This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jag and Zalaz on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions Katie z R Two SAG and iHeartRadio Station Yet the.
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Ion the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jagan Zawas. You got our guy, you goy? Ryan? Hey know, Ryan, I shouldn't be asking you what your you better eat because you're like a You're like a buck twenty Uh, you know, Jake. Guess what I'm hearing? Now there's more. There's more traction on people complaining about the fan situation. I heard exactly what we were saying yesterday. How did
this happen? And did you see more of a clarification? I saw Brad Alice posted something that I guess the people who host it. I guess there was a host, like a foundation. I can't remember the foundation that they it's becoming expensive.
Wait, wait the what are you talking about?
The Friday Friday on Friday? So I guess was a foundation that hosts it? Oh, it was at the main Gate Foundation. Something like, yes, that it's it's become costly, which I guess while they.
Set up like the band a bandstand in the whole bit.
Yeah, and that's not free, right, yeah, that's not so so in in order for that to work, they decided to move to eliminate the first two and come back in October. As we kind of said yesterday after, it makes sense. I don't think it has anything to do with you of a penny bitching.
Yeah. Yeah, well when when you when you uh uh, you know, recognize that it's a main gate event, right and main gated there. It's like there's an association and that's for the for the the businesses there. They probably do it to attract business down there Friday night and maybe you know, when it's hot and you know, really hot in September, maybe it's not worth sure the money and the effort.
Sure no, no, and makes total sense. Yeah, and they might be there anyway, given given the traffic the first the first weekend, a student blah blah blah.
I mean I've been down there on a Friday night, you know, before a game and it's it's hoppen. Yeah, you know, so it doesn't need it, probably doesn't you know. I mean, it's cool to have because you have the band, do you get your players down there and stuff like that. But again, there's some expense to it, as you said, because you know, I you know, if you go to the if you go to the bear Down Friday facebook page, you know, there's a photo and you see the band
standing all that stuff. So yeah, there's there's got to be some expense to it. Again, if they're feeling that, you know, these two early September games it's gonna be hot, maybe people aren't inclined to be hanging out at you know, night over there. You know, they do a you know, a cost analysis and decided.
Right, especially like after the last year of previous years you started saying, well is it really worth it? Yeada YadA.
You know, people are still gonna be down there on Friday night, right, you know, because you know the general bans and and and and frogging and all those places good and people are hanging out and you know, it's pretty cool and it's a lot of fun. So yeah, I could see that.
Yeah, so you know, well we'll move past that. But okay, I think people were asking what what's uh what's Brendan doing.
Yeah, yeah, and that makes sense. You know, that's a you know that that's a separate deal, you know, because well, the UFA would like to do all that stuff. They don't do it all, you know, you know, they have partners and stuff like that. You do those things and there along for the ride. So okay, makes sense.
Okay, Yeah, okay, let's let's move on. So I think we have a pretty good show today. We have We didn't have to scramble this morning, right because we told everybody yesterday. Who have a guy who's seen more football here than anybody on the road at.
All, exactly, Brian jeff Brian Jeffries been here since the late eighties. Uh, voice of the Wildcats, getting ready for another year. So we'll talk to him about, uh, just his thoughts going into the season. Yeah, and he'd be he's.
He's like you. You you've seen the teams since you were a kid. Uh you remember a little longer ago than yesterday. But you could kind of say the top ten teams. You could probably do it off the top of your head. Yeah, and he's probably got that list where Okay, this team was pretty good, this team, where does this one say this, but going in, going in right, because we've seen teams going in they didn't go say they weren't the same team going in.
And talking about it all summer's teeth. It's funny because you know, the closer we get to the game, the more nervous I am. Not about whether or not Arizona's going to lose on Saturday, because I don't expect it, but about what this season is going to be like, what it's gonna look like at the end, right right, eight and four, seven, and you know, seven and five.
I think we've ten and two. You know, what's it going to be. I've talked about this at least in basketball and then asked Tommy this. I haven't brendan anything, but do you think that the first game or two kind of dictates the us to the season?
It can? It can. It's certainly in nineteen ninety nine it did.
And then you yeah, crap, yeah this is bad.
Yeah, yeah, they can. I mean look for here here's you know, when we talked to Michael lev yesterday, we asked what do you expect to see? You said, I expect to see them dominate both sides of the line in
this game on Saturday, and that's what you expect. You expect to see have see them dominate both of these games, you know, you know, forty something to to ten or you know something like that, right, forty you know, forty one to seventeen, and you go if if it's thirty five to twenty eight, thirty five to twenty four, you're gonna go, ah, you know, that doesn't sound great, you know, but then again, right you know the you know, last
year they had that crap game against Mississippi State. They turned the ball over or four times in the first quarter. You got to the end of that gaming you thought, wait a minute, that wasn't such a bad game, you know, I mean the outcome. They could have won the game in spite of what they did. And then you thought, well, maybe this team has something. And then they nearly beat USC you know, and then they put up a fight
against Washington. You thought, okay, what do you have? And then they went off and they haven't lost a game since then, So it can it you know for Arizona, no matter what happens, if they win big in these two games, you really don't know. But if they're close games, then you kind of.
Go, uh yeah, well that tells me they have everything to lose, anything to gain.
By these two games. Except well, yeah, these two games. They got to use these to get their feet underneath them. You know, it's a new new coaching staff, new things going on on the sidelines, play, the way plays are being called, how the players are getting into the game, substitutions, all these things that they got to work the kinks out on in games like these and at the same time not lose the game.
So along those lines, Jay, guys, if they are up forty two to ten mid third quarter, fourth quarter, do you take the guys out nose and the team ex and let the second stream play because you get to see them too.
This is their opportunity to play that. That's what you're looking for. Yes, you do want to see that. You want to see the second string quarterback. You don't get into a game. You want to see some of these other guys. Lineman. Yeah, you know you're you get up like that and you've got the game in hand. Now
you want to see what these other guys can do. Uh, So, sure you do that because in the end, as you know, as Brent Brenna said, we're gonna you know, when they ask them, you know, are you gonna save some of the play because we're gonna call the plays we need to plug call to win the game. And that's what they're gonna do. And if they win the game handily, you know, if they're up, if they're at forty two to ten and give up a touchdown at the end and forty two to seventeen, I don't have any issues
with that. I think forty points for this team and what this offense is supposed to be and both of these first two games is not an unreasonable expect.
So you're looking for style points given in taking.
You know me, I'm always looking for style points.
I hopefully we're good, utiful and the uniforms look yeah, I wasna say good. Universe could not make it look pretty.
Just don't break out the copper helmets. I hate the copper helmets. But now you know it's uh what you what you want to see? I think in these two games is you don't want to see anything bad happening. You don't want to be concerned about anything coming out of these uh at these first two games, you want you again, you want to see the lines, you know, both lines dominate. You want to see the defense play well, you don't. You don't want to see them turning the
ball over. You want to see Fafee to be accurate where you know, with his throws and doing smart things with the ball, basic stuff, you know, getting the red zone and score touchdowns.
And if you're a fan, a realistic fan, which you know some if you win forty nine to zero, let's not let's not leave the arena thinking, oh, we're gonna make the top twelve. Yeah, I mean, it'll be a little temper with it.
Yeah. I remember that game that it was the Mike Stoops game, and I think it was the team that ended up going three and eight. Remember they beat Idaho or Idaho State or something like seventy to seven or something like that, and it was it was just a crazy and you thought. I remember walking out of that game thinking, wait a minute, not thinking how good Mike Scuds was. How bad was the team that that that
they were playing. I can't I can't remember which year it was, see if you can see if you can look that up in the media guy there, but it was, you know, it was it was right after he got here, so it might have been, you know, two thousand, I don't know. Two thousand and four was that his first year? It was Idaho or Idaho State or somebody. Somebody liked that. They can't remember, but they you know, they crushed them stoops, yeah, Mike stoops. I don't know. It wasn't two thousand and four,
might have been. I'm looking for it here. I don't see it. They crushed somebody's skull really bad. Not two thousand and five, thirty seven, No, forty four. I Hadahole ridea hostate look for them in there.
Oh, here is he was two thousand and eight, two thousand and eight, seventy to zero, okay, seventy to nothing and that team went.
Eight and five. Okay, oh that was a b what you oh? That was a team that went to the Las Vegas Ball. That was a pretty good team. But seventy to nothing. I thought, okay, this is just how bad Idaho.
Guess who they lost to that year?
They lost team or they went lost to New Mexico.
I lost in New Mexico thirty six to twenty four. It was out on the road. I was at New Mexico. I don't even remember that.
My brother was a kiss of death on that one. He went to that game.
You guys always just stay home, stay home, but get a like bubble wrap, wrap yourself in bubble wrap. Not talk to anybody, you know that.
I mean that that sun Ball at the ninety two season, right, their desert swarm and all that, and they go to the sun Ball against Baylor and lose like sixteen to thirteen or something like that. My brother on that more the morning of the game decided to go to the game and then they got beatty two.
They were fun. There was that was a horrible that was a mediocre team.
Yeah.
Oh they lost. They lost the last three games.
Yeah.
Yeah, the USC and it was like a slugfest.
Fourteen to seventy USC seven, six to a suah, and there was a sixteen thirteen or thirteen twenty twenty fifteen, twenty fifteen, something weird like that.
Yeah, you can't remember our guests when you go over this.
I do know our guest. We got Brian Jeffries today instead quist today today.
Yeah right o, yeah, yeah, so Jeffreys, that'll be fun. And then Steve Quiesch. We just kind of realized yesterday he'll be doing some games. He said, not all of them.
He'll explain he's gonna be a sideline reporter for the radio broadcast. So working with Brian Jeffers in the Mountain. Love it. So basically we've got in the span of a week, we'll have had the whole twelve ninety crew on the show. But we'll talk to Steve Quis. You know who's a you know Tucson guy a little bit listen san Diego. Now he was a he was a sports director at k well Dy here for a while.
His son came to school here.
Yeah, so he's got some ties to Arizona and he'll be here doing the being the sideline guy, uh for the for the radio and then obviously ran Jeffery. So you know we're getting we're another day closer Steve. It's exciting. We'll get to Wednesday, it's hump Day tomorrow, and then we're kind of like on the down he'll slide towards
the football season. So pretty exciting looking forward to it. Okay, okay, I understand why you play a game that you're pretty sure you're gonna win, but you know it kind of would be fun to play, you know, an opponent that you feel like you know, a b YU or something. Oh, you know, right out of the Yeah.
Yeah, But I think a lot of fans would just say, let's I'm gonna be nervous.
Let's let's get one.
Yeah, let's get one and then we'll figure it out, because you know, like you fans are kind of heb GB have seen because you guys have seen some you guys, have you qualified for HE because you guys have seen some stuff?
Yes, yes, so I know. I'm just looking forward to seeing what it's gonna look like. Uh, you know, obviously one of the question marks me, Okay, how does t mac look out there? Is he comfortable? H you know, every time he gets hit or we're gonna you know, bringe and wonder if he's gonna get up, you know, with a bat with the foot and all that kind of stuff. So we'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to this. It's gonna be fun.
Okay, we got at a minute that what time is it? Thirty? We got Brian Jeffers. You want to just go it gets to about three sixteen through seventeen. No, that's good. Anything else that we need to talk about, No, I think we're okay. Right, Football getting closure.
Yeah, Basketball don't have our big announcement. No, okay, yeah, we heard that might be a several days now, it looks like it's uh, it's kind of dragging a little bit. So we'll hopefully have that have that soon.
But right, I also want to talk to you on the other side of so someone posted yesterday this morning about uh, it was on a fan base of UA student section basketball. Andy Kats didn't have them in the top ten. I'm okay with that.
I'm okay with that.
You know, we'll talk about it more.
Yeah, you know me, I'm the Zona Zoo both football and basketball.
Overrated without questions. And it's all generated from in house right here, Tucson. You know what, because no one goes out to the other schools, that know, right, How do you know that? You know how Mercedes, If you go see the Wisconsin student section of a football game, you went to Ohio State, didn't.
You No, but we did go to Wisconsin, you know. And that's just want to jump around at the end of the third quarter stuff like that. They don't have that here. Yeah, sorry, okay, all right, let's let's take a breakaway to come back. Brian Jeffries will be joining us so's stick around.
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Steve Rapira and Jacob Solids. They have their eye on the ball on Tucson's sports station, Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Well, Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Chickens Sauce. Down on the phone. We have the voice of the Wildcats, Brian Jeffries. Brian, how are you, gentlemen?
Doing very well? It's a game week. It's always exciting every year when you get down to the last few days before kickoff. And I don't care what season it is, it's just the great anticipation and so I'm excited to always to see what the Wildcats look like on the field.
Okay, Brian, you've been around nearly as long as me. I'm as a fan. I'm nervous because of all the expectations, and you don't want the you know, you don't want them to fall short of expectations. But we've all got a lot of expectations for this team. How are you approaching that and how will you talk about that as we head into the season.
Well, you know, guys, I'm the forever optimist. I guess because I don't remember ever Arizona breaking training camp and not thinking they had a chance to be a good football team. But there's a lot of things that go into it. Injuries certainly, and players playing up to their expectations, defth you name it. I think this year is probably a little different because of the fact that coming off a ten and three season, they won seven straight to
end last season. They've got some of their star players coming back this year, which bodes well. I think that the transfer portal has changed college football and really all college sports. But it allows like Brent Brennan, for example, to go out and refill some areas that they had lost, in particular the defensive line. And so you look at that and you say, Okay, they're not just bringing in freshmen. They're bringing in guys that have played college football for
a while. And I think that you can instantly change the outlook of your team that way, and I think that's probably one of the big reasons there's so much optimism around this year's Arizona team is because again the star players returning and then the influx of talent that's going to fill some of those holes, and so it looks really good on paper, and I think the coaches
are happy with what they've seen. But of course now you've got to play somebody else, and and you know everybody the other team wants to win too, And so that's the bottom line is how do you perform on Saturday.
I won't ask this question now, but we'll get to it later. You've been through a number of seasons, obviously, give me some good ones ninety eight, right, ninety eight, ninety three and fourteen and the year after? Did you have the high hopes the year after? And then we kind of all know what happens. How do you go into this one?
Well? Yeah, I think you always have high hopes after a good season. I don't think there's any question about that, because you feel like the program's in a really good place. And I think going into the season that's been in a really good place. But then you know, you go back to what nineteen ninety eight, it was one of the best seasons in school history. Cover Sports illustrated going into ninety nine, and look what happened. I mean, they weren't a bad team that year. They finished five hundred,
but it certainly fell below expectation. So that's why I think you can't you can't put too much into the preseason. Like I said, the difference from nineteen ninety nine to two thousand and four is the ability to bring guys in in the portal. And I think that's why you can look at this year's team and say they've got a chance to be really good overtime.
As you as you follow the team through camp, can you tell because I go to practices and I don't know what I'm seeing. Right, since you've been doing this for so long, and you go to practices and you see the team, can you see things that we don't see? And if you do, what have you seen that we don't see?
No, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I'm some great football expert. My job is simply to paint the picture of the game. And that's why Lamont love it sits next to me because he's played the game and he knows the ins and outs. And so yeah, I go to practice, I watch and I see guys that to me, the naked eye tells me they could be a really good football player. But until the lights come on on Saturday night, sometimes you really don't know. And that's to me, that's kind of
an exciting part of it. But I'm not going to tell you that I can point at a guy and say, hey, you know he's going to be in All American or All Conference or go to the NFL. But you just hope that everybody plays up to their expectation. This is major college football, and so everybody on the roster wants to be in the starting lineup. They want to exceed, and not only this season, but you know, maybe you
get the pro football, which is tough. But I think that's the way I look at it, that if you see a lot of great effort out there, that probably counts more than anything. But no, if I went to an Ohio State practice tomorrow, guys and I watched them, I probably couldn't tell you any different if they had a bunch of you know, studs on their team that maybe somebody else didn't.
So you've been doing this a long time. Sorry to tell you that, or happy to tell you that. But we covered the team in the late eighties for under Dictomy two or three years each and we've seen a lot of things come and go right. You've seen it, You've seen it all. We've had rich Tomy on, we've had some of the players on from that era, and we think that this is the closest we've we've seen since Dick Tomy. That coaching style, that the demeanor. What do you see from Brennan.
Well, yeah, I think that you hit it on the head right there. And I mean he's you know, he's spent a lot of time with Coach Tomy, you know, as a GA as everybody knows you're Arizona and then of course at San Jose State, and I think he leans a lot on what coach told me, taught him. I did a radio show with Brent last night, and that's one thing I asked him, and he just he talked about all the things that you know, Coach told me has taught him over the years, and those things
stick with you. And so I think, you know, Brent's got a great demeanor and I think he has a great His personality really fits I think Arizona Football and really our fan base as well, because he's he's a guy that's easy to like. He communicates extremely well, you know,
he doesn't blow up. I mean I haven't seen him behind closed doors, but I have a feeling in TI talking to the players that he has a very good relationship with all the players, and so you know that counts a lot, and that goes back to you know, coach told me that's the way he was. I mean, he yeah, there's a couple of times he probably blew up at his guys, but it wasn't in an insulting fashion.
It was just a motivational thing. So I see a lot of comparisons there, and that's why I think it was a great hire.
And then you know that you think of the fit with two you know, veterans, you know, as coordinators. You've got you got Dino Babers has been around, you know, one hundred years. You've got you know, Duayna Keene has been around like one hundred and fifty years. These guys have been around a long time. And you know, in Brent's kind of young, but he's he's got confidence in himself to have guys like that, and then guys who have been in the program that people can get behind.
I mean that that whole thing I think says a lot about Brennan and who he is and really what he thinks of himself.
Well, I think the staff is always really important on every on every program, and this one is no exception, and Duyna Keino was what he was offensive coordinator here of course, and he's become a great defensive mastermind. And then Baber's was after him just a couple of years and has gone on to become a head coach and getting a Chuck Cecil and Bobby Wade coming back, and even though they're not on field coaches ranking Honley and Brandon Sanders being part of the program. I just that
means a lot. You have that history and guys that know this program and know what the capabilities are. But I think those two coordinators you mentioned, those were the two best hires that Brent Brennan could have made because remember Duyna Keina was here and then he was gone, but he came back and in almost an instant, and
I think that was huge. And to get Dino Babers and all the experience he has again a guy who was some history here in the West as well, that you feel very good, very confident about, you know, putting those two sides offensive defense in their hands.
Yeah, it makes sense, right, We'll see what happens. What do you think the fan base is going to be? Like, there's a lot of excitement kind of so we hear we anticipation angst. You see them throughout the years.
Well, I think that the fans are always excited, and you know that's you know, just to put on my ticket selling hat. I mean, if I tell people this all the time and to go out and speak to groups that if you want Arizona football to be successful, you need to go to the game because that's the great recruiting tool. When they bring recruits into town and they're on the sidelines down there, if they see a full house, they want to play in front of that. I mean, all you have to do. You guys will
know this all too well. One of the magics of McHale Center is the fact when a recruit comes to town and he sits in that building during the game and they look around and say, yeah, I want to play in this environment. And so it needs to be the same way for football, and you know, the fans, that's really kind of on them to do it. So you know, there's a lot of reasons to be there
on Saturday night. I think that you know, you've got new coaching staff, You've got you know, some players, a handful of players that are up for national honor, so you know you've got some guys that you want to watch in person. I thought Brendan made a great comment
the other day mentioning the smell of game day. Yeah, I've never heard that before, but I thought that was a great way of putting it that you've got to be in the stadium in order to really get, you know, a hold of it and really be able to understand what they're trying to do out there. So yeah, I think there's excitement like there is every season, and going into a new conference this year, I think people are excited to see what Arizona can do and excited to see some new opponents.
We're talking to Brian Jeffers, voice of the Wildcats, but well you know that just because of the voice, right, so we have to say the.
Only smell that Jay Here's smells as the nachos, Well we do not.
Well, well, you come to our tailgate party, you'll smell the lucky wishbone, that's for sure. So you mentioned it going to the new league, Brian, I know you. I'm sure you've been, you know, working on this all summer, preparing you got you know, you've got a couple of games to work in before you get into the league, even though the Kansas State game isn't the league game taught. Tell us a little bit about your prep for that and how you've gotten ready to deal with a whole batch of new teams.
Well, that's it. I mean, after being in the Pac twelve for what forty six years, you know you kind of have a handle on the other schools. I mean they change personnel and occasionally coaches, but you still you kind of feel some familiarity when you see Oregon and USC and Washington and Oregon State, the whole list. Now, you know, playing schools that you've never seen before Kansas State, you know, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Central, Florida, et cetera.
It's like, okay, it's like playing a full slate of non conference games because you know, doing homework on New Mexico. Even though the two schools have played before, it hasn't been on a regular basis s and so you kind of start from scratch when you go back and look at the history between the schools and get a handle on where the Lobos program is. And now it's going to be that way almost every week with the exceptional course of Utah in Colorado and ASU teams you see
every year, it's just it's different. And like I said, I mean I like everybody else, I hated to see the Pac twelve come to an end, but none of us had a vote on that. So Arizona's headed to the Big twelve and let's embrace it and find out who the new rivals are going to be.
Yep, if you haven't used your jacket in a wild now is the time you'll be in those cold places.
No, no, no, no, no, this is the Wait a minute, guys, this is the if you know a Lamont love it. And Lamon grew up most of his life in southern California. He despises cold weather. I mean, if it's under seventy, the guy's freezing. And I looked at the schedule this year and I said, this is the Lamont loved schedule of all time because you go to Manhattan, Kansas in Septemberalt Lake City in September, BYU in October, Central Florida at TCU in November. There's not a single cold weather
game on the docket this year. So he's got no worries at all.
Must have talked to somebody, so you've got a new addition to the team for your for your broadcast, Steve Quis is going to be on the show in the In the second hour, U mentioned you've known him for a long time. Uh, you're you guys, do you have to do stuff together to you know, as the season gets ready, talk about how you're going to do things and that type of stuff, you know, especially bringing on a new guy.
Well, you know, there are two ways to look at it. I mean, Lamon and I've worked together for about two decades now, and so we know each other very well. And you know, last week we sat up in the press box watching the scrimmage and just talking about things, and I just feel that, you know, we we understand
each other. We don't need to you know, basically I bounced things off of him in terms of because he, like I said earlier, knows the game so well, and uh, you know, he keeps in great contact with the coaches, so I get a lot of information from him just about guys that have a chance to be a big part of this team, and particularly the ones you don't know. Uh, Steve's going to step in, He's going to do this first game for us, and so we're we're in search
of a sideline reporter. He was available for this Saturday, and then after that it's kind of we've got a couple ideas there of what we're going to do going forward after that. But I've known Steve for a long time and that that role there is and I'm not taking anything away from him or it, but it's it's limited, and so it's when something's happening and you go to them so you don't have to in terms of the
prep work. It's kind of like, Okay, here's some things to be looking for when you're on the sideline, and then you know, if need be, we go there. So, like I said, I don't want to diminish the importance of the role. But it's not the same as Lamon and I where we're on the air for ninety eight percent of the time and really have to kind of know each other's cadence and our you know, our timing, which is something that you know, Fortunately we've kind of got down pat after so many years together.
Veteran you guys know, what's so what do you what are you most anticipating? What's the most anticipation. I'm not sure if I'm asking this, you know, what's sort of the unknown for you that you kind of can't wait to see what happens, you know, this year, starting with these first first couple of home games.
Well, on offense, seeing what the running game looks like, you lose three guys out of that backfield, which you know, those were three pretty special players, and now you're going to have to go again to the portal and and everything I've been told and seeing in practices they've got a chance to you know, fill those holes pretty well.
And of course the crazy if you want to call it crazy, with cross Key Merritt coming in the new Mexico transfer, who's probably going to start at running back, but you'll see a lot of speedy Luke this year and a couple other guys. I think they're going to go about four deep at running back. Then on defense, just seeing that defensive line they lost all four starters off that line from a year ago and out filling that. You guys saw the depth chart yesterday and that's the
first thing that jumped out at me. Fourteen players listed on the defensive line for the four positions, and so that tells me they got a lot of depth. Now, the question is, you know, how effective are they going to be? I know Dwayna Keen is really high on these guys. He thinks they're going to be a lot better than advertised. So those are my anticipations. Can AA's gonna run the ball effectively? And can that defensive front do what they need to do?
All right, Well, we'll see you on Saturday, see you too on Saturday. Thanks Brian, Okay, thanks guys. Appreciate appreciate you. Brian Jeffries. Of course, So that voice, we know who he is. Yep, let's come back and maybe kind of talk about a few things like this that we just did.
All right.
If you're an Arizona man's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludelsen era in my new book, Lessons from Loot. It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Loot is an insight to how he built the program
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Steve Rivera and Jagen Salez they have their eye on the ball on Tucson Sports Dig yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live on the iHeartRadio app.
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball. You're on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, he's Jagginsaw's got a guy Ryan with us. We had sixteen minutes. If you'd like to give us a call, we'd appreciate it. Five to two zero four one six seventy four forty Take the call, So Brian says, perfectly. I wanted to ask him because we don't get him all that often,
and we talked to him once in a while. Maybe we even asked this question, how he stays because he's he's he's could very easily go wind sided with it right and'd be a big super fan calling the games. He doesn't do that right if at most he's a sixty forty fifty five forty five five, and and you know you hear him on them, you hear other people going bonkers. He's not a bunker's guy.
He lefts that right, and and that's what I've always loved about the way Brian does games is that he's not I mean, you know, he's the u of a announcer, but you know he's not that he doesn't say, you know, if he thinks there's a bad call, he'll you know, he'll say it in a way that makes you think that might have been a bad call. He's not going
to lose his mind over a bad call. Particularly, you know, I've got you know, I've got I got serious exam so I get to listen to game, you know, if there's a game I'm interested in, maybe I have a money on it or something like that. And I hear announcers from a lot of the other schools, the SEC announcers to a to a person, they lose their minds. It's like you violated them because there was a bad
call or something like that. They just totally lose their minds and feel like the world is against them if something doesn't go their way, and like they've got a birthright to get every call. And it really bothers me. And there, you know, there's some other you know, assorted announcing teams that are like that. And That's what I've loved about about Brian Jefferson. Look, I'm not comparing him to Vin Scully, but what I'm saying is listening to
Vin Scully growing up. You knew Vin Scully was the Dodger's announcer, but you didn't know because he just called the game, and he called it straight. He had stories. He got as excited for a Dodger home run as he did for a Pirate's home run because he was calling the game, you know. You know, his home run calls were the same, no matter who hit the home run, and he was just a guy who was just giving
you a picture of the game. And in a lot of ways, Brian, Brian does that now, yes, Lamont, you know, but that's Lamont's kind of us job. You know, he gets excited. He's the guy who played there. He's going to be more excited.
Well, no, I think he praised it perfectly, paints a picture of what's happening, you know, with every every word, the sentence.
I mean that's why I you know, I take a radio into the games and I've got Brian and Lamont on because yes, I'm watching the game and I'm seeing what's happening, but I else want to hear what they're saying about what just happened.
So I'm asking I think I may have asked you didn't Is it real time?
Yes, if you take a radio, because if you try and listen to it on your phone, there's a delay. So I have one of the just a teeny little radio, just a regular radio, and I clip it on my belt with some headphones and I just put it in one ear so because my wife's on the other side. So I got to be able to be sure to get to hear what she talked to me. But I've got you know, I've got him on the outside and I'm hearing, you know, I want to hear you know, all of a sudden, you know, a key guy is
not in the game. I want to know, you know who's not. Did somebody get hurt? Right? You know? I where's the most valuable is if there's a if there's a there's a replay review. Lamon's the first one to say this is you know, this is good? This is bad, you know. And then as I say, hey, look, I'll tell them the people sitting around, Lamon says, you know they're gonna overturn the caller or they're not going to overturn the call. So I listen to those guys. I
don't sit there. I I'm hearing them. I'm not focused on what they're talking about unless there's something I want to know after what just so it's almost it's it's just like a fraction of a second delay. You hear the whistle on the field, and then you hear the whistle on the radio. It's it's close enough that it's not Yeah, doesn't make a big difference. I listened to
those guys, and and I loveless. I love listening to them because I feel like, you know, I'm seeing the game, but they're also telling me some things that I don't know.
Yeah. Yeah, I don't think I've ever done that, which is obviously a novel thing to do when when you're you know, you're done into the game. Okay, anybody want to call please do five two o four one, six seventy four. Let's go back to the thing they were talking about before where Cats didn't have them in the top ten. I could probably find it real quick. It was a z loot type of thing. Yeah, and I've been to enough to say that this is not because they're talking student sections.
Yeah, my issue with it with the Zona Zoo, Like they're loud when they're there, and they're into a big game, right, but they're just not always there. Correct, Correct, they're not there. You know the NAU game, you know, the ends of the Zona Zoo will be empty. Probably. I don't know about the New Mexico game, since it's the opener. Maybe with the teams with with the excitement of this team, you know, they might might be better. But I go
back to that twenty thirteen Oregon game. Remember it was rainy, it was cold, of course, and the Zona Zoo was two thirds empty. Yeah, well then it filled up when they started winning. She tells me, I'm only going if they're gonna If I think they're gonna win. You know, other other really great student sections would have already would have been there.
Okay, this is why Bill called you're generalizing. But you're not generalizing because that happened. That happened, and then it happened more than once. It's I think Iowa there was a game that they had no chance to win, and they won. It was a crazy game in the back, and then there was more people at the end of the game that there was at the beginning.
Right seeing And to me, a great student section is there, come hell or high water for all quarters, all four quarters, right even you know, Nick Saban complained about, you know, students leaving their their games like what they always supposed to be. We're kicking ass and you're leaving. What are you doing? Maybe you know and and and you know and then again for the longest time, and I get the teams were bad, but the student section would empty
out at halftime. That's not a great student section. No, you know, you want a great student section, go look at the Wisconsin student section. You know, every game they're there, even if they're there just because they wanted to do that thing at the end of the third quarter, but they're there.
Well, I think what's gonna happen this year from the fan base? And I told you this example back in Vegas when Indiana played Arizona. Uh, they came and it was it was overwhelming Indiana and Arizona McHale North. Okay, maybe for the Pac twelve, but not for this game Indiana, and they were on that list they have and Indiana rightly so right right, Iowa State, They're gonna see a lot of these fan bases in the Big Twelve.
Well, again, if we're talking to Zoner Zoo Michale, how many of those games against them, let's say the lesser non conference games, how many times is the Zona Zoo full for those games?
Never?
Yeah, they're gonna fill it up for Duke, They're gonna fill it up for you know Alabama, They're gonna fill it up for probably Texas Tech in Houston. Or are they gonna fill it up for you know, Western New Mexico. No, they don't. And again, great students sections do. So that's that's the issue I have with the Zona Zoo.
Really, when I saw the story, I'm been thinking, well, I get it, and I believe Andy. I And then the the places that he mentioned I've been to, I said, yes, very easily, some scary places that he didn't even mention, l s U, Michigan State just crazy yeah, crazy good.
Any slap student section can be great for the great games game, for the big Game, it's are you there for the other games too? And that's where I've got a beef with his own Zoo both in football ambassador.
That said, I won't even go with the sections I'm talking about Michael when it's electric. It's electric.
It's electric, and when the zoner Zoo is going nuts that it makes the whole place electric. But again, you know they where they do that? How many what a third of the games if that?
Yeah? Yeah, last year there was a few of them with the lights and all that. It was a very good game, so very good team too. So I just wanted to point ou out.
Yah No, I'm not. I'm not surprised. I you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't put But again, I don't know how much attention I paid to student sections. I just know that as a student section, they're disappoint Well.
It's funny because I went to Duke last year. Obviously had never been there, but I went to Stanford for twenty some years during the bouncy time with the bouncing cart. That place was Bunkers was Bunkers good. And the kids
there are smart, they're funny, they're clever. Heck, the day the next game after Candygate and Kansas, one dude dressed as a candy machine that at Stanford and the floor bounced, not for just a little bit, the whole game, right, you know, when they beat him In two thousand and one when Arizona beat him in two thousand and one, Stanford was one of the better teams and Michael Wright hit that last second shot. The basket was movie yeah,
I mean, that's how crazy it was. But Duke is more of a made for TV sideline right, tight, tight quarters. Stanford was that a long time ago? If you remember the Robinson shot when the Tiger Woods was there with his wife on the side, I mean those I remember them because they were bonkers.
Good right, No, they were yet. I mean I remember that. I was at the you know, the eighty eight game, the Todd Todd Lickley game where they beat Arizona was Arizona's only conference loss, and that place was absolutely nuts, crazy, and you know, they they rushed the court and I'm and it was like, I thought it was unsafe, you.
Know, because we were sitting jumping right, we were.
Sitting halfway up, you know, good seats, the press row seats weren't weren't on the floor. We were halfway up and they were jumping over us, and I'm.
Like, well, I think I remember seeing pictures of the of the laptops being trying to be saved because they're going to step on the laptops.
Yeah, my my she wasn't my wife yet, but she later became my wife. She she had come up to San Francisco for me for that trip, and she was at that game, and and and I'm like, I'm looking for her, like you know whoa you know, got to make sure she's not getting mauled somewhere. Right.
So it's you know, if you don't know, you don't know. And I think a lot of people who are complaining about it or you know, poo poo in it, they just don't know about the.
Other places, right, they don't exactly.
Well, look it upstairs, upstairs up to Grand Kenyon, our guys school. Yeah, it's a notoriously good yeah, good student section.
Have you been in that arena? No, it's a it's one. It's it's you know, how to remind you of you, to remind you of Maples. It's just a little place. They're sitting on top of the court, and it's.
Loud to go crazy.
It's really loud. I went to a good friend of my my son who played basketball, Saint Gregory Frankie Mabule, you know he you know, he was playing for Saint Edwards and they had a game there and even for Saint Edwards. Okay, we're talking a Division two school and that place was absolutely.
And that was a long time ago. Now they're good.
Yeah, yeah, this was really good. This was ten years ago.
Ten that's all for fifteen.
I would assume no, no, because yeah, ok yeah, probably about ten years ago and that was nuts then?
Yeah was it? Marley? Was he with Marley? They played against Martin?
I think Martley would would have been the coach.
That was just crazy because those those kids are crazy.
All right, Well, look, you know what, Steve and I really do hope that that that the Zona Zooke does show this year. You know, every game, come to every game, stay for you know, state of the end. Be the ones that stay. I know, I know the general fans, a lot of Genner fans are gonna leave it a blowout and their quarter go home. You know, I want to get home. It's late, YadA, YadA, YadA. Stay and keep the keep the stadium buzzing till the end.
I'm gonna make you do this because we've talked about it the last two years, and you've talked about it. We've got to get a Zona Zoo rep We've tried for the show to come in and say what's up. Yeah, you know, I'm sure they're frustrated too, trying to keep.
You because the students who run the Zona Zoo, they're big fanatics. You know. They're the ones that show up and paint their bodies for game day.
And that's change change year to year, right, right, So there's not like a stable force there trying.
To they're the ones that but it's like the the outer edges of the Zone Zoo is what is where? You know, you just gotta have enough people that are going to go to every game and stay. So I don't know, and I don't know how you do that other than being really good, being fun, and maybe that's what that's what it's gonna take this year.
And you're right, you got to be from from from game one to game thirty three, whatever the eighteen games are at home, just be good with it, right, I mean, bring it, bring it every game?
Yeah, yeah, because you know, I mean you go to uh at the Packed offf tournament in Vegas, you know, the Zona zoop you the students had got tickets and sat in the student section at those games were Arizona was always the best one. Yeah, you know it was. I think it was I think last year. I think it was Oregon State last year. There were six, six people, six students were there. We're in the student section.
I won't ask, but you tell the purposely we.
Did carry We literally counted. I think I'm pretty sure it was Oregon's day. We said they were brought They brought six people.
Did you see how Oregon State played last year?
They were not very good. They must have been home for the weekend or something, because they they were there and that that's how many were there. So and look, you know, Zona Zoo's good, not great.
Right good. They're not a blue blood.
They're not a blue but they're not a blue blood. Not a blue blood. I agree, they don't.
And people and and this is the thing they talked about, Well they're separated. They're they're not separated there. It's just that there in the end zone, there's too many people in the sunlightes. That's never gonna change, guys, that's not gonna change.
Stop stop asking for that.
Yeah, you know, there's gotta they gotta pay the bills, exactly, and the students are gonna pay the bills.
Yeah, So I got, I got word, I'll be I'll be going to work up work the Red Blue game up in Phoenix.
Okay, so so we gotta go.
Yeah, happened me going. We're probably yeah, we're probably not gonna have able to have a show that that's it's on a Friday, eleventh eleven, something like that.
Okay.
I just got told told today that they're gonna yeah for that game.
Okay, cool, cool, And that's gonna be up in Glendale, right yeah, right, not to stay Overdale. It's it's far the Diamonds right across the street. Half oh yeah, without traffic. You've been the fields, Yeah lately six million people, six million people there for a game. No, I we'll see, we'll see. But good, you got it. You have to go. Yeah, welcome to my world. Welcome to my world.
It'll be fun.
Yeah, it will be fun.
I'm glad they're doing that. Really.
I think it's a smart move.
Smart move again, you know, get get a game up there for the fans to go up to up there. I bet they'll you know, there'll be ten thousand people there.
I think at least eight eight ten. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of people up there. I mean, this is their one chance to see him like this. I just need to make it more interesting, you know, come.
On, yeah, you know, I get no, it's yeah, I feel like it has. There has to be more of a game.
More of a game, and more not more entertainment, but but more cohesive entertainment, because I'm sure Richard and and Channing are gonna be up there doing theirself. But it's got to be because it's usually when you watch a TV like if you watch something on the Final Four and you've been there for the dunk contest. Also, it takes a long time to get it set up right, and it's made for TV, not for being there right now, for being there exactly.
No, I hear you, now I do. I do. Hope they do something cool with it, but you know, I already talking basketball made october Man.
We get to get the first game out of the way here and then second game, and then you know what, they're gonna be gone for a long time.
A month, yeah, a month yeah, after after the two games, four weeks until the next game, because they've got a two road games and a bye week in there. So yeah, but that'll give it time to cool down and you'll get to made October. It'll be it'll be nice.
There's an eight thirty game.
Hey, you know what could be worse. It could be Florida State. Right now, they're just they're ready to jump off of bridges over there, over that last to Georgia Tech on the weekend. Okay, they're losing their minds.
Well, we won't jump off a bridge, but we'll come back here in about five minutes, four minutes and get breaking news from Ryan and then talk to Steve Quist after Ryan