On the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services Insure your most Prized because asiats.
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Iron the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivero in with me today, my Friday guy, Jay Gonzalez, not Jack, happy to be here man, and my usual Friday guy. So the problem the program shouldn't have any issues. Fresh from Cabo.
What kind of wearing a T shirt, shorts and flip flops on a cold day, freezing day.
Well, he doesn't know any better. He's a college student and he's from New York. This was like baal me July. Did you learn any Spanish? No said vessai no gracia. Hey, welcome back, Welcome back, Henry mister man cool. Hey. Look, big game last night, right, I think they I thought, just review, real quick review, Jay, they.
Played pretty well, they played really well. Here here's and here's the thing is that what you know, my analysis of my post came analysis was that this was a game where you know, at halftime, Arizona's up eight. I think at halftime you know they're shoot they're starting to shoot the lights out. And things are and you're trying your bill self, and I'm going, what is he picked
to stop? Because everybody was everybody was doing something right, you know, everybody was in on it all the way from kJ making kJ Lewis making.
A three pointer and stuff. Everybody was in on it.
And if your bill self and you're trying to figure out what to do in the second half, you really don't have you really had nowhere to go.
But he did have he did. They came back the lead, and they Dickinson kind of just fell apart. I had a couple of bunnies that he made.
He did and then uh, what's the name, Dwan? What's uh Dwan? Harrison? The other guy, Zeke Mayo just thought, you know, at the in the last ten minutes, couldn't you know, couldn't make any more baskets. And but yet and Arizona just kept doing what Arizona did. They just stuck to whatever their plan was. You know, I talked about, you know, you know, on the thread that I was with some guys. I just said, first of all, Henry's
having the game of his life defensively and offensively. I know he didn't have a season Hines a current Hindes scoring, but he put up nineteen points. Then I got to the end of the game and I looked at the box room and said, when did kJ Lewis get nine points?
He was aggressive. He was not taking shots, which he doesn't need to, but when he's aggressive to the basket.
Yeah.
No.
The thing about it, it was sprinkled with everybody, one of those sprinkled games, and Henry was all you needs from Henry's exactly what he got. Yeah, even from Caleb. Yeah, he didn't screw it up.
Right, he didn't. Yeah, he didn't try to do too much. He did what worked he got you know, Yeah, he got eleven points. He had he hit a three, he had a very key three, as I recall, it was an important three. And then he just did other things. He had a couple of steals, he had six assists, and and and things, and you know, uh, you know. I made this the comment that if this is who they are, well that's gonna be hard to be. That's
the whole thing. If we don't know. Yeah, but I mean if they can keep playing just like they played last night, and by that I mean everybody in on it, they'll be They're heard out.
Now I'm not.
Saying they can beat you know that that they'll well, but they're gonna be a heart out.
We'll find out tonight with another I think a better team than he Bill. This is two years in row where it almost looks like the team is just like, let's get the hell out. You know, they didn't play very healthy or whatever the word is, you know, dignifies that the word too, they like inspired.
There came a time in the second half when you felt like they it looked like they felt they were beating their heads on the wall and nothing was happening.
They weren't closing the gap.
After they had they had the lead, Arizona got it back and went up by seven pretty quickly after that, and and it looked like the cansit got you know, we've done all this stuff, you know, we're you know, we're draining all these threes and and we're still losing. And then you felt they got they looked a little discouraged.
So so now they move on to play Texas Tech and we'll take some calls on this game tonight. We're going to have Texas Tech beat writer or one of our usual Nathan Grice Nathan Greis. He's at the at the event, so he'll talk to us at four fifteen. I don't know if you think this, because I know you're busy working. Do this game. To me, the game of the year that I can remember very well is the Texas Tech game. When they played here, Arizona played out of their mind physically. Henry, were you at the.
Game, Yeah, I thought that was their best performance.
Yeah, because they had to play Toll, they had to play They showed up and played Toll.
Right.
How many times have you said that in your lifetime?
But in Arizona we said it again last night, right, that they were that they were really tough, and and that's you know, that's what struck me is you know this is this was a game that if you're an Arizona fan, you've experienced this game a lot of you know, a lot a lot, whether in football or basketball, and Arizona almost always loses, right a game where it's in the spotlight, right they you know, they're it's a national game, it's a bit, it's a conference, it's Kansas, it's in
a hostile environment. It was all these things that have always added up to a loss for Arizona, and they won this game, and it was because they were tough.
Steve.
So let me let me say this to given what you know in your history and my history covering the team, I said yesterday before the game that they were going to win the game because it's hard to beat Arizona twice, especially back to back. Right, Yeah, but Arizona historically shows up when they have to. Last night, they had to. They had just to kind of to prove that they're still around. Tonight tonight, they don't have to, but they might if they win this game. They might have to,
if they might against Houston. But you know what I'm saying, they find everyone's always found a way until they find a better team.
Right, I mean they they I don't know. To me, the reason they won that game was just because of that, right they just said, you know, you know, we we've got something, Warriors go.
We've got a lot to prove, right right still still, yeah, we got a call real quick below you're on the air and one the ball. Who's this is Brian? How's it going, Brian? Hey, your buddy Jay's I know, I know.
Jay's on vacation again. Let's be spring breaks.
He's got no flip fups on what's going on.
Brian, Well, that was a great game last.
Night, you know, But I think the hardest part is we haven't seen it such a long time, and they do this two games in a row.
Yeah, let me ask both of you guys. So you're watching the game and they had a ten point lead, twelve point lead midway through the first half. Are you thinking, Okay, when's the collapse going to happen?
No?
I wasn't. I was thinking. I was thinking a collapse. I thought I was sure Kansas was going to come back. Okay, and they did because they're Kansas, right. Okay, what about you, Brian?
Yeah, I'm the same way.
And you know, you get the.
Lead, the big lead early.
In the game, and we're just han't had a hard time most of the year putting people away. Yeah, no matter what part of the game, it is.
Right, that's why.
And this team is like.
Jacqueline Hyde, I mean, a great one game.
And we don't know what's gonna shoow. That's what makes it so.
I get so much fun this year. We have no idea what's going to happen tonight.
But but what I saw was that when Kansas came back at them as we as I thought they would, right as I thought they would, it you know that that they just said no.
Well, well let me ask you, because Brian, you said the word fun, and that's what makes this season fun. Some people are saying frustrating, that's why it makes this season frustrating.
Well, it's a whole different league. I mean, it's not the kind of basketball we're used to the last twenty five years, right, you know. I mean where you have a conference where instead.
Of you know, three or four really tough games and eight cupcakes are not really cupcakes, but teams aren't that good. Where you have fourteen or fifteen really good teams. I mean that can beat anybody any night, and you better play your best game when you come out every night. You're going to have a long season.
I made the mistake of going to social media at halftime.
Yeah, and people are going, we're soft, We're not playing well, We're terrible. We got to I'm like, does everybody know Arizona is up on Kansas by eight right now?
Do we know that?
You know the people were complaining about after they beat Baylor.
Jay we talked about this all the time, and Brian, you're more pragmatically than most. How the fans just don't They've got to get used to this. They just don't get.
Out, you know, and this is the way.
But you know, we've always complained about oh gosh, you know, go to.
The games, you go, oh, I got playing you know, col and they're not any good, and we beat them by thirty, you.
Know, and it just doesn't happen, and he d not.
In this conference, we're not going to have those kind of games. I mean, even games we've watched, we really haven't. Maybe a one or two we've played really bad and got blown out, but otherwise we.
Have been in most every game we.
Have played, it could have gone either way, and.
Even some of the wins that could have gone either way.
And we've had to fight, you know, just to get those wins. And I think I think, you know, Tommy Lloyd, I thought he did a good job sitting.
At lineup left. I thought they played well.
He got him ready. And I don't think people should be complaining at all at all.
Let me let me put it this way.
In in all of Arizona's packed twelve conference tournaments, have they ever played a better team in their first game of the tournament.
No ever, never, no, no, not not one time.
No No. That's a good point, right, There were sixth in their league.
That's all you need to know is that Kansas finished sixth in the league. Kansas, not Washington State, not Oregon State, Kansas.
So fans have got to get used to this.
No's can be very very physical.
Arizona is seeded to lose this game to it, aren't they?
Well, aren't they?
Texas is the two seed. Arizona is a three seed. Henry, what's the what's the spread? You know, Arizona one and a half by seed? Arizona's supposed to lose today.
What's like half their favorite or dog?
Texas ticked by one and a half?
Just stick by what half? I'll tell you. I mean, come on, the man handled them in Lubbock and there was a great game here. So we'll see what happens. They'll have to be tough again. They'll have to be tough again.
But I think they are. The question is will they show it again?
Yeah?
Well that's the whole thing. That's the that's the fun word for Brian or the frustrating part for other people.
You know.
And also one thing to I said before, I thought, because you were asking about what's one player that could make the big difference, you know a few weeks ago you were asking that, I said, kJ.
Lewis, Yeah, and he did last night.
He had a great game last night.
The funny thing about Bridan Bryant, and I asked that question of all you guys, including Jay here with the X factor type of thing that any one of those dudes could do, be that.
X factor any one of them each team, right.
Right, Okay, thanks Brian, thanks for the call. Okay, I appreciate it. Yeah, And that's the whole thing, because you know what last night they had a little big X, little X, a bunch of little exit.
All over the place.
You know, I mean you talked, you know, Trey Townsend had a you know, did some really great stuff. Uh you felt like, uh, jayde and Bradley just handled the ball really well all night.
You know, A Walker got some you know, got some.
Tough scorel also hit a couple of baskets and you know, made a couple of nice passes.
I mean it was just.
They were all over the board, all over the place, doing good stuff. You know, from from top to bottom in the in the rotation because of what.
Happened last night. I think I said, uh, they've got a five seats, sure, for sure, I think they've got a four seat.
I think they got a four seat now, which is which.
Is very more? Is better off? Obviously right? Comfortable? More comfortable. Yeah, So we'll see what happens. Okay, anymore, no more college there, Okay, Okay, we're gonna have UH for the real even in about a minute. So we're gonna have UH for the three seventeen. We're gonna have a guy from UH, Howard Howard magdall.
Uh.
He's a He's an author of a book called Rare Gems. It's called Rare Gems how four generations of women helped pave the way for the w n b A. It's a book that I happened to read because I'm a moderating a panel at the Festival Books on Sunday, where
Howard is going to be there. I guess you had earlier in the week Russ Bradbert Bird and then Jack McCallum the sport The former sports illustrated writer H. McCallum did a book on the history of UH of basketball, uh in in in Indiana from the from the standpoint of oscarbertson you know, growing up through that time. And then Rus Bradford did a really funny interesting Yeah I read them all, a really funny and interesting novel.
Believe it or not, I read them all.
You don't read min what the hell?
Get on a panel and I'll read it.
But Russ Bradford did a did a novel on It was a pretty funny. It was pretty It was funny, but kind of telling because you read it and you go that can happen? He said, well, wait, maybe it can. You know about about a university that takes on a corporate sponsorship and now athletics takes over the university.
But it was a really interesting read.
It.
So all three of very interesting reads and so good stuff. So Howard Magdal's going to join us in this first thing.
Okay, so let's go to that because he's on the road, I think coming in now. So we'll take a break and get a hold of him.
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Streamy Live on the Ihearts Radio WAB. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to my in the Ball gre on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're a Jaganzala that one. So we have author Howard Mindel. Author, give me the title of the book.
Howard, Rare Gems Baseball Comrade and coming Caitlin Parks coming out in June.
Nice. Nice, You're a busy man, Howard.
Yeah, that's true.
You're already in Arizona, right. I hear you're enjoying a nice game today.
I'm enjoying too, nice Dames today, Guardians versus the Mariners, the regular and then the spring breakout game is coming a little bit so absolutely delightful to be back in the baseball field.
Well, Howard, this is Jagonzalez. It's good to talk to you. We've exchanged some emails. I'll be moderating your panel on Sunday. And Uh, just finished your book a few days ago and was fascinated by by the history. It's uh, it's a it's called Rare Gems. How four generations of women help pave the way for the w NBA. I had no idea there was that much history, right, And I think that's probably the point of writing the book. Tell us a little bit about you know, how you came to this, why, why why.
You did this?
I will and Jay thank you for the time words. I can't wait for our panel on Sunday. That that's at ten am.
Is that right, right ten o'clock in the morning.
Books Those who want to go to it, it's at the Integrated Learning Center, Room one fifty.
But you'll you'll be one of three authors on the panel.
Really excited about that, And yeah, to your point, Rare Gems, it speaks to a history that quite frankly, people do not talk about, a hidden history when it comes to women's basketball. It's very easy to look at the current moment in the explosion of popularity in the game and miss out that if we did not have the trailblazers that we did going back in the case of this story sixty years and the taste of becoming Camplin Clark one hundred years, women's basketball will not be where it
is today. A woman named PEPs Newman is somebody who I first encountered in twenty seventeen. Got to know her well and to understand that what PEPs Newman did grew the game in places it did not exist. PEPs Newman decided in high school that there needed to be high school girls' basketball, and there had been fifty years where that was simply not happening. And the net result is that she was able to create games between high schools and helped pave the way for a return to high
school varsity basketball in Minnesota. She was told by her principal that she should not even dream of being a professional basketball player. Well, so she turned around, created a team and for twenty five years, her team, Barnstorm, playing against men, finished in the black every single year and helped multiple generations see that women could play professional basketball
long before there was even a WNBA. And so those two things, right, the fact that there's a history and there's incredible links between the generations who have built this sport really got me to the point where I simply needed to write a book about it.
So according to your picture to me, you're a young man, I want to say forty two.
Maybe good guests just turned forty five.
Okay, so WNBA twenty five, thirty years ago. Now, when night first came out, what were you thinking?
I was saying, it was something new, it was something exciting. I had no idea the ways in which it would ultimately enrich my life to be able to cover it. But you're right, I mean I am probably the last generation. I'm I certainly believe the last generation will ever grow up with women's professional basketball not just being an assumption and understand it. And so you know that is that creates with the certain challenges that the WNBA no longer
has to face. As much as there are many, it still does so hard.
You're also a Title nine advocate.
You have you have a newsletter a lot of things involving women's athletics and particularly women's basketball.
Where did that interest come from?
Well, I'm glad you mentioned and anyone who's interested in women's basketball specifically should subscribe to the Next It's the Next Troops dot com. It is a newsroom. We have over seventy pieces already in the month of March by our incredible team. The nine newsletter covers six different women's sports. It captures the connection between those sports and that's at
thchgixsports dot com. Where it comes from for me is simply that I have been in this business now for twenty years and I've had the privilege of being able
to cover both men's and women's sports. I'd love to do both, but you cannot help but see this enormous chasm between how men's sports is covered and how women's sports is covered, and so much, as I've said, as I love to be at a baseball stadium, getting the opportunity to go and cover and shine a light on the stories of women's sports or something that just became more and more of an imperative for me the more I was in this business.
I'm sure you've gotten a lot of compliments one and a lot of readership because of what you do, especially from college basketball coaches and the like.
It's been a funny thing because yes, it's true, and on the women's basketball side, there are any number of coaches and players to say thank you, you know, for I don't mean just to me, but to reporters who do this in general, thank you for the coverage. And I have always said, you know, I've been privileged to cover the NBA through the years as well, and I've never had I've never seen Lebron James or Steph Curry or Kevin Durant say hey, we just want to thank
you for shining a lighte on men's basketball. And so I believe one of the metrics of equality is when we reach that point where it is a given for women's basketball the way it is for men's basketball. There's been growth. I'm really proud of our team and what we do, but there's still a long way to go.
So this is how I'm sorry, Howard. We're talking to Howard megdal from who's going to be here at the Tucson Festival of Books.
Howard's got two panels.
He's going to be on one on Breaking Barriers Saturday at four o'clock with two other authors, and then the one that I'll be moderating at ten o'clock in the morning on Sunday. It's on sports and culture, and it just gives a sense of what that is. You know, your book is about you know, women and now athletics and particularly basketball.
Uh.
Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated writer did a piece on not a piece of book on the history of basketball in Indiana U through the Eyes using Oscar Robertson's experience. And then the third book is by Russ Bradbert, who was on the show earlier this week and is do and did a novel about college athletic a novel by college athletics and kind of kind of talking about the power of college athletics among the universities.
So it's sort of we're going to talk about you know.
Money, power, women, race, all those things in this panel, but your your.
Your book, Howard.
You know what what fascinated me was how you were able to compile it all and really give us a roadmap as to how things developed, you know, from the standpoint of Minnesota and the and the impact that had on the development of the of the w n b A. You know, there were all these women basketball players that we all heard of, but I don't think we all ever really understood each little piece of what they did and how it got us to where now there's a
Caitlin Clark and there's an Angel Reese and those kinds of personalities.
Now in this.
Sport, it's fascinating because you see the endgame, but you don't necessarily see the process and the fact that if you take any link out, we don't end up the destination that we're at t right, And I'm excited we'll get to talk about this on Sunday, about the fact that you cannot separate the culture from the sport. It's simply an impossibility. I'm excited about the Saturday as you mentioned as at four o'clock as well, The Great PJ.
Brown is going to be moderating that one Mire and Fader is going to be the Melissa Looky so really going to have a lot of discussion again centering around the fact that you know Melissa's case, she is a sports writer and a woman, a pioneer in sports writing, who had to fight her way into the clubhouse, you know, to be able to just tell these stories and again, you know, all of these barriers to why people didn't get access to being able to follow women's basketball the
way they have been able to take, for granted men's festiball for a very long time. Goes a long way
towards explaining the gaps you're seeing. You know, the thing that I would urge people to think about big picture when it comes to women's sports as it relates to men's sports, is focus on process, not on outcomes, because it's very easy to simply look at the outcomes and fail to understand or realize that there's a process that led directly to it, and then those outcomes are used to feed a process that the way I put it is if you water one tree every day and water
another tree once a month. That first tree may grow bigger, but it doesn't mean it was a bigger tree.
Right, mentioned, you're working on a book that'll be coming out on Caitlin Clark without you know, spoiling the whole thing, right, tell us a little bit about you know what, what can we expect from that?
What are we going to see? Any idea? How much can you tell us?
I'm happy to tell you everything. The book is available for pre order wherever you have books. I'll actually have a QR code with me at both events this weekend. Becoming Caitlin Clark is due out in June by Triumph, and it tells the story that you do not have Caitlin Clark without one hundred years of Iowa basketball. And it's remarkable to see, not just the fact that what was done in Iowa. You know, we just we talked at the top of the segment here about Pep's having
to do it herself in the nineteen sixties. Well, in Iowa, you never had that gap. There has always been girls high school basketball in Iowa. And the result of that is a different level of fandom and a different kind of basketball that was being played. Both of them direct links to what Caitlin Clark does today and even better,
people with a direct link. The grandmother of Jan Jensen, the current IOWA coach who worked very closely as Lisa Buder's lead assistant with Caitlin Clark, was also the star of the team that won the girls' high school championship in nineteen twenty one. So it's not a six degrees of Kevin Bacon scenario. You have people with direct impact on how the game was played that led to not just how Caitlin Clark plays it, but the way in which she has followed as a player.
How many books could we kame Clark? Because I know that the USA and Dairy reporter had gotten in trouble talking about King Clark last year, right, And what was your access like for her or with her?
It was great. The opportunity to talk to everyone was something that I really relished, you know, the chance to talk to not just Caitlin, but being able to talk at lengthily Blueter, who was a fundamental trailblizer who helped make this possible, you know, spending hours with her, with Jan Jensen, with those who were Caitlin Clark before she
was Caitlin Clark a woman named Molly Kasmer. She was known as Molly Bowlin when she played Machine Gun Molly, and she was effectively Caitlin Clark fifty years before Caitlin. And the difference between then and now is that Molly had to take a lot of the slims and arrows that Caitlin then didn't when it came time for her to be a star, and there was a platform and a spotlight on Caitlin that Molly didn't get to enjoy because
this was before the WNBA. So talking to everyone about it and digging into the Iowa Women's archives to see what material there was dating back one hundred years, it was just an absolute sheer joy for me every time.
So how big of a fan now are you of the WNBA? And by that I mean, you know, do you sit down and watch the games? Do you read the box scores? You're paying attention to, you know who the players are?
What kind of a fan are you of the league?
Before you answer that, were you based and do you have a WNBA team in your base?
These are both big questions. I'm based in Ferry Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. There is not yet a w NBA team in Philadelphia. The Brooklyn home of the New York Liberty is the closest one I'd like very much of the WNBA, which is considering Philadelphia to
expand to Philly. I think it would be a great market for any number of reasons, not least of which might commute, but yes, other reasons as well, both in terms of popularity and financial But you know, the answer to the question, you know, and fandom is the wrong way to put it, because I cover this league, and I've covered this league for well over a decade now, But I understand what you're asking. And the easy question is,
is it is compelling as can be? I find again and again and again people who have used my work as an entry point to get into the league, whether it's family or friends or people I've gotten to know. You know, there aren't a lot of people who show up who see the WNBA, who give it a chance and then walk away from them, which is right. And you see the fandom continue to get bigger and bigger, and we're seeing ratings go up. But part of that
is also and it's just significant. The reason why people are watching Caitlin Clark so much is because they can. The fact that there was not every game in the NCAA tournament on the women's side available on TV until twenty twenty one. Until twenty twenty one, the fact that the NCIA did not allow its own women's tournament to use March Madness branding until it was shamed into it
in twenty twenty two. You know, there are all these ways in which Caitlin Clarks is a transcendent figure who came along at a time where she was able to be viewed. But if this has happened ten years ago, it would have been Breonna Stewart. And this happened twenty years ago, it wouldn't have been And the difference is that this is a great player coming along now. And by the way, if it was forty years ago, it would have been Ann Myers Dryscale, right right, Yeah.
No, great stuff. I'm gonna be at the seminars, so good to see You're gonna meet you guys, and then you'll have fun with Jay.
I can't wait, Howard, I'm I'm really looking forward to this.
Me too, me too, can't wait to see you guys.
Enjoy the weather, enjoy the weather. We'll see you Sunday.
Good thank you both.
That was great.
You know again, Howard Megdaal, he'll be at He'll be at two h sessions at the two festival books. The first one on Saturday at four o'clock it's called Breaking Barriers with Mirrored and Fader Melissa Luke and and Howard.
That'll be moderated by PJ.
Brown, the women's basketball writer from the arizon A Daily Star. And then I'll be moderating the one at ten o'clock in the morning on Sunday. It's called the title of the of the panelist Sports and Culture, Howard Mgdoll, Jack McCallum, the former Sports Illustrated writer, and Russ Bradbird, who wrote a novel.
Again, you know, a fascinating novel.
I would just like you read it, you go that could never happen, and then you get to the end of it and you go, that could one of those things. So looking forward to that. It should be a lot of fun. Anyways, So come and check those out. That Steve will be there and you know, we'll have a conversation.
I will be throwing stuff at you. Yeah, I believe, don't throw stuff. Okay, let's take a break. Here and talk of maybe take some more calls. 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.
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Streaming live on the Ihearts Radio while this is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. You're Steve Rivera. You're Jacins also stepped inert controls. You'd like to call us five to zero four, one, six, seventy four or zero would be great to hear from you. The game in about three some hours.
Yeah, six thirty or so.
Right, the game started like ten till last night because the previous game ran long.
But I got my got my.
Lucky wishbone, family feast and sat down and last night watch a game.
That's what there was a difference. Well, you you've had some kod moments already.
I did.
I for those of you who didn't see it. It was one of those where the game was over and a guy launches a three pointer from watches a shot from half court as the buzzer goes out. It was from a guy from Xavier launching a three pointer. The Marquette was up five, having three and a half, and he hit it, banked it in, flipped the point spread and uh uh, I had I had a pair of glasses in my hand and I had some on my cap and I had to pick both of them up off the floor.
You already say I got this, I got this. I don't got no.
I didn't you know, I because I watched, I said, I kind of felt it, right. I said, they've got time to get to half court and throw up a shot, and that's what they did. And that's exactly what he did. And I watched it and he made it, and I dropped my glasses and the other one fell off my hat, and I'm like, that's that's what happens.
We'll see if well, I think they're gonna be in Xavier. We'll see if Sean gets in, if they are the party of play in game. Yeah, there was some thought maybe they're gonna play Arizona.
Well, there was that.
Yeah, there was that one bracket that came out that had them that if they won the play Arizona in the second.
Round, five five game game.
Yea.
So we'll see what happens. This is the best time of year, you know, You and I say, Friday, you and I will be having an early dinner. We had been early dinners on Fridays most of the time, not together, but you know, separate.
Yeah, in Vegas. I'd be in Vegas right now, I'd be getting ready to a game. Yeah, I've been getting ready to work the semi final games. And you know it's I was, you know, talking to my wife today.
We're you know, we're both working from home, and I said, you know, it's the first time in a you know, a dozen years that I've been home week of conference tournaments.
This is Yeah, it's.
Been kind of cool. I'd rather been at the PAC twelve tournament, but it's been fun.
I've been watching the games.
I feel like I know a lot more going in to do brackets and stuff you know, that are coming up, and uh, not that i think I'm going to go win anything, but I just feel like.
I know more because I don't see.
Well that's the tournaments. We talked about that with Dave. I think maybe earlier this week or Blake. Whatever. We go to these things, we don't get to see much of the games, right, were right?
We see scores, but we don't see teams. We don't see games.
You know, you don't see that, you know what Marquette looked like, or what Creighton looked like, or anybody else. I had Liberty Kennesaw State on today, you know, just because it was on, because it was on, it was after the it was after I had watched the Michigan State Oregon game, and then I was looking for another game to watch and that was on.
You know, I've turned on the guy. There was a game.
I turned around and I watched it, and I watched Liberty, who was getting their butts beat as the number one seed in their tournament, come back and win the game because this guy whose name I don't even know, just started raining three pointers on them and he couldn't miss see.
That's you know what, Jay, I think that could be in one of Arizona's downfalls. Next week, you have these teams from Liberty, you have real idea who they are, but some dude he shows up in histories.
He's like, excuse the excuse, the the whole racial thing. But he was a five eight, white, slow, white guy. Yeah, and he couldn't miss. You'll have to go look up his box score. He must have made seven three pointers in the second half.
All it takes is one Jimmy for dead, right for a team that can't defend the threes.
Right right.
And Kennesaw State had all these athletic guys and they were just killing them. They were up double digits in the second half, and this guy single handedly put him away.
It's funny because you have these guys, right, and there was a lot of them out there. Could you see the highlights? Arizona can't find one.
Well, but Arizona would never recruit that guy.
That's my point. That's my point, because he's not Arizona good, right right.
But because he's he's he's he's delorso in the Big twelve, he's not going to get that shot off.
Yeah, like he's going to.
Get it off against Kennisas State.
But yeah, I hear what you're saying. But for a game or two, one time, that's all you need.
How many times have those guys come to McHale And you see these hyphenated schools come and the guy shoots the lights on an Arizona beats them by thirty. But then this guy was, you know, eight for twelve from three points. You go, why can't Arizona get that guy?
Yeah, they haven't gotten that guy in that guy since since. But it is what it is. Anybody want to call, We still have time. We have about eight minutes two forty Give a quick call about tonight's game, last night's game.
Yeah, I've been fascinated by by the conference tournaments.
You know.
You see how he got blown out today by by Wisconsin. And at halftime, uh uh mit, Cronan told the half the satelline reporter and his team was an embarrassment.
And I thought, that's that's typical, Mick. That's funny rat spot spot on Mick.
You know, watching the post game press conference and press post game of comments with with Tommy last night, for those were the the announce got ahead of himself and he said, who whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.
We got another game to play, don't be.
But to the announcer's credit and Tommy's whatever, he does that here in the middle the question, and Jobson jumps this is can I finish their question?
Please?
Let me finished the question. Don't you do it? Just like can I do to you? Don't get ahead of me. Don't get ahead of me. Let me tell the joke first.
Yeah, but I'm I'm looking forward to, uh to all of this, you know, these next couple of days and with all the semi finals and finals and stuff like that.
It's been fun.
I've I've I've been busy, but I've been sitting at my desk. I haven't been out a lot, so I've had these games on all day, you know, nine o'clock in the morning until you know. I watched San Diego State yesterday, you know, my daughters at San Diego State, and they were really yea bumbed.
She you know they got beat No, no, she she didn't go. She's working it.
She's she's doing social But what's your sport that she's got.
She's got other sports, She's got the other minor sports. So she's here, but she is working the game. So you know, we we've got the San Diego State games, uh, you know, on our on our radar, and I watched that game and they were pretty bummed they get beat.
The other day.
They haven't been this out early in a long time. Man, let me ask you, did you the ballow uber Ballow.
I saw the tweet?
Did you see what he said?
Or yes?
So what were your impressions? I have mine? Well set it up.
Well, he just said that, you know, you know Indiana basketball, you know they lose, they get death threats, they get people ripping on them on social media. He said, you know, what the hell what they're there? What are we doing? You know, what are we doing? And I agree with that, and we all agree with that. Of course, you know that that shouldn't be happening, but it does. All he saw,
It's happened here, it happened. It happens everywhere. You know, these guys are out there playing and these these fans, you know, lose their minds, uh, you know, over these over these games, and they do stupid stuff like that.
And you put somebody like Umar Bellow or whoever it might be.
You know, the the UFA kicker in twenty fourteen, you know, got death threats because he missed the field goal that would have beat.
The Casey Scyrn, And you go, what the hell are we doing.
And and here here's and I totally agree with not right, it's not what should be happening. Uh, there's this is a small butt here. Uh, these guys got paid a ton of money. You got one point too reportedly, blah blah blah. And not that they deserve this, because they don't deserve this. But much where much as given, yeap much as is expected. You know that phrase, not for death threats, not for you know, your life, but lots of expected to win some games.
Well, you know, Steve, you saw me get in a little tit for tat with a with a local with a local guy on Twitter.
Oh yeah, yeah, this week for the for the very same thing.
This this this local guy who shall remain nameless because I'm not gonna give.
Him the the.
Platform, the platform.
But went on and ripped the kid that's not even here anymore, right, ripped on Kylin Boswell who's playing at Illinois completely off of our radar. Who cares what Kylin ball Aswell is doing? And yet he went on social media and shredded the kid. And what are we doing? Why do we need to do that?
Right?
And it's stupid, it's stupid, it's childish. It's immature, and it's and it's ridiculous that people do this, And I get it. Colum Buzz was probably making a good amount of change over there, as is Umar at Indiana, as is Caleb Love probably here and whatever. That increases the
volume on what you can do or say. But in the end, there's still college athletes and they're not thirty year old NBA players, and you need to if you want to be critical about how they play, fine, But if you're going to rip them on their lifestyle and those things, you're a loser, as simple as that. You're a loser, very simple, no other way to put it. And we've got a guy here who's a loser. There you go, I had I had to go there. People say, what the heck's going on? Yeah, but no, I hear you.
But you're to your point. Steve umar Bell shouldn't have take that, but neither should Kevin Durant or James Harden or or Steph Curry or anybody else.
Sure, and just what the proficiency of gambling now or the luxury of the week we were offered whatever to do. That's not the right word. It's all commonplace now. Sure, And some guy loses ten bucks and he's pissed.
Yeah, or some guy has a bad game and now he's shaving points, you know, and and and accusations start flying, you know, like that as well, just you know some of the you know, the look everything is ramped up as far as that stuff goes because of all of.
That, right, and social media is what it is these days. Yeah, you and I said that today. I mean, people just post some crazy stuff like last night at your halftime, I'm giving up on this team. They're very inconsistent. I mean, why do you have to fire up the phone or fire up the computer to say that? Just go to the yell at the TV, or go.
Have those conversations with your panels on a on a text thread or something. You know, I'm gonna I have told you before, I'm gonna text thread with ten guys, well eleven. Now we added a guy. There's eleven of us on this thread. And it's fun because you're watching the game. I'm watching game in my living room. There's nobody else with me except my wife. We're watching the game, but I'm having this ongoing conversation about the game with ten other guys, and it's great.
What they say all the same.
We're just talking about plays, you know, you know, O Delli hit a three, unbelievable, you know, kJ Lewis hit a three, you know, or you know, will somebody please cover number five? You know those kinds of It's it's like if we were sitting next to each other at a bar, or in seats at the game or whatever.
We're having that conversation.
The good thing is that's within eleven people, not the rest of the world.
Right, and that's where you go have those conversations.
We see the same game, we see the same look.
I wished a heart attack on somebody last night.
Okay, it was above the eleven of us.
I didn't put it out on social media.
Let me explain that to me, explain that's a little different.
Definitely is a little different. He's not bitter.
He's not bitter, Steve, you know what, and pretty much every game I'm wishing for a career ending injury or or a heart attack.
You're a contradiction.
It was just a contradiction. But again, I do it as if I had done it with you. I'm allowed to do that.
I'm sure you've given me a heart attack or two.
You know it's it's it's different. I didn't put it out on social media.
You know that's okay, forgive me, father, but I did not put social small. Okay. We got about a minute, yeah, thirty, it to myself. Right, you'll go to heaven. Maybe not all the way. You just had that direction. Okay. We got to go come backt breaking news, a lot of it. And then we're gonna have your guy from Texas Tech.
Yeah, we're gonna have Nathan Grice from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal beat right covering Texas the game.
They'll preview the game Tony