Fox Sports, Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez Sound Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure your most prized Possessions katz R two SAD and iHeart Radio station Yet.
Figure out then, and everybody, Welcome to I on Ball, you know, Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Ribera. Look you got out of bed today.
Look you halfway decent well in this colorful shirt.
But you know I got out of bed and I got dressed up. Steve, I don't know what to tell you. It was the tough day yesterday. Yes, you're too I heard, well I didn't hear, actually, but you've told me, you know, yesterday was one of those days. I woke up at two thirty in the morning and I said, there's some things wrong with my body right now, and it's making noises that it shouldn't be making all in the mid session, and it was all bad all day yesterday.
Well, good to have you.
I thought you probably watched too much of you as football on Friday and then revisited it on the weekend.
You know, I was afraid that there were going to be jokes about that that I was sick because of the game on Saturday. The truth is, it's like I took the game and I'm like, Okay, that's what we're dealing with. They've still got they've got issues that they've got to fix. I think that they've got. There's there's a whole.
Lot more to.
Guys who aren't back that you know that they're missing from last year, you know, just who have left, who you know graduated or whatever. And then I think there's more to the there's a more of a transition than may maybe people thought there should be.
Sure.
Sure, So we'll kind of revisit the game again. We did that a lot yesterday when we finally got on, I had the Lamont Hundly on. We talked a little about a lot of well a lot about the football and then the more io and helped maybe affixed recruiting.
He said it doesn't.
But but to go back and Jim Culture and I said to him everything that we had talked about before, including Jim call off Friday, remember one the things that you said or we said could not happen happened, right. And it was the blowout, right, it was thirty one to seven. That's a blowout. And my whole thing and I said this a number of times yesterday. I was disheartened as an observer that they showed no life. It
was uninspiring, right, and that's it. Hey, I don't know x's and o's, I don't, but it was uninspiring to me.
Right, No, I it was. Yeah. I mean you just felt like there was no fire, nothing after that.
And I'm not sure why because they got off to such a great start after that first drive. You know, Kansas State went down and scored and tied the game. I might that, Okay, Arizona needs to answer back.
He almost did, yeah, and the interception right, and then then after that just kind.
Of nothing right. Defensively, the same mistakes over and over again. No containment on a quarterback who needed to be contained. You know that every every team that's got a quarterback like that is going to watch that film, and unless Arizona the coaches coach something different, that's what's going to happen. You know, you can see Arizona getting beat up by quarterbacks that run time and again. Defensive ends, their their edge rushers were going inside and I'm like.
What are you doing?
Even I can tell you shouldn't be doing that, right, right, make the guy go, you know, going inside, and then whoever it is, and they didn't do it the whole night.
Then they couldn't run the ball, you know, they just couldn't run the ball. And that was That's the.
Thing that you can go back and you go, Okay, they don't have the guys that they had last year.
They don't have Coleman, you know, and they don't have the kid who was there from New Mexican.
And and the line just is not very good right now. So so.
Okay, I'm gonna say this because I'm not going to apologize because I don't think I hyped. I didn't write much about anything this fall because I just didn't didn't have time I was here. And I don't think you, as a fan, didn't much of the hyping either.
You were just poor. But although we talk about I did about you.
Although you did kind of say over eight and blah blah blah, I'm sure that's reevaluated for you.
One more game. Okay, Look, I thought they were gonna the right game.
It's not the right game to evaluate because at the end of the day we said maybe two and two or.
Likely you thought, Yeah, I'm still thinking that they're going to go to and two and then it's gonna be what happened that. Let's say Texas Tech comes to town and we see all the same things and either they barely win or they don't win, then you go, Okay, this is not an eight win team.
Yeah.
Well, and I mean right now, I'm not saying that they're an eight win team, but I'm not saying that they're not.
Yeah, they just won't get there. They lose the Texas Tech right. Uh.
Yeah, there's so many things that we could talk about. Uh, there's a lot of heat on a lot of heat whatever that means to on bavers, you know what. And and and there's some concerns about Brennett. Yeah, there's three games in so let's not go crazy. Let's not let's not go crazy.
I got I got texted by one one of our callers who said, uh, that you know something about I can't remember if it was about Brennan or Babers, uh, saying, you know, the honeymoon's over. And I said, relax, this is the third game. This is the third game. Don't I said, don't be one of those guys that we're seeing on on social media who are already saying Babers needs to be fired and Brennan's.
Not the guy. Stop it? Do they?
So, you know the guy who tweeted obviously, as you know, are they invested financially on a team?
I think they are?
Okay, So that's a plus because you kind of have some say whatever, they're in fair weather fans.
Uh No, I agree with you. I agree with you there. Let me.
I'm just saying, was that we that's exactly what we didn't want to see in this game.
As a fan, you did not want to see a Zona get beat up like that. We talked about that.
But there's nine games left on the schedule. There doesn't This doesn't mean that that the rest of the that this is who they are. Let's not forget the the the game that that Arizona lost and it's twelve and one season. They lost by twenty four points. They got beat fifty two to twenty eight by UCLA.
Remember that game.
Yeah, it was a close game at halftime and they're no, well no, it was actually in the middle of here. But then they got blown up in the in the third quarter. I think UCLA scored twenty eight points in the third court, twenty one or twenty eight points in the third quarter, and yet Arizona win and won the rest of their games. This is not the end of the world on this in this thing. And you know,
somebody made a good point to me. The defense gave up twenty four points, right because they gave up the special team's touchdown. If you'd have asked me, would you sign up for Arizona's defense only giving up twenty four points to Kansas State? Will you take that? And I would have taken that. I would have said, yeah, I'll take that.
And I think.
Arizona's chances of winning that game would be good if they only gave up twenty four points. Now, none of us thought they were only going to score seven, especially sure after way they looked in that first drive.
Sure, sure, I'll say one of our callers. So I was texting me today, one of our friends. I said, you know what's going on?
And what's you know?
The team is looking good. So kat Cats need help and fans need therapy exactly pretty much.
Right. They got to get to work.
There's there's stuff, there's stuff that they've got to fix, and they've got to do and if they don't do it, then yeah, they're gonna have it's going to be a disastrous season.
What are the things? But I believe they'll work on them. They know what they've got to work on.
Sure, I was halfway critical on my story on Friday night, but I did like that Brendan said, I got to coach better. Yeah, I think you know, Dick Toby. That was from the Dictoby school of I got to.
I've got to coach them better.
Yeah, and he does, and he does because I'm not sure the uninspiring type of thing is coming from somewhere.
It's coming from somewhere because they have to be.
At the worst Arizona fans, everyz little players, basketball, football, anything, they have to play inspired because they're not the five stars.
Right, They've got to get out there and they've got to have some fire that gives them that extra extra staff, right, you know.
Extra whatever, and that's what makes them who they are, right, because if they don't have that, they're just normal team, normal team, you know, you know. I also wanted to get to a subject that I brought up with Lamont. I think it was yesterday, and I know we're trying to get a call on here and il you didn't hear this conversation?
When did they get paid? When do they get paid?
Oh?
I don't know.
So if they get you ever have a job that they pay you up front and then you either perform or don't.
Before you get you get paid every two weeks for the past two weeks.
Yeah, yeah, So what if these kids get paid X amount of money fifty thousand at the start of at the summer or whatever.
Right, what do you have? What kind of motivation do you have?
I mean, does does dj uangalle? Has he already gotten his million dollars or whatever he's getting or are they giving it to him over time?
Right?
Right?
And look at his performance? We have a call. Let's take this. Hi, you're on the r and I on the ball.
Hey, this is Robert.
Guys, you're saying that it's something that needs to be faced when we score twenty two points against Nau and then following it up with it for great perform seven point performance. What Baffedo's got to start being mobile. He's got to start running the ball, because what's he gonna do just sit there and go in circles like he look like the war When he does that, backward spin where he's instead of losing eights and nine yards, he's gonna lose twenty yards if he gets sacked back there.
What he's got to.
Be able to move the ball and run the ball to open up the offense because everybody's just gonna tee off on him. That'sal Kansas State. Why at the end of U game, I'm sure, So what what what's gonna change? I mean, what are they going to do differently that's gonna make the feet out of Benrick?
Well, they have to run the ball. The Jay talked about that. That's a must.
They have to run the ball, and they have to. They have to protect him better.
Yeah, he's having to run around back there in circles, as you say, because they're not they're not protecting him.
Yeah.
And I've seen three or four players where he had an opening to run six, seven, eight yards and he sits there, tries to just force the ball into somebody. I mean, is he I know he's a good quarterback and I know he can do great things, But I mean, is he afraid? Is he told the run or what.
Is the thing where he's not running?
We don't want him running every play, So when you need to pick up a first down to keep the drive going.
You need to do it.
Yeah, well that's not his first option. Obviously.
If he's back there, he's looking for his one, two, three options, And right now I don't think he has but two options. And that's Tim Mac and the kid from the Kid from Colorado, because that's.
All we had to see him looking around the field a lot of times. I mean, I know he's running a lot too, but sometimes he's just like he's focused on one receiver and okay, and then why don't we try like Speedy Luke? Why are we running him like keen sweets or something to open up instead of trying to go up the middle and every single run like we've done for the last hundred.
Years at Arizona.
Yeah, let me see something different.
Yeah, Robert, we got to get you off the line. Thanks for the call. But let me answer that. I think they're still not So how can I say this confident in Speedy Luke because he has one issue and we know what that which issue is right holding onto the ball h And that's crucial obviously. I think once they get more more comfortable with that, whenever that is, that'll happen more, Robert, but we'll see. Thanks for calling those, Okay, thank you, thank you.
Guys.
All right, we have another caller. Hi, you're on the Hi, you're on the R and I on the ball.
How's it going today, Brian? How are you all pretty good? One of my biggest concerns besides the offenses and defensive line everybody's talking about, is the lack of discipline on the team with all the penalties.
Yes, yes, and let me tell you, Brian, where does that come from head coach, from coaching?
Yeah, yes, yeah, definitely.
You know, and everybody can say, Okay, we.
Know they're they're struggling on the offenses and defensive lines, but they're you know, they're just they're throwing away drives or continuing drives to the other teams because of dumb penalties.
Yes, that's a it's a glaring, glaring problem for them. In three games they've got with thirty penalties in three games.
You can't do that, and a lot of them you shouldn't be doing at all.
I mean, there was a key, that key drive where they were moving the ball, but there they were going up ten and back ten, up ten and back ten in that, and there were like three holding penalties in like four plays. It killed them on a drive that looked like they were moving the ball, but they kept getting backed up because of that. So now I one hundred percent agree with you, because that's that's just that's
just the way you beat yourself. And I mean, it's hard enough to gain yards in a in a college football game without having to, you know, gain them over and over and over again just to get back to the place that you were.
I mean that.
And it's also it's also unfortunate, I mean, on the defense on a defensive line, especially all the players we lost from last year and basically setting up a whole new defensive line. And and I.
Understand maybe it does take a few weeks, but they have to start.
Showing from week one to week two a little bit better and week two to week three a little bit better, not like week one was bad and week two is bad and week three is bad.
Right, So let me ask you real quick, right on the positivity of a scale of one to ten, on the positive positivity of how you feel, where are you at to this point?
It's it's just hard to tell im. I'm of course I want the team to do well, you know, and they have they have talent to do well. Maybe we were a little over excited about going nine to three, ten to two, whatever. Okay, I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't I don't think.
It's going to happen now unless something really changes on this by.
Week, right, it certain doesn't look like it's going to happen.
Right, Okay, and so we are Let's.
Say we are two and two after four, and.
That's basically exactly what we.
Thought where we would be after four.
Right then, then to me, that's when the season.
Starts, in that fifth game. Yeah, no, you're right, that's.
Where they have to improve because I'm not.
Really excited about I don't think you are. I'm not, or many fans are excited about a six and sixth season.
No, you're you're one hundred percent correct percent correct, all right, Brian, Hey, thanks about it?
You go.
Okay, okay, No, we got to go here because we got to go here. Yeah, okay. No, I think.
Everybody, you know, the sensible guys who were calling us feel the same way we do, just just in observations. Uh, they're not down on them because they're realistically four and we said this four games in, we'll figure it out and then the rest of the schedule.
I mean, if they if they look a lot like this against Utah after two weeks of trying to fix their issues, if it looks the same, then you start to think this is not working well.
But there's a lot of a lot of factors that take maybe people.
Aren't realizing, one of them being there's more to the coaching transition than we thought.
That's what I've been thinking about it a lot.
Yeah, yeah, no question, new coaches, new system. But but it's the but okay, that's it. The penalty shouldn't be happening the little the little things.
Should right, There's some things that regardless of who the coaching is, right, they shouldn't happen.
All right, we gotta take a break. Okay, let's do that. All right.
Let's Mark Lunsford, Mark Classford coming joining us here after the break, and then we're going to have Eric Roads from the airs on a bowl in the second hour.
Let's tick around.
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Streaming live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez Fox Sports fourteen to fifty.
Hey, welcome back to Joining the Ball zero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jacobs Aus. Now on the phone.
We have forward you of a quarterback as former coach Mark Lunsford.
How are you Mark?
I'm real good, Steve. How about yourself?
Are you day?
I can hear Steve Kane.
Yeah, I'm going well, thank you.
Steve. Couldn't hear you there for a second. He's all messed up, so yeah, yeah, that's Mark. Well, how you doing. How you doing?
I'm really well, Steve.
How about you flying? Thank you?
It's been a while since we've spoken to you. We'll get to other things later, but what do you think about the EU of a program today? I'm sure you've seen the games.
Yeah, I watched very closely, and uh, you know, it's a new world out there, Steve, as we all know, and playing in a new conference that we don't know the opponents that we're playing and we have no history or record with.
Them, and you know, you're in the unknown world. And I thought we got caught off guard a little bit.
On some things, but you know, it's college football, and you know, some things happen and the game can change real fast.
Mark point.
One of the things that I've been thinking about since, uh, you know this with this game is that regardless of whether you've got a good team or whatever, there's there's a transition period getting used to each other. You were part of those right, you stayed through a couple of coaching staffs.
How hard is that is it?
You know, what are the types of things that you have to manage even if you know in this say, in this situation, as it's coming off a great season. They've got a lot of good players left there, They've got high expectations, but they're changing coaches. Regardless of how good they might be, they're still an adjustment period.
Is there not very difficult to get that continuity between the coaching staffs.
To begin with and then the players that are there.
And guy, can't even imagine the day with you know, the transfer portal and all that stuff.
You know, you've got guys that are from.
All over the country and you know, to me, it would seem to be hard to.
Build that continuity to where you know.
The kids know what you're doing, and you.
Know them, and you know, buying.
Buying in for maybe one or two years for these guys that are enter the portal, you know's there's it's a.
Whole camera of arms.
See yeah, no question.
So are there any secrets to making it work other than practice?
I don't know, man.
I would save today as you throw money at it. Well, back back back in my day, we were lucky if we got a free pizza somewhere.
Well, they're throwing money at it.
So let me ask you, if you were here for the for the you were here for the transition where you're not from from Were you here for the transition from Larry Smith to Dick Tony?
Yeah, you were right, you were on the coaching staff.
I was here for three transitions. At the end of my junior year, coacheng left.
And went to Purdue, and we had Tony.
Mason's friend and that was, oh, I don't even have I know, it's the PG show. You don't do it, but I will, I promised, I will only hang up.
I'll think about what I said.
The second one was, you know I was here with Larry. Larry was Larry was the defensive coordinator for coach Young and he left went to Tulane and then he he came back here and I had I'd actually left Arizona went to Purdue and was coaching the quarterbacks, but my fiancee, Maggie, was living here in Tucson, and when Larry got the job, he called and hired me to be the receiver coach. That was transition number one, and I think all.
The guys on that squad were glad.
It was breath the fresh air to have Larry Smith as opposed to Tony Mason risk. His soul just totally different. And but there were there were there were times, you know, the guys kind of looked at you sideways, like we don't do it that way, and well, yes we do,
and you know, you lose a little bit there. The transition between Dick and Larry to me was was really difficult because the players that were here, the Chuck Cecils and you know, all the guys that had been here a while and had been through everything that we've been through. You know, here's here's Dick Tolemy coming in wearing flip flops or you know, penny loafers with no shorts and no socks on and Hawaiian plaid shirts and you know, and everything was kind of Hawaii time, and uh, you
know it. It took a couple of losses and I can bigually remember one and I won't go into details.
We lost.
We lost at Oregon State and we let's stay. We stayed on the bus for a while, and we stayed on the plane for a while before it took off, and and we got home and and we met early that next day, so everybody was running on those sleeps, and we had kind of a jump and shout meeting and let the Dick was great man. Dick Dick wanted to know what the players wanted to know. He god rest is so I'm one of the best I've ever
been around. And Larry was awesome as well. I don't want to downplay that, but it just they.
Bought in and we went on a we went on about.
A four game win streak, I think, and then you know, we towards the end we lost one one one.
But when we got.
Into spring ball that year, it was it was.
Like night and day.
You guys were ready. They knew what to expect. You know, they knew what time they were supposed to be here, they knew when they got to practice, this is.
What it was going to look like. They knew what the meeting schedules are going to be looked like. They knew what the travel schedules, you know, so they it took a while for them to buy in. But when they did, we were we were really good.
But that but that is the bottom line.
It took a while because even that the Larry Smith's team, the last Larry Smith team went nine and three, I think right one, you know, won the Low Hubble and all that. Uh, and then they're going to and and people just expect, well, you were nine and three last year, so you should be really good again this year.
Which is kind of what's happening with this team.
And I don't know that people are realizing that regardless of how good you are or should be, the transition still takes some juice out of that.
It sure does. And and like I said, I don't even I'm not sure how I would handle what goes on in the world or college football these days. I'm still kind of old school. I know, Dwayne, Dwayne's old school. Dwayne's one of the best coaches I've ever been around. And Dino is a really good coach. And and you know, coach Brennan was lucky to get those two guys to lead lead those sides of the ball. And it's just gonna.
Take a while, you know. And and you're.
Right last year, last year's team, it took jad three years to finally have a really good team. And we were really good last year. And then he leaves, and you know, some of the kids stayed, some of the kids left. You know, they're not sure what coach Brennan's style is going to be like.
And and you know.
I wasn't able to go up. I usually go watch a few practices, but I'm, you know, with some medical stuff that I'll keep to myself. But you know, usually I go down and I didn't get a chance to be on the field and kind of watch the guy's coach and.
I don't know some of the other coach, not that means anything. They're all good coaches, or he wouldn't have hired them, And you know, it's just it looks like they just haven't quite meshed yet. I don't know.
And how do you tell. You know, you play in New Mexico, who gave us a pretty good go, which was surprising, and then we played in a U and that school was really surprising to me, and you just like, we're still it hasn't clicked yet, but it sure needs to click soon because watching a lot, there's a lot of good football being playing all over the country and it's a it's it's a it's a new world out there.
So someone you said something before before, uh that back in the day, this is not how we do things. I think that's what the guy said. And well, you have a new coach, do you think that's part of it? Because they were under under Jet for a few years and then whatever that coaches, uh the coaches philosophy is. And now Brennan kind of a laid back they told me style, and they're just not used to it because, oh, this is not how we did it before.
Very much. So you don't know how you've been.
You and Jay both been real lucky to stay in Tucson and and have the same job, so we've not had to transition into a whole new way of doing things. And I did it three times in the coaching world, but it was all at the same university. Thank God, I love you today. And uh, you know you recruit, you know you're going, You're going. I went in Teddy Bruce's living room many times, and Teddy chose to come to Arizona, and you know, he turned out to be
a great brother. Was in Chuck Cecil several times when he was being recruited, and he was used to Chuck was one of the main leaders on that defense on that team, and those guys were used to doing it to Larry smith Way because they'd all been recruited by that We've all sitting in their homes and made the promise that we were going to take care of their kids and this is how we do things, and this
is what you can expect. And then all of a sudden, you know, you you get a new coach, you get a lot of new players surrounding that new coach, You get a new position, coach, you get you know, just just different things that are difficult for these young men to deal with. And and god knows how who's all got their ears? You know, family, friends, parents, in il transfer portal, you're not getting dealt with fairly. Now you
got to stay and get coach Pard. You know, That's that was one thing about at least the old transfer rule. Unfair as it might might have been, you you had to stay where you were, and you learned to make the most of it. It wasn't fair, It wasn't fair, but it made for continuity. It made for having some good football players on good teams.
Does a loss like this can a loss like this, you know, because it was a bad loss, let's just say it. I mean, they nobody expected them to get beat the way they did, and certainly they didn't expect that. But can something like that kind of get everybody's attention, say, Okay, whatever we were doing that's not working. We got to do something else. I mean, can it be used like that? Will the coaches use it like that? Will the players recognize that?
Well?
I hope the coaches use it like that within the coaching rooms, because that starts with them, you know what they whatever plan that coach Brendan's moving has moving forward for the in a near future. It came out of that room on Sunday. Sunday was a long day for those coaches. I promise it. I bet long slide. I mean it's long. You have tough loss and you know those those are those are hard losses because you know, you know you're capable.
Of playing better than you did and.
You've got to determine in a real short amount of time. But you know this is a this is a turning not a turning point per se. But you know this could be a turnaround game for us coming up. But it's a very tough University of Utah. I have a lot of history view Tah and when I played, I.
Was in the whack and so were they, and they've been one of our key.
Rivals and we gave them pretty something, pretty good thumthing to him last year here in Tucson. And I know Kyle Whittingham pretty well, and some of those coaches on there, they have not forgot that we need to be ready because we're going in there. And and I don't know if cam Rysen was playing or not. I watched that game. He didn't play. The young man had played in his place and experienced.
And they're going to line.
Up and hitch in the mouth, and.
You know, on both sides of the ball, and we better be ready.
It could be a long day if we're not. And I guess I didn't ess I answer your question. Yes, I do believe if you can turn things around if you have the kids buy in.
You know, you got to buy in. You know, do we believe in what they're selling? And you know.
I guess I witnessed want with coach Tomy when when you know, the Oregon State and taken over for Larry, and I saw it real early when Larry Larry got here. After you know this this short stint that Mason had, the guys were just ready to have have somebody new and different.
Having been a quarterback coach here a few times, or at least one time, and then a wide receivers coach another time. What are your thoughts on Noah and his partner te Mec.
Been together a long time. They've been together a long time. I flashed back.
I know you guys will never remember the name read May. Read May was my high school junior high pop warner.
We knew each other from the time about eight years eight years old, and he was a wide receiver, and we developed a continuity that I.
Always knew where Reed was and he always knew where to be where he was supposed to be. I could find him and Noah and t Mac had that same dynamics. And tem Mac is a doll man. I mean, he's a real deal.
For I coached he was a long time. He's he's one of the better ones we've had come through here. And Uh, for you, you need to you need him. You need to get him the ball more than six or seven times, at least target him more than six or seven times. But it's hard, you know, because other team's got coaches too, and they can at least stop t Mac and we'll stop their passing games.
So you gotta and you gotta. You gotta build that around.
And that's a special bond those two have together because you know, he spent me and Reed spent a lot of time working.
Out together and we knew exactly what we're doing.
And just a little shout out to Reeve. League's been the head coach at Brownstown Central and in Brownston, Indiana, and he won his three hundredth game last year and he's four and oh this year, so he's been to school for thirty years and he's won three hundred plus games. Three hundred games. It's like ten games a year in his coaching career.
So I'm really proud of I say, I test my knowledge. He was he was number two? Was he did you have number two?
It might have been one, might have been, but he.
Was a little bit of guy nine, slot receiver, slot receiver, punt returner. I remember that guy smartest could be. Could you know you're telling you know, line up here and you know exactly what to do and that position flexibility was was important.
So just real quick to ruminiss Mike Flores wanted to say hello. He saw that we were going to come on, came on on Twitter and said, hey, looking forward to the car.
I can't even imagine the two of you guys sharing an office on what that had to be like.
Pretty crazy so when we when we call, call or text, what's up rooming? It's always we're rooming to each.
Other too crazy.
He's been helping me with my battle and he gets mad at me if I don't check in with him, but you know what's what's going on.
If we can, because we just have like a minute left. Mark, I know you didn't want to talk about it, but you're doing okay. You're healthy enough who are on the phone with us, which is great.
I appreciate that. It's good to reminiscent talk. I uh, I was truly blessed. I play with University Arizona and then coached here as long as I have, And all the kids that I coached and recruited that are growing up young man that still can't stay in touch.
With me this day.
And that's that's the rewarding part of it. Is you touch the Jay Dobbins life for Bruce Ki or you know guys, and and they still they still appreciate. Mario Hampton I talked to regularly, and Eugene Hardy. I could go on and on guys I signed, or that I that I coached. That it's truly a blessing and and I'm upset when we lose, and I'm happy when we win. And my room even know my room the U c l A got you a little brewing. He still believes Wildcat Blue too, So that's it's good.
Okay, Mark, thanks so much for talking to us and let us know how you doing. Thank you, man, appreciate it.
Mark, all right, Coka.
Yeah, let's take a break where just a tat over and get more calls. We've been getting a couple of calls here already, which is great. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
Now.
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Steve Ravera and Jacin Salez they have their eye on the ball on Tucson Sports. Stay yet Fox Sports fourteen to fifteen.
There welcome back to one. Involve your own Box Sports fourteen fifty m. Steve Babera, He's Jagen Sauce. You get about twelve fourteen minutes to differ. Call night. How about we want to review so fiery Tennessee. Well yet so Tennessee announced.
I believe either yesterday or today this is hitting the news today. I didn't see it that they're raising ticket prices football ticket prices in twenty for twenty twenty five, so next year fourteen and a half percent. But they're breaking it out to say that four and a half percent is sort of an average increase that they have to do to cover costs and YadA, YadA, YadA, but that ten percent is considered a quote unquote talent fee.
So that's it's it's something to pay their players. So what they're doing is they're saying, Okay, we're gonna we're gonna pay players competitively. You know, they're talking about this twenty two million dollars. It's part of this house settlement and all that stuff. So we're you know, we're but we're gonna raise it through ticket prices and we're gonna and we're gonna get everybody's gonna chip into this, whether you like it or not.
Okay, you just if you.
Got to, if you're gonna buy, if you want to come to the games, you're gonna pay for the players.
Yeah, so let me ask you this, because I don't know the structure. They're gonna raise prices to do it that way. So Arizona has the same conditions, right, twenty two twenty two million, what right? So they could do it that way is that part of it or they're gonna do it some of the way.
So let me say this to you.
I'll let you actually in the second So in the last few days, Uh, a booster at least who's been a booster for a while now has nice season tickets in the Sands Club and all that said to me, did you know that they're asking fans now to pay five thousand dollars?
Uh?
Just just easy really nearly just to help, you know, get better players. I think that's how they praised it. This is how the world is now these days, and blah blah blah. And I'm thinking I asked him, would you do it? And he says, well, I'll think about it, but just.
What that's how it is, right, you and I mean you and I don't have five thousand dollars, But they're going to their donor rate sure for this, Whereas what what Tennessee is saying is that we're not you know, they're they're they're talking about donor fatigue, and so they're saying, Okay, we can't keep asking question donors to foot this bill. So they're basically saying, if you want to come and see our games, you got to pay for some you got to help us pay pay the players.
You know what their secret is. One hundred thousand people, right and they're good and they're good. They're good right now right.
Okay, if you're in Arizona and they told you after Saturday's a game, guess what ticket prices are going up next year?
And you know my tickets the.
What do you the Waldcat Club Themount I think is one hundred and fifty dollars like that maybe particket per ticket, you know, so that if there's to the price in addition to the cost of the ticket.
So basically, if they say, okay, we're.
Going to raise uh, you know you're going to pay another twenty five bucks on top of an increase in the price, that you'll do it. Yeah, I'm going to do that. But you know, if you're buying those ten thousand dollars skybox seats or fifty thousand dollars skybox seats or whatever, and you're giving money in all these other places, what are you going to do?
What do you going?
Okay, you know I brought I brought this name up and you know what, you know, I've always been that way. Don't pick on the kids because but not that these kids are making so much damn money, I'm picking on them.
No, No, we talked about this month, and I'm picking on DJ Yu Young Gallele.
Okay, the quarterback who started at Clemson came to Oregon State. We saw him all last year, never was impressed with him one time that I saw him play. Florida State decided to take a chance on him, and Florida State brings him in as the as the guy who's gonna take him to the Promised Land after going twelve to oh last year and probably giving him I think I don't know if I since they probably I think I saw he's getting. He's got a seven figure nil deal
going and he's terrible, and they're zero and three. And if you're a booster that that got asked for money to help us get DJ, how are you feeling right now?
Like crap? Like buyers?
Do you want to go to the athletic directors say give me my damn money back?
You probably want to, but you probably can't because you saw you probably can't.
But but okay, but the next time they come and ask for money like that, what.
Are you gonna do?
Hell no, hell no, Again, that's what I'm saying. Are they getting paid upfront or on the back end? Because again, if you're paying me a lot of money, what do I have to do to get the buddy? You know, I've already got the money. I stick the kid from Oklahoma two years ago, the quarterbacks who got two cars got two cars left, and then because he was horrible, it was terrible. Hey, it's a weird world we're in in college football, in college athletics.
Because people are raised and tickets.
I don't I don't get it, Jay, And it's not gonna change though.
I don't know how. I don't know how you sustain it. Okay, So let me ask you this.
Don't you think Tucson, Tucson in general, that's all the one in generalize are more like you and me than like the hoity toity people.
Who have money. Oh yeah, So, how how are you gonna How are you gonna find five thousand dollars? How are you gonna find?
Because the story that you've got coming out, in the story that you've got coming.
Out in this tis soon and it'll come out next month.
Talked about how the eighty one percent of their corporate sponsors are local companies?
Correct? How can you keep feeding off of those year to year? How do you do that? Yeah? Go ahead, all right, we got a collar.
Hi.
You're on the air and I on the ball.
Hey, it's us Goode.
Who is this? We broke up? You're breaking up a little bit? Loop? Well loop? Did you see who he was? Okay, now we can Yes.
Okay, it's who's your Tommy?
Sue? How are you good? Tommy? How are you?
I have one important question about the football team that I haven't heard the answer to yet.
Maybe you guys have covered it.
If we have the answer, they've got a big problem. Okay, go ahead.
The thing I need to know is what in the world is this green plant or green snake or whatever coach Bennon has around.
His new those are those are it's a it's a lay and it's a traditional Hawaiian lay, and the it's it's a it's a you know, in the Polynesian culture, it's sort of a a.
Thing of.
Sort of an honor if somebody gives you one, and and sort of you know, and with all the Polynesian players in particular nor Fafieda and and and team AC, I think it's Norma's grandmother. Yeah, one of the one of the grandmothers of either nor Fafeeda or tam Mac gives these to the coaches and and they're like, if they if no Fafita's grandma is giving me this, I'm wearing it. But it's a it's a it's it's a traditional it's a it's a Polynesian custom to to wear
these in you know, times of honor or whatever. And so their gifts to the coaching staff, and the coaching staff, not wanting to piss off families, is wearing them and so and you know, I mean, I think Brandon's basically said one of his press costumes said, if if if Noah's grandmother is giving me.
This, I'm wearing it. No apologies, right, and no apologies.
And look, if anybody thinks that that has anything to do with how they're.
Coaching, you know, So tell me why did you bring it up?
Yeah?
Do you feel like there's something to it?
No, I when I'm watching the game, I'm I'm I can't tell if that's a green plant or a green snake or.
Around his neck. And I didn't know that.
I didn't know the background on it, and I thought, you know what, what the heck is going on?
And can it's.
It's folly, it's it's a you know, it's it's it's a it's a.
Lay with you know. That's what they look like.
They vary from like the one, the one that they gave him for the for the opener was a big fat thing. Maybe he said, look, you know, I'll wear it, but I can't have something that heavy hanging around my neck while I'm trying to run up and down the sidelines. So they've kind of toned them down a little bit. But it's sort of a there's some honor honor to it and some uh I don't know if there's a
good you get good mojo from it or whatever. But more than anything, if it makes the star players, families on the team happy he's wearing it.
I have no problem with it. Can I order one online?
You there's places you can get them, you know, I honestly I I remember being able to order one for my daughter for her college graduation. Yeah, there's places you can order those. You can probably order them here in Tucson.
Tommy, let me ask you, are you are you a booster? Are you a.
For Arizona for India.
Oh both, yeah, either or both.
I'm a very small booster for Indiana. That's my alma mater, and I root for Arizona unless they're playing Indiana. But I haven't contributed to Arizona at this point.
What you have for Indiana? And then how's that going? How do you feel about that?
Well, I mean you you want to win and you want to contribute, so I feel okay about it.
I'm not giving tens of thousands of dollars, so I'm just I'm just doing what I can from here in Tucson.
But you know, right, you know, we look pretty good.
Against UCLA Cincinnati Signati looks.
You know.
He came in saying a lot of brash and bold things and so far has proven it.
But we're only three games in.
So tradition of Indiana football says, let's let's talk again after we played eight or nine games.
That sounds like, all right, thank you so.
Much, appreciate the keep calling.
All right, I have a good dad.
I've had people say to me, why did he take those damn things off? I know, I'm like, what do you think he's the worst coach if he doesn't have him on.
He has n't if he's wearing one.
And it's not like he hasn't heard that already, because he didn't. He brought it up and he and he says, if they want me to word, I'm gonna work. So he he's heard the stuff. You're here, because why else would he say I'm not taking it off unless they stopped giving it to which of course, you know you can appease the players right right, And look if and the and the and the grandma mean no, no, it's a non issue.
It is. It's well, you know, when you're losing, you fight, right, you find anything you know to pick on.
The super bottle, I was dating, what's up that pimple you have? Like you know, you know you're drinking soda times dying?
Did you hear that the booster busses ran into each other?
Yeah, yeah, that's how bad it got. That's it was probably the first block they had all night.
I'm like, what can go wrong? Just so bad? It's just those things that happened.
They just I think from from your fan perspective and everybody, they've got to get better, fewer turnover, fewer penalties, just get better.
And look like they right. The frustrating thing of all of those is the penalties. Yeah, and I was no question.
I was pulling my hair out on that drive where they had they all of a sudden they're there, you know, have a second and thirty because they had three penalties on back to back to back plays and I'm like, what the hell are you doing? Yeah, what the hell.
Are ye especially the same ones. I'm not sure that the same all those holding penalties that they had.
And it's crazy those ones that have got me in the first part with the personal fouls, the just one those cleared up right, yeah, the after the whistle files, but all these holding penalties and stuff that they had was just it was just nuts.
It just just drives you crazy. Okay, let's take this call. You're on the air and eye on the ball.
Hey guys, this is done. How you doing good?
Don You got about uh two minutes? Two minutes?
Okay, Well, now that the football season is over, what go why?
What?
Why?
Why do we think that the basketball season is going to be any better?
Don You're in the dumbs man, Holy cow.
No, no, I'm not.
I mean that every everywhere I read, everything I saw, we had no shot last week. Even you guys were down in the dumps about it. Well, if they can play well, which they didn't, you know, but again, new coaches, new schemes, still getting to know each other. I think everything that was out there for him is still out there for him.
But well, well let me let me say this. And we brought it up with a little bit with Mark Lunsford. You know, Dick Tomy's first season, and I remember having this conversation with him with Dick the next year when I was covering the team, and I asked him because down the stretch, after getting off to not a great start, they beat Stanford, tiede Washington, lost a very close game to USC and then tight ASU And I said, what something changed, something turned, And he talked about that Washington
State game. They'd gone up to Pullman, they got beat forty five to twenty eight, and in the aftermath of that, and that's the point that I was trying to make with Mark Lunsford. He said, that's when the team kind of got together and realized this is the way it is, so we've got to make the best of what we've got. And from that point on, you know, the team was sort of all on the same page finally, and it
took a transition. Even though Dick's a good guy, Larry Smith was a good guy, they were coming off a good season, there's still a transition. And that's what I was trying to get out with Mark, and that they took a beating against Washington State and came back from that trip and kind of fixed everything. You kind of hope this is that game where they can kind of look at themselves and fix things.
I don't know, hopefully.
I mean, I think that football is so much more sophisticated nowadays that maybe these guys can don't have to wait till the middle end of the season before it does start clicking, you know, because you know, the players are getting used to the coaches, the coaches are also getting used to the players.
And I just.
I'm still optimistic. I just like to be pessimistic.
On the radio.
Yeah, all right, don we appreciate. We got to go. We've got top of the hour. Do you sound too much like me? Stop it don't sound like that. Have a good one, Thanks you too.
We gotta go.
All right, we got to hit the road. Top of the hour. We're gonna get back here. With Ryan and he's gonna have some breaking news for us.