Steve Rivera and Jake and Salez. They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Stage Jack Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live. I mean, iHeartRadio.
Wapp Hey, welcome back to Ian the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. E's Date Silver.
Now we have Ryan with breaking news.
This is Eye on the Ball breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
All right, let's get started with some Arizona athletics news, starting with volleyball. They closed out their non conference run and they finished with an eleven and oh record.
Yeah, the competition wasn't all that great, but we talked about this before, Ryan where and they know this because Ada had to go through it. They have to learn how to win, right because if you struggle for all this time and then they don't know how to win, well, now you know how to win. Whether they win or not in the tough Big twelve, because it's very tough. At least you're eleven zero.
Yeah, they're gonna be it's gonna be tough, but it's not going to be the Pac twelve. That's I think it's gonna be maybe a little easier, hopefully for them.
Yeah, outside of well who are the powers? Well, Nebraska's not in the is They're gone, right, they're gone. Texas they're gone.
They're gone. We'll see.
Well, that's what we've talked about with Jay a number of times. Uh, David, I don't know how you feel about this. The move, although troubling from the Pac twelve to the Big twelve was troubling. I think, you know, you didn't want to see it happened, but it gives there was on a better chance of success.
Do you agree? I agree.
I you know, I don't know how much baseball's played in some of these places. I mean, I know the Oklahoma States of the world have been pretty good for many years, so that's going to be interesting. But some of these sports, it's going to be a whole new ball game going into places where they're unfamiliar, and yeah, you know, we don't you know, we as fans and reporters will have to look up some of the history and sort of see how these programs have done.
One of the things that I got one of these questions today, you know, how how's the basketball team that looked at him taking good I've never not said that in thirty some years. Right, you look good, And I said, but be be on the alert that they could finish third or fourth in the league, but still have a chance to win the national title, right, because they're gonna be better for it.
Yep, They're gonna have all these games and you know Baylors and places like that in Kansas, Houston, Houston and TCU and some of these programs that have been in final fours and been in big games.
It's gonna be it's gonna be fun to watch for sure.
Yeah, okay, right. Arizona center Avery S. Couggins was named the Big twelve Volleyball Rookie of the Week.
Cool.
Cool, I mean there's a lot of things going on. We had the coach here maybe about a month ago before the season started, very direct, very uh, and she struggled in their first year, right, Yeah, most people do, or most coaches do. And now, like I say, the winning like this beats the alternative.
Yeah, let's hope that they have some momentum maybe heading into their conference and some bigger games, because like you said, they're their non conference wasn't super difficult, but they got through with victories, right, beats the alternative.
Right.
Week three of the NFL completed yesterday. I think one of the personally, one of the biggest surprises was the Commanders over the Yeah, last night.
That was a good game last night. It was exciting. It was better than the other one.
God.
Oh the Buffalo games. Yeah, it was like Jacksonville, what's up with that?
Not good? Buffalo looked pretty good.
There was.
It was a crazy week of upsets. Again, are you in survival pool? No?
We no, I know this is not for that reason, but week two for survival polls wiped out a ton of people. Yeah, Becau last night last week. Okay, so there's very few people left and those pools. But the funny thing about it in sports, and I got on Jay for this because he did this all time. You played well on one Sunday and.
You look great. Dallas. I'll give you Dallas.
First game they played and they beat Cleveland. They did him pretty well, pretty easily. Dallas is going back to the super Bowl. They look fantastic. A week later they looked like Crape.
I think the NF fell more than anything is like that. You just cannot predict. I mean I was looking at it like, oh, for sure, the Raiders are going to win. Carolina is terrible. You know, I picked him in two pools and right, so you're out too.
No, I'm where there.
We have a three and out situations. Okay, I'm down to my last one already in week four?
Wow?
Yeah, and all these these games, did you ever cover Antonio Pearce?
What do you remember? He was tough?
He was he was a good middle linebacker. Did he come in as a j Z transfer? Do you remember his personality on going hitting the personality He was one of those guys that you know you'd go to for for.
Post game and stuff.
Yeah, okay, because he's another guy that And I said this yesterday, it's tough to hire the substitute teacher for the head job. And now he's going through stuff that every coach there for a few years have suffered, didn't He.
He was pretty vocal about this team's performance too. Right, he's looking at making some changes. Great quotes, he said, yeah, they made some business decisions.
Right, which is a great quote. They're right.
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Farvre disclosed during a congressional hearing on Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Does he say how old? How does it say how old he is? It's got to be about sixty two ish, sixty three ish? I think, I think, I don't think he's younger than me. Maybe he is fifty four fifty wow?
Wow wow.
And they talked about concussions and things like that, but I'm sure that's I'm not a doctor, so I wanted to say that that's connected to this, but you know, you never know, you never know, right, Uh, Lions fifty four?
Yeah, wow, he doesn't.
He looks a little bit older, honestly, based on he looks a little bit older Lions head coach Dan Campbell. And they came out and said that one of the classmates. Yeah, the daughter. Interesting story. Daughter released the address on us.
Were you here when I talked about it with Jay maybe Monday? Today's Tuesday? Will you here Thursday? Maybe Friday? We talked about it. Yeah, we're thinking how crazy that is. And yeah, the investigation showed that it was one of his friend's daughters, a classmate of Yeah. Yeah, and then it happened in a while back. It happened in January.
And Dan playoffs, I think was right.
They lost, and they lost and he said, well, I was just I didn't think seriously, just having fun with it. It's like these kids calling in for stupid bomb scares and all that. No, dude, this is serious stuff. You don't come on it's dangerous. How sensible?
Yeah yeah, I mean, you know, it's I hate to say it, but it's kind of nice. I don't ever remember this happening before.
No.
Usually, you know, the coaches have privacy and.
No right right she again, that wouldn't fly here though, because you kind of knew where everybody lived, I mean over there you need that.
I mean, and fans are just cuckoo.
Yeah yeah, and these coaches are you know, they're corporations.
There are big, big time money now too.
Yeah yeah, well you were here, were you know, you were not here for Skywing And we had him on the show maybe a month ago, and he misses the kick for usc against you see, No, I was here that day, that was here, that you were that we had him on.
Yeah, we had them on.
Okay, yeah, yeah, so we have people giving him death threats. Yeah really really damn draft kings. I mean, people are yeah, they're spending money or ending money and then they're expecting wins like that, right, don't do it.
It's gambling.
Yeah, well that happened. I think it happened last year in the playoffs in the NFL playoffs.
Huh.
I mean it was like the year before the kicker like missed the field goal, like a game winning field goal, and then like after that, he just starting in death threats.
Yeah, and his family, right, it happens all the time. I'm go after somebody and their families were. What they need to do is go out to the people that do that.
Yeah, you know, well hopefully they catch him.
Back twelve, they are filing our files a poaching comedy lawsuit in federal court. That was Tuesday, that was today included in a football scheduling agreement. It's I'm with the Mountain West Conference back in December.
Yeah, well you know there's there's they got poached. Now they're doing the poaching, and then the poachers who were not being poached or poached are going to be poached.
You know how that goes. You know, it's just the way of the world.
The dominoes again, Well, it's crazy. I don't even know what to say.
We talked about earlier with San Diego State and some of these other schools. You and lv is just kind of hanging around like they're waiting.
For something, right right, Well, New Mexico too, Yeah.
But I mean you and Elvi again, I would think they would be a natural of all places with with the giant stadium and it's all the politics trade of Yeah, it's all the politics now with them and Reno.
Yeah, with Reno.
Yeah, it was like New Mexico or Arizona Narisola State back in the day.
Right.
Yeah, So let me ask you this is just decide you have more a lot more. Oh okay, now you can going up to ask this question later. Switching over to MLB Detroit Tiger's starting pitcher Terry Scooble or schoo Ball, I.
Can't remember how to pronounce his name.
He won his eighteenth game, and he is lead or he's continuing to be a candidate for the Alsion Award.
Is he the leader in wins? I don't think so. Eighteen No, but.
The Tigers kind of like came out of nowhere. They were they were not even talked about it in the old picture. He has almost as many wins as the Chicago Whites Great Stadium.
By the way too. I was there a couple of years ago.
Detroit, Detroit Comerica Park, beautiful stadium right right next to Ford Field where the Lions play. Tons of baseball history when you think about Detroit, I mean going on, you know, back to Ty Cobb and people like that. But they had all kinds of great statues and what time, what time of year it was in May, the weather was nice, and Detroit downtown.
I mean you hear all these stori right, it's been fixed up. Yeah, it's it was really cool. I was there back when Arizona played and when Shan Shan, when the Miles Simon was there in like ninety seven eight, when he was out academically as to play a game Michigan. Yeah, I was cold. I just remember being cold. It was out out not I drove into flew into Detroit and went to somewhere else, but I played Michigan. I think
it was some something it was. It was cold and it was awful, and it was you know, get the hell out of DODG. But yeah, I'm not a fan of Detroit.
Yeah.
Well, we had a good time. I was with my college friends and stuff. So we got around the summers in Detroit are different than town Museum things like that, Summers are different than winters of Detroit's true.
Yes, right now, the Tigers are sitting in the second wild card spot. They have a half game lead over their division rivals, the Royals, who are trying to lock up the third and then you got the Twins. Mariners are right there game and a half back. So it's going to be a tight race for the wild card in the American League.
Yeah, if you guys talked about the brilliant season the White Sox have had, yeah, that's unbelievable.
That's unbelievable.
Yeah, but they I mean, come on, they were losing big like the first month, right, they were losing, so at least they're consistent.
They haven't they haven't hit like a hot streak yet.
No, God, how could you? What kind of players do you have to have on that team?
I don't know.
We saw I actually we saw them play to this this summer. We were in New York and they played the White Sox. They played the Yankees. I know the Yankees won, but I don't even know anybody on the White Sox on their roster.
Part of your success, of my success, I won't speak for you, but I don't think I covered a losing team all my career. Wow, I don't think I covered a losing team. Oh my god, Dick Tomy didn't have a losing career, did he?
No?
No, But I didn't cover the team I didn't cover. I was in the first three where he went. He was like seven to five ors, you know, whatever it was, and then Loot obviously didn't.
So I was spoiled. Spoiled.
But come on in your time, well you Macavic, were you there for mac?
Was there for Max? Right away?
That the worst year early stoops heres were pretty rough and that wasn't covering.
I covered them a little for Fox, but but not like my day to day stuff. Yeah, you know, never come so it's easy going into winning locker room god.
No kidding, but it was there were there were not too many of those years. You always kind of there was always a glimmer of hope. Especially with basketball, there's no I mean, obviously they were very good almost every year. Yeah, but some of the other sports, I mean, it was it was tough to cover him and sometimes he even as a reporter, you're just trying to justify, do I need to really go.
Out there and cover this. Right.
You know, women's basketball teams not doing very well. Does anybody care?
Right?
So you tried to not get too caught up in that.
Okay, so Scoogle actually has he has half of the White Sox wins because thirty six, Well that's crazy. Charlie Blakeman, full time All Star with the Colorado Rockies. He has retired after fourteen seasons are pretty good. I think he had a pretty good a career. I enjoyed watching him. A good defense and he was a thread at the plate as well. That's about all I got today. So you got a little couple more minutes.
Now.
I'm trying to remember what I wanted to get back to you on What was I talking about?
Man, don't get old, dad, I don't know. It sucks ahead of you in that category.
There's like, I have something else. I think this week better be good. The I think Arizona hockey starts.
Okay, the first season, uh, Arizona Hockey, I think so the which ones?
I think the Wildcats? Oh, the next they had a I think it's their first season as a Oh it's a real team. No, they couldn't be a real time. They're a club team. They've been doing this forever with the with the Weld.
The Ice Cats for years, and then they switched lost the Ice Cat's name.
Yeah, okay, let's just take a break. Let's go here and come back. We're gonna have Todder Walsh talking about the Goodld days, seeing what's going on in Phoenix with McCoy and some of the other things. Steve Rivera here to talk about Doratle Rock and Materials. I needed a lot of gravel for my driveway, so I called Eric at Dorato Rock. He found out the amount and color I needed and boom, it was taken care of and at a great price. How do I know radio commercials work.
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Steve Vera and Jacob SAMs. They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Stay chat Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports watching fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Dave Silvert. Now on the phone. We have Todd Walsh. Todd, how are you?
Wow?
I'm really good. It's good to hear your voice.
Steve.
Hi, Dave silver How.
Are you, Todd Walsh? How are you good? To hear your voice too?
Oh? Man? This is great?
Can I just hang out and hang with you guys?
So we're doing yeah, okay, we'll buy you, you buy us whatever.
It'll be cool.
Okay, okay, that's been cool. Well we bish you down here. How you been everything else? You are you busy? Are you hoping that for the playoffs? What are you doing?
Yeah, I'm actually sitting down the first base side here at Chase Field, and I just had some pre production elements for our broadcast tonight.
Just talk to Tory develop but.
Your coach Brad Strom and people and to so I'm sure recognize and aget for the next biggest game of the year, which is tonight with the Giants.
Magic number is four with five to go.
If you told me that in April, May, June, or July, I would have said, I'll take it.
I'll take it. I'll take it. So here we go. This isn't work. This is fun.
Yeah, it's been a great, great year basically when you think about last year at this time, how things evolved and developed and continued all the way into the World Series. And I mean this has been fun to watch, honestly as a baseball fan here for a long time to see a lot of these young players develop. And it's gonna be fun to see him in person, just kind of growing up right before your eyes.
Yeah, and it's also been maddening and frustrating for a lot of people.
Here that are so close to it because of what happened last year. They got spoiled by.
That run into the World Series and then the litany of injuries that just boggles my mind. If you talk about three starting pitchers, and you know, a gold Glove catcher, a gold Glove first baseman, an MVP candidate, starting short stoppers, and all are your.
Left fielder, your center fielder.
Goes on and on and on, and yet here they are, and there was a World Series hangover early on.
There is absolutely no doubt about it.
But I think the key here and especially in Phoenix, for this group is there is a need, just an unquenchable desire for sustained success, and that's a big cross to carry here in the Valley. It seems like every team has that issue, and the Diamondbacks, I feel like, are on the cusp of that. These guys are the core of this team is going to be here and they're going to be good, really good for a while, and we haven't really seen much of that over the
years here. Spoiled obviously because I grew up in the shadows of covering Loudelsen, so I know what sustained success is like and man, if they can get into the postseason. No one wants to play this team, nobody. It could be another magical run, who knows, but they got to get in.
So it's smarts tonight.
We'll get to loot in a little bit because he just had to would would have been his ninety uh birthday, But we'll get to that in a second. You're one of those dudes, Todd. I think I'm safe to say this that you love going to the park. You're a great storyteller. You enjoy what you do. Uh and back to back years have been pretty good. It's and it sucks being suck covering up. Dave and I were talking about sucks covering a bad team. You haven't had that over the last two years.
No, not in the summer and while there was a never mind, well there was a hockey Well while while there was a hockey team here, I lived at more often than not. And then to turn around and you know, parachute into the season in May, which is what I've been doing for the last twenty five years or so.
It was always refreshing. But I will say that the coolest part.
About it in the last three or four years is that the franchise has sort of mirrored each other in their evolution and where they were at, you know, a very clear and obvious rebuild. They didn't go halfway in, they did it full bore, and you accepted it. And then you watch these prospects come up and they got to play, and they weren't ruined by playing. It developed, and at this.
Point in my life and career, that's all I can ask for.
Like, somebody asked me today about the stress of this season and they're all upset about the game last night.
I'm like, you can't I couldn't wait. I couldn't sleep last night. I know you guys know this.
When there's a big game and you know you've got a press pass, you've got one of the best seats in the house.
I'm sitting in one right now.
I couldn't wait to get to work.
I mean it's you know, I have a U of A degree in my wall somewhere and that's great and help me get here.
But I still haven't worked yet. I'll call you when I have a job.
Don't because it sucks, you know, you know what I mean, Yes, of course I'll tell you. Just get a hold of Jay. He had to go find a real job, exactly right. Quick question about you mentioned it real briefly about hockey. I mean you were so associated with that franchise.
What is it like for you now? I mean the exhibition Games will begun and you know they're gone. Are you okay?
Now?
I'm okay.
I'm so associated. It probably cost me a job.
And I know that they wanted a clean slate in so many different areas, and that was very It was a long year and a half. It's been how do I put this, It's been illuminating to see where.
The direction went and then my place in it.
I'm very happy with twenty eight years, which blows my mind.
Going coast to coast with the Coyotes.
I don't think anybody in the NHL ever dreams and things like that. I know I didn't, and so I'm very happy that I've done things that I never possibly could have imagined the course of my career covering the National Hockey League from you know, writing and hosting a miracle on ice event in like Acid with those guys too. Gave a speech for Dave Straight or the late Dave Straighter at the Hockey Hall of Fame to hosting a Shane Dones ceremony and being around these guys every day.
Traveling all over with America. I can go on and on.
I never, in my wildest dreams thought that could ever happen, and it did.
And I was lucky enough when.
It ended to be able to speak my piece because of a weird series of events that happened throughout the course of the night. I was all alone in a set and I wasn't supposed to happen away, but I was.
And I just I said goodbye to hockey.
I said thank you to hockey and the game of hockey and the people in it. And I got to thank the fans for going along on a torturous ride here. There's nothing as mercurial as being a Coyote fan. And at this point long answer, I'm okay, but I'm not going to get a paycheck in a week.
For the first time.
Year, Farewell was memorable. I mean I watched it and it was amazing. So it was.
Out of body, dude, it was it completely out of body. It wasn't supposed to be that way.
And I mean, but I just I remember starting like here we go, and I don't know, I just kind of felt like it was the way it supposed to end.
And I'm okay with it.
I've got some unique opportunities that may be present themselves.
They better or my mortgage company will has I thing to say for it.
But I haven't had a winner where I've not been traveling since nineteen ninety six. Yeah, so you might see me down there a little bit and that will be good for me.
I would love to be down on the round and that that would be great.
So Dave, do you collect stuff? Do you just kind of say stuff I have?
I mean not lately, but get through my career, I said a lot of things.
So Todd of knows exactly where I'm going with so he has the most unusual stuff, Like, you know, I saved the signature on a piece of paper and it's still there somewhere and he knows where to find it because it's in his grudge or so. So with that, with that sentimentals goodbye to to the coyotes. What would what did you save? You had to have saved a ton of stuff.
Wow, Well, first of all, I'm not a hoarder.
Sure, okay, you can actually you can actually walk through my front door and get to the back door of the house relatively painfree.
Wow.
What did I say from that night? I didn't save as much as you might think, because I was it was so frustrating.
Uh you know, I make sure.
I got a game program and I got a puck. But the point of that is I always knew that I was saving stuff along the way because I'd probably use it again in a broadcast. And I honestly, I walked down the building, I'm like, what am I going to do?
I actually threw out.
They had a goofy mullet giveaway, an actual mullet, a wig of a mullet an opening night at Mullet Arena, and I saw it the other day and I went, no, got to grow up when I walked in and I threw it out. So I have a few things. That night, it was more about people in the moments. There was just a parade of people that I hadn't seen years that wanted to be at that game and we share time, and you know what, that's more human and saving some inanimate objects.
So maybe I've yeah, turned the corner. I don't know, I.
Hope So all right, Well, well I know this because of the loot stuff. I won't go there in a second, talk about your McCoy stuff. You had something on Twitter today, yeah, and.
I if you can go there, it's Todd Walsh.
I started working with Alan nineteen eighty eight when I left part of the Sun's broadcast the Kareem post game shows, and we just became friends and peers, and he was a mentor and.
Talked.
You know.
We worked together for five years and I left kta R, but we still stayed in touch. And then in the last couple of years we kind of got back together again and we to show at his house the story of his career.
That was remarkable.
The one thing I remember more about that show, though, was I had to drive out from downtown to his house to do a separate interview and we were in rush hour traffic, and that's the moment I remember the most.
But I was two things, if I could.
I was selling a story on the air last night when I first got here. Greg Shulti, who was always putting me on, always putting me on the air, always giving me a shot, and one night he said, Hey, I've got an Ashue game out of town. Why don't you do the Sun's game without so I lost my marbles. I'm twenty four years old. I just left the basketball program at the U of A. At basketball is in my head and I'm working a Sun's game with Al.
So I call everybody on the planet, anyone that I could think of, and then I start doing research and homework and I go.
To the shooter ound and I mean, I am like so uber prepared.
At least I thought I was that tail next to al Courtside Coliseum. I couldn't even feel my feet. And right after the ant before we came back on air and out looks at me, he goes, so, listen, just keep this simple. Just give the score one come out of break and I'll take it from there. And I just like, what But but you know what, I know why he did it, and he was right. But the rest, as they say, is history. But we did something. And
I know you guys can appreciate this. In the nineties, when I was working with Julukava, we had a four hour talk show and it was the only show in town. Talk radio wasn't what it was now, but there was no baseball here, so we had four hours a night to fill and it was hard. In the summertime. It was really hard, and we used to come up with radio theater or event radio. Once a month we'd have
a theme show. And one time I sat there with Jude and a conference room, I said, why don't we have some fun with the Sun Celtics triple overtime game?
Why don't we do a whole show on it?
Greatest game ever played in NBA history at that time, bar none, it was pretty much standard thought.
So for about a month we worked on the gust.
List and we had John Halchek, Tommy Heinsen, Jojo White, Dave Collins, Dick ben Arsdale, Paul Westfall, Richie Powers, Jerry Colangelo. I sat down with the original recording of that show of the game and pulled clips with Brent Musburger was on the call with Miny Rudolph and Rick Berry. Pulled it all together, a mosaic together, and in the final hour, this is where we get a little crazy. We recreated the ending of the game and we called it the
time Machine. And so I went to Paul west Fall and said, listen, this is what we're.
Going to do is going to be fun. But how would you have tied that game? If you could I will.
I want.
I won't change the ending to you winning it, but we're going to just put it into the fourth overtime. And in second he's like, okay, well, here's what's going to happen. They didn't bound the ball, and then to get the ball, steal the ball, probably get it down the floor to Curtis Perry. They'll find penalty streaking and won't have enough time, but they'll get a bank.
Shot off and they'll make it. The'll go it four oft times.
Okay. I go to Dick Van Arsdell tell him that.
Paul says, you're going to make the shot.
Dick ben Arzel says, well, yeah, but I want to make sure it's over gone.
Nelson, Okay, whatever you want.
Turned to the corner end of the.
Story, walked into Al McCoy's office and I said, play with me here, Al, this is what we're doing. And he had a big gleam in his eye and he's like, okay, okay. I said, well, here's the play, and I described the play. He took out a piece of paper and he scribbled down all the guys that he knew that were on the court as the game ended, and he looked at me and put his hand over one of his ears and took my Marian's tape deck and he said, you're rolling, And then he recreated me in the game that is
on Twitter right now audio. It will curl your toes and it's a it's my ode al. It is one of the most remarkable things that I've been around in my broadcast career. He just he just recreated the ending and sent that game into the fourth overtime and he did it without blinking his eye.
It's remarkable.
So if you have it and you can get to Twitter, plug it in and.
Just give yourself a little radio theater at the theater of the mine listening.
You know, he's part of that that amazing generation of broadcasters in the NBA. I guess maybe even Johnny Most was even older than them all. But I mean I grew up with Bill King and then Chick and al that that group. I mean again, they were so influential
in my thoughts about getting in a broadcast. And I grew up literally in the Bay Area with Bill King all in the air all the time, doing the Warriors and doing the Raiders, and then later doing well he did baseball early That's the other thing too about Al was that, you know, he was pretty embedded in Phoenix a lot long time before the Suns even showed up, right, And wasn't he doing gener League Baseball?
I did an Ashu.
I think he did the Phoenix Giants in nineteen fifty six.
Yeah, and then he was.
One of the original voices of the Phoenix road Runners in the late sixties and early seventies. His broadcast partner was Hall of Famer Mike Lang. The Hockey Hall of Famer. Benny did the Suns. He also did We played this last Night on our show here in ninety eight ninety nine. He was part of the stable of announcers of the Diamondbacks. So when Brenley and Brennman left for network duties, Al
which filling on the weekends, and he loved it. And I worked on a road Runners exhibition game with him a thousand years ago against the Kings, and it was like it's like he was literally doing hockey.
His whole life.
Wow.
It was just that good and a jack of all trades. So the Autumn Wind wasn't raidered dame.
By the way, So so Tug just saw that this week they showed it again somewhere.
Yeah, so let's let's transition. We got to just a couple of minutes. So so Lou Lou would have turned ninety a couple of days ago. But you, you know, have you been alive. You can ask him again to get a job. Can you explain? Can you explain? Can you explain the job that you tried to get you back at the day?
He uh, when I foolishly quit my job at Canst because I thought they were revolved run and all my problems and travails and just I just blew it. And I went out and loaded cargo planes and emory to the split shift at the airport and wore a red jumpsuit every day with a reflective device on. Somebody that I was working was said, dude, you're not supposed to be here.
And I realized I just destroyed.
My entire education and everything I can do it with basketball and the blessing that Brian Jeffers gave me and all of that. And I went back to him and I said, can you help me? And it was to get an off air job and kat r when the Cardinals came out, and unbeknownst to me, he had made some calls. I sat with him in his office and I had to explain why I did what I did, and no one had ever made me do that before, right, And he accepted it, and then he said, let's let's
put this back together again. Long story after that, when I got the job, my boss, my new boss, called me and so you tell this basketball coaches stopped calling got the job. So before I go though, I'm gonna just say this, I'm gonna tweet a picture from Todd's garage from here at the baseball stadio. Okay, when I think of what I think of and I'll get it
to you guys. The media cover from eighty five eighty six where all the coaches are standing there in hard hats because he made a promise of hard work and a promise of victories and a legacy and he delivered. And that feels like a thousand years ago and it was forty one years ago, and it.
Blows my mind.
Right.
No, No, he has some great stories, and he had like four different great stories in the book, just so many, you know, going to get the job. Originally having to talk to Scott Thompson in the flood the loot with his job. I mean, come out him saying Todd, you should have never left us in the first place. You know whatever it was, you know, disappointed in you because you left us and you had to explain why and all that stuff just good stuff.
Well, but I.
Will say, and Dave Silver, I have no problem saying this, and I can say it's to you, Steve and Jack McGruder and Greg Hanson and Corky Simpson and Tom Doudelson. I was in proximity of people that I didn't realize then, but I.
Do knew that I know it now.
I was watching you guys put out your business and how you covered a team, and how you.
Dealt with players and coaches and moments.
I watched it all.
When I give speeches to college students that all want my job stupidly and foolishly, I tell them my little secret, which is you don't have to just be on camera at Cronkite.
Get a job at the athletic.
Department, find a team that needs something around this. But I would go to every single Littles and press conference from day one. I would sit there, eat the lasagna that they brought out.
Yes, but I watched how you did it.
And I would turn and watch your shows at night, would read your bylines, and.
I am a product of that.
I just feels like every five years I sent an email I cans and thank him for helping pave the way.
Last night I saw Jack.
Lacruder, and I I just feel like I was so lucky to be around people that were true professionals and understood this business because it is not an Instagram account, it's not a tech talk account. It is a nuanced and very very difficult thing to stay it on the right side of the time. And I'm just glad for me that it started the two soon with all the people and more than I just mentioned.
Well, thanks great stuff, Tom, Thanks a bunch. Ben.
We'll look forward to that photo because I know you have it somewhere.
It in a second.
Okay, Okay, thank you man, Good to talk to you, good to hear from you, Great to see you.
Right Okay, tanke care, Thanks, thank you.
Todd Walsh obviously with MLB a good, great storyteller, right, so many, so many great stories in that book with him. Let's take the break. We're running late, so let's go. If you're an Arizona Man's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for newly forty years now take a look back at the Ludelsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them,
competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Lout is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. What one email me at Steve dot RIVERA ninety five at gmail dot com.
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Three Steve Braverera and Jake and Salez.
They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Stage Chef Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live.
iHeart Radio.
Wap Hey, Welcome back to Why on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Steve Roverta in with me today is Dave Silver Ryan this manning the control. If you missed some of the segments of Early, we were not part of the first fifteen minutes, but we're still gonna have it on the podcast.
A great interview with Todd, a lot of fun, fantastic. I mean again, we've known him for a long time and it's just been fun to watch his career kind of side by side with Tucson and Phoenix.
And you know.
It really was sad watching the end of the Coyotes because he really was part of that.
I think I missed his goodbye.
He did like a I don't know, maybe a five minute monologue I would say, where it was just really heartfelt, well written and delivered.
It was this perfect way to kind of wrap things. Let's say goodbye.
Yeah, I didn't realize twenty five years and we've been here forever. I know, I have you been here forever?
Todd?
He said eighty whatever it was when eighty four, I think it was when he first started.
Do you feel old? He was talking he was talking about putting a pick. I remember that picture very well. Yeah, Kase Thompson, Ricky bird Song, lutes and they're all wearing hard hats. You're going to build the program whatever it was, And they did, and they did those crazy media guide covers in those years too, which we all used to look forward to, sure, sure, and how they were gonna be presented.
Yeah, No, those were definitely the good old days.
People who kind of there's a lot of people who are not from here and haven't been here for a long time. They come from somewhere else, so they don't know what we're talking about, but back and if you're an old school dude who kind of listens now, and most of them are, they know what those that success felt like.
You know, I've met a lot of people really through the years who had been here before that. You know, Oh, I've had my tickets at McHale since the seventies, you know, before Loude arrived and this and that. So they appreciate it, But you're right, there's a lot of people who probably half our population was not around.
No question, and you could tell with football because they're not from here. They don't have that heart felt love for the team because they're from somewhere else and they go to the games because they like football and college football whether they're from Wisconsin or Iowa or whatever.
Well, you're gonna find that in Arizona. I think in California too. Like we were talking earlier about these Midwestern teams in the Big Twelve that have you know, these are life long fans of Kansas State that everybody you know from many generations have been going to those games. I'm assuming yeah, as opposed to hear right right, we'll see what happens. Let me just kind of read this real quick to get some Casino del so love out there.
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we'll let you know when that happens. They used to have, if I'm an amazing happy hour over there where you get a hamburger and a drink. And where was the casino? Okay about which part of it it was. It was kind of near the lobby of the hotel was in the casino really okay, but we used to go out there. Maybe in the last five years, maybe they still haven't do it anymore, but it was. It was a great deal.
Oh check, No, they have some good They have Moby's and the Mobis we go to all this time. The pizza place, I don't know what it's called. I don't think it's the rest. They have the u u U right because the Strongs used to be there, used to be there, ume. And then the steak place, so it's a good place. There is a taco place. Uh they still have that.
Yeah.
Yeah, they have a little Mexican food there. Yeah. So I used to go get the happy hour out there.
And I'm playing there. Eat the Uh. The tortilla soup is very good, all the all the stuff is pretty good. Yeah, and so the Beigo food too, because you know what a Freedo pie is, Yes, you do.
I think there's a lot of people don't.
Yeah, we used to make those, you did, Okay, So you know in Santa Bay, it's like a staple and I make him at my place with my chili and blah blah blah. And there's few people that even know about it because you put chili on pie and put tomatoes. Yeah, they're good and they have a good one took. Yeah, So that's why I brought it up.
Okay, I have to.
Come out and visit you guys when you do your show out there. Yeah, yeah, because I've not been I've been in the sports book a few times, but it's uh, I just I'm a chicken when it comes to gambling.
Oh yeah, no, you're smart. Don't do it.
I'll tell Jay to tell you how to do it. And now that it's god, I'm not going to be talking about a whole lot.
Of it's I mean, that's an interesting business too with you know, everything's on an app.
Now, sure, but you can't use an app. I guess when you're in there, right, they have it. They have it.
There's a what do you call the fencing, they're fenced out. Okay, so you can't use it because they want you to use them, but pretty much you could. You could go anywhere and start doing that stuff, you know, horse racing or you know fan duel, draft kings or MGM or whatever. It's crazy. You know, before you couldn't do it at all. Now you can do it anywhere. Yep, most anywhere, because some states do. You can do it in California. You still can't do it. Correct, you still can't do it.
The one that's amazing to me is the pitch speed in a baseball game.
You can bet on the speed of the and it's a bit hard to do it on TV because it's a delay. Oh yeah yeah, so when you're watching your phone, it's not syncs up with the game. But so I've been to a few games, like in the summer, it's like, oh wow. I mean you can literally bet on every pit.
That's crazy.
Like they say with the gamblers, I'm going to bet on that cockroach, meaning to the roof.
You know, you can bet on anything. It's just crazy. Don't do it.
Don't do it, uh, Dave, you're thinking about maybe being with me every now and again.
Well, you know, the pay is so good anytime. No, you don't.
You don't worry about payday. I don't worry about pay. This is really fun, Honestly, I appreciate the chance.
Yeah.
No.
In fact, last time you came on and it was like days back.
Yeah. Did you see some of those posts? There's a days back because you posted something I'm gonna be doing. Yeah, it's nice. Yeah, you're found your back in your niche. So we'll see, we'll see what you wonder if anybody even remembers.
Well again again, you've been gone so long. It's like me, uh and my name was what it was back when I did my the the newspapers, right, because I cover the team, and when you're visible like that, A lot of.
People today, who what'd you do? How long you've been gone? Where do you been? I get that all the time. It's been like ten years? Right?
How often you watch right and you have directed ozeable face up saying yeah, when did you do your last show?
Yeah?
Yeah, I get it.
Yeah, But sometimes it's good because you can walk in the mall and nobody knows who cares who?
Yeah for you anyway for you on my glasses in baseball, had nobody had clues to who I was?
Yeah?
For me when you're in the newspaper business, right, I'm just another dude, which is fine.
You know.
Back in the day, I had my my mullet, well my bullet, you know, and now I don't.
Who are you? Yeah, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. What else? Anything else? Were about about three? Four minutes? Right? Four minutes?
Okay, we got anybody wants called, we can we have a time five to two oh four one six seventy four four. You can feel free to call in. We haven't heard anybody today or from anybody today.
Looking forward to football this week, I guess with the Cats having a week off and see if they can kind of recover, rebound or whatever the word is.
The only thing that can't happen is they can get blown out. They can't look like they did two weeks ago, where it's oh, we're here and then we can go home. I mean, I don't remember, and I was gonna ask, oh, your toughest game. I still trying to figure out what I was gonna ask you. But you went to games periodically probably one of the games that you hated to be at, and that's a tough one.
But that's not that's a big result, because it's just just you knew that it was gonna be tough, boy, because there are some of those you knew Loot would.
Come out and be po or whatever. The football I'm showing nack of its time.
I remember, you know, for some reason. It was kind of late in his career. Was when we played North Caro. Whenever I was gonna play North Carolina, that was bad. And that was when I were destroyed. And that's so funny because that was one of the last games, one of the last games of his career, was it. Yeah, yeah, it was. What was that postgame situation like, oh, I don't remember, I don't you know.
I just remember they got their butt kicks.
I was covering Marcus Williams, Marcus william It was twenty fifteen, sixteen, So.
I just weren't many of those. There were very, very very few. I'll tell you.
I'll tell you I can take a hand the Utah game in the tournament, yep ninety eight get their ass kicked, and who thought that was going to happen? LSU up in LSU Stroll, Miles Swift and Jabari Smith kicked the crap out of Arizona.
That was the game.
I think that Ricky Anderson didn't play because he had done something violation wise. The there's been a few the North Carolina game, and that was if you if you were there. Yeah, the tickets were going for unbelievable prices and Arizona didn't play.
You know, it's funny. Here's my one little anecdote I remember about that. For some reason, Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals was in Tucson that weekend doing some kind of a promotion.
North Carolina game. Yeah, okay, for some cell phone company or something like that.
We went to interview him. He asked me for tickets, like Larry, I don't think so, Like Larry, you can't. And I think he was there because he did come to some games eventually. Sure, Barkley was at a few games. Barkley was a few games. Don't you remember Donald Trump going to a game? I do remember that, like the early nineties. Yeah, I don't know.
I don't remember who he was with, but he was leaving early and everybody like Donald.
Trump, I know who he was with and we'll talk about that like, oh do you yeah, a female Marlon Maples? Oh yeah, yeah, he was married then, but he had some friends in town. No, he was with him with her. He had to be because it was like early nineties.
Yeah, I yah, you can tell me off there because I have another story too.
Yeah, those are the days.
I mean Barkley was here now and again obviously the former players would come in. You remember when Senator from Kansas what was his name, Bob Dole? Bob Dole was here. He was Bob Dole was here. I remember I tried to put him in my lead.
Were we playing Kansas? No, No, I don't think so. I don't think so. It could have been, but I don't think so. Huh.
I remember putting it in my story A game so big.
Bob Dole is here. Wow, you know, it's it's been fun. It's been a lot of fun.
Uh. Now it's near the end, but it's fun. Yeah, which is good. Let us be an end somewhere. It'll continue.
But you know what, the profession has changed so much that we talked about the restrictions or the you know, limitations or the breaking news. You don't get that very often they kind of break their own news and and and and now they tell you, well, you didn't go through the proper channels. You can still yeah, let me say you can still do it. People are kind of afraid to do it for whatever reason.
I mean, you look at the stuff on on on Twitter and on threads and those instagrams. It's like no one's regulating that. They just put out stuff and they you know, if they have the story, if they have something, that's just the way.
It works, right, Right, We'll look at the story now with the with the running back from New Mexico. Right, I guarantee you a lot of people know about it, and I haven't reported it. Yeah, you know, they're just waiting it out to see what happens. At some point they're gonna have to say he's not going to be available, yeah, because why he's not available?
Right? Yeah.
But it was interesting too, and you saw it how it's almost like there was like a line in the sand where all of a sudden, the schools started to control their messaging.
Here here it came with Greg Burns team because I was still kind of in the picture doing that, and then Sean Sean kind of made it even more difficult because he would bring this a couple of players in and Sean didn't like the media anyway, but Greg kind of made it more corporate.
Yeah yeah, and you were still I was still I was still playing that, but it was it was difficult all of a sudden. You go from you know, having full access to players, you know, on a Tuesday, and then nothing.
And I talk about this often because I think that Loot let his guys grow up and talking to the media, seeing how it was like, whether he liked it or not. But that's why you have so many guys doing radio and TV exactly. They know how to do it and talk and you know.
They were good from the moment they came to campus exactly, let's go, we gotta go.
Thanks to Dave very much. Sure, thank you, y.
They