This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio while just search Ie on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to my on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and today is Hugio Morales and we got one on the queue here. Now we got a call to is this coach? Is this Marcus?
This is Marcus?
Hello?
How's it going find Marcus?
Marcus Catolano from Mark He Well, he's he played at cell Point and Pima College, and he's got like an extended background in baseballs at the professional level.
So and he's a barber. Look, it does a lot of things.
Old Pueblo Tribe. So what's going on with this Marcus?
Yeah, so Old Pueblo Tribe is something that me and my friend Gay we uh.
We thought we had an approach with, you know, pos we making a team in a certain league.
That league kind of fell through and then we were.
Still going through with it and got advice that we should probably make it something that guys can get picked up. And so we agreed, because you know, I've kind of done a little bit of that might sell for myself and for some friends and family, and it's about the city, you know, for the city. I know, there's a lot of guys in Tucson that.
Got to play you know, some college ball.
But life, you know, they came back and maybe they didn't get to experience pro ball, or guys that did get to the miners and you know, life happens, their release come and then now they're just working and they still want to play competitively. So we have a lot of different variations of guys of even just recently, young guy in nineteen I was able to get him in contact with the team out in Kansas City just recently, so now he's out there before even playing you know,
any real games with us. I was able to get him and he's playing in the Pacas League right now and I and it's independent league, and there's leagues, you know, different independent leagues. There's Mexican leagues, there's leagues overseas. There's a little bit of everything, as far as it depends on that that individual and their level and what's next for them and what.
They want to do.
And we're we're not necessarily in.
A league, but we just try to play competitive games whenever wherever we can, representing Tucson to ol.
Pueblo, trying to bring some fun back to this baseball community. I know we have exciting things.
With the Mexican team coming, and I honestly didn't know about that before we made the team. So it's it's it's going to.
Be exciting to see what what can work out in the future with this team and all the baseball that we're trying to have out here and you know, professional baseball two here in Tucson.
But yeah, I just love baseball and like uh.
Like you said, I'm a barber.
I do a little bit of this and that, and I just want to be able to help people, you know, serve in my community the way that I can with what I know.
Now, Yeah, I know that you wanted to make this kind of a model of like the Savannah Bananas. The one time you're looking at that, is it more now just to be maybe a feed or two like the independent leagues or something another league that maybe you guys can develop and have these players move on to those leagues or what what's your mission?
What's your your vision for this for this team?
Well, yeah, so the when I mentioned like the Bananas. I just mentioned the fact that like people share about them knowing about them because of the social media aspect, and so that's that was the main.
Like comparison, or at least goal that I was trying to get to.
But that's that's similar to like Division one or professional they're trying to get the word out there about their team, highlights, things like that. And but as far as our goal, yeah, I mean there's a possibility we end up playing a team like the Bananas or something. We're open to anybody, especially if it's competitive, competitive, especially if it's entertaining. We are playing you know, old school baseball. We're not necessarily playing a different rule, you know.
We we we use.
Umpires from local you know, a local association, and they've coached everywhere from major league, minor league spring training, you know, off to high school tournaments, college, so we have you know, just from that to the good fields as Reed Park. We'll get into using Cherry later. We'll be at the key No Stadium. And the whole goal is to bring our team and our opponents the field of professional professionalism, but as well as the chance to get seen, scouted
and just experienced exposure all the above. We we want to bring that that baseball.
You know.
Love.
I'm not saying it's gone, you know, but when the minor leagues are gone.
It was kind of just like, you know, we're here and I played for the twoth on.
Tomorrow, so it's and it's not like no, no knock on them, but you know, they do play here three months of the year and and.
Then they also travel. So that's kind of our goal.
Our goal maybe is when we're when they're gone, there's still two some baseball to be watched, you know, and we're going to try to be here involved in the city throughout the year as much as we can, and maybe not so much you know, on holidays November December. But that's like I said, we're not in the league, we're not in a season. We're we're open to any competition, especially if it is good, Like we want to play college teams, we want to play other independent or professional teams.
We have close you know, friends and people that that are on our that have their best in you know, know, our best interests that that they know where we want to go. They have their connections, they.
They have their needs as well.
So we've already kind of talked a little bit about having guys go certain parts of the country, if not the world. But yeah, it's exciting, it's it's something that I'm looking forward to every weekend, you know, my family looks forward to and you know, and.
Now that we're involving with the.
Community especially, we want to get.
Involved with youth, running camps, clinics, doing things like that.
Before the season, especially before the fourth of July game, we want to do a meet and greet, you know.
Get players to meet up with the team, get involved.
Get players to know the city, city gets.
To know the players the team, and it's going to be going year to come.
We're gonna play a lot of different places other than Arizona. We're actually scheduling.
Games and Globe games in No Gallas.
Games in Yuma and Rocky Playing, and yeah, Phoenix. We have scenic games in Phoenix next weekend. So that's our goals to represent Tucson in in uh southern and southern Arizona.
We might take some trips you know, elsewhere outside of the state and coming up.
So the league, so there's no real league, like you said, you said it a couple of times, So now you're just kind of scheduling in advance to wherever you can get a game exactly.
Will you guys open up this Saturday right though against the.
Yeah, Angels are a local, they're a local men's team, and then the week after that it's the same kind of situation. But all these teams that we play have you know, guys that either played collegeball, ex pro ball, and so the teams that we're playing up coming up this this month, and it's.
Not to like, you know, take away anything.
From those anybody, you know, all of us are you know, just going.
Out there doing one hundred percent. But we're still establishing.
Imagine this month as like a spring training version and then our opening day would be like fourth of July. After that, we're gonna definitely have an establishment of teams because we'll.
Be doing split squad. We have enough for two teams, and that's that's.
The goal, is to get guys reps, get get them some type of stats, get them video footage of them, you know, making great plays, good hits, and yeah, it's it's all kind of like we're all guinea pigging this. We're all figuring it out as we go.
We know there's a lot of room for growth and and learn, you know, things to learn, but the the main goal is just getting the best.
Possible quality of baseball on the field, wherever, whenever. And also with that being said, we have sponsors, uh that are helping us out that I would like to think and shout out RCD Demolition, Rolie's Mexican Patio right way, heating and cooling, We have Edge Barbershop, myself mar Shops, and then we have ah, we have a few other people helping us out as far as like not just.
You know, sponsoring partnerships.
Right so like like Young Mac Films, he's doing a lot of video work, Jersey plug they're they're helping us get our jerseys, you know this this first season.
And and we also have our our coach, Mike Benson, he has his own brand, Athletes for Equality. They're gonna he's gonna help us out with merch. So we're we're still you know, seeking partnerships, sponsorships.
We need, we need any help we can get, you know, as far as just getting the word out.
We do our part Our jerseys.
Coming up that we just ordered have our sponsors on there. And so we've gotten a lot of compliments on the team colors and the jerseys, and from what I've seen so far, as far as you know, we've been practicing since April.
We've had you know, the tryouts. With the tryouts, really.
We're scrimmages, and so we've been playing games since April with maybe one or two days off, one weekends off.
But the team's looking solid.
We have some really good.
Players that there deserve to be.
Playing professional baseball, you know, and not necessarily working.
Out here in this Arizona heat.
You know. I mean, we all got to do what we got to do.
But these guys have put in some work, you know, whether it was college or some other pro ball.
And well, Marcus, Marcus, we gotta go. We gotta go to commercial break. We appreciate you luck, but it's going to be at Repark, you said.
Okay, yeah, party of five.
Okay, Well, we'll talk more about it once we come back from the break. Thanks a bunch of Marcus. Good luck to you.
Guys, Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Less you have a website, you have a website.
They don't have a website that I know of, but I know they play this Saturday at three pm. At re park Field five Angels. Okay, we'll talk more about it. Thanks.
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This is I on the Wall on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Want to take part in the show Call out steam now went five to two oh four one six seventy four forty.
Hey, welcome back to wile about herel Fox Sports fortun Coofie arn Ski, Riverta and today with me is Jaba morelest Blom and work on the board. Now on the phone we have a former you of a baseball star, Wes Clements and broadcaster. Are you doing?
What's what's going on? Guys?
No, We're doing okay. Hey, has you have a figured a way how to put them put you in their luggage to take you.
I don't.
I haven't got that call and not a chance as they fit me in a suitcase.
Well, you are kind of a looking charm, right.
They have done well.
The last three years when I have done that, worked their games, there's no question about it, all the way from three conference tournaments ago in the beloved Pact twelve where they got to the final against the Oregon Ducks. Ironically that that ends up being the regional that the Cats win, and then what they also got the Hope that year, and then of course last year at the last final Pack twelve.
Conference tournament they won that. And then.
Actually last year though I was at HI Corporate when they won the Pac twelve regular season championship, had that three game series against the Beavers which was incredible, and then of course that's been Eugene this past weekend. So yeah, it's done.
Okay.
I don't think what was that twelve and one something like that that they've done when you're broadcasting the games in the last three years, something.
Like that, Well, they went to a three of Oregon State. I don't know how they did in the tournament when they got to the final against Oregon three years ago. I know they went through the the other side because they lost to cal in that in that tournament, but that could have been the only loss.
I'm not sure if they were under seated last year in the tactical tournament.
It's just amazing.
You got you got to see them finally this year up in Eugene very you know, they they were dominant all phases and pitching, hitting, defense. I mean, they couldn't play any better. Really, just talk about now, Arizona will go to the to the World Series.
If they do what coming up.
Here against they'll go to the They'll go to Omaha.
They need to play super regional.
There's eight super regionals that will start this weekend.
There's sixteen teams left and the winner.
Of each of these super regionals will end up in Omaha to play for a Natty.
What do you think they have to do against North Carolina to keep this going? What do what do you expect out of them?
Well, and this is no disrespect to the last two teams that the Cats played in Utah Valley and cal Pally, but they're going to see some much better starting pitching and bullpen pitching from.
The Tar Hills.
Uh, this is North Carolina team that finished second in the ACC. There's as hot as the Cats are. They swept their ACC Conference tournament. They lost one game to Oklahoma and then turn around and buried them for the title to get to the Super Obviously, they're going to have their home crowd with them.
You know.
That said the.
Cats had faced tremendous peach pitching in the Big Twelve tournament as well. I didn't score a lot of runs the last game when we won it.
Did I just say we? I guess I could say weeks.
I'm not I'm not working with anybody right now, but we. I mean we were shut out until the ninth inning until Andrew Kane came up and hit that game time home run.
So it is again, you know, I think the weather might play a part back there. I don't know.
That's one yard that I have not been to, so I don't know the wind blows in and blows out. I know there's a lot of runs scored in every regional as well, But you know, conversely for North Carolina, they're gonna have to face our pitching as well. And I think as good as some of our starters have been, I don't think they've been consistent speaking of our starting
pitchers week after week after the week. But when each and every one of our starters has been really really good at some time or another during this year, our back end of our bullpen is it's real good.
And then of course with.
Smith Bailey, the freshman who started in the game plinter of the Eugene we just got to hang on to this kid.
I mean, he was a special Yeah, he's special.
So you kind of alluded to this just accidentally. But when you're in the booth, having been a former U of a guy, is it difficult being not biased when you cover do I'm sure it is. You do it, you know, flawlessly, but you know, deep down kind of maybe is it difficult?
I got to tell you, you know, it really isn't.
I guess I've been doing this for over a decade now for ESPN, and even if I'm not doing an Arizona game, Arizona's will come up, I mean, scores, whether it be the Pac twelve games that I did, and and if unless I'm working with somebody who's going to bust my chops and talk about my cats or so on and so on, like Roxy, I'll bust his chops on because he's a cow guy.
He went to cal But I really have not run into that that, I will tell you.
The only instance where I showed my my colors was ironically in High Corbett, where I also happened to play for the Toros there and played triple A ball right there for the Astra for a couple of years.
It is.
That when.
Who got to hit the right center Xavier? Was it summer to when the to walk Oregon stayed off two years ago?
Oh?
That was.
That was summer? That was summer Hill, right.
Yeah, yeah, that's what that was summer. Okay, So when Mickelacus was at first, I know that and once when he got hit, and of course the place was electric at High Corbett. But when that ball hit the gap and I knew that he was going to score, I was doing a game with Darren Sutton and I stood up And that's the first time I stood up and put my hands up in eleven years of working a game,
and I caught myself. And in this era of social media where you have cameras everywhere, I put them directly up, literally straight up, two hands up, and then I put him down as fast as I could and then looked around to anybody see me.
But that seal.
I mean, that is the only time that I've ever shown any love for any team in the boots whatsoever. But it's not, It really isn't, because if you get locked into what your job is, it's the same thing with you. Right if you're talking to somebody, or you're talking to two people, or you're gonna talk to two coaches, you're not gonna and they're gonna come on and in the consecutive hours. You're not going to show any bias towards either of them, because that's professionalism and that's what
you're gonna do. So I'm just gonna tell everybody what I see on both sides, right, and I'm gonna.
Go out of my way to make sure that I do not if I'm gonna give.
I mean, for instance, when we played cal Pauly to win it on Sunday, I may I talk probably more about Larry Lee than Chappelle and and and Trip Couch until Vanilla and advanced, Uh, just because I mean number one, he deserves it.
He's a legend. In college baseball. But it's just you know, part of the profession, you know.
West with this uh bananas and the you know, the the dyeing of the hair and all that and the fun that this team is having you play for Jerry Kendall. So let me ask you, what what do you think Jerry Kendall would have done in this situation with with these guys?
All right, so you open the can of worms here. So here's what I'm gonna tell you. Uh, we see it all the time. Now we're in a different era and I and of course social media is so a part of everything.
But what I can tell you is that.
The kids and the players will will only.
Do what they're allowed to get away with.
Mm hmmm.
So their behavior is a learned behavior.
They're the dudes that these players, current players saw playing MLB and playing League Baseball. Dance, danced around, they did pirouettes sometimes around the base, They went into dugouts, they did some celebrations, they did all these kind of things.
That's what they grew up with. It's it's their generation as their era.
M my honest opinion, and I'm quite certain that players don't do anything that their coaches don't allow. Players will get away with whatever their coaches allow. And so I mean, look, ship, Chip, Chip Hall played for JK.
He knows.
Look, we were talking to him on an in game interview during one.
Of the games about that. I was going to ask you about that.
And mclacis makes his play. It spends around and everything it makes it play and and Chip goes.
Roxy made the call, and and Roxy says good play. And Chip said, yeah, it's good play.
No chance would coach Kendall allowed me to do what he just did because he and then he actually did a voice over at JA.
Yes, how was that was that spot on?
Yeah?
He again, I said, on broadcast on Friday.
Night, or excuse me, Sunday night. We didn't understand at the time why JK Coach Kendall was so.
Ah.
He always wanted to concentrate upon thements, no matter what, he always wanted to do it a correct way. It's a fundamentally sound way. And it was over and over and over and over and over again. And we're just players.
And sometimes we'd talk amongst ourselves like, what's the big deal we got it out? What's the big deal we got the out?
On and on and so, but you don't recognize why he did what he did until you start to play the game at a high level. You get into pro baseball, and you understand that everybody that you're playing against the very first year that you play in a ball was the best player on their.
Team in college.
So now you got the best of the best, and those best to the best are going to separate to go to two A, double A, and the best of those are going to go to three A and it's going and the guys that move are going to be the guys that are fundamentally sound and do everything the correct way so that they don't have any baggage. And then when you get into coaching and manage it in pro ball, then I mean, that's really where it hit me.
And everybody that's manager's ever played for Arizona will tell you that a part of their coaching came from JK. And that part of the way they talked to the players and explain why it's important came from JK.
Right, he was all the way up to Tito Franklin.
He was he was straight and narrow, but he also was affable.
I remember he would call me Julian Haave or whenever he approached him for an interview. So I think he would you would welcome this, and and as long as the guys were winning, right, if they were winning, they're playing well, he would be.
I don't want to say he'd welcome word, but no, no, he wouldn't embrace it. He wouldn't welcome it. It wouldn't happen. You know, it just wouldn't happen.
Listen.
I mean, I know he's probably looking down and seeing it all and saying, boy, boy, boy, am I glad I'm up here?
How are you allowing this to happen?
Well?
Yeah, it is kind of like you know, old kind of those kind of things, and like Chip, I taught you better than that, And how dare you allow your players to do the do it the wrong way? But again it's you have to be as society of alves and everything else is, including sports. If you're going to be that dude speaking of a head coach in college baseball, Now that says, okay, nope, you can't do any kind of line celebration after a home run in twenty twenty five.
You're you're probably not going to have a lot of kids and want to come and speak for your very true and it is what it is. Now do most probably not like it? Most head coaches probably answers. No, they probably don't. They probably don't. I'm not big no matter what on celebrating when you're losing a game, right period. I mean, there's no the goal is to win a game, and if you're losing, why are you celebrating?
Right?
I mean that's something that rubs me the wrong way.
Well, we gotta go, we gotta go take the break now. Hey, appreciate your time. We'll see what they do this weekend. Thank you very much. Qus you well, thank god, thank you. Yeah, Wes Clements, we got to go real quick. We're going to get ahold of Steve Strong now after this one. Yeah, if you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
Now.
Take a look back at the Ludolsen 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 Lut is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one Email me at Steve dot RIVERA ninety five at gmail
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This is I on the Ball with Steve Ramera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio just search Eye on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to I'm the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera, and today with me is have you and Morales now on the phone. We have Steve Strong, former you of a baseball star and national title holder back in the day.
How you doing, Steve good?
Thanks for having me.
Guys, Yes, yes, I know you've been on the show before. We have Andy Lopez on tomorrow. And I don't know why this came over the weekend, just in my mind because I've covered basketball so long and we know how difficult it is to win a title in basketball, but I'm thinking that it's probably more difficult to want to win one in baseball. I don't know if you want to agree with me disagree with me, but I'm sure it's very, very difficult because of all the teams that you have to go through.
Yeah, long season, multiple regionals, and you're seeing, like you said, you've got to beat different teams, different pitchers, and with with baseball, you're you're kind of a different team every night depending on the starting pitching. So yeah, it's it's certainly a challenging, challenging task to get to a national championship title.
You you won one in eighty six with Chip Hale as one of your teammates has had a great team that year. What are your thoughts about how he's been able to develop the last four years as a head coach at the college level with Arizona. What what do you see out of out of his team that you that you expected that he would be able to do.
Well?
You know, I think, like anything, it's a learning process and ship coming out of a long pro ball coaching career. Those seasons are one hundred and sixty game schedules and and you've got a lot longer period to kind of let things play out. College game the college.
Season shorter, and there's a greater sense of urgency to win.
So I think that first season he had to kind of adapt to that mindset of every game means so much more as opposed to that one hundred and sixty game pro ball schedule.
So, you know, that first year was certainly a.
Learning curve for him from that standpoint, and then you know he's gradually kind of blended the pro ball mentality of realizing it's a hard game, it's still a long season. Can't play it like football, where you've got, you know, one game a week to really ramp up for.
But also understand that a college game with RPIs and everything, there's a sense of urgency to win every night and and you try not to let any games to get get away from you.
So let me ask you. I'm not sure it's true, but I use the adage team's kind of take on the personality of the coach. If so, what does this team have personality wise? Having played for Hip, you know.
Number one, I don't think they give up at all. Number two, you know they really play together, that this group gets along, they're you know, they're just really rooting for each other. And Chip was always that way as a teammate. So when you're around them, you.
Can see that they like each other.
You can see that they enjoy playing together, and and you know, they really feel like they can win every night out. So you know, they like to compete, and that was Chip's m o. He was a guy that loved to compete.
Now we we asked this question of Wes Clements. He was just a guest on the on the show about the you know, the extra extracurricular stuff with the bananas and the you know, and the dying of the hair, the mustaches and so forth, and basically just stay loose. And we asked him if if Jerry Kendall, how he would, you know, handle that situation. He didn't didn't think that it would would fly with Kendall. But do you I think you have a different viewpoint on that, right, How do you think he would?
You know?
I mean, I think West got the nineteen eighty version of coach JK. We got the nineteen eighty six version of JK. And just like any coach, you kind of evolved and and you know, JK was a strict disciplinarian, wanted to respect the game. But you know, just one quick story, Tommy Henzo, Dave Taylor would would play and garmle At would play rock paper scissors. Every day at practice. They stretched in us one line together and they would play rock paper scissors to decide who got to stretch
first in the front of the line. And then it gradually evolved into well, the loser had to go stretch somewhere and the two guys could send them to the centerfield or the dugout. Well. As the season progressed and things were going pretty good. By the time we got to the National championship game, that tradition kept playing out. Gar Malay stretched at the top of the Rosenblat Stadium and left field by himself. That's where they sent him, and Coach Kinnell was okay with that because that was
kind of part of the tradition. So I think, you know, Coach Kennell expected us to compete, to win, to be successful, but he definitely let guys kind of be themselves a little bit. So, you know, in today's world, the culture has evolved a little bit in college baseball, and so you know, he was pretty good at adapting to that. So you know, I don't think he would love it, but I think, you know, he would embrace the just the enthusiasm of the guys and joining the game.
So two questions, So did he have any superstitions? One because you know baseball players are notorious for that. And two, I think that Chip and we all content Chip varying degrees. Uh, he was getting some heat, probably really undeserved. It's just your thoughts on that.
Yeah, you mean Chips superstition, you know, a coach coach.
Coach Kittle and also he has any supersystem.
Yeah, you know, JK. I think he was just one that was never going to be. He would never let us touch the foul line. He always kind of jumped over that foul line when you go out to Coach thirty always went and touched the bag before he got in there the coach's box. I can always just remember seeing him do that.
You know.
As far as Chip, you know, criticism for Chip. You know, the expectations of Arizona baseball just go all the way back to the you know, the long success that it's had. The games kind of evolved with Nil and you know what's happened.
With the Southeast Conference and the ACC.
And the kind of money they have. I think the expectations for you know, Arizona baseball need to be high, but the people have to understand that they're going to have to operate in a different format. Right, They're not going to buy free agents out there the way Tennessee and LSU will, and so they're going to have to evaluate talent and then develop it. And they've done a
great job of it. I mean they've avout They've found guys like Mason White that get overlooked a little bit Crampkowski didn't really pitch his senior year, but they saw something in him. Uh, you know, summer Hill was not recruited as highly as the kind of guy he is, but they they saw talent there, they brought them here and and they've been able to develop that talent. And I think that's that's what they're going to have to, you know, operate on.
As opposed to have enough a large checkbook and buy free agents.
And so.
Sometimes that talent takes longer to develop, and nobody better at doing that than Chip.
And his staff.
You made a good point about that they can't really the transfer portal. They can't go out and spend money and bring guys here. They have to, you know, find diamonds in the rough. And it's and these guys have really come come, you know, come forward. We saw them in in Eugene, Oregon. A lot of these the relief pitchers that nobody probably has heard about the way they pitched.
Just talk about how Chip Hales has been able to do that, and is that going to be able to be enough in the long run for somebody, you know, like let's say another team throws money out of you of a player and they leave is you know, you have to walk both lines, right, So how do you feel like Chip in the long run will fare in that situation.
You know, first of all, I think the guys love playing for him, and you know, he's brought a sense of urgency, but he's also brought kind of a pro ball mentality. You know that if you listen to the kids, they call him Chip, they talk they talked to him like he's you know, he's a major league manager and their pro ball guys. So that atmosphere is is a little bit unique I think in college baseball, and and guys love being there, They love playing for him, they love pictures, you.
Know, really thrive under Kevin and under John and and and have a great deal of confidence in those guys in terms of developing in them. So you know, I think we can maintain and keep guys here because of that. Clearly we're in a super regional now that just kind of creates another level of notoriety around the country that you can come here and you know, Summer Hill probably goes in the first round this year, which means we're gonna have three first rounders in the last four years.
So you can come to Arizona and go in the first round, right, So yeah, I don't think it should hinder us. It's just there may be periods of time when we're developing talent and we're.
Not just gonna buy free agents to fill them in. You know, where we need a catcher next.
Year and you know, you go get the kid from Notre Dame and plug him.
In or something that's just not gonna happen at Arizona.
Yeah, no question, Steve, don't mind discussion. What do you do for a living now?
I've actually been with Meri Lance for the last thirty years.
Okay, well, I was gonna try to pick you if you were like a financial guy. We got about two minutes. How would you solve that problem though? Because you know what's the problem. SEC is going to buy teams and talent obviously, but you know, talent doesn't always win the day.
And we're talking to the softball team here, I mean, how are they going to get better even beyond what they've been because if you have to find players look to take the stack, how how is Tucson, little old Tucson going to do this?
You a well, I think you know from a baseball perspective. First of all, Trip Couch is a former major league scout that is a tremendous talent evaluator. He's a great recruiter. You know, he was with South Carolina when they had those great teams.
Uh.
He's a national guy. So you if you look at a roster.
We got guys from you know, Illinois, from Minnesota, not just traditional Arizona, California.
So I think they're recruiting nationally.
They're kind of gone to some cold weather spots where you know, they've been able to find some guys that are overlooked, and now they're starting to get a reputation with Kevin to develop really elite pitching. And you know, I think if you talk to the parents of these players, they love playing for Chip and I think they would endorse any kid coming down here.
So I think kids, I think they're going to survive on.
Saying that we can develop pro talent. And that's really what everybody, all these kids want to do, is they want to go on to the next level. Yeah.
I think that Tommy has that same philosophy. You know, you'll get some scratch, but you also have to prove yourself. Yep.
No, absolutely, and you're right.
I mean you look at the look at the postseason so far in the regional so not every SEC team, right, not even half of the SEC teams got through. So there's a lot of scrappy teams that you know, just played good baseball and beat up on some of the big boys that spend a lot of money.
So that's good to see. I don't think that will ever change.
You can get to this dance and the Pinto, yeah that's right, but I want to I want to drive the Mercedes.
Yeah, it certainly makes it easier.
Right, You look good, all right, appreciate your time, all right?
Yeah, take care.
Yeah, my pentos be getting beat up now, so you get it quite another one. Hey, it's still getting you from point A to point B.
That was and that's my point. I mean, if you one, coaching matters. Coaching matters, right, If there's anything I've learned, coaching matters. Could you have a good coach? They find ways to get you to play better, play harder. I mean, come on, we covered loop for a long time, right. Uh, he didn't have those a lot of the five stars ports stars he had starting out, but he put it. But he put them together to do their roles.
Yeah, and nobody better than that, right, right when you think about what he was able to do in the early years to establish Arizona, the development, you know, and he was a lot of like Wooden where you know, how you put your socks on, how you do things, and his workouts were very methodical. And I guess I did, didn't kind Kindle did that? Fundamentals? Fundamentals? Yeah, both West and Steve said it's just the same thing over and
over again. He's very straight and narrow, and he he expects that from this players sure to be that type of type of person.
Also, Yeah, and come on, how do you argue with the success that they that here's the here's the issue. Okay, let's assume they don't get past this, maybe get zero and two.
Is it a good year? I think so? I'm sorry, I know, I think I think so.
Especially to my point of the because women to the song of the Yeah, I mean, come on, you went forty eight and thirteen thirteen and it's not a good year.
Come on, really, and they they haven't gone this foreigner chip pail.
Yeah, they they're making that progression, right so that I think it's already a bonus now.
Yeah, sure, I totally agree, you totally greeed. We gotta go, ye Okay, well, thanks a bunch. Tomorrow'll see you for the last time. Yep, at least at least that. Yeah, when I'm running the board, So you have to send you some Salcea and some Brits. I want to talk about what you're doing tomorrow. Okay, I can officially say that starting tomorrow. God, I'm so nervous. Take care of you guys. Thanks, thank you,