This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jagan Zalaz on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions kt z R two SAG and iHeartRadio.
Station, lookod Actornoon. Everybody, Welcome to Iron the Ball Hero Fox Watch fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera, He's Dagon Zalez. Got a guy Henry in Georgia. Just put your breaking metals breaking metal. H Well, you can't say break dancing because it's not right. Got Did you see that the Australia woman. Yeah, that was like breakdancing nineteen seventy two.
That was very sad.
That's very I think I like kid kid having a tantrum on the floor.
Yeah, a lot like that, right, you just wanta grabbing my harm and stand him up.
But yeah, it was cool. It was good Olympics though.
But other Olympics were fun.
Yeah.
Two basketball games were fantastic, great games. The soccer match was, uh, you know, testing it was great. I had a chance to see a lot of that. I watched almost well almost all of both both of the basketball games. In between apartment hunting down in the San Diego for my daughter. But good stuff. You know, they ended strong. I thought it was a good Olympics, a lot to you know, a lot to a lot to remember. It was very cool. Yeah, no, it was.
I was a lot to watch, a lot of fun, a lot of golds, a lot of metals. Some controversy with the gymnastics continue. I guess what the hell, man, Yeah, they're gonna probably get it right, they're gonna give it back. I guess they're gonna give it back to her. I don't know what they're saying now. Yeah, because it was a deadline thing right right under a minute. And so we'll see, you'll see you never know who knows.
Yeah, but yeah, stuff like that kind of screws things up. But it was, you know, it was a fun Olympics. Okay, onto l A and let's see what that looks like.
Snoop Dog already.
Yeah, he's already out there in concerts and the airs of ball making the most of all that visibility. You know, they're they're throwing it out there every time, every chance they get.
That's part of my story. You know, you got to you gotta strike with the irons hot right right right, And here they are yeah, okay.
So it's been very cool. Would you want to go as a spectator too in the Olympics?
Uh in l A. Yeah, that's a good question. That's a good question as a spectator. Yeah, just you know, I pick a few events you can get so, I think so because I've covered it for two times and two times and it was a lot of work, a lot of craziness. The only down down thing would be I don't like LA even now, the traffic is going to be even worse.
I remember when they went there or the last time they went po just losing their minds.
Yeah, and this is going to be awful forty years ago. Yeah, and now it's I wonder what the venues are going to be, like how spread out? Yeah, and if I could just go to maybe spend three days there and kind of go and pick and choose, yes, yes, uh but but no, I don't I hate the traffic there. It takes, yeah, you know, especially if it rains. It takes.
It took.
I told you the story, took me like five hours to go ten miles one day. Yeah, because the traffic.
Yeah, you know, back in the I did, I didn't. A friend of mine was living there and probably could have gotten tickets and gone. I know he went to a few events, but I don't know. It's I think I think it would be cool, but you're right, I don't know if l A Is the place I would want to go to a US Olympics. You know.
Yeah, I thought about it because I used to live in Dallas, and maybe Dallas can hold something something like that right in Miami or but it's still going to be crazy. Yeah, it's still gonna be no matter where you go, it's going to be unbelievable. The one thing that they did for the media obviously they put put
you in vans and you went to the venue. They put you on another vance I'm sorry, buses, Yeah, shuttles, big buses, and they took you so you don't have to worry about driving, You don't have to worry about anything. It was not there. You just got to get through on time. But but even then it was like, are we ever going to get there? And then you have to come back and then I don't know ya, Okay,
where did you cover Olympics Australia? Which was nice, it wasn't the trap Sydney Sydney, And then Greece, which was a little more hectic. But but both of the both of them are pretty good. Australia was fantastic. The people were unbelievable, but the track, you know, the traffic, the traffic wasn't that bad considering. The thing that was surreal about Greece was it was after nine to eleven and
there was military people at every corner. That's what made it kind of like, oh crap, here's a guy with a gun, machine gun, but he's protecting you, he's on our side.
Well, what would you want to go see if you went?
Good question, Good question. Well, let me say my first My first great place in Australia both of them was the beach volleyball. Of course, beach because it's the atmosphere, the fun and the music was great. Uh I curt softball with Kendre so that was okay, But beach volleyball the most intense place I was. That was the volleyball men's volleyball. It was because it was in Greece and then they were playing Greece. I think it was crazy. So you kind of go for the atmosphere and sports, but
beach basketball would go to the bat. Yeah, yeah, I never went to I covered a couple of press coverages, but I never went to a game because Richard Jefferson was in four.
Yeah, where do you want to go see Henry?
I feel like the gymnastics looks really cool. Yeah, obviously basketball, but I feel like I've been doing a lot of basketball games. It would be as cool as somebody going to some of the other.
Games, right, And I'd like to go see ping pong in person, because it was halfway decent I was. I was watching them play. I don't know how you'd see the ball, said, from wherever you would see Yeah, no, because I used to play it. I was not that good level. But it was like if they are like twenty five hundred players, twenty five hundred quality, I'm about half that thirteen hundred. Yeah, and those to some amazing yeah, just just what they can do tricks with the ball.
Yeah, yeah, Like I'd want to go to the track, but i'd want to go see finals.
Of course.
Of course there's only a couple of finals every day. So yeah, I don't know that I want to sit around for three hours to watch a ten second race, right.
Right, No, No, that's that would be pouty prime right.
Kind of thing. I uh, probably gymnastics, like you you know, I really like that. Yeah, maybe maybe the maybe beat something like beach volleyball. Probably not soccer, although ye be fun. I've had fun watching it on TV.
If you it's different. It's different when you're a person you're thinking, You're like thinking of everybody else. They're ever going to score?
Yeah?
Yeah, but yeah, I mean I guess I would, but I guess if I had not, if I have an opportunity, maybe i'd go. But I'm not gonna break my back to try and go right way.
Yeah. No, I think it's gonna be a lot of fun. I I just the congestion. What are they gonna do with the homeless? I mean it's now they try to put the city trains to put it on the best face, on best face, We're you gonna put all You remember what Brazil did? So what they do?
They just swept them out, wouldn't they built? They built stuff all over.
There over there well complex yeah see, oh well that's could happen here.
Yeah.
And when you were there and were you in the l PAC twelve pack twelp in La you were there Peck twelve what was in l A something. Oh though, do I so regional?
You didn't go and I worked one and I worked one a few years ago.
Okay, but you know, okay, and it's downtown. It's like, holy crap, it's everywhere. Yeah, so you know where do they Where do they go? Where they go? Well, they're everywhere.
North, all right, there you go, all right, just scarious, No, it's scarious.
It's gonna be interesting four years. Yeah, let's see what happens. Okay, cool? Uh, the more football we're getting closer, right, nineteen days I think it is.
Yep, the AP football pole came out today.
You're gonna you're gonna get you're gonna mess with Henry.
Yeah, we're not gonna let him have it. This is this is more important than than than Henry. Sorry, Henry. Yeah, I love you man. Okay, cool, but I found it. I found it. I mentioned after I found it interesting.
Okay, I'm gonna ask you why, but go ahead.
The same twenty five teams that are in the A people were in the USA to day pole. Now, so some in some different orders, but a lot a lot the same.
Don't you find that kind of coincidental? Or why do you think that happens or happened, I have my three.
Well, on one hand, I'm sure guys who voted in the people looked at you the coaches pole exactly, but it's sort of a consensus that these are the teams that may maybe there's like a cutoff. Who's twenty six in the in the in the AP pole, it's Louisville.
In the coaches poll, it's Washington, then Louisville, So it's Louisville, the next five twenty six to thirty Louisville and AP Louville, Virginia Tech, Boise State, SMU, Iowa State, And the coaches vote's Washington, Louisville, Virginia Tech, SMU, Memphis.
Washington might not even get four wins. That, yeah, how is that possible?
Well, coaches, the coaches got them right there because they're saying they were national, you know, national championship game. We gotta give them a.
Bunch of I used to be skinny a long time ago. I'm not the same team or guy.
That I was. Washington got twenty three votes, which, let me, let me put it this way for you, Washington is behind Boise State, SMEU in Liberty.
In the AP and the Yeah, that's what in the thirties, twenty seventh, Yeah, thirty two, thirty makes more sense. But even then, Jay, if there are a prediction to win protection win four games, how do they even end up that high?
Yeah? But the first seven in both poles are the same going down Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Alabama will miss Notre Dame.
And there's those both twenty one, and there those.
Twenty one in both poles. Seven and eight in the AP are Notre Dame. In Ohio State they're flipped, I mean are eight and nine. Excuse me, are Penn State in Michigan they're flipped in In the coaches poll, it's Michigan. Penn State are eight and nine. Forest State is in Missouri. Forest State Missouri are ten and eleven in both polls. LSU is twelve and thirteen in the Coaches and Utah is twelve and LSU was thirteen in the In the AP, you got Clemson in Tennessee. It gets a little you
get to Arizona twenty one. After Arizona, it's the same four teams in the top twenty five in the AP. But in as in the in this in the coaches pub put in different order. Us c'son there at number twenty three in both. Kansas is twenty two, twenty four in the coaches I was twenty five in both poles. So a lot a lot the same. Tex A and m is twenty in both poles. Miami is nineteen in
both poles. It's just it's the same twenty five teams. Okay, so interesting, Yes, Arizona's twenty one starting out the season ranked, which is which is good because I know that there were I saw a couple of poles that they didn't have Arizona ranked at all.
So okay, that's our next guest, our guest, that's his number, so ahead and grabbed that so you can write it now. So let's let's talk about our guests for.
Okay, We're going to Patrick McCumber. He's the He was the manager of the Wilcox Little League softball team that went to the World Series, won a first round game, and then got eliminated after that, so we'll talk to him. His daughter, Hattie was there was the stud pitcher on that on that team, you always got to have one to get to the World Series in either either baseball or softball, and they had one in her She had
a fifteen strikeout performance. If I recall in the opener of the Littleague World Series, what do you think was a record? So? Uh, you know, look, they had the experience. They didn't win it, but they went and they had fun.
Yeah, we'll talk all about that. I mean, how does this team from Little Wilcox, Arizona get to this?
Rightey? How do you get that many good players in one place like that?
Right? And she his daughter must be a stud, Yeah, like a stud stud studs. We'll ask him if it's true that college coaches are already saying, hey, you what are you doing in six years?
Yeah?
Exactly, exactly do you think that's too young to be chasing? I'll give you an example. Surprisingly went after Nick.
I remember Nick wife, and how that guy right, Well, he ended up coming here, but he wasn't great.
Yeah it was great and it was serviceable. But you know, it's it's cool for it's cool for the kids. I think it's cool for the kids.
And the parents said, hey, you know, the college coach talk to my kid already and she's twelve. But is it too much? I don't know it. I guess it's part of it, Steve Partnery, I think would depend on how your kid and how the family handles it handles that, right, are you going to be butt heads about it and running around say my kids getting recruited, or you're gonna say, oh this is really cool.
Cool, Well, they'll be the moms behind you in the volleyball.
Right.
My girl is going to be going to issue. Excuse me, she's not that good.
She's not that good.
She's going somewhere, if at all.
She's not even going to Pima. You're not going to u of A. She's not going back twelve. She might get into D three school.
She's going to chuck che if.
You guys come up with the tuition. Yeah. So, but anyways, it'll be interesting to see, you know, kind of Oh you've had this experience, now what right for a lot.
Of that right?
Right? And on how do you you then that's captured?
And then that small town, right, I mean, I'm sure everybody in that town knows all the players, sure, right in the families.
Right.
And then at four fifteen, I told I told him that as much as this pains me to have to talk about these guys. Jack McGruder who writes for Forbes Sports. He's gonna come in and talk about the Arizona Diamondbacks, pretty much the hottest team in baseball. They've gotten to within three and a half games of the Dodgers. They're tied with the Padres right now. I think they've won fourteen out of sixteen or something like that. Going into today,
they're on the Dodgers heels. They're the defending National League champions. Dodgers have to be looking at him. But the Dodgers do get movie bets back today, so maybe they can start to score to themselves. But it's going to be a race. And Jack's doing a story on in Forbes on the overall race in the West Division, which is turning up to be a really interesting one except in the end, the Phillies are kicking all their asses.
Well, then the Phillies got the last three, we.
Got rolled by. They got rolled two out of three by. The Diamondbacks were swept. They get swept. I think that swept anyway. So so Jack will be in here. We'll talk a bit about the Diamondbacks and how they're turning things around, and we'll talk a little bit about that race. So be sure to stick around. We've got Patrick McCumber, manager of that Wilcox Little League of World Series team
that got it got to play in North Carolina. Actually was there a few extra days because of the hurricane that was going over there, but I'm sure they had an incredible experience. So we'll talk to him when we'll get back. Stick around.
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Streaming live, I mean iHeartRadio WAPP. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jacin Zalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to you Whire the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jaginsauce on the phone. We have Patrick McCumber from the Willcox Little League Softball team coach. How you doing?
Oh great, great, finally back in town, getting back into my normal life again, well normal life.
Indeed, you guys lived the dreams of many young kids, girls and boys over the last few days. How was the experience?
It was an unreal experience, the whole thing from start to finish. And if you're if you're referring to the Little League World Series, little League does a really good job at taking care of these girls. The experience was pretty fantastic. They go out of their way to make it special for the ladies.
Well, and you guys, you guys had some extra time there with this hurricane, and so you probably had a lot of downtime. So how was How was that hard? Was it? Or were you guys just having fun sticking around?
Uh?
You know going through all of that while waiting to play some more games.
We just wanted to play softball. But like you said, this is a once in a lifetime experience for these girls, so we try to do what we could to take their minds off all of all of the delays. We took the girls out for ice cream. We took them one day and got them off. They all got pedicures. Even one of the coaches got a pedicure. So just just stuff like that.
So how long how big is the roster? And I have a question for that about twelve thirteen?
Twelve twelve?
So how many of those girls had ever been on a plane before?
I believe there was four that had not been on a plane before.
So how was that for them?
Well, because the travel was so last minute and they had to scramble to get us seats, we weren't even sitting all together. So I was a little bit worried about the girls that hadn't slowt on a plane before and because they were sitting by strangers, But they all handled it well and they were they were pros at it by the time we got back home.
Yeah, sure, of course. So let's go back to when when you put this team together, because you know, we know how All Stars work. You get the best players from your league and you form a team. We have a bunch of practices. There is there a point where you think, Okay, we're really good or did any of this surprise you in terms of how far you got? You just kept winning games. Mean, how did that come together? What did you think of your team as you started the little league tournament?
Well, as we got into All Stars this year. Our city, Wilcox is really small. It's about three three thousand people, three two hundred people. So honestly, there wasn't a huge selection process like some of these other clubs have.
We had.
We had to bring girls up from the miners just to have two teams here to play against each other in Wilcox. So out of all the girls, we probably had like fifteen sixteen girls to choose twelve from. So it wasn't that it wasn't that it wasn't that grueling of a process about forming the team. Once we had it, we have several girls that they do We have a four or five that you club the softball stuff in Tucson, so they get knew that, we knew some of our
girls are pretty talented. Then we have some brand new girls, but they kind of all just meshed well together. And we didn't win by a lot, but we won a lot of games.
How many games did you win? Because I have another question for that, where'd you go?
I think we won FOURIGN districts to get the state, and we won another four at state, and then we won five four I think another four or five in in the Western Regional.
Twelve and thirty, so you didn't lose it all in those times. You went four and oh four to oh.
Four to oh yeah, we were we were undefeated all.
Those So you went you went thirteen in about two, right, thirteen and two something like that. So it was and it's always tenuous right bottom of the bottom of the sixth or bottom of the However, did you did you come close to not.
Get in there?
We had one of one of our toughest teams that we went against was actually at the state tournament, the CF team out of where they're they're at North to Glendale, they're up in that area, but they were they're pretty close with us two different times.
And then in.
California we had a couple of two to zero wins, so we didn't win by a lot. We just really needed we needed more with the bats is what we needed to make everybody a little bit more comfortable.
Well, well, you mentioned how how small you know, will Cox is, and and then you know, to get twelve girls in one place that size to be this good, I mean that that the odds are stacked against you and something like that. But yet somehow you you know, you pulled this team together and had this team that gets all the way to the World Series. I mean again, I have a hard time understanding how how did that pool of talent came together all in one place in such a small place.
The core of our team, we've had about five or six and we've won. We've won the ten U state championship. Then last year we won the twelve U state championship, and this year we again won the twelve You but so we have a core of our girls that have just been practicing with us NonStop for the past several years. And we told them, we said, if you guys want to get good, you guys want to get better, we're willing to be out here and practice with you. And we've put a lot, We've logged a lot of hours
out there on the field. So it's just a lot of dedication by these girls.
Well, it's probably a lot of dedication by you and your daughter, who appears to be a standout right she has the record what fifteen strikeouts, so she must have been playing since really young. And how much time do you put in with her?
Put we've put in a lot of time. It was more me and her at the beginning, but now it's a lot more of just her because I lost my eyesight completely about a year and a half ago, and they did some surgery to make it come back, but it's not like it was, so I can't she throws too fast, too hard, and moves too much for her.
I can't catch for her anymore. So we we have heard her catcher, jay Leen's really good at catching for her, and uh and my my son, her brother, will catch for her, or we just have a target net where she uses that, but she she puts work in almost every day trying to improve her craft.
Is she a hard thrower? Through a lot of stuff that tell us a little bit about about her.
Skills, She's pretty good. She's she's pretty good. There's there's a lot a lot of people have shown interest in her, and she's she throws, she throws pretty fast for her age, and she's she's been working with she's had a few different pitching coaches, but she's been working with Kelly Fowler for the past a year or so and she's added a few few more pretty tough pitches to her arsenal. So she she's when she's on, she's really hard to hit.
Take us to that first World Series game when she struck out all those all those hits. I mean, did did it What did it look like from where you were sitting in terms of did she just look like she was in some sort of a zone or something. We talk about that all the time. What was happening that day.
Was she You could you could see it on her, and she was confident, she was ready. She she wants that stage. She craves that stage of being in front of people and and the big games, and so for her to finally get to her goal of playing the
World Series, she was just she was on target. Also, she's she's gotten to the point where she's really her defense has backed her up so well throughout this whole process where she feels comfortable throwing whatever she wants and then if she she hangs one up and it gets hit, then she trusts her defense to back her up on that. So that really gives her a little more confident in throwing different pitches.
So I should know this, But did she she pissed the first game? Did she piss the third game?
She?
We were in a weird situation with that third game. Is that, because of all the delays, Little League typically goes one game a day, So having one really tough pitcher is it's it's just fine because she can pitch once a day. But it pushed us to the point where we were going to have to pitch or we were gonna have to have two games that day. So I thought, you know, it's better. They only get tougher as you go along. So I thought we had, you know,
our other pitcher. We have a couple other pitchers that are pretty solid, so we tried to run with one of those. We thought we could probably get by with one with one of our other pitchers, and we had Lily Williams pitch and she did a good job. But it's just different. It changes the whole defense up when
we move people around. So so we we didn't have we didn't have her, and I moved her in towards the end, just because the rule is after twelve innings, they can't pitch anymore that day, and after seven innings they can't pitch the following day. So we were gonna b are going to burn her one way or the other. So we just went for it just a little too late. It really wasn't that, It was more of the adding that we didn't get going right right.
So talk to us a little bit about how the girls took this experience, because you know, I covered a boys Little League World Series team from Tucson that went and they got beat in the championship game, and I remember going to see them after the game and I thought they were all going to be heartbroken and upset and you know, maybe crying. They were having a great time, you know, even after even after the loss, they were just you know, they were at their at their at
their dorm. They're having a great time. They were jumping around, and it just they just didn't look like a team that had just lost a world championship, right they How was it for your girls? You know, once you know you're out of the tournament. But yet, I mean, were they already reflecting on the experience? How did they take all that?
Initially there was some heartbreak, especially some of them that have that have done a lot, a lot of off season, a lot of year after year. Of the people who have had a lot more experience, it hurt them a little bit more. I think the other girls, we needed people to step up, and they did a good job. So after about I don't know, twenty thirty minutes, I think there was kind of a that you could see
a pressure was lifted off of them. They wanted to represent their city and the state of Arizona positively, and I think that they felt, you know, hey, we put up a fight, we did a good job. They and they kind of, you know, they were proud of themselves for what they had accomplished, because they know how odd it is even for a really good team to be able to do this, right, So in a town.
Of three than two hundred. Like you said, I'm sure everybody knows everybody, and now when's the parade? When's the parade? And can they get free candy? Now?
I don't know.
So, And the parade was we had we had a whole bunch of people. Like you said, small town equals more support in the way I look at it, because everybody, somebody on the team, everybody's friends or they they kind of everyone that I've talked to, they look at the girls as those are our girls. Our girls did this, Our girls did that, And I love that about this town. And we had a we had one hundred, one hundred or so people along the side of the road is
when we came back into town. So it was it was pretty neat The county is doing some kind of proclamation tomorrow. They asked me to come to So everybody here is just so supportive and so proud of these girls. So it's good that you know, they were supported for the girls. But the girls have also done a lot for this town by by giving them this kind of excitement.
Sure, right right, We're talking to Patrick macomber, the manager of the well Cox Star League World Series team got there and won a game, so it's stuck around for a little bit. So so Patrick, the coaches, right, you're the you know, you're the father of you know, the the best picture on the team.
Uh.
Mostly, I'm guessing your two assistants were their daughters on the team as well. And you know, I mean, what how kind of what kind of family stuff was going on around all of this.
It's great and when we stepped back, we're gonna be able to look at it and said, we did this, We did this, and we spent this kind of time with our daughters. We went on this experience with them. During that thing, it was me just trying to logistically
make sure everybody got here and there safely. We have a bunch of girls that have never been away from their parents at all, and I'm taking them halfway across the country on the airplanes and charter buses and staying in dorms and so it was a lot for the families to handle, but it was it was great for us being able to do this with our daughters, and it's something that we can look back on every year at this time when it starts popping up on ESPN. Yeah, okay, we were there together.
Well, not halfway across the country, all the way across the country and you guys were out out in North Carolina. What was that like?
Right?
The weather stuff and the hurricane and I mean, this was all of that was something new to these girls.
Yeah, they're gonna have stories to tell and they're gonna have a They're gonna be able to brag a lot to their kids someday. But yeah, the biggest problem with the weather, I think was we were we weren't ready for the humidity. We're used to hot here. It was hot, and even the locals around there were talking about the humidity as that this is the this is the worst it's been in a long time. And you could see
it in in our second game. There was definitely a we We had been trying to keep these girls hydrated, but you could tell that there was a dip in there. There just ability. All of them were struggling a little bit because it was so humid there. Everybody was just pouring buckets to sweat and there wasn't enough. Even though they had all the gatorade you can drink, the girls weren't drinking as much as they needed, right.
All Right, So we were talking before you came on the air. Your daughter is young? Is this twelve thirteen, right, and something like that. I'm assuming that or I've heard that the college college coaches have already kind of seen hmm, who is this girl?
Well, we've heard we've heard people talking about someone's you know, they kind of someone's watching them, so and someone knows who they're who she is, and they're not they're not allowed to really contact or anything. So we haven't heard anything. But she's had more people following her here and there and asking questions. So but yeah, overall, it's a good experience, but we're not going to know that kind of stuff. So later on, I'm guessing how much how.
Much of that, how much of the town was able to go, how many how many people went with you?
We had we had pretty much every kid had a couple of people there with them. Plus we had some people from town that just they they had the ability to just go, and so we had oh, I don't know, I'd say we had we had forty some tickets to give out for our section, like when we had Hope, when we were able to uh when we were playing. So when you see them behind home plate. We were able to have forty two tickets for that and we used all of them.
So yeah, wow, great, So so coach. Not many people know where Willcox is. Not many people know how to spell Willcox, but it's two l's. Now people know because of you, guys.
Two story. The first year we went to the state tournament, everyone said we started, we started doing well and winning a lot of tournaments, and everyone just said where's Wilcox? Where's Willcox? Like every day, five or six people. And the third year, by the time we'd won it for the third time, not one person asked where Willcox was. They all kind of figured it out by now. So it's it's pretty good, very nice.
Very nice. Apple's baby Apple and he's out there.
That's right.
Well, coach, thanks for joining us. This is a lot of fun.
Yeah, very fun. Congratulations.
I appreciate the call.
Guys, thank you.
That's not, like I said, everybody dream when you play that ball at that level. Only thing you really dream you want to be good.
But you know, he mentioned that they you know, you get a group of you get a group of players like that, you're all around the same age, and they kind of just you know, this high school softball team. If they all stick around, it's going to be really good in the next few years. Right, we're gonna hear about the Wilcox softball team that went to the Little League World Series.
No, no, you're right. You see this with Sunnyside or to No Gallaxy, right, because they all grew up together, and they grow together and they stay together. Yeah, and they do well in high school and all that stuff if they stay together and don't get burned out.
Right whatever, right, you know, and or if they don't move away or whatever.
But it happens once once in a generation if that.
But some of those great Little League teams that you know have been around in Tucson, you know, they were good in high school. Then you know, then they all split up and go to colleges, the ones that do. But you know, they they kind of migrate up, you know, up the chain and and they're good for a while. And that's how these things happen. So right, right, all right, let's take a break, take our second break. We're gonna come back to take some calls. Five two zero, four one,
six seventy four forty. The EIGHTP College Football Poll is out. Arizona's number twenty one in that one as they were in the us USA today. Paul, So, yeah, some thoughts on that. Give us a call five to zero four one four forty.
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This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez Son Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app just Surgeon I on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to One in the Ball here, Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve, You're Jay got Henry the fifteen minutes. If you want to call five two zero four one six seventy four forty that was a lot of fun.
That was fun.
That was a lot of fun. You can tell he's kind of just the stoic dude because he you know he was. But that's probably what you have to you're coaching twelve year old kids and girls, and girls have to be stern. You know, girls, girls coach them, I've coached them. I don't want to be saying anything out of place, but they're.
Different, something out of place. They're definitely something out of place.
So difficult in a different way that boys are difficult.
Well yeah, I mean each you know, boy coaching boys and coaching girls have their challenges. They're different challenges, you know. You know, just say, you know a lot of drama when you're coaching girls. Boys it's just about they're boys and they they just sometimes you just go you you need you need to shake yourself.
And so letters to Jay nothing to me. I didn't say what he just said.
Just said, you know, boys are just goofy.
They're there.
You know, it's like you're in a dugout and they're just shenanigans always going on in there. So anyways, that's all I'll say. So, uh, some thing that got pointed out to me quite pretty much. Right when the people came up. There's no Washington in it. Yeah and uh and uh, just people saying that we're rank. You're not any voter who's worth it snuff wouldn't put them in You wouldn't think, I mean, they got nothing that one last year.
Last year was last year. It was last with a different coach and a lot of different players. You know, Miss America is no longer Miss America years ago.
I haven't gone on and seen anything. But how how do you think Jed's playing.
That uh underdog stuff. We've done it before against the world. Yeah, we've done it. We've done things like this before. We'll be fine down the road. It's not about today. It's about do you think they're going to be four wins five wins at the Lace, not even a winning season. No, No, they'll lose their minds that. Yeah, there's you know, I think there's still style points. And then not to think that he's not a good coach, because come on, look what he did here, right, And I'm not one of
those poo poo guys. He did a fantastic job. He has some good people around him. But it's you have to start over again, probably with better talent than he had here, but still has to start a new league with a lot of people he lost.
I wonder, I you know, don't you think? What do you think? I feel like they got to get to six wins though, just because they're Washington.
No, yeah, their league. I have to see their schedule. Maybe I'm premature in their schedule, but it's not going to be easy. And I still don't know. He's a good CEO, and maybe he knows more about the game, and I think he knows. Hey, he's done more than I have in his little pinky. But but you know, I know what I saw from time to time. It took him a few games to get in uh Fafita, Come on, how does that happen?
Wow? Yeah, there is that. Yeah there, I mean, there is that. I mean it. Yeah, it took him quite a while. I'm looking at their schedule.
Okay, go ahead and give it. Let's go all right, But not that we know what the schedule is going to be.
But a Weaver State with Eastern Michigan two, Washington State three.
Okay, although historically that's been a tough game. That's three.
That's uh and loomen Field what is that that were Washington State place? That's maybe that's somewhere neutral. Maybe what's the uh it says looming Field. I've never heard of what lumen Field is. Maybe it's just all right, and home against Northwestern, Okay, maybe let's go for something down
then now we're four and o our Rutgers. We were saying, Rutgers is good and home against Michigan for four two at Iowa who knows, because I was good but bad, Well they got rid of their offensive coordinating and let's go four and three, four and three at Indiana, five and three at home against USC, five and four at Penn State, five and five at home against u c l A, six and five, six and five, and then that organ six.
And six, six and what's your what's your over under? I think it's four four and a half.
I think it was five and a half.
Then I would go over And that's just that's just that's just by our crack research.
Just that we did right there in about thirty seconds, that that research, you know, let me let me get there there they're over under. Okay, hang on here, Washington is.
You've gotta be four and a half, five, six and a half under, I'd go under.
Yeah, six and a half is that's a lot because you have to under six and a half is minus one fifteen, I go under.
I'd go how to sweat it out? Because you still those numbers?
Do you see? Game is the one that yeah, well you know, and I mean at Northwestern at home the Rutgers game too, you go, I mean, we like to think Rutgers is historically not very good, but there's a lot of people saying that they might be good this year.
You know, you go to Indiana, who knows, You go to Iowa, who knows if I would doesn't have any kind of offense, and in Washington State in Washington put some points on the board, maybe they win that game, but it's yeah, well you know, we counted six, so there you go. But you know, if they're four and oh and you're just trying to get to seven, don't you have to feel pretty good about that? Sure?
But then then reality comes in and yeah, because look at that. Look how week that first three So first three games.
We were saying Eastern Michigan, Washington State, I mean, I don't know, you know, they lost your quarterback right that game.
They're not gonna get there. Washington State, right, what is luman.
Feel it's where the Seahawks.
Oh, okay, what is it?
It's sort of Henry, you're doing exactly what we need you here for. You're googling what we don't know unless you already knew that.
I think they've recently changed the name.
Okay, well that's part of the sponsor. Yeah, Lulu Lemon, that Lulu Lemon Lumen joking, that's what the next Arizona stadium called.
Anyway, So no, I just you know, just because we like to go Nan Nana. Everybody, I know, everybody that's brought up the poll to me today, I said, and guess what, Washington's not ranked.
I'm like, I know, I mean, come and get over already he's gone. Who's gone. You're gonna be happy with Brettin. People gonna wish him bad though. Of course it's what Tucson does or Arizona does.
Yeah, exactly. But anyways, you know we're getting there, Steve. There's actually games week from Saturday, right, there's a there's a handful of a handful of college games, and I think, God, I think I think Florida State, Georgia Tech plays in that first week, right.
Yeah, they're in England. I think, oh is that?
What is that?
Is that friend of mine is going to the.
Game Orda State at Georgia Tech in Dublin. Yes, the org State Tech in Dublin. And then there's SMU Nevada. Maybe an interesting game there. There are some people out there saying watch out for SMU in the in the acc that they might make some noise over there that they you know, they've been getting better. There's a lot of money going into the program. Yeah, they're twenty six and a half point favorites over Nevada. Montana State's Montana State is favored by eight over New Mexico. They playing
that they play in that week in New Mexico. State's got a game before.
In Mexico State, New Mexico, I mean New Mexico really, So that's August August twenty fourth. Oh okay, I didn't know that.
And they're they're they're at home against Montana State. But they're getting eight and a half at home. That tells you how bad people think they are. And then the other game out there is Delaware State is playing Hawaii. So there's four games. But Georgia type Florida State in Dublin. It's gonna be at nine am. It's tis on time. That should be fine.
That's Saturday, okay, and then I'm pretty close here from Arizona. God has already here mid August, so we'll see what happens. Have you been hearing it anything new coming out of camp?
No?
No, I heard it. I heard some stuff this morning, just some of the wide receivers. The guy who's replaced Cowing at his spot with the same.
Something like that.
I think very good. He's done very well. Could be the second receiver to t MAC has been out there a couple of times, right, so that's good news. That's good news. Maybe limited early, uh, and see what happens. Just hopefully he doesn't get hurt. Yeah, but things just like that. I think the I think the offense on the defense are going to be relatively not comparables, that's the right word, but just as good as each other. Yeah, so you know one's not gonna be favorite over yeah.
Yeah again and mentioned last week there was that he uh meet and green at uh Benjamin supply there's my grandson. You know, my son took my grandson over there.
And that was yesterday.
It was Saturday, Okay, Saturday. It was pretty funny. There's a picture of him, tam X holding him, but he's clearly holding him like a football. I mean not I mean he's got his hold, but he's got his his his knee, he's holding it like the end of a football. It's pretty funny. The other guys, you know, Fafita and Brennan and and and uh Joe Savine you know, hold him like dad's right. And t X got him kind
of like a football. It's pretty funny. Like he's got him tucked in and he's ready to run with him pretty five. And you're not going to tell them anything. No, go ahead, go ahead, but cool. I guess it's a pretty good event. I so so.
Yeah it was a special event, right. They had to pay to go to get it? Yeah, yeah, don't good.
Tickets were free. We didn't have to pay for ticket, but they had to have to. But they were. But you had to have tickets because they limited the number of people that could go, because they don't want it to be just you know, jammed with people.
Price you think for this, Benjamin someone, I think it was. I think it was man the world We live in that four players and and Brent Brandon. Yeah, you got it. They were all doing story on the Arizona Sports Exchange. Right, enterprise enterprise. They have a lot, they have a lot of work to do, and uh, I don't want to preview it much, but she knows it's not it's not gonna be overnight. It's going to be a lot. It's
a long yeah, and they're prepared for it. Instead of getting money from uh from Liarfield, now they're gonta work theirselves.
Right out of this. Right, So I'm interested to see what all that says. You can read it in the next issue of Businesss on magazine.
It's it's a real kind of convoluted the decisions made while he was made things like that. Yeah, but it is what it is. I mean, if you if you have issues, and you know, if you have issues, you've got to spend less or go chase more.
Go chase more.
Yeah, a lot more, Yeah, a lot more.
Because now you know twenty two million dollars of your of your revenue or something like that has to go to athletes. You got to share it with, right, it's a lot of money.
Right, did you see the new president got kind of introduced. I guess still needs approval from a few places. But he's the guy.
Yeah, no, yeah, he is the guy.
And if you're asking, Jay, you're the president. Okay, you're the president, says what do you think about getting out of the mess, the financial mess that you're in. What are you gonna say? Oh, it's like we can't do it. And what's your answer? Yeah, we have to, we have to.
We're gonna make it happen. We're gonna make it happens. It's gonna take a while. I had a lot of work do, gonna make some hard decisions, right right, right, So you got the role what to say? Yeah?
What do you say? Oh, I'm sorry I took the job.
Yeah? No, well, you know, but that's the thing going in these you know, both both Desiree read Francois and uh Garamela doctor Garmela. No, you know the job I had through kind of what's left been left behind for them? By the way, we need to get ahold of doctor Robins. Yeah, doctor Robins, say farewell, or what are you doing now?
Do you have time for us?
Now you're gonna go back out and massage some more, some more, hearts or what are you gonna do?
Yeah?
Me, and see what he does. I mean, he's what he's in sixty Yeah.
He's yeah, and that's relatively young. Yeah right, you know, relatively young. He's still active doing a lot of different things. Yeah, you know, probably maybe a consultant. Yeah, you know, they always have stuff like what's up? What's some if you're seventy five today and you're still doing okay, what's that?
Is that?
The new sixty five? Seventy five is the new sixty eight.
Sixty seven years?
Yeah? Really, because I think I think, like, what are you? I think, like, seventy is seventy seventy two is what used to be sixty five? That's where people are starting to retire?
Yeah all right, Well did I just saw something that the the life span of a man a male is seventy three. That's all seventy three, like seventy eight for a woman. Crap, exactly exactly. I got thirteen years. I'm gonna make this hell do eight Yeah yeah, well yeah, stop taking your manage and you'll see you could. Yeah it was seventy three. I don't like thinking about that, but that's what I say.
The new is what the new?
What like you?
What are you sixty? You're sixty fifty five? No, if you're sixty five, what are you fifty seven?
Yeah, forty five. Until I go golfing in the heat, it is Mike. We gotta go.
It is Mike because he's making nonsense.
Yeah, you know, I mean, I'm forty five right now. But if I go golfing at one o'clock in the afternoon, I'm sixty eighty four. It is as hot as hell. And it was hot in San Diego over the weekend, Steve, really hot. I was really upset by that.
Global warming.
Yeah, really upset.
It does exist. Okay, we got to go.
All right, take a break. Henry is gonna come back with breaking news. Stick around.