Friday, September 20, Hour 1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez Son Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions, k t z R two SAD and iHeartRadio Station.

The Good Afternoon. Everybody.

Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Riverta, He's Jagan Zolaz. We got our guy Henry or no Juan in today one.

That what'd that take?

One?

Like eight seconds? Three seconds for him to screw it up? Hardly? Come here once a week. The problem you forgotten? Who are you? Who? Two shoes?

Don't don't they come to the final day of the j hour two hours.

Two hours? This is it, man, this is it. A lot of people were saying, don't go Jay. Nobody. I haven't heard anybody say that.

They said it's been nice here and you and you know, they say we really like you being on the show.

Nobody has said don't go to me.

I just did, Okay, well, well you know to me, it's tax day. You know why you wait? You wait and you wait. I can file, I can file. I'm gonna file. It's you know, March and then we get here. I have so much to learn, You're gonna be gone.

You know.

We got Matt learning some stuff, the guys learning the stuff in the background. I'm here, Like, what if they get all get sick at the same time, go to the cafeteria, have bad food. I got to come up with something. You know what I got to come up with not doing a show.

No, no, no, I promised everybody. You're still doing this, Steve.

You know, you got to keep these people busy for a couple hours, keep them entertained for a couple of hours.

But what people don't realize. I had the show before you did.

You did. I was doing okay. I just said I need a partner.

I was going to say before something, but then I you know where I'm you know, like you.

Know how you go b c oh, Yeah, you can't say be me before COVID during COVID.

That's what I got you during COVID because you.

Let's say we're talking okay before COVID before were during COVID, because I canna say B and the first letter of my last name. You can't really say that my first letter of my friend actual thing? You know where I'm going, yeah, we might as well say it right now. We're not gonna say it.

Okay, yeah, no, we won't go there, but you know we're.

Gonna have a good time for the final show, try to get to try to make it a holiday, half Mass and all that stuff, but the government would allow it. You know, jas J's day.

I did doesn't does it didn't.

It wasn't lost on me that for my last day here you went and got somebody from the Houston Astros to be on the show.

Oh my god.

I was gonna wear something else, but because because you decided to bring Francisco.

Or Marijuan, I had to wear my Dodger shirt.

That's fine. Equalizer the Aquaiser. They're in the playoffs too, right, so we see what happens. Yeah, so he's gonna come on pretty soon, right through seventy or seventeen.

Yeah, he's in Houston.

They're going to the play I think, right, they're in just about I can't remember. I'm looking out, I'm looking up right now. No, they're not clinched yet. They're leading their leader there leading, they're.

They're leading the West, but they're they're not yet clinched. Uh, they've got a.

They've got a five game lead on the Mariners, so they're likely and there's only a week and a couple of days left.

But they're they're not in yet, Okay, So yes, Francisco Robero.

He's a good friend. He's a he's a good guy. We have fun with him.

Yeah, he's offered to let me check out his Houston Astro's World Series rings and I've politely declined so far.

So and then at the second hour we had Jake. Jake decided he was sick last week, so him and his wife were going to go take a quick trip to to Laftun or.

Someone get away.

So he said, I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to handle the the being away and being you know, on on surface on cell service.

So we said I better not do it. Yeah. Now we got to mister Barrett.

Barrett Baker, who's a part of that nineteen ninety eight the football teams, been a long time Tucson firefighter. Uh here and just a continuing vocal, a booster of the football.

Probably right right.

If you're mister goody two shoes one, he is very mister goody two shoes. So we'll ask you what his thoughts are after last week? Hard to be goody two shoots game. But you know, I'm just I'm just a messenger. I'm not the mean guy. Were you pissed about the game? What were you what was going through your fudd No? No, no, I oh damn last week? You know were you were you mad? Or were you were you just disappointed in him? Disappointed? Kansas State is a good team. There's no denying that.

Didn't come together for us for some reason, and you got to move move on. Look at Utah?

How about how about those Gators that you called that you called out. I want to clarify something with that that's already been made.

Clarified that thinking that that backup would start and the original starter started and played most of the game.

Oh okay, so that's you know, you go to the window, the Vegas window with that and.

They say, sorry, you still lost.

I just want to clarify with YouTube, so bad information, check your sources.

I went I got home Friday night and that was the first thing I popped up on X said Graham merch to start, and I said, great, there we go do that.

Yeah, well the coach will be with you on that side.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll be as employed as the coach pretty much.

Okay, well, welcome to the show today. Jay's final one. We've talked still people, a lot of people still don't know. I was some people today telling them Jay's last day. Oh really, oh really? Why why because he hates me? But but you're not gone, right, not totally gone.

I'll be here, uh for the monthly Casino del Soul show that we're going to be doing down at the sports Book. Would love for you guys to come down, come down there and just check us out. It's it's gonna be Thursday on Thursdays before the NFL game, kind of leading in the NFL game, and you know, we'll do our normal Friday picks that those weeks on Thursdays.

So yeah, So listen, watch us on Facebook or through me telling you when that will happen. We try to get there next week for the first one in September, right first, so and then we'll schedule it.

We'll let you win. That's going to be right. So I'll still be doing that.

I'll still I'm gonna go through call in on Fridays with my picks because Steve and I have some money on that with each other. So I'll keep doing that, and who knows what else, you know, maybe I'll show up once in a while. Yeah, we'll call in. Yeah, I'll definitely call in. I'll definitely call in. You know when when things are going bad, Steve, which you and I know, we know when that is. It's easy to it's easy to tell when it's going bad. And I'll try and give you a hand.

Well, yeah, what are we doing? What are you talking about? I get it?

I get it, okay, like like now, okay, So what are we gonna do this weekend with no actual game happening.

Well, there's lots of football to watch and there's some good games this weekend. You got what's our pick? What's our big game?

We've got Oklahoma Tennessee that's the that's the special that we've got.

We've both got to pick. Tennessee is giving seven seven.

Is at home at Oklahoma at Oklahoma at Oklahoma. WHOA, Yeah, that's the game, okay, And so that's the one that we both have to have to have to pick.

It was a close call.

I want I thought about USC Michigan, but you know, Michigan is just not great. And the Oklahoma Tennessee. You know, it's the first SEC game for Oklahoma at home and it's against the team that's picked to beat them, so I thought that would be a more interesting game. He got Josh Hipel as the head coach at Tennessee, going home to where he played at Oklahoma. He was I think he was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. He got fired at the off as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.

But it's it's probably arguably the biggest or the best college game this weekend, okay.

And there was a little off of course, we were going to talk about that Saturday. So then next week that you get ready for the big game at Utah.

Yeah, I definitely want to ask Barrett Baker, because you know, people talking about how bad Arizon got beat.

They gotta beat by twenty four, right, and it was a beat down.

Well, the one game that Arizona lost in nineteen ninety eight, guess how many points they got beat by twenty four and they got beat fifty two to twenty eight.

It was.

It was a very close game UCLA.

I think they had a twenty one point third quarter and that was that. And that that didn't just cost Arizona the Rose Bowl, that cost them a chance to play in the National Championship game.

I'd like to pick.

Bart Baker's brain about one, what the hell happened in that game that it fell apart like that? And then second, the aftermath of that, well, you know what was that like now in Arizona. In that team's case, they bounced back and they won the rest of their games. So clearly, you know, it either fired them up or they were just so good that they weren't going to lose any

So I think ninety eight, I think is it safe to see that that was historically one of the best teams, if not the best team.

The best team.

Okay, so does it feel look ninety seven aeras in the basketball ninety eight Arizona football? Does it seem long ago in your mind because you're the football guy.

Yes, it does.

And the reason it does is because because my son asked them, was five years old and he's not been working at in the athletic department at Arizona for many years. He's an old guy. He's got his own kid. When I put it in that context, yeah, it was a long time ago.

So you know how the basketball fans are George basketball, right, Sometimes they don't think the poop stinks right?

Right? Am I wrong?

Norre you do? How do they feel? In football? The poop is always stunk and then occasionally it does, occasionally it doesn't. So it's kind of the occasionally it.

Throws some perfume on it and it's not so bad. So it's the opposite. Well, the yeah, it's well, but this year, but.

The thing is, uh, the year after success, it becomes like, right, our stuff doesn't think right right, and then it does and then it does as and it does right now. And that's that's where I was going to kind of go with it. Why do you think that's the case?

Is it?

They can't handle prosperity? And Bill I'm apologizing now because I'm generalizing, but.

Because Arizona is Arizona football in terms of its cachet status okay, as a as a as a program, it's not even close to it. Arizona basketball is, you know, as a as a national program. So year in and year out, they don't have some of the best players in the country, right, right, so they go through these periods where they're just not very good the football. Yeah, no, no, But why do you think that I'm asking about the fans, now, why do you think they have this or our.

Stuff doesn't put stink in basketball? And football?

And football a year after success, it's like they get this point bottle.

It's I think I don't think it's that.

I think it's more like me that they say, I hope it's not going to stink after that, after the right and you're waiting for it to stink.

This is a bad conversation that we're having.

No, no, no, because of the verbiage. But but you don't know what I'm saying.

No, I think I think Arizona fans a lot of them are like me in that regards that you have a great year, you hope there's going to be another one right behind it, But pretty much every time there hasn't been.

So that's what you're kind of expecting.

Right, There's a lot of fans out there thinking this year's over because it's the same old thing.

Yeah, no question, no question. They've been through it before, right, even the young young guys. How do you feel? I feel fine. I feel fine about the seasons right now. But I have a lot of family members, a lot of friends that have come up to me saying we're over.

Huh, We're back to where we were.

Yeah, a she's probably better than us, I said, Well, I mean they can probably compete looking at the first three games, but it's not.

Scene is not over. No, it's not. It's not.

And that's what that's the point I'm trying to make about about that one loss in nineteen ninety eight that didn't end the season, right, and this one shouldn't either. Who's going undefeated? Anybody? Anybody though? Predict a team, any team anywhere? Is Georgia going undefeated?

No?

Is certainly Alabama's not going undefeated maybe Texas, No, because in the SEC they're gonna lose to somebody. Okay, Arizona loss. And the good thing to about Arizona's losses was a non conference game exactly.

Everything is still in front of it. So the thing is the reason people are worried is because of what it looked like.

Yeah, that's what disappointed me last week.

The way it looked. Well it's going seven points. Yeah, that was the whole thing for me. Maybe not how it looked, but there was no oof in anything after that first drive. Just like they gave up right away, they got down. That interception kind of killed the kind of killed the drive, and there was no desire after that. It was uninspiring the whole game.

I don't know if it was no desire, but it was uninspiring. They didn't they didn't look like they wanted to be there. Well, they just did. They just didn't look.

They determined, just interested to me, right, yeah, same, you had to write it.

Did you write about it or it was right? I'm pretty sure I can't remember.

I'm pretty sure it was that bad of a rebrocate that you actually did.

I actually I remember it now.

What was your store grading the offense defense and it wasn't good. No, the headline was said, this is not something you want to put on the fridge.

Yeah, yeah, and that's what it was, right, That's what it was. Right.

We'll see if they play well and lose on Saturday.

I think that's the sign of good things. Yes, yeah, that's what that's what you're hoping for.

At at you know that they play you know at Utah, they play well, maybe they'll lose, but just that they play well, that they put up a fight.

And then if they really play well and win, people are saying I told you that.

Okay, guys, you guys, all the you guys who doubted from last week or Budge.

Right, No, and that's that's going to be the storyline. Yeah, no question. You've been here before exactly yea many years. Yeah, so we'll see what happens. Hey, it's already for thirteen or fourteen after let's go yeah, yep. And then get our first guest, Francisco Ramaro.

Yeah yeah, yeah. They played play tonight, so he's kind of busy. Okay, we'll get him.

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This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Goin Zalez on Fox Sports fourteen to fifteen. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app just Surgeon I on the Ball.

Hey, welcome back to Why on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, He's Jacob Zaus. Now on the phone, we have Francisco Romero, the Astro Spanish play by play guy almost as Francisco.

From Beaudiful Man in Nate Park here on the phone with you guys. This is the capital of the Baseball world.

Enough for the BS, No for the BS.

Wait a minute, when when was the last time the Astros had a fifty to fifty guy? Tell me, Francisco. I'm trying to remember who was that, but.

I can I can't tell you what was the last time we went our world after we beat the Dodgers in the.

World the last time you beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

Fairly, you don't want to go there, Francisco, you don't want to go there.

How are you man?

Doing well?

Doing well?

Actually, another great season for the Astros. You know, baseball, it's funny we think we know everything and then again we find out that we don't know anything about the game. Yeah, kind of that way. So it's it's been a great season. We actually traveled to Mexico City to play the Rockies down there. Uh and and believe me, I know, you know the teams that Mexico follows are Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees. But I was very surprised that the Mexico City was ressed in the Orange.

It was.

It was a very neat feeling, to tell you the truth. Yeah, And so we had a great time down there. The Astros where you know, ten games up behind about below five hundred, and now we're in first place on our way to another postseason, which has been a blessing for me and my family.

So let's get the elephant out of the room a real quick. How many times did you see play and what were your thoughts on him when you saw him in person?

You know, I've seen him since he was with he started because he actually the Angels are playing here tonight.

I'm here at theme park, and he's a he's a unicorn.

He's a unique person and uh I know the person the book pen coach for the Angels man he was actually drafted by the d Bags from San Risa Noda, and he tells us great stories I got. I mean, I see Shanna doing bad in practice and do what the things that he does. He's an amazing athletic and amazing human being, and he is a unicorn. He's doing things that whenever I thought that could be done. Of course, I don't want to sound negative, but of course that

That also helps.

And my broadcast partner Alex Ravinho, who was a catcher. He says, Oh, had those rule beens in places when Ricky Henderson was playing in the eighties, he would have son two hundred bases.

Yeah, I think people underestimate that, you know, the whole size of the base thing, even because it's just like an inch or something like that. But it helps, It helps, sure it does. And then as you said, you know, if a pitcher throws over the first space twice, now you know he can't throw over there, so that changes things as well.

But the guys what six ' five and just runs like the wind.

No, you can't take anything away from him because he's putting up those numbers. Why doesn't anybody else put those numbers? So you cannot take anything away from him. And we all knew that the Dodgers were the you know, contenders to sign him, as they did. I was surprised by the amount of money, but anyways, we knew that that he was probably gonna be a Dodger and they have a very little fan base, you know what I mean.

Uh.

You know, we're living history with Johatani, right, we work under the same umbrella of MLB, which for me is good to have players such as him that just elevates the game to another level. So I'm, you know, very happy for what he has done and hopefully he'll keep making history.

Okay, so how how good are your astros?

Well?

Yeah, well it tells you you know, this big turnaround, right, you said since Mexico, what's been going on?

What's been the turnaround?

Well, one thing that I tell people is that it shows that the players are human beings. That's what it shows. It shows that that that nobody's a robot. That it shows that you have to play one hundred and sixty two games and the turnaround was, uh, you know, everybody gets hurt, so there's it's not excuse to having her players, but they show that resilency. They showed that it's a team that's been there, that has done that, and that it's lined up. I mean uh, you're not, but it's

Being the majors.

He throw no hater his first outing, uh in replacing Justin Berlander, and then Spencer Righetti is doing amazing things streking out less and right. And so I think for a lot of people that say the Answers don't have a deep minor league system, the Antwers do have a deep Mililis. It may have been ranked as other people see it, but but everything is there has been a plan in twenty eleven and it's still going on. It's still taking place. Players are still developed in the same way.

So I was watching. I can't remember who I was watching this morning. I think it might have been somebody on the Dan Patrick Show talking about the fact they asked They asked the whoever the guest was said, Okay, there's twelve teams that are going to make the playoffs? Who can win it? You know which twelve teams can actually win it? And the guy said all of them, any of the twelve. And we don't even know who all the twelve is. Technically, okay, the Astros haven't clinched

Do the Yeah?

No, no, no, you're actually right. Once a time comes, it's anybody's game. Now, there's a lot of things involved in it. And like I said, sometimes we think we know everything, and sometimes we think that we don't know nothing because of what baseball is. It's a little bit of everything, and sometimes a little bit of luck is involved. But I can make an argument for all twelve teams.

You are absolutely right.

I can argument. I can make an argument why the Dodgers will win it. I can make an argument why the dodgerest will lose it. Same thing for the Astros. But I think the Dires and the Astros have been the two most consistent teams of all them. But now the team that really scares me are the Phillies. Yes, the Phillies scares me a lot. The Doers have had a lot of injuries, but now what excites me about the Astros is they're pitching.

Now.

A sneaky team is the Guardians well as the Brewers. Yes, so it's exciting, I mean for people who love baseballs exciting. Of course, I want the Answers to win it a game. I want another ring and I want a fifth ring. But reality is reality, and it's a good time to be a baseball.

Fan, no matter who you root for, because.

You're gonna see exciting games now from what I've seen, from my point of view, pitching and defense will take you very very of course you need that offense to push you over the line. But when you have the pitch and you have great defense, it's amazing what those two elements can do to your game during a playoff series.

So little Birdie told me that you're a Houstonian, Houston guy now, So is Tucson in your rear view mirror?

Not at all. I have a home and two son.

Of course, we're here full time in Houston, and I still do have a contract with an Athletics where I help them out with their social media. During Hispanic Heritage football game, my voice was on the public address announcement sister, where I you know, send my voice over to announced some of the stuff.

So it's not in the review mirror. My family still lives there.

But everybody lives there still, so it's part of what we are now. Uh, you know, we're the Sonas by heart and and we're there. But but Houston has opened their arms to us and they treated us very well. This is my seventeenth season with the Astro, so I couldn't ask for anything better.

So, uh, you know, getting back to the playoffs a little bit, you know, you know, we looked at what happened last year, right, I mean, who thought?

Who would have thought Texas.

You know, the Rangers and and the U and the Diamondbacks would you know be playing for the World Series.

You know, the Dodgers got swept by the Diamondbacks.

I mean, uh, just you know, there's been a lot of talk about the buy that the top two seeds get and that it really it doesn't help them to get that. It's been any any discussion of that among you know, anybody that you talk to, and you know in the organization or players or anything like that, who say anything about taking time off when you're playing baseball, because baseball is kind of a thing that you want

Look, the players like consistency, as you said, the players like to play maybe one day off and then go back and play, and so they liked it. But for the fans standpoint, you get twelve teams. You can almost have the league in the playoffs, which is not that bad, which I like. Now I've seen it both ways. I've seen the Assers win what they buy, and I think the Asss lose with a buye as what as they

So but they do they like they do like consistency.

I think that's where the Ashes have an edge and the Dodgers have an edge because they they've gone both ways in that regard, and plus they've had that experience, that pedigree, the playoff predigree that they've had. So I think the edge is with those two teams, even though both of them were have a lot of players were injured.

Yeah, okay, who has a better Who has it easier? The National and the American League both both roads, seems so.

I think I'm for sure the National League road is tough just because the Phillies are in the middle of it.

So I you know.

Yeah, I'm sorry I interrupted, but we have to go through the Phillies. We saw those philious teams. Look, I never get nervous because I'm not playing. I'm the broadcaster, but doing I mean, they do the ut. But during the Phillies World Series, I mean, I'll be totally honest. You know, you see Scharber come up to bad, right, you get him out and the real mood of that. Then Harper is like, well, you know, it's like, come on, get this guy.

Out right, because they're so good. They're just swarb. He's that really good player.

He gives it all, he strits a lot, but but once he hits it, that guy can carry a team into They're a very very dangerous team. And then they're pitching. Come on, they got great pitching. So if you have to go through the Phillies, it's it's a tough one.

Yeah. Well put it this way. I'm looking at the records.

The Dodgers and the Phillies have the exact same record, ninety one and sixty two. I think the Phillies are a way better team than the Dodgers. Not just a little bit better team than the Dodgers, but a way better team than the Dodgers, even though they have identical records.

They're just really good.

I would say. Other than better, I would say more very complete team. Yeah, a very complet league team where there's very little hole and it's almost the same team that played the ass except a couple of players, and they've improved the short stuff that they got from the Dodgers, and so, uh, it's a very good team. It's an exciting team. I mean, I've been a fan of Bryce Harperson, who was in high school right he left us right after his sophomore year, and so it's exciting to be

I'm gonna ask you kind of an off the wall question.

If you're the general manager of the Astros or the owner or whatever, and you had a chance to get Aaron Judge or who would you take.

I take Otani anytime.

I mean, he's gonna make me a lot of money.

But when you think about what you got to pay him, right, you.

Know what I mean? I don't know. I don't get into the books as dodges, but I think that contents already been paid. Think about it seriously.

Yeah, I mean it's it's blood. Ellie is a market. It's a huge market. Yeah, I mean it's a huge, huge market. And so they had the means to do it, and why not. I mean they went ahead and did it. And not to take anything away from Jude, because Judge, Judge gets better every years, he's a better player.

Yeah, yeah, he's incredible.

Real quick, we don't have done luck that much time with you here. So are you still doing Arizona's athletics stuff? I know you're doing the Spanish avenue of it.

Are you still Yes, I'm still doing the social media, so please follow off any the athletic esp We have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

So exciting times.

For the walk ats too, and so I'll be wearing my walk at year during October World Series games.

All right, sounds good. Better than the orange for sure. I had to get that in there, you know you like it. I don't look good in orange. Francesco. I don't know.

He kind of looks like something exactly something bigging around.

Well, good to talk to you, Francisco. I can't wait to get my hats. I've been waiting since nineteen seventy two.

I got two for.

You, so I gotta turn one. I'll tell you three, and that you can get one to next to you.

Yeah, Jay's not gonna wear it, burn it. Yeah, that's a waste. We definitely said it on fire. Don't don't do that.

And I don't think they have sizes in his size heads anyways.

Yes, twelve, it's big. I'm not gonna say, but it's big.

Thank you, See you soon, man, see you soon when you get back in twent.

Talking to both of you guys. Love you guys, Thank your friends.

You know, he's got a great job. He had a he's a podcast to beyond the Mikey had, Joseph buer On.

I think recently, most recently good guys. So yeah, you know, one of the good one, the good ones. He's always been fun to have on.

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Three Steve Ravera and Jacin Salas. They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Men, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, he's Jacin Zawas. Got our guy one in with us. Matt here too, Welcome to the Friday. We only have a little more than an hour with Jay left, although he'll be back and down the road here and here and there with his picks, and then we're going to the casino.

Obviously not running away. We're not running out of town or anything like that, just staying here. It got some other work.

And I haven't run anywhere alone. You know, I'm gonna go on. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go do that oult Tory thing tomorrow.

Oh yeah, you didn't get on the bike. Yeah, we got on the back a few miles. Yeah, I'm gonna.

I'm gonna My goal tomorrow is to see if if I can do ten miles like right now with not having work.

Wait wait, wait, what if you can't.

I'm gonna call my daughter to come and get me, or my son. Actually, my daughter's gonna be out of down. I'm gonna probably go do that thing tomorrow. As of now I'm doing you can casually get there, right Yeah. Look, I mean look, ten miles is on a bike is not that hard.

I can do that. I got that.

I got that in me today it's going to it's like, do I have thirty two in me?

Not today?

But you know maybe eventually if I can do ten and not be death warmed over when it's over, then I'll feel pretty good about where I am. I just got to, you know, do some work, get get ready and do the thirty two. But in November I'll be ready to go. So it's two months a way. I mean, how they How the hell hard can it be?

Right? Sure? So hard? We'll see see, we will see.

Yes, Okay, anybody want to call please do five two zero, four one, six, seventy four forty. We can get through this segment here for about thirteen minutes and we have about thirteen yeah, just under Yeah, okay, I'm glad that we have the guys in. They're gonna be moving me forward.

Yeah.

Well look, and you know, I don't know, I hope that not lost in all of this is that you know you've you've been doing this for a really long time, Steve. So you're going to be This show is going to be great. It's going to continue to be great. I think it's I think together we established sort of a persona for this show. People know what to expect in terms of the background that you and I have had, and that you have you know, you more than me.

Yeah, so I've been looking. I've been I made a couple of calls. I can't say. I don't want to say who I'm looking at, but I might have a bridy guest, you know, maybe they maybe I have five guys.

Who fill your shoes in a different way. Right.

But the thing that made us, I thought, what's the back and forth? You know, me getting on you, you get it on me, and it's kind of moving the ball forward. Uh, Whether I was Dean Martin and you were Jerry Lewis or your two people. Who's your your people? I'm going to queen you know, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Yeah, does Steve a Queen ever have a sidekick? He didn't really have a sidekick, Okay, yeah, okay, it was the

You know, people have actually said that to me.

You he knows what I'm talking about.

I know exactly.

There's names for those dudes. I can't remember the names I have been.

I've been sent memes of those guys that that's you, that that's you and me.

So that's not that far off.

So we'll see if I can get somebody goes back and forth with me and kind of cracks wise back and forth, so we'll see.

No, that's that's not that's not I was trying to avoid that, but that's that's not far off.

People said that.

Yeah, I've used that meme a couple of times, and I can't remember their names. Old look, dude, I think it's something like Stadler and.

Yeah, one of those Yeah, Yeahler and Waldorf. Yeahing like that. That's something like that. Yeah, you're right.

We look at this teenager guy tell us Stadler and Waldorf exactly.

How the hell did you know? You want to dude, he was watching Sesame seat five years ago. I'm not sure you know what watch it? I watched them going up. I bet you still watch it. I'm not gonna lie like once in a while, I.

Do those two dudes because they were funny. Yeah, you know, give each other grief exactly watching it actually right here. So by the way, uh, on our Pac twelve Big twelve conversation, I think you'll be two dollars.

No, we broke even.

No, no, no, it was two to one. No, no, we ended up three three. So the toe board, we didn't end up three three.

You raised it to the day because I remember, I said, we did, really because it.

Was three three one for you to for me. Yeah, it's even, it was three three. It was three three. I wanted that dollar.

I still need to, you know, but you're still you're still taking me to lunch, and I still got to give you forty bucks.

Okay, okay, you're gonna eat for ten dollars exact budget. That's what I'm gonna do. And no, we're going to Minidito. You said, Okay, that's right. You can't eat the whole right set.

Of I'm not. No, I'm not. You know, I can't. I can't do that anymore. I can. I tried the President's Play at one time, and I didn't finish it, so I won't do that. Okay.

Actually, I can be a cheap date at Minidita because I love their Beanto statas, okay, and those are cheap.

Okay, right, we'll take well, we'll take the Yeah, we'll take the guys with us too, because we want to.

I was probably the first time I can remember going. I was probably six years old. Me too, Yeah yeah, but when when when you were six? I was like fifty six. But but you know, I'm My favorite thing at Minidito was the Beto statas.

And so I can be very cheap over there.

Steve, Well, I'm not worried about today. I'm worried about when we go.

Yeah. Well, we'll see, we'll see. Okay, Yeah, but forty bucks doesn't go very far. You know what, I bet you? I bet you you and I can get in and out of there for under.

Fifty Okay, you know, but no, yeah, I'm drinking tea and yeah, yeah, just have you know.

I liked we went last time.

It was good, good, except that remember we took well, we took because we told Jacob and he ate he ate the right side of the menu.

If you recall, well, you were with us, you were with us, you know, you were working for all sports.

We took.

We took Henry, and we took Ryan because they're working for us now on the and the skinny dude, Ryan ordered like fifty dollars worth of people. Where does this stuff go? You know, he's like a number two pencil.

Hey, I had game when I was five foot two and one hundred and forty pounds. I had game. You could eat, I could go, I could pound. You know.

We'd go to Pizza Hut to their all you can eat on Tuesday nights and we'd have contests and I want it's eight seventeen pieces of pizza at a Pizza Hut.

All you can eat? Sound like Sean Fitzpatrick.

Yeah, oh, Sean Fitzpatrick and the hot dogs at sanset Field. I think he ate a dozen one time. Now the next day he looked really bad. We used to call those because they bring in one of those you know, those styrofoam circle k ice chest. Okay, they'd bring in one of those full of hot dogs for every game, and Sean would just sit there.

Sean Fitzpatrick, would you sit there.

When you're in when you're in college like you guys. Yeah, it's called free food. It's one of the reasons why you get into the media world. It's free food. Not anymore though, man, No, no, not anymore, not like it used to. And the stuff at the football games used to be very good. We used to have great meals. No, not so much chicken fingers and didn't sell it.

Is that it is that it football games.

The last game it was, it's pretty much or hot dogs. Yeah, it's been bad for a long time. Man, I'm not gonna poopoo it, but that's what.

It's been now. Well, you know, at least he get it. I mean basketball games.

I remember they used have a great cold cut spread every game and would go in there and would warf it down and a bunch of cuts math and man, you got to buy your own dang hot dogs.

A bunch of dollars for a hot dog.

And then I remember in the Festival Classic we used to get at a little uh you know, ten dollars fifteen dollars vouchure and go. Yeah, well we no longer have the games anymore, but.

Yeah, that's my I know that the best way to a journalist's heart is through his stomach, that's for sure.

But many people got into it.

Yeah, and that's why when you go look at the sports guys, sports writers, we all look like a bunch of fat, over weight slubs. You right about basketball. You don't know anything about bath. No, I can't play it.

So but I think I know a little bit and I can eat it. My job that was always fun, It was always fun. But no, I you know this again is still gonna be a great show. And I'll listen to you.

Yeah, and uh, if, like I said, if it's going bad, I'll call you maybe if it's maybe, even if it's not going bad.

You know, well, here's here's where.

If I see you getting out a line about the wildcats all right and being mister grump face, I might have to call there.

I'll have some people that will get me straight, you know. But Brian was it Brian Street was it Brian called me the grumpy guy yesterday or whatever it was. And then you have Jim. Of course, Bill will call in every now and again when he has a chance to listen to us because he has options to listen to other places. But you know what David Kelly is not is not a raw raw guy too.

He's not.

He's not and and but that's how it should be. That's not supposed to be. That's how it's supposed to be. Good point. And he is for the he's up on the positive side because he's told. But deep down he's a dru.

There's times when he's like, you guys suck you know, uh, you know, and and and then.

There you know, and I guess you know, we kind of kind of gotten used to.

The radio types like us to be more cheerleader than not sure of course.

Well let me if you remember we had Kyle Fogg on, which was I thought was a fantastic interview. Uh not because we did it, but it just was because of him. He talked about how he'd go other places and he'd get it here was most like the safe haven, right because they wouldn't get on him, or they wouldn't get on a team. Right, and he never had any negative feelings or vibes from the local media. Right And and Tucson is like that, Yes, Tucson's your your warm Linus blanket.

Now you're you're You're exactly right. I mean, that's what it is.

It's it's a it's a place where you know there's an expectation.

And even if even if you think football.

Or basketball is terrible, you get upset if other people say it. Right, you can say it, but you're not. Nobody else is allowed to say it. It's sort of a mentality around here, at least. That's that's how it seems to me. I don't know about I know it to you.

So we have we have a lot of time. How much we have about We got about three minutes.

Okay, So I'm gonna ask you because you're gonna be on every down again.

We can do this at the casino.

But let me let me ask you, and I want you to be whatever you be whatever football good hands moving forward is good.

I think it is. I think it is.

And anybody who's already saying it's not is in my mind full of it. Okay, maybe by the end of the year, if it's not in good hands. You can say they have a bad year, and you can you say, well, okay, I got I got my doubts, but not now, not now, you know what I mean, anymore than you're going to say, as he is going to go undefeated? Right, you know the three and oh but you know, is Kenny Dillingham

Probably, but.

You know, I think, I think really Mark Lansford really called my attention to that when we were asking him about transitions, right, how you're going from you went from Larry Smith to Dick Tony, two guys that in Arizona fans minds were probably the two best football coaches ever at Arizona right between the two of them. Yet between those two staffs there was a mad, a massive transition that took a while.

And it did. It did.

The first year was four fourth and three other four fourth three.

It took a while.

No matter how good of a guy and how sort of a laid back guy Dick Tomey was, the transition took him just because it was different, and no matter what you say. Regardless of how many of the great players stayed, it's different this year.

Okay.

So let's move from there to basketball with Tommy Lloyd. Good hands and I'll have a quick question after this.

Very good hands and in my mind, in better hands than it ever was with Sean Miller.

Oh, I don't disagree with that. I don't disagree with that because I think the potential is there to do wonders with that said final four in the next five years, it'll be seventy three years. Which one is it? You want to give more time this year? He The thing is, you could at any moment go say yes.

Yeah, but then you say I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say in the next five years, and if he gets one in the next two or three years, you wouldn't be sup. He'll have two in five years. Okay, Okay, here's the deal, Steve. You know I I uh oh, we got to hit the road. Yeah, we gotta get out of here. I got a point that I want to make about that.

Okay, because a lot of breaking news. Okay, well, if we don't.

I got a point I want to make about about Arizona basketball this year. Okay, Okay, we'll talk about that, but let's go and take our break. We're to come back top of the hour. We got breaking news with what's your name?

Mister? Wait or do we have another minute? What are you talking about?

No?

I think we have another another minute. Yeah, I'm watching this thing. I think I actually think we have another minute. They were supposed to go out at fifty five and thirty.

Yeah, yeah, we typically don't. Yeah, so what are you gonna say?

Fifty six? Okay, here's what I gonna say. People are down on Caleb Bluff right right. He yes, he was not good at the end of last year. He's going to be a first team preseason All American all over the place this year because people outside of Tucson think he's really good.

But people inside of.

Tucson saw how he played down the stretch this year, and they think there were actually people who didn't want him coming back. Right, the guy's one of the top players in the country. He gives them a chance to be a national champion. And I don't think people realize what they have in him.

Now. Does he have to change his game a little bit? He does?

Does he have to do contribute more besides being a good shooter, and does he have to be a better shooter?

He does, but across the.

Country's I've already seen him on one preseason All American and he's going to be on a bunch more. How often has Arizona had preseason All American? Not very many, Seawan Elliott and guys like that. It's been a long time. When you got when you've got one of the five best players in the country on your team, you have a chance in this community or these fans don't really appreciate how good he might be.

Well, this world, you're as good as your last exactly, and he was good as his last game, and it was a.

Good last game, right, And that's stretch. The last few games were not that great. You got to go, we'll come back and speaking maybe four topics about this stuff, about moving forward,