This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio just search Eye on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to my on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, your Dave Silver. Now we have Ray with breaking news.
Well, this is Eye on the Ball Breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty A.
Right, starting off with kind of what we ended that last hour with talking about the Pacers in the Thunder game six night. Obviously Thunder in the lead. Steve's sobing for forty bucks back from what's his name, Chris.
Chris back no more? Oh yeah, right, he's gonna streak of losing to me. You're I'm gonna adopt the kai. I'm gonna adopt him pretty soon.
Dave so graciously told me that Halliburtons is expected to be to play this tonight.
Yep, So that that should make it more interesting.
It should. We'll see how healthy is.
Yeah, and I mean you never know the Thunder, I mean, like we were talking about in game two even then it was like he played obviously that Thundersilt kind of rocked them that game. Yeah, it's gonna be a fun one. Diamondbacks played earlier today Toronto. Yeah, beat Toronto nine to five, one game under five hundred right now, so that, you know, maybe maybe they'll get something started.
Or maybe not or maybe not that.
Yeah, I really expect it, but you gotta you gotta try to be optimistic for everybody, and it sis.
They're just such a difficult team to root for. How many seventh and eighth inning blow ups by the bullpen this season?
It happened again the other day.
It's nice to see they got a big lead but then they almost blew it again. Today they were up nine to one and they win nine to five, So good for them. I guess trade deadline's coming. A lot of players could be moving.
Do you think they're buying or selling?
I think they're selling. I think that's fair. He made Doka the Houston Rockets head coach. You know, it doesn't give a number, but it was reported that he signed to a long term contract, and.
He must be pretty good at what he does.
Yeah.
Well, I mean he took the Celtics to the finals Warriors, and I think that was his first year there.
Yeah, then he got that scandal, right, scandal, whatever the scandal.
Was, and then you know, obviously doing what he did. I think it's his second year in Houston.
Against the for a team that was not very good the year before.
Yeah, and you know, got him to the two seed at the Warriors on the Ropes. It was Yeah, I mean I would imagine that he's a he's a pretty good coach. Steve Kurtz's son, Nicholas is going to join the Warriors coaching staff.
Yeah, I was, Yeah, I was surprised.
I didn't realize that he was the coach of the Santa Cruz the Gli Yeah. Yeah, so someone else moved into that spot of the gig and he moved up. I didn't realize that he was coaching like his dad. And it would seem that if I guess that when Steve eventually wants to leave, that maybe his son could take I would assume. I mean, I was, I don't know anything. I don't, but you know, he's moving up. And just remember thirty. Remember when these kids are just kids.
My son's thirty. Your sons are in the thirties, right, yeah, man, we're getting old. I'm aging well.
Though, Well, we could have a you know, the.
Dave didn't hear me. My ears are going back. Go ahead, the Alalman kid. Yeah, that's Rick Allelman's son right as the coach of Denver. So there's that whole generational thing going here.
Wow.
No, and there was I think the Jaguars GM.
I think he's like I think I'm pretty sure he's under thirty the gall Yeah.
Football.
Yeah, it's funny because we knew Josh right when Josh was Josh, and he was like thirty three when he started taking over, like Kentucky and in that group always forty five ish forty whatever it is.
But Nick and Nick is thirty two.
He's been coaching at Santa Cruz since twenty twenty three, so just a couple of years he was, you know, like the video coordinator. He kind of did all this kind of jobs, going to break it into the business. So good for him. You know, he's got a good good mentor.
Yeah.
I think the one thing that that's what Steve has. What's when when people talk about Steve Carrer, what's the first thing that pops into your mind?
Go ahead, tell me no, no, no, don't mind, uh class class, No, it's a good one.
Let's good leadership. I'm thinking just affable. He knows people, yeah, I mean, he knows how to handle people. And he's in the people business. Oh we all are in the people business. Yeah, but he's great at it.
Yeah. I mean, and just the way he handles himself.
You know, he doesn't throw guys under the bus, self funny, self effacing, you know, if there's a problem, you don't really know.
He's just he's as good at.
It, and he's you know, he's managed some of the biggest stars of our time. When you think about the Curries and the Durance and Draymond and people like that.
Well that said, and this is when I brought up your have you ever been have you ever.
Dated a hot shake?
Yeah?
That's kind of when it started.
Is people say, oh, he wins, he wins because he has all these people. You know how difficult it would be to manage those egos. It ain't easy, and I use ain't just because, but it ain't easy because you got dudes who want this and want that and want keep them happy.
Try it.
Well, I mean, the fact that they even gave up Durant if you think about it, really, and he's gonna gonna be one of the top what ten players of all time, you know, and he just you know, the chemistry was wrong, and so they just said go elsewhere.
Is it it's wrong wherever he goes. Yeah, I mean that's kind of like, uh, what's it Rogers, I mean, there's it's not a coincidence.
Yeah, well, I mean it's it's it's tough call for.
Durant too, because like, obviously, you know, they make it to the finals when he's on the Thunder and then you know that gets blown up and he goes to the Warriors obviously, and then he goes to the Nets and their toe away from beating the Bucks and going to the finals there, and then you know, Kyrie was doing his old kind of thing, and then after that he ends up in in Phoenix, and it's kind of like like if anything, I just I really think it's
just Phoenix that didn't fit well with because it's like, I mean, he almost made it, but I mean there was external problems with like with Brooklyn and stuff like that.
But yeah, it just feels.
Like, yeah, well, okay didn't work out with uh with Booker speaking to Kevin Duranto, I was actually about to bring this up, reported that the three teams he would like to go to would be about Kevin Durant.
Yeah, yeah, okay, because you're talking about Booker.
Yea, but yeah, the Heat, the Spurs, and the Rockets.
Yeah yeah, he'd be, he'd be. I'm not proven enough to know those teams. But Rockets that we just talked about, I think it's do you want them on your team?
I don't know, I guess, you know.
And then we've got the draft coming, so, I mean, these teams are gonna around a little bit, you know what I mean, it's gonna be weird the next month.
You know, the drafts, what next week, next week, next week is so.
Things are gonna be, you know, switched around their rosters, and you know, there's so much movement. I don't know who knows how these teams are going to look in October when they go to training care.
Yeah, it's gonna be a tough call. Oh. I mean kind of talked about this one as well.
With the new team that we're going to have and.
Dodgers.
Uh, they asked the immigration agents to leave the stadium parking lot, and.
I think they're outside of.
The gates, like they just like parked outside of the gates, because it's.
Like, yeah, there's like gates to get into the parking they're closed, so people are not getting in, and neither is ice.
Okay, so so where would they go? Where would they go to get in the games?
I couldn't go.
Their gates are going to eventually open. I'm sure, you know, I'm gonna guess. I don't know if there's gonna be.
We live in a weird time.
Maybe like a shuttle or something.
You know, we can laugh about it, but no, I know, And these fans are like, you know, do they even want to go to the games?
No?
I hear you day we talked about that here. I mean, would you want to? It's crazy? It's crazy.
Yeah, it's a it's a wild time. There's not a lot going on today, but the Shador Sanders.
This is a bizarre He's having some problems.
Yeah, he got caught for speeding twice.
Yeah, in one month, in a couple of weeks probably, yeah, this it was a couple of days ago. He was one hundred and one in.
Sixty one or sixty uh that was yeah, yeah, and then.
Two weeks ago he did the other one.
Don't you this is coming from a guy who partly did stuff in Colorado that was show. He's the rug because if he's doing here in a privileged type of situation.
Where the attentions, the newspapers are going to there to.
Report this stuff, right or the college isn't going to cover wink we we've seen this stuff.
Yeah, didn't he have a Bentley ter hit some greasy car and he.
Was driving the truck?
Now they still do a reality show like on YouTube the Brothers.
Is that even going to continue? Well? Up now? Right?
Because he's you know what I mean.
Yeah, what would you think? What would you think? I mean, what what are you thinking? And he's not such thin ice anyway? Right, third or fourth string quarterback?
You know I was watching, I mean I just was joking with some friends just the other day, you know, seeing him, you know and training whatever this is the o t A is and he's gonna be the starting quarterback. I mean, he's getting all the attention. And he messes up doing something like this. You know that maybe he won't be but he's called golden opportunity.
You know, the Browns they got some quarterbacks with so you know he could you maybe get off.
So tell me the situation because I don't follow them. What's up with what with Watson? He retwards a c O. So he's out for the year for sure, because I'm only talking about.
Most like yeah, because he well they were I don't know. I remember like it was like a rumor, but like nothing ever came of it. There was a there was a video I guess he was supposed to have like the boot on, you know what I mean, just so like not to reaggravate it. And there was like a TikTok like a video that he did from posted that he had he didn't have it on, so and then like shortly after that.
Is when he was Shortly after that he got rid of.
The next.
H No, I think shortly after that he reaggravated. I think it was a c.
L Okay, so he's not he's not back, so it doesn't have the new They have a slew of quarterbacks Dylan and from Oregon and the man. I don't get why people hate on Gabriel so much. I thought pretty good, Yeah, I always thought he was our.
I mean, played at Oklahoma, played at Oregon.
It's like, you know what, a lot of games.
Maybe maybe a little bit too much of a gun slinger. But you know, that's just how college football is nowadays, I think, or it feels.
That way at least. That's yeah, it's mostly it.
Give you a little one more thing here.
I was watching it on TV was the golf because this is, you know, the week after the US Yeah, so they're they're in Connecticut this week, which is a really fun tournament.
It's huge attendance.
It's one of the like this in Phoenix, I think, are the two most healthy attended events. So Scottie Scheffler went out today and shot like eight under after not playing all that well at the US Open last week, So he's tied for first. If you were watching the US Open last week, they were having trouble even breaking par. But this course is going to be a little bit easier.
So two guys were at eight under, Austin eck Wrote and then JJ Spond, who was a big hero last week with that big long putt to win it.
He's kind of struggled today like plus three.
Well he'll we won't know from him for another three years because that's kind of the cycle for him, right right. He lost his card, came back, so when they go to a rena. One of the celebrities playing in a rena. Yeah, it's it's in Tahoe. It's a it's I think it's in July, like mid July. That's that's step Steph Curry.
Yeah. And they play at that course right around Lake Tahoe. Yeah, Okay, I've never been there.
I always wanting to go to Lake Tahoe.
Really road trip.
Let's go go in the Yeah, was that was there?
Was there last summer? It was cool, It's beautiful.
It's crazy, like you get so many different like because there's people that go like during the summer, and then there's people that go during the winter, and it's a very different stories.
Going somewhere I don't like cold. It's one of the great ski areas in the country. Yeah, and then I'll see you at the Old Lodge, Don't break leg, Heavenly Valley, Squad Valley. Yeah, I mean, just drink my old wait for you to come down the hills.
Then not you David be a tall blonde.
That's that's how it was in Minneapolis one time. Man, it was ten degrees.
Oh well, well you were the final four two than one. It was cold in it was cold. It was cold. You know, it was really cold.
I can't remember which was worse, was that or Chicago actually in two thousand and five was very cold, Oh Rosemont, Yeah, because we were doing the game or the outside.
The figure about the games.
I'm just remember myself with order of freezing my you know what, it was cool. We would sit in our truck and we could listen to the news and we'd give ourselves like twenty seconds to get outside and get set up and then run back in because it was really cold and you couldn't talk.
I don't remember that a.
Hard enough time talking in here, right, and it's cold. It's cold in here.
Okay, with that, we'll go and come back and we'll get ahold of Fred Harvey Farmer U of a track coach.
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This is Eye on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteenth finding want to take part in the show? Call up Steve now went five to two oh four seventy four forty.
Hey, welcome back to Why the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera in today Dave Silver on the phone. We have coach Fred Harvey of the track team. Does it even sound right anymore? You're retired?
No, it definitely sounds right. So it doesn't go away that quickly. And as a matter of fact, he's not gonna go away for a lifetime.
That's true. What's is the coach emeritus? What's that? What's that going to be like for you?
Well, you know, uh, you know, we're actually working through that literally as we you know, as we speak, you know, tomorrow, hopefully you know, the new director will have in place, you know, his his choices for his staff. Uh, some that he's definitely going to retain from this present staff and uh and there may be a few that you know that he that he hires in from outside.
So Fred, we had you on the show. I had you on the show.
I don't know, maybe aprilish or late May, maybe May. You were by the book and I'm thinking, that's not the thread. I know, that's not a friend.
I know. And then and then.
You maybe three days four days later, It's announced that you're going to be retiring, and I'm thinking, yeah, so, how why did you know this was gonna happen?
Well, you know, I mean honestly, we when I I think about back even in September, you know, when uh, when we got started with ball training and I had my my first a actual you know, head coaches meeting, you know, you know with you know, with Desri and just talking about you know, you know, my future plans and you know, and what I wanted to you know, uh do within the program and and more importantly, what I want to do with in our community. You know,
you know, I had a plan then. And as we got closer and into the outdoor the indoor outdoor season, you know, uh, some things became very very you know apparent to me with you know, what my dreams and ambitions are. I mean, I love, you know, the University
of Arizona. You know, Tucson, the southern Arizona community, and and I felt that this was a really good time for me to one if I'm able to continue to have you know, involvement with the UH with athletic uh you know department, and that's that's even that's even better with the track and field program, that's even you know,
you know, even better. But I can start, you know, do more things which I have always dripped about, you know, within the community, you know, with our with our youth programs, and you know, that's and that's one of our blueprint you know models is you know, is engaging the community. And I feel so strongly there's things that I can do within the community to really help, you know, really uh exploit that, you know at the highest level.
Maybe talk more about that. What what what are your plans for the community.
Where are we going to see you you know, maybe away from the track or in the classrooms or what are we talking about here?
Well, one of the things, one of the things, uh, you know, and we've had for a lot of years, uh you know, is our is our too Sonvely Athletic Club and you know, and my wife and I we run that run that club. Really she does more of the running of the club. And I've been com now I'll be a little bit more involved, you know, you know, in the day to day you know process of it. But she's really the person that to behind that club. And it's the largest club in you know, you know,
in southern Arizona. We we touch you know, uh, every community you know that's within a fifty mile radius, and uh we have. But my dream has always been when I first came to Arizona and having a European style professional athletic club, track and field club where we uh were able to educate coaches, were able to develop young athletes at the ages of seven, you know, to ten, but really developing them properly, uh, in terms of preparing their bodies for you know, uh you know, you know,
you know for uh you know, for activity. Uh. And then you have a youth uh you know program that will you know, that would run agency eleven eleven to fourteen, and then after that you have your high school and then and then you're in lead athletes from there, but bringing them all up through the same system, building that real sense of community because you know, track and fields, you know, not just still in in Arizona and southern Arizona.
But in the United States, it's the largest participant sport. You know that there is, and I feel strongly that you know, there's things that we can do within our community to really not just drive that, but you'll make it an economic factor.
Yeah, you you showed up.
I choked about this last time you and I came about the same time, maybe eighty seven eighty eight. You were the longest tenured coach now left. Uh, as you look back, or when you have a chance to look back, what are some of the fondest memories you'll have because you had a new party. Off the top of the head, no, how many all Americans? How many champions? All that stuff?
You know? Well, you know it's someone I read that somewhere honest, that truth. I mean, I I don't know how many, but just some of the uh, it's I think it's definitely well over one hundred and fifty. You know, you know all Americans, you know, national champions and those things. But the relationships you know that you have when we have you know, thousands of athletes that literally to to this moment, the head coach for example at at USC you know who's Quincy Wats the head coach you know
at Georgia. They both just won national titles and you know, and I've known them since they were babies and I recruited them. And one of the things that when you were you know, when you have this retirement party, if we don't have an invite, we're going to take that very personally, you know, but to be able to build those relationships like that. But within our own community here, you know, the you know, the the Michael Bates of the world, you know, Georgia Moline, who's you know an
the Arizona athlete who support that the Olympic Games. You know Michelle you know uh sco Michelle Johnson. At the time, you know, we're you know, all developmental if you will athletes, if you will that you know made it to the world you know, you know, to the world stages, and you know, you can't leave out like a person like a Brianna Glenn who you know, you know, start gonna she was a top ten team all by herself, you know,
at the NCAA Championship. But I think the the fondest you know memories you know that I have when when I look at you know, the you know, the families that have been built, you know, with the athlete that I've had an opportunity, you know, to have relationships with. And that's you know, that's the that's the biggest thing for me is that, you know, I always preach this, I'm not a god. You know, I can't make you
the Olympic champion if you don't have the ability. But if you're willing to follow up plan and you believe in that plan, then I can help you have an opportunity at that And and I think the latest you know, you know example of that, you know, Zach Eckstein, who uh you know was second at the this year's indoor Nationals in the outdoor Championships and you know ran one of the top ten times, number nine times in the world. I mean he was a walk on hurdler from you know, uh,
you know, from Chandler, Arizona. I have to give his school due respect with the Perry High School. I keep I keep saying that he went to Desert Vesta, but that's where his coach was at. So I mean those I mean, just that opportunity and just you know, wanting to just think the you know, the community of you know of a sub Arizona Tucson of just giving me this opportunity to be here this long and have an impact.
Somehow. I can see you being in LA and a years at the Olympics.
Do you think you'll have a role with maybe Team USA or or something out there?
Well, well, well, my role in uh in twenty eight Uh, it has to be with me coaching an athlete. That's that's what that's what I want. I'm definitely gonna have you know one you know, you know, some type of a role.
Uh.
You know they're in southern uh, you know, southern California. And then part of what that's going to be, have no idea whatsoever, but my Baptist way of having a role as one getting getting one of my athletes, you know, into the Olympic Games competing.
Could you you were here my time more than thirty five years? Could you have left maybe for another place, but you wanted to stay here?
Oh? Absolutely? And it's it's we were with my wife and I in a couple of other coaches are having this conversation literally just recently, you know, Uh so I interviewed uh, you know, in succession, I interviewed at Texas Tech. I interviewed at at Tennessee, then Alabama. I interviewed out there for the head coaching job. I went out twice for you know, technically two interviews and then the USC job. You know, I'll never forget that man. Pat Hayden was
literally on his vacation and he landed in Hawaii. I had told him before he before he left, that I wasn't interested in taking the USC job, and he says, okay, well just think about it. I'm going on vacation. He lands in UH in Hawaii and he calls me, he's are you sure you won't take the position? You know? And yeah, I'm what I want to do with my life and in my community. It's it's here in Arizona.
It's uh it's in southern Arizona. I couldn't be the same person that I am, quite frankly, you know, if I'm coaching at USC. And he absolutely respected that.
Interesting.
Yeah, so the programs in good hands with the new coach.
I assume you're on board.
With that, yeah, you know, and and and the UH I did. The interesting thing about it is that you went to about six degrees of separation, you know, his mentor and a person that truly influenced his life. Uh As the director he's going was was a coach teammate with me at cal Poly Slo. I'll send you a letter that that he wrote to the to the Mustang Daily Times or whatever the school newspaper was when I left.
They didn't they didn't have the funding, the you know, the pay you know, coaches other than the head coach at UH cal Poly. And so his mentor, Dave Tanelli, was the head coach at you know, uh at Virginia Tech for a number of years and really mentored him.
And when I look at it's crazy. I interviewed him for my throws position when I hired you know, coach uh you know Lucas who's with us right now, you know, And there are things about you know, you know McKay Luka is McKay, his his coaching technique, you know that I felt really fit the population of the athletes that we had better. Not that he was necessarily a better coach than you know than uh, you know, coach Jobbs,
but his personality fit the population that we had. Ironically enough, now this gentleman, I think he's gonna be a much better to rest her, quite frankly, than just an individual coach, because I think his his his drive and his and his desire to build programs, you know, your goals go wait, go beyond just uh an individual event area, and I think that's what you know, we're looking at. To answer your question, is he going to be great here? Time's
gonna tell mean, heck, we we don't know. I mean we we we hire coaches, you know, in all areas with the expectation that they fit our model and that they're going to be able to you know, uh do and exploit the things that we want the you know, the number one thing is that he has a He has definitely have the true passion and a love for
you know, for the sport. And now just a matter of you know, how do you how do you know, you know, adapt yourself into you know this you know, you know this environment here it's two times different, you know, and it's different in a very exciting way because we are a true college you know experience.
Right, yeah, no question, no question. Okay, So enough of that stuff. Let's get to the important stuff. How do you like Rogers going to your team?
Oh, I'll tell you what you know, uh, and I'm not a man on an island other than people who are Roger haters, you know, all that all that guy needs to be able to do is put the ball where the heck it needs to be at. You know, we don't need him running anything other than the offense. You know, I think that I think that he's gonna bring. I think he's gonna bring a lot to the table. I don't think they're getting enough to be a super
Bowl team. I'm sorry, I'm a fan, you know that, But the reality of it, there's my god, I think he makes us a lot better.
You'll be able to travel a little bit more, maybe go see some more games that usually get out there like you know occasionally.
Right.
Well, yeah, so one of the you know, uh first individuals who actually text me when my retirement was posted, the very first person actually was Greg Burns, you know, and you know, he's just been one of my favorite
peak mentors in my life. You know, ever, of Emanuel Cedric Gencioboui who hired me here, but his very he remembered just clearly that one of my bucket lists when I retire is to hit the major you know, collegiate football stadiums and the NFL stadiums in Alabama was number one on my lists because when I interviewed there, the very first place I went, I didn't go to the
athletic Director's office. I went to the Bear Bryant Museum and at that point they were tearing down the track and they were making the track into an RV park for football, and says I have a spot for you. Well, I'll be there, my friend.
So did he Was he the one that did the interviewing to be the new coach?
Or was that before he got there?
That way before I remember a Bob Bakraft Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, So Bob Bockrock was the was the a D at that point at Alabama when I interview Wow he was?
I got here on the show a few years ago.
Yep, he was. He was doctor Dempsey, no man, and he said no really well.
He was that guy.
So so did what what made you say no to him? Or did it come to that point?
Well? You know, and so when you look at financially, it was a much different scenario, you know. But Tucson and the Southern Arizona community, for me, if this that was it, I mean I made enough money. I make enough money where you know, we're not getting filthy rich. I don't know. I don't have the basketball contract by me stretch of the imagination, you know. But we're living well enough where you know, all my kids went to school here.
You know.
My son works in the I T department right now. My my daughter got her masked here just recently, you know, from l r N Marketing, and she's she's working at you know, at Banner you know, uh, you know with uh, you know, in the marketing department you know there. And then my middle daughter got our degree at psychology here and now she's a family therapist you know, out in Georgia and so so Tucson and Arizona, the southern Arizona community.
It's it's it's my family, and I just yeah, I have a dream and I have this vision as to what you know, I say, our sport and that you know, the sport of you know, of track and field, you know, can be given the opportunity. And so now that you know I'm not necessarily restricted by some n c A rules, there's a lot of other things that I think I can do within the community to really explode you know what we're capable of doing, you know, with national championships.
You know that we can bring to you know, to this unity. That would be something really special.
Very nice.
Let me say this, I'll probably never reached retirement age because I'm doing what I'm doing. But you and Dave, Dave's retired, he has nothing to do. But you guys should go fishing.
We should. We got some stories, We got some stories we can tell each other.
Right.
Well, ironically enough, he's he's up at Jim Click's rent as we speak. He's probably not doing a heck of a lot of fishing, but that he's definitely has his feed up in that beautiful Uh. I like to call it a cabin, but it's it's a little beyond the cabin.
Who are you talking about? Real quick? Dave Murray? Oh Dave Burry, No, yeah, yeah, no, ok. Yeah.
In fact, I was going to text you about him, but I was saying, Dave Silver, my boy here right here, because he's retired.
Ah well, yeah, well he knows, he knows all the stories. He brought all the stories from Sanuel's.
Right.
Did you guys go back to Oh yeah, I mean yeah, we were there. We were there at the same time. Oh that's what I got here first, and all of a sudden here comes Fred walking through McHale. Wait a second. It's one of the one of the great like Forrest Gump stories.
You know it was.
It was unbelievable. Okay, well bred, always could talk to you. Enjoy your time. We'll probably talk to you again when Rogers is screwing up the Steelers.
Well, oh don't don't. Don't count on that one. We are the Steeler.
They'll miss it up on their own. I get it. Thank you man.
You well my pleasure.
All right, I have a great day, you too. Thank you guys. Thank you With Fred, I won't take a break real quick and come back. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
Now.
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Waiting streaming live on the Ihearts Radio AB. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to tying the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, you're Dave Silver, You're Ray. We got about twelve minutes ish. You just want to call please do five two zero four, one, six, seventy four to forty.
What do you have in tonight's game? What do you think? YadA, YadA.
I guess liv put out a little pole there Coastal Carolina or the LSU.
Or an asteroid.
We're an astroid. We're an asteroid in both of them, the asteroids. So she said that's not so.
After watching the game and LSU winning, and I'm thinking, how in the hell did this happened? But you know, things happen in weird ways, I asked Lev, and I have to go to the textass and what.
Makes him a good coach? Yeah?
It was because you know what he's doing doesn't just happen by accident. You said, money. But even if you have good teams, look at the teams that didn't.
Make it too right? Have money? Well, I think that was a big story.
Kind of the storyline when he left here was that he was going to get so much more more to himself.
Sure, it's like, how do you you know, how do you combat that? And LSU has a good program? Yeah, right, and they always have.
So he responded to be I won't say what he said because he was joking, of course, but he's an intense dude, extremely thorough and passionate and a great motivator because you know, you have good players and not always good players play well forever, and and he and he gets them to play hard apparently, and he's probably very intense and and that was part of his first part. And he's just kind of like an intense dude that they play hard for.
You know.
It was kind of interesting when we're talking to Ryan Radkey earlier. He was he made some comment that we didn't really jump back on about how he was saying how some of the college baseball teams that he's been watching don't play the game the right way.
That wasn't quite sure what he meant.
By that necessarily, other than yeah, we've see the errors and we see things happening. Yeah, maybe you don't see in you know, higher level baseball. Yeah, but no, that's a good that's a good point. I heard that too.
The other thing that I thought was very interesting and very accurate was the teams aren't winning, they're losing.
They're losing. Yeah, yeah again. And then we talked about this too.
They lost their way into or the other team lost their way into Arizona.
Get into the term.
I mean, you know, making pitching decisions, whether it's that or just you know, just strange moves defensively or or not making a move.
I mean, those are.
Things that coaches have to do, and I guess maybe whatever, maybe if they just aren't being done the same way professional coaches.
Because you and I covered him and we can go through this.
I asked him about Johnson, But let me ask you about lut When I asked you about lu what do you think his secret sauce boy?
I mean, he did know how to make the right moves and get the right players. I used to always hear these stories. He probably kind of reported it that way as well as that, like when Luton needed somebody, he got that person. Like when he needed to fill a hole on those rosters, Hey, I need a six seven big guy who can get some rebounds, doesn't have to be a big score.
And he would go get Michael or somebody. Yeah, he took a Davidson. Yeah, he just kept sticking these guys in and was yeah, perfect.
And he was one of those guys that fundamentals it was the John Wooden. John wouldn't get him better as basketball players get him to play the game correctly. So yeah, what'd you say? Well, how did you describe him? Just the guy who found the right.
Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, he basically found the right guys in those positions and just.
Guys played hard for him. Guys played hard for him.
There are times when they probably got tired of him, but they also played hard for him.
His connections to Wooden you probably know even better than we ever got to see. But there was obviously you know, he he idolized him. You know, he used his coaching, His practice routine was I think copied from Wooden.
And remember there was a couple of times where Wooden actually came doun.
Yeah, they tried to shield him from everybody when they came down. I know, I don't did you get a chance to no, No, But he came up the ramp in the car and blah blah blah, just trying to make everything that was one of his later later in life things, right before he passed.
I mean, that was it was amazing, you know, I mean it's a legend. Yeah.
It's funny because when they first when they won the title ninety seven and I did my first book, and part of it I says, I got to get ahold of John Wooden.
How am I gonna do this? And I did? And he called me back.
I'm thinking, I get people who don't call me back in this town, and Judd would everyone. So when people don't call me back, what the hell I even got? Judd wouldn't to come me back, and you don't call me back? How does that work? Good example?
I mean yeah, I mean he was obviously who he is the Wizard of Westwood or whatnot. But then you know, then to have Walt Bill Walton come a few years later, and you know, he would talk about him and he you know, he talked about Luke and Luke. I mean it was just an interesting, you know, dynamic damn all those guys together.
Okay, so what about Dick Telly? What was his secret sauce?
I think he had the players respect and they really enjoyed playing for him. That's kind of how I picked on as a as a media member. You could tell them the players just talked about him like, you know, they were here in college. He was like their their dad in a way, you know, he was he cared about them. And later again later in life, you saw these guys come back and they just tell stories about how he was such a good leader and then they really appreciated that.
Right right, And we talked to Rich about him a couple of days ago.
Yeah, I mean x'es and o's. I don't know, you know, we don't know. Defense if you look at the statistics, was unbelievable and good assistance that those guys were great. Yeah, and you know, even you know Larry Smith had some great assistance before him. There were some good those guys kind of and they were as much a part of the story as the head coaches.
A whatt about Larry because I didn't cover Larry.
Hard nosed came out of the beautcham Beckler fan family and Michigan, so.
It has that.
So they they played hard for what was this?
They played hard for him, and they were they were like not sure like Finesse. Maybe maybe I'm wrong, but you know they were they were were tough. That's the proverbial lunch pale dudes. You know, the the god the Rickey Huntley is the gimme.
Yeah, didn't mess around. I mean, you know it was it was.
It was a different style of football anyway. It wasn't as wide open as as we as we're used to now. But you know they had the perfect defense. I mean, those Hunley brothers when they came in, and there were some others that came from.
The coach.
He coached football, he coached itself and then he went to uh the Tankerverdy Jobbs, those type just dudes.
Yeah, look at that. Look for Jay Jobbins wound up, you know, becoming you know, great guy, super tough, just tough dudes. Yeah, and they had a lot of guys like that.
I'm sure.
I'm sure they've got some really good stories that happened behind the scenes.
I have I have my show with the pregame show with the Oja and uh who else.
Well, the Phoenix God. How could irons?
Those dudes are just tough dudes. You know, I think that's a book for you too. Yeah, I should do something about those guys. The good old days of that eighties era of football, especially when they were on probation and they kind of had a chip on their shoulder, you know, and they're still sending guys in the NFL. Wricky gets picked in the first you know, number seven or whatever.
He was from rags to riches.
Yeah, there were some. There were some tough guys and a lot of them very successful.
What about what about coach Kendall kind of lush and they played hard because they respect that.
A lot of them, you know, they came from that generation too.
He was a college star in Minnesota, plays in the Pro. So he had he had some bat he had some things he could talk about the real I don't know what's the word history that he could say, you know what, I did play in the major leagues. Yeah, you know, I kind of know how to get there. That's why we're talking last week. A lot of the comparisons were the same.
Yeah.
Yeah, I played in the majors. I was an All American Minnesota. Yeah, and I think the players respected that. You know, he was a legitimate coach.
Yeah.
I know, you don't cover him now. And Sean, I don't even know how to describe how Sean did it. But Tommy, Yeah, you from Afar, from Afar, what do you think or you wouldn't know because you're not.
Yeah, he just comes off as being uh, he's not going to fly off the handle. He's pretty right.
Well, that's the anti Sean Sean. Yeah, no, that's part of it. But I think that they like his style. They like his style on and off the court because he's just another dude.
He's a dude.
And I just did a story on him for for for BIS Tucson for his Father of the Year thing and I even said to this question, it says, uh to me, Tommy, just from the sideline that you come off as a guy as a parent, as a parent is you're not You're not demanding on your kids, uh, and they love you for it. You give them a free reign, but if they screwed up, you'd be on them. And I think that's how his style he kind of agreed with. That's how his style with his kid, with
the players, I'm gonna give you the ball. You guys are gonna practice these free, free wheeling plays, blah blah blah, have fun, but don't screw it.
Up when you can. You can tell that's his personality. That's you know exactly it we see it exactly.
I don't know him like you know him, so i'm you know, we see it that way, and we don't we don't panic.
You know, he looks like he's under control.
Sure.
There was a good piece I think Bruce wrote about it in the Star today about the fam. All the whole family's going off to Europe for this basketball thing that he's I mean, the grand kid's going.
Little baby's got them on the plane. But that's where they are.
To me, that was part of that story where they grew up traveling the world and and and now they enjoy because their their parents did this for them.
You got to go just about okay, thanks you Dave.
Well, Dave, you're not in tomorrow, right, but I think I might have Jay, If not Jay, somebody else. Right. You're in tomorrow, Okay, Cool, you might have an NBA champion tomorrow.
We might Okay, Thanks buddy,