Friday, January 31, Hour 2

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio just search Eye.

On the Ball.

Hey, welcome back to the ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You Tim Bentley?

Hello, Iss you didn't know?

Now we got Henry with breaking news.

This is Eye on the Ball Breaking News on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Former Arizona running back to Cory krossky Merritt was named offensive MVP for the Shrine Bowl yesterday after racking up ninety seven rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Yeah that was interesting, did you guys you watch it? No?

I saw some highlights. I saw the highlights. Right, Yeah, that's pretty pretty interesting, pretty cool.

Kind of like what if if you actually got to play?

Where did he go? Where did he wind up playing? Well, he was at New Mexico.

Now he played, he was played only one game for us, because there we still don't know what has.

Is it that the kid from that went to the bail. There was there was a there was a kid.

That went to New Mexican.

Anyway, that's what he was from New Mexico, right, That's what we're talking.

About, and and he played here for a game or two and then and then you think, all of this guy is going to be pretty good, and he was supposed to be very good, and then he mysteriously couldn't play anymore. And and and let me tell you, Henry and you party by agree that that could have been a big maybe a two or three game difference.

Yeah, yeah, well, uh.

Play with them. So yeah, he was telling me about it.

Yeah, he had a lot of nice moves and obviously he did well.

Well, yeah, me too, is going to be a first round draft pick?

Now?

No, come on.

Of the shrine ball.

Well, let me ask you now that you're here, now I see the talking about draft. What about your boy Davis?

Listen, hey, who wants to take a bet? He's not going first round? Se he's not not even he's at Washington. He transferred. Who are we talking about?

Oh, that's that's the guy though eventually, did he change your mind at all because he transferred?

He yeah, he's not Washington. I mean that's good for him, honestly. But that's what they were talking about. When you first became an intern here you were talking about You didn't see it.

I see it.

He's he has a size, he has a size he has But I don't know. I just they were talking first round. When I was hearing that, I was like, whoa on, let's relax, he's first round. I go out there and do a little bit.

You're just looking for it.

I la Arizona Women's tonight travels to Utah for a game at six thirty.

Okay, I want to go to a basketball game for the one is too.

Okay, you can go do that. You can do that, that's no problem.

You can probably get a ticket. You can free. Yeah, and know somebody, you just got to show your tech card. I'm pretty sure waits free. I'm sure.

Yeah, maybe if it's not like all your game. But Arizona Gymnastics will host Denver tonight for a meet at Michael Center at seven.

Pm last night. Okay, I've never been to. I don't think I could do whatever there.

I think those those gymnasts, you know, they compete at a super duper high level, and there are one or two levels below those, those athletes that are the Olympic Trials athletes, but they are just as talented and and you know it's you know, we had the golfer.

We talked in golf last hour, and.

You know it's it is millimeters you know of of points that are awarded in gymnastics.

That's the difference, right right, right right, This could be over four days.

Would I get the gymnast coach here, I'm gonna ask that, how what's the difference between very good good? Just can you tell the difference? You know, I'm just watching you thinking, oh, that was pretty good.

They all look like great athletes, and it's who I would like to hear that.

Because you know, what's the difference between like runner, Hey he finished in three whatever and four.

It's pretty straightforward with running and you know some of those in basketball because.

You're not judged. Yeah, yeah, this performance based okay.

College basketball this weekend number five, Florida at number eight, Tennessee unranked, North Carolina at number two, Duke number twenty five, Yukon at number nine, Marquette, and John cal Powery returns to Kentucky to take on number twelve Kentucky.

Where's he coaching? Like Alabama's state Arkansas.

They're struggling, which is no shock because he's the most overlated college play. But North Carolina may not even make the tournament and they're headed to Duke this week.

Yeah, he's in trouble. They might be a double digit losses.

Yes, in the paper you think that. Yeah, but they always played Duke, Well.

That is true. Yeah.

The NBA All Stars came out last night. Sons guard Devin Booker did not make it, which really yep, And he came out after and said he supports the idea of the NBA expanding the rosters to more people.

How many you are on the Russian now it's.

Twelve from each conference, twenty four total.

Of course you need to make it, you want to expect. But wow, yeah that was a little surprising.

Yeah, surprise.

Is it set up where the top five or six are voted in by the public and then the rest of picks playing the fifty because it's a popularity contest.

At some point, I think the fan vote is fifty percent, the coaches is twenty five, and then the players is twenty five.

Yeah. Well okay.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning has opened as the early favorite for the Heisman Trophy next season at plus seven to fifty.

That's about right, that's about right. I don't want you put money on it. No, I mean it'd be fa hang it on right, DraftKings, what's my password? Now?

I'm excited for the season because they've been hyping this guy for twelve years, that chance, ever since he was a freshman in high school.

So I'm curious to see what he what he can do. That's all I got.

Okay, anybody else? Anything else? Do you have thing to say there? Tim? With your running, with your running and stuff.

No, no, no, it's but it is a running season, by the way, track high school track starts next Monday, the tenth, So super excited about that. I don't coach anymore, but I know that it's a fun time for the kids because it's it's it's all of the endeavors, you know, from sprinting all the way up to distance running.

Then there's jumping and pole vaulting. So that's an exciting time.

Kids coming together from football and basketball and cross country to make a team.

So let's go track.

Well you talked about this before the before the breaking news and maybe last hour the investigation into the NBA and the college. Yeah, anything more of that, I didn't.

I haven't seen anything that it sin's like yesterday morning, Well.

I found it interesting, and it's it's not point shaving so much anymore. That used to be kind of the the bad words is point shaving, and now it's you're betting on maybe till shots by props, and that's that's the I would imagine that some of these draft kings of the world are they're gonna do something.

They have something or either not make it or it's sure, or they're they're going to have a legal way out.

Yeah, yeah, we'll see. I guess the Cowboys hired the Cardinals offensive court.

No, I think that just came out.

Yeah, so there's a lot of changes, a lot of cool things going on. Otherwise, when's the Lstar Game NBA? Yeah, I think a couple of weeks. Yeah, okay, halfway marking a little more than halfway the season. The Warriors they gonna make the tournament playoffs.

I should say, right now, there's a right on the outside. Right, I'm gonna have to stop wearing my Warriors.

You got your Warrior's shirt on right now, I'm quit gucching them. You're you're guching them right now every.

Time I wear it. Get my next purchase.

Okay, anybody want to call, you can five, two oh four, one, six, seventy four forty give us your thoughts on whatever tomorrow's game is perfect, we'll see what.

Let me ask you a question. You know we've talked about this as a reporter.

Would you rather have like a big exciting game like Iowa State over time, but it's at it ends at midnight? Or would you like a nice eleven o'clock in the morning game probably gonna be round of the mill.

What do you want as a record?

That's a good question. I just want the story. So if the if the the late night stuff is not tough, it's just like a long day, right. I got out of the off, out of the arena twelve that night. I got to home about twelve thirty. I didn't write till the next day because who's going to stay up a wait for what I have to say?

So I don't know.

I think the casual thing at eleven the day's pretty much done by three o'clock. I hope to be done with three o'clock in tempy so that that sounds appealing for this. For the game, I hope it's a good game, because then there's a lot to write about. Hurley will pop off and and Tommy will be Tommy and it'd be great.

Yeah, we were talking about it last hour.

Is your brain's probably going one hundred miles an hour to pull on threads, and you probably don't write half the stories you think about.

No, you're right, And by the time or I think a lot about the game and my story during the game, and by the time I sit down, all that crap has gone out the door and I have to come up with something else because I don't. Sometimes I'll write it down and say this would be perfect for this and then things change, right.

I was just going to ask that.

So, like you, I know you didn't write till the next day, but you know do you probably had that story written to the end U of a came up short and then ye what did.

You read it? Did you read me? You read me?

And it was more about Caleb love than and all the points he scored and how important that three point was two him in his career in the grand scheme of things.

Yeah, now that that's you know, it's just to be different a it's and it's it's at a third rated school at the time.

So it's a big deal. Yeah, yeah, you know, it's a big deal and it probably extends.

Well, my importance is being different, being different than you know, just saying, you know, Lelove hit a fifty five foot shot to win the game. Everyone saw that. Everyone saw that, you know, But what does it mean? What does it mean? The grand scheme things? Just like the surgeon saying, how was the operation?

Pretty good? Did he live? Nobody was the hell of an operation?

I looked really good. I liked really good.

So let me ask you this. If if we beat ass, if we beat as you Tomorrow's, who's the we? Oh nay, you Lumberjacks. Come on, if the UVA beats as You tomorrow decisively by twelve fifteen points, what are we ranked.

As they should? Oh yeah, I think, yeah, good question. In the top twenty sixteen, seventeen, nineteen, Yeah, in the top twenty five. They've been out of the top twenty four. They have been the longest, remember, I think, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah no, But I'm talking about the longest stretch. Yeh here in a lot. I could be wrong, maybe Sean's time at the end, but they I can't remember this long of a time.

But they have not been the top twenty five.

Maybe Javier will textas yeah, yeah, I have no way to find out even though they're these Yeah, I think the idea if they went if it's week, they're probably twenty one, twenty two.

But if it's yea, they made them pretty good seventeen.

And people watched not watch the game on Monday, but they saw.

They saw the highlights lights. Yeah, I mean people were talking about it in the National.

They won ten out of ten out of eleven, eleven.

And eleven out of thirteen or something like that.

Yeah, something, So they're they're doing okay, and that's what people, at least the reporters. You have to give them those numbers because they're not going to pay attention to those numbers.

So we'll see. And what does that mean? Okay, so the ranked nineteen, what does that mean?

Well, I think I think you want to end the season.

You want to be you know, you want to make a run for one of those top four spots in the in the in the field, right, you want to be in the in the top.

Four with the rankings something.

Nothing to do that, well, I know that, but you want to be considered that. So it's you want to be in the mix. You want to be.

You want to you want to have a strength, you want to be playing well at the end. Make that top four, two three, Sure you know.

Right now, I think they're in the top henry.

You might know this top fifteen, sixteen in the important schedule, in the in the kind of the metrics that matters.

Yeah, I think they were fourteen last time, So you want to be right in there.

So they're they're among that because they've played a tough schedule. Not that they succeeded that tough schedule, but but.

The algorithm helps them. So I think you want to be in that so that you can be in that top three, four.

Five eventually and then we can put somebody on this Matt. If you're if you're inclined, where what seed will you be in two months or six weeks?

I would say, I feel like a lot of it depends on how they do in the big Self tournament.

Yeah, but that doesn't really well, I'll let you.

If they win it, then then they couldn't matter. But I would say five six.

Yeah, that's six six at the worst for me.

The worst, we're going to be a fifth seed in the East. Okay, fifth seed. Write it down with everyone else.

Yes, yeah, because what could they do to improve themselves outside of beating Houston and Iowa stayed in Kansas? Okay, So then you're looking maybe in the top three, top four were maybe with that first.

I mean if you if they win the Big Twelve tournament, they could be a three.

Uh yeah, in addition to winning those games exactly right, and guess what those games were on the road Kansas, Iowa State and they can't flub anything else.

Good luck with that.

Well, they know how to win big games well, and.

That'll make them win the regular season of the Big Twelve.

Right well there where they were there? Second and the Big Twelve right now right?

Second or third?

Second? Houston's eight and oh nine, eight and one, so they're second still that third howay States and third? They got two losses.

Yeah, so we'll see. I mean, this is a long stretch. We got half the season left with the Big Twelve.

Right, but I think that they're positioned well. They got an ice streak, gone confidence.

Where's this we stuff?

We we us in this room though, we have a good streak.

They we you and I know we.

Where'd you go to college?

Where'd you go to Mexico?

State, Mexico State, Northern I don't talk about that much. Northern Arizona chasing me down for tuition.

They're gonna start finding them get hold of him.

He was just funny and a you finally found me.

They got ahold of my address, and all of sudden I start getting the alumni news letter.

Oh yeah, yes, hey, by the way, you have a nice job. Could you support us.

For they do?

So, they've they found my address and and I'm forever found. Yeah, those those are those alumni. So when you guys are Arizona alums, you know, so you you will get to say we we get to Yeah.

But there were already.

Yeah, he's been probably schooled at a time or two.

Have you. No, No, I haven't schooled you. You don't say it here.

I don't say it here. I say my dad kind of does.

Oh, okay, okay, well his money is going to you.

Yeah.

He's a wee too.

He's a week he gets a letter from the alumni.

Damn, Henry, I can when do you get out? And I have the paper that of education abuse. Okay, let's just take the break. We're gonna get ahold of the show.

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Streamy Live on the iheartsradio app. This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.

Hey, welcome back to One on the Ball here at Fox Sports fourteen fifty of Steve Rivera, your Tim Bentley, and we got Henry at the controls.

We can try to reach the show. Trying to have a Calleray, Michelle is a shoe yep, I'm here. Hi, Hi, just entire thank you.

We just introduced you, Michelle Gardner from the Arizona Republic. How are you doing? You're getting ready for tomorrow's game? Is it a big game?

You think?

I think it is more so for ASU than Arizona. Obviously it's a rivalry, so it's big for both teams. But you know, ASU is one of those teams that in the projections right now are just outside of the bubble, so.

They need some they need some quality wins.

To play their way back into the picture.

And the good thing about the Big Twelve is there are plenty of those quality wins out there.

To be had, so it's just a matter of them getting the job done.

No, I totally agree with you, and I've said this on the air last couple of days. Arizona has gone into a tempee with better teams, and ASU has been able to pull those games off. So tomorrow it could very well happen.

You never know. I think a big thing with ASU is going to be.

The availability of their key players. I mean, he's got Hurley's got eight players basically that he uses, and two of those didn't play the other night. Or you know, Freeman played for four minutes and then was out for the game, so in essence, he didn't play. But so I think the availability of those players is going to be huge. I don't think you beat a team like Arizona with six players.

Yeah, no, very tough.

That is tough, Michelle. I like asking this question. You watch all the games. What's your tip off for that how the game is going to go when you are watching court side?

What's the tell for this team for you?

I think there are two keys.

One again is the available.

Personnel, and the second thing for ASU is going to be turnovers. They are just ungodly bad with the ball. And it's hard to believe that a team with Bobby Hurley as the coach, one of the greatest point guards of all time, has guys that throw the ball all over the gym. And it's almost appalling because the guy's throwing the ball all over the gym or their seedon veteran players. It's not like it's their younger players.

So I think that you can get beat.

Colorado with eighteen turnovers. You're not going to be a really good team with eighteen turnovers. So key personnel being healthy and able to play and cutting down the turnovers, to me, are the two factors for a su that they need to, you know, if they're gonna have any chance in this game. Those are the two.

Things I'm looking at.

Have you been like many or at least today, the Tommy Presh Conference is the big story. At least the question is glory about Sonon. Have you done your feature on him? I'm sure you have, and just the type of player he is, you know, it's.

Hard to say because he was hurt for five games and he was out of the mix, and he hasn't looked the same since he's been back.

So I think it's a matter.

Of, you know, hopefully he plays his way back into a rhythm. But he's only been back for two games, and the two games that he's been back, he hasn't been great. He's been okay, but he hasn't been the impact player that he was before he got hurt. I mean, when I'm watching this, this young man before he got hurt, I've never seen a guy shoot, you know, a guy in an ASU uniform shoot the way he shoots. And Hurley even said he's the best shooter he's ever coached,

Since conference play started, I haven't had all the.

Guys that they need to beat good teams.

Real quick, how do you say his last name properly? Because I heard it today differently? Which one.

It's Sanon? It's Sanon differently.

Earlier today at the UFA, right, Henry, Yeah, at the press conference.

Okay, so, uh, what do you think about Arizona. I'm sure we've seen him enough times.

You know, it's a team that you know, quite frankly, early on, like everybody probably in Tucson, through the non conference play, I was wondering what the heck's going on and looking and looking at the non conference schedule, and they literally didn't beat a power conference school in the non conference play, but they down their stride.

And again, when.

You've got a veteran player like you know, Caleb Love, he's going to get he's going to rally the troops and he's going to get guys going in the right direction. And I was literally sitting in my hotel room in Denver watching that game the other night, and.

When that ball went.

Through the hoop, I'm like, well, Okay, that's shades of Desmond Cambridge Junior two years ago. I think probably everybody in Arizona was sick.

Of the same thing, almost the same.

Thing, exactly.

I know it was uncanny. I was just having flashbacks, but you know, I just think that he's a veteran player, and he's got good talent around him, and it was only a matter of time before they were going to hit their stride and and they're they're a dangerous team right now.

Exactly.

Tom Tommy puts his people in place to be successful towards the end of the season.

I think that's his his his calling card.

Uh.

Big twelve.

We've been talking a lot about our U of A and then as U entering into the Big twelve. What's the what's the vibe, What's what's going on with the crowd scene in a su what's going to be like for our folks that are coming up tomorrow, What's what's it like in the stadium there.

You know, I mean there were they had a couple of games when kids were out of school in January and with the where the crowd wasn't great.

But they've been drawing pretty well. I mean Iowa State. I don't know how many.

People they brought to Tucson, but they have bought a half of a lot of people here when they played when they played up here in Tempe.

So I think it's a it's.

An interesting dynamic with the crowds because I think I've seen I think it looks to me like big twelve crowds travel like they travel, you know, whether it's Kansas or Baylor or like. I've really been impressed with the crowds that have come from the visiting schools and especially Iowa stated. I think Arizona's going to travel well, and they're playing well right now, so you know, I expect a place.

To be pretty packed, and I'm.

Sure that Arizona's going to have a good share of people there, and we'll just see, well, I.

Think it's going to probably it's always kind of like sixty forty depends how good Arizona is. Seventy thirty sixty forty, right, right, But I thought you were observation about Iowa State because I didn't know that about that. But they they were easily, in my mind, and I could be wrong, the best traveling team in my history of the cover of the team in thirty some years, because they were there and they were loud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And Bobby Hurley said the same thing like.

He said that he has.

He even went back to when Kansas played here in twenty seventeen.

He said Iowa State had more.

People here than Kansas did when they came here. So he said that in his tenure it was easily easily the biggest visiting crowd that he's had so before he said it wasn't even close.

Yeah, No, I don't doubt that at all. So you experienced fog Allen, I've been there a few times. Have you been to Houston yet? Have you been to any other place that kind of maybe impressed you?

You know what, I haven't done a lot of the Big twelve rogue. First of all, I was busy with football till January second, So I was.

Supposed to go to Kansas on January.

Eighth, but I came down with a whole I came down with a horrible flu because it was the end of football and I always get sick at the end of football. So I was supposed to go to Kansas, did not, So I haven't made a lot of these Big twelve trips yet, so I didn't make the West Virginia Cincinnati road trip. This is really tough, and I've talked to my supervisors.

About trying to schedule the road trips. We got spoiled in.

The Pac twelve when it was a Thursday Saturday, and.

You could go to.

UCLA and USC, or you can go Stanford, cal or you can go.

Oregon Oregon State. But now with all these standalone games on a Tuesday, you know, and I hate to say it, but with ASU, and I know that your beat.

Writer there travels to every game, But with ASU, it's not one of those things where we're going to go to every single game and every far out location. It just doesn't make sense. So we're kind of picking and choosing which games were going to Super Bowl Sunday. I'll be in still Water because ASU play is Oklahoma State and that game is at noon, so the game being early, I have a good chance to get a.

Game story in pretty soon. But then after that they go to Lubbock.

And they play Lubbock on a Thursday. They played Texas Tech and Love on a Thursday. So what am I going to do? Go from one to the other and then three days in a hotel.

So that that doesn't make sense, or or I go to Stillwater, come home and then a day later flight to Lubick and then so I.

Don't know about you, I missed the PAC twelve in the convenience or the.

Chaos. And the other thing is that that's.

Another thing I think ASU has struggled with is and I don't know if Arizona has had the same issues. But you know, when they went to Kansas, they played Kansas on a Wednesday, and they got home at four o'clock in the morning Thursday. So now Thursday, your players are.

Pretty much wasted. That's a wasted day, and.

Then you play I think they played Baylor the next Saturday, so they basically.

Had one day to prepare for Baylor.

So the schedule and I think everybody this is so new to everybody. Everybody's working out the kinks and seeing.

What works best in the way of travel.

And when they played Cincinnati. I mean that game was an early game. I believe it was an eleven o'clock game or a noon game.

And they flew in the day before.

But that's a very early game. So I think that they've struggled a little bit with the travel issues.

And when you look at.

The advantage teams have here coming the team's coming to play ASU in Arizona, they've got a benefit because it's such an easy trip. So ASU and Arizona don't have the home core advantage that a lot of schools have when teams have travel issues and they're going there.

Right, Yeah, no question. Let me said, you talked about football a little. Obviously, they had a great run and it was a fantastic to watch it. Even the bars here were full because there's a lot of a issue of lums down here or people still going to school up there.

Tell me about nil.

If if the nil is an issue or was a three, I'm assuming that it's maybe not pouring in, but at least more beneficial.

Now, Oh, it's.

It's pretty good. I mean, Kenny Dillingham's got this train rolling in the right direction. And I think the one thing that's indicative of where ASU stands, and this is probably shocking in the current climate of college sports. ASU did not lose a single player to the transfer portal that was on the too deep roster.

Think about that. That's amazing.

Girlfriend did not leave you.

Wow.

So so that says two things.

That says one the nil is now.

Competitive because you can't tell me, but teams didn't come after Jordan Tyson or Sam Levitt.

Yeah, okay.

And then the second thing that tells me is people want to play for Kenny Dillingham and people want to be here.

So I think when you look at that, the fact.

That they literally didn't lose.

Anybody that's they could return.

They are set to return eighteen starters, So I think you're looking at the favorite. You're looking at the favorite I think in the in the Big.

Twelve next year. And I think the whole question is how will ASU.

Do when they're the hunted and not the hunter.

It's easy to play the worthy underdog.

Everybody thinks we suck, you know, we're the misfits, we're the losers, and it's easy to play that card all year. But now when you're the defending champion and you have everybody shooting at you, it's a different ballgame. And we all know that ASU teams that have had high expectations have never fared very well. So to me, that's the whole storyline will be following next year when it comes to football. That that and who's going to replace campsk.

Out of you?

Right?

And that's gonna be tough. But you know what, I watched the game against Texas.

That was a horrible call. Horrible call, and uh.

I agree.

What let me ask you because I covered Loot for a long time and I didn't never cover the losing team, and covering it is different than you know, not a grad. But admittedly it was a fun time because they want a lot. It's easy to write a winning story, right. Locker rooms are fun. You must have had a fun time, you know what.

This team was fun just because I think they just obliterated expectations and it was really a.

Good group of players to be around. And you could genuinely.

Tell how much they liked playing together. I mean, and it was very evident even in the postgame press conference after the Peach Bowl where Sam Levitt sat next to Scat and they're just clutching hands and just talking about how they're so in tune with each other and how much they're going to miss playing with each other, and they're you know, Levitt's crying and Scats trying not to cry, and I mean, you could just literally tell how much this team really liked playing together. And I think that

Team like that, right, So does that culture then start to creep through to the basketball and maybe some of the other notable sports there that culture.

Yeah, I think so.

Bobby Hurley went to the Big twelve championship game in Dallas, he was sitting there with the team. I think it does to a degree.

The entire You'll get a kick out of this.

The entire football team came to the game against Iowa State and they were all seated in the in the behind the tunnel where the student section is obviously where the visiting team enters and leaves the floor. And of course they got the Big Twelfth Trophy and they're wave in the trophy, you know, and of course you know, Ioways State can't miss it because they have to go through that tunnel.

You know.

So that was kind of a fun little dynamic. It was interesting, it was cute, it was it was quite the moment and two of the players jumped out of the curtain of distraction in the second half.

So I think that there is I don't know if.

The momentum plate.

I mean, I don't know if.

Basketball, you know, can feed off of that, but I think the players do, if that makes sense.

Sure of course, and they're all friends and they are peers, and then you know they they're they're getting each other out.

Of specifically that game issue played. Ioway stay pretty well until that run. But Michelle, we got to go. Thanks a bunch. I'll see you there tomorrow.

Okay, good talking to you.

Same here, Michelle Gardner from the Arizona Republic. We'll get back on the other side of this commercial. 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 Ludelsen era In my new book, Lessons from It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them. Competed against them and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty

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Steve Rivera, he's got his Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.

Hey, welcome back to My on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera, you're Tim Bentley, and we have Henry and Matt with us. It's funny that ad I have my on the ball, I just don't remember where I put it.

Well, you know it's I love that it's all encompassing, you know, it could be you know, we're talking about Eye on the Ball, so or there's sports.

There's all kinds of good stuff that we can talk about.

Uh, Henry, you're not going up to the game. No, No, okay.

What time are you leaving tomorrow?

Steve? Oh? God? Too early seven thirty?

Because one you never know, it starts eleven, right, get there, hope to get there by ten, seven thirty. So, because you never know when you go to Phoenix, what travel.

What's going to be on fire, what's what's going to happen?

Yes, and as you're getting Poser to Phoenix, the traffic just kind of stops, you know, once you.

Get to near helos So. And that's always it's never.

Narrows down to that one half playing.

Bridge the bridge and they're working on the bridge.

I know they're gonna start.

Expanding that area now. So I wanted to go tonight, so I just kind of be there, wake up and go.

But that's not gonna happen.

So what So then you get up there at ten ten thirty? What's your pregame?

What do you do?

Just get to my seat and bes with the guys and then watch the game.

Are you are you? Do you get snacks? What do you do?

No? I don't think. Maybe they have a drink or two.

Maybe do they the media get anything? Is there like a media table like like Flag or anything like that?

No one does that anymore?

What's wrong with I just cover the Cardinals When they played up in Flags those days, I was like lobster, like all my friends wanted.

To be mine that kind of But now they charge, Oh they don't change.

At least the Suns did at least the last one of the Sun's games, I covered, you know, five bucks, it's very cheap whatever seven So yeah, it's been a long time.

A rezon. I used to have stuff like that. That's not fancy stuff. But you the sandwiches, yeah, and stuff before the game, but not anymore budget cuts. Man, they're forty five million in hole. They can to recover from forty five million in the hole.

They're not. I don't know.

We keep talking about this, this additional funding that's coming in April. I think it'll help stabilize a little bit for you know what what what are you talking about? The settlement money that's coming. I think it'll help with the athletes.

Oh, what's settlement money?

But the April money that's coming for all the NCUA A.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, No, that's just if they get it approved. Hasn't really been, It hasn't been. But but all schools across the board. No, that's that's another issue.

You need.

They need to come up with that twenty two million dollars. What's in your pocket? Another here? Oh you have another pocket.

My friends that work in the in the in the department down there. It is it's tough time right now. It is tough here times here too.

I mean you remember they have a new ad.

I know, it's tough times.

And and locally right here and then in the Tucson at the U of A, it's it's tough, you know, it's you know, she didn't come in to start spending a ton of money.

She came in to find money and to save money.

To find money, to save money.

And have you been part of an organization like that where you have somebody new you're an employee there, and you're wondering, am.

I going to be capped?

Listen?

I spent a lot of time at working for TV stations and that happens about everything for years.

As good as your good as your last.

Man, it is like the tell is they always start to cook the books, like hey man, we really got to collect this bad debt, or let's write this bad debt off so that it looks good. And then after a while you're like, man, they're getting ready to sell this station. I better start updating my resume.

Yeah, and you saw that like Channel four they're changing their weather.

Yeah.

Judy Taylor, who's a friend of the program and who's a big name here in Tucson, having done this show here was let go from my heart in.

Phoenix and Phoenix because it's a budget cut.

Wow, And he just landed a real job with the Fire depart in the Spider department, he's the p IO.

I think, well, so yeah, so I you know, I work for TMC and you see a lot of the media folks.

Come over, you know for p IO or.

Or media have a specialist something because they want to live in the market where they where their families are, and they want where they want to stay.

So they Tuston's a nice place.

It's not a bad place to live.

I never left because of that.

I mean, they covered one of the best teams in the country, whether it's fantastic, not too far from California.

And you talked about it.

You covered Loot for forty years and all the u of A sports So there's there's good stories.

There's winning, there's championships.

Right, you know, you get to tell good stories and you get to live in a good place.

Right and get to do this with the guys. So thanks, beat it. Cant beat it.

Is it too early to start talking about the Super Bowl?

No, you go go ahead, right ahead. But these guys are talking about it. They know who they're going for. Philly, Philly. I thought, did you think that who would you picked? Last week?

Uh? Buffalo or Casey?

I know I was going for guys, said Buffalo but I pulled everybody Buffalo.

Nobody believed my mom picked the can't say chiefs.

Well, she's a diehard shesus.

She's she's diehard Kansas, She's the land of Oz. Come on, let's go. No, it's it's gonna be a week of I I kind of like this week. I you know, when I listened to the radio, I like all the drop ins. I know that those athletes do it, they're all making hits on different products.

But I kind of like it.

I like the the big time neess of it.

I like to listen to the Dan Patrick Show and all the shows on this.

Dude, well, I had Buffalo. I bet Buffalo.

I thought that was Kansas City's time to end, because all year they've been.

On the edge.

They were not good.

They were not good, but they'd win.

Get a field goal?

Just what they did that your young eyes?

Did he get the first down on the fourth and inches? Did he get that first You didn't didn't get it?

Of course he got it. He crossed the ball.

I can't. It was too close to the younger generation. They're just the younger generation.

All right, spring break? You got that first down?

Totally got it?

Yeah, man, man.

Okay, so let me there was something on the field of sixty eight this morning on Twitter.

I thought it was fantastic.

A lot of people thought it was foolish, but they they had coaches, you know, uh coaches and who would play them in in you know what star would play them?

Yeah?

If you you are Twitter much, ye, sixty eight fantastic. Okay, okay, we're gonna start with that. Who's playing you on on the big screen. We gotta find something kind of looks like you, not just you know, you know.

Okay, that could be Jordan's.

I don't even know. I don't know who would pick you, but.

Who would uh, who play you? Henry?

Yeah, well you're thinking what he's thinking.

I don't even I got to think, who's the dude?

Are you kind of know who?

I was thinking about this the other day? Was it the dudee?

This is the guy that the Entourage guy, the leader of the Entourage.

What about the dude that just played the movie the movie.

With the singer cub Oh, Timothy Shallo? May over there.

I don't know.

This is played Bob Dylan, David Schumer, what's his name?

Shwimmer from Friends? He will play you kind of David Shimmer is sixteen two years old. They can't play I.

Mean, like, okay, okay, well back in the Friends days.

In the Friend's Day, No, Timothy Chalamey just played Bob Dylan. Yeah he's dating this Kardassron. There you go, Henry. Who's gonna play you? Timothy Challamay, Oh he's I don't know which one there's there's a bunch of them.

Yeah, yeah, well you become a star. Who's playing you?

I know the guy, but I can't remember his name. Uh, one of the Italian looking.

Guys from the Sopranos or something like that.

I'd have to kind of google. I can't even remember his names.

Nate Parker, was he with?

Who's he with?

Who Nate Parker? It's all right, you can people tell me that Nicholas Cage for me.

Oh yeah, kind of like that.

And I'm like crazy Nicholas Cage or like cool Nicholas Cage with the hair and Nicholas Cage.

You know, it's great. When was he ever a good dude on the movie?

Uh? What was the pretty not pretty in Pink? But the long time ago he was and conn Air he was a good guy.

Oh yeah, come on, that's all right. I love he was a good bad guy or was he a good guy?

He was a bad guy, but he turned into a good good guy. But you know he's been in like nine hundred movies because he just does everything.

Yeah, well you tell me who am I I know it's one of those. I'll come up with it one of these next time, next week, next.

Week, we'll figure it out. Valley Girl was the movie that Nicholas Cage was.

Valley Girl.

And you know his name is Nicholas Coppola. He's ready Francis Ford's nephew.

Okay, the wonder you had it made nepotism stuff.

Changed his name because he didn't want to do it.

Okay, Yeah he was Uh Henry, you got no that. That's a good one on there.

Yeah, I've seen a commercials bro. It looks like hen.

With more hair. Henry has more hair. That's about it.

Uh, David Shimmer or Tim Shadow May Swimmer?

Yeah, have youer sent me a note? Let me just read that real quick. It was talking about the rankings.

Oh you were talking about how many lasts in a row.

But ever was going to finish twenty three and twelve in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, it was only ranked three weeks and wasn't ranked after November twenty first. It has been ranked four weeks this year and hasn't been ranked since November twenty fifth. So twenty eleven, twenty twelve, that was I want to say, Sean's first or second year, second year second and they were very good, unless it was I think after the block, after the block of Williams, right right, right, yeah.

I don't remember that. That's the long time ago.

It was a long time. I don't either, because I kind of blocked out all that, all that twelve to twelve years of show.

But I get it that it's been a while since they've been ranked. And what doesn't matter, It doesn't matter.

It doesn't it's you know, it's the strength of schedule. I'm excited for them to be.

Arizona is still Arizona ranked or unranked. That's like when they failed.

What did you guys think about them not getting the arenas yesterday?

Uh, we'll see if they can get cod Peede in that the other guy. If they can't get them, then it's kind of I.

Heard your guys saying yesterday they run out of run out of people to handle the ball.

I don't know, it's their big name.

I would have liked Gilbert's kid to come here, but it would have been a legacy thing.

It would have been cool.

It would have been cool. It would have been more chaos Ronni's team, Ronnie's.

I mean, it would have been fine.

I mean Ron said, and I think when you're when you're in Arizona, you want to be in the national You want to be and you want to you know, so to lose that, I think fans are like, man, you know, like we deserve that.

Or we you know where Arizona.

You know what I worry about is, you know, not right now, but you know North Carolina, you know you're talking about they may not make the tournament, you know, and so think about.

Where they were Arkansas Wdy.

You know. So it's like, do you want to roll into that or do you want to be in the mix.

Well that's the whole thing, didn't I tell you last week or two weeks ago?

Comparing the a fan sending some text if Arizona was not better basketball wise, it could turn into a Colorado State or or do you Mexican? Because the fans need to be better. Tendis needs to be better. Things need to be better, nil needs to be better, or it'll turn into something that you don't want it to turn into.

I went you, you know you're living on forty years, so I mean it's it is that the time is coming right, you know that's well you can no longer live on being Arizona.

And you say with North Carolina you see with sure?

Well that did you? Yeah?

Tell me why just because well football has always been that though. It's you know, they'll have a year or two every now and again. But basketball you can't afford that because what else does it have?

Right? And you guys came here for that? Why did you? Why did you come here?

I see this is too cold and man.

Oh you could have gone anywhere that's not cold.

The sports was definitely part of it. Yeah, mostly basketball.

Why didn't you get a sue?

Too many kids, too many students?

Yeah, I just felt I mean, the campus is really nice, it just felt like too much.

Did and you went there? Did you?

Okay?

And you senor met again?

I had a source.

A oh really, so get the mic, get the mic completely. So that was the reason for you years ago or five years ago whenever he came.

Yeah.

So unfortunately, my senior year was during COVID, so I didn't have a football season, but like at all at all, Like they gave us two games, but it was it wasn't.

Nothing, and you were the starting running back.

Yeah, and corners. So my film.

I didn't like how my film looked, but I also didn't want to go juco so because I thought that would have been like a waste of my time, especially in LA. So I was like, you know what, let me just go try out. And the person that filled me in on the thing was Derek Holmes.

And his son played here.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know if you remember him.

No, he was running back, sure, short guy, yeah, but yeah, his some play here. So he had contact with a few coaches and the coaches told me they would have a try out, so you know, took a chance.

And came here.

Wow.

What a what a misfit? What a misfit for? Sorry about that, but are you gonna do the education?

No?

No, I liked it.

I met some great people here. Okay, with that story, we gotta go. Yeah, we'll talk about that more next week. Thanks, Henry, We're done.

Great