Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to iron the Ball. Here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, You're Troy Hutchison Gacycats dot Com. And we got our guy Kobe with breaking news.
He his eye on the ball, breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Breaking news from the sports world. Arizona basketball alum Quinn Crawford named G League Coach of the Month for the Stockton Kings.
Oh coach of the Month, Okay, Stockton Kings. He s wanted to be about maybe, Yeah, I don't remember him much of him because you walk on Yeah, one of the end of the bench players.
Yeah, but you know what good for it?
I mean you look throughout Loot's coaching career, Sean has a couple of guys getting into coaching and finding a way to impact the game.
Right thousands shooting woes costs Arizona women's basketball at Colorado. Brea Cunningham Fells cost the Wildcats in a fifty six forty seven loss at Colorado on Wednesday night.
Yeah, they if they're struggled and then kind of pulling out and then then they struggle.
Same old story.
Yeah, offense landing forty seven points, it's not going to get it done.
You got to score the ball.
In Brett Brennan's press conference on Wednesday, he mentioned that Arizona football has signed fifty three players since the end of twenty twenty four season.
Yeah.
Well, you you were there, right, you were there. What was the mood with a lot of people.
A lot of people, a lot of assistant coaches there. You know, I think it was a very vibrant and exciting mood to get these guys in and on campus and get them ready for spring football. The more and more the years go by, the more and more players are participating in spring football and becoming early in rolies, and that's become one of the biggest things for football programs moving forward.
On signs former Washington offensive lineman Peter Langee as he was committed to Washington with flip to Arizona, and also Arizona signed three star Chuco d lineman Leroy Paulo and the three star Calo Limon and Peter Laney's we.
Stated, yeah, you know, Peter Laney, very good player from Washington. His brother Michael Laney will be part of the twenty twenty six recruiting class and a lot of people say that Michael might be the better of the two. So have some young offensive lineman that can build, help build the football player.
Anto's the guy. Yeah, the unto's guys like the not ground jewels, but the places that you need to work every year with those games. You know, you have a good quarterback, that's great, and that's great obviously very great running backs and wide receivers, but if you have a good offensive lind.
You want a great offensive line and great defense line. Yeah, that's where you win game.
There we go.
That's about seven players on each side. Uh, you know, with with the with depth, yeah, with depth.
Henry Vassar honored by Big twelve as he was awarded the co Bench Performance of the Week.
Never knew they had that award, but deserving the best player.
Over seven foot this week is yeah, everybody gets the trophy. Yeah, but that's cool because he was good. He you you could go to every.
Player on that roster they played and say, you know, this was he was pivotal. Because he was pivotal, because important because and that's why they won. We'll see this weekend. I think they'll win, but they could have won up in Texas. Stack the Right.
Bear's owner, Virginia Hallis McCaskey, dies at one hundred and two years old. She has owned the team for forty two years.
It's the Bears.
Oh yeah, Chicago Bears. She passed away. Yes this week just y history or whatever. Wow, I didn't know that one hundred and two. I don't want to do that, though. I have a lot of family members that live in their late nineties. Really yeah, my dad's side, my grandmother was ninety three, my grandfather ninety three, my grand aunt ninety eight.
I have my reasons I don't want to. Mike Woodson said to leave Indiana over the season. Did that make that announcement there? He's contemplating stepping down.
Contem Well, you could contemplate all you want. They're gonna stepped out or pushed out.
What's from good Man? He said that, complaining, thanks for the thanks for the breaking news, good Man.
Come on, Yeah, you know I'm fixing to leave this building after the show.
Hey, you know what, the building's on fire. I think I'm gonna step down, Yes, yes.
Yeah, at five o'clock. Five, Well, five, I'll be out of this building. Were they forced me out or pushed me out or I walk out? The dude can't coach. No, he can't coach, not a college. But he wasn't a good coaching the NBA.
No, the ex o Tawny interpreter sentenced to fifty seven months first stealing from show Aotana.
Yeah, fifty seven months. What's that ya, sir Carlos, fifty seven months?
You know all I'm gonna say is one of my favorite favorite Pete Rose's quotes. I wish I had an interpreter, Pete Rose? Did he say that recently? He said that before he passed away? Well, I hope he didn't say that after he passed away exactly. No, he's like, just just in, Pete says, I wish I had an interpreter.
And I don't laugh for you of this show, but that was funny. You're welcome, Yeah, thank you.
The Brooklyn Nets are working on a biout agreement with Ben Simmons.
He's still played. You still paying him? Is he playing?
Or no?
He's not playing?
What the hell about he's getting paid? He's like, who's the dude? For the Pittsburgh Pirates. Uh getting paid one million a year for that, dude? Yeah, well he was a met too, yea one million by this dude. He's been stealing money for years and he doesn't care. Of course, he's worried with Conradition.
Is going to chase him.
He's on the final year of five year max how much?
Which is that? Like forty millions?
So back then that was probably like five years. I want to say one to eight when seventy he's not playing, right, He's not physically not playing. I don't think he's playing very much. I haven't heard his name all year until right now.
He signed a five year, one seventy seven million with the Sixers. Six Ers, so yeah, that was like five years ago. Dude, that's like the Mike Woodson says, what, Yeah, that's it for today's breaking news.
Okay, it's nothing from the Uba anything. You know that well soft all tonight? You know yet in the season kicked off big season Fyers on the softball? What way I think that.
I don't want to say it's a make or break yere, but you have to not only make the tournament, you better be competing for Oklahoma Oklahoma, getting to Oklahoma or your last year of year contract coming up.
That's an issue. I think.
I think with desireet your new A d new I, you have to impress new eyes. You have to impress uh not that everybody on that staff needs to worry, but they have to worry.
Well they head the coaches in there, then you're probably not going to be there the next season. So right, what do you mean, Well, if Kaylin Lowe isn't back next year, yeah, then the other coaches on the staff are back.
Yeah yeah, no, no, but the coaches, like you know, Tommy doesn't have to worry about it. The head coaches, you know, Brennan probably has to win or else. Uh, Kaitlyn, I guess this year maybe, uh, because because Desi chip. Yeah, but he's done well. But where are they gone?
He's done well, That's all I can say. Where have they gone? I don't know they went. Didn't they go to tournament to the Omaha? No?
No, no, no, that was for Johnson's last team. Uh and that was only like two days ago, three four years ago. Okay, maybe I don't I don't know. I mean, how do you measure success then?
Competing for champion. Well, they won a championship last year. Baseball pick day, Yeah, I was surprised.
Everybody did really well until he didn't.
Let's let's try.
Let me say this, because you're you're not a U agres airs only is what it is, right, It's not what they think they are.
You know that, you know that I got what you're saying.
So, okay, you know if I'm not Brad Pitt, but I think they can pick up women like Brad Pitt can's.
I'm fully myself.
I'm fully of myself and I'll use these analogies all the time. But come on, I am what I am.
So I agree with football and that you are what you are. And hey, if you if you're averaging eight nine wins the season, nine wins would be incredible in football, that would be tremendous. That would be tremendously that coach should get a statue. But there was a softball again. We talked about this with Mike Andrea feeding the Beast. Mike Andrea, damn it.
It was a baseball five Nationals.
Okay, so this is not that teams, this is not that program anymore. It's not no matter who shows up, not that they can't find that person to show up and do it. But that's a long time ago. I used to be thin. I used to be I used to be a lot of dinner. I don't think I can get there again to you. Don't you understand what I'm saying. Yeah, I used to be okay, back to then, but I'm not anymore. It's not likely I'm going to go back to that. It's hard to It's hard, and
that was the glory days of softball. If you're going to compete, are you going to compete or compare with that situation? I don't know anybody's worthy. I don't think Kendrea wasn't worthy. Yeah, I mean he wasn't capable.
Yeah. Well, I mean he got them back on track, though.
He got he got them back to being respectable again because he got him back to the tournament. Yeah, but they were not Arizona of nineteen ninety one or sure. I mean you didn't know what I'm saying. I mean, I think you have to know who you are, and I'm not sure Arizona knows who they are.
And I'm talking about the powers that be, even the people who support them. We we okay, tell me. It's like Arizona and we talk about this fight. I don't want to fight. They fight with enough. By the way, we'll be at the casino Friday tomorrow. I people say this is a blue blood. It's not a blue blood for basketball. No it's not. I mean, come on, you won some games. It's a good program. It's the top fifteen top.
Is softball blue blood? Yes, of course, right it is. It hasn't been.
Now now if you have a fifteen year old now, no, no, because they wouldn't know what the hell happened yesterday? What about baseball? Is baseball blue blood? I would say, yeah, okay, I don't know. It's probably a fringe. It's probably a fringe. It's there, and you could only talk to people over thirty five forty who can tell you that they are right?
Anybody your age, We say, no, Arizona really twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, whatever it do. That was thirteen years ago. Yeah, who remembers five years ago.
I'm just trying to no, no, no, that's I'm being critical, but I'm being realistic to But you also have to look at what Jay Johnson did here in terms of getting to Oklahoma. Yeah, well, sorry, getting to Omaha and at least competing to be at that level.
He wasn't here a long time. He wasn't here a whole. He got it in the in that window that he was here. But it's and that's kind of have to sustain that. The recruiting you got to you gotta get better at recruiting. Yeah, but then now you're then there's an I I get it. Yeah, there's more than's everything right, and and there's well we know this with baseball. There's players that are, hey, I'm going to go to the draft.
Oh never mind, I'm not going to the universe. You still have to recruit those players.
I hear you.
I understand that. And everybody goes through that. Uh, I don't know. I don't I know as much as they are who they are, and they'll I've been here thirty seven years and nothing's really changed except that the attitude of the U of A is we're good and don't mess with us.
You know you grew up watching it. Yeah, especially for basketball, the fan base a blue blood mentality. But you have the Final Fours.
Yeah, certainly you have a blue bit of me talenty. You have a doorman at the front. Uh, sorry, you're not on the list. Sorry, I don't care if became dressed, well, you're still not on the list. You're not going to get in that to make a final four since twenty twelve.
Final four.
I'm saying, at least make a final four twenty twelve and maybe you'll get into My point is you haven't done anything since.
Two thousand and one.
Hold are you thirty thirty thirty thirty five? I was six? You were six since that last time. A lot of things have changed since you were six. Your shoe size, your pants size, and your shirt size. Are you gonna go back to that weight when I was six?
No? No, I hope not. My point, we have a lot of issues.
Fight.
I'll be calling in from the hospital if I go back to the size that.
I was when I was saying, and I'm ranking, but I'm not because because everyzone is a fantastic place.
I love this place.
They've done a lot for they haven't done purposely a lot for me, But their success means my success. But you know the best. On a good day, I was seven. On a bad day, I'm a five.
And that was my point when arizon A Football, you know if we do well, we're going to fill the stadium. Well, what is doing well in Arizona? Yeah, my fans correct, we start off five and oh I'll go I'll go watch them and they go five. Now sure, sure, sure, but you know the fan base. It's not a great fan base. No, and it's kind of worse throughout the year.
Yeah, and they have to get improvements at that place or thirteen.
Uh uh.
They gotta get improvements at that place to make things better. Because have you been as a fan. Have you come to football as a fan a.
Long time ago?
Yeah, just not recently, but you've heard the complaints. The sound, the seating, the seating, the toilets, okay, that and those are just three.
And then the food. That's so much.
The food they've tried to improve with the sound, the seating, the accommodations, it's not it's not worthy if that's it's not updated.
Like again, going to the seatings.
Most places, if you're gonna have the bleacher seats, have the bleacher backs.
You just have the bleacher seat. And for people that are sixty.
Five and above going to these football games, they do the basketball games to have nothing supporting your back, you're not gonna last three four hours at a football game.
Okay, all right, this take a break, come back, We're gonna go. We're gonna take some calls here before we get ahold of binge ones on the other side, none on this side.
At four forty.
Thank you now your.
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This is Eye on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen. Finding want to take part in the show call out Steve now went five to two oh four seventy.
Hey, welcome back to Ye in the Ball.
Here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty, I'm Steve, your Troy, your Kobe, and just just in the Suns will continue to be five hundred Team Katie does not get traded.
I mean, they're not gonna be worse that We're to do better.
In the world of you What does that mean? They're not gonna make the I guess they'll make the playoffs. They'll make the playoffs and then and then what then bye?
You know?
But what they did, what they did today, they traded out Nurkic nineteen million dollars on the cap, got rid of that contract, and now they'll be below the second apron. Gives them a little wiggle room. They got to trade Bradley Beal, get under the first apron, and then you'll be able to make some moves by.
Right now, their handcut. You see the hat emory. The kitchen, the kitchen, you know what it is, right, it's a big term kitchen.
I've never been in the kitchen and I've never worn an apron, so I don't know what the hell you're talking about.
The second apron is like their their luxury tack. Honestly, I don't know what it is, but that's the term they use for them in terms of luxury attacks and whatnot.
That's superfluous, and I have no idea how to spell that, So I just said the big words. We're using Apron, kitchen, superflo who gives it crap? Yeah, so they're not any good. It's were really weird because they've never really been that rever. It's rarely that they've been really good.
I think it's they've been they've been very good, but it's rare that they're in that Emmy finals comment. They get to the Western Commons Finals and then something weird happens. Yeah, now the team beats them, a better team beats them. Steve Dashkin been thrown into the stands. I covered the three.
I covered him ninety three with Bill Barkley, and then I spent the summer up there with with that team and the Chicago Bulls. It was a fantastic time. But and then that was the closest. And then they were in the finals.
Two years ago, years ago and they were up four are up to gave us to nothing? How is DeAndre doing? Because Parlan has been on a streak here, they've been on a streak. He's been playing better. But it's the same old aid. And if you if you have him ramped up, he's gonna be great. But if he doesn't care. If he doesn't, it's gonna be awful. It's it's it's the biggest waste of talent I've seen. Maybe Theraver come out of Arizona. Really m I'll say that is a
better Suns fan. I don't care, no, no, no, I get it.
But he was that.
I mean he was a good player, which what you mean. I say this all the time. If I had a chance to pick between marketing and Aden, I'm picking marketing ten out of ten.
The thing.
The thing with Aden, I think he is one of the most talented players everyone has ever had. When you have a seven footer, be able to go coast to coast, finish at the round, play excellent defense, do everything skill set wise phenomenally in the low post, you have the talent to be a.
I came Elijah Wan talent.
But if you don't have the motor, if you don't care, if you're fin making the money, you're not gonna be.
Better than know And that that's half the battle of being good. I mean you have to have that mindset. I mean, that's what makes that's what separates it good from the bad or the people who make it and don't make it and that's in life too. Yeah, you know, you know those people you've seen him. You know, I'm at the age now where I'm kind of one not
on the up swing. I'm on the downswing. And we were talking about people off the air, and you know, hey, if I have a good show in the house, doesn't burn, I'm good baby.
You're not trying to make it to you.
You know, that would just give me more crap to deal with.
Either what I'm saying.
I mean, I want to write this out for another few years and try to do the best job I can, But I ain't worried about putting my name on Twitter. You know, this is what I hate today. Who cares?
Yeh?
No, I agree. So I asked you about Nolah fa Fida. Yeah okay, yeah, give me the question again. So make it tough on me because I'm I'm not thinking.
Okay, So this upcoming season, yeah, my favors in a football how important is this season for Noah?
Like yeah, okay, I don't know, because I don't know what he's he's thinking or his legacy. But will he end up If he does really well, he could be he could be one of the one of the greats And I could even tell you who's the greatest quarterback here ever?
Did he? What did he do? What's his resume show.
Here in terms of stats very well, but in terms of when his losses not very well. Okay, So what's his legacy?
Right?
Because we're talking you a football, right, so you talk legacy here?
What does it matter? I mean, he's the best quarterback you ever? Probably not, but.
It's hard to say here who's who's whose legacies are important?
Are important? Here?
You know Ricky players, Ricky Chuck, Teddy Bruski. Okay, now to right right? And I thought he'd be the best player ever here and in his season didn't didn't but that was no fault of his own.
But still I still think he probably is the best player.
Probably all time, probably, but given his stats not so much because it wasn't his fault, it was just a circumstance. So his legacy for Freedo, I don't know, Troy, because what does it matter? Probably doesn't matter to him. He just wants to win, yeah, and do really well. He's me, He's me just as a twenty one year old in a different situation.
I just want to win. But you know, don't bother me. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
What I mean is you have that phenomenal breakout yet Yeah, then you had this.
That's fine.
Let me say something that was by accident. Yeah, that would not have happened had Ben Dolora stayed healthy and Fish.
Would have finally just said okay, let's go.
Yeah.
I mean, and that's not on t Feeda, that's on Fish one hundred. But he had that year. Then he has the down year with a lot of offensive issues that were out of his control and somewhere in his control. But you chose Arizona again. You chose Arizona when Fish left, I'm going to come back. You have this horrible year with a new coaching staff, forward and very easy to leave to another place. I don't know if he's getting in the nil at other places that he could have
gotten when he first originally left. Maybe, but he chose Arizona again.
Yeah.
So now if you have a good year, let's say they get seven eight wins, but he has a statistically good year in terms of one of the more beloved, beloved players in Arizon history.
Well, let me say this, okay, Yeah, and he's recognizable, right, if you see him and he's on TV enough. He's not a typical looking football player. I do think that when he comes back, he comes back to visit or whatever, maybe you'll stay here, that he won't have to buy a beer if he ever wants wants one. You know, there's very few of those people that can do that. You know, he Steaker, Sean, Sean Elliott, those types of guys. Oh, hello,
I stay, tell me, don't worry about it. Probably, but we don't know until we know who recently anybody recently like that Gronk, there's your one guy Bruski Bruski, and that they're visible because they're on TV. If they weren't on TV, who are you?
You look? You look familiar and well McMillan very quiet. Yeah. Not Ankerson, No.
And he had he had a pretty good little run until he didn't and then now and now he's gone. Yeah, but you know what I'm saying, Legacy in football is totally different than basketball.
It is.
And they're not visible, they're not you can't see him through the helmet. You kind of know him in the media a little.
I don't know. He could be one of the top twenty five.
Yeah, yeah, even though he's the quarterback, which he should be higher. You bet, we'll see when we see it, and and and and maybe that's a question we asked, when we see him in spring or in the fall. What do you hope your legacy would be? M h I think you know what. I think his actual would be putting Arizona football back on the map.
Building a foundation stuff like that.
Sure, sure, and that would be a pretty good found That would be a pretty good legacy because who's done that.
They have a cot T at number two and Nick Foles at one.
Yeah, and seeing to me he's not a top five quarterback, Well, who's that?
Where'd you get that from? Ranker a website?
Yeah?
I know that one.
And it's kind of like some dude who I could sit here and I could rank Yeah, that's why I kind of who's the source? Yeah, so Dick falls.
I think Nick Foles because of his name and his NFL stuff, not because of here, but Nikolil Okay, but he too got accidentally put in that situation.
You know, someone had to get hurt and it didn't last No, no, it was to be honest, it was a flash in the band.
Right, right, So the some twelve year olds wrote that, yeah, Tom, Yeah doesn't does Yeah.
And he's probably and he's been on the show a number of times.
He's smith these guys, and these guys are way older now and and they had they had good runs, great runs. Not not like Khalil, but Khalil's was, like you said, it was a candle in the wind.
Yeah, okay, you know who you know who? Everybody forgets about that.
Will to Thomas Scott. That's Scott, that's Scott. Yeah, yeah, I mean Willy. He held all the records before n Foles came around.
Ye'll tell you talk about Willie? What about? Yeah?
I know if it wasn't her can cushions and his injuries, his I mean his like his what's rich Ron's what's rich rods? I think I think the fan base loves them. Okay, so hold on, just think this call. This might be a good call.
Uh.
Hello, you're on the air and eye the ball?
Hey, what's up? Man's team money?
Give me some history, Man, give me some history.
Hey where I come from?
Rancor means something else?
Do you want to have to tell me off the air? I'm too old to understand.
He's a head ranker a website, you know what.
Uh As far as Teddy Bruce though goes back in the day, I mean, dude was a d N.
But he was like the face of football and for.
A long time, right, for a long time. That's kind of still is.
Yeah, no, he and yeah I think he still is. To me, he still is.
Khalil Tate is a flash in the pan. But as far as like Teddy was here for four years, yeah, four years, and like like we didn't see it and I was a kid, but I mean we didn't see it, like, oh, this dude's a d N. Like we didn't even think about that. We just had Teddy Bruski is you have
a football. But as far as uh Fafita's legacy, I think he is very much poised if Brett Brennan doesn't screw it up to fa' that's what kind of hurt everybody's heart last year, Fia and Mac were poised to do something special and then you know we had the most un underwhelming coaching stuff of all time for it. But yeah, I don't that's a hard list to make because it is you have a football.
But yeah, bruce Ki to me is number one.
Yeah, would't you put up well, in today's world, probably Grounk number two because of everyone's visible and active and not because of what they did here, but what they did afterwards.
Well, yeah, it would be because what he did afterward. When he was here. People, you know, revision is history takes control of you.
Gotta remember when he was here, he was like the you know, squandered. Uh yeah, you know, people are like, oh man, like whoo yeah, who this guy's getting?
You know, Okay, the Patriots picked him up, who cares?
And then all of a sudden, you know, he becomes he becomes Gronk. But yeah, well he was here, even Nick Foles, even Nick Foles, I mean, we were like, wow, this guy, we finally got a real quarterback, and we thought he was gonna take it to the Promised Land. And and even then, yeah, you know that that smacked down by Nebraska thirty to nothing in the Holiday Bowl, the second one, the one that we lost.
But yeah, and then he goes to the NFL and wins the Super Bowl.
So I think, uh, but yeah, Bruceki gronk Folds. Those guys are are right up in there, and uh and.
That's I think.
And that's again not that's not you A related, that's NFL related.
Well, I think the thing with Bruski though, it is u A related.
So he has both. He has the u of a career to back it up, and he has the NFL career.
So okay, so let's let's say specific you of a history, Ricky Chuck Bruski.
I'm just throwing names out.
I'm not putting a list of uh and and who else in the top five and where do they arrange?
Wow, that's a that's a great question, because Chuck Chuck is uh, you know, a demi god around here. That play they they could show that play on the jumbo Tron every game and we lose our minds.
You know, I'm like four years old than that happened.
I could still tell you what happened on that play, you know, I think Brandon Sanders to me, is in there.
You know.
Then we start getting in the weeds, you know, with certain.
Guys like to me, I would just be like, hey, Richard Dice, and no one knows.
Who Richard, Daryl Lewis, darl Lewis.
Darryl Lewis, Mikelster, there's another guy.
But to the NFL career and the college career to back it up.
Trunk candidate Antoine Kayson Trunk candidate, Uh, Antoine Carter.
Uh.
So that's the list.
I mean, that's the list that you put together and say, okay, and then you can argue who goes three, four, four, five and all that stuff.
And Kadeem is on a on a kind of different level because he's a locally the tou song kid as well. Who you know, we got a bunch of linebackers in the league that uh, I'm drawn John Blanks here, but you know, a bunch of guys came out and came out of U of A and and uh had solid NFL careers at linebacker.
Man Spriggs. Ye, who's who's the kid? Said?
Anthony just did Elmore the class with you know recruit Yeah, some of those guys.
Yeah, they didn't poet fo two come through here and he played with Cardins like that kind of thing.
But they're there are just certain.
Personalities, certain players that really took over the narrative and and for good reason.
And I think Teddy Bruski is at the.
Top of that.
Yeah, I think I think so too well.
And he really embodied what Arizona football was back in the nineties, has football. We're gonna snap you in the mouth, best defensive prom probably of that era.
Yeah, by Pac twelve net.
We're probably the only good thing that network ever did. But it was on h Teddy Bruce Ki and it kind of got inside of his head, and it's basically, everybody disrespects us, everybody doesn't like us, and we're.
Gonna we're gonna screw everybody.
Which was great, I mean to right there is it? Well, isn't that Arizona in a nutshell? Any sport that disrestort this, We're gonna show you who we are and we'll win the title in ninety seven.
Kind of.
Team money real quick. I don't ask questions of college. Could I ask you what you do for a living? And I asked for a reason.
I do?
I do.
I've done many, many things, very eclectic.
Okay, you for money and some for note Okay, no, because you can have some good insight.
I'm just thinking, you know, what are you doing?
Yeah? No, I mean I probably have if you want to put it this way, humble bragger, I probably have spoken to as many people as you half through the media, just indifferent I know newer fast.
Well, I know, could you cheat on me with the other guys when you call and I hear your voice?
No, no, no, I mean not that as far as my own content.
Okay, okay, that kind of thing, but uh, you know the internet, okay, but that kind of uh.
But no, I mean I've been a UFA.
Fan since since day one, really, and we've moved back when I was in middle school, and that was right right after the Fiesta Bowl and that was the beginning of the you know, national championship run and stuff like. So, I mean that was just man, that was a great time to be here.
Right, No, nighties were great. Okay, thanks too many. We got to go take a break, all right, thanks man, thanks for the call.
Good call. Hey, we got uh.
I think I think we're gonna do this perfectly. So let's take the break, go to commercial, get a hold of Benjon's here on the other side, and then have some you know, twelve minutes with Ben. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for newly forty years now. Take a look back at the
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This is I on the ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio wile just search Ie on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to Win the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Roberta. You're Troy Htchison and now in Fune we have Ben John's the I Guess the number two, number two player in Pick the Ball and number one player in doubles along. Is your brother your partner?
Hey, guys, Yes, I've played with calling my older brother for many years. Got a different partner this term, but he's been my my frequent partner for a long time.
So welcome to Tucson. Is this your first time in southern Arizona?
It sure is.
I've been to Phoenix in the Scottsdale area good and out, but my first time over here in Tucson in the surrounding area. But it's been a good experience so far. I got a nice club that we're playing our tournament as so yeah, it's been great.
Yeah, fantastic.
I saw your your University of Maryland guy, you grew up in that area. How in the world you're I think you're twenty five, twenty six How did you become How did you become who you became?
Yeah, no, it's a funny story, just like most people will play pickball usually have a funny story. But I was actually in Florida near Naples, where the US Open was held, and my family lived down there for part of the year, So I actually did not learn the
game in Maryland, even though I'm from there. I learned it in Florida, and I was lucky enough to be close to the first US Open that was ever held in twenty sixteen, So yeah, I found some cool people, played with them, and then played my first tournament, the US Open, and then I was pretty much hooked from there and I kept playing tournaments, not really for money or anything, just more for fun, and you know, it
was having a great time playing. I did go to the University of Maryland, but kept competing in pickleball as I was doing that, and you know, pickleball kind of exploded in the time that I was in college, and with me continuing to play, the success was just kind of a bit lucky and the fortunate that I found it.
Yeah, you know, you kind of mentioned that there was you being in college and the sport exploding and growing into what it has become today. Just your thoughts on how it has grown since then.
Yeah, no, for sure, I mean everyone comments on it.
It's just incredible.
It feels like, you know, five six years ago, people didn't even know what pickaball was. You know, you'd say it, you'd get a blank look like what is that? Or if they didn't know what it was, like I never retired people. Yeah, no, it's changed drastically. Usually you get a lot of enthusiasm. Is like either oh my gosh, I played, I love it too and it's amazing, or like, oh, I have some friends that are really into it.
I was thinking about starting.
You know, you get replies like that, and you know, it's less uh, the stigma of it's for old people.
It's more like, oh, well, it's a sport for everybody.
It's old, it's young, it's uh, middle aged, it's athletes, non athletes. It can be really anyone from anywhere, which I think is one of the coolest parts about pickaball that just.
Made it so popular. You truly a sport for everyone.
Yeah, you talked about you guys were playing as a two racket for this club, which is you know, I hadn't been there in a while. It's a fantastic venue. And you know that I got there and I was watching you guys. I sit home my achilles. I started hurt just watching you guys, And you know what I remember seeing is just, you know, it's the danks and the dunks and the slow hits and blah blah blah kind of people not wanting to make mistakes. And then I see you guys are just hitting the crap out of it.
Yeah.
Yeah, well pick a Ball is definitely a slow game in some scenarios, in a very fast game and others. So yeah, it's it's very dynamic. There's a lot of strategy to it, and I think one part about it that makes people really enjoy the game is that that dynamic of going from slow to fast very suddenly.
Before Troy asked the question, So I went to the event and I was hoping to run into you, and I did, thanks thanks to Allison and uh so I put you on on our website and all that stuff for social and then people kind of blew up the social saying that's a heck of a get. And let me tell you, Ben, I've had some great guests, pros, NFL, major League ballplayers, and I think, Ben, you've made me popular.
Well, I'm glad I could assist.
It was fortunate to meet you there right right at the entrance too. You were like the first person I ran into.
And talked to.
It was unbelievable.
Yes, yes, yes, so go ahead say no, I was, you know, just going to ask you in terms of the speed and all that, but also how important are angles when it comes to pick a bat. Yeah, strategy and strategy and stuff like that.
Yeah, no, it's it's enormous.
I think most people are more familiar in uh, in pickball, playing doubles and that, I'd say strategy and shot selection. I mean, of course you need a foundation of you have to be able to complete, you know, strokes and actually have shots in order to have strategy. But the strategy of shot selection is one of the biggest parts about pick of ball that makes it very fun for people.
I think a lot of people, you know, call it kind of like.
A patience game in a lot of ways, And that's really just another word for you know, selecting the appropriate shot of the appropriate time, so kind of engaging your mind at the same time as being, you know, a normal sport and athleticism. It's a nice little accommodation there.
As for kind of angles, I think angles are definitely pretty huge, certainly for putting balls away, for understanding kind of the angles of the court, where you can attack, to where you shouldn't attack, to where attacks are mostly going to come from on the court, and where you need to be covering. Those are all huge parts of the game, and certainly a part that a lot of people struggle with, but it's one of the more rewarding parts to get down to.
The angles play a huge role.
Just like most racket sports, tennis, table tennis, you know, angles are definitely extremely important.
I was going to ask you about that because I saw that you played table tennis as a younger player.
I guess I played. I played.
I was about at the top of my game, about thirteen fifty rated. Now it's kind of change. I haven't played in a while. But is there the translation translation the same? And I don't hold the paddle that way as a as a big a ball player, But is it the same?
You know, it's pickleball's accommodation of a lot of sports. I think pretty much all the racket sports have some translation, but not an entire translation to pick a ball, and even non racket sports has some interesting translation. I've met, you know, like some very good baseball pitchers to have enormous overheads and very good ball tracking, and you know, maybe they struggle in other ways.
But every sport kind of has.
Something to offer in terms of a background that transfers to pickaball in one way or another. Table tennis is certainly a good one. I think there's a ton of transfers in stroke development for certain types of shots, and pickball certainly a lot of reading of spin, reading of strokes, peripheral vision stuff, all of that is very transferable. So it's definitely one of the best background sports along with tennis. I think table tennis is extremely beneficial for pigball players.
I was going to ask you, so you how quickly did you become this guy? If you were like sixteen seventeen when you first picked it up, and you must have been very good at it early, but let me see this that question, and how long it took you to get to be who you are? But so now you are one or two the best in the country, in the country, if not the world. How do you stay there? Because you know, in order to get better, you've got to play better people. Right, you can compete
and you will get better. You compete better now that you were at the top. How difficult is it staying at that top?
Yeah, I would say first, as far as getting there, you know, really the Pro Tour has only been around since twenty twenty, So for the first couple of years I played, it was really just playing kind of solo events which were still technically pro tournaments, but they weren't part of a tour. They were just kind of individual events to get to, you know, the top level where
I was competing for titles and stuff. My first title, major title, came in twenty seventeen, about a year after I started, so that's how long it took me to get to the top. In singles and doubles took a little longer than that. But the start of the Pro Tour was really where there was a little more formality to it, a little more kind of ranking based stuff,
to where I kind of took over that position. So I guess you could say since the inception of the Pro Tour in twenty twenty or a little before that is kind of how long it took me. But you know, there's there's a lot of good players and you know always coming in, so there's always stuff to work on, and that's kind of the park your next question, which is you know, staying there, it's it's not always about
playing with better players. That's certainly extremely helpful and helped me a lot in the beginning, but it's also about learning from what other players, whether they're technically better than you or not, you can almost always find stuff that they are better than you at within the game, right You're not just because you're better than somebody doesn't mean you're better at everything in the game than them.
It just means on average, you're better than them, and you know your skills.
So usually from every single player, there's something that they do, maybe one, two three things extraordinarily well that you can learn from and try to make better in your own games. So I just kind of try to pick out other stuff that that other.
Players do really well, and I try to learn from that.
So I don't know how familiar you are with Arizona basketball and their head coach, Tommy Lloyd, but Tommy is a big, big pickleball fan. He had a built one court built in his backyard. Have you ever had other athletes, coaches or anything like that, you know, let me challenge you on the court, and how is that going?
Yeah, yeah, no, they definitely.
I think pickaball is very interesting in that when you have athletes that play it, they typically like it a lot because it's a support they can play someone competitively outside the sport that they predominantly.
Do, and they can also compete with each other in it.
Right, So rather than you know, two basketball players going head on or even like to inter disciplinary sports where it's you know, a basketball player versus a baseball player, they find something in common that they can compete at, right, like pick a ball, to where it's extremely fun for them.
So yeah, I know that's definitely happened on a number of occasions with a lot of different athletes, and you know, they definitely enjoy it and they respect pickaball is like, hey, it's got its own pros and I don't expect to do, you.
Know, super well against a guy that played full time.
For his job, but I think they definitely enjoy it a lot, just because pickleball is a very fun game to play with better players.
So maybe last question. I've been here a long time.
I've been covered a lot of people, a lot of famous name Steve Kerr, YadA, YadA, Uh and uh, he was on the show maybe six months ago. I said, you know, I've always wanted to be Steve Kerr for a weekend, but then I have to deal with all the crap that he has to deal with, right, all the players. And then I saw how you travel, and then you're you're a young dude, probably haven't made and I think, I think I want to be bench.
On's for a weekend. What a life?
Yeah, no, it's it's definitely a very interesting life. You know, the travel can get wearing. It's a very full schedule, but I try to keep it in perspective of you know, I get to go a lot of cool places, meet a lot of cool people, and I get to compete in a wonderful game for a living, which is pretty awesome. So there's there's so many potters. It's positives in it.
And yeah there's there's you know, still training and you're you're trying to get better every day, which can be hard work, but it's also very rewarding.
So yeah, a day in my life is hectic and busy and crazy, but it's also really fun.
No, I know, I'll be prepared for a lot of selfies obviously, And good luck. Did you already play your first matches today? First one tomorrow, first one tomorrow? Okay, good luck. I will probably see the weekend and uh, you know, enjoy it.
You enjoy the weather, all right, Thank you guys.
Thank you man, thanks for coming on. That's fun. That's fun, all right, good stuff, John. I think I even try to reach out to Tommy and says, why.
Aren't you here?
Yeah, because it's a great venue. They built it up, looks nice. A lot of people there, some of the best pickleball players in the in the world here.
No, you know, they do a great job. Yeah.
This motor home that's like probably twice the size of twice my worth of my house is great, credible. And then there's an eighteen year old, the best female person playing and you've seen her motorhorn. Was like, holy crap, I said, I missed out. Should should have been a pick a ball player, Like I say, now, my my ankles would just be toast. Could you just hit it to me directly? Don't make me move here? That's why
I played people on the way I play. I play on top of the table pretty much on top of it, and then don't side to side and play defense a lot.
So you know, those are the good old days. How much time we have?
We got about three We got a minute, about a minute. Okay, what a good show. Thanks for Troy for coming on. Don't forget tomorrow, Jay and I are gonna be at the casino. They'll sold three to five. We're gonna have Ricky Huntley in the first hour. We're gonna have Glenn Parker in the second hour. They're gonna be via phone. I think that I know that Ricky's gonna be at the New Orleans the super Bowl, so he's out there already, and I don't know if Glenn's gonna be out there,
but he's gonna be on the phone. So a lot of super Bowl talk, one of UA talk for Texas Tech. And I'll have Goofy Jay on with me as well, so we might get a fight or too. So okay, thanks Troy, and thanks Troy, and thanks Kobe.