This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jagin Zalez soun Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services. It's sure your most prized Possessions kt z R two sad in iHeartRadio Station. Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, you're jagins Aus. Got our boy Juan in today. One and done for the week. That's right. I like that. Good look forward at the end of the week. You know what I do look forward to?
You want, I really do supporting the Jacob Man New Jersey today, Yes, sir, very awesome. Love love seeing that. Okay, but you gotta support us fellow students. You do, and but you also need to go get a conference logo on that, and I do. I saw a picture to day they're putting the Big twelve conference logos on on the jerseys. Now, this is a good day. Yeah, you know, we talked about this yesterday that you know, it's like, okay, we're in the Pac twelve. I mean, we're in the Big twelve now, right.
We can stop talking to him, except we'll probably talk about it one more time. Next week we get roxy burns, you know. But we're in the Big twelve. It's time to start talking about Big twelve. You know, being in the Big twelve conference in the seasons getting underway. It's gonna take some use getting used to. It is it is, it really is. But it's kind of fresh, you know, I mean it's new, it's fresh. Let's see what happens. Okay, right, Oh you're doing
with their love fest? Here we are? We are? I do like the jersey though, good look okay, no, cool looks good looks good? Uh composition? Would you be playing? Hypothetically, I'd be a five star water boy, come on, mantle More. Realistically, I'd probably be at three star war Yeah. You have some wheels kind of fast, A little fast, not fast. I can. I can get downhill, you can, you can go up here? Yeah? Yeah, but you know, I mean, you're you're, you're you're you know, you're you're a
big, solid dude. So you know, if you got to I've got some wheels, you could you know, you could do that. Yeah, I probably think I think I would just have trouble with the coverage. Yeah that's about it. Yeah, I can go out and take some place. Yeah. See, when I was four foot ten and ninety pounds, I was fast as hell. There was no wind resistance or anything, so I could I could move. I used to have a real poofy hair. Uh. All my teammates used to joke like, hey, that's wind resistance right
there. You doing cut it off? Okay, sorry, Steve, that's okay. Don't mean to forget about you. I'll let you. Let you guys go Friday. Man, I'm excited about I'm excited about Friday. Okay, going golfing tomorrow? You are one and ten? No, no, I'm I'm wondering if it's even gonna be light. I have a six eight T time. What's morning? Six o eight? Oh, that's plenty of time. It'll only be ninety five. I'll be done by ten o'clock. Then I'll probably come home and do some yard work. Honey, dews bag,
got to keep people happy. Yep, yep, yep. Yeah, okay, cool uh and tuck tang. I'm going to the h what used to be the Sean Elliott Burger. And oh and that's is thatmorrow? At think? Okay? Sos and girls club boys and girls. Because the father of the Year things. That's tomorrow night. I'm going to that. Yeah. Yeah, we're busy. We're busy. Two Soldan's. We're all over town, Steve, We're all over town. You can't you can't hide from us, no, which is sad for the community. Sorry, guys,
if you see us out. I actually gotta put like a suit on tomorrow night because is the burger thing is probably relatively cash. Yeah, I got because it's it's for kids. You know, you've been there a few times. We get the burgers and they get the stakes or whatever. I think that is the case. Kids don't want stakes. They want if I you know, if I if I went, I would trade. Yeah, And that's what they do. That's like at lunch, you know in junior high. You got you got Peter butter, Joe, I got liver. I'll
trade you exactly. What's what's liver? Yeah, no kidding, Okay, so cool. Hey, welcome to the show Today Thursday, Friday. Ready, Friday, we have the bill Mont tomorrow. We're gonna have some of that today and then we have I think I've met your guy, Jerry Gostellum. Yeah, I know, because I've seen him. I saw his picture that side. I know him because he's everywhere or was. Now what's his situation. Well, we've been talking about, you know, these kinds of
people that you know are in the Pema County Sports Hall of Fame. Jerry Gostellem one of them. Just guys who have been involved in sports in this community in a lot of ways for a long time. You know, Jerry's been He's been a high school coach, probably coached some little league somewhere along the line. He's been. He's been an umpire, a referee. Was it was a packed Pac ten Pac twelve ref I think he still does. I think he's still like or was until they maybe changed it, you know,
the video video replay guy at the stadium. I think they do it now centrally, but you know, he did that for a while. So I don't know what he what he does as far as that. I think he's still umpires and ref's high school sports locally. But you know, I had a long career doing that, you know, sort of in the Chris rass Stadder range, except he was football when it came to the conference and so you know, had a long career doing that, but just kind of
again, all over the place. As you said, if he If you don't think you know Jadia Gastelle, you probably do. You've met him, You've seen him, right. If your kids have played any sports in this town at any level, little league, high school, middle school, or whatever, you've probably run into Jerry. I think one time I ran he was doing volleyball, you know, at a at a one of my daughter's volleyball matches. So just a guy who loves doing that. We'll find out
why, because it's a thankless job, for sure. Yeah, no questions. Good due too, Yeah, really good due, you said. I don't know if I've had a longish conversation with him, but the funny guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So we should have some fun with him. Yeah, he's a crack up. We should have fun. He's in he's actually in Houston today. I had to talk him into coming on the show and you know, interrupting whatever he's doing there to come on the show.
So he'll be on in the in the in the at about three twenty. Then we'll spend about fifteen minutes. So I'm just talking about the stuff he's doing. Yeah, okay, cool, it'll be a lot of fun. Uh, so hey, how about them Celtics, About them Celtics yacht see like I said last night, man, well like I did it two books. Yeah, I I won't. No, I won, h I bet ten bucks. It was a two teamer. I tease the point spreads. I think I won twenty four dollars. But you we went down on
that way. Yeah, I teased it down to two and a half. And then I had the under. Oh the under okay, yeah, yeah, that could have been. It didn't jumpre He didn't look good at halftime. It didn't well, I should say that it didn't look good like about the middle of the second quarter, because I thought the Celtics were going to get get to the number by themselves. It was they were just and you know, they they had fifty points like early in the second quarter, and
I thought they're gonna they're even get They're gonna get to two hundred. But then it just kind of slowed down and and I hit a nice little a nice little two teamer, just again, just just for the Jews. I'm not winning a bunch of money on these things, but I'm just having fun. Juice is gonna kill you, Well, that's what it hasn't so far. I've got a little juice on the Yankees Dodger game. You know, the the Yankees and the Dodgers of the two teams UH picked to you know,
buy the oddsmakers to get to the World Series. Dodgers are a plus three hundred. Uh. The Yankees are plus five hundred to win the World Series. And then it's the Phillies and the Braves, Oreoles, Mariners after that. But they got a three games set up in open Yankee Stadium starting today. Juan Soto is out, but it's not a what happened to He's not a serious it's a it's a it's a it's a something strange. I don't know what it is. He's not going on the IL or anything like
that. Very well. Yeah, oh yeah, and I uh, you know, I ran into Chris in the in the hallway and we were poking at each other about that. Sorry about that, and then I, uh, but I told him that, you know, he's he's a Yankee fan and he told me one SODA's you know, not playing. I said, it's because he's on my fantasy team. He's Dusty together us as we get hurt, but should be a fun series. First game is for four or five tonight they're on the Apple TV app and then they're on Fox tomorrow and
then ESPN on Sunday. Not not that I've been paying attention to that. We are your official Dodger station unofficially. Hey man, Mookie Bets trying to get out of his slump. He was. It was one for twenty six going into the game yesterday went two for four with a three run homer. So if he's if he's out, the Yankees are big Dodger, said Cardinal. That's right, Cardinal. Good. So this conversations boring you too. We've got a lot of Dodger fans good to know. Well, a lot
of things going on. Uh In, No, not really. Brennan has his camp or he's finishing up a camp. Yeah, he's got a he's got a string of camp camps. I know that Tommy Lloyd has had his camps too, but he's not down right, he's out out coaching. Uh So a lot of things locally, stay out of the heat, kind of maybe do some things. Yeah, you're going golfing, which is great? Is he and what else? In Hills? Just bet tomorrow? Yeah,
he hit a little something tomorrow. It's gonna be chalky choky tomorrow, chalky, chalky, very chalky tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know whether to believe you or not. No, No, I'm sure that she'll say the same thing, chalky tomorrow. And and Bob Baffort doesn't he doesn't have a horse. They're not running the horse that should have won the Preakness, So you know, because of the distance, it's a long distance. Yeah.
And Saratoga at Saratoga what now, because they're refurbishing Billmont. Okay, Yeah, they did a lot to Churchill downs this year and they're gonna so now they're doing the same thing. Too old, because these places are old. They are like old old. Yeah. Church is what like one hundred and fifty years old? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. So they went through a lot of changes last year and they looked very different. But the Saratoga track isn't as long as the Bellmont tracks, so they're
gonna have to like run laps or what are they doing. It's the same distance, just just they're going to run the mile in half. But if the track's not as big, then they just go start start way in the back. Ye, Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Should be fun. But shierral Lean is gonna probably kill you think, so, yeah, right, it's gonna be chalky, Okay, cool? Uh what else anything else? No, you know, just you been paying attention to stuff. You know more Dan Hurley, Dan Hurley suspense, you know I did this.
This is kind of it's almost like this could be the most watched coaching higher in the history of sports. So it's just because people are listening to their minds, you know. Mike Greenberg Greenee on ESPN goes on and says, if Dan Hurley goes to the Lakers, this is the end of college sports. As we know what you said that. That'sn't exactly what why did he say? What was his backing for that? Just that you know you got these you know, you got Harbaugh, you know, won anstal championship.
Left you got you know, then if Hurley leaves, you won anastional championship, like these guys have left for the pros. Of course forever Saban left, Yeah, Platino left. I mean, it's not ending anything, you know it. Anytime those guys have left. Guess what everything went on? Is it changing? Yes? Do you listen to these people to get pissed
off or to get they can't help but see it. You know, well, well, the reason the reason I I, you know, I'm a little more afired of about it is because then, you know, Mike de Corsi, you know who's been on our show a number of times, wrote a column. They're basically telling Greenee in a nice way, you're a dumb ass. Yeah, because it is, because that's a stupid thing to say. Yeah. In fact, in fact, we talk about this all the time, Jay, or maybe not all the time. Sometimes the people who
love Arizona love Arizona for what reasons? The players? The players? Yeah, no, no, it's the universe, w Right, the red and blue and the winds and the you know guess why, because the players come in they rot and come on right, come on? Do you even remember who the Jeter was? Jeter Jeter, the big dog from the Duke. What's the first thing I don't remember it? Chase Chase Jeter. Okay, do you remember hearing Barcel? These guys remember that he you know what I
remember about him? You can think his pants, that was stupid, the way he touched his shorts. And I'm like, what are you doing? But my point is these guys are conve Yeah, they come and go, and coaches do too. And yes, coaches, it's like when Seana left, Oh, who are you gonna get? How could this happen? We're gonna You'll be fine. I mean, the implication that a coach leaving makes
is he's bigger than the whole sport is just stupid. The last I checked twenty some years ago, Chizwsky almost left to the Lakers too, right, and guess what we survived and he came back and if he had gone, so what lo what ha said? Maybe I have a good chance to win it? Now now I get it to say that things. You know, you know these some of these coaches are leaving because of what's happening in college athletic. Sure, but it's not ending college j athletics. And is it
gonna be different? Of course it's gonna. Well, this is probably a guy who doesn't doesn't live the college basketball or college world, right, you know, he's in the pro world. He cares about the Jets, he cares about, you know, the New York teams. You know, he talks about the pros. You know, you're sitting here in twoson Arizona, and Dan Hurley goes to the Lakers. You go, okay, just don't take Tommy Lloyd as your coach, you know, yeah, don't let time
me load go to Yukon. That's all you're thinking about. And Yukon people are saying, Okay, we're gonna be tough, but who's gonna go get another guy? Go get another guy? Right? Probably just as good, if not, maybe not better, but just as good. I'm saying it was just an overreaction that we always seem to get, you know, in situations like that. Sure, I mean, yes, you're right. If guys are gonna be leaving because of this, it's gonna change things. But
it's not gonna end thing though it's not. There's always somebody else. Sports college sports are just gonna be different, and we've got to come to grips with that. You ever miss a bia, You ever miss a bus? Yes? Did you catch the next bus? Yes? And you lived? Okay. Yeah, this was not like all My Sugar, No, not on My Sugar. Buffy and Jody, which show was that show Buffy's Family Affair? Family Affair where they got on the wrong bus and they went to
Mexico. Do you remember that episode. Well, you missed a bus. Guess what, there's another one that pick you up and you take you where you need to go. I fell asleep on the bus one time and miss my stop and I was it was the Broadway bus. I was probably, well, I wasn't driving yet because I had taken the bus to go. You were old enough to like not be I was probably fourteen. Yeah you're
not like yeah, I said, oh god, how back? I had to you know, I was on the Broadway bus, so I had to get off at the next stop, which was cold, go across the street and catch the next bus. I have never I can honestly say that some trends. I have been on a Tucson bus. Buses scared me, did they they? You scare me? Yeah? Yeah, bus like a local trends. Yeah. I used to ride the ride the bus all the time. Yeah, no I haven't. I've been on a Greyhound nostick for hour
to get somewhere. Yeah, but no, no, scare me. A bus phobia for that reason. Who knows who's on the bus kind of scary to me at least. Sorry city, Sorry Sunshine, just take a break. We're gonna take with Jerry first. Yep, Jerry's coming up. He's uh texted me he's ready to go, and uh we'll get him on cool all right, We'll depot has everything you need to create the kitchener bathroom your dreams, frowsyisles of instock cabinets, available in a variety of sizes and configurations,
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Wying the Ball here in Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jaconsaus. Now on the phone, we have Jerry Castellum. Then you're one of the newest members from the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. How are you, Jerry. I'm doing fine. I'm in Houston. What are you doing in Houston? Visiting my son family? And I grank it. Say hello to our boy Francisco Romero for us. Wait, we don't. I try not to talk to him because he works for the Astros and we hate
the Okay, So, Jerry, congratulations on the award. Very cool, very well deserved. You know, we've been talking to some of the you know, people going into the Hall of Fame, just talking about you know, some of those people who you know, maybe you aren't a Major League baseball player or an NFL player, but you were just involved in sports, you know, in this community for a really long time, doing a lot of different things, and you know, consider you one of those guys.
But for just first, what did the award mean to you? Well, you know what it means a lot because being a from Tucson, being raised there and uh, I have a family there, and uh, I just I just I'm overwhelmed. I should say, yeah, it must be must be fun. I'll ask you some questions about athletes that you've seen throughout the years. I'll ask you now, so you've had the previous the previy, I've seen some great athletes throughout the years. Anyone the strike strike you that
think, Wow, I'm watching the game when this guy is playing. Maybe like the Rodney Peach that you talked about. Yeah, Rodney Peach. Uh Sean Elliott. I mean he was a student of mine at Choya. Yeah, I saw him as a freshman and uh and then he went on to play the NBA and stuff, and it was it was a great In fact, he was for the first couple of years until his sophomore year, he played baseball oh wow, okay, then he can he completely quit and he've
been focused on basketball. But he was a good baseball player too. Well. He knew he was a soccer player, right because that's where he blew out his knee. So kind of a three sport athletes, which you know, people don't seem to recognize. We mentioned Rodney Pete. You know, he was a you know, a really good baseball player, played basketball and you know wound up you know in the NFL and football. When you see a kid, a kid like that at that age, do you do you
know, do you know right away this one's special? No, you don't really did, Okay, you know until he played basketball in his junior year, then I knew he was special. U huh? What What are your first memories of sports? If you can recall maybe as a kid playing Little lea for my dad, Yeah, my dad was coaching. We played. I played when I was nine ten eleven years old. I played for Porters Tucson and they were when that was part of the American League and we used
to play at Government Heights that was our baseball field. And then I remember playing Junior Indian baseball. I don't know if you guys remember that we played at We played at Terry Field and that was our place. Lout Farber was my umpire, our umpire, and there was oh god, I can't tell you. There was just so many memories of when I was a kid, you know, little, my first strikeout and when I cried to my dad, I struck out and when I couldn't, I couldn't throw strikes and I
was seen, of course, and I was crying. There was a lot of tears. That's where'd you go to high school? You went to Pueblo, Okay, So a lot of history there as well. And I know a lot of you guys, my brothers and those guys. All you guys know each other from all those times competing against each other. But when you were playing high school sports, what what you know? What were the things that stuck in your mind that led you to kind of continue to be involved
in sports and whatever way you could. My coaches, yeah, uh lets Neil was my freshman and sophomore coach, and then Jim Estrada was my varsity coach. Arda Costa. Those those those types of people that are the ones that that they gave me an insight as too. Hey continue playing baseball, you know. And during the time, and you know what, during the time when I was at Pueblo, I used to get help from Eddie.
Eddie he had helped but he throw. We'd go to Pueblo Field and have batt in practice and uh and if you remember Eddie Southard in him too. So there's a lot of people that helped me through my baseball career that there were an influence on me. I wanted to be just like them, you know. I wanted to be like Eddie John you know, and being a
good failder and good hitter. And so let me ask you, so, at what point in your life or maybe career, because apparently and I didn't notice that you're an instructor or a teacher an educator that you wanted to continue with your sports career. When I when I graduated from NAU, I was coaching volunteer coaching at Pueblo. I did football, and then I volunteered with my brother Richard, who was a head baseball coach at Pueblo at the time.
And uh, that continued that helped me continue to be And then when I was coaching, I said, you know what, I've got to do something else to make some money because I was volunteering. So I decided to get into officiating. Yep, and uh, there we go. I went from there, and I was a decent official, and I had fun, and I'm playing. I officiated baseball the first year, and wrestling because I was a wrestler in high school. Okay, would you believe it? One
hundred and three pounds? We all have. We were there. We all were there at one point. And then uh, and then baseball, of course, and I had I had a fun career in baseball. So so, okay, the first game you ever umpired even as a you know, did you like as a kid on fired little league games or anything like that, or was it once you started doing some high school baseball? No, when I was in the summertime, when i'd come back from any of you
remember, hired me for the county to do softball. So I was doing softball at I can't remember the name of the park. It's way out there at the end, Prince and Country Club or something like that. You know, I can't remember the name of it, but I remember some of the players that that played. Was one of them was glorious, you know, she was a good softball player, Tina Rios. I mean, there were some good softball players back that I was umpiring, and I enjoyed, and
that's what got me started. But then at some point you took it seriously enough to become like, you know, a high school umpire eventually getting into college. And I guess you know, my brother Jean just texted me a little bit and said, you actually did some games in the NFL during a during a strike. But but first talking about I got to do a couple
of games, and I went to Denver and I went to Dallas. We'll talk about it at what point because you're you know a lot of guys umpire, you know high schools, right, and in fact there's usually not enough, but you know, people empire, men and women umpire, you know, high school sports, basketball, volleyball, baseball, football, whatever. But it doesn't they don't go to that next step. When did the next step of doing like college become a reality for you or something that you thought,
I can do that and how did that happen? Well, I was becoming a high school football official. I got involved, or I got surrounded by good people. Jim Vogeltans Marty Herman, Bob Beal, Bob Row. Those people like that got me going. I I was a young kid, you know, I was, I was, I was. I was on JV and freshman crew, and I said, you know what I can I can go on and be a referee. And I saw see those guys at football games warming up, you know, and they in the end zone throwing
the football at each other playing catch. I said, you know what, I want to be like that. So what was it going to take. I got involved with good people and I listened to them and they should the ropes. Was it a fun job? Oh yeah, I enjoyed. You gotta enjoy it. I mean, it's a officiating You've got to have fun at it. You got to enjoy it. Otherwise you would be You'll be miserable because the uh fans yell at you. Yeah. Yeah, that's why. Yeah, you gotta You've got to learn to put that out of your
mind and say, you know what, I'm enjoying the game. These kids deserve to get the right call and get it done right. So did you have many friends growing up? Uh? Yeah, I had my wife and I love her so that it was great. Did your kid did your kids yell at you for like bad calls or anything like you said, Dad, you missed that call in that game or anything like that. No, they didn't. They knew better than to do that. What Let me say,
how about the wife? She would say, doesn't you feel bad because he'd called that kid out? Nobody said, you say, the car you drive hunt, that's for That's what I'm doing right, That's what's paying the bills. So you were in that, you were in, you were back then, they were paying the bills. I was just putting the gap in the car. So you you were in the you know, you were doing college for a long time. I know you did the PAC twelve, but or Pack ten? I guess it was. Did you do other leagues too?
Or was it just just the Pack ten? Before? Well, junior college? I did here in here in Arizona, the A C C A C. And then I did the league Rocky Mountain League. I did some games in New Western New Mexico. So that's what got me going. That's what got me into the into the pack. I was able to get spotted.
I should I say, I kind of what's the word I'm looking for somebody anyway, somebody saw me, and I wrote my letters, did what I had to do, and I got a chance to to work and gurl Sorgan came to choose on and interviewed me and so and then I got into the pack and it went from there. This is a dumb question, but I'm assuming you would do it all over again. Oh yeah, would you do anything? Would you do anything differently in terms of how you approached it?
Is there like a formula to do this? Trying to think of that there's a formula, you know. I I think I would work a little harder, spend more time with my family so that I spend a lot of time officiating that it took me away from from family, took me away from my kids, It took me away from my wife and just and I think if I would I have taken more time with my family, I think I would
have had more fun officiating. Is there are there games or a game or a venue maybe, or a coach or somebody that sticks out from your time? You know, when you're doing major college major college football, you know a game that you worked that was just like unbelievable that you find yourself on the field going I can't believe I'm here. There was a couple of them, but the one I enjoyed the most. And then I'll get to the one that I couldn't believe where I was at was I went to Notre Dame.
I had the Notre Dame Washington game when Brock Heward was a freshman quarterback. Wow. Okay. And so when I see when I see Heward at the announcing games at fu of A, I remember, I remember those games when that day that he played, and when my wife went with me, my neck, my aunt went with me to Notre Dame. It was just
it was a great place to be. Yeah, very cool. And then the game I couldn't I can't believe I was at was I had the Apple Cup Washington Washington State, and there was I mean, we were down to the nitty gritty, it was. It was close, and I said, I can't believe that I'm I have there's a play that could I could determine that the winner of this game, and it's gonna be worth a million dollars to some of these kids, you know, right. I think that that's
that was the fun part. I think just knowing that every call that you make is work is going to be somebody's livelihood. But no, well, congratulations on this because it's a it's a big deal. Well, I I I'm trying to I'm trying to get that in now. I'm still still can't believe it. Yeah, still can't believe it because there's being from Tucson and
stuff. It is just pint and race right. Well, yeah, and again, you know, just one of those guys that you know, everybody knows around in sports, and your your family too, you know, your brothers. You know, it's just there's just a group. And I, you know, I was I think I'm a bit younger than you because I
think you're closer to my brother's age. But you know, I remember growing up and seeing you guys playing in you know, the city league baseball game, you know, on city league baseball teams, watching you guys play baseball in high school and stuff like that. And I didn't know you at the time, but over time you've gotten to know each other. And I remember, you know, you hung around with all the guys that you know, my brothers hung around with and played baseball with, and all that is just
right. If you've grown up here, everybody knows everybody. Yes, that's true. You know it's true. That was before you came on. I was saying, well, yeah, yeah, Jerry, I've seen him all over the place. So do you get this because of your past? You're at the grocery store and says I know you from somewhere. I know you from somewhere, but I don't know what. Do you get that a lot? Or did you? Well? I get that from some of my former
students, junior high students. They said, remember me, mister, And I said, God, they tell me, mister, still, this is forty years ago, you know, and they still remember. So that was that. Those are fun times. Remember the time you didn't pass me because I was a cranky guy. Hey are you are you still doing? Are you still umpire and refing in Tucson? Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah. They asked me that. And do you remember me, sir? Remember me? I played baseball at Sunnyside? Yeah? What I could, But
I don't remember you. I don't remem I don't remember names. I remember faith. Okay, what can you still do? Refing? Umpiring wise? Because we know, you know, you're getting along like the like the rest of us are. What what can you still do. What do you still enjoy doing? Okay, I still do high school football, okay, wow, okay, a referee, so I really don't have to run a lot. I just have to follow players where the wings got to be ahead of them, and so on and so forth. But I do a lot of
middle school. You know, there's always room for anybody that wants to become an official. There's plenty of middle school to be done. Middle school is always looking for officials, And in fact, I scheduled some of the officials. I work in the Northwest, which is anti school district uh Helleen, the Foothills Marana. You know, those those school districts need officials and there's always a chance for them to start working. We'd be happy to train you.
You know, I was gonna say that I do basketball, so okay, wow, okay, I don't know that I could run up and down a basketball court, even even in middle school middle school games you have half court. Yeah, yeah, that's still a lot, Jared, that's still a lot. Well, thank you, Jerry, Hey, Jerry, thanks a bunch of again. Congratulations on the award. You know, just again one of those guys who's everybody if you don't know. It's because you don't
know. We all know you. So we appreciate all the stuff you've done here, and thanks for coming on. I appreciate it, all right. Take care, Joy Houston, Joey Houston. I can't even imagine how hot it is in Houston. Now, get escalated quickly here. I went out and took the garbage cans in today and it was like, dang hot. But it's a druy heat. Yeah you're not Yeah, you're not dry when you get back out of the heat, that for sure. All right.
Thanks to Jerry Gastalan for joining us today. If you missed it, you can catch it on the podcast when you post it tonight. So'll be sure to give a listen to Jerry. He's just one of the great guys around. So let's take a break. We'll be right back. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludolsen era in my new book, Lessons
from Loot. 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 five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from LUT is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. What one
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They have the solutions for us for all your air condis she needs call today by few zero four nine two zero seventy four eight or visit us at picture rockscool dot com. Jasus x Y and Crowning Steve Rabera and Jacob Salaz. They have their Eye on the ball on Tucson's sports stage cheat Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, He's Jay. Got one with us. We got thirteen minutes. Would you'd like to call five to zero four one
six seventy four forty nice to talk about. Did you don't know him right? Do you know him? Ja? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah again. He He's one of those guys that I'm just probably I think Jerry's probably close to seventy easy the late sixties or early seventies. He grew up.
He was around the age of my older brothers, right, that whole group of guys that when I was a little kid, I would go to their high school baseball games and stuff like that, or they played football or whatever, and so they were like that, you know, older level of guy.
And there's a whole bunch of those guys that you know he mentioned, you know, you know some of the some of the guys that you know he hung out with, and and they all knew each other, whether he played at Pueblo, Sunnyside, Tucson High wherever, you know, they they they ran into each other. They play in city leagues, whether you know city league basketball, city league baseball. A lot of them would would would get together and and and play and they just all knew each other from around
town. Well, let me ask you, because I obviously didn't grow up here. I got here in the late eighties. I'm curious. Uh, back then, it's totally different. Now that I see photos, it's kind of totally different than it is now, right right, obviously, But how was it? How was it? And I know you played a little sports you can't play as you got older. How was the the rivalries in sports? Because now everybody plays travel ball with each other their friends or around friends.
But when they played each other, they really hate each other. The rivalries were real and how but this school it was like a because fewer schools. Okay, yeah, so around that time, let's say when I was in elementary school. But when these guys in the in the late sixties, early seventies, or when my brothers were in high school, you know, the the you know, the schools were I can't even name all the high
schools. You know, you had Tucson High, amphisal Point, Sunnyside, Pueblo, Catalina, ringcon Ceo, Floying Wells, and then Sowarro opened in nineteen sixty nine, Sabino opened, several Sabino opened when I was getting to high school. So to talk about the time, you know, at that age for me, late sixties, every seven, those were the high schools. Now there was. You know, there was no Gallas Douglas. Uh you know that you would occasionally play. So those were all the schools,
you know. Santa Rita wasn't around yet. Sabino, No, none of tho schools were around here. Dad tell me, like the goodle tell me what the good old days were like. But those rivalries were real. And those rivalries started in junior high because there was junior high tackle football at all the schools at all the at all the now Sunnyside had one one junior high was Sunnyside Junior High. And then when I was getting ready to go into
into middle school or junior high, Apollo opened up. But Sunnyside had one one one high school, and and the and the junior high school and the junior high school very freely the famous for was the was the was the football coach at Sunnyside Junior High. My brothers played for him, you know. And that's so that's we're talking. I'm talking about Howard Brining. Howard Brining
uh uh and and uh and and freely were the coaches at Sunnyside. My brothers played for those guys, so everybody knew everybody, and the rivalries were real, but then on the side they'd be friends. I mean Sunnyside and Tucson High. Tucson High was it at that time. You know, they had guys going going to the pros and stuff like Curly Culp, famous Kansas City chief, played in the he went to to On High. You know, guys like that. You know where they were going to, you know,
big colleges and stuff like that. Tucson High was it. Yet Sunnyside, who never beat Tucson High in anything, was a big rival and it wasn't really a rivalry because Tuson I kicked their asses. Everybody wanted to be there, but everybody wanted to be Tucson High. And the Tucson High AMPHI game every year there would be eight ten thousand people at the game because Tucson h I had that stadium that they have now over there on Sixth Street.
I mean they had a stadium. It wasn't just a field with bleachers. It's a stadium, right, And then AMPHI had had a big facility. That game every year was a big deal. So the rivalries we were cool, like now, you know, not having my sons played obviously, but the rivalries in Northwestern it's not I don't know how are they today? I should ask, I should ask a life. The rivalries to me seemed to
be more limited to those schools within the same district. Amphi and CEO is a big rivalry, right, Micah Mountain and and Sienega big rivalry to the region's right. Yeah, to the these were city wide rivalries. You know that that you know, if a team beat you, you wanted to beat their ass the next year, right. And and you know my family, my brothers all went to Sunnyside, so their huge rivals were Tucson Hai, Uh and uh and uh and Peblo. I mean this is before CHOI open.
If anybody wants to call, please do five two o four one, six seventy four forty. Let me know is and one of us know what you feel about that because I didn't experience it growing up. I was I'm a little behind you in terms of age. But back in my place was two schools and and pretty much they hated each other, but we were friends.
Yeah. And I mean you picked up the Saturday morning newspaper day football season, you picked up the Saturday morning newspaper and there was a story on every game, right, there was a story on every single game, pictures and box scores and the whole bit. And you know you were excited if there was a picture and you were and you know you were in there. I remember my brother, uh my cousin was a running back at Sunnyside and uh my brother was a was alignment and there's to this days to remember this
picture. You know, my cousin's in the picture, right, you know the pictures of him running the ball, but my brother's in the background, you know, having made a block or something. And we cut that out and we put it up on our refrigerator. Sure it was a big deal. Those were those days when you had a newspaper. Yeah, but yeah,
they you know it was there's it's it's what you would imagine. I mean, it was what you would imagine, like Texas football is, like you know, I mean people went to the games, you know, all the parents, you know that the games had the bleachers were full of were full of fans. When did that get lost? I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure. Let's take this call. High are on the air and I on the ball. My god, jam, you're gonna have to
turn something off in your background. We're getting a lot of feedback, much better. What's up? Yeah, we can hear you better. Now go ahead if you allow me. The woman I was telling you about, they gave me the hard founds. His father was Joel Favera Joel. Yeah, he was the coach at at the Sunnyside. He won a state championship there. Not at Sunnyside, but somewhere before that. He was a high school All American running back at Tucson High Yep, yep, yep. And he
still holds some scoring records. I don't know how, but he does. Yeah. No, My brother, my brother Jean, played for him when he went to coach at Sunnyside. Okay. And and he is also in Pat Narcy's PAMA Hall of Fame. Oh okay, all right, so that all ties together. So, Jim, did you grow up here too, No, when did you get I didn't move here until nineteen eighty three and old, and I was like seventeen years old. Okay, Okay. I just wanted to get a gauge of the rivalries back in the day, you
know, how it all started or whatever. You know. I heard a lot about those things just from He was a great guy. We had a great relationship. We went to the we went to the two thousand and one World Series game, the second one. Spooky Ray Charles is the thing that Ray Charles and the bombers. It took both to get everybody out of there. It was funky. That's too funny. That's too funny. That's a that's a fun I just looked him up on the Sports Hall of Fame website.
Yeah, my brother played for him at the for I think his senior year. Joe Favara took the job at Sunnyside, if I recall correctly, something like that. He was the guy and nobody wanted to tackle. Yep, yep, yeah he was. He was big and strong and thick. Yeah, and he just yep, yep, yep. That's that's him. That's him, all right, Jim, thanks a whole much, man, I appreciate the memory. Thank you. So so you listed off ten eleven. I think there was eleven high schools back in that day. I'm maavia.
If you want to call us let me know or text me. How many high schools now twenty something? Oh god, there's a ton of them, right, I mean, she's there's like there's there's three or four just in the Vale School district. You've got I think four high schools in the Anti school district now with Mountain View, and then there's Marana. A funny story about Morana Miranda Junior High. I remember my going to see going to Miranda Junior High for a football game that my brother was playing in. And
there was this guy I can't remember his name. He would my brother would remember his name. Who The running joke was that he drove to the game. Yeah, he was man among boys and I can't remember his name, and he was just you know, and like he played like four years of junior high football and then like eight years of high school football. I can't remember his name. Somebody will know, but you know, it was just funny those things like that. You remember the bad news bearers and the guy
came up rolling in the motorcycle. Yeah yeah, it was like smoking, yeah and all that. Yes, yes, absolutely say something along those lines. But uh, you know they said he had kids. But anyways, uh, you know, but and you knew you got to know those guys, you got to know these players. I think I got corrected curly Capp I think was from Yuma, but he played at a s U and he
went. But but Tucson I had guys like that because I had not heard, but Tucson I had had had guys like that, and guys who would go play at the U of A Mike, Mike Dawson h and Bill Dawson, both guys out of you know, because I think both of those guys went. Those dudes were I think it was Mike claim that mild mannered, very good dudes. Yeah, yeah, but you know, guy guys like that that that you got to know those guys, you know, they they had their stories in the newspaper. Uh, you know, and and and
you got to you got to read about those guys. But uh, you know it was just U, I don't know, just fascinating that that you know, the coverage is right now Yeah, well but yeah, and you know, but you know these guys now they as as we talked about with uh who were talking about playing one sport, These guys play one sport.
Now you don't see yeah, you don't see him. You don't see them in football, then the basketball season, then the baseball season, right like you used to back in those days, Like you know Jerry's talking about. I didn't even know Sean Ellie played baseball, right, We knew he played soccer, but only because we knew about his knee injury. That that's when
he injured the knee. So Javier chimes in the biggest rivalries football rival Morano versus Mountain View, Sabino on Suarrow, Sunnyside and Desert View, and the last couple of years Ceo and Mike Mountain because yeah, Mike co mount because of the former coaches. Right, all right, but you know, uh, you have a chance more. Tavier, send me the number of high schools as well. But back then the rivalries were about neighborhoods, right.
The Sunnyside was a big rival with Pueblo because they, you know, the districts butted against each other, and some of those kids played against each other in little Let's take this real quick, Hi, you're on the air and line the ball. You got to be real quick. You only got about a minute. All it's Richard, I'll be fast. I've lived here in eighty six. You know fo oklahol Ilkahoma has a big, big Okloba fan.
Anyway, talk football, low and my nephew, Matt, and he decided I'm going out for football for Ampire and he made the ninth grade team and then he played for three years for Burne Freeley. Yeah, and I went every practice, in every game, and we had Mario Bates and we were a fantastic and went all the way to state finals and uh. On the meantime, there were just a lot of great games at a great time.
But going to the practices, it was like right out of nineteen fifty nine almost with a coach free and Wernikee Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it was hilarious. It was the one hundred five degrees out there watching practice. We loved it. Yeah, very awesome. And Freely a legend in Tucson. Just just a legend, legend. All right, Richard,
Hey, thanks a bunch, rich appreciate it. Well, you know, you know, really, I mean he was you know, I mean probably I don't know if you can name a better high school football coach, you know, than Vern in Tucson. Right, yeah, So all right, we're at the top of the hour. We're gonna take our break. We're gonna come back once loaded it up with breaking news. There's lots of it, and we'll and then we'll kick this. We'll kick this around some more
if you guys want to. But let's go and take our break, and then we're gonna be talking some horse racing in the second in the second hour, so stick around