitter. Okay, all
right, let's hit out of here. Take a break. Uh, Jason
will be back with the breaking news, and there's lots of it. We'll right back