Steve Rivera and Jagen Saliz. They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports. They yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live. I mean, iHeart radio WAPs.
Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball. Here a Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're Jacobs Awast. Now we have Henry with breaking.
News on the ball, breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
These Steelers have announced Russell Wilson will be their starting quarterback over justin Fields.
How good they get? Are they gonna be? God? They've been?
How good can they be with Russell Wilson?
Is the good point? Good point? They're you know, their them, Dallas, the Raiders. I'm talking about old time. Yeah, fantastic programs they've been. They've been irrelevant for years.
I mean, of the of those three, the Steelers have been the most recent the best, you know, most most recently. But they haven't been much Sincethlisberger retired them again as always. You know, if you don't have a quarterback, you really don't have much of anything. Sure, you know, and I know people thought about thought that about the forty nine
Ers when Brock Purdy was suddenly their quarterback. But you know, they they you know, they found a pot of gold there and he's and he's been great, and he's going to be a fifty million dollar quarterback next year. But you know, the Steelers have been, you know, running quarterbacks in and out. Russell Wilson after what he did in the you know, uh uh, you know with the Super Bowl and stuff like that, but you know, the Broncos
he just kind of fizzled. And now there's still this expectation that it can be a Super Bowl quarterback and I just don't know that he is anymore. Yeah, So I don't know. I don't know how good that the Steelers are going to be. And look if if, in fact, what's his name, Justin Fields becomes the starter, you know, the Bears kind of pitched him away, and so how good can you be if Justin Fields is your starting quarterback?
So I don't know, I don't know how good the Steelers are going to be and how good they can be with those guys are as a quarterback.
The NCAA has proposed eliminating the spring transfer window and only having the transfer period be the thirty day period from early December to early January.
Yeah, we kind of talked about this, and I don't know how that's going to hold up down the road, right that that that the courts are going to say you can't keep guys from from going to different schools, you can't keep guys from transferring and stuff like that. And maybe you know there's some sort of exception that that there's some sort of exception that they can do that if they're entering into contracts and things like that.
But for now, I don't know how you can just say you can't go anywhere, you can't go to the school if you want to.
I don't know how you do that.
Bengals receiver Jamar Chase is now practicing with the team as he seeks a contract.
Is not or is not he's not And I saw that. I think Brandon and I you didn't show up for practice to dahty nine A yeah as well.
So I don't know how is it then? And I get this because it's all about money, but that you dream about going to college, doing well, becoming all American and playing didn't you dream about playing pro ball for making some pretty good money. You get to play the pros and then you get paid pretty well, and then you decide not to play because of money because you're not getting paid because I don't get it. I really don't get it.
That and that see it. But that's from a perspective of you and me. Yeah, normal people who who you could only dream right to be in that kind of a position, which is you see a guy turned down a twenty five million dollar contract because he wants thirty or he wants forty. Well, it's kind of going, what are you doing?
Well, it's like, I guess, let's say you're making thirty five bucks an hour and you refuse to go back to work because you're looking for sixty five.
Well, I want put a job that I was making two dollars and thirty cents an hour because I wanted to thirty five and they wouldn't give it.
Is that McDonald's back at that? I think I remember that story.
Well, I took my talents to the mall to Spencer's exactly.
If I recall from an earlier conversation today, you're also the guy that started the didn't you didn't Abaut the major league ball player?
So you know, I don't. I don't know because it's like, you know, you've got an opportunity that half a percent of the planet gets, right, and you're saying it's just not good enough for.
Me, right, And maybe because I don't know what money is, but how much is too much? Or how much is enough? Right? Right? How much is enough?
I'm with you, Steve, You and I are you know, we're we come from the same place on that. But you know, then you get up there and you go, you know, well, yeah, I'm I'm getting twenty million dollars, but I really think I'm more, you know, thirty million dollars and I should get thirty million dollars. And what they think is somebody's going to give them thirty million dollars. Yes, yeah, And then they you know, then they don't get it. And it's like, now you're what's his name? The guy
who ran off the field with Antonio Brown? Antonio Brown got that. You get some points.
To it, all right.
Arizona women's basketball has added Camiko Williams to its staff as special assistant to head coach, as announced by Adia Bornes earlier.
Today.
Can be interesting, you know, while they've taken all these limits off of coaches, because you know, all these people who are special assistants and director of this and director of that. They're just more coaches, is what they are, right in that, I mean, what what.
These Yeah, well we talked about you people up.
A lot of these people get hired as analysts and this and then the other the coaches. Yeah, and and and that's I don't know if that's what this position is, but more than likely, right, it's somebody who you know, they're usually people who have played who DIDN'TY say if she's played. She was at Tennessee before she came here. So yeah, she played played somewhere right, And so you know she.
Was druncted by the New York Liberty and she she went to Tennessee.
Yeah, so she's coming to you know, she's coming to you know, offer more than as a special assistant. What does that mean? Uh uh? Duties, duties to be determined or whatever.
But this is the this is the funny thing.
Duties as a sign.
We've seen this before. So Audia Barnes, we all know how she is. She's a very confident woman making a million dollars a year now, Very confident, very done, very successfully. I have been successful. I'm not sure it's like Lorenzo Wilmar helping Sean guess who the boss was? Who's the boss? Do you think he ever took advice from from from Ransom?
I would hope you would. Look, if you're if you're a confident boss, you're gonna surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, right, and you're gonna use that right now, you have to do it. If you're a confident yes, you they're there for a reason, right. So my point, my point is it's hard to change some DEDs on your personality. And I mean, Sean the kind of guy who's going to be that guy. I know I was when I was a supervisor. I wanted people
smarter than me around me. But that's my personality. Not everybody is like that. There's guys who say, well, I'm gonna bring you in, but you're gonna.
Listen to me. Yeah, then that doesn't work.
And and then it doesn't work. Yeah, I mean, so we'll see, we'll see.
You're bringing them in for a reason, right to maybe hear the sounding board, a sounding board to help.
To help in some way, to help in some way, and whatever way that is. You know, that's something that develops between you or between the you know, the person coming in and the coach and Jay, you'd like to think there's the expectation is is understood before you get in there?
Jay? When I brought you on four years ago, I thought you complete me? And well, how's that going? Is that right up there? With? You had me at hell? Yeah? Yeah, you had a jello that's a joke. That's stupid.
Let's go ahead, let's go ahead looking at it. We're getting off the rails here and Henry bring us back.
Arizona was named pre season number two in the country and triathlons behind Asu.
I'm gonna talk to Jesuary about this because they're two years in, yeah, maybe three two years in here there are number two and two in the country and she's get this. She gets these questions what about sports? Yeah, being cut blah blah blah. She has the number two try, whether by default or whatever, whatever. Yeah, what are you gonna do? Yeah? What are you gonna do? I saw issues the number one team. Are you of age? Number two? And then they have a bunch of a bunch of other schools.
Like there's not even anywhere to swim around here.
See, that's a good swim in the Santa Cruz River up hill, you go.
To Lakeside Park or what do you do looking for? Yeah, we're let's would they do it? I don't know, we should know that. I mean, I I'm I know. I'm not jumping in the water at Reed Park, that's for sure. Yeah, okay, I don't know where do you practice?
We'll talk to we'll oscar. All right, that's all I got. All right, So you got it well that you needed to be a savory.
Here's what in the interest of raising money, Steve, I'm finding ways to do that. Just Bret McMurphy posted a photo of bud like cans Bud like cans of beer, bottles of beer with college logos on them. I don't know if Arizona's got one. I only see is.
It legit that's gonna happen, Yes, but it's his bud.
Light is releasing limited edition college team cans featuring twenty six schools. I don't know if a Zone was one of those, but I see it from the Big twelve. I see Ohio, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Stay, Kansas.
Oh, that's another desirey question Texas.
Tech, Kansas State. They say Kansastan, I said, Iowa State. So that's why, that's why I seeing there. Even Wyoming's got a can, Arizona better have Wyoming's got a can. Arizona better have a can. Missouri's got one. That's a that's that's race at school. Yeah, we'll talk about s U Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky.
There must be something in it for the school then.
Yeah, well yeah, sure.
Another way? What is it?
But like I'm gonna have to go get me. Can't give me some Arizona can. Okay, I'm trying. I can't type bud light in my into my computer.
Bud like football. They probably we'll ask her when she comes when she comes up, and see what happens. What she says, Oh, some guy some I'm not some guy. I'll tell you right now. Andy Brown sent me a send me a note. You're talking about fields. Let me see if he send me a text or uh oh wait, I guess Andy Brown's texting me saying Arizona is a course light school. I don't know if that's true or not.
Oh well maybe that's why. Okay, I say, how does East Carolina University get one? But Arizona does not. Yeah, that makes total sense if you're like a Nike score. And then he described that, well, they sell beer in the stadium.
And then in his course, do you buy twelve dollars beers? I don't drink cors No, I don't drink cors anyways. Okay, But then and he says that the Steelers, if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have any you have no quarterback.
Yeah, and well, I think and I think that's why they're saying Russell Wilson is the starter.
Yeah.
You know, they're not going to say, well, he's a starter until they're just saying he's Well.
It's like what Denver did with bon Nix and the other guys. You know, a little upset.
But why can't I think of that? I still can't think of that guy's name? Ar Jared Steadham?
Where were you heading Monday? Tuesday? We needed you yesterday? Andrey I couldn't think of his name yesterday. Henry knows. He doesn't study. He just knows. He went on.
I mean, he went on press conference. And I think I'm a starting quarterback in the.
NFL, right, right, Yeah, that's what that's what we're talking.
I don't know if he was taking a shot.
I didn't. I didn't read or see the the interview. But no, but you need to have that, you need to have that kind of that attitude.
Maybe he's hoping another team will come along and say, okay, we'll take him. But you know, uh, look they drafted bone next for bone Next to be their quarterback.
Yeah, it's as simple as that. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens anything else out there, Soccer, volleyball. You have a volleyball plays this weekend in the in their classic. You didn't mention that, did you.
No?
Okay, but they do.
They've got that Cactus Classic, well that Steve Qust was talking about on the show yesterday. Right, so they've got volleyball going on over the over this weekend. Sure, yeah, and we'll see what the treated Stubbs has going over.
And the soccer team plays tomorrow as well.
They're off to a good start. Yeah see were they three and one or something like that? And then when when they had a close game against against uh uh, North Carolina, who's traditionally a you know, good soccer, good soccer team. So yeah, you know, look it's all you know, it's all going now, got it. I mean we're just a little over a month away from Arizona basketball gating going with its red and blue games.
And right and all that. In fact, the tickets went on sale for that August twenty second. Someone said they were like paying twenty five dollars for a ticket and said, that's not right. I guess they're starting. They're starting at ten dollars. Yeah, and I guess going up, well, you get back.
So it was the reserve seats because they used to be ten bucks, and you get there early and you get a good seat because that's what it used to be.
I know what it is. Yeah, I guess that's what it is. I mean, they're gonna do well, they're gonna do.
Okay, how good?
How good do you think they're gonna do? Third in the conference? Third in the conference? And I think it only helps some there. It's funny. I tell this a lot of time and swim people ask me how good they're gonna be. When was the last time someone tell you they're not gonna be any good? You'll be a basketball right? Yeah? In forever? Ever since you've been around and h third in the conference, third in the conference.
Yeah, we have actually have to go a little longer because the DEAs Ray's not gonna call him til twenty.
Hats oh okay, okay, so we probably another minute, yeah okay before we go to break. But you know what if they take their hard knocks, which is third in the league whatever, Right, that's fine, yeah, because they'll get them ready for the tournament.
And all anybody cares is how to do in the tournament. It matters in the end, right, How good to Arizona Arizona fans feel about winning the PAC twelve championship versus how the season from the tournament they feel, they feel worse about how it ended than feeling good about the fact they won another league a title and a and a conference champige.
And bear me out on this, because I think you'll agree with me. People say, well, it was a good season. They won the PAC twelve tournament, they won the regular season, they finished twenty eight and whatever. And I'm thinking, is that what you're playing for these days you're in Arizona. Yeah, I'm sure, No, you're not. You're not.
I I can't, I know, I can't think of anybody.
You've given all that stuff.
I mean remember when Luke kept winning championships, people didn't even pay attention to it. It was even not even a big deal anymore. Okay, yeah, they won another PAC twelve champion back in championship. Well, you know, go win a national champions then let's talk.
Sure.
And I think Tommy I know him, I know from that's he knows. He knows now, Yeah, Sean, Sean knew Sean. It's funny because a guy I know, a guy you know, told me, I don't know, fifteen years ago, Sean came on board and he met him and he liked him whatever or didn't like him. I don't know what he says. He says to me, Sean's not the guy that's gonna take this to the final for the team, the program, to the final four. This is like three years in, and I'm thinking, what the hell are you talking about?
I think he's the guy. I think, you know, I think he's the guy, and I'm thinking he's not. And I really didn't press him on it. And we may have made a wager. Wager gave me a few years. Yeah, he won that wager, and I couldn't I couldn't tell why until I kind of noticed more.
Well, why do you think he did too tough? That's question for a whole show.
Too tough on the kids, and they stopped playing for him. You think so of twenty seventeen eighteen was exactly that he had talent and then he ran into some bad luck, some bad luck. He played one of the best teams in the country in Wisconsin two years in a row. The thing about it, Jay, you gotta beat those are the teams you're gonna see it, then don't beat me
to my punch. That was exactly if you're gonna win the test national title, you gotta beat those, Yes, because there are even better ones after that.
Yeah right, Yeah, I mean yeah, I just you just felt like he was there.
He was at the beginning, then he was, and then he wasn't. Yeah. I think I think, and I said this to Cosgrove, I think he had to feed and I wrote a story for business. He had to feed the beast, and he it was like almost engulfing him where he didn't know he became too much exactly, and it just overwhelmed him. All right, that's my philosophy for today.
We'll have a send send money to Steve's go fund.
Me paid. Yes, I'll take anybody's copay insurance exactly.
All right, we're gonna take our break. We're gonna come back and Desiree Read fran Swa, the athletic director at Arizona, should be here. We'll be talking about coming into this academic year, the season, and just some of the things that they're going through over there, So stick around.
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Streamy Live, Honey, iHeartRadio, WAPP, This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jacobzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.
Hey welcome back to I'm the ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's chicken sauce, you're good drink, and we're waiting for call here.
Yeah, they call here, waiting for Desiree read Francois to join us and uh talk about this uh really her first season, Yeah, as Arizona athletic director and what she's got in store. There's a you know, always a lot happening when football season is getting started, and we'll see, uh, we'll see what's going on in addition to everything else that's happening over there.
Here we go, here's our here's our call. Hello, Desiree's is shoe ah, yes, and we're doing well. Jay's with me. Good to hear from you.
Nice to hear both of you.
Good to have you on the show. Well, we're going to ask you a few things, Jay.
Yeah.
So first season coming into the uh you know, coming into as a as the adad Arizona.
Just that feel.
What's that like for you right now? With you know, see football season getting started, the other sports that started. Just what does Desiree read Francois thinking about this job right now?
I am so excited and the energy is just you can feel it. It's in the air. And I was walking to go meet with a dean today and I walked across campus and it's fantastic to see my student athletes in our building here in Jinny L. Clement Center, but also to walk to campus and see all the other students and it's just it's so special. I love when school starts and I love that first game week.
Let me ask you, because I've asked you this a couple of times with other stories, how is the bibe now compared to when you walk to the campus.
In nineteen ninety four?
Whatever year We weren't going to aid you.
But yes, oh boy, you know in nineteen ninety four, it's gosh. We were sort of isolated a little bit over there in the law school, but it was pretty special. The championship expectations were you could feel that, and so the people and the city of Tucson. Uh, And just that championship expectations. That's consistent. Some of the buildings are a little bit bigger and brighter.
UH.
And I probably look at it from a little bit of a different lens that I did, And at least I hope so than I did in nineteen ninety four.
Well, so there's a lot of conversation about, you know, the environment in college athletics back when you took the job, and there was a lot of discussion about how are you going to handle this?
What do you you know? What, what's you know? How does this?
How's this going to work right? What have you learned about not only yourself in running this program, but just how things are going uh with the landscape of athletics and the things that are continuing to change. How are you dealing with that on a day to day basis.
Things are changing. Both are absolutely right. Both nationally we have our first expanded college football playoff starting this year. We haven't played a game yet in the Big Twelve, So we have new conference, we have the house settlement, and locally here on campus, we have a new president coming on board and I'm looking forward to working for doctor Garamela, President Garamela, So there's there's a lot And then we have coach Brennan is brand new as well,
and so there's a lot of changes. But like and you know the budget situation. Everybody asked me a lot about that when I first got here. But you know, like we do with any any challenge, we look, we assess what's going on, we design, design the optimal system, we implement it fairly and competitively and being responsible, good stewards of our resources. So we take it each challenge as they come and work through it very methodically and very systematically.
What are the differences here, uh, compared outside of the don't even mention the money, because we all know that there's many issues there. When you first landed at UNLV and then Missouri, now here any key differences when you started there and there and now here.
Well, each place was unique at that moment. And at UNLV my first day on the job, we were negotiating the joint uth agreement to build a leaded stadium. When I got to Missouri, we were I think maybe two weeks before before our first game, and that was a unique set of circumstances. And then coming coming here to the University of Arizona, it's a special it's a special place. It's an you don't always get the opportunity to go
home to an alma mater. But what was What each place has in common is the people, and you develop a true care and love for the people I was very fortunate at Missouri to just get to know some incredible The fan base was fantastic and the people at UNLV were wonderful. And so that's what I love about what I do. And I'm enjoying getting to know the incredible people here in Tucson. And like I said, it's
just a it's special to me. The University of Arizona was there when I needed them, and I'm so thankful and I feel very blessed to be able to serve this university.
Well, the community has been kind to you. They've been kind to Brennan and the football program in their first year. Given that the sales of the season tickets have gone very well, Oh.
My gosh, I could not be I should have started our conversation. It's just saying an incredible thank you to our Wildcat fans throughout the state and beyond. We have not had over twenty thousand season tickets since I think twenty eighteen, and we're over. We're over nineteen percent increase in season tickets since the end of last last season. And I I haven't checked for a couple of hours, but I think the Zona Zoo is almost sold out. It's just it's pretty exciting the momentum that we have.
So thank you for the reminder, and again, most importantly, thank you to our incredible fans. We are still appreciative you mentioned.
Hey, don't forget we gotta wear white.
Okay, Saturday?
What is that?
Okay, we're not going to call it a white out, but we're gonna wear white. You know, I, as a fan, you need to know, because I personally do not have a white Arizona shirt. What am I supposed to do?
You know what?
What size are you?
Because I will go to.
Just give about you. That's not why I said that. Okay, I'll go pick one up. Look, you don't need to get me one. I'll go get what d I'll go get with But you know what, you check.
Nate, and we will get you that shirt and I will personally go bring that over the radio station.
But okay, so we're wearing white, but we're not calling it a white out. But well, okay, why what are we doing here on Saturday?
We're wearing white and we're coming together and we're cheering on the Wildcats and we are fired up and run take on New Mexico, and uh, I am looking forward to our hopefully our first victory in the Coach Brennan era. You know, this is something our marketing team had put together and I'm looking forward to embracing it and seeing how this all worked out.
Okay, so you so you and Coach Brennan are both new you have do you have a little I don't know, commiseration with that? You know, yeah, that you're both new to the program and you know you're kind of going through some similar things. I don't know, I mean, how's that. How's that relationship been in terms of you got you guys both being new to the program, even though you've both been here before.
It's been fantastic.
You know.
Coach Brennan was in the offensive coordinator the ASU offensive coordinator's wedding. His name is Marcus Arroyal, and Marcus Arroyal was my student athlete at San Jose State in I think nineteen ninety eight, my first job out of law school, and so I've known Marcus. Marcus was our president of our sack and I've known him for a really long
time and them being really close friends. There was an that and Coach Brennan and I had actually met one another during our tenure in the Mountain West through Marcus and then also through his former athletic director who's a friend of mine and he actually even met my brother. And so what I find about Coach Brennan, he's about
as genuine as they come. He is a continual learner, and he's such a team player and true partner and as well as a great football coach, he knows what to do with less resources, and he's a type of person that sees the challenge and he's like, all right, let's figure it out, let's take it, let's link arms and take it one step at a time. So he's someone that you inherently root for. For example, we had a welcome back barbecue on Sunday and we had a
dunk tank that was a little new this year. And I said, all right, who wants to volunteer to be in the dump tank? And Coach brand I sent a text to all the coaches and Coach Brennan, first guy, I'll be in and I'll do it first. And that's just the kind of he does those little things that really matter, and he builds, he builds community and he just is a great partner.
Well, he mentioned that you got dunk pretty quickly.
When you got in there.
He wasn't kidding. I was actually taunting. I thought that it was going to It was a swimmer that was up next, and I had to get in there and I was like, come on, you're a swimmer. You can't possibly know how to throw. And oh yeah, that's what I get for running my mouth knock me in.
So does Ray. We all know the community loves this of things on Friday night. What was the decision or did Arizona Flix have anything to do with it and not having it Friday?
You know, I don't know too much about that.
That was.
I think it's a campus initiative as well as I think it's like the.
Marshall family, right yeah, right, okay, okay.
And I think athletics uh has been kind of a I don't want to say the entertainment, but we provide like the speakers, but I think they don't choosing to maybe do it three games uh. And and I'm just kind of show up where I'm told, and I believe that they're starting it in October instead of doing this this season.
Right right right? Okay. Let me transition from there if we can to the food that you're going to have Jay loves this because he loves the food.
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm intrigued by the fact that you guys are gonna have barbecue in the stadium. Nowt bits and stuff? What what what do we got going on there?
As from or fan tactic? And yes, we're gonna have Rudy's barbecue. We have Chick fil A and if you haven't had the Tamali bull from Cicaro, it's phenomenal. So it's yeah, we're trying to you know, we're not all the way there, but we're going to keep continuing every like and when I say we're not all the way there, like, we always want to make the fan experience that much better. And so every week we'll send out surveys and we'll see where we can continue to improve.
Now, have you have you received any surveys? Now? Have you sent them out? And what's the what's the kind of general consensus of maybe the concerns of the fans, Yes, sir, we did.
We sent them out over the summer, and people talked about making sure bathrooms were clean, they wanted different food offerings. They also wanted us to and so that's why we brought in Chick fil A and Rudy's Barbecue, et cetera, and Cicharo. They also wanted to have less commercials on the video board, and they wanted the video experience to be much more engaging. So we bought a couple of additional cameras and we're going to really try to make
that fan experience something special. They felt like it was a bit a bit too commercial, So we're working on that, and like I said, we're just going to keep and then they wanted more more fireworks, and so we're going to keep working on that. Ass is to also look at the third quarter and see how we can continue to improve in that space. So little by little, we're going to keep making uh, making those memories as special as we can.
Sounds great.
So we're all excited about the games starting this weekend, But gotta gotta, you know, touch on the serious stuff. You know, you came in the idea, you're you've got to you've got a responsibility or the job of having to fix the financial situation over there amid all the change that we talked about a little bit.
We had doctor Robinson a.
Few months ago, a couple of months ago, and he said, this thing's going to be fixing eighteen months. What do you say to that or what you know? How is this going to how is going to get fixed? And what's the main thing on your plate in terms of all of that.
Well, I think when I can't really speak for doctor Robbins's eighteen months, I'm not sure if that was in reference to athletics or overall.
Well, the overall university, our.
Colleague across campus are working very hard under John Arnold's leadership to continue to ensure that we have the right business operations model and we're big good fiscal stewards of our resources. Over here in athletics, we're taking it, we're assessing the problem and we're figuring out what we have.
In the EY report. I don't know if you've had a chance to read that, but that provided us a really good roadmap, and they talked about the different areas where we need to get better, and we recognize that. We put together a five point plan to begin to operationalize that EY report, but we spend a lot of time that I was very fortunate that e Y came in and evaluated our business model and gave us our roadmap so that's what we're using to follow and continue to uh to address our challenges.
So maybe last question for us Disrae. I was reading a story today, I think the Wall Street Journal, I can't remember, and I said, this would be a great question for Desrae, and here it is, what do you think about when you have nothing to think about because you're you're a busy woman, You're a busy person, I'm sure. Is it always about being an AD? In fact, we've had live and Good here a few times. Not too long ago, we had Guerro, we had Noon yet from
from you and m uh that don't envy. I mean, it's tough being an a D these days.
Well, you know what, I think, it's tough. A lot of people have really tough challenges. And you know, every morning I pray for guidance and I you know, I pray every morning, and it just I worry about I worry about my student athletes. You know, are we providing
everything we can? Are they I have five hundred and eight young people that I have a responsibility to protect and to make sure that we're giving them everything they possibly need so they can achieve and fulfill their hopes and their dreams, but I worry about them like they're my own children. I worry about our staff, I worry about our coaches. I worry about you know, how's our game day atmosphere going to be. So I worry about a lot. But really, in the end, I sometimes I don't.
Sometimes every day, you know. I each morning I pray for wisdom and I pray for guidance and pray for a lot patients.
Yeah, okay, me too. That's what I do when I have jays.
My partner.
Ja's deserrate. Hey, we'll see you Saturday.
Thanks a whole bunch. I'll go get myself a white shirt desert.
I promise, I'm going to go bring me one. You just need to tell me to side.
I'm an exil. What can I tell you? I'm an exil.
You got chaff.
I'm gonna bring your shirt, all right?
Thank you?
Thanks for jing Desiree read francois.
Great to have her. Finally you get a shot. I know she's busy, busy, but.
I'm gonna ask I'm gonna ask you this same question. I'll put it on my fixbook page. I thought it was a fantastic question. What do you think about when you have nothing to think about, we'll talk about another side. We got to go take a break.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to think about that. All right, that's good stuff. Okay, we'll be back. We'll take your cast five two zero, four, one, six, seventy four forty.
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Breaking down all the exes and oh, it's Steve Rivera and Jagen Salmas. This is I on the book on Fox Sports fourteenth.
Hey, welcome back to wind the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Roverta, you're Jagan's aus. I hope that Desiree comes back at some point and says these two guys are fool. I think we didn't embarrass ourself that much.
Oh, you know, you know, we you know, we covered all the bases of you know, everything from you know Game Saturday to Brennan to you know, the challenges that not only that she has, but that yeah, all athletic departments have.
I'll go back to the question I asked you before, but let me, I uh get a story for you on the media rights thing. Right, you need to look at the Ernest Young report. Yeah, very scathing, very honest, honest and scathing well in a sense that a lot of things need to happen well.
And they said a lot of Look when you when you do something like that, the idea is to get a real picture of what's going on with no filter, right, and that's what it well, you know, I mean I went through a couple of those things when I you know, at my job at TEP. I came into that job at a time when TP was a mess. They were a mess, and we had to find out what are the messes? What are the messes that need to be fixed?
Right?
And while you read that stuff and you go that's hard to take. You had to because you know, if you don't know, then you don't know what to fix.
So a thing like that.
That's the and she came in at a perfect time that that study was done, so that now you know, without somebody sugarcoating things, this is the stuff you gotta fix.
Whether it had been you or her, this is not a This is not an apology or alibi for her. You would have been that person to look at that report and said, I think I need to make some changes. Yeah, because it's that's what it's calling for.
Yeah.
See, and that's the thing, you know, and she's you know, she comes into it into into a place where things have been kind of cozy for years and years and years ago. There people there have gotten cozy. Right, we know that, you know that, we know a lot of people who work there, and we know that things are just kind of let's just keep going, let's just keep going, let's.
Just keep going.
Well, now you find out, well all of that has led to this, and so people are going to have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That that was the thing. And we've heard we heard it from Richrod, Right, wasn't he the one who said that all the time. I've heard that in my jobs, you got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable because things are going to be uncomfortable.
I heard, you know, on on my first day of tp UH, one of the senior vice presidents invited me to lunch because you know, my job was to communicate how t EP was going.
To change itself. That was my job. That's why I got hired.
And he said to me, he said, you need to figure out a way to tell people to get comfortable with the fact that the train is leaving the station if you want to come in, and if you want, you're either going to get on it or you're off of it. And they got to understand, we're not here to rip on anybody. We're not against anybody, but we're just saying this is where we're going. Sure, either you're a long for the rider or you're not go It went great.
Did people stand in the bus.
There were a lot of people who got off or a lot of people who wanted to get off but knew they couldn't get off.
To the financial reasons.
And then they had to get they had to get on it. Yeah, and the company the TEP is today or even was when I left, was one hundred percent different from what it was when I got there. And you left it better, way better place. Kick you off, kick me off the train. But I did, I got I get, we got it done. Then they said, okay, your job is done, get the hell out of here.
And I did well. One of the reasons, no question, And part of that question I asked you, And we'll go back to that. It was part of a story that I really thought was fantastic. It's in here's the headline, why talented people don't use their strengths. And as a boss, and we're kind of diverting from sports, you have to find people's strengths. So you might find somebody who's a pretty good being counter but he has a mind that's used for something, and then you have to convince him
that he's probably better off over here. How difficult is that it is?
It's hard. It's hard because my job changed like that.
Right.
I came in as a media guy. I came in to do the media relations. The next thing you know, I'm running the entire public relations department. That was uncomfortable. I'm we're talking community relations programs, education programs, employee communication.
Probably pushback for people who believe that you weren't capable of doing it.
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and so but I embraced it because I felt like I had a great future. And me, look, the my time at Tape, it was great. It didn't end the way I wanted it to, but it was great. While I was there. Things changed and you know what, I had to adapt to that as well. And you know, things changed, and you get into a corporate world like that, and you never know from one
day to the next. But the point being that you know, and to this day, Steve, I kind of I operate that way, you know, whether we're deciding what we're going to do on the show or my other jobs that that I have. Wait, wait, we decided as we go along, right, But think no, but seriously, think about how flexible you and I are on this show. We don't know and we get here, but yet we're comfortable with not knowing right right Yet most of the time we put on
a good show. And you know, people think I know, people that I talk to, think, how much time do you put into talk?
Were you none?
There are some days that we both get here fifteen minutes before the show is going to start and we just start right and we're comfortable with that.
Right right. It shows sometimes but no, you're right, you're right because we kind of you know, we get and we kind of libit. That's what we're good at.
How many times are you in a commercial break are we saying, okay, maybe we should talk about this, and.
Then we do. Yeah, it's very it's very rare, but it's that's part of the excitement because we're not rehearsed. Now, this is not a rehearsal. This, we're not.
We're we're the guys that in the are sitting at the bar with a couple of beers and whatever comes to our mind is what we talk about. Yes, we try and keep it to what's going on around right. We're talking about Arizona football today because that's what's happening around us. You know, on another day we might be talking about you know, uh, you know what Aaron Rodgers
is doing or whatever. But you know, we we it's it's I don't know, this is gonna not kind of google's from the heart, right, yeah, yeah, of course, of course, because this is this is what's in front of us. Yeah, right, right, that's why sometimes we go off the rails. We have some dinner, that's all we have. The kids remembering names for you know, not kids do. But I mean, you know, yeah, you asked that question. You know, what do you what do you think about? What you think about when you're
not thinking about anything? And I'm I thought, I don't think I'm ever not thinking about anything.
Yeah, well you're married. You're married, so you've been married a long time. So if you were younger, and Gad would say, what do you think about?
What?
You tell her the ASU game from nineteen eighty five. But that's what we'men doing. You're just staring off in the ears. Yeah, what are you thinking about?
Me?
It's usually nothing, I.
Fortunately or unfortunately, because there's some people that this is unfortunate for. My mind is never at rest ever.
Yeah, ever.
I mean if I'm sitting in front of the TV and I'm watching I may be watching something, but I'm playing a game on my phone, I'm looking through Twitter, I'm reading emails. I have to have a lot going on for me to not be uncomfortable. They never stop doing things when I go to sleep at night, Right, I go sleep at night. I don't just roll over, turn everything off and go to sleep. I put something on in some headphones to go to sleep because my mind can't stop.
I think that's one of the things. And you have the tickers on the on the TVs and you all the information late breaking whatever it is. I think and this is just me saying this that I think this is one of the reasons why people in the world have a d h D or a d D because they have too many things going on with their you know news here, there's their bottom flashing all this stuff. Your your mind doesn't shut off. It doesn't mind doesn't know. I think a lot of people don't just because they want to.
Where we're here on the show and I'm looking at yeah, you're like you're talking, looking looking at Twitter and stuff like that. I'm you know, it's my mind just doesn't ever stop. So I don't know that I'm a person that doesn't.
You gonna call real quickly.
Think about things all the time. Let's take this, Hi, you're on the air.
And eye on the ball.
Well, you know ADHD is that that that thing? You know what I mean? But like it depends on your existence, like in a mass existing you know, you got your stuff together, and that's a whole comfortable and being uncomfortable. And I could relate to what Jamee's saying. Sometimes like you got so much on your plate. You know, your your getaways or where you don't want to think about is your sports. But then you got traumatic sports that you got, sorry teas that make you mad, like the
basketball or the Dallas Califoys. I think they even want to think about that stuff. Bo both when I'm getting that with people filling time when they're not thinking about nothing, That's why their social media consumption is ridiculous.
It is, right, Hey Michael, I know, are you in town working or no?
Yeah, I'm in Miranda, driving back and forth. They ain't that far from I'm in a solar field, and pretty soon I'm going to be at that new casino.
Okay, so let me let me tell you this. You can take it for what it's worth. I'm driving down Oracle to come to the show here, maybe last week, ten days ago, and I'm thinking, hey, hey, there's fat Mike. Look he's doing some construction on Oracle. And then I passed by. It's not it's not tat mic. So then I drive about another two hundred yards of guy and of yellow with a hard hat. Hey there's time, Mike. All you dudes look the same.
Oh my god, got around he was a rolling.
So you know you got the hard hat, the yellow shirt, and a little heavy look heavy.
That's very nice. Remember I'm an electrician outside, I'm not a hard working drugs and I'm not not taking anything from electricity. But where the thinkers on the job site.
Well, good to hear your voice. I think you're gonna be at his tailgate coming.
Yeah, yeah, I gotta get back at him. See what's up where they cost? I don't know, we'll figure it out.
All right, man, look for it.
Look for us in that last brow. Man, that's usually where we are.
Welcome back home.
Yeah, I big dog.
Take the bear down, dude, I saw him all three times. There is all they all look to save dudes wearing the hat and the yellow shirt.
That's too funny. It's too funny.
Uh So I was just kind of a tough.
Yeah, yeah, no, that's a that's an interesting I tell you what. Since you brought that up, it's got me thinking maybe I do need to shut my brain down every once in a while.
If you don't know, I can't. I don't know how because I'm the same way when I I had to learn how to sleep again. So I know, I just shut it off, but you finally, I mean it.
Assume if I wake up. If I wake up at four o'clock in the morning or later, I'm up. That's it. I can't go back to Now I might. I might go throw myself on the couch and turn on Dan Patrick and doze off for another half an hour. In terms of going back to a hard sleep. After about four or four thirty in the morning, that's it. I'm up, and that's it for the day. I did that yesterday. You know, on Tuesday mornings, I have a five thirty
wake up call for my breakfast club. I was up at four and I didn't go back to sleep, and I was up the rest of the day, and then I'm still up until ten thirty eleven o'clock midnight.
You know, at night, it doesn't matter when you're when you're older. As you're getting older, you go to sleep early and you'll wake up early.
Have my dinner at two thirty in the afternoon with potatoes, little mashed potatoes and some tapioca.
Yes, it's a good show today, kind of a weird show, but it's good show. It's fun.
Dave grow fantastic, right, good stuff from Dave. Good luck to them.
And I guess well, you get a free white shirt.
I got a white shirt comment.
I told you put that up. I told him not to not to let her come over here with it. Yeah, yeah, no, no, we.
Don't want her hanging around this parking lot. I would hate for something to happen over there because she was bringing me a shirt. What my son works in the department. Go give it to him, let him bring it, don't come to the office. Although we're moving in a couple of weeks, Dave, we.
Are moving the announcement, but we are going to be moving to the George Jefferson area, to the east side, East North.
There's still a chingling fence around that McDonald's. Man, they need to bring that open.
And we're showing to get everybody and let every know what's going to happen with the show right here in a couple of weeks. Right, sounds good? Cool?
Okay, Hey, thanks for being here again, Desiree read Francois, thanks for thanks for joining us. If you miss that, I'll be putting that up on the podcast tonight, so give it a listen. Also had Dave Cosgrove in the first hour.
Yeah, okay, see you tomorrow. Jay, all right, see you