Thursday,November 14, Hour1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteenth fIF day, powered by Nova Insurance Services insure your most Prized POSSESSIONETS.

And everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball here from Steve Rivera.

I'm jagings out. I'm here, I'm here. I don't know.

I don't hear you in my thing, but I could.

Gay.

That's fine, that's fine, Edgar, Edgar, we want to congratulate you. What a fantastic guy. I think you guys have pulled off. Uh, you're at the Southern Arizona.

Oh, it's exciting, it's exciting.

I mean, you know, Jan Lesher was asking me, and she's our county administrator, asking me, Hey, are you ready for this? I said, I've been ready for this since two thousand and nine, when you know baseball left, because you know we all felt the loss when spring training left, right.

Well, everybody. The funny thing about it, Edgar, is some and I don't know if it's you. I'm sure you've heard this too, and Jay has two that every place I go every now and again, when's baseball coming back? When's baseball coming back? Are we ever going to get baseball back?

Now?

Whether it's on the south side, the northwest side, or wherever in Boila.

You guys were able to pull it off.

Yeah, you know, go ahead, here, go ahead, hold on.

Well, I know you know, and I don't know how much time we have on this show, but can I give you a little bit of history?

Why is that happen? Edgar?

You can spend an hour here, you can spend two hours here. You're buying dinner, doesn't really matter.

Okay.

So back in two thousand and eight, I don't know if you remember, we had a group called the Pima County Sports and Authority, and you know, we're tasked with youth and amateur sports, but also trying to keep Major League Baseball here. And in two thousand and eight, Stevement, we had the Diamondbacks and the Rockies had agreed to state and we were negotiating with the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles.

There you go, now it's where Oh no, then it went.

Away, the watching Nationals, Baltimore's Milwaukee Brewers right there you go. Yeah, And so we had plans for a three team stadium Marana mayor ed Honey, I mean, I think he probably still has the plans and and and so we had a bill that was at the legislative level that was going to give us sustainable fund.

He was going to allow us to go out for a vote right to.

Ask Pema County if they're willing to receive a one tenth of one percent sales tax. But it was on hotels, restaurants, rental cars, you know things that so so in one tenth of one percent is like a nickel on one hundred dollars, you know, food bill.

So we had that.

Bill he was going through the legislator. Uh, there was a senator had about two weeks before held on to the last day, last day of session. There was some controversial bill going on and a group of legislators walked out so never got to vote.

So had that not happened, think of this Gonza.

So we would have had five teams here in southern Arizona and that I quardor going from Tucson to Fee would have been filled a business and industry. So that's how important these things happen, and why this legislation stuff is so important because one little vote here there could make the difference in communities in county.

So so that that's what happened.

And that and that's what does happen, right, It can be you know, something as simple as that, because and then not getting those two teams, not getting those additional teams meant we lost the ones that we had because they got tired of coming down here and just playing these two teams.

You know, if you get a large group, you know, some group of.

Teams down here, yeah, you know, more people because you know, for from my standpoint as a fan, you know, it was getting tough that. You know, you'd go see a Diamondbacks Giants game right at at at at Tusson Electric Park, and it was it was like the Giants second team because because the guys didn't want to come down. But now if you've got five teams down here, you're having to come down here, You're going to come down. You know, those teams are going to want to come and play

And it impacted our community with her jobs, with livable wages. You know, the same thing that happened in film a long time ago. We lost our tax credits. We had a robust film industry at one time as well.

So Edgar, sixteen years later, right, you said two thousand and eight, this happened right.

Well, two thousand and nine I think was the last time we had a spring training game here.

So fourteen fifteen years ago. So how come it took so long? Or did did you guys wait or whoever waited this long?

So the reason this even started to be discussed again. So back in twenty eighteen, I became the dean of Arts and Humanities at Pemic Community College, and one of my roles was to create a summon to invite business and industry to come in and to see what we're teaching our students is applicable to real world stuff. Right, So I invited a gentleman from the director of film

What's it called. It's not the Loft? Is that the one on Speedway?

Yeah? Yeah, the Loft?

And he asked me to go to the panel discussion. Huge film community here in Tucson. There is there, always has been. I ran into a friend of mine that was on the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority, and I said, hey, you know what if we got the Pima County Sports and Tourism and instead of Major League Baseball, why don't we think about film, you know, doing some things to bring incentives so films can come back. And so Tom Moult and I we started talking about that.

His mom tell him she's.

Involved at the K twelve at Bayle School District and how we you know, how she does some lobbying and all this, and so I started to share with her stuff and at the college, you know, doing rollm and then I started to share with her this this Pema County Sports and Tourism Hall of Fame. She said, hey, let me introduce you to Somebody introduced me to David gow David Gallen's our state Senator, Sierra Vista, co Chiese County, right, And he said, at the time he was the chair

Man.

There you go.

Good guy already, good guy already already.

And he uh he.

I showed him pictures because I had pictures with Fernando von Sela at Pima because he's a team's practiced there. In twenty twelve, a USA Baseball coach got to hang out with Tom and Lasorda said, tell of these stories. So we connected on baseball, and he said, you know Edgar, he says, I'll sponsor your bill, but it can't just be Pema County. He wasn't a fan of Pema County.

Right, And we tried to get this bill passed for like three years.

So the lobbyist, Darcy Mintone, she she she was working on this three years. We had an ad hoc committee, we were meeting with legislators, COVID happened, and so finally about a couple of years ago it got passed and now it's a statue. So now we're a political sub body of the state, which means we can go out there, you know, representing these six counties and try to attract events from film, tu dynamic, sports tourism, baseball.

And now we have baseball.

So we're talking at Garsoto from the UH Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority.

Right, did I get it off? I got it off? Done that before.

And we're here at the We're here at Soul Sports, the sports book at the Casino del So also we hope that if you're in the neighborhood, which we know it's a neighborhood that far from a lot of things, but a lot of stuff going on here. So we're going to be here till five o'clock, so hopefully you come buy, take in some of the drink specials.

We'll go over some of those in a minute.

So now I've got the World Baseball Classic, which you know I'm going to say as a fan, you know the way it ended last year with Shohe up against up against Mike Trout and all. You know, that brought so much attention to it, right, So now we get a piece of that here. Tell us a little bit about what we're going to get here.

So you know, Pema County had negotiated back in twenty twenty we were going to get the World Baseball Classic here, and then you know, fast forward twenty twenty four, we start working on this stuff and we're out there and it's a different time. We have eight cities bidding against us, right We're trying to show them that Tucson is a place to do this. But we ended up getting the contract signed last week finally, And I know Steve and we were I had to keep things hush hushed.

We didn't want to apologize.

You know, I was pressed through you and I know I.

Felt bad about it too, because you're my guy, man. I didn't want to let you down. But now we got some good news So what this means is that China, Germany, Columbia, which has like eight big leaders, eight big leaders right now, and Brazil and there eight.

Brazil has some big leaders too, I think.

Yeah, you know, so they're all going to be coming to play for the qualifiers. So the top two teams get to play in the World Baseball Classic, right, So these these games are a big deal for the country. But here's what it brings. It brings people staying at these hotels. It brings people renting cars, shopping in our you know, in our stores, eating in our restaurants.

It brings economics.

Do you know what that economic impact is?

Because I was I went to one of those in Miami, and there was when I played out there, and it was it was Bonker's fun. Yeah, you know, Mike Vader has his Mexican Baseball League and that's crazy, crazy fun too. But this was different because you had all the nationalities. You brought out their flags, you brought up their drums, we brought out a bunch of stuff. Do you anticipate that happening here?

Yeah?

Oh yeah, no, We're going all out with this, you know.

And Mike Vader, I just got to give Mike Vader and Francisco Gammez some some kudos because they've done some amazing things with the Mexican baseball and there's a lot to come with that as well.

I mean, they're working on some stuff. We're working together with them.

You know, Mike Fader has been the baseball guy here forever, so leaned on him for for you know, for wisdom and all that stuff.

So no, I anticipate all of the above.

The key is is we're going to have to make sure that we come out, we show up, and we and we're there at the games because we got to show major League Baseball that that we're going to do this. I got to play golf with Jim Small's and one of his employees, Nelson. Jim Small he's the the president of the World Baseball Classic. Okay, so he's all over the world doing this stuff and he loves Tucson.

So real quick, because we're gonna be here for two hours. I don't know how long you could be here, hope maybe for at least an hour, and we will talk more than just this with you. We're going to talk you a football and you could be as critical as you want.

To because we are careful.

Before you guys start talking about that.

And basketball, we talk about it all edwards. So you're you've been involved in sports here for.

You know, because you guys are gonna ask me he used to young, right, Yeah, I used to be young. You know what's really interesting is November tenth, I just turned fifty five, right, which means I get all like the discounts at I hop and I'm excited.

About how to do that. Man, I need to do that.

No, no, no, me and my fiance that we're like going through the through the list of where I can get discounts.

Yeah, kid prices at the movies, all right, I got kid prices at the movies Wednesdays. It's safe way all right. I got all this stuff going on. A funny a little funny story. So the first when I was just getting to that, and I think at the U of A it's fifty five fifty five for U of A sports like softball and stuff like that, I think it's a fifty five. So my daughter and I are walking up and I'm like, oh wow, I get a discount and she's like, no, Dad, don't get the discount. She

Exactly? Exactly?

So anyway, we're here at the Soul Sports that consumer does a whole sports book with Edgar Soda from this. I'm going to say it again, Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority is amazing.

You got it two times in a row.

Nay, yeah, we do this real quick. We're going to break here in about a minute.

So, okay, I don't didn't recall that the PEAMA Authority had just just disbanded with.

Sunsets sunset, So what was the time for you?

I mean, the the statute is in place for X amount of time, then when that day passes, it just goes away.

Right then, you guys came onboard.

We came on board.

Nobody years after that.

I think it's like, no, I mean, how long does this statue go for? I think it's some crazy like thirty years these things forever.

Yeah, okay, so you mean job security.

Well, the thing is this is we got about three quarters a million dollars from the state seed money. But the goal is to go out to the voters and try to get that one tenth of one percent so we could bond and build stadiums and do bigger and better things.

I mean again, and you know, for people to understand how this works, you know, it's the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority that's you know, got the stadium h you know, the state the Cardinal Stadium and those things like that.

Up in Phoenix. They're doing those things.

You know, they're doing the Final Fours and all that kind of stuff.

They're involved in all of that.

You get, you got to have an authority like that to be able to do those things.

Guys, got it exactly. We know now we're like the little brother of the areas.

I feel like a couple of that commercial when we were kids.

You gotta bill when those constitutional bill, we gotta.

Go, we gotta go.

All right, we got to take a break. We're here at Soul Sports, at the sports book at the Casino Del Soul. We're here with that Grossoto who's gonna be here with us for a little while longer, My buddy Steve, and I'm here for the day. So come on buy. If you want to take in some drink specials, we'll go over those in a few minutes, but for now, hang around and we'll be back in about five minutes to.

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This is I on the ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Want to take part in the show Call up steam now at five to two oh four one six seventy four to four night.

Well, welcome back them on here. I'm Stuper there and hey Ricky Jagdon now well us good timers and here at Del's thanks for having.

Ye thanks for having me on. It's uh, it's a beautiful sportsbook. We've created a great place where people can come and just hang out, get something to eat, uh, drink, watch the games and have a good time.

I think that I see j and and it's comfortable, rights and comfortable, good night.

You know, great place to just sit if you want to, you know, a high top if you want to sit in the couch. Uh, screens all over the place. I was just commenting how I'm sitting here and I'm getting I'm getting to watch Game five of the World Series again, which you know, Steve Steve knows, I mean, I'm you know, he's tired of hearing me about it. But but Jeff, so you got you also have events, right, You've got a couple of things coming up the next couple of nights.

Absolutely, And we have all the UFC pay per views and most of the boxing pay per views, including tomorrow with the UH Mike Tyson Jake Paul fight. We're very excited about that. It's going to be a blowout and the first fight's at three thirty PM and it's free of charge.

Just come on in first, come first. So can you talk about the action on that? Yeah? Absolutely? What is the action on the big fight?

Well, Tyson started out as as a three to one underdog, the Paul was a three to one favorite. With Tyson, you you would get about plus two twenty to twenty five when the first fight first came out. And money has come steadily on on Mike Tyson, so that number is down to UH Jake Paul minus about two to ten and the comeback you get plus one sixty with Tyson, which means for every ten you bet on Tyson, you would win sixteen.

Let's get your ten back. Of course, I was.

Talking to somebody earlier. I was I should have gotten Tyson a while back, because that's when the number was. But I would still go with him just a whin.

Yeah, you just never know what to expect from the guy, right, and that that's kind of been his career. But you know it's been so long and you wonder, well, you know what's he got. I know, I still wouldn't want to get hit by Mike Tyson, that's for sure.

Well, he punches in bunches, and I'll tell you what. I saw some of his recent workouts and it looked like he means business. Yes, he means business. And we have several ways to bet.

That fight too.

Well, that's what's going to ask. They tell us about the different things that fans can do on the fight.

Well, it's eight rounds, and you can bet whether or not it'll go the distance. The fight to not go the distance is a twenty two to ten favorite. If you bet that it will go the distance, ten will get you back fifteen. And so you're looking at a plus one fifty on the distance and fight. These are two minute rounds and okay, the thing seems to be just designed to stretch it out right.

And which makes me think, and then I kind of like the draw.

The draw started at ten to one, and now that's down the plus seven to fifty and let's say knockout Paul by knockout was even money to begin with, and you get plus one thirty there because all this money coming on on Tyson.

I'm curious.

I'm curious to see how something like this, this event helps you, guys with the book, because you have other things, right, you have NFL like we'll have tonight. We'll talk about that later, with other things. Now you have this kind of oddity. Where does it help you? Tremendously?

Yeah?

Absolutely, Some people just want action, Jackson.

I'm sitting next to one, you know, right here, Yeah, right here, good.

Time, and uh, you know everybody likes to watch guys beat the heck out of each other.

And you know what will you will you have?

I mean there will there be a good number of people here cheering, you know, atmosphere, that whole kind of thing with you know, for that fight.

Get her early because I expect there to be the room to be a capacity. Wow, that's great. And if that happens, we can't let anybody in after a certain point. So get here early.

Yeah.

Absolutely, So he said that the card starts at three fifteen.

When do you expect or when does anybody expect the Tyson fight to take place seven seven. No, man, there be a lot of time to get juiced juice. Let me say you by juice, I mean you'll get fired up for the fight. Okay, sure, I'm not advocating large consumption of alcohol.

How's this, Jeff, Because you have the fight tomorrow about that time, you have Arizona basketball about that time? Do you have Arizona football an hour later? Days like that, especially local when there's a lot of stuff going on. How do you guys benefit?

Oh?

Oh, we get a huge crowds for the Arizona games they have. They have a very strong following, and uh, we just go here and root for the Wildcats. It's it's a good time, all right.

So so then on Saturday, you guys are going to do this all over again with a UFC fight. Uh toss about that one.

Absolutely.

We got a nice card on Saturday coming up with Jones and Meosica as the main event there. Jones is a heavy favorite over sixty one.

If you bet.

Steep a you get plus four sixty at the moment, and the rounds is low one and a half rounds. You can bet over one and a half rounds which is eight of five favorite, or you can bet onundur and there's several other nice fights on the card.

Jones is the guy from Albuquerque. He always gets in trouble, so who knows what does that mean? He's always in trouble?

All right? So, uh, here's a here's a question I have for just you know, who are the gamblers here? And tu soon?

Who are the guys that are betting on games? You got an NFL game tonight. You got the Commanders and the Eagles. I think it's Eagles minus four right now, I know, but I didn't see what it is in here. But that is that where we're at with it? Yes, okay, so you got it was a three and a half earlier, right, you got you got NFL games. You've got called we're a college town, right, Uh, it's Saturday busier than Sunday,

To the to to football on Saturdays all day long. You got a whole bunch of games, a lot more games than there are Sunday. But that that's Sunday. You both days have uh have nice handles? Are handle tends to be more on Saturday, just more available games r Yes, sir. But if they do, if the if the betters have a big day Sunday, they show up a big very Saturday.

They show up, they bring it back on Sunday. There you go. That's what you guys want, right. You gotta press to you how we're gonna get our money back? Exactly.

You look like this mild mannered guy in a suit, but you're not this mild mannered guy in a suit. You you obviously know your stuff, but you're like pressing big you do you know your stuff?

Oh?

No, I appreciate it now. Eighty percent of it's looking the part.

Well, you pulled it off.

Let me ask you, what's the best part about working in sports But I don't know how long you've been doing it.

The best part about working in sportsbook is it's not work. Yeah, this is just something that it's always come natural for me. And I have thirty years in the business. I've been all over I work. I worked on in Nevada, Vegas, a Reno, I've been in Costa Rica for ten years. That was in uh, Florida working in some cruise ships.

Wow.

But it's just it's just it's just fun. It never felt like work. And I'm blessed for that.

Yeah yeah, no. And and how does this feel? You've been here for a while, so how does this feel with the better, better loyal guys?

Yes, oh yeah, yeah absolutely. We have a strictly walking business here and in Arizona. People can get bets anywhere. They have a mature mobile market here, so we give them every reason the world to come in here and bet with us and and enjoy the games. And uh, and it's a it's a great atmosphere. And working with Casino a deel soul in the basketball yockey tribe. I I I can't say enough good things about them.

Well, it's been to where it's where it's sold sports the sports book at casino that'll sold again. We we we said this the top a great facility. I mean, it's just it's it's space, it's comfy, it's spacious, it's clean. You've got you've got a nice bar here with some great drink specials and those kinds of things. You got kiosks so you don't have to wait a line. But

Yeah, we spared no expense.

And and that being said, you can always bet twenty four to seven, and you can always catch twenty four to seven. As you mentioned the cain the uh there's kiosks that are within the sports book, but there's also kiosks that are spread out throughout the casino and those stay on twenty four to seven. And if we are closed in the sports book, you can always cash your winning tickets too, which is the main cage.

And uh so you can always get your cash.

You can always bet so daylight tomorrow, you have the big fight, you have the Arizona basketball orson football, does it kind of even come close to the Super Bowl the World Series because you're you have you're limited in this for a few hundred people, I'm sure.

But it's a different type of thing. Super Bowl is great, but in super Bowl, it's kind of where you think, you know, we we'd be packed to the rafters, but it's not like that. A lot of people like like them to make their bets and then go to parties and stuff or watch it at home.

Uh, the real mania is March Madness.

Yeah, I bet that's you know, people people they arrange their vacations around it and just sitting just that all day. And uh, it's it's just fantastic. And yeah, i'd say March Madness is the biggest betting spectacle.

Yeah.

I've only done I've only done a sportsbook for March Madness a couple of times, you know, both times in Vegas, and it's just unbelievable the way that is. But you know, getting back to you, I was talking about the difference in the crowds between a college crowd and in an NFL crowd. You know, you go to books, say in Vegas, and you know college, the college crowd is more of it. There's so many games going on, right, you don't have everybody.

Yeah, I would say that it is absolutely.

There's a lot of a lot of people that like to go to the a lot of our guests like to go to the Arizona games, and uh football and basketball especially, and but we have a loyal Arizona cardinal backing in him. Okay, all right, makes and they're doing quite well. I last week they beat the heck out of the Jets and Aaron Rodgers, Yeah, I couldn't understand that line they Jet Jets. It opened up a favorite,

They had won one, the one the previous week. Yeah, they went one week, So everything's all right.

Aaron Rodgers factor, you know, they think that he's this god and he's sometimes not that god.

Well, I don't know what they expect the how old is he now? I don't I don't know what they expected to get out of on my plate. He played one series last year and then he it's just.

So outside of outside of the march, madgis for you personally, what's what's the best time, what's the best time I.

Like baseball, yeah personally maybe yeah.

Yeah.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Okay when they were winning all those uh divisions and World Series back in the seven Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, and uh yeah, I'm a big baseball fan. My daughter actually plays baseball in uh little leagues and she plays in girls national and regional tournaments.

And you were and you were saying, in the future, there's a possibility that women's pro baseball would be uh, it would be a possibility.

It is going to be a possibility.

Women's professional baseball is going to be launched in the summer of twenty twenty six. They're going to start with six teams and it's gonna mostly in the Northeast, so for travel, and then they're going to expand out.

Who knows, maybe Tucson will get one over that way. And then if you think to bet those things, absolutely we'll be able to bet.

And I and I've spoken with organizers and told them that those amazing apps police if they're going to get the money they deserve and the league is going to maximize its revenue potential, they have to make a friend of sports. Gambling in women's sports, especially, it's crucial that they take advantage of everything in frontier and and with what happened in the explosion in WNBA this year, that's a tide that's going to lift all boats in women's sports.

So again, we're here to solve sports.

The sports buck here because it I'll sold with Jeff Lindheimer, the uh uh sports book manager. All right, Jeff, I'm gonna ask your personal question, what's the weirdest thing You've ever been on.

Weirdest thing I ever bet on, weirdest thing I ever bet on? You have weirdest thing I'd ever bet on. I can tell you some some bad beats we all can. Oh yeah, and I had one on Monday.

Weird things I bet on, I don't know elections, that's yeah, God, that's that's a that's a whole new market.

I joked the buddy of mine once bet on women's Olympic hockey. It's so weird.

He does that all the time, right USA and Canada women's hockey. That's one of the greatest rivalries in the planet Earth right now, is that they get together.

They go at it and it's just you know, you did what what weird? That wasn't weird? Yeah? Absolutely well, Jeff, we we appreciate the time.

Again, come on out to Soul Sports, the sports book here Casino del Soul. It's a it's a lot of fun. There's a group of guys here all right right now checking things out, waiting for the NFL and uh six fifteen game the Commanders and and the.

U and the Eagles. That's a I mean, that sounds like a really good game. Former World champion. A lot of action on that game right now. Yes, we do.

We just took a that large enough to choke a horse on no man. Yeah, we did on Philadelphia minus two minus wow.

Wow.

All right, don't forget to come in early tomorrow, right suggested a good time.

Tomorrow, I'd say about three ish at the beginning.

Yeah, yes, early.

Don't get a comfortable sit and just hope people know there's food in nearby, right, you can go get your food, bring it in here, hang out.

Yeah, start laying that money down exactly, lay down.

Thanks all right, Jeff, Well, thanks so much. I appreciate you being here and appreciate you having us. It's been a lot of fun for us. We hope it's been been good for you.

Got thank you, gentlemen, God bless you and your all right, thank you, Buch.

Thank you.

Yeah, we'll have him back as we man forward, as we get to the super Bowl and all that other stuff.

So that's Definitelylenheimer, a sportsbook director. Ready to go. Yes, let's go.

All right, thank you, break, We're going to be right back and Edgarsta will be back here, will be talking some other sports besides a World Baseball Classic with him. These guys been around a long time. I've been a coach and athletic director at Pima, so we'll be right back with Edgarsto.

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Streaming live on the Ihearts Radio AAP. This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Hey, thank you, you get that.

You're welcome back. I'm aboord.

Did a cop.

Well, you guys, anything else under your sleeve?

So here's what's what's going on. Okay, So I know I know where you're going with this. So the reality is this. We were a signature away from getting some spring training games here, a signature away from getting an affiliated team here.

But we're not giving up on it.

You know.

There's a lot of things that take place, and why sometimes I can't say everything because some of the stuff is so delicate. People just strategizing and doing some things. But I was so did that guy right now that was here before me. He said that there might be some women's program, women's professional women's professional base.

Yes, we got hosted. Yeah, no, we could have a team here. That would be great.

He thought that would be great. Perfect.

Yeah, no, I think that well.

I was.

I remember at friends playing for the Silver Bullets, Susie Duarte and Kim Brots. The one was from University of Mexico, one from University of Arizona, and they were playing on that Silver Bullets team and they played at High Corbett.

It was cool. It wasn't Phil Niker, the pitching coach for them.

But you you named two very very talented players.

Yeah no, no, I Kim Browns was the first one that actually hit a home run over there over at High Corbett. I think she went out that she was a catcher. I think he wasn't she you're thinking of you're thinking le Broch. It was her sister that played at University of Mexico.

I played.

I was playing baseball when she was playing softball.

You know, I didn't know that you played at Mexico.

Yeah, back in a long time. I was gonna play for coach all day. Yeah, of course, obviously you're from Albuquerque, Santa Fe.

Yeah, you guys, guys, was obrays Man so offair. I was asking you know who your who your favorite baseball team? He said you you were a Yankee fan, but through your coaching, uh, that you kind of became a fan of guys. But tell us a little bit about some of that background.

Yeah.

And when you say guys, you mean like players. Yeah, yeah, because I'm a fan of girl players, layers players. So now just joking, yeah, yeah, Craig, Okay, No, So I coached the USA team in two thousand and one, two thousand and two, I was the head coach of the USA baseball team. So all these guys like eight first round draft picks, right, Delman Young two thousand and two was the first round first pick, and he went to Sherbert Quebec with me when we played for World championships.

So you know, you reap. You root for guys, you root for the someone you know or connection with.

Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.

You've had a pretty good sports life, you know, have you been a player or did you go to high school? Tucson High High High you met, you go and then you at Pima are doing your thing at Pima.

So you had a pretty good life.

I am so blessed.

Like nineteen eighty seven we won the state championship and uh we got inducted into Tea Club Our our Sports Hall of Fame, which is really cool.

So I've had a great career in athletics.

But you know.

I honestly like, right now, I'm not up to speed on sports like I.

Like I used to be because I'm so into my You're watching films, I'm watching well, I'm watching yes, Southern Arizona sports tourism authority stuff. I'm watching stuff at Pema Community College. I mean, yeah, trying to get enrollment. We have a new chancellor, all that stuff. Can we go there real quick? Because I talked to We talked to Monico all the time. Now he's gone, you know, did you you know, tired and all that stuff.

Could you talk about how this place has kind of expanded and kind of gone bunkers because back in the day it was it was just a junior college.

Right now it's like a sports authority junior college.

Yeah.

No, it's definitely nationally known, you know. And and it was unfortunate to lose football. I mean that was really unfortunate. I and I had to make that call. When Maricopa dropped their fourteen and there was on a Western the Eastern we just had nobody play against.

That was unfortunate.

I actually ran into Jeff Skurrin over at the Rio Rico Choy game because United coach Atreo Riga.

Oh it was, it was a while, but he just thinks different.

I mean like, I'm like, Jeff, we're never going to get football again because you know Mara Copa, they're not going to do. But then he brought up this like idea, what if there was just one team in Arizona and they played and traveled and you get all these players from all of Arizona and you know, and he has a European he just I mean, he triggers like some sparks flying. You're like, wait a minute, that actually sounds like it could work. I don't know, so I'm like,

But you know, you get into sports, it becomes a part of who you are, right and even though you know you're a you're an academic guy. You're the vice president at the Desert Vista CAM because you've been you've been in on the academic site for a long time after your time as a as a athletic director there.

But sports never gets onto your out of your blood, does it? And you know, here I just turned fifty five November ten. So I was telling you guys that earlier. And I'm still playing in a fifte and over softball league, probably going to play some men senior baseball league this year.

That's why I was that this question. You're a former, well you athlete, you're still how do you? How do you feed the beast?

Right? Yeah, because once an athlete, I was an athlete.

You cant compete.

Yeah, it's that slow pitch softball, you know, It's it's going out there and still competing.

You know what.

The funnest thing because we had to end up canceling our our season just because we're playing up in golf Links and there were double headers and we weren't a lot of guys are missing games. But you know what I miss most is hanging out with the guys, giving them crap, teasing each other and yeah, laughing all that.

Kind of stuff.

But those up.

Yeah, so it's uh, it's it's a good time. But yeah, so you said, see that you tried go and play some soft.

Fifty I was with the twenty five thirty year old kids who get the hell out of the polls, and I was playing shortstop a second and I'm thinking, please hit it to me directly because I can't move.

Oh yeah, and funny one did and it was it was tough. I said, I better get out of this now.

You know what I want to do Also is I got to honor both of you guys for doing this because there are so many things going out going on in this community that they find out through all of you, and that you're able to bring him here and highlight them. Tucson is a sports town, it is, you know, And I just think that there's so much potential here and so I'm excited about.

You guys are natives, assuming you are natives, and I've been here thirty eight years. But there's a lot of the athletes that grew up that you guys know that you played against are fantastic. And then you see the athletes grow up now that get a chance or don't get a chance to go beyond high school. You know what I'm saying, Like you you did you want to impress somebody, and well all they knew who you were.

But you know what I'm saying, there's some great talent that they can't go. D one they go or whatever you.

Should tell you know, a lot of people are late developers, right, like they maybe played high school. And I had this guy, his susse Hernandez was his name. His nickname was Baby Hernandez, right, played at deserbut high school. I think I had cut him his first year. He came out, he was about five to five, tried out, just wasn't looking at Pima. Comes out the next year. All of a sudden, he's like five ten and he's throwing the ball eighty nine ninety miles an hour. He ended up being a two

Speaking of that, Okay, whole new subject, right, I don't know if you saw this week, I know you're going there. The Vanderbilt quarterback who's final lawsuit this week heard about saying junior college your the time you played junior college sports should not count against your NC Double A eligibility because the NC Double A and NJCAA are not affiliated, So why does the nc double A get to count your enjies your junior college time as part of their eligibility?

Other New Mexico guy and how a grooky guy who went to New Mexico State. Yeah, yeah, but you know what would be your thoughts on that? Well?

So, I mean when your clock starts.

I know when I was involved, is when you your first ULL twelve credit hours or more. That's when your clocks right. So that would just open the door for so many new magicians. Yeah, because then, I mean it's already the wild wild West with Division one. I can't imagine coaching D one with the portal and the What do.

You think of this right now?

Because it's gonna I talked to Cosgrove maybe last week or maybe Monday, success that he's had and continues to have, but he and most of them say this NILS can eventually creep into the j c S.

M your thoughts on that.

I mean I kind of have mixed feelings on this because you know, we live in a capitalist country, right, I mean, people should be able to make money if it's their own name, So I mean it's I'm not sure I just know that it's complex.

And you know, I've heard of I remember I.

Would have football players and we had football and I had guys from out of state and they hadn't eaten a couple of days because we didn't have right and to give them a granola bar or something, you know, that's an NCAA violation back then.

Yeah.

So, I mean I think some of the stuff that was happening and why all this went down is it got too extreme. I mean, when a guy can't even buy their own jersey or go have dinner with somebody, it just became too extreme.

Now, then you know, maybe we over correct it so long, too far.

But you know, I mean there's a there's windows of opportunity and athletics that people can maximize their you know, whatever they can get. So, but if you watch the there's a show on Netflix that talks about those athletes. They focus on LSU. I think it was a directed or produced by Shaquille O'Neil. I mean, not all athletes are getting it's just the lead at the other ones are still struggling like they were before, you know, So I don't know, it's not it's not all athletes.

Yeah, No, well we had again Steve tells this one. You know, it talks about this one all the time. When we had Jordan, both Jordan Geist and uh and Delane Schnell, you know, the swimmer at Arizona, the shot putter, and said, you know, to ask them about it, and I always say anything else for other people. You know, I get some water bottles, maybe you know, some gear, but you know, these are two Olympic app Olympic quality athletes.

Yeah, it's I don't think it's as glamorous as people think. You know, if you have a few people that are really just benefiting.

From it, that's that said. How long were you in ad Hello, We say.

Two thousand and nine to probably about nine ten years maybe.

Under under no circumstances. Has anybody said I wish I were back in it because of this and Andreas and Lopez those guys say it's too crazy.

You now, I don't need it, how about you.

I never heard anybody say they wish they were back in it that I think it's so hard to manage because there's so many unknowns and it's challenging, you know.

So I don't know.

I mean, I think we'll we'll correct ourselves here soon and we'll see. But but you know, I mean, hats off to those people that are getting paid and getting something out of this. You know, there might be some of them that this is as much money they're going to make in their whole career.

Right, So yeah, all right, we're here at Sold Sports at the Casinodel Sold Sports Book. We're about to go to break. Would love to have you back. We're going to do our picks this afternoon, right in the four o'clock hours.

I've got to get going, but thank you for having me and I'll come whenever you want, and and our guy Blake Eager will be here.

Well, ed Edgar appreciate it. Thank you. Go get us some more baseball, man, I will get it. And you played your face.

I don't know people, Yeah, you could press right over there. Okay, Hey again, Edgar, thanks for being here. Best of luck with everything, and don't be a stranger.

Man.

Oh, I'll come and see you guys.

All right, thank you. We'll talk to you soon. All right.

We're here at Soul Sports, can seeing that else Soul. Come buy for the drink specials, come by for the football games that are coming on in just a little bit, so stick around and we'll be right back.