This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifth Day powered by Nova Insurance Services Ensure your most prized possessionets.
I've been good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Dave? How did you get it?
I don't they let me in today for some reason? Where you bid just standing outside the door waiting for someone to let me in.
You didn't even have a song. Yeah, we'll work for nothing, that's it. Still you were for food, Come on, that's true. You were for you and Cody Coby's the one that works for credits and me I'm just here. I'm just here with the face for radio. Yeah. So here we are Thursday to Gay, two days closer to the Houston game, two days remove the debucle.
And we're trying not to think about the past. We're trying to think about the future. I guess because but I haven't had the pass to talk to you. Although I'm going to bore the listeners because we talked about the past the last couple of days, at least yesterday. Uh, just real quick, would you think we'll take a quick breeze over your thoughts on the game against Kansas State. Yeah. I mean, well, obviously the shooting was was just awful. I don't even help to describe it.
It was.
It was tough to watch as a fan, frustrating. They had so many chances to kind of put the team, put the game away with a few more makes you know, it's one of those like House Arizona season going to end type games. You think like, oh, here we go, it's going to be you know, going two for twenty or whatever they were from outside, and you know, they just it was. It was frustrating, it was, but by the same token, and you're also thinking, well, it's been
a good run. Yeah, it's still February. There's still time to you know, hopefully avoid those types of games, and there's still some more big ones coming. I mean, you can't get any bigger than the game coming up, and right you know, they'll be at home, they'll have a little bit of a chance to kind of rectify that that problem and hopefully Kayla will you know, regain his touch in McHale and you know, all will be forgotten. What does that sound for about optimistic that's good.
They give me some odds to both you and Kobe who doesn't play. But Kobe uh and new Dave, what are the chods that Cobe that the Caleb will find his shot.
I think he'll find a shot because he's a microwave as we call him. So he had an off game last game, so hopefully it gets hot today. I think he's been playing better at home than on the road. I could be wrong about that though. Okay, so you're thinking it's a good chance.
Yeah, Man, Houston plays that tough defense too. They're gonna be They're gonna be in his face and I mean he's a marked man. They know that. They if you know, he makes what a couple of those from the other day, they win that game. So they were I'm sure they were, you know, targeting him and making sure that he did not get too many wide open looks.
But they but they did get wide open looks. Yeah, that was the thing. They were a lot of them. It wasn't Kansas State's defense. They just missed. Same for Arizona. Arizona defense wasn't what we had seen in the past, in the recent past. Yeah, right, they were just missing shots too. I said yesterday jokingly, but serious, their guy Alkins or Atkins, there were thirty whatever, the big dude. I said, I hadn't seen the guy. I said, they
would have killed Arizona had he hit some shots. I'm taking here's this guy that's keeping Arizona in the game because he could hit shots. And I said, I haven't seen a kuyd that shoot that bad.
Oh yeah, well kill him, you know. And you were talking about the defense too, because I think maybe teams are kind of starting to figure out that little press of the Wildcats, you know, rolled out like three or four weeks ago that was really effective. But this last game it looked like they maybe have you know, eased up.
And the thing is they moved him a little bit in half court again. And Arizona we all know, is that's the crypto. Yeah, and guess what happens in the tournament. Teams keeps go in the fifties, sixties. Yeah, and that's Arizona's a big, big problem.
Well, that's what teams need to do against Arizona, because I know that yea, you know, the Arizona his advantages when they get up into the eighties, pretty much gonna win those games. Although I don't know if you guys caught any of that ASU game last night.
It was fantastic, one hundreds. It was fantastic. It was like good horrible basketball.
Yeah, I actually turned it on, like going into the second overtime, like what is going on? It's still on. It was like a Morden three to one oh three.
Did you watch the Houston Kansas game at ye? So there's no way Houston should have won the game.
There was no way.
They were dead in regulations, dead and overtime and they eventually won the game. It was like Houdini showed up and as you should have never lost that game, first regular season regular you know, regular play, overtime and double overtime, and they still lost.
Yeah, it's just the way.
Sometimes you see you have season like that he's having this season.
And yeah, all eyes are on him, and it's interesting to see how things finished for him because it's been a rough I don't know, last few weeks.
So you missed, I watched it.
I watched a lot of it.
Because I was just interested in they were playing really well comparatively so and he's not as he wasn't yesterday. He wasn't animated. He wasn't going crazy. He was in his black you know, quarters zip or whatever, and he looked fine. It was like he was not Maybe and I don't know, maybe he doesn't I don't want them all the time. Maybe it is just for Arizona where he kind of goes.
But yeah, maybe he's kind of resolved the fact that this could be the end too. And that's it. Checking in with his big brother, that's it, Dave.
I mean, that's that's probably because I'm sure that that he's been told, you know, come a tone of down and guess what dig this next month off because because it may not be another month.
Yeah, I mean there's not who knows. I mean, he's had chances. He got to tournament kind of, you know with some of these playing games.
Yeah, so yeah, we'll see what happens with them. They play obviously March fourth, Tuesday. I think it is here in Michale. That should be fun with him coming down. Uh, and then we have Saturday's game. You read it. You just pointed something out to me that I hadn't seen yet. A story on Kelvin Sampson.
Yeah, I mean a good piece on on on Samson on I guess it's SI dot Com the Houston and it was, you know, very He's very complimentary of the u of A and his time, especially in his you know, his time with Washington State when he would come down here, he you know, had a good relationship with Loot and he really enjoyed Bobby and just enjoyed he under you know, he was, you know, just watching this Wildcat program blossom
those years too. I mean they were getting good and they were good, and then they really got good during his time. And I don't did he ever beat him? And they didn't.
They have a crazy streak. It was like thirty nine forty in a row. In fact, I talked to a mathematician and desk him, how does that happen? Yeah, you know, he said, he gave me some weird numbers, like he doesn't. Yeah, you have to win a game in there somewhere. And he's had a couple wins, right, didn't he? When he was at Oklahoma, didn't they knock off the Wildcats? I can't remember if they played back. I don't really, I
don't know that. Maybe it wasn't maybe it wasn't him, but he had a you know here, Dave, you know, here's this guy who didn't have a lot of success against Arizona. And I said this before we started the show, that in my mind, and we try to get try to get him on Yes three and today, but he can't because they're practicing the time we were on the air,
so he couldn't it. But I was telling you that, in my mind, he's probably the most popular ex former opponent coach in my time here because you know, he's kind of part of the Native American I think he's got some Native American and and and people here. He was likable, you know, he's likable, you know, and he brought a bad Washington State team and you're in the Pac twelve tournament at ten tournament at the time. People kind of embraced him and cheered him.
He had a good personality too, you know, when he would talk to media and talk on TV. You know, again, he was he was well mannered. I don't know how to put it. You know, he was just you just didn't you know, you didn't dislike him like you do other coaches who just maybe have that's a sneer to themselves or a personality exactly. He's the opposite of Henry Bibby or just about every other coach in that period.
I mean, there are some great classic coaches at the beginning, and then he was kind of you know, as Loot was coming in. You know, there was the old school guys Marv Harshman and Ralph Miller and George Traveling. He was kind of did he replaced Rattling. He was kind of in period, you know a little bit after Raveling. But there was that whole generation that lou was kind of part of. And then this next generation came in and he was you know, they would always finish in
you know, fourth or they've never finished any higher. They'd always kind of be blocked by Arizona, you set, Washing Washing State.
Yeah, Yeah, and they and they were never Yeah. And it's a place, like I've said before, like Mexico, Mexico State, all out of states where you go and you better hope you do really well. You're gonna get fired. It's a place to get fired. But you get your feet wet, maybe maybe you find magic in the ball and you go.
And he did.
He was successful enough to get out of there to go to Oklahoma and then later Indiana. Yeah, I didn't get a little trouble.
But yeah, but you know, and then he kind of kind of remited. It was hidden away in Houston for a few years. Well, he was the NBA. He went to the Rockets year with the Ruggets, but even when he got to college was kind of like, oh, he's the next thing, you know. You know, they're in the top five, you know, beating up people.
And then Arizona, you know, face them two three years ago and got roughed up and guess what's going to happen again Saturday. His same style hasn't changed. Yeah, it's rough, and you were talking about the defense. I delibit possessions. They'd like to play it slower, they'd like to be physical, and we'll see if Arizona can find that out again and find themselves again.
Yeah.
I mean it's going to be one of those marquee games we've had, you know, the Duke Games in the Iowa States and things like that, and this is going to be right up there with that national TV again, you know, middle of the day on a Saturday.
Yet beat that. We got about five six minutes. Let me tell you the sequence here. We have Steve Quis, former Arizona sportscaster.
I guess he was a guy.
He was at nine or thirteen, thirteen thirteen in your time here. He's in San Diego now doing college sports for various ESPN and some of those guys. He'll be on at three seventeen, and then we're going to have Javier Morales from All Sports Tucson talking about the local playoffs going on today or this week, and the rest of the weeks were soccer in those type of sports and basketball boys and girls. So we'll get to that was it gonna talk about with with Kelvin. So we
ended up in Houston, YadA, YadA. Uh, the same same guy, same player, Uh, same players, and they should have gone to the final four last year. They did two years, but their main guy got hurt. You remember, he got.
Right in that Sweet guard, Sweet sixteen or the Elite.
Eight, one of those as I picked him to win, and I'm thinking they're done, they're done, and he was fantastic.
Yeah, and they got beat So.
But there was something else I was gonna say, So we'll see, we'll see what he says on Saturday.
Yeah, it's good. It really shows just the great depth of the Big twelve. I think we all kind of knew that coming in. You know, you look down the line and there's teams, you know, even like you know, b YU, teams that really haven't had great seasons, but they're like twelve in the conference. It's just hard to believe sometimes that you know, the U of A has kind of jumped over everybody and kind of you know, sitting pretty good at number two at this point.
So you were here a little bit longer than me. You got about eighty three is out here in eighty seven. What are the big games you remember that you know it came through here other than teams not named Duke. You know, Duke came here a couple of times, and those were the marquee games. But the games that you know had some buzz to them.
Boy, Yeah, when you're trying to think of some of the moments, I mean, when Shawn Elliott broke the Pac twelve Pac ten scoring record, that was a big game. UCLA was here when they win Arizona loss to cal with the Jason Kidd Laman Murray shot, that was a big game. The best thing that was going for a number of years, probably ten years, was that Fiesta Bowl Classic. Yeah, we had right around New Year's in between Christmas and
New year I was brought in. You know nowadays that would never happen, but you bring in, you know, three teams that were in the top twenty usually yeah, and one of those teams was going to lose twice and they were That's kind of what kind of killed it is it that I don't want to come to Deuson to lose to Well, I.
Guess Sean played in it right, maybe a time or two, I think because Lut's final one of his final times was Roz replaced him. Remember they played Mississippi State. I want to say Bobby was very ill at the time and he left the team for a little bit and they lost. The only game they ever lost in the tournament was Roz's game.
I wanted to say. One of the greatest was the year that was a duke Florida Michigan State. I mean yeah, it was like I remember I went to the banquet and it was hilarious because there was like Judd Heath coach who was he was you know, he was Magic Johnson's college coach and he was just you know, your perfect speaker, and that kind of a crowd and then Norm Sloan was the coach at Florida who used to
wear these crazy like Bobby Knight check her jackets. He was there, and I think it was coach k Maybe I'm wrong. People who were there might want to chime in on that one, but it was one of those classics. I can't believe these teams are all and they all stay at Vintana Canyon and so it was one of those great Christmas tournaments that it doesn't happen anymore.
I remember because we'd go we have the media, they would allow the media there, Yeah, for the party, kind of like you know, in between the media sessions and stuff.
Yeah, so we go up. I mean, those are those are great moments. Obviously, there were so many, you know, the Duke games that were here that were just kind of one off the UNLV games here. Remember when he because at Kagun. We had some you know, we had the ABC games where Vital was here and yeah, Tarcany and I mean it was just a great, unbelievable atmosphere was.
I don't remember though, those those games. I know I went up to the Vegas game in eighty nine, eighty nine, and then they later lost to them in eighty nine.
I think it was the chance. It might have been eighty seven or eighty eight season. Maybe maybe January non conference game or December non conference.
Yeah, at the end of the end of the stuff, you know, they had the North Carolina game. Loots one of his last hurrahs and it was a bad, bad one of his first worst games here ever. Marcus Williams was playing at the time. Chase I think was here, but Michigan State came through a defending champ I think, and Yukon came through here. Kansas came through some of those Syracuse Syracuse.
Remember, and you know they always had that reck mutation of losing that game right after right before before Christmas, they were in takeoff. They lose that December twenty third game.
All well, your year, did you what you want with me? When I had friends Officilla on, I don't know. So he talked about he says, I said, you're the one of the guys that beat well, one of the few guys that beat loud at home. He says, yeah, we figured that we can go in. That team was already delivered to get the hell out of town. And it was.
It was one of those games. Well, yeah, the students were out there and it was always it was usually a pretty good matchup. I mean, that was the game where gosh, get me give me my almanac out here. It was the Providence game where the kids scored forty something.
Oh you were talking about East Tennis.
No, no, it was the December game.
Yeah, yeah, I think I know what you're talking about.
Anyway, they had those moments. I remember Syracuse came in because Beheim was here, Jim Calhoun with Yukon I think was around that time of the calendar, you know, and they were great, you know, made for TV moments.
No, no, no, that's and that's what made Tucson and so because and look great because they didn't shy away from that stuff. Oh no, that was the best tim He's in that same category. Now let's let's go. Let's play them and then be twelve brings them to you. Well, plus he's and they just set something up with dude. Yeah, so that's gonna be Duke.
UCA.
Yeah. Yeah, Okay, we gotta go. We're gonna get a hold of Steve Quiz on the other side.
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Steve Rivera, He's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports station Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to I in the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty today.
My guest host is Dave.
Silver and one of his former competitors friends buddies, is on the other side, Steve Quist out of San Diego, waiting at what five eleven?
Sure, I'll go with that. How about six?
Oh you were by the same size? No wait to sing? Ever, mind?
What's up?
Got intern too? I was Dave's intern for a while.
Oh really, what'd you learn?
Tell me?
I'm where I'm at today because of the day.
The last time we were on, somebody called him and he was like, put him in the Hall of Fame. I remembered Hall of Fame. We were telling you you were somebody we went to go visit you guys at the station and you were great to me. Remember I read it on this ende.
I'm I'm very proud of I'm very proud of my interns. I mean, you're at the top of the list. But there were a number of guys and women that that went on. There's one of my you know, there's we had this woman near the end of my time there that was, uh, it's just in sports and just hanging out. She was an athlete and things like that. And she wound up going to Denver becoming a big time weather person. Uh oh, I got to look up her name again.
I can remember her so well. I think she might be in d C. I mean, she's moved up into some major market territory and she was my little old sports intern back in the day. So it's fun to have. That's awesome, cool, cool.
What are you up to?
Man?
I am sitting at a hotel in driving hurricane rainstorm in southern California, getting ready tonight to call at eight o'clock here, which is a late game Big West battle. You see Santa Barbara and you see Irvine on ESPN US it's got done.
Yeah is the who's the coach of Santa Barbara? Is it Pastornax still or not?
Yeah? Yeah, Joe, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It's pretty intense. I was just over at there shoot around in practice. So well, he got a couple of guys on their staff too that are Arizona guys.
Yeah.
Well he is a Sean Miller, a protege.
Yes, yes, he's he was very intense this morning, so yeah. Yeah, he's got a fairly decent team.
So well, he was prety good coach. I mean, they play and respect him a lot, so they play hard for him. He's done well since he left Arizona.
Yeah, he doesn't have a losing season yet. And I think maybe this is year five, and I know four of the five have been twenty or more wins. Yeah, you know, go to the NCAA Tournament a couple of years ago with a twenty seven win team, which was the most Santa Barbara's ever had in one season.
Right, right, right, right, So what are your thoughts on on your on the season so far. I'm not sure how many games you've done, but you have probably a gauge of the West coast stuff.
Yeah, I probably don't. Almost thirty right now, and you know, out west, I think the four best teams right now, in no particular order, but would be Arizona, New Mexico, Saint Mary's and you see San Diego. If you can believe that, really those four I think, Oh yeah.
Stevel Diego, Steve no, no.
No, no, no no, he's University of San Diego, the Catholic school and there last time I checked, they were four and twenty two.
Wait a second, he is, So he's struggling. Yeah, okay, so yeah, thank you.
So you're Division one eligible. You see San Diego?
Oh okay, okay, I didn't. I didn't. I thought that was one and the same.
But no, no, no, this is the Big West.
They're in the Big West. Who's the coach, a guy named.
Eric ol And he's been there through the Division two era when they were like thirty and two. Every year. He's a young guy, and I don't know if we'll be able to keep him this year in the Big West, but after this year. But he's he's really good. He's got a good staff, and they got really good players. You guys would appreciate it. They're winning that they're twenty and four. There are are their net rankings like forty eight, and they've got six Division two transfers. I mean, it's
the most remarkable thing I've ever seen. And three of those six guys lead the nation in a category, so whether it's steals, getting the free throw line, or making three so it's it's remarkable how good they've been.
So so they could get to the tournament. They'll be one of those like twelve seeds that will give somebody, you know, head maybe if they can are they.
Yeah, and yeah, we were it's funny you say that. We were doing the game on ESPNU on Saturday night. We had Lenardi, you know, we were talking Lonardi and it was twelve seed and then I pulled up Lonardi five and the five seeds were Arizona, Cla, Memphis, and Michigan. So like, oh, yeah, they could beat any one of any one of those teams.
Yeah.
No, it's funny. You mentioned New Mexico. And you get to see a lot of games because that's what you do, obviously, and they come to you, yeah, or you go to them. But a lot of people who watch college basketball, they just have their eyes on the team. They watch, right. People who watch Arizona watch Arizona. They don't, Hey, we're playing. We're good enough to get to the Final four because the way we're playing, not realizing there's other people driving Lamborghinis.
Yeah no, I mean, and New Mexico's wan.
Of them, and they look at Auburn.
And I said before before before you say that, I say that because I was reading some threads and you probably know Jeff Grammar. He covers New Mexico and and people, the fans there go bonkers and they love basketball, but they think they invented it, and they're twenty one and four, twenty and four whatever, and this is their year. Okay, two years ago or last year was your year. And then you lose the first round of Clemson you know, simberdown, simmerdown.
Yeah, I mean it's a I mean yeah, it's a crapshoot. And I remember last year because they were at that same regional.
Yeah, and I.
Remember thinking, oh, yeah, this is this team's gonna win and uh and they didn't. But you know, they're a year older, and they got Donovan Dan who you know, seems to be one of the like an All American point guard who I covered in high school Planet Centennial alongside you know Boswell and Jared McCain and those guys, and he might have been the best of all of them,
but he was just a little undersized. So he goes to New Mexico and with Patino coming in that Rabbit fan base, and they also lost a couple of guys, like I think they lost Navii burn and another big guy in the portal top Yeah, and they just yeah, exactly top of you're right, and they just they just kind of rebuild. So every time I go into tow a Mexico game. It reminds me of McHale Center in you know, nineteen ninety one or ninety two, in the or even late eighties when I started at the University
of Arizona. It's got that vibe and I always smiled big time because I you know, it's like going back in the way back regime.
Yeah, because the people that go to the game still have the same hairstyle.
Well they are.
They are a little bit nuts there. Yeah, they'll get on you quite a bit. The only place that the yell at the announcer, but you know, it is what it is.
That's where where Luke would never go back because he thought he got cheated out of a call at the end of it was.
Call.
He never went back when the guy around before.
That's right, yeah, hey what about Yeah?
Mouse Stubing was the like an Angels coach. As you do a.
Lot of high school games out in southern California, give us some names of people maybe we want to keep an eye on, or who the U of A Is looking at. Obviously Tommy, Well so, the.
Guy I've seen in the last two years is the Brandon Burry's or Braiden Burgy. I think it's Braidon Bury's. He's a five star guy that I know. This time last year, right as the playoffs started, Uh, Tommy Lloyd took a private plane out of Tucson and went and flew and watched his game and then turned around and flew back. He's a really good guard and he was playing in that championship game last year opposite Harvard Westley.
Harvard Westlake has Nick Hamenya, who was in the mix to go to Arizona but wound up signing with Duke. And I remember earlier this year when I did a couple of those ESPN Plus games for for Arizona, especially leading up to like Old Dominion, I know Tommy said that Nick probably won't come because of us signing, that the kid out of New Hampshire that's got Aerostatti or whatever that his name, probably Nick wouldn't come because of that,
and he and he didn't. But he's pretty good. But Burry's is the one I think Arizona would if they could find a way to get him, and last check he was not committed. He's probably one of the one of the best.
Ones out here right now, did you have a chance for how you have a chance to see Gilbert's son.
You know what the funny thing is, I did. He was going up against a UC San Diego recruit who's actually out of Prescott up there in I don't know if it's Shadow mount I don't thin it's Shadow Mountain. It might be Prescott High School. But there's a kid named Uriah Tendant who was a McDonald's All American nominee.
He didn't make the team, obviously, but he signed with Arizona, I'm sorry, with UC San Diego, and over the Christmas break he scored in overtime fifty four points, and then Arenas's kid scored fifty six points and the UCSD guys team one out of Arizona at one of those tournaments. I think it was the Damien Tournament as a matter of fact, which is, you know, a huge, huge tournament over over Christmas break. So that was kind of cool to see. But from what I've seen, I mean, like
Arenas is he's the one and done. I mean he's already he'd already scored twenty a night in the G League for goodness out. Yeah, so he'll play one year, He's going to USC and then he'll be out and.
If yeah, if preferred him either be quiet Gilbert or go to class.
Maybe that's right, Yeah, yeah right, but yeah, he's really good. And then I so hopefully hopefully Arizona can get Burriyes, for the Wildcap fans out there listening, yeah, I think he's a stud.
They're in for a couple. I think he's one. And the kid from Phoenix to pay Out or whatever his name is, the big Yeah, yeah, Pete, I'm sorry.
Yeah.
Who.
As a matter of fact, I saw him. It was weird I was doing when I was doing the volleyball for Arizona ESPN. Plus he was there along with Bryce James and they were there on the recruiting trip. It was the night that Duke was in town and I was I don't know if I want to shoot around or if we had just volleyball practice or something, but I bumped into Bryce James and I was like, oh, you're you're here for. What are you here for? And they were like, yeah, recruiting visit. And then I saw
him in co Opete later that night. I think there was unofficial visits, but yeah, we s they landed one of the two.
Yeah, we'll see what happens with that? So what's on your schedule tonight? Are you going to be doing anything postseason? I don't know yet.
Yeah, it's kind of early, so I don't know. I usually have the high school tournament, which bumps up against the first week at the NCAA tournament. I actually liked taking that rather than actually, I'm sorry, it doesn't bump up with the first round of the NCAA tournament. Bumps up with the like all the you know when the Pac twelve Tournament was the Big twelve tournament.
It's that kind of that kind of week.
So I actually liked doing that because that's like eight games in one week. It's a pretty big payday. And I mean all those kids are going someplace else. I mean I mentioned all of them a moment ago, so it's it's kind of fun. And that was, you know, years ago, I did Aaron, you know, Aaron Gordon, Stanley Johnson, and you know, almost everybody who's come out of California's played in those championship games, and it's it's pretty cool to look back and see, you know, all those guys.
What was your last year here covering in Arizona.
Covering Arizona was two thousand. Just oh really, I left, yeah, two thousand, two thousand. I left in August of two thousand. So we're just getting off the Holiday Bowl win, and just prior to it would have been going into the basketball season in two thousand and one where they played Duke is the championship. Yeah, yeah, okay, Richard Williams and or Jefferson and yeah.
So I was asking Dave and because you know we've been here, he was at eighty three, I was eighty seven. Some of the bigger games that came through McHale because Sata he is a big one with Houston. What do you remember about those big games? Which ones?
I mean Duke?
I mean you know that that first one the first time around, right with Christian Laitner that Arizona wound up winning. I got a nice picture of me with Dick by Town, who knew we work together for twelve years, although I've never I've never met the guy in twelve years working for ESPN now, But I love that game. And then you know, every single battle against UCLA was huge.
You know what we didn't talk about was the shack. The shack came down.
Here during the Shack year.
Yes I was, but you know what I was doing. I was working with Brian Jefferies on nine tea and I was doing baseball. We were up playing uh Arizona State when Shaq came in, So I was doing the game on nine forty while Brian was back doing the basketball game. So I didn't get a chance to see.
That year like the Shack Sean Sucks battles McHale And the next year they went to l s U and got destroyed.
Thought it might have been reversed or one of those it was like reversed.
Yeah, yeah, they got killed.
That was I mentioned this a couple of days ago when when Rooks played really well against them, played kind of I'll played him and Rooks went to him.
Doesn't matter. I'm still in the number.
One that I was.
Actually the one that stands out I was doing pre and postgame show for I think I had just graduated, was the one where Fisher brought the Fab five in, Oh the four four clid Reeves you know, yeah, and clid Reeves had like forty yeah he had forty three.
I think forty two four three.
Yeah, I mean that one, that one stood out, But I mean I was on the road along with Dave the entire all six games of the ninety seven National Championship Game. Yeah, so just thinking, oh my god, are we're going to win this one? And yeah, somehow, somehow Charleston and South Alabama.
And yeah, to shut down to Birmingham because of you guys.
You TV's first and only time have ever been to Birmingham? Oh have you been there other times?
Yeah?
I have.
So my son, you know, who's a Navy pilots, he's training in Pensacola, So he always zips up to uh Birmingham Airport and back down. That's kind of where they come out of when they go out of Pensacola. They go up that route and touch and do touch and goes and come back. So so I've been there to watch him a couple of times.
So you are you finally done with Tucson? You know, your your all, your money came here and you lived.
Here, and I'm so far about it.
Yeah, if anybody wants to call and get me back down there.
But yeah, my real estate, yeah you sold your house right, Yeah, and your kids are gone. My kids came to school here.
Gone, parents are still up there, and so I'll be back quite a bit. So yeah, okay, I have an offer to do softball in a couple of weeks, but I couldn't. I couldn't make it work because I've got a couple of ESPN games. So yeah, I wish I could.
My number if they wanted to somebody else.
Dave Silver, Yeah, I find that guy. He's also the radio. You get a whole bit of I will pay you.
Could be your backup.
There you go any time man.
Yeah, okay, well, well mister Quis will see you soon. Maybe, yes, I hope. So are you going to be Are you gonna be in Vegas for any of the postseason tournaments?
No?
I think I think that's when the state tournament is.
Well that's what you said, That's what you said.
Oh yeah, but I'll be uh, I'll be.
I will be watching.
Unless I get a sign one. Maybe I'll get a sign one by If I get a sign one, it will be like the WCC or or actually had an offer to do WCC, but I actually have another couple of games I want to do, including an NBA game, so I had to turn it down.
By the way, said you follow So Lavin's not doing well.
It's a success.
Get paid a lot of money, brother paid a lot.
Yeah, well the success of the you see San Diego, is that going to hurt him?
If they can do it, why not him? Yeah?
I mean yeah, I mean he's in like his third year. He's making I think like nine to seventy five, but and his AD is gone, so it's a new athletic director the guy who hired him. But I don't I mean, you know, those those programs sometimes can't afford to buy guys out, So yeah.
I don't know.
I mean, he he hasn't done well in any one of the three years yet, and and quite frankly, they're not even really on the radar. I mean, every time I come back home after doing a UCSD game, like the top two stories are always Aztecs and UCSD, and and they don't even really give the score for USD anymore, right, which is kind of sad. So well, I hope he's a nice guy.
We couple times I really like him. Four and twenty two. That's that's yuah.
He was a frequent guest of mind when he was not coaching, uh, because he came from the loot Camp's a really good guy.
Like you said, no he is. I mean he's as nice as like.
He invited me to the Fox.
Duties a couple of times we did some WCC games together. I really root for him, but it's if that's a hard place, you know, and and I'd like to see him at least make it through until Gonzag exits, right, and then it'll be you know, then it'll be just them against Saint Mary's and you have a chance to finish in the top three. You know, most of the
time they've been battling. When Byu was in there, it was really hard to crack the top, you know, four or five, especially with the emergence of like San Francisco, who's another really good bubble team as well.
Okay, Steve, stay out of trouble, have fun tonight, all right than see yep, buo Steve Quiz working for ESPN. Let's take a break because we're way over I think, right you're telling me this, yes, okay, and we'll come back.
Take some calls.
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This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
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He Welcome back to I the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're Dave Silver. That was a little fun going back with Steve Quiz. Yeah, we had some good years together. He was always kind of around as a young young guy. And then like he talked about, you know, interning with us at Channel nine, and then he went off to uh KOLD and eventually to San Diego, and he's he's just he's had a
lot of fun experiences I think in his career. You know, he's probably he worked at one of the local stations in San Diego as well as a he's the weekend guy. But he was one of the one of the main anchors in sports there and then he branched off into the padres and did some pre game and postgame show.
So it's he's doing the G League now, doing them some G League games which yeah, played like an ocean side or some places or some some team plays in in between San Diego and La s Yeah, and that's where he lives.
Doing really well. So was he the backup to McCabe at the time. Who's thirteen guy?
He was not for he was he was after.
McCabe, Tom Leander, he was with McCabe, Yeah, and then Tom. There's been so many at thirteen. There's been a lot of people, Yeah, especially during that time.
Yeah, we were we I mean we went through a few, you know, weekend people over over the years and and I'm trying to just remember exactly where he fit into that. But yeah, you know, he was always found work. He was and he's really good, he's really talented, he's got he's got his you know, his son he was you know, talked about his son there briefly, who graduated from the U of A. I want to say, maybe three or four years ago, went into the Navy. He's going to be a pilot. Yeah.
It's funny because I think when he put a picture of his son when he was like two or three, he looked exactly like yeah, like his dad. Yeah, it was like mini me, like lo exactly. You know, at two years old, he looked like he was thirty. Now he's I mean, he's a you know that the pilot mustache. But yeah, it's great. It's great to see he was.
The college I worked for when I was wrapping things up, was College of Social Behavioral Sciences, which had his son's major I believe was a college of Again in our college, it was the political science major. Yeah, so its School of Governments and Public Policy. Oh, that's what my son got a ju in. Yeah, what the hell do you do with that? After that?
What did he do with my son? My son or his son?
My son?
My son with a Rutgers and he got a degree, and he was learning Mandarin. So he went to China and during then COVID hit and changed the world. So now he's a communications major at the Oh no, he's in communications at the University of Maryland.
So nice.
It writes much better than me, which they take me good. That's not easy, too hard to do. So so he's doing okay, Uh yeah, anybody want to call, Let's get a call from you. Five to two oh four, one sixty. Any thoughts or lingering thoughts about the game on Tuesday. We're already two days removed. But what about the game on Saturday day? It's an early game noon? Uh see what's uh? What's happening then? Should be rocking?
Are you going?
Oh?
Probably not, but we'll see. Sometimes things change on Friday.
You never know.
Kobe, I think you've been on the hunt.
Yeah, as of now, no, but I'm so looking if the prices draw, so.
What are they still at your ninety dollars price?
I think so?
Yeah, yeah, because that's a cheap compared to what we're out there. That's a doable tick. Yeah yeah, maybe not for a college kid, but yeah, you know what I'm saying, because there's there, I.
Don't con seit. No, the noseble, just like the Duke game was a yeah.
Yeah, so some of the other ones, like mid Section or two going for two grand.
Yeah, it should be a good one though, I mean, obviously it's the middle of the day. It doesn't doesn't ruin your day. No, you're done it two thirty and I'm not sure the weather's gonna be great. I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow or Saturday a little or more a lot, I don't know. Yeah, it's softball readjusted their schedule. They had the tournament at home this weekend, and they do things, you know, in anticipation of raindom
maybe tomorrow. I think they moved up things up. Yeah, and then baseball starts right, but they're on the road today fall plays in Texas.
Yeah, so here you go with the full fledge of rosters and schedules and yeah, you know, as we finish what's today, the fourteenth, thirteenth, In a month, they're going to be playing in the Big twelve tournament and then a week later they're gonna be kind of getting ready for the NCAA tournament. Because you have the.
Book the Pistovals, the Pisto fal Books books is right around the same time, and I think it's the Big twelve tournament. Yeah, same, I think is it the same weekend or before, Well, it's the weekend of the fifteenth and sixteenth.
Oh, then you're right, you're right. Okay, so come to the book festival. Yeah, watch the tape the game, record the game now.
Yeah, I had some really good sports authors coming to I'm not going to name them now, but there's there's some good sports things. There's some great I'm talking about it because I'm a volunteer, but there's some great authors coming.
We're gonna have.
Yeah, I'll try to get a few.
Yeah, okay, I know I got one coming into.
Let's go. We got a call.
Hello, who's this? Hey?
This is old guy John, a streamer trying to keep up with all the platforms. I'm trying to find out.
The Big twelve tournament.
It's not on CBS.
Do you know what?
Is it on ESPN Plus?
Is it on ESPN?
It'll probably be on all those I think that the finals would be on CBS. I'm sure that's Saturday. Yeah, you won't have an issue, did you? Did you end up buying the ESPN Plus?
Yeah?
I bought the ESPN Plus and then you know, I'm trying to figure should I get rid of it because are they going to be used for the tournament.
Yeah, don't don't do that until April. If you need to get rid of it and then come back with it.
Yeah.
I wouldn't do that at all, just in case.
It's a lot to keep up with.
No, I know, I'm well aware of it.
Take the platforms.
Yeah, let me ask you something, because I hear all these things on the Internet saying, no, the service sucks, and there's the stopping and the you know, the internet stuff. I experienced that on Tuesday. It wasn't that bad. It wasn't enough to complain about it. But I did experience it. Have you experienced it?
But yeah, well, uh, you know, the games get cut off because you're watching another game. I bought sling for three months for ninety nine dollars to go to ESPN, and uh, you know, they have another game and then I don't have the news or whatever, so you miss, you know, a quarter of the game. Is that what you're talking about?
No, No, I'm talking about when it's streaming, and you know, it's sometimes it's comes salts.
Every once in a while you'll get a little bit.
It's not bad.
I haven't had I haven't had a problem like.
We did last year.
Well that's good, that's good.
It was worth you know, but.
You know, maybe it's me just being an old guy.
But I know what I know, and I but but with all the streaming, it's a challenge.
Yeah, just keep just keep your eyes open and the newspaper stories, Tucson dot Com and you know, all sports. So we'll be talking about the games.
Then I did look up CBS and none of it says it's going to be on CBS.
Yeah, we'll, we'll though, we'll check it out for you. I know you listened quite frequently. We'll talk about it or you can give us a call next week and we'll figure it out. Right, even though you know, thanks for listening. Is always you hadn't heard from you.
In a while.
Yeah, well I'm there, I'm listening.
Okay, great, thank you.
Well, I mean it all starts, I mean everybody goes, right, Yeah, sixteen teams go. So it all starts on Tuesday, March eleventh, with four games. The next day has four games, and the next it's like there's a lot of games, a lot of basketball.
So everyone will probably won't play until Thursday.
Number one, two and three seeds won't play until Thursday. Correct one and three? Four?
I'm so okay, Yeah, yeah, so I think they'll finish in the top four obviously, won't you think, Yeah, the top four, and then we'll see what happens after that.
And then there's two games for Friday, the semi finals, and then the finals on Saturday on March fifteenth, and then you get the book Festival and on the sixteenth as well. Anyway, that's kind of that's kind of what you're looking at for.
So I thought the book Festival, you know, I want you to thinking that when we had Steve on that I wouldn't mind going to Vegas because you know, obviously that's where the games would have been had they stayed in the Pac twelve and going to watching all these games, you know, instead of the NCAA tournament, watching the Big twelve and all the other turnmers. Because the Whack has their or the Mountain West has their tournament out there, there's still other tournaments going on, correct, So go.
To Vegas and just still watch some more. The Mountain doesn't mount Wait is there a Mountain West anymore? I'm trying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I think like the San Diego States and New Mexico's and Boise's and Boise States.
And then the West w ccs are out there. Uh, you know, you don't want the lament that the PAC twelve is out. You still go to Vegas that fun. It just won't be uh McHale North. The butchery won't happen, right, and the butcher ain't going to Kansas City.
Kansas City. That's too bad. I'm going to Kansas City as a baseball fan in May.
Oh to see some You might give me some five dollars knockoff Big twelve shirts. Then you know the teams that got beat need to say you can you give me an Irish State s yep coming around the corner.
Yeah. No, it gets a great city and obviously the history of basketball there is huge. But you know it's a journey for u of a fans if they're you know they real diary. Did you go to the Final four? Final four and eighty eight?
Yep?
I was there and see how much the game has changed? Yeah, because it was at Kansas City. It wasn't at a big arena. It wasn't it was it Kemper Arena. It was a smallish, you know arena. It was the fiftieth anniversary. I want to say the I remember the tournaments. I remember the logo yeah, it was a big circle. Yeah, we gotta we gotta wrap it up already. What are you doing to us over there? Yeah, you're right, you can go.
We can go.
Let's go about another minute because we can we I think we got four minutes of the buffer and blubblah okay, yeah, you give me the sign. I think already. Nocau goes by quick on Good Shows. Yeah, but that's eighty eight, right, and then the ninety four Uh, they went to Charlotte and did you go.
It was also when it Ana Wash was a horness player eighteen twenty thousand. Yeah, it was the Bill Clinton experience where he was there and it took us, you know, two hours to get our get ourselves checked in.
I remember that too, right, and then.
Because Arkansas was there and Duke Florida, yep, Duke of Florida.
Yeah, okay, let's go down there. Senor Kobe, thanks for keeping an eye on it, and we'll come back and get some breaking news, right and get more calls maybe, yep,