Friday, january 10, Hour1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteenth fifth Day, powered by Nova Insurance Services Insure your most Prized possessionets.

Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Tim Bentley, my usually Friday Day Friday guy. Hello, Hello, welcome back, Jim.

I'm glad to be back. Happy Yeah, Happy New Year.

You were like mister Dora the Explorer.

I was out and about.

I went to Seattle, was up there when it was about twelve degrees so that was prepared for the cold weather here.

You went to find the winter.

Oh my goodness, it was.

It was.

It was. It was so.

Cold, especially Seattle. That's kind of like fun.

It's rainy cold, so it wasn't any any fun cold like it has been here. And then through New Year's I had the crowd that everybody else had. So I missed a day with you missed today.

You know, Okay, No, you're back. That's fine. We've had some pretty good show was yesterday. It was a pretty good show if you missed it. We're at the Casino Dell Soul with the Greg Hanson and my guy Ja Gonzalez. Today. Jay will be back at the end of the show with his picks. Trying to catch me at the final weekend of the season.

Sounds close to me. This sounds like it's a horse race.

I choked last week, so now he's caught up one of these.

Remind me, what's the bad again? Are you guys? Million dollars next?

Yeah, next year's entry feeds. He paid for me this year because I beat him. Now, I don't want to lose my throwing here.

No good.

Good to have you back. Cool. You're well known in the city. I've brand into some people that knew you and you were going to be on the show?

Did I I do? I owe him money?

They did not say anything but that, But you know, as long as they didn't say it, you're good.

I know.

Well, a lot of people know you too, Steve, so I run across people, so they did, You're on that show?

Yeah, Now, Steven Arry is a good guy.

Two people when that was my mom and she's I was gonna that line too for a uh no, okay, cool.

So today we're gonna talk a lot about the basketball game tomorrow with U A and uh, you know UCF late night, another late night game they get to stay. Of course, I'll ask you a question that we talked about yesterday. First of all, we're gonna have mister Torres, Aaron Torres from Fox Sports here in about three fifty three seventeen calling from Los Angeles, getting his thoughts on the team and the college basketball is kind of a weird season. Anybody can anybody can win it.

You know.

I mean we're on a five and zero wind streak, right.

I mean it's like I was watching some games and I was like it was on a Tuesday or something, and I'm like, oh, this is this is Big twelve basketball. So yeah, you know, anybody can win. And I love watching it's it's it's a good test. Early on, I'm glad we're getting beat up and elbowed and you.

Mean earlier in the year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and they have been and they have been so And then at the four to seventeen hour we're gonna go with Brian Peabody from Pima. They're undefeated. I don't know where they're ranked, but they're under feeded, like seventeen and OHO doing very very well. They have the Marley kid from Phoenix.

Nice.

So they're doing really well.

He's a good coach, Yeah he is. He is a great coach.

Yep. He has a bigger run Tours than Tommy Lloyd. I don't give him a grief about that. Uh So, no cool. So I asked the guys yesterday with Jay, mister, mister happy, mister, you know, I'm a U bag guy and Greg. Greg kind of agreed, No, he didn't, kind of agree. He agreed with me. So Arizona's a five and zero in the last five very the right of the ship to a degree. I'm trying to not label or to sway you. Uh, they've beaten you know, five straight,

I you know, you and I have talked about coaching in the past, and so do you want to win the early part of the season or do you want to win you know, later at middle and then the end.

Of the season.

So it's rhetoric. Is that rhetorical?

Just a little bit?

But I you know, I was watching him play and it's you know, they're getting the ball in the middle, you know, down load a little bit more often than they did early on. We had those talks in November, like, what the what's I even have a tall guy down there?

You know you're not going to pass to them.

So I don't know if they've gotten you know, if they've turned it around one hundred and eighty degrees.

But it feels better to me.

That's a great phrase. It feels better because it does feel better and it looks better too.

Right, and not just because they're winning, but because they're playing in a way that's like, okay, this makes sense.

You know, they're moving the ball, they're they're not just running and gunning, and.

So it feels better. They're not just running gunning, but they are, which is good for them. They're not just plotting. Because this year they're plotting.

It look horrible, right the old it felt out of sink and you know, at a at a at a sink for sure, out of whack, and it just didn't feel right.

So it just feels better.

Feels better. Yeah, Okay, so so I posed that, well they better and okay you kind of said yes, Uh, they just didn't play anybody, and people are gonna say, okay, the first three before the Big twelve, they didn't. Those teams were ayn't good, right, Those aren't the team you're going to play the turna right, right, And Cincinnati and West Virginia are Okay, I know they were ranked, but that was kind of they backed into being ranking. Right.

Well, you know what, I think, we beat West Virginia on the for the second time, so we learned a little.

Bit, right, you beat him for the first time after the second right after, right.

So I think you know that's that bodes well, you know, like people are learning, you know, listening to what coach Lloyd's saying.

Well, let's say this, it beats the alternative, which the alternative is losing right right, right, So so yeah, so they've gotten better. They're playing better, playing looks better.

You know, it just feels it feels right to me. It hits the right spot in my brain.

Yeah, so are they better at I said yesterday that let's wait until or hold judgment until they played the Houstons, the Iowa States, the Texas Techs, the Baylors, because those are the teams that you'll be measured against in March.

Right.

And you know, my buddy Dave is a big Houston fan and he's riding them all.

The way through Houston, Houston as he should.

They're very good, they're great, and so I think what's missing, you know, like I would say that their medium right now, they're not great, they're not bad. Who's the and their medium right now? And what hasn't clicked for me is you know, you used to kind of you used to know that Juve was going to rise to the challenge. They were going to play the great teams great and I don't feel like they've done that.

Just quite yet.

Well, you know, because they haven't, you know, the games that they.

Don't get that sense that they have that that extra gear.

Right and and you had proof with the first those games that they lost with UCLA's and the Oklahoma's and all that, even though Oklahoma's kind of middlely now kind of, but they're still good. Uh So, But that's I'm not poop pooing Arizona because I think eventually they're going to get even better moving forward.

But if they beat the teams that they shouldn't.

Beat or will have a hard time beating, the Iowa States, the Houston's, the Baylors, and the Texas text maybe uh then they then they sold me.

I'm in and if they can win a few of those games, you know, make it to the tournament. I think that, you know, this rough row through the Big twelve Welcome to It boys, is going to help them.

Well. Just a few days ago, maybe ten seven, no one thought that they're well, no one, a few people thought they were going to be the tournament at all. Right, there were nowhere to be found. Now you can kind of probably see that they're capable.

Yeah, and then worthy, you know that you get on a run, you know, they start to feel good, they start to listen to their coach. You know, I've I've heard some people say, you know, you know, people start to think about these kids, start to think about you.

Know, what is it? What does a run look like? How does it help me?

You know, how does it help me in that sense going forward? You know, like if you know, when the season gets done, where do I stand?

Yeah?

And I owe money the next gig.

Isn't that sad? That that's what we're kind of talking about now. It's not about the team, It's not about it's like what's in it for me?

You know? And it's it's every time you're.

Talking about that, I do because I see it and I and I and I think, you know it's you know, you're going to be just like the NFL. You you root for the colors, the NBA, you root for the colors. It's going to become that way, Sorr. It's going to be hard to be loyal to a team because you're to a college team, to the players.

But that's always been the case because if you're a booster guy or whatever, you've always been a booster to the school. Right And Tim Bentley comes through for three four years, he's gone, okay, nice knowing you, Tim, Thanks, you know, you're always a wildcat. Steve comes in, blah blah blah. You always get but you're always they're putting money into the school, not the person.

Right, But now that it can be you don't invest in a kid for three or four years, you're you.

Know, you're renting. You're renting a player a kid for a you know, for six or seven months.

That's the sad part.

Yeah, I worry about the you know, I worry about the kids because they really are kids, eighteen to twenty.

Two year olds in what sense, well, what kind of advice are they getting? You go over here, you go there, they don't care.

You know, what'd you think when you're eighteen nineteen.

I think they're getting those I think those kids are getting bad advice.

Tim, don't touch the stove. Tim, don't don't put this fork in that plug.

I know foods that are purple are not good for you. Can I eat hot tomorrow every day for breakfast?

Exactly? You think I've got one point five in the bank, Tim, or mister Booster, I don't need to hear you.

All these kids want to play at the next level, and you know, statistics show that one percent of them might.

So I worry that they don't get good advice.

You know, Hey, you can make it to the NFL or to the NBA if you go to the next school and then they get hurt and they get they get lost in that show.

Yeah, well that's gonna be the case. I think it's going to be the case. We've talked about that where where education is lost in this whole mix because they're jumping from one school to the other, transfer credits and YadA YadA. Five years are done. Well, what degree do you have? Well I don't have one.

Yeah, but you have six years of school. I went to school you know, for for eighteen of those months out of six.

Years, right right, And you know, come on, I don't think maybe there's a professor out there that's listening. You can call me. Do the kids actually care about school? Have the ever? I'm sure the serious ones do it. I'm not.

My wife is a professor at the UVEAN, and so I have a unique insight.

Okay to this, So they do, but they does she teach student athletes.

From time to time. She does. Okay, good, so from time to time.

The qualified for this conversation.

Yes, I doubt if she's going to call in right now.

But you know, the kids in that eighteen and nineteen range, they're going to be knuckleheads.

Yeah, sure, of course.

It doesn't matter if you're a high level athlete or you're the smartest kid. You're just knuckle ahead, you know.

But these upper classmen, these kids that decide that school is important to them, those kids are good, are good students.

Yeah.

It just it's like anything else. It just takes a couple of years of maturation. Sure, to mature a little bit, sure, especially when you get closer to the end of the road. Are you're thinking, oh crap, do I know enough, Am I ready enough?

Exactly.

I have a couple of interns that have come through here in the years. In fact, I reached out to them today and they had internships when they left. And I suggest this all the time, and you know you're in the business, start early, meet as many people as you can. Get your name out. If you're good, they'll find you or keep you. And two of them just don't have jobs. I mean they don't have jobs because the one was of the dbacks. I didn't know it was a seasonal thing with the season. Now he's in

Wow.

So but you know, hell, my newspaper closed. My whole career went the crap. Well, so you pivot. I tell kids all the time you have to be essential. I've told your your guy here, I said, be essential. Yes, I can do that. You want, I got it. I can do that.

Can I help.

I'm in you know, be essential, be in in somebody's space and say I can do that, because eventually something's going to happen.

Whatever you need.

People aren't just going to hand it to you. And so these kids that are in college, you talk about getting to the end. You know, at some point, you know, when their eligibility is running out, they're going to realize are they in for the next level or not? And that's that hard wake up call that I worry about for some kids that don't have that education or don't

I give you that, give you that.

Right now, I have a I have a half a semester of eligibility left. I'm thinking about going back. They're gonna make me gifts them.

In but it's just tough. And I'm not crying for the student athletes. They've never had any better than now, right, Uh, you know, the Noah's and the TM Max and all those guys. Some guy was gonna pay. I saw somewhere at one point five million, uh somewhere, maybe a quarterback in Washington State. I'm thinking, really quarterback for washing in Washington State. I think that's where it was. How in the world, I don't welcome to America, you know.

I read about it, and I know that you know these high level players that you have super duper talent or their super high profile. You know, they bring a lot of attention to your program. I can see that. But there this must be a big pot of money that I don't know about, yeah somewhere.

Yeah, you and I both don't know the right people. Nothing they're going to give it to us, although I am looking for sponsors. So get a hold of me for one of the brothers, very inexpensive. Hey, with that, we'll take a break, wait here for mister Taurus to get a hold of us, and we'll talk a lot about college basketball and the state of college basketool that we're in right now.

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Streamy Live on the iHeartRadio WI. This is High on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox sportsporteen fifty.

Hey, welcome back to play on the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Riverta. Here Tim Bentley. Now we're just waiting a call from our guy, Aaron Torres, and here At comes. Let's see what he says. Aaron is this you?

Yes, sir?

What's up?

How are you doing? Aaron, We're on the air. You called just in time. We're just coming back, perfect timing. Yes, good to hear from you guy. You must be busy tracking everybody around the college basketball scene.

Yeah, it's a fun time of year. It's it's you know, December. I'll say this and you know, Janny, December used to be a little bit of a reprieve with everything. Yeah, but with the expanded college football playoff and with the transfer portal in football, it no longer is. But I'd rather be busy than not busy. So it's been a busy time, you know. I think college football is a really on its lass legs. Two games left in the season.

So it's time.

This felt like the real.

The first week that everybody was locked in on basketball and cannot wait to kind of do that with you guys over the next few minutes and really over the next few months.

Yeah, I know, you keep your eyes on Arizona basketball. I had Fran Mischelle on earlier this week. I think it was the best, very very good, very insightful, and he made a mention that I really didn't know or pay attention to, maybe that the Big Twelve was down. Do you agree, because it kind of makes sense.

No, I've heard hear him say that in passing, don't. I don't want to be for frand for sure certainly the guy who's the face of the league and has covered it for fifteen twenty years. Whatever, I don't, I don't perceive him meaning it's literally down. I think what he means is that for years, the Big Twelve, not only with the eye test, but was basically always the best conference in college basketball. And I think a lot of that part of it too, was it was just smaller. Right.

Yeah.

Right, you talk about the dilution of the Big Twelve. What maybe was talking about was there's just more teams. Yeah, there's still that strong nine or ten teams at the top that you know, but now that you have eighteen teams, that just drags down and where does the fit in there?

Well, it's a great to both questions. So I think it's I think this is the new reality in college sports. You know, we go back to the college football playoffs, and you know, we would argue over Indiana or SMU or whomever, and and part of the they didn't play anybody is because there's just so many teams in these conferences now. And so to me, I think that, you know, I think that that's every conference they're dealing with it

So everybody stands outside of Dukes.

So it's better to be uh, it's better to be uh where the Big twelve is probably than a lot of other conferences. So that that to me, I think there's no doubt that when you have when you add this, you know, they've had it eighteen what is it, eight teams over the past two years, and they've obviously lost to reasonably good basketball schools as well two great football schools.

But I think that's gonna happen.

That's going to be a byproduct of just the world that we live in. You know, as far as the league itself is concerned, and as far as where Arizona.

Fits into that picture, I think that.

To me, I think there's a definitive top two right now in Houston and Iowa State. I'm not sold that Kansas is there yet.

Now.

They might be there by the end of the year, but you know, Kansas obviously a few weeks ago lost to Missourian and out a conference game. They lost an early conference game just a few days ago to West Virginia at home, and of course even on the even at home this week against Arizona State, struggled against what I think is a good Arizona State team, but I don't think they're great. So to me, I think Arizona has over the last few weeks played their way probably

So you said that Arizona's playing better, and I agree with you, I think both of us do. I'm skeptical in as much as they played three teams early before the conference, before the streak, they weren't very good, right, they should beat them pretty easily. Then they went to Cincinnati, won that one. They went to beat West Virginia, you know, water down West Virginia. But so they're playing better, but

Well, I do think they're playing better, and I think individuals are playing better.

Now.

I think the question is is it all sustainable?

I don't know.

Yeah, And you know, I think it just comes you know what I would say too, guys, And I know you know this. You talk about it every single day. Some of the guys that are playing better are kind of just playing at the level we thought they could play out like a Caleb love is you know, like like listen, guys, and I know you talked about it all November December, Like maybe you guys have an explanation for what was going on with Caleb Glove and kJ Lewis to a smaller degree, I don't, but it was

Now.

The one thing I do think with Arizona, I just don't think.

They're as deep.

And part of it is obviously like they have some injuries, but I just don't think they're as deep as they've been in previous years. And you know, it's funny, as everybody's diagnosing them early in the year, it's like, well, it's not only that Caleb Love and these guys aren't playing as well as they have. It's also that, oh, by the way, I mean last year you had us.

And I say that as a Yukon.

Fan that watched my school win the national championship and had the biggest six man of the year in Hassan Dier. But nobody had a six seven eight man quite like those guys, And so I think that's been the unspoken issue. It's not even just that kJ Lewis and Caleb Love weren't playing great to start the year, but that you just didn't have the guys you know, that could replace them, that had any type of juice as well. So it feels like Tommy's done some stuff, He's figured some stuff out.

But yeah, I think I.

Still think they're in the upper part of the twelve. And I think the important thing to note too is one and I mentioned.

This a few days.

I forget what I was even saying it, but they do have by Big twelve standards A pretty manageable stretch here going forward. Now you need it because you get to you get to February, you play BYU twice, you play what Iowa State twice, and you play at Utah and at Kansas. So let me see here you play, you play after January twenty seventh, you play Iowa State twice, at Kansas, at Kansas State, Houston at home. And I don't even like a Kansas State is struggling, but that's

Right, it is winter. You're gonna save all that all that food for the for the deep winter. Let me ask you, yes, how far? Here's the question? What will have to happen if Arizona gets deep in a tournament? Will it be X player? Well? Will have to happen? Well?

You know one? I think obviously it goes out saying the three or four guys that you were expecting to play really well this year, most notably Caleb love kJ Lewis they have to do it at a consistent level. But to me, the X factor, and I've said this from the beginning is Carter Bryant. And and you know

Not good enough, you're not playing.

And I think that's a luxury you can have when you have really good deep teams like Tommy had last year and maybe you know, really year one, two out of the three years, I don't.

Think he has that kind of depth.

And so I get the whole you bring freshman lungs. I'm sorry, it's Carter Bryan's an NBA player, and you got to get him going, and you got to get him confident so that he's a contributor to the back cap when the schedule gets comfort. So to me, that's the X factor. And you know, part of it's on the player, but I think part of it's on the coaching staff too, of just and it seems like they've been doing this more late, but you just got to let him play through some mistakes. He's a freshman. He's

You're playing, exactly good point exactly that we talk about that a lot. Do you want to win November or do you want to win March? You know, so sometimes you got to get there.

And I think, and Tommy, I know I've just said it, but you know that's a mark. Mark Few is kind of one of the poster children. And I remember having this conversation years ago when Jay Wright was at Villanova. I said one time that I if my son wasn't one and done, I wouldn't send him to Villanova, and I had Villanova fans mad at you. Oh so you're just saying, just play a player if he's not good enough,

You know, if he gets his confidence and he.

Gets used to the bumps and bruises of the Big twelve, I mean, that's a guy that could, by marsh gets you twenty points on any given night, Whereas, like I think there are guys on the bench that might be a senior that might not kill you right now, that aren't going to ever be able to have that upside. So it's just a different way of doing things, you know, different philosophy. But I think it's one that Tommy Royd Tricau I think about implementing.

Aaron, I'm thinking about this.

We're looking at this through these lens of the U of A and Big twelve, And I'm curious about your take on the national the quality of basketball on the national level. Are you seeing this across the board? Is it diluted? Is the quality down? Kids are moving around a lot. So there's a lot of disjoint in this. What's your take?

No, I.

We're all prisoners at the moment. I thought November and December there were as many good, fun, competitive games as I think that they're really that I can remember. And again maybe I'm being revision's history. I think to me, it's a byproduct of you know, simple supply and demand. Is not even supply and demand, but basically supply is that there's just more players available to all these schools

Just keep players in college, right.

I mean, listen, we use a football example.

We saw it with Carson Beck today. Carson Beck six seven years ago. He just goes pro and he's a third round pick, and maybe he makes it, maybe he doesn't. This year, you know, he's coming back to college for a fifth year. He's gonna get paid handsomely to do it. He's gonna get paid more to be a college to be a college football player next year than he would

Expector to me, what do you think? Just one more last question? Aaron Torres with Aaron Sports podcast. How can they find you? Real quick? Just real quick? Before my question?

Yeah, Aaron underscore tours on Twitter to the air Torus podcast four times a week, and then of course Steve as you know, we have the Tours on Arizona.

Page which covers all things.

Arizona and we have a great internal run.

Yes, yeah, you do a great job. What's the most compelling story so far? Is it the coaches leaving the Bennett's and Larnigos and what.

Is it in college basketball?

Yeah?

I don't know, you know, I think to me, I would argue to me, I do think it's probably the SEC. I don't know if it will stay that way, And I'll tell you why. Like I think, on paper, it seems fun of like, oh.

You know, anybody can beat anybody else on.

Any given night, and that.

Might be true, but like if you're a Kentucky fan and you're used to going, you know, fourteen and four in the league, and now all of a sudden, it's mid you know, it's early February, and you're, you know, eight and seven with three games to go, and you're playing the basketball like I don't know if that's as fun for fans as they think it is, but I do think it is the SEC because I think listen, I you know, the Lonardi projections early in the season

Okay, well, we're going to catch up to you. Will always continue to bug you. Thanks for coming on.

No problem, guys, I appreciate you. Have a great afternoon.

We'll talk. Took eron touris erin touris one of the great guys. Let's take a break here and come back and talk more about college basketball.

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This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifding. Want to take part in the show. Call up Steve now at five to two oh four one seventy four nights.

Hey, welcome back to Buying the Ball here on Fox Sports fortuny. I'm Steve Rivera. You know sim Bedley. Hey, we gotta call, we gotta call. You're on the air and I on the ball. Who's this?

Hey?

And Steve listener guy Gary, I'd like calling you.

Every now and then.

I Uh, I forgot. I'd get a little basketball here with you. I was watching a special last night on Channel nine. You're talking about an African American museum with with Bob Elliet.

That's dark my memory.

Uh the announcing this one of my favorite announcing teams arebably gonna catch some heck for this. Dave sitting Bob Ellie. That's when I used to.

Do the local. Yeah, back in the day was great. Okay, Yeah, back in the day, Eli.

Got a little Ellie got a little crazy. But he wasn't afraid to.

Call him out.

But he could get a.

Little you know, he'd get a little fired up for him too.

But yes, yes, in.

Fact, we're gonna have him on that sad though. Yeah yeah, yeah, Now what did sit and pass away? Was it a heart attack?

Ten years ago he died?

Uh, he was diagnosed with cancer. Oh that's a cancer fighter, cancer survivor. Had a radio show, remember that talking about cancer fighters and yeah, and.

Sadly rugby and for office.

He was into rugby, rugby's coat, rugby men's rugby coach. Great guy was an advocate for just you know, young men, young people in general, and a real advocate for U of a love.

He was fifty eight years old. I think it was ten years ago, fourteen ish. Yeah, yeah, good guy. I had just written a story about him. Was passing for his Tucson. No, No, that's that brought that brought those memories up. Yeah, they were together, they were a tandem. I in fact, when I traveled with the team and you know, and didn't have want to rent a car. I traveled with them in the back seat, and all the stories I heard, the stories I heard, are you

See that's before. So that's before the Pac twelve took over. Right, The school kind of had their local announcers that they had and yeah, yeah, maybe they kind of started.

No, that's that's exactly it. They transitioned into what we see today.

And great.

I love all those uf A guys that come in and they know the game. Corey Williams, Corey Williams, they're all they're all good, they're insight.

Don't forget this too. It's a coach. Larson was part of that group. Oh man, you talk about old school, You're right. They were talking like to the mid eighties. Dave Silver would know about that because it was Larston sitting and Bob ail you like a three sume every now interchangeable kind of good time.

We've been like PAC twelve guys, I miss I'm gonna sound like I said, once again, get off the long guy. But now it's ESPN.

Plus and how I have seen maybe two.

Seconds of women's basketball backed you know, PAC twelve network, nothing on Hey, let's watch if I got to hunt this stuff out now on ESPN Plus and I forget about it, you know, so you're gonna put you of a on a quote regular channel. I've seen maybe three games of the men's but I've already seen the women. That's what I liked to buy.

Pack twelve.

You could throw it on Oregon, State, Washington and nothing else.

I don't let me check this out a while. You know, it's funny because everyone was everyone bitched about, you know, the PAC twelve network and yeaha YadA, no oh, go ahead.

Everybody misses it. What's going on?

Yeah, I.

Figure you guys would like to reminisce the old school there, man's that's what I give you.

We're going to have, like I said, we're gonna have Bob Elliott and then Doctor Jay. I think at some point next week because the show was on Thursday, a week from a week from yesterday. Thanks Garry.

I appreciate it, and ask him some of those stories that he was talking about.

We'll see what.

Yeah, cool, Thanks Gary, appreciate it. That's that's a good call. Yeah, they're gonna be on next week. I'm not sure what day it's going to be. The show that they're doing is going to be Thursday. Uh, Pealaberni High School. I don't want to miss stave us.

Yeah, you don't have to.

You have to put it on your web on your Facebook pages and remind everybody now that Dave Sitton was a great guy. Centurion I him in centurions and just just loved you have a loved being.

Uh.

He was.

He was the community, you know. He he cared about the.

Yeah he was. Those guys come across every once.

This guy totally.

He could you ever seen You'd see him seeing brown eyed girl at the golf tournament or something his old school Tucson back.

In the day.

That's a good call. I kind of remember.

Thanks Gary.

Way to go, Gary, reminisce about that stuff.

These old guys here now thinking about it. I've got to Steve's got a tear in his eye.

Mister softy you know, and and Bob when he did it for a long time, he'd come up with some praises, you know, some praises like what the hell is that?

That was that?

And then I'm sure when he did it with Coach with Larsen, I think Larson probably said you're not playing anymore because he was just very straightforward, right straightforward, and he recently passed I think with the last five years.

You know, I love guys like Gary.

You know, it's it's old school and that's okay, that's that's why, that's why we're fans.

Right. We were talking about this before the show started, because you know, I'm looking for for advertisings and blah blah blah. But most of my listeners are are not our age. But it's similar, similar over thirty five kind of have those stories. Besides, Nico can call in every now and give us a grief.

I know, I like when Nico calls.

But yeah, you got a loyal audience, and you know, so if you're an advertiser out there, Steve's audience is loyal. They listen every day, they tune in, and you have money and they do.

You know, It's funny because you know, this better me.

Because you're in advertising, people are directing their audience to the younger crowd. Right, crowd didn't have any money. They're trying to make a family and pay the kids, and blah blah blah.

Wanted some discretionary income because you wanted an audience with some discretionary income.

Hey, Mildred, if you want a new four there's one on radio show.

Right now. So that's what you get. I think that that's exactly why we're fans.

You know, we've talked about it through throughout is you know, people want to be loyal to the school and and they are, and Dave represented that and he and he encouraged that, and and there's lifelong fans like us.

You You're you're paying for the Arizona on the front, not that the teams in the back, because come on, Lions, Lions, I can throw the names out and they've come and gone right with the people that are still buying tickets have been there for a long time buying those tickets because they want to see the people play for their school.

Right.

And I think that the wh when people get they get sideways a little bit. That the products changed a little bit, the products changed, and maybe that's a better way to say that rather than the loyalty to the school is the product has changed and people just have to figure that out and how they're going to interact with that.

Right, no matter how this team finishes this year in the tournament, guess what the school is going to be twelve thirteen, fourteen thousand next year, cheering them on again.

Every year, it's just what did they do? Just what they do? No, So yes, those thanks Gary for for bringing that up. Let me let me ask you, because you're you're a little younger than me.

Uh, when I say good old days for college basketball, what comes to mind?

First thing for Tuson for for U A basketball, for u A basketball is uh, when Ludolston shows up and Shawn Elliott, So, Sean Elliott and I are the same age, same grade, SOI eighty five, eighty six, when they you know, after Ben lindsay, So that's the good old days for me.

That's the start of the good old days. And it probably ends right around with Bobby one and that run to the finals, and then that's kind of that. So that fifteen sixteen year era is the good old days. Not that teams haven't been great since, or they weren't great before, right, But that.

In my mind is in my era.

Well this maybe have a call or two. We have about six minut in this thing. What were the good old days for you guys, because we're not going to have a breaking news segment in the first hour. We're going to go to Peabody at four seventeen, so we'll have the next few minutes to talk about that good old days of college basketball for U of A. Because I'm sure people thought when Bob was playing in the mid.

Seven Snowden, you know, yeah, they had they had a good run there, and you know, and then there's the bad old days, the Ben Lindsay days.

But I mean there's been more good days than bad.

The good thing is only there weren't many days of that. You know, Cedric saw early that, you know, get these.

Guys out of here, right, So yeah, I think how old were you in eighty two eighty three?

I was born in sixty six, so I was sixteen seventeen years old.

Did you remember much of those miserable days?

You know?

I had you pay attention.

I was more into football then.

I thought I wanted to be a football player at ninety eight pounds and six three.

You know, I was a cross country kids told me the ball.

You know.

So I just remember kind of that dismal four and twenty four season that that rises to the top for me.

Have I told you my story about Benci. I've never met them man, never met the man. So I was writing my third book. It's the box Book, the cool box book with the bunch crap in it. So it turned out to be fabulous in my mind. It still is. I love that book. So when it came out, maybe the first two months, I get a call from my publisher. You've never heard the story. No, okay, so you never had a story, but I've told it a few times. So I get a call from my publisher. He's kind

Everything's okay, it's the worst maybe you know, top three worst times, not the worst.

Well, I think it's probably the worst.

It's probably is for sure.

Right, So that's it said, Oh, never mind, I'm okay, You're okay. The book's gonna do fight.

He's gonna get sued.

Yeah, it's gonna get sued, right yeah, maikes. Sense, So it is what it is.

So what's coming up next time? You got? You and Jay are no?

Yeah yeah, later in the later in the hour, Jay's gonna call him with his picks and my picks for the final week. Uh. And then that four seventeen, we're gonna have Brian Peabody calling his PEMA undefeated team. See what what the status is with his team? He he had a hard time maybe two three years ago with a bunch of knuckleheads that he kind of just you know, you know when you have that year. Uh, and now it's kind of returned to it.

He as he has many many uh triumphant returns. And you know, and he coached high school here for some time, and you know, and and and was he I know he coached high school and and South Point and and you know, so he.

Often rises to the top.

It's not an uncommon story for him to be in the fad or have one or two lives.

I know, he's gonna tell me. I was asking him how many wins and losses you most? Do you? I don't care he cares about I know it does. Yeah, you know, I don't.

Yeah, suret. I'm gonna look it up and we'll see yea, yeah, google it. Okay.

So so that said, if you guys want to call in the next hour, now that we're ready out of time in this hour, what were the good old days for you? Uh, that's a good stretch. That's a long stretch for you. Sixteen sixteen years maybe they were.

They were good.

You know, it seemed like every four years they went to the door. We went to the four, and they you know, they would, they would, They were going to the termin all the time.

And then every once in a while they make a run to the final four.

And you think, like like Josh Passner in ninety seven, Dad, we're headed to the final four. Look how easy it is. That's happen all the time.

You really thought, you know, Khalid Reeves, that we're going to go every couple of years. Yeah, it seemed like every senior had a run when they got to.

That, and you haven't been there in almost twenty five.

It's it can happen fast.

It does years and half five years, a couple of ball bounces, and you go back in twenty fourteen to fifteen when they played Wisconsin, but and and Duke in twenty eleven.

Ish, you're just twisting the knifef you ever, you know, we're talking about your audience here.

You're just twisting and I had to get the tea out of my you're just twisting the knife.

Eventually they'll get back. I thought Sean would get him there. It didn't happen. But that's for another day. That's that's yeah, that's another day. That's for your Saturday, Tommy. We'll see if Tommy can do it. I don't know.

You know, the road got tougher, The road got tougher, but it feels better. Aaron was talking about these coaches that are I think Tommy's figured it out. He's figured out how to talk to his kids, and they're making a nice run and he's around. You know, he's a good coach. He's going to be around.

Yeah, I got some play. When you're with a coach at this time in your life or this time of era, kids want to play and want to play with no restrictions, if that makes any sense. Uh the half court? Did you see what don don Crony Cronin did at U c A. He just rouped into his time. Oh I did see that. And how are you gonna play for a kid like?

You know?

It's you know that that we could do a whole show on coaching and respect and you know and and you know, but Aaron talked about these kids are you know, they're they're they're making some cash. They have a decision, they can make it. They can they can leave in a heartbeat at the end of the season.

So with that, we're gonna go and come back,