This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio while just search IYE on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to playing the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. Now we have one with breaking news.
Well I'm not sure why it's playing, why it's not playing, but welcome to breaking news. Whatever you want to have for the intro music today, but starting breaking news off with some stuff for the baseball fans out there. Yankees right hander Garrett Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery. The team just announced about maybe an hour ago, ending his season before it even got started. Yeah, Okay, Into some
Arizona athletics. The women's tennis team lost last Friday to Iowa State, but rebounded with a win Sunday against Kansas four to two. They are now eleven and five on the season. The men's team, who is fourteen and one, beat NAU on Friday four zero and then beat Toulsa yesterday five to two. The women's team for softball twenty three and four on the season, did lose back to back games to start their UCF series three to nine and then four to five, but finished it with a
ten to one run rule on Sunday. And today they beat Utah State eight zero and six innings. They are, Yeah, they are twenty three and four. Kind of surprising that first those first two games against UCF the way they had been looking. And I use the word just because I don't have any other word for it, but momentum they were there. They're having a great season. They are having a great season, but a little bit of surprise with UCF those first two. Then they were making a
lot of mistakes that they usually don't. The baseball team got a series sweep over the weekend against Pepperdine, including a twenty one to two win on Saturday, came back down three zero to win five to three.
Yesterday at High Court bit yep.
The women's basketball team played their first game in the Big Twelve Tournament against number this ninth seed Colorado.
They lost fifty eight sixty one.
Okay, maybe maybe a little bit of a shocker, maybe not. Yeah, it's we'll see what happens. We'll see yeah, dot dot Yeah. And then as we talked about, Arizona lost on the road Saturday at Kansas seventy six to eighty three. Right today they announced some of the Big Twelve honors. Caleb Love earned the first team a Big Twelve honor, Tobeyo Walka and Henry Vassar got honorable mention.
I didn't pay attention to the rest of the group because they just pushed. Caleb was the only guy listed, although two guys were on honorable mention. You'll say Henry and Toby, Toby, nobody else, right, and they finished third in the league. That feels a little slighted, maybe, but here's a game to my naive. But I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to the other teams because other teams have good players too, right, and people say, well, our guys, well, you guys weren't good enough.
Doesn't make sense statistically, And that's what some of these voters and the people that do this they look at, right, Statistically, Caleb Love.
Kind of they're kind of not.
Yeah, Basar, I'm surprised wasn't even a second team.
But here's the here's the funny thing to me, do you think Caleb would have been first team? Let's say they went ten deep on the first team, which of course that's not really your first team. That's you know, two teams plushed together. Do you think it's capable of being the first team if it was only five? No? No, not even close. Right No. When he said he was the first team, I said, I had to look at the list. Oh, I get it. There's ten people, one A, one B.
He's uh I A would say one B yeah, right, and one B spot number ten?
And he and he had a How would you describe a scale of one to ten?
Why would you rate this season on its own? I'd give it a seven.
I would say maybe seven and a half seven, But I'm right with you, okay? And he had a seven? And they finished what they finished, right, Yeah, third in the conference in a tough conference, especially the way that season the season started, right, he had a huge impact, right, good and bad? So more power to him. He did he did? Okay? Is he is he great?
No?
Is he bad?
No?
But he's a seven last year he was like a nine in the PAC twelve and the PAC twelve? Right, same player, same player.
It's it's saying like a Tucson seven is in New York three?
Right? Yes?
Yes, But regardless, a lot of people go off of last season. Yeah, pac twelve point of the year, but this is in the past twelve. Welcome to the Big twelve. And then of course the new Top twenty five came out, Arizona fell out.
Accordingly, they were still in the top twenty five at the USA Today Bowl. I don't even pay attention to that poll because no one really does. But I guess for twenty four five, I'm thinking, okay, but you know who votes with those coaches? Yes, I D'Sa the coach is too busy to vote.
Yeah, yeah, BYU sits at seventeen. So likeing, just looking at some of the Big twelve teams Iowa State at number twelve, Texas take at number nine, and UH Houston at number two.
We knew this was gonna be a tough conference right at the beginning of the year. Was like four or five in the top twelve. There was only included that you had to play the games now, and there was only better than BYU. Maybe maybe that depends on the day, and they're what ten twelve?
Would I BYUS number seventeen? Seventeen? Okay, So Arizona, Arizona's good enough. They just aren't there.
I mean right now, But we talked about the net, which is kind of more weight. They're fine, Yeah, they're fine.
We'll see what happens over this week with the Big twelve tournament. They'll they'll take on the winner the first in the first round of Baylor and Baylor in Kansas, the winner of the state Kansas state, right, and then they'll take on whoever wins that game, the winner between that team and Kansas more than likely looking at another Kansas rematch.
Well, who's who's that root? Because that's a four?
Right?
Is that a four? The one below? Yes?
I think it might because I don't have the thing. Yeah, because it's one.
It's one, three, four, three, four, right, one plays the four, one would play the four, and the two would play the three.
Yeah.
I'll try to look it up right now. But you're gonna look at more tough games raper for the tournament. Who rest, guess what the rest of the way. The rest of the way, they're playing tournament teams. Yep, this will determine how good you're gonna be when you play tournament teams. I was seeing some and you know, you went off or whatever. The teams that were qualifying for the tournament those are pretty good teams that are hitting threes like crazy. And what's one of Arizona's achilles heels.
Three point defense? Three point defense.
So a, it goes the number four seed, number one, number two, number three, so you're possibly looking at another Kansas rematch.
It's UCF and Utah.
Okay, Yeah, that winner plays Kansas, and that winner between those two plays Arizona.
Okay if they if Arizona, Kansas State or whomever.
Right, So, so U c F Utah play, they play the win they they whoever wins that game goes on to play Kansas. Yeah, and then that that winner plays Arizona more than likely looking at another Kansas rematch and then possibly looking at a Texas Tech rematch.
And they split the regular season series.
So uh probably probably looking at the season series when if you want to call it that.
Yeah, So let me ask you, Uh, if they played Kansas in Kansas City, is that a neutral court? Absolutely not? You don't think so. Uh So when Arizona plays in the in Vegas is that a neutral court? Absolutely not? Because of the crowd yep, but that's the I'm trying to court that crowd. And you've witnessed this thousands of times when Arizona plays an Anaheim plays in Anaheim. Is it a neutral court?
I that one. I do think so it's a neutral court. I would think so. Using your just you're launching my my experiences because Arizona has been to Anaheim in the tournament three times in my in what I've seen and right right, not not not as it used to be. It's gotten to be a neutral court and that maybe that's because more teams travel, but it's not. It wasn't that uh Nick Johnson year when they were in there and what eighty percent of the crowd was Arizona.
See, you're telling more crowd I'm tighting in court because it hasn't been successful to them. No, in a long time, if ever, if I can remember correctly, and all the fans always want Anaheim.
Yeah, and it's stupid because they don't do well at this point, it doesn't matter. Just you should be able to go and win a sweet sixteen lead eight game, regardless if you're a blue blood, right, if you're exactly, if you're you're taking notes, I'd like it.
I try. I try to be good at what I do.
Continuing breaking news, Stephen Curry accepted an assistant GM role for Davidson Basketball.
Oh really, I believe.
He's the first active US major professional sport to take on an administrative job.
How is he gonna do it when he's I couldn't tell you. I didn't tell you.
Maybe it's a it's a virtual job. Maybe maybe maybe when he's in the off season it becomes an in person. Well I'm not sure. I'm not I'm truly not sure. I was surprised when I saw it. Maybe he's just setting himself up for post NBAC. He needs the money, who put everyone? Who better to do it?
Right?
Is that?
Shawn Elliott come in and says, yeah, I'll be your GM. Do we have one? Though? It's does every want to have one? Yeah?
I think you do. Name He's not He's not a Stephen Curry. No, they are not. It's like Richard Jefferson doing it or somebody.
Yeah.
Uh So the Rockets star Amen Thompson is gonna be out ten to fourteen days. We'll see how much that impacts them. They're a top team in the Western Conference. Another top team, another top two team. Uh The Lakers Lebron James expected to miss one to two weeks with a groin injury similar to one he had a couple of years ago, but they said that it wasn't as bad.
He didn't hear a pop this time. He did not. He did not.
And then, of course today a little bit of free agency havoc in the NFL.
Just going over some of the highlights.
Sam Darnold going to the Seahawks and three year, one hundred and point five million deal. Yeah, I'm not sure if that's a step up step down. We'll see what happens. Yah Cooper Cup is going to be released by the Rams if no trade happens by the beginning of the next league year.
He'll find some place, no question right, who is the best fit.
Someone should be able to trade for him or pick him up, depending on when stuff happens. The Jets reached a two year for forty million dollar deal with Justin Fields.
That shows you they are cursed. It's like in a player to be named later or something. Because what he didn't even start at Pittsburgh.
He started for the first four or five games and then they said, oh, our real starter is ready to go, and the Steelers were five and oh, I believe they doesn't make any sense. But it's not my money, not my money, not my problems, not my team. The Eagles are trading former first round pick can He Pickett to the Cleveland Browns for twenty twenty five fifth round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson. Robinson's former UCLA Who's who's you
with the Eagles? He was He was fantastic, I mean college specifically.
Yeah, he was.
He was a hometown kid. Yeah.
We went to Pittsburgh drafted by the Steelers. That didn't work out for reasons, and now he's in Cleveland. The Commanders are going to be trading for Texans offensive tackle Laramie Tunsel. The Houston will get a third and seventh rounders in twenty twenty five, second of fourth rounders in
twenty twenty six. The Cardinals got a boost in their pass rush by a Green to sign ex Eagle Josh Schwet, a pretty big part of that Super Bowl winning team, so the Cardinals are looking to upgrade uh And then the Broncos agreed with Telenoah hufunga former forty nine er, on a three year, forty five million dollar deal, twenty million guaranteed at signing. Okay, is it that's all I got on a Monday Mannic Monday.
Okay, we're gonna get Tavia Morales from All Sports shutuan dot com. He's he was doing some of the stuff on the internet too, with the fans and defending Tommy. And it's not that I'm defending Tommy. I'm just trying to be realistic. But what I see and what I know, I go to the games. You go to the games, and there's a lot of people posting who don't go to the games? No one who's a friend of mine
was posting. I don't know if he listens. He said that there's a reason why he ever wont to travels Well, they don't travel well. They don't travel well. They really never have. They just have they do for final fours. Who doesn't travel well for final four? Exactly? Who does? Sweet sixteen was kind of spars last year. I can't remember where do we go? Boise? So last year? Yeah,
and I mean that wasn't that great. And they lose in the first round because everybody was waiting for Friday for the lead a game right there.
And they were saying, who's Clemson. Yeah, but people know knew Clemson, so they don't travel, and they have to Arizona's benefit. They have a lot of the lums in places, especially in the West coast when they went to Oregon or or you know, Ucla that's now not so much in the Midwest, but they don't travel.
Well, how do I know. I went to those games, so I saw, but they had a lot of people there from that area.
I think, between you and me, what Tommy said is what we've been saying for a couple of months now, and ever since I joined the show, we've been saying that.
For me, it was kind of a surprise in as much as it's like he's been saying this and now you're just listening. It's all of a sudden it took.
I took a loss at Kansas, a team you thought you should have beat. But realistically, I'm speaking as a fan. Yeah they're a great team. They were a top twenty five team. Yeah they ran to the Big twelve. Who about who you? Yeah, yeah, they ran to the Big twelve. And now everyone's kind of questioning, what is Arizona basketball?
Well, the thing you kind of listen to the people who know, and you don't listen to the people who don't know. It's like you know I have two kids. One I have two kids. It's like me telling you about pregnancy. What the hell would I know about pregnancy? But I have two kids. You have two kids?
You know what I know?
With that, We're going to take a break, go to see you if we can find of her.
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Streaming live on the iHeartRadio WIP. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, Lake at the go. We have one at the controls.
Now we have have you morales of all sports twosun dot com on the phoney guys doing.
We're doing fine? Are good? Thanks?
Hey?
Uh, let's go. Let's go with just updating us on the championship years of just the recent spring sports for high school stuff. And then I want to get into it with you because you've been following this stuff about UA fans and things like that. You two were a homegrown guy into a lot of the games. You know, you and I traveled a few a couple of years
covering the basketball program. Just I don't know if you're going to set the record straight, but at least you get some insight home and away, right, So let's go locally first, And what did you see the spring?
Well, you know, Cell Point boys and girls when they're there are soccer championships and their conference for a they both lost in the Open Division. But the good thing about the open Division is if you lose in the first two rounds, you get you get to go down your conference. And they've dominated in the in those two brackets. And Cliff Gang Weber, as I heard your interview with him and Kelly Pearce also doesn't get any better than
that really in Southern Arizona coaching in any sport. And so you know, you wish said the Wolfgang couldn't coach for another let's say, like five years or so, but I he mentioned me after that. In reality, it's probably gonna be a year or two, and that's going to be a big difference because he's been there for forty three years I think forty two or forty three years. So he's just a living legend and it was an honor to be there and covering the game and being
there around the players with him. Who are you know what, they're about sixty years younger than he is, right, So it's that that was the delight. And then bush Ridge came out of nowhere. They were six and this is some talking about the basketball team, the boys basketball team. They won the three A championship. They were six and ten in lost eight out of nine games, and then they went on to win thirteen or fourteen games and
ran through the pre A tournament. That that's unheard of, you know, that would be like somebody that's low seed in the the Big twelve tournament going all the way and then winning the FACA championship. Did yeah close? Yeah?
Yeah?
So I mean that's six and ten los eight a nine that they're actually that. The last loss they had and that's that string was that against Paul Verdy at home and they ended up winning thirteen or fourteen. They beat Paul Everty by twenty points in the championship game. So Steve Slida, that's another interesting thing about that is the second year as the head coach. Overall, he was an assistant at a Jesuit school in Aurora, Colorado for
like fifteen years. His wife retired from teaching, so they wanted to go to a warmer climate and wound up in Tucson. He became Pusher's JV coach three years ago and then the ad there hired hired him to be the head coach last year, and then they won the championship this year. So that's kind of it's a storybook and you know, it's it's crazy. That's that's just something that doesn't happen. Ye, that's what happened during the during the winter, the winter sports.
That's the highlight of it.
I mean, of course the wrestling with Sunnyside Boys and girls winning the championships Sunnyside thirty eight chanponships. Now the boys and the girls won their first and they're probably there. They're gonna applyvate run. Also just because of their they they all train together. They're in the same room. Uh, the coaching staffs are. They don't train to get each other. They trained together, you know, and they they had their own spots in the room, but their coaches all work together on each.
Team, you know what I mean.
So it's like one big, one big family there. And what this is about the girls, they didn't win an individual championship they went, but they won the state championship because each girl plays high enough in each of the brackets, so uh, you know, and then see im sorry Mountain Mike and Mountain won their first championship girls wrestling first time. When they want a championship.
I was gonna ask you something when you're talking about the boys. Yeah, yeah, the boys wrestling at Sunnyside, what a well, I don't even know how to ask it. It's just the success. I mean, can anything stop that success? Because if you've established this for so many years decades now, it seems like, you know, they have to implode or something.
Yeah, it's been forty years around there may even longer than that, like towards the seventies that they've had a good program there. And I think it's just the it's a way of life, you know, it's it's it's what they do, it's what it's what they bring a lot of young to say, start young. A lot of kids in that wrestling club are like third or fourth grade.
They start them young. And in his families, you know, there's there's relatives of old times state championship russers who are now wrestling you know, nephews, the nephews and now nieces cousins. It's just like a big family and it's wrestling as a way of life there. That's that's it's going to be hard to crack for any team in the States really to to break up that job juggernaut.
I don't see how it could happen because it's it's it's in place, the systems are in place there and it's not going to go anywhere.
Yeah, well nice, good for them, So a lot of success in southern Arizona.
Uh.
It was good to probably talk to the euro Push Ridge guy sometime this week just because obviously these champions deserve all the recognition they get. Let's let's move. Let's move to u A basketball. You covered the team in the late nineties with me at the start when I was at the sistant obviously, Uh. And you've seen teams come and go, obviously on the road here and there. But I think over the weekend you were kind of speaking of your mind to people who were really down on Tommy's thoughts.
I think, well, Tommy Lloyd's a competitor. I think you've seen in post post in conferences, press conferences. Is here more than more than any other time. He's kind of let it his his emotions show, because I think he knows he can get more out of his team and he just hasn't seen it yet. And I think he can get a lot, he can get more out of the fans than he hasn't seen yet. And I think that he just has that mentality. He has a useful
demeanor about him. He's gonna speak his mind, especially after going to Kansas and seeing what the atmosphere is like there. And you know, I don't think he not once he said that Tarizona's fan base is not not good or not supportive. I think he said the opposite, that they had been great, but they have work to do to kind of match what they what they've seen at Iowa State and Kansas and Texas Tech. And I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that. And it doesn't really
matter when he says it. Really he's just he's he's a he's a competitor, he's you know, as a fan, I wouldn't want my coach to think that way, to want to get better at any possible instance with with the program, and I think that's he was just letting his opinion come out at the time where they just
played Kansas. There was a senior dat night and they had people speaking, you know, and I the only the only accepts that I would make for some of the fans have been critical is they say that there's the nine o'clock game, it's late. They have they have worked the next day.
I get that.
I don't think per se Tommy was like targeting fans that didn't stick around after the senior or after the game for Senior night. I don't think he was specifically doing that. He might have might have come across. It was just in general about the fan involvement. You know, people forget that Ludelson and Sean Ludelson and Sean Miller didn't have to never had this save things that Tommy Bloyd said about the crowd because Arizona was the best in the Pac twelve.
Yeah, well it was. It wasn't at the end of Seawn's time because they started to That's when it started, when they started winning enough and blah blah blah. I'd see Twelvey twelve and a half and maybe less and you can kind of see it in they were advertising the ticket stand and uh, it's kind of continued. It's got a little better obviously, but it's still there, right.
I mean in our time when we were when I was covering the team with when You're when you're when you were when we were both covering the team. Obviously Stanford had Maple Pavilion.
That was the time.
Fantastics really good, fantastic, Matt Cort was really good, harmon arena, Army Jim was was really good. But those things came and went. Mchel's always been good, so loot And and Sean for the most part, have not had to say, hey, you know, we need our fans need to have work to do to do this or that, you know what I mean. Tommy sees these other programs in the Big twelve now where they have been involvement. I was looking at listen to your summ your show earlier. It doesn't
matter who they're playing. It could be Morehead State, Murray State. The fans are the same for those games as they says they are for any team that comes in there to their to their arena. That's not the case that areason it and I think can it happen? I don't Maybe maybe not, but Tommy wants to try as much to see if it can approach that level. And I know there's some people at the U of A or trying to get ideas and put things in place where maybe they can they can, you know, make it more
of an atmosphere that Tommy Boyd wants. Yeah, but what's what's I don't I don't understand the fan outrage. He's just expressing himself that he wants Michael's crowd to be on the same part with some of the big twelve crowds, and I don't see.
Anything wrong with that too. He took a shot, he took a shot at them, and they were one. They weren't ready, which of course they should have been, because he said that before. He said this three times before. In fact, I got a text from one of my friends, the same guy text me about this. He started in the Red Blue game when he first got here, and this year it just it is what it is because he's telling you the truth.
He just is.
Yeah, he has to waive the crowd to stand up during a game. Yeah, I mean, if the head coach has to do that, then there's something going on that he's he's he's wanting more, he's expecting more, and you know, Luke lou I remember when Luke started out, he said, you guys better get your season tickets now because there will be a hard ticket to sell if there was social media back then. When he said that, I guarantee you that if I'd be some fans like when you know,
you show us like prove prove it to us. You know you probably hear read some comments and social media back but there was no social media back then. There is now, and people at the touch of their fingers or at the keyboard can sell whatever they want. And it comes out that all these people are upset with him for saying that, and he I mean, I don't
I don't fall through for saying it. And it doesn't really matter when he said that, it's it's what he thinks, and the fans are going to be there for Arizona. It's not it's not like Arizona's in a bad situation with Michael Center. It's no matter of fact, it's the opposite. It's one of the top three for arenas in the in the Big Twelve, but he wants to be even better, and you want your head coach to be.
Like, it's funny because if I know you read my book with lut and I talked to Mike Montgomery about He says, well, I asked him about the arena. I says, you know, how difficult was it coming here to play in this atmosphere, just as it was like you mentioned Stamford, and to me, Stanford beats Duke back in the day hands down, hands down because of the craziness that we witness with the bouncing floor of the students. How clever they were more for students for the area, if that
makes any sense. But I said, how difficult was the company? Says Steve Montgomery says, to me, you think it was about the crowd. Those guys had very good talent. You're not worried about the crowd. You're worried about the Richard Jefferson's the Gilbert A Rena says. Those guys who are who are good.
Yeah, yeah, they saw tickets themselves and you know everyone to Sill have talented players. The thing about the crowd and now is that it seems like it's more reactionary. Yeah, it was gonna make a couple of baskets. Then they stand up and start making noise instead of being you know, getting them get up and like getting them going, you know what I mean. Yeah, that's what That's what I see anyway, right, So, I mean I think this is a good thing. I think I think eventually there's gonna
be something. They're gonna work on things to get the fan involvement a little bit better.
Well they should, you know, get things going.
Yeah, I think I think this is a good thing. It's not a bad thing.
Well, I think with uh, with des right here, she's been here a little more than a year. She's got to get the full full effect of it. If she and she talks about doing these surveys blah blah blah. If she doesn't get the football situation improved, that's on them, that's on her. And if they don't get this basketball situation, and and and do you hold on the last time when they're doing their.
Speeches at the end, can you hear the speakers the players know, you usually hear Tommy, but the there's a lot of mumbling, and you know, they move the Mica Ali and you can't you can't really control that because they don't.
They aren't made to make speeches. They're made to play basketball. Sure, but even the system, the sound system football like the football exact games. You can't hear stuff. I wouldn't realize that until I was affected by it and I went as a fan. Everyone who talks about the system is right, yeah.
Yeah, that's that's something that has to be worked out. And I know they've had challenge of the football stadium even when Greg Byrne was there about the the you know, the music and the audio, the level of the noise, and that's.
That's been It's been seven years now something like that and it hasn't been fixed. So someone's dropping the ball.
Right hopefully there you know with the desiree there that she'll she'll put all this into account and make something happen. She's had that kind of attitude where she wants to make things happen.
Well, well, it's like me asking your opinion and and not doing something about it. Have you, I mean, if you have if you have these if you have these uh forms that you fill out and suggestions and then throw them in the trash, what's the point of having these these requests?
Yeah?
Yeah, don't take the convenient way out to do what you have to do and make sure it happens. To get some more fans in there. Because I heard I heard you say earlier that they're only averaging about ten thousand tickets. Says it's sell. You know, it's sell. It's sold out, right, and then they have to they have to sell five thousands each game, about four four to five thousand. Yeah, that's unheard of. That's that's that's uh.
That didn't happen ever since Littleton's third year, probably right right, second or third year.
So people who say there's no tickets their tickets and know their tickets, right, yeah, yeah, all right, huff, thanks for safe travels, safe travels.
Yeah, I'm I was gonna stay really quick up. I'm like stirring outside my window right now at the Caliber and there's there's the MGM Grand right there and the T mobile, and it's just it's just sad that there's no pastball tournament. It's just a weird, weird feeling.
Oh, I know, this would have been been This would have been well in fact, in fact, because you went to a few of them, right, You went to a few of them like us, because you lived out there and you travel up there. Here here's the issue. So mckill north, right, and I won't say anything otherwise because it was mckail north. But a lot of the fans didn't go to the games. They were out for the party.
Oh yeah, yeah, that was obvious. Yeah, but now I don't know what's what it'll be to see what the fan of all would be like in Kansas City. So yeah, I'm sure we'll think about what brief pass as to let's say, right about Brian Jeffries and so forth, see what the atmosphere is like.
I'm glad. The funny thing is, I've been doing this for a long time and obviously you guys know that I'm okay with that going. I'm not. I'm not you know, Vegas. Yes, that's an issue with Kansas City. Yeah, yeah, I'm okay with this. Yeah, I hear that. Yeah, Okay, thanks Helvier, be safe, thank you. All right, uh one one one, let's take a break and maybe we'll get some more calls about this issue. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
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Streaming live on the Ihearts Radio WAB. This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to finding the back here on Fox Sports fortune fifty on Steve Rivera, Blake is gone. We have one with me, so you want to call one. Will be on the trigger here for the calls. Five two oh four, one six forty. I wanted to talk real quick again. I get the same kind of messages from my guy about about you, fay. Okay, I'm just gonna continue. Uh. Tommy has been bitching about the fans ever since he got here, starting with the first Red
Blue game. The people to blame for this is the students. There's fifty thousand students at u of A and less than ten percent of ten sporting events, and the ones that do go spend the whole game on their phone. You can correct me a fin. Nope, there's nothing to correct. There's it's it's fine, Okay. Tucson is a very transient town and now over one million people. It's not like those fourth or fifth generation towns in the Midwest or
you know. And that's true. That's true. College athletics is not the same as it used to be with players having to be paid. I think there is just a lot of resentment to what athletics has become. Accurate, Right, that's all pretty accurate. Yeah. Also, TV partners constantly screw the fans by giving us late games, and if you want to tape a game, you miss most of the first half because the game.
Had already started. Yeah, all of that is so accurate. I've experienced almost all those firsthand. It's so hard to be a fan nowadays one because of the nil stuff. You want to see the return on investment. But at the end of the day, these are twenty max what twenty two year olds? Yeah, here's the issue. I'm sure you're gonna get callus once you get your degree, but can you help I make X? I make X amount of money? Right, I don't make figures and I'm not a u a grat.
So this applies if they called me and I'm paying ex player who's a star and he's making half a mile farnament. You think I'm gonna go reaching in my pocket and pay somebody who makes a lot more than me to live a life or have a good life when I don't make that much money. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. And isn't tusund that It's exactly that.
It's You've said a bunch of during the show, a bunch of spoiled people who had it nice for a good twenty years and to this day still have it pretty nice. Like I've said, you know, last four years, sixteen seven at home. Yeah, it's not enough, it's not enough.
But do you think those people who are completely who are riching, you know, the charity calls, right, he's and I all listen to him because he's in the house. He's that calls from me from inside the house. He's witnessed it. And I get the thing that they're upset with Tommy. I get it. But Tommy's not talking about the people inside the house. He's talking about the people you likely are tweeting and doing all this stuff that don't go to the games exactly.
And it's just why aren't you just giving those tickets to anyone else if you're not going to go.
Just anyone else. But as I said, there's only ten thousand. There's only you know, it's not fifteen thousand or the five thousand to give the tickets to. Those are tickets not being used or you know, people trying to find them or people buying them.
There's it's a tough it's a tough issue at it's probably gonna need multiple solutions.
Not sure where to I'm not even sure where to start with it. Well, I'll give you a guess. Okay, so we know the situation, it's too expensive to go to the games, or you go to the games, but it's too expensive. Supposedly Okay, supposedly, listen, super sincond they cut the prices in half. You think for a second that's going to solve the problem. Absolutely, not absolutely. If you cut the prices, they'll come. That's a you're exactly right.
It's all sunshine of rainbows when you're eating a two dollars hot dog at home, when you're still not going to the game. Well, we solve your problem with the prices. Well there's another issue. There's another issue. There's always another issue. How about you just go be a fan and and I've want to get to this point. Be passionate. Yeah, don't be the one to sit down and get the other people around you in that section to stand up. Yeah, and don't don't wait until it's a ten to nothing.
Run to stand up and cheer when they're down five ten, get them back into the.
Game so people see, people see the craziness, Kansas. You saw the game, you saw it, you saw it, you know in a great place.
Right.
So all those they're not all students right now, because how they're going to support that program. If they're all students, they won't be able to right. So percentage wise, maybe you can tell young and old maybe seventy five twenty five regular people, the twenty five percent students ours. Yeah, in Michale here, now, what is it? You have the student students right, Uh, maybe eighty twenty maybe seventy five, twenty five. Yeah, that's a good those are.
That's a good range around and that twenty or even the twenty five percent fifty showing up.
Yeah, depends on the game, right, depends on who's playing blah blah blah, and like you said, like the text on their phones really engage or or screaming stupid crap. Yeah. Yeah, in my my three years, it was hard to go and be that fan.
When you have you try and Arizona makes a great play, you turn around, you're trying to get figh fives, and they're taking a selfie or worrying about what they're gonna do after the game. Look what's in front of you, right, you have the moment future NBA prospects that just did a windmill dunk.
Yeah, and you're worried about where you're gonna.
Go eat afterwards because the prices, the prices in this the renard too much. Right, just watch the game, yell, scream, be part of it. Be upset in a in a in a responsible way. Have you been what other places have you been to? Did you go to Issue? I went to the Issue game this year as as a media member. I was supposed to go freshm year. I did it, but I went to the only the only experience outside of McHale was Tommy's first year in San Diego.
At the in the tournaments. Oh, in the tournament. Yeah, and that's a neutral situation. You ain't had some fans there too. It's totally different other places. Like I was telling Blake, you don't know until you know. You got to go and see. Oh, this is what it means. You talked about the SEC and football. That's how it is. Oh, I didn't realize how cool this thing could be and how different we are. You've seen it. And even when
you play football. And I'll use this bad example, but you see Arizona suit up, right, you see Arizona suit up and play and then they're smallish. You go to Ohio State, how can we huge?
Huge?
And you're thinking that's college football? Wouldn't that be great?
And and Arizona and and I think under Jed Fishes last year and maybe last year and a half.
They lived up to that.
They looked like one of the college football programs of Alabama, Ohio State. But you're not going to listen to it because it's touson Arizona. It's the Arizona football team. Who is this team? Who's Jaden the Lord, who's no Fafida? Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it is what it is. It's problem.
It's not gonna be so seasons already over here. It has been over for two months. Yeah, well, it depends what you talk to, right, but it's not gonna I guess we'll hear it at the beginning of the next year's is what do you mean about the fans? What are you expecting from the fans? Because now it's all neutral court and travel and we'll see how well they do travel. They won't, you know why, because people think they suck exactly. You know, the people who are loyal
will do it because that's what they are. That's the past. The ones at the game. Correct, They're not the ones tweeting. They're not the ones of facebooking or messaging or calling or whatever. It's the ones who who don't go or don't they just don't know, they don't understand what it means to be a fan. They know what it means to be a critic.
Yeah, now established critic or even the critic with background, and uh, I'm looking for the way.
I can't find it.
But credibility, credibility, they're not that. Well, you're not on Facebook, That's why I asked. And then you're on Twitter maybe a little yep, and and integra. I see it, Yeah, you see it. God, my thoughts are all over the place. My question to one of the callers, I think it was, Oh, Carls, what does it mean? Steve? Steve writes this and says that this sucks, They suck, Caleb can't hit shots, blah blah.
We all see, we all see what you see. What's the need for you to tell people this exactly? We all see it. You don't need to open up the computer or the phone and write this. This team sex because of this happens. What's your point? What's your point? We all see it? You are you in that analysis?
Again, it goes to the issue of we not we fans are more let's look at the problem instead of let's find solutions.
Yeah, and that's and that's just it starts. Yeah, yeah, what's like, you have what you are. You are who you are, Salim Stoda mar is not coming through the to the locker room to save your your three point shots. Yeah, you have what you have.
And at that point it comes down to the practice. It comes within the team itself, whether they're making shots or do you think executing right or let me ask you to do you think that the players read that stuff the Facebook? I think some of them do at a certain point. It's all kind of the same. And what do you think they think?
See?
I don't believe that they do. I don't think they care. I believe they see it. I don't know if they take it in. It just kind of they scroll, they see read it maybe for a quick second, and then it leaves their mind.
Do you think that's gonna inspire them? No? Has it inspired them to this point, not at all.
Since Caleb Love hasn't really shot any better because you send out that tweet or the message.
Right right right, hold on, I'm on the bench. I just got a notification someone's bitching about my shots.
I better fix this. I better fix it. I'm gonna start hitting them now. Oh my goodness, I feel so much better.
No, not at all. My point is just go scream outside your house because it's this falls on the same death fears. Although I'm talking about it now, I'm thinking, who do these people think? You know, what do they think?
I couldn't tell you. I really couldn't. And I'll be honest. I was one of those fans that used to criticize and say why and they shooting better?
At this point? What age were you? Fifteen, sixty? Ok I was a real young adult. Yeah, okay, And now you realize it's just a game.
At the end of the day. These kids, they they they this is their life and it is what it is. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you sometimes you make a run to the national championship in ninety seven, and sometimes you lose to Princeton. Yeah, that's that's just the game of basketball and any other sport, any other sport.
Yeah, but some people live and die with it, which more power to you, and I guess that's what the fan is. But it makes no sense to me.
There just needs to be overall better support for the players when they're having bad, bad games, bad days, bad seasons.
So it was with somebody over the weekend and it says, how was Arizona going to survive or not be Arizona with this nil stuff? Because you can't. You're not the Alabama, so you're not that high of states. Yes, I still you're going to be Arizona. You've always dealt with this, always under any there's not a lot of money in this town, but there's a lot of support, or could
be a lot of support. You just got to kind of band because you've always never You're never going to be that guy, and under any circumstances, they just kind of even made the playing field even less level if that other place was level, because it wasn't level.
You know.
Yeah, this a that you have on your letter, make it, make it mean something otherwise it'll fall into it be a Colorado state or exactly.
And what people don't realize is that at the end of the day, they choose to wear the Arizona across their chest on their helmets. It's not just uh, I'll do it because there's nothing else to do. No, these players want to be Arizona Wildcats. Yeah, we gotta go, Yep, we gotta thanks. You're taking a break for a couple days, a few days. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good great show today. I think at least we'll see tomorrow