Tuesday, December 5, Hour 1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen to fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions kt z R two SAD and iHeartRadio Station. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, He's jagin Zaalaz. Got a guy Kevin in today fifteen minutes to we'd like to give us a quick call before we take our first break and interview. Welcome

to Tuesday's show, Another day closer to a lot of things. Yeah, it think its gonna be fun though. We got a couple of couple of guys that we have We have fun with. Bud Withers, one of the old guard sports writers, you know he was he had been around a while when we came around. Yeah. Yeah, so I reached out to this

morning after, you know, trying to get others. Don't tell him that to ask him, you know who who's turning around in their graves now that he covered right about today's situation, because as you know, well, how do you think Tomy would take this? I'm talking about I'm talking about players getting players getting paid, transfer portal all that stuff. I actually think he

would be happy that players are finally getting their share. I do. I don't know how he would like dealing with all of it, right, dealing with uh you go egos, transfer portals, making decisions as to who gets paid and who gets how much and that kind of stuff. But I think in the end he would be happy that that that players are getting this because he knows how he knew. He always recognized how hard they work. And he had guys that, like like Tommy Lakeson were dogs, right, guys

who just came here, blue collar guys worked their butts off. Guys like Teddy Bruski and the and Chuck Season, those guys who well, well he called she'son for a year, but you know, who just worked their butts off, and maybe he's like, Okay, they need to get their share. I think in that regard he'd be happy about it. All the mechanics of it. I don't know, it's hard to say, right. I know Louke probably would have hated it. Yeah, probably, I would lead

him that way. Yeah, you know he's probably okay, yeah, but you know, don't give him too much exactly. You know, we still need them to work hard. Yeah. Yeah, and not that they wouldn't, but we don't know, partly because you know, Luke was working with you know, had a different kind of athlete, right, they had these elite basketball athletes. Yeah that and he didn't have one hundred and five of them, you know, or eighty five of them or whatever the number one.

Sure, So yeah, it'll be interesting to talk to Aboud, talk to him about basketball. He knows Tommy Lloyd, so we'll go there too. Uh. And then and then we got Tim Kish the same question. Yeah, same question with with with Keish And you know, I think he's

he has said he wouldn't like any of this. But now it's kind of like, okay, the pain these players, it looks like it's going to be in the hands of the athletic departments as opposed to a kid going to an nil for an opportunity, not but to a collective and saying, Okay, you know, sell some shirts for me so I can make this money. Now you're talking about deciding who gets money who doesn't. A coach doesn't want after you. Yeah, it's so complicated. Now I'm older, now

I get it. Pay him. What do I care? But he can effect how good a team can be because you're not paying this guy this, and he knows he can get paid that there. He's gonna go there like you're doing now. Well, look at you. You look at you. You came in into the office about half hour ago, right and you asked, quo would you ask me if we had talked? We talked about their

house state quarterback and what was the reason. Why would a guy like that and the and the Oklahoma guy leave a place like Oklahoma or Ohio State for another girl, for another place unless it's you hated the coach, didn't like playing there, or you're gonna get a better opportunity. You're at Oklahoma and Ohio State. What kind of better opportunity is there? Exactly? I mean,

it's if it's not a bag. It's inconceivable to me that you fulfill a lifelong dream probably be the starting quarterback at Ohio State as a sophomore as a sophomore, and you say, not good enough, I gotta go find something else. I mean, what the hell is going on, Steve? I don't know. I think now there's more opportunity to I think maybe I think we're seeing the true intentions of these players now. I think if you, like Steve said, are going for a bag versus going for on the

field success. But I think we're also seeing more and more players just trying to find the right fit with a coaching staff. Right. So maybe if you don't think you have the highest ceiling with with Ryan Day and the coaches at Ohio State, maybe you think you could do better at Oregon with Dan Landing or whatever. I think you're I think you see a lot of players looking for fit and the bag, like you should should, but also you take the risk, take the risk of trying to find a better fit.

It turns out to be not a better fit. The grass is not always right, well, not always well. Jet Fish, you know, talked about that yesterday saying, you know, guys, he said, if you're making the decision, are based on money, money, right, You're you're probably making a bad decision or that's not the way to make the decision.

I'm curious, and I don't know if this is public. It's probably not public, but how much did Singer actually get I don't think anybody ever knew them, but they just assumed it was Okay, let's assume for seconds a quarter of a million dollars. Was that good enough? That will tell you what? Let me just say this, okay, let me let me just say you put two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the hands of a nineteen or twenty year old you put in front of me, it's it's not life

changing money, right, Yes, it changes your life for now. But how fast are you going to go through that? Because you're the big man on campus making six figures. How you know you're gonna go buy a car, You're gonna go live in a fancy apartment in LA You're gonna you know, you're gonna buy yourself you know, some bling, and that stuff's gonna be gone, right, and then you got what? Now I'm in a

place. I'm not playing, I'm not catching balls, I'm not getting the attention I need to get to the NFL, and and I don't know that. I don't know how many nineteen twenty twenty one year old are gonna think it through that far, like like you and I are. Yeah, I'm taking the two fifty Well, you know what I'm saying, no, because my thought is if I'm if I'm Dorian Singer, Okay, and I don't think I've got a future in the NFL. But I can go make the

two fifty us. I'm gonna take that because that's the most I'm gonna make playing football. Yeah, so you're doing you're not thinking that? But does not he went there to get himself into the NFL, right right? And who's who's the thing that he's not gonna make it? Still? I mean and I say that, I say that he'll be fine because he's good. Uh, and I saw opportunities, but he might not. But but the funny thing about it yesterday and because Jed did kind of throw a back door

into this, well, we have examples now. Either you want to touch to the guys who have transferred in and see how they like it, and the guys have gone somewhere before you start looking somewhere else. You know this girl, she's a good cook too. Why would you want to leave? Yeah? And I think today's point when he was saying about nineteen and twenty year olds getting the bag and then kind of blowing the bag away, we saw that in the NBA. In the early days of the NBA, the

too much, too soon era. Yeah, where the guy the money blew up increased and all of a sudden everybody was broke when they were retired. Yeah, kind of evens out after after a little bit of time, Like the older guys kind of appreciate the younger guys like, Hey, I made the same mistakes. I went to UCLA and blow my money, right, don't do that. I think, I think these these things will get ironed out with time. But right now we're in the beginning, and it's a

lot of mistakes being made right there. There are as it was in the NBA during that time, there are guys in college getting money that they've never seen before. I could never imagine that, and probably a lot of maturity to not screw that up. And we've seen we've seen guys through, you know, in the in the NBA get you know, NFL baseball, whatever, you know, made fifteen twenty million dollars and they come out of there and they have none of it left. Yeah, people take it from them,

they spend it. Any wide variety of reasons as to why it's gone. It usually ends up gone. So you just gotta be careful. You should not be careful, but you know, let's see. I I but again I can. I'm just fascinated by what's going on. Not fascinating, I'm like, I mean, it bothers me. But on the other hand, it's kind of like, man, this is what a time we're in. No, it's it's crazy, and now it's all above board at a time before where it was wink wink, right under the table, under the

table. Yeah yeah, and what's to say it's not going on under the table still there's always something going on to the table rights, And really it's probably a lot harder before you just say, Okay, he's driving a harmer, he's getting something. Well, everybody's got a hammer now. Yeah. Did you know we went to the press covers last week? Did you go to the press comvers last week? And did you walk? Were you parked

this week? And I parked the same area, so we were walking and did you see a big truck, like a big truck on stilts or whatever. DJ Williams truck. It had to be because it had Williams in the back and it was like a big truck from somewhere else. Holy crap, this truck you could run over you and you never know when you've got run over. You know, you're just walking to hit you in the head.

I mean, just these things are do you see them? And before you say, oh, the guy's driving that, you know, before you see this guy's driving that, you know, I go all the way back. I remember when Chris Mills got it was a Too eighty Z which was just testing about a really fancy sports car at the time, you know. And he gets he gets here after that whole Kentucky Kentucky incident with money falling out of a FedEx envelope, and he gets here and he's driving the nice you

know, one of the nicest cars on campus. Yeah, you know, and then again remember h Lewis Holmes, you know, had ad when he got here, which was of course money not gone to for the right reason exactly because somebody over paid for that r look for the light because I just sent a phone number. But you know, it's uh, it's it's just stunning to to see what we're in the middle of now, and and god, you know, and it it it keeps escalating as we go along.

Well, you're talking about this before, and we'll get the call. Let's get this call. How you're on the air and I on the ball. We're good, We're good. What's up the Chris Mills? You know that

fed X convelope that kind of somehow got opened. But I think it's kind of like you guys are all saying, you know, we're in this this trial period where the biggest dogs are going to win in n I L right, you think you would think that, Yes, well you know, but I I kind of believe, and I was talking with you guys as well as friends, like on the crease of deal. You know, I I believe that Tommy had to come to Jesus with him and said, you're you're

really not going to be starting. But but I can't. I can't. I don't so as a wildcat. He's not a wildcat. He's not a wildcat for life. No way for the kid and his family, go get it. No, you're you're you're I mean, you're a hundred percent correct. It just changes everything. Guys are guys are a while as long as they're making the money that they want to make, right Yeah, I mean I add everybody but a bunch of them, certainly, you know. Sure.

My big my biggest concern would be can we hang on to Tommy and just this right, that's that's what I think, and I think that's what people want to see, right, you know, because yeah, if if you trust the coaches, then if they lose a player, because he's going to go make more money somewhere else, like these three guys who went to USC sure it didn't hurt him, right, Well, you remember in the story of DIFFERENTCT if you remember, and tell me you said this publicly,

he's not you know, Okay, they're here to get paid in I l but that's not the reason they're going to come. He's not. He doesn't want those guys coming here just to be paid. It's the basketball, right, the basketball. Well, yeah, and look at Caleb Love. Look at Caleb Love. Tommy was very succinct when he said, I told him, you know, you're not going to score twenty five a game, but he's gonna make him a better player, you know. You know, he's

been pretty much a dog on defense, don't you think doing. And he's giving the ball away too with the cysts, which I can't jack up those three so so often. But I always appreciate you that, well, thank you, thank you actually call you know you're right, and you know, coaches are going to kind of hang on to that, and you know, some coaches are going to make their decisions based on this is want to be

here. He's coming here for true money. And if he's coming here for the money, then I'm not sure that it wanted him to be here. No, exactly, exactly. You don't want those guys anyway. Yeah, But the problem with that is some of the very good ones or these guys, well no, no, but back in the day they were either problem kids, the problem kids, and then the coaches took him thinking I'll make him not a problem kid, right, and that doesn't that doesn't happen.

You couldn't. You couldn't. Yeah, and we we've bet a few of those here. What there happened? I mean, Sean Miller had a bunch of them when he first got here, remember that, right. The guys are just you know, they were the five star guy all the name just were not good, right, players are not good? Team? Sure? Sure? Okay, uh no, good good first quarter here. We're going to talk to to mister Withers here on the second half of this the breath

of the breakick. But it's always an interesting guy with you know, his basketball knowledge and stuff and again knowledge of the Pac twelve and just knowledge of all basketball. So it would be fun to talk to, so stick around

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with Steve Bravera and Jacobzale on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Hey, welcome back to Iying the Ball here on Fox Sports forteen fifty. I'm Steve, Roberta Pee jacins Awas. Now on the phone, we have Bud Withers, longtime sports columnists in Seattle, author all that good stuff you've been around, Bud, I hate to tell you that you've been around. But better to be around than not around you, you know. But we were talking about the fact that we were both pretty young when we met you, and now we're

both really old. So what does that say. I'm old now and I was alda. They're trying to say, but you look great. I didn't say it that way, but yes, but you look great when you were younger. Older guy back then. Hey, hey, so so you were around for a long time in the pack eight PAC ten now PAC twelve. Who who would be going crazy in the coaches you covered back in the day or remember from those days to say, here's the PAC twelve is gone, a PAC ten is gone and now the kids are getting paid. Who would

have freaked out? Oh my god? Well, you know, one of the one of the first guys I could think of as Marv Harshman, you know, the old the old Washington State going way back and then Washington coach into the eighties. Uh, you know, Marv was definitely an old school

guy. You know, a guy like George Rampling, whom you guys know, well, you know George, George at least thought of himself I think as as somebody with a lot of old school values and and you know just I mean I remember, God, I remember in I think nineteen eighty six when they implemented the three point shot, you know, the NCAA rules committee. I remember getting all the George and him talking about that makes no sense. I mean, are they going to start are they going to start giving

three points for degree of difficulty shots? And you know why do that? And you know, George is very much an old school guy. And of course then you know a guy that I covered for years at Oregon State, Ralph Miller. I mean, my god, he he didn't he didn't like things like the bounce pass. So, oh my god, I can only I can what you would think of that? I l and that is nuts. And you know, but even some of the you know guys who are you know, newer guys. You know, guy's been around the last you

know, ten years. You can you know that they that they would be hating this. And you know, we're gonna talk to guys afternoon. Tim Kisher was an assistant here at Arizona, also at Oklahoma. I think we've had the conversation. He wouldn't hated doing this. Andy Lopez has said he would have hated doing this. And it's crazy that that you know what these

coaches are dealing with right now? Yeah, exactly, you know, And I think, Jay, what uh What's always struck me about this, this kind of new new regime, this new way of doing things, is that you know, the pro to me, the programs that are entrenched and well established have it that much easy year now. I mean, I'm sure it's not a lot of fun to try to not monitor all this stuff. But I mean, if you were trying to, uh pull a program up by

the grassroots, uh, it would be really difficult. Now, I would think, because you know, the the programs that are that are winning and winning league titles and going to the NCAA tournament, making deep deeper runs and so forth, they're naturally going to be the the programs that you know,

the enjoy the the fruits of of what's going on. I mean, you look at a program like, you know, the one that I'm really familiar with up here in Gonzaga, and I mean, if if there's no way Gonzaga would have would have made you know, built at brick brib brick like they did, you know, or come up by the build themselves up by the bootstraps like like they did under the current the current rules and just it, it wouldn't have happened because they wouldn't have been able to attract any anybody

through the transfer portal. True. True, So you covered two schools up there to Oregon State and Washington State. Uh, and and now look they have no place to go except the Mountain West pretty much. I mean you were talking about the also rans. They kind of are the also rans now by default bault no fault of their own really, yeah, no doubt.

I mean they as you guys know, they just hooked up with with a deal with the Mountain West and both in football and and and in basketball, I believe, and and uh so so now they're going to be playing a lot of Colorado State and Boise State and and whatnot, and and uh you know it, it's really hard to tell how it's going to work out. But you could make the case that if you can stay afloat and and remain competitive, and you know, even even beyond obviously you want to be more

than competitive. You want to you want to win, but you know you can. You can make the case that if you could do well in that league and dominate it as much as Boise State did there for for a good long stretch, a lot of good things could come to you. But it's not necessarily going to be easy to do that. I mean, you know, a school like San Diego States has obviously a lot of population and geography and a lot of things going for it that the Washington State doesn't have.

Even though Washington State has been in the in the PAC twelve, so you know, it could work out a couple different ways. But I don't know that it's necessarily desperate. But it's just just the associations that they had with the PAC twelve for all those years and before that the PAC ten and eight. That's that's what's really kind of got everybody, uh really with a sour

taste in their mouth, you know. But you know, Steve and I are both a couple of you know, get off my lawn kind of guys in a lot of in a lot of areas, you know, in particular, and stuff like this. You know, and there's probably, however, many million different opinions on this, but you know, in your mind,

is what's happening gonna end up? You know, maybe at some point it's got to settle right where Okay, now payers, players are getting paid, and this is how it works, you know in I l whether it goes away or not, you know, players are gonna get you know, coaches salaries or what they are. You know, you're gonna have to you might have to, you know, cut some cut some programs and cut some sports

to pay for all this. When the dust all settles, if it ever settles, Are we gonna end up in a better place, a pretty good place, or worse place. What's your opinion on that, Well, I think I think the way a lot of people the way it's going is that we're going to be at some point you're going to be just flat out paying paying athletes, and they're going to be employees of the of the school, or maybe they'll be sort of like an auxiliary wing of the school, so

to speak. Uh. I mean, you could you could even have a situation where where guys aren't going to class and stuff, but that they sort of represent the University of Arizona or or Utah or whatever you know. Uh, but it's it's uh, I mean to be able to say whether it's

a good bead or whatever. You know. The on one hand, the nil thing is is positive in the we we've we've pretty much known for years and decades that that athletes somehow needed to be needed to have some sort of compensation over just the scholarship, whether it was you know, a small stipend for a month or whatever, or or thousands of dollars out they're getting. Now. I mean, we we knew there was there was some some basis

for that. But uh, now we now the stuff has come at us with with just such a rush that it's uh, it's uh, it blows your mind and and and what what what it really tells me is that Mark Emmert, when he was president, was in the NCAA you know structure that the administration they were so held bent on fighting the fighting athletes in court and fighting court cases and and trying to stand firm, you know, when they could have been when they could have been trying to come up with a reasonable

structure for all this stuff and then maybe implementing some guardrails for for ni L. But instead we you know, we got none of that. And uh, it's it's just the classic Wild West. You were talking earlier about Oregon State and Washington State going into the Mountain West. Let's throw this at you because we talk about this coint often now with Arizona, Arizona State and you

know the other schools going to the Big Twelve. At least where we sit, that Arizona has a chance now to possibly or a better chance now to win a conference title in football. Before with USC and Oregon and Washington and some of these these tougher schools in the way that almost made it impossible. Now in the Big Twelve, there's a chance because even next year with Arizona coming, you know, playing fairly well and doing well, there's a chance.

Do you what do you see with that? You know, basketball's basketball, because Arizona's basketball is not comparable to Kansas but pretty close. Yeah, yeah, well, uh yeah, I mean I think if you can obviously Jed Fish has done an unbelievable job down there, and it's it's the old

story at a school that's traditionally not a power. If you can if you can keep that that coach around and and uh and and and make him happy and and uh invest in in his staff and so forth, I mean, you're going to have a chance, definitely, And in that league I think, you know, especially with with Texas and Oklahoma going off to the SEC and so yeah. I mean now, now the other thing you've always got

to deal with, at least until Kyle Whittingham is there as Utah. I mean, the the job, the job he's done is is uh beyond belief really from from where they were when when they entered the Pac twelve back in twenty eleven, so uh yeah, but I mean and and and in that regard, you know, if if if Arizona can can can keep fish and keep building and growing and whatnot, I mean, yeah, you could,

you could, you could win that league. And and and with a new twelve team playoffs, I mean that Arizona fans could get pretty excited about all this stuff. So so let me let's go to the Oregon, well to specifically to Oregon and going to the Big Ten, because you know, there's a you know, the Big Ten has this reputation like it's a great conference, but really what it is it's Michigan and Iowa State, a little throw

a little Penn State in there maybe once a while in Wisconsin. Where do you think Oregon falls, particularly to Oregon, and then maybe even USC and

Washington are going to fall in the hierarchy of of football over there? You know, do do Ohio State and Michigan get exposed a little bit for the fact that they're con they haven't had to do you know, they both get to the end of season undefeated because the rest of the league sucks, or you know, do Oregon, Washington and the USC get exposed a little bit because when they go to the Big Ten and now maybe they're not as physical

or whatever, you know, because the whole reputation of being you know, finesse teams and stuff like that. Which where do you where's your mind on that? It's gonna be really interesting, Jay. I think I think the travel is gonna is going to be a big deal both both ways. I mean, I think what you're going to see is I agree with you that that. I think I think the Big Ten is largely a bunch of fluff. The majority of those current whatever whatever it is fourteen teams now you know,

I mean the Purdues in Indiana's Rutgers and Marylands and whatnot. I but I think I think those teams kind of a bunch of those that I named, I think they'll give schools like an Oregon or Washington problems when when the when Oregon or Washington has to to travel twenty five hundred miles to go play them. And by the same token, I think, you know, I think that the schools out here, the four that are the four that are

going uh. I'm mean, I think if you're playing one of those real heavyweights, the you know, the Michigan or Ohio State or Penn State, and you've got to go back there, I think, I mean, it's gonna be a pretty decisive edge, I think, both in style of play and and travel and whatnot. But but on the other end, you know, those those schools got to come out here, and uh, you know, Washington is a pretty good track record of of bothering uh big ten schools

like like a Michigan that come out here to play. So it's gonna be interesting to see how it works out. And of course, the the real thing that nobody has done a very good job of explaining it is how all the non revenue sports are going to deal with with with all that travel and stuff. You know, how does the how does the women's volleyball team uh manage? And you know, how does uh how does the basketball teams do? I mean, just logistically, do you you go back there for a

for like a three school road trip. You know, maybe you're gone a week and you play you know, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin in in a week. I don't know that that's that's to be determined, but that's going to take a real toll. So let's talk real quick about a couple of minutes. We have about basketball. Men's basketball, Arizona finds himself at number one. Uh, your thoughts on Tommy. I know we talked a little about Tommy last time you were on. But probably no surprise to you that

he has this team doing well. Yeah, absolutely not, Steve. You know, he he's a guy that, as you guys have probably seen, he's got enough connections that he can he can recruit and he can be an effective recruiter. And at the same time, I think he he he's a he's a darn good coach. So I mean, that's that's that's the two things you got to have. Now, I'm sure there were rough edges and whatnot when he when he in the first couple of years when he took over.

I guess not the least of it is losing losing to Princeton and last spring in the NCAA tournament. But you know, that stuff that happens to the best of them. I mean it happened. It happened to coach k a couple of times, and in the NCAA tournament over the years, you know, losing to like a fourteen or fifteen seed. So yeah, I guess I am surprised that they that they've risen to number one so quickly.

But god, you go back to Duke and uh and get a win back there and then you know, take care of business with with the rest of them, like against Michigan State, and you've you've certainly earned it. So they're they're gonna, they're gonna bear watching, no doubt as a as A as A championship contender this year. Yeah, okay, but thanks a bunch for joining us. Appreciate you absolutely, guys anytime have a good one down here. Try not to wear yourself out in retirement over there. But I

know it's I know it's kind of tough. Maybe just one last ten second, twelve second. We won't even get into the suction committee situation. But who's gonna win the title? The and the football you're talking about? Yes, uh, god, I suppose, I suppose I cast my lot with Alabama just just because of the coach. But who knows. I mean, Washington keeps surprising people, so until they get beat, they got a shot. Nobody seems to be able to beat them, right right right? Okay,

thanks bad thanks bud. Okay, guys, Yeah, yeah, you know he makes a point. Is the same your point. You like Washington. I like Alabama because Alabama with time is pretty down good. And yeah and they I mean they're You can argue that they've got the best players. Yeah, yeah, physical can do a lot of things. All right, man, let's take our break. When to come back, we'll take your costs five zero four one six four. Man. You if you're an Arizona

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Come be a part of a winning team the a team apply online today at a teamsecurity dot Net, breaking down all the excess at all. It's Steve Rivera and Jacin Salvis this Eye on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteenth. Hey, welcome back to Winning the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty on Steve. He's Jay got Kevin with us today fifteen minutes. If you want to give us a call five two o four one six seventy four forty.

We'd love to hear from you. What's going on football, basketball? In interesting stuff from Bud, you know, just talking about those coaches that would have just lost them and he's right, I mean those are really old school dudes. Those are really older school. But that's what I'm saying. There's some newer school guys who also, would you know, losing their minds.

Well, well, you're right. You mentioned we've talked about a thousand times with Kendrea and and you know that uh uh Rubio left for one of these reasons, Andy Lopez. Yeah, they just you know, I'll hate that. Hey, tag, you're it man. You go to a guy like Mike Stoops, right, who didn't like a lot of the head coaching stuff. Anyway, then you pott this stuff on top of all that, right, well, you fish, I think I think you you were there, so I think I'm correct. So he is, I got to do all

these things, right, recruit, blah blah blah, hic. He didn't say say shake hands, key spaces. But he's chasing down money for his place, right, you know he's he's not just the coach, right, And then he says, and by the way, I have to come up with plays. Yeah, at the same time to beat Oklahoma, I have a game plan. I think he does get paid pretty well though to do yeah, I mean things, making enough money to handle it, to do a lot. The truth is that the market is such things. Oh yeah,

he's one of the lower paid coaches around, right. Well, that's the whole thing, Jay, It's it's we've we we talked during COVID. Okay, they're gonna be in defenitives, right and maybe not too except they're in. But they were forty five million dollars in debt right at the time when they got out of it or whatever. Uh, and you're thinking, are they gonna make this up or whatever? And then then you got to pay the coaches, where's that gonna come from? Now? The players,

where is that going to come from? Where's this money coming from? Well, and that that's the thing, you know. Uh, you know one of the one of the podcasts I was listening, they're saying, Okay, they're talking about how they they're gonna have to come up with all this money to pay players and do all these things. But you know, coaches salaries aren't going to drive exactly right. They're not going to stop building facilities, right, you know, they're going to keep doing all these spending all this

money that they've been spending. So where what are they gonna go get new money? Where's the new money? Right? Well, you were talking this before we started, Kevin with the facilities. Yeah, we were talking about how every new facility, it seems like almost any school, no matter what they're standing is within their sport, is getting a brand new facility that's two hundred and fifty plus million dollars with all the new all the new technology and

all this new stuff. Because you're trying to keep up with the Joneses, right, yeah, because these guys that then you got to pay them a whole bunch of money too, well mention that once you talked about yeah, it was it was it was USF that had like three hundred and forty million dollar facility coming in northwesterns is like up, you were talking to the Clipper. Yeah, the Clippers has uh what was it in the billions of dollars

you were talking in Northwestern? Yeah about Northwestern USF for college football. But yeah, there's just a lot of money being flushed into these new facilities for teams that may not be able to fill up these these Uh do people not nowhere in almost the recess whatever we are. We're not in a recession, but we're in something actively. I don't think they know. And it seems like it seemed like hob athlete Athletics doesn't really care. No, they don't

care. They don't care. And it's no, it's tough, it's it's it's it's it's keeping up with the Joneses because you have to have people coming in to attend your school and be part of it. Yeah, no, yeah, I mean it's uh, could you could you imagine and you're I'm talking you could talk to me about when it was like in the seventies and he went to school at you a, Okay, I showed up here in

eighty five. I was, you know this this small town dude covering from New Mexico just to visit Arizona Ducson, and I thought the campus was fantastic. They had just done revenging the nerds. You're kind of just saying, wow, this is pretty cool. Uh, but you know the attractions on the campus blah blah blah. And then this is not the campus I remember from then. How about the campus that you saw back then? Oh?

Well, you know it's funny say that because we were on it on Sunday taking going to my daughter's graduation pictures and we're walking, we're walking around the campus. I'm like, yeah, I went, you know, I had classes in this bien lamplight wa waiting. That building wasn't there, but I don't know what was there, right, And it's one right on the mall. It's between it's over by kind of uh west of bear Down, And I'm like, I know that building wasn't here, but I couldn't tell you

what was there. And then it was with the photographer Arise, you know Fred, he said that was a parking lot, and you know they then now they're just building that that's there, you know the campus. Yeah, it's it's totally incredibly different, right, well, look at just the housing. The housing. Yeah it was oh that whole corner parking, parking, speedway was crazy. But but it's it is so diff you know, there's so many it's filled in so much, and it doesn't even look like our

campus. I mean in every couple of years. I mean even as someone who's actively going to the school. I was walking out of the library with my friends the other day and he was like, where are we on campus right now? Because he was standing in the new Students Success District, which is attached to the library. It has a big over arching thing. Maybe it just confused because no one ever goes to the library. I saw that sign. I said that this used to be the student place to hide district.

But you know, that's literally what I told him. He was like, this is a new area, and I was like, yeah. The money that's being you know, invested into the campus is year after year just crazier. And again because like athletics, the you know, the university as a whole is out there having to compete sure, you know, to get students and what's and what's the front porch of the university. Sorry to say, but it's athletics. There's going to be number one. I'm sure helps

a lot. There was on this football program that I was fourteen, but you would have I mean, I don't know if you actually did those stories, but there were a bunch of stories that came out after the ninety seven National championship about how enrollment, yeah or changed and how more people were you know, we're applying to come to the u of A because of that. That's that's why I'm here and not some other place where with less of a history of of success in sports, because I like, obviously I want to

do sports journalism the whole thing. But you don't want to go to a school that has no history of sports. You want to go to sport that has a rich history and you have a chance to be a part of history

in the making the success. Yeah, so of the time, because you've been here four years, five years, whatever years of the basketball games of football games, and I'm assuming those are the primary sports, primary and baseball year, ninety percent of the games you've attended or how many what's some percentage? Basketball is really high I don't miss a lot of home basketball games football. We talked about this throughout the season. They didn't. They weren't really

giving fans a reason to show up for a long time. So I would say like once the Jetfish era started, there was a little bit of uncertainty of like, Okay, who is this guy? What's going on? But in my opinion, once he started showing us reasons that indicators of improvement, I was I was more willing to go to these games. But you're you are exactly exactly the UA fan, not today, many years ago and today because that's it. Well let's see, well, let's see Jay, Yeah,

that's there's so many people waiting to see. It's gonna be interesting to see, you know when you see what you know. Bobby Robbins said that, you know, ticket prices are gonna go up twenty five percent, Well, how many people are gonna say, well, I'm not throwing another twenty five percent? Correctly, No, I am, no matter how good, no matter how good they are, right I am. Yeah, But I know that that there's gonna be a you know, where's the you know,

where's the balance that you have there? How many people are you gonna lose versus how many people are gonna stay with Well, let me ask you. And I don't know if this well, I know, I go to the detailgates. I don't think that's an indication of the people in the building though, how many how many normal people are in that building, in the in

the stadium football? Yeah, does that make sense? Normal people are kind of like me and you and and you know what I'm saying, not the corporate people, not the people that oh, I mean that the average thing, Joe, the Joe's Yeah, yeah, well sitting where we said, it's most of them. But you know, but you know what I'm saying, Yeah, it's not a cheap ticket. No, it's not a cheap ticket, but it's it's it hasn't price itself out yet. But I think that uh, you know, nobody likes to see prices go up, all

right, for for anything. And you're gonna say, well, you know, we need this to you know, in particularly in the u of a situation, people are saying, you guys, screwed this up, and why are we paying? I was gonna go there, right, but there's no other way. I don't think. I don't know there isn't. I mean, they're gonna have to be that. And and so you know, somebody like me is gonna say, Okay, you know, I'll do my part of this, but you'll put but part of it too is you know put

I went to school there, put my kids through school there. I'm supporting this. Snow, you have some skin in the game. I do have a lot of skin in the game, more skin than you would ever know. But yes, I don't want to know. Uh, but you know, well, and you're gonna be a grad eventually. And will you come back, will you spend money giving back? Well, I mean you could easily say yes now, but yeah, I think so. I mean in terms of like what Jay's talking about with the football program, I'm not the

biggest football dude. I like, I enjoy football. Basketball is my thing, right, So if if we're going to say that, I think for me, the basketball program, like I I will be there for one and whatever you'll pay, you pay, you'll pay for basketball doesn't matter to me. But you're not going to do it for football. Yea, as long as we have someone on the on at the end of the bench that I believe can lead us to success. And I'm not going to watch a clown

show. Let's go to that game, right, And that's that's where I'm at with Jed. Jed is a good coach, and I believe in Jed, so I will support the team. But I you know, you know how we don't have a lot of time to waste these days, you know you don't. And that's the other thing you don't. And then that that's why you you know, you hire and fire, you know, Kevin someone him in three years and send him off with seven million dollars in his his

pocket or Jimbo Fisher with seventy seven million dollars in his pocket. And right, you know, well, I think that that he said the best. We can't we can't afford not to fire him, right because it would continue the same rule would be today if they don't fire him on that day exactly exactly fifty six to zero. Yeah, that still hurts. It hurts. Well, here we are you guess doing? Okay? Are we talk about this this era being a lot like the mid nineties when it was very very

good. They're number one in the country and they're number fourteen in football. All you needed for a kind of tra effect. That would be the the women's basketball team to kind of pick it up a little bit, maybe the baseball team to reach the church. Yeah, and the stopball to come back. Yeah yeah, and then you're back to be all those things are good. That everybody's happy in this town. Yeah. And I guess what the wallet or the purse exactly just yeah, well whatever whatever it can be.

You know mine has dusted it. So that's a fatogly wald. I don't know where you keep that problems? Do you guys? Do you guys think that the fans football fans specifically, uh next year with the ticket price increase, do you think we'll see like some their attendance or do you think the intendants will increase despite the ticket increase take a price football or basketball football. I don't know. I think more people will come, I do. I. Part of it's gonna be, you know, you know, can you

still get It's it's gonna be about getting the ticket in your price. Do we know the schedule for next year with the with the back we know who they play, okay, but we don't know where. We know well, well, you know we know who they're playing where, we just don't know what days okay, but what does the schedule look like at home? Were in the Big Twelve? We got to cut one. Yeah, so we'll say right now, would you go to the game? I gotta be the

game. Yeah yeah, and we'll kind of just kind of see maybe some college will call in at the other hour. Would you go to this game? Yeah? Okay, let me see if I if we have it here, uh okay. Arizona's Big Twelve schedule home games next year are as U Colorado, Texas Tech, Houston, West Virginia. Mm hmm. People will comes to that Colorado game because if you're gonna you're gonna say that. But you gotta understand Washington, Washington, Oregon and USC and U s l A

aren't in the conference. No, no, don't tell me. I know, I get it, all right, get it or not? We take no, no, we can't take that. Call us on the other side. So that's it. That's it. That's it. That that fashion show is not very good. It'll be different. And and I think to me, the attraction of this is the difference. I mean, the Arizona can win all those games and maybe win a championship and and and get into the

playoffs. Go down the line of we don't know when the time, give me the schedule, talk to about first game, second game is no, no, it's they're just listed. Who we play? Give me Arizona play go slowly again? West Virginia Okay, West Virginia, Houston Okay, Texas Tech Okay, Colorado Okay, come on, don't Colorado? And in the issue the other games, what are you doing? But you know on the on the road, you've got b y u Utah TCU in Central Florida.

When you flip that over in b y u Utah and TCU come here, that's a little more attractive skit. It is, but it's it will depend on you're going. You going, well, I go next next year. We'll just give the the what you switch? You know now, I know you won't be here, but no, yeah, I did want to see this. It'll be news, Steve, It'll be new that's I think that's now, that's what the newness where you're true? Right, Okay, let's take our break. We got top of the hour. Uh, Kevin,

wake back here with some breaking news and we'll we'll cover all that. Lots of stuff again, big stuff in the n C double a let's stick around