Thursday, December 5, Hour 2

They lost in the end.

I don't think got killed by Kansas. I think he got beat by Kansas, but not killed. Well, it's so they've lost you, but they're they're good in a different duke team because because of the kid right uh forget his name now, Cooper Flag, they shut him down and that one game they lost. Yeah yeah, so so but he's he's good. So is the other kid who can the freshman who shoots it. Right, so watch out, watch out. It's a different duke team.

Oh it is. And then Kentucky. No, no, no, that's what No, this is what we do.

We brings up the subject and we bring in the conversation.

Go ahead, creating upsets number one Kansas seventy six sixty three.

C Yeah, yeah, which that was kind of a throwaway game, right you think.

Okay, yeah, but.

Cretan's always Creton's always good. When they're at home, they're top.

So when you make your picks, and you don't have to tell me any secrets that factors in home court, home field points, all that stuff, because people don't understand how difficult it is to win on the road in anything.

No, I would agree with that for sure.

Yeah, you know, you know, like tonight, I mean the Green May Packers at Detroit. You think what I think? Green Bay is gonna stay close. But here's the lock of the day on the show. If you take a teaser, you're gonna take Green Bay plus nine, and you're gonna take the over which is fifty one, and take it down to forty four forty five. No, you gets in a teaser?

You got yah?

Yeah, yeah, Okay, So that's that's the lot of the day. Okay, what's the line three?

The Lions are three? So you get the Packers to nine? You got six six?

More so nine nine and under at forty over at forty.

Six, well, fifty one, forty five, forty five over right. I'm not gonna take your advice, but I get it.

It's a good one. It's a good one. Nine points nine point. That's a lot of.

Points for a team that plays close. The Lions could have lost the Bears on.

Things there, but they're probably the best team in the in the NFC.

Wow. Wow.

We'll debate that at a future time because I think those are definitely two teams.

I like Detroit a lot. We're just built different.

Now.

I like Dan Campbell, you talk about attitude.

Yeah, he's tough and that's how they play, right, No, they definitely do. That's how you play. And to me, that's how it's like, Brett, I don't know that. Well, Brent Bennon, you just wish that he had some of that, right. And if you are who you are, Mike, you're a good guy. You're not gonna be a pain in the neck because you don't know how to be a pain in the neck.

Right.

And And in fact, I got a text about five minutes ago, and I'll bring that up after your breaking news.

Brett Brennan to replace all three coordinators. Babers is gone, a Quina and Gonzalez will have new rules.

Right, And we don't know if and Brad said maybe maybe the guy from New Mexico.

It's you just said.

It might become the defensive coordinat He wouldn't say that's gonna happen, but he's looking at all possibility.

Well, when you're recruiting, though, you better come up with definitive answers. Sure, because kids are playing, they're making decisions based on who they're playing.

Front, no position group. So let me ask you how important. So you had Murphy and you had, you know, great managers. I'm sure you didn't have great managers. But how much would the other the coaches involved, not as much in baseball the pitching coach, but the hitting coach. I think in the minor leagues the managers taking a big part of that role.

And how how active is he in that role? Like what, oh, he's not, he's just not a game manager. He's very active. He's he's involved. I mean, you know in baseball, you've covered it. You know, you got batting practice every day. He's on the cage, he's talking the hitters. He's you know, because he has instructions from the top. Sometimes usually in the minor leagues, the managers who are getting told what to do all the time, they're not winning.

Sorry, because they're not managing the way they you know, the in the big leagues, the big league personnel people that they're just trying to get somebody ready and and it's you know, it's and who you play and who you don't play.

And you might not play the gamer, you might play the prospect. And that's always because.

Those are instructions for you to do. Right.

Yeah, I'll have something for you after this too.

Tam mac has made the Big Twelve first team and Diacario Davis has made the second team.

Well.

Offensive lineman, lineman Jonas Avalia, defensive back Dalton Johnson, and kicker Tyler Loop were honorable mentioned choices.

Yeah, the first thing that struck me out was, of course Team AC first team, right, Okay, Davis him and so many and all these guys.

Okay, but then you see Loop.

What I don't mention anybody who watches all year and watched Tyler Luke kick if he's not the best kicker in the Big twelve or something wrong.

Yeah, well there's something wrong with that. Other dude's pretty darn good. I guess I haven't been paying attention to the kickers, but you know, because we knew what Luke.

Did and it has done. When he kicked that sixty two yard or at the end of the halftime.

I was was it on the other side of you, with the same side It was the other side.

We'll so you didn't get you and you just go, oh my god.

Well, for us, the Sands club is in the northern end zone and when the balls at the other end, I'm watching the big screen, the scoreboard. More so than I am watching the field, but I also have old eyes, So you have to right.

TJ.

McConnell to enter the UFA Basketball Ring of Honor.

I like that.

Yeah, In fact, I put it on Facebook. He's been the most popular player. I'm not going to go out on a limb here. He's making a big money right in the last ten years, ten to twenty years, maybe just because of who he was and how he was, how he acted. Well, you talk about tough guys, Yeah, his definition, no question, no question.

You know he comes off the bench, I'll get dirty, even though get floor burns.

Yeah, who need ten dudes of the if I want to have him as is the guy now?

It was on pretty damn good.

Right, and later on I actually printed the list of the people in the Ring of Honor at the UFA Basketball which you know many.

I don't know if we have time now, but we'll talk about it.

We'll talk about the final break in the final break, unless we have more time here.

Seventy two year old Bill Belichick has interviewed with the University of North Carolina regarding its head coaching vacancy.

I know you're not calling in a day there, Mike, but at some point the end game has to come in. And when you say, okay, I've had enough side of olah blah blah blah, obviously that's not the case that with a seventy two year old you know what I'm saying, you.

Have to He didn't even get a sniff in the NFL last year. I mean, somebody knows something right, right. But when we were talking or break, I think he's doing a tremendous job in the media, you know, on the broadcast. Yeah, and the jobs he's doing, he's he's shown me a lot more personality than Nick Saban has also done the same. I mean Nick Saban offers opinions on game day. Sure, he's very good, Yeah, very good. He's not just selling duck. You always worry, could I say,

Are they afraid to criticize.

Oh, yeah, have you Saban has to like whom I don't remember who it was, but he would just talk about he didn't like the way they did certain things, and and Belichick's great. Have you ever watched Belichick with the Manning and the Manning cast. No, I've watched him on McAfee on Mondays. He'll say some things there. He'll definitely say some things there.

And if you've never watched the Manning cast, it's it's I'm sorry, it's Peyton Manning and Eli Manning on the same time as the Monday night broadcast. And it's crazy, but they offer great opinions.

UCLA firing O c Eric b Enemy after just one season.

Yeah, the agent for the Enemy said this was planned because he plans on getting back to the NFL. Well, he didn't do a good job, but then at the college level there are one hundred and fifteenth in scoring. Well, the Sean Foster, you know, I'm not sure what kind of job he did either. You know, you bring a guy in with no coaching experience. Let me ask you this, because we talked about this all week and I even wrote about this on Saturday after the game with a issue.

I think some give me a couple of names. No, I'd have to think about it, but I mean, you gotta be you got to be the boss, you got to be the watch. Let me say, I'll give you one name. But this is different though. Steve Kerr, we know him to be. But the dude is a competitor underneath all that stuff.

You ain't gonna give him a stuff because he's a competitor and he's going to give it to you like you like you need it right right. That's the only one that I can think of as a good guy. But he has And we know Louke. We knew lout for a long time. I knew him for a long time. But the dude demanded, he demanded, or you didn't play. He had a little that Bobby Knight in him, in the sense that the best remedy for poor play.

Is the bench is the bench?

You know he didn't have to go and say he said it, but he didn't have to go throw chairs and all that about it.

Right, you know we knew him, Okay, j Lewis found that spot.

Yeah that was being stupid.

Yeah, you had to do that for me. When a player gets the technical, it's selfish. Yeah, and you know, okay the guy pushed me. So what I mean, man, I mean just technical technicals. Technicals happen, you know, technicals happen when you're complaining about a call.

But but stupid things with.

Little skirmishes, there's no excuse when stir down stuff like that, right, Yeah, Well the good thing is that he he did that.

Tommy isn't known for doing that. He's got to put his foot down. I mean, I have a thing. I'll tell you the text I got earlier. Go ahead.

Spreaking news of the day. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow highlight November's Players of the Month.

Yeah he should be the I'm sorry the m v P. I'm tired of quarterbacks getting the m v P. S uh for what Saquon Barkley has done for that team. Uh, what's your fascination with Philadelphia? I just think they're tough. I love, uh, you know, just their toughness on both sides of the of the ball, you know, on their line and and you know, they they.

Built themselves to a lot of Georgia players, and and you know, and and Hurts does a good job.

But I think Barkley has made them a very very good team, no question.

I mean, if he was a throwaway, I mean kind of Giants.

You know, the Giants are stupid not to re sign. The Giants can prove to you how fast it does the tear team down. But it's you know, Barkley. If you're watching a game the third and fourth quarter, he's taking it over because he's so physically strong, right Uh. And that's why I think they're Their defense would stunk last year, has become very good this year.

Yeah.

Well, I still think the Lions are the better team. But I won't disagree with your Philadelphia team because who they beat last week? Baltimore who they beatmore And I think Baltimore is a heck of a good team in Baltimore. Yeah, yeah, Baltimore can this time they always start to fade. So we'll see NFC case Buffalo, Buffalo's looking I don't think.

I don't think case. No, they haven't finished line this year.

They haven't. They haven't done much this year. If that's a well, we'll see. We'll see because it's their case. But I agree with you too, Okay, anything else, Okay, So I got I got a text here at the beginning of this hour from someone who I trust in, someone who uh listens to the show and I talked to every now and again.

One of the problems.

After hearing John call and and and and Brad talk, he says, one of the problems we have this year is that Tommy has never been in this situation before in Arizona. Over the last four years, he's dominated preseason and pretty much regular season, So we don't really know if he can coach from adversity and get us back on track. To be fair, that's true, but I'd rather have it the other way, when you do really well, really well, really well, and then you figure out what to do.

But we'll see if he can handle this. I think he's the guy that they can handle it. I mean, you know, I just think he's he's going to figure it out, and he's not afraid to admit that maybe he needs to do things differently.

He's not cookie cutter.

No, And and some of it's on the players as well, no question, you know they You know, I saw Caleb Love act like a little baby, you know, a few games ago.

Oh it was, was it the Wisconsin game?

I don't I don't remember which game was, but he's he's not hustling a defense.

Maybe one of those games. There's no excuse for that.

So let me ask you this, Mike, because you've been on askeletes like this too, and you know the babies or the By the way, the worst times of my life covering events were the toros when I first got here, because Triple A was not easy. For the reason you say, guys are coming down. They don't want to be down. Guys want to go up. But the guys coming down are really pissed. They they're disgruntled, you know, all that stuff, and asking for interviews is the last thing they want

Uh.

It was the first championship ever pc O championship in Tucson, and Bob Skinner was our manager. Bob Skinner was an old grizzled vest great guy managing the big leagues. Great Briar, you know Briar to come in here was kind of finishing it up. Brent S Drama was a pitching coach. We had just a bunch of tough guys on that team. Oh, by the way, we had a guy nam Kenny Lawton.

And that's what brought you a lot of fans.

But but you know Joe Micklick and Trent Harbard and Mike Brumley, they roady. I mean, those are guys that weren't stars when they went on to the big leagues, but they knew what it took to win games.

And that team was so much fun for me to be around.

Ye.

No, winning and winning helps a lot of that. Now.

I will also tell you I've had a team in Jackson, Mississippi.

Some of those names.

Three number one picks in the outfield, one was named Darryl Strawberry, the other was named Terry Blocker, and the third one was somebody you don't know as a major leaguer necessarily was Billy Bean. That team didn't win, but they were all young, you know, straw was eighteen years old and they were babies.

But they were studs.

I mean you could tell they were physically gifted athletes, but didn't necessarily win games.

So this is not for you to analyze. I'm just gonna throw this out there. So had or we saw not we but Arizona. But we watched Caleb Love declare, Jaden declare, kJ declared there might have been another one out there or whatever.

You know.

Johnson left and so did. So you have people who aspire, aspire to go to the next level and think do you think? And I've witnessed it in the past under Loots teams in fact, that there's only one ball, and there's people who think about what about me? What about mine? How am I going to get mine? That that could be a problem to.

Could be and not without a question.

I mean, uh, my Son will also say Caleb Love coming back cost us two stud yes, recruits, Yes, one that an issue? Five star recruits. Now, are they doing anything. I don't know. Yes, the kind of issue is very well, but you know, but whether that's true or not, who knows. But you don't tell Caleb Love can't come back if he's part of your team. But there's some people that will say, you know that that was a big part

Well, you're gambling to you're gambling for the future with the president, right, So we'll see what happens.

We don't know what's gonna happen to, you know.

And I my personal opinion, I still do like this team, and I still think this team is going to achieve a lot.

We'll go, we'll come back to that.

We're gonna take a break and to get Tom Denihey on the other side, Hey, welcome back to My the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today is Mike Fader, and working with me is mister Kobe. And now on the phone we have Tom Denighy, a longtime sports columnist or columnists for newspapers in this town and now just a recent name in the name inside the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. Congratulations.

Yeah, it's just a longevity thing, dude. It was so long they hit they were running out of name because like it's like when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put in depesh mode, you know.

Okay, Tom, That's why I was put in the Hall of Fame as well for that reason. Now we haven't had a baseball guy locally, so we need to get Mic in there.

Now.

You deserve it, dude. I remember how hard you used to work. I used to sit up there in that press box of the Toros games and you were a worling derbage of energy.

The funny thing is, and not to go off topic, but the Toros games were fun. The Toros games were family.

They were local.

Once the team moved a twoson Electric Park, it lost all of its charm.

I agree it. Toros games were always fun and they were just and you get ten thousand people there.

Right, Well, that that's what was funny.

Last year when when Arizona through the big crowd in the whether it's a PAC twelve tournament or or the regional, Oh, it's the biggest crowd ever in the history of High Corbett Field, and I'm just sitting there laughing and telling my wife We've had crowds of ten thousand plus where we put people now for.

Your warning track, I remember those days. Yeah.

So, and you're writing now, Tom or whatever you're doing, do you write, give me a percentage of what you do, because because I know you do it well, you write very well. How many is like ten percent of your times on Sports now or No?

I write different things. I'm writing. I'm supposed to not say, so, I'm not going to say I'm I'm writing for TV now mostly and I do lots of different things. I run a basketball league on Sundays that I've been running for thirty seven years NonStop for I'm right here. I'm gonna pardon me, what age?

What is it? Guys? Young women Men's League?

Yeah, because there's like, uh an endless supply of guys that still want to play basketball, you know, have refs and.

Tom tell them to come to the Lot Olson Fantasy Basketball Camp.

Yeah. I saw them there. I thought they ran that camp there at the Sporting Chance.

I was, well, it was Steve and I got that started seven years ago and I'm still in really yeah.

Yeah, I mean there was uh, there was a big crowd. Anyway, we I run that on Sundays. I've been running it for, like I said, thirty seven years and it won't die. I mean I started with eight teams and I've got over one hundred now wow. And uh, great businessman than I am. I've never made a pinion on it. I break even so I don't have to pay the taxes on it and so and uh and then I Uh, I have taught classes at the U of A. And I have a two year old granddaughter that I take

So you were giving Mike grief home before we came on about oh you're still around, and I.

Thought, you know, he said I might still a lot.

I didn't want to say that, but you said, you're still alive. You work yourself to death. We will look at you. Your resume says that too.

Yeah, but it's like it's not work. None of it is worked. You know, It's not like uh, I don't know. It's hard to explain. They're coaching the basketball. It's just like the most fun thing that I do. And we lost the game last night that most people would have flipped their wrists and I we just we blew a lead in the last three minutes. And but I don't

Not one of those guys that's yelling at the referee the whole game.

I have never in my life gotten a technical foul ever. And so I tell the refs. But you know, they come over and talk to you before the game and they explain the rules and stuff. And I tell them, guys, if I if I stand up, give me a t you know. I just I'm gonna sit there and watch the game, and you do what you do. I'll do what I do. And we're fine.

And uh, excuse me.

A couple of years.

Ago, we won the region championship, and if I won the region championship, and when it came time for a Coach of the Year, I got zero votes from the other coaches, and my athletic director called around and said why don't you vote for this guy? I just kind of sits there. You know. He doesn't work the refts, he doesn't get up and down, walking them up and down, stomp his foot. He just watches the game. And I've always felt that I do my coaching and practice and then I let the kids play.

That's exactly what, right, exactly.

I'm like those things that they have at the bowling alley for when little kids are bowling. I kind of, you know, so they can't throw a gutter ball. I kind of nudge him back into the middle of the of the alley. But other than that, I just let him play.

Well. In fact, when I see you every now and again, we talk about your life and your career, and you have you like the bad who's the dude?

Who's the dude? The bad news bearers?

The coach uh crusty Olgay Haman wasn't Jack, No, it was no.

Do you remember who it was?

The original?

Yeah, the original.

It wasn't Jack Clark, but it was it was.

That old guy.

It was, Yeah, Buttermaker was the character's name.

Yes, yeah, yeah, so that that guy. Because we talking, you don't you know, we're not that good Walter math walked out exactly. You like that guy who has a bad team. But then you you find your way to get to the championship game. You know you, oh, we only got six girls and and ones you know, got you know whatever, and there's no way, and then you end up being the championship game. So you you must had uh.

When I was at a Maculate Heart, I went an entire season with five players and it was like, don't get don't set up everybody's foot, don't get in foul trouble. And we went twenty eight and four. But they were the right five. I had a point guard. In girls basketball, if you have a point guard, it's like having a pitcher and off ball. It really is. I mean it's it's a ninety percent of your game if you have

Hard, yeah, so they must respect the hell out of you, because that just doesn't happen overnight.

I mean, they must enjoy what they're doing.

But there, and they're good, but they need some leadership or some some guidance.

Well it's it's you know, and they have to buy into it. But the thing is, before I I got here, and if I had twenty one consecutive losing seasons from two thousand and one to twenty twenty one, I'm talking oh to eighteen and two and twelve and just really bad seasons. And my first year here, I had three really good seniors and we won the region championship. Yeah, and that's the year I got zero votes for Coach of the year. So I'm never going to get coach

Yeah, so let me.

I mean, interrupted, we got a call coming in, but I don't want to take it because we're on the fun with you I'm assuming everyone's listening to us live.

So go, okay, go ahead. You've been doing this? How thirty some years? You said? Pardon me, how many years have you been doing in the league?

No, the league? But how long have you been coaching? Because you're you get a little math out with you.

I've been coaching since the mid nineties. I didn't I just I was to stay at home father, so I took care of both of my kids. And then I started coaching when I was like forty five.

Wow, so started late.

Yeah, it was a long time. But then I won my four hundred game the other day.

Got a boy, So, what's your record? Four hundred and what?

It's actually more than four hundred, but it's like it's around four hundred and twenty and around eighty.

That's pretty darn good.

Yeah, but you know what it is like every other coach, I remember the losses.

Oh yeah, I do too. I totally get that. What So, what's your secret, sauce?

I just you know what my favorite thing ever One time we won at another school of Greenfields, we won a Reagion championship and we're on the radio and they asked one of the girls, you know, what's good about Tom? And she said, when we talk, he actually listens. He doesn't pretend to listen. He listens. And you know, maybe they got something to say that I will surprise me. Maybe they know something I don't know. And and so I don't. I don't treat them like adults. I don't

Wow wow.

And they must think of you as maybe a father figure and probably still topably well and still communicate with you since they've been gone or when they leave.

Not only that. Oh yeah, that's that's what I tell them. I said, I want to be invited to your wedding. I want to be you know. And I still have girls that are in college now. One of them is at Princeton and uh. She texted me two days ago to ask how to help with a physics problem. So you know, I still I keep in touch with the kids when they're gone. And I was one of my kids from Greenfields like ten years ago. She's a lawyer now living in London. And uh, but she was, and

We'll save your Money's cool, save your money you go into London.

Uh.

You know, I've never had a passport. I remember been out of the count I used to. I played baseball in Mexico for a while, but back then you just needed a work visa.

And uh.

And I've never been out of the country. I've been to Canada and Mexico, but I just I don't travel.

Yeah, so a reed. So did you watch the football program at all?

And no?

Are you watching the basketball program?

But you have a Yeah, all I can think of is that scene from from the Water Boy. Oh no, we suck again.

That's the time. I know. That's the columnists. I know.

So because and what where does it begin? Where do you start the suck?

I don't know.

I mean, you know, they played some good teams, but they shouldn't have lost to Texas Tech. They shouldn't lost to West Virginia. I mean, you know, a SU came out of nowhere and YU came out of nowhere. But still there were games that that the U of A was never even in and I didn't understand it. I mean, they struggled at the beginning of the year with like ANYU.

Yeah. I tend to agree with you. No matter who player or what type of player they come in, whatever, they're taking a chance.

But it's their chance, not my chance. Yeah yeah, what about.

Basketball and basketball? The basketball team. I watched a couple of those Atlantis games and and it's like, you know, who are these guys and and I don't know. I mean, I think they'll be okay, but but other people are moving ahead and the U of A is like running in wet stand it's not a good time.

Oh it's not.

What do you make of the situation financially at the school, because I don't know if you've written about it already, because you know you have the former had the form, what would you be writing about?

Well, first of all, you know, obviously I hate the NIL because I'm old and I'm going to those get off my lawn guys in that. I just I used to think when they were talking about paying athletes, I thought that every school would get like a certain amount of money and they would divide it up among all the athletes. Yes, women, tennis players and cross country runners and everything. But instead it's just the quarterback and the running back and they get all the money. And I

So yeah, no, I hear you, because we're all the same the same way. Yeah.

So when's the the people County gala if you will.

But they had it a couple of weeks ago. I gave my speech. I was delightful, dude, do.

Give mese portions of I thought they had just made the nominations, but they already.

Had the dinner.

No, I know they had the dinner. It was a couple of weeks ago, and they told me, really carefully, three minutes. You got to do three minutes and nothing more. And two it's like high school graduation, you know, where they people will talk for an hour and a half like everybody was running on. I want to thank my mother and my grandmother and my sister and everything, and uh, I mean I got through it pretty fast. I mentioned that these are names for you, Steve that you might know.

So you grew up and you must have grew up in California.

Yeah, southern California. And so when I played sports at my high school, I was the answer to the question what's wrong with this picture? You know? But but I played multiple sports in high school. In college, I was I was always okay, you know, but not great. And then I loved every minute of it. I did mention my wife. Oh you've never seen my wife, have you? No, dude,

Wow, so you you. I'll kicked the coverage. Good for you.

Oh my goodness by a mile. I'm not getting people. I mean I've had people just blurt out, how the hell you know? And it's going, well, it's my dazzling personality.

No, she could take your sarcasm. Well, Tom, congratulations on all of that. Good to hear from you again. I will probably reach out to you at some point, get your analysis some way.

All right. I appreciate the call. I mean and Mike enjoy the rest of your life.

Dude, Yeah you too, thanks to work time.

Okay, thank you, thank you, Tom, appreciate it. We're going to take a break down and come back for our final segment. You're an Arizona men's basketball fan. You know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludelsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Lut It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who

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While just searched I on the Ball.

Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

I'm Steve Rivera. You're Mike Vader. Thanks for coming in, Mike, my pleasure. You saved me to day.

Steve tom you've known him for a long time, probably not like we know each other, but you know he's always around doing something around. I mean it was you know he was a writer. Was he at the Citizen Ors it was the weekly? Oh, the weekly that he could write whatever the hell he wanted it, he gave it. He had some great lines. I'll have to tell you one off the air because it was I use it sometimes because it's so funny.

H But it is what it is.

I was talking about chemistry with with your baseball. I think that's an issue. Maybe I don't know if it's an issue, But who are we talking to? Brad? I think they have good pieces. I think they have great pieces. In fact, I was talking to Murphy a while back, and let's let's hold that thought.

I got a call coming in. Oh you're on the air and I on the ball.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Neil Katz here, how are you guys?

Fine? What's the word?

Well, I just want to say something about Tom Dnahey, you know, listening to that, Tom actually is as underrated. And oh no, And I will tell you that if he claimed to have never gotten a technical foul, I'm gonna see that he can't say that anymore. On January ninth, when I have him against Sabino, I will I will make sure to somehow call a technical foul for.

Him looking strangely at me.

Right and and Mike conceived you know that I'm capable of doing that.

I've actually seen that.

Yeah, well, that'll be more credibility to your calling then maybe.

Well and again, I listened to the show all the time, and with Mike Vader on there right now, I figured I had to call. And then with listening to Tom down he's also and I hope he's listening to this.

He's one of the smartest guys. He's always we're playing trivia whenever I see him. And and he's an incredibly intelligent gentleman.

And uh, but I like what he does with his kids. He's been a tough schools and yes, he just sits there during the game, never gives any reasons for a referee to say anything to him, which we appreciate most of the time. And he is he is a good guy. He is a good guy.

Are you guys, how long have you been associated with officiating in southern Arizona.

Well, you know the answer is fifty four years.

Wow.

It means he's like we are. Yeah, he's a bunch of old.

Yeah, I'm I think I'm almost as old as you might.

Not quite.

No, I think I'm close.

I'm seventy two and you're just about to turn.

No, I'm seventy two.

AWESO.

When's your birthday?

April?

Yeah, you got me by five months.

Yeah, And just uh to say something. You know, Neil's been great.

You know we we've done the little Roles and Fantasy Basketball camp and he always is the first one to help me out and get us officials and they all volunteer and we've had great officials to do it. And you know, so it's Neil, thank you on the air officials.

Oh so, you know, we we have so much fun with that camp and it's for you know, when when you guys started it, when Luke was alive, it was it was spectacular and it gets better and better. And I'm hoping that this year we got Sean Elliott to come last camp, and I am hope we can get Steve Kurdy come for the next one.

Hey, you can tell me you're going to get it done, so I'm counting on you.

You know, he's always like the damn Olympics. Yeah, he wouldn't fly. He wouldn't fly to Tucson during the Olympics, which was very irritating.

But yeah, well, Neil, thanks a much for get some more calls coming in.

Are you welcome?

Thanks, thanks for listening, and thanks for listening. I appreciate it. I got it by let me dropped this one and get the next one. Howard are you on the phone with waiting? I'm not sure Howard is okay? Let's go here?

Hello, you're on the here and eye of the ball. Who's this? Hey, Steve? This is done? Hey?

Don?

What's the word?

I'm Mike Kobe.

How you guys doing good? How are you done?

Is a good caller?

Done? Is a regular caller? What do you got today? You know what I got?

Mike brought up to ninety one Tucson Toros and the championship and all that. At the time, I was working with a bunch of baseball fans.

I had a Detroit Tiger.

Fan and my crew Philadelphia Philly fan, but he was from California. But the Championship Series is coming up, and they said, hey, let's go to the game. And I said, oh, heck, no, I'm not going anywhere near Hi COVID And they're like, why not, and I said, because I never in my life had watched the Totals win a game growing up. And I said, I ain't jinxing this for nothing, So I stayed home.

Well, I just they have to thank you for not showing up. Yeah, thank you.

Oh yeah, you're welcome. Oh it's awesome. I'm all about Tucson in the u of A. So whatever I can do.

Well, that game was interesting because there must be over the years over one hundred thousand people saying they were at the championship game when we beat Calgary. And the reason was Channel four and Cheryl nine extended their newscast and.

They were with the game.

If you remember, the game was a very dramatic ending with Michaelick getting a base hit down the right field line. I remember that, remember, and they you know, Sabrina Dorsey's down there and they're all they all went five, six, seven minutes after there's after the news was supposed to end, and because of oh yeah I was at the game.

Oh sure, yeah, Hey, there was no way I was going to go to the game. The only as a kid, the only game I saw the Toreros win was in nineteen eighty when the Astros came and played them on a midweek game and I got to shake Nolan Ryan's hand that day.

That's a memory.

And when I was a kid, that was the only game I'd ever seen them win, was against the astrol I hate to tell you, but.

You not being there probably wasn't the reason we won or lost.

No, it probably wasn't. But I wasn't chancing it.

No, that's all right.

There's nothing nothing wrong with people being superstitious and believing in what they believe.

And what was funny about the Astros game was in about the seventh in about the seventh eighth inning, Joe Morgan grounded out to the second basement. At the very same moment Arizona beat Gonzaga Wow to go to Omaha to the World Series. So here's Joe Morgan, the Great Joe Morgan. He grounds out and the whole stadium erupts because everybody's huddled around the radios and listening to the Arizona game at the same time. And Joe Morgan looks

Those games when we would play the Houston Astros, we meeting the Toros were classic.

Joey Barrow is there.

One year Jeff Bagwell and Craiggio both changed uniforms.

I don't remember. That had to be ninety ninety one years somewhere in there.

But but the funniest thing is they imitated each other's stance and it was classic.

I mean, don we gotta go.

We'll continue this, go ahead, gotta go, and then I'm gonna bring another call.

Thanks. Don Is always take care. Guys. Hello, you're on the air and eye on the ball.

Steve is Poncho, How are you, buddy, Pancho?

Wow?

Listening to us from the great state of California.

What's the word.

It's uh, well, it's Arizona football.

Let's go, you kidding me?

Talk to me about our boy, the second coming of Dick Tomy and and who he really is.

You got to know him as well as anywhere.

I don't, I don't, I don't, but you know what I gotta call. I got a.

Text I don't know about seven weeks ago and he says, well, they really said that he was like Dick Tomy, and exactly what we got was Dick Toby kind of that in between. You know the four four and three records, the.

The records that you got with Dick Tomy.

I mean, I don't know Brent at all, if at all, and I knew Dictomia fairly well. But it's a lot of work to be done punching.

Well in fairness to him, which I absolutely have to offer year one in this post nil post covid era is pretty disastrous for just about any program wherever you start. We've seen that Prime Time took his lumps, Fish went over right. So but they're good coaches, they have great programs. This guy, is he a good coach? Is he gonna have a great program?

I don't know. I really don't know. And that's my only issue with you. He had no personality. The funny thing about it. In the last few days since the loss, he was very good in the press conference. I'm thinking, where's this guy been. He had a press conference testday with with about the kids and the recruits. Very good, very personable, very engaging. Today he did the same thing

You know.

I think the biggest thing too, is is the modern era we live in, people know him as much patience and and I think you know that that Brent Bennan needs to be given a chance to build his own program.

You know, last year he just he was thrown.

In uh you know, jet fish leaves and and and we'll see, I mean a year from now, I think is the time we really need to see, you know it the rubber hit the road.

Yeah, there's there's uh, you know, there's analytics too. When you're building a program, and who do you want? What's the type of person So the type of coach you want to lead your program in college?

You definitely got to start.

With an offensive minded guy who will carry a card and will put a headset on and we'll take over the office.

So do you I think I only answer you you have season tickets? I still do.

And you're not a friend in that town that you all know very well who picks me up and reimburses me fully to send take his clients to the stands club.

Yeah, I'm in the Sands club.

Well, you know him, and he and I are good friends.

You text and we talk and it's ugly.

You're not You're not just scrumptled enough to get rid of him?

Then, well, it depends on what she's gonna do, first of all, and what he's gonna do. And he's taken a couple of steps already. But the unpreparedness. And see guys who want to win, Guys that play hard and want to win. They want to play for a guy who knows how to win, and we'll teach them how to win, how to solve the problem. And he couldn't solve any problems. He I think other coaches in the Big twelve were like, yes, we get to prepare for this guy.

Well, Puncho appreciate the call. We already gott to leave today's show, so thanks for keep calling.

Appreciate it. Good good to talk to you, buddy.

You will thank you. Uh yeah, that was a great, great day. We've got some calls and all that. Thank you Mike for coming in.