Wednesday, December 13, Hour 1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jagon Zala on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure your most Prized Possessions kat z R two Salad at iHeartRadio Station Goo. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty on Steve Rivera, he's jagon'sauce, and we got our guy E on the board. We'll see what happens today with this board. Just make sure we're on commercial. We're not

on the air exactly. So hey, you know, Jeff over here is gonna do. It's gonna handle this really well for us. Okay, good luck, Jeff. That's right, really hard, Okay, No cool. Hey Wednesday, we're another day closer to the Purdue game. Yep. And guess what, guys, No matter how much you bitch and complained, it's still on peacock on peacock, man. There's nothing that you can do about that. Everybody got it over guy. Look, go get the account for

you know, month and then turn it off. But I don't they gonna have to use it for the tournament eventually, is it? Is it gonna be one of those channels the tournament. I don't I don't see that. I think you know it should be a test run. Well, it'll be, you know, it'll be because CBS and and TBS will be owned the right now and I don't know how long they own them for, but you know they'll use the four channels that you know they use TBS, CBS,

t N T and then that True Channel. That's actually a good setup. I know, the True Channel is not anything we watch any other time of the year. Sure, but when you've got four different games going on and you can pick up all four of them on you know, on a linear uh you know, channels and you're not having to go be back and forth between streaming and stuff like that, that's fine. That's a good thing. I don't think it's a problem. But you know, that's that's where we're

headed. You know, you're seeing this stuff on on Prime, now you're seeing stuff on Peacock. You know it's gonna be that way, Steve, You're gonna have to figure out how to use that. Suff Yeah, well I'm one of those days, no watch, I'm gonna I'm gonna use it. I'll be on the road, but I'll see it. Okay, Well it is what it is because it's gonna be on the schedule for a long time. Yeah, no, shock, Yeah, one versus three. When they set the game, they didn't think it was gonna be one versus three.

Who would have brought it to be one versus three? And and you know people who are giving me comments about that, I'm saying, there was no thought that Arizona was gonna be where they are and that there's gonna be a one versus three game. Well, can't they move it? No? They can't. Basketball character set ahead. This is not a them problem, it's a you problem. If you can't get it. I figured out, well, I said, I told you. You know, one of the

guys at my breakfast club, I explained him. I said, if you've got Cox or Comcasts, you've got you can get it. Yeah, right, which which I do. I've got I've got Comcast or Infinity. Yeah, and I've got I've got I've got Peacocks. So you know, I watched put Dan Patrick on every day again. I get my fill of dateline off of that, and and so it's I've got it and I use it so I know how to get there. But there's gonna be more and more of that. Okay, Yeah, well that's just the way it is.

So that'll come out two thirty on Saturday with other things going on. Did you see the you may have been in bed, you're no old man. Uh did you see the Son's Sun's Golden State game in Phoenix? No? I saw some of this. You know what happened right Yeah? With with Draymond? Yeah, yeah, I saw that. We were gonna try to get Steve curR on next week. I'm gonna tell him he's going to heaven

no matter what he does. Giving the question to ask him about about that, like, Okay, Steve, what's the hardest thing about coaching the Warriors coaching Draymond? Yeah, it's a bunch you know, people wrong with him. Well, the guy who he punched said exactly that, and the guy's got issues to play basketball. I mean, I can't ask you how you would handle it, because it's not a situation you handled it because you didn't see. They say, put him on the bench until he realizes or if

you can't find him enough. Well, and that's the discussion. I listened to Charles Barkley talking about that this morning and say no, you can find these guys all you want. They got all the money in the world. They don't find finds me nothing exactly. You had to find something else. And the something else is you embarrass the hell out of it and stick them on the bench. Maybe they're active and they're getting paid or whatnot, we don't play them. That will catch your attention. But he's not. He's

not playing on a suspension anything. He's gonna be on a suspension, right, But is that gonna change? I do not. Probably a guy like him, I don't think he you know, and he'll say that, dude, I am who I am, Well who you are doesn't work. And he said that last night. You know, if I if I, if I hit it, I'm not gonna apologize for something I should. Don't think

I should apologize. He apologized last night, right, but still, you're affecting the team, right that he's in Through twenty games, he's affected the team. And he's been out thirteen of the twenty a portion or all of thirteen games, either by being suspended, by being injured, by being you know, all any one of a number of things. He's he's he's a pain in the ass. And again another one of those guys that if I'm

a coach, I don't want him on my team. Yeah, I'd rather have a guy who's not as good, but who's available to me and who's not hurting my team than having him on my team. I don't care what the talent with all quick and I'm not gonna You don't need those guys. You don't want those guys because it affects the situation. And and maybe last year wasn't him about him and pool because pool was an issue too. Uh,

But too many of those guys forget it. But they keep going back to that that that NBA Finals with the Brund where he got tossed from a game he cast him the next game cost him the title, and people feel that that cost him the time without a question with Doug in my mind, can I follow them as closely as I can't? Yeah, Yeah, he kicked the guy in the nuts and blah blah. I don't know why you.

I don't know why you keep that guy on your team. Whatever the talented, he punched his own players, Steve before, let's get it. Come on, and what you're talking team now? If you have one guy screwing up the team. One guy is too many, right, you know, because it affects everybody else. Well, how many times have we talked about championship teams have to have all the things around the team in place and

going well. Can't have drama and crisis. You know. Everybody's got to be on the same page, all shooting for the same thing in all the same ways to win a championship. And every team that's won a championship doesn't have this dysfunction, right, I mean, think of it. No, they have a team that's had that kind of dysfunction, they don't win championship because it's not about you, it's about the team. H there's football,

basketball, baseball, hot shress, whatever it is. You know, if you have that drama and that crisis, you can't you can't sustain it. Now that you say that, because we haven't well, we don't know. But during Shawn's time, after him being here a while, one of the things is everything's finding good. It was November December, but we won't know to get to the point where who's in their ears, who's telling them this, You're not getting the ball enough, YadA YadA, And it could very

well, happen to any team, including this one. And it happened to some Arizona team, oh, without question, with a bunch of them. Without question. Hey we talk about the age seventeen eighteen year Look, who didn't want to be here? What's the leame start of myer ever on a championship? No, he was not, you know, and he was that guy was a surly uh extremely talented, but the surly guy. Well, how about him? Everybody? What about Kim and Chris Rodgers on the same

thing. They know, you have to be if you got to be on your you know, on your behavior whatever, you know, just kind of walking on pins and needles with a guy like that, that affects the team that ultimately gets on the court. I believe that. No, I don't disagree with you. And that's at any level. You can in the in the newsroom, you can have it in the business area, whatever, right,

you know. I went through it where I went and then and then if the coach or the boss favors him because they don't want any uh any bad vibe, the other people say, what the hell, No, it's just Steve. I had one guy, one guy screw up my team at TV screwed it up. I mean, just was he important? Was he important? Yeah? He was important? So then even worse because it's important, and he screwed it up and the team broke up, and then I

ultimately got laid off from those guys. You know, I ended up in a position where I was, where I was expendable, and I got laid off. And I blame it on him, I do, but you know, uh partially. But you know, like you said, it can happen. It could happen in here. If you and I an on the same page in terms of what we're doing. This show can't work. Oh no, no, of course, right if Eleon comes in here and starts being a butt head, right, Elean, we you know, you know,

you can mess up the show. The doors locked. But you know, even on even on a small team, you can't have one person screwing it

up. And in fact, it's magnified when it's fewer people, right, because you gotta figure there's some guys on Jetfish's team one hundred and however many guys they have aren't happy, of course, right of course, and they show it, you know, but you got to keep it out of the thick of the team, you know, the guys who play, the guys who you know, and then you and then you kind of weed out other guys and and and and that's how that's how you try and fix that.

But you know, a small team and like a basket ball team, you got a guy doing what he's doing. It's hard. It's hard for you to overcome that to go out and win championships, no question. Everybody, as they say, the proverbial rope needs to be pulled in by everybody. Uh and and people notice and and people notice, well he wasn't pulling his

weight YadA, YadA, because especially if you have a small team. Yeah, if you have a small team and a core group and you're thinking, oh no, you need everybody, that just some exactly, So good luck. We'll try to reach out to him next week. Yeah yeah, well and last night and the rest of the team is not playing well too, Klayt Thompson, uh, the Wiggins, all these guys. And he even said, I don't have any more patience to deal with it, right,

I don't just get rid of it. We'll see you're the team, We'll see you later. Yeah, yeah, we'll see And maybe he doesn't have the weight to pull that string. But but we'll see. And it's you know, contracts and all that stuff, because he did talk about you know, he well we talked to him and and he knows, well, if you are who you are. What's that scorpion and the frog, scorpion, the turtle, whatever scorpion does something? Yea, the scorpion that the frog

gets a scorpion right across the street. Then the stings across the street one thousand and some river, I don't know, across the river, whatever cross something. I'm thinking about the chicken crossing the street. All the things I know is I'm not playing with scorpions on any condition. God, Okay, hey, we have a good show. Different show today, Jack Howell, Yeah, coming on the show early right now, right in about ten to fifty, about ten minutes. Jack played at Pima or I, back when

newspapers actually had beat writers covering junior junior colleges. Yeah, the beat writer covering the team. You're telling you what seventy something No. Eighty five, eighty five, eighty six times, Greame carving the teams. He played on there for rich all Day. Went on to play at Arizona and then got into the major leagues for I had a long turn in the major league. He's still in baseball. He's coaching a minor league baseball team and he's in

the Angels organization. I think he's in the Angels organization. So Jack how will be in there. The local kid went to Poulverty High School. He'll be on and he was just inducted in the Pemon College Sports Hall of Fame. We've had a couple of those folks on GIL already on earlier in the week, and then that we came through with the interview. We're gonna have Jade and Bradley, sophomore guarded Arizona kid who came in from Alabama, one

of the guys that's been a key to what they're doing this year. Again ready for Purdue and as an added bonus playing his old team Alabama next week. So we'll ask him what he's thinking about that. But Jade and Bradley will come in at about four fifteen, four to twenty if you want to stick around for that as well. Okay, no super super and anybody who wants to call please do if you disagree with us on the curt thing. That's fine, We're okay with you guys telling us we're wrong. Anything else

you always want to talk about, that's fine. We have a women's game today, women's game tonight. They've got number five Texas tonight at McHale, So being my last game on their stat cruise, Dave, I've given it a So are they gonna have cake for you? I don't think so. I don't think they're gonna notice that I'm gone. But but you know, they've got they've been working on getting, you know, people trained to do

it. I've done it starting in the COVID year, a little beuh before the COVID year, so you know, it's been a while that I've been doing it. It's been fun. It's been great to watch the program grow and watch the fan base grow and the excitement for women's basketball. You know, they're I mean, there's still getting six thousand people a game. You know, there were some games that I went to where they had three or four hundred, So you know that that's been a cool thing. You know,

my wife's season ticket bailer. So so listen, assume that they play well. You have some high hopes if they play because Texas Texas is good, really good. So how can you get your game like tonight? If you see how they compete. Let's take this. Let's take this car real quick. Hi, you're on the air and eye on the ball. Yeah, Jack Holt, Jack, Jack, you're a little early if you want to, I don't know, call us back in about five minutes. We

haven't gotten to break yet. We haven't gone to our break yet, and we don't want you to sitting on hold all this time. Okay, cool us literally call us at eighteen after the hour. How that you got it? Okay, okay, we'll get you back cool you know, so so real quick. We got about a minute to get over this you're talking about. Well, I think I think they need to compete. You know.

If they go out there and just get raked over the coals, you know, get beat by twenty five, right, and don't look good, you know, But if they compete, if they if they keep the game close, if they look like they've got you know, they could lose by ten or twelve points and you can still feel like they competed pretty well in the

game. And they can lose by ten or twelve points and you can say they had no shot but I think they need to show that they can compete, that they've got players who can who can play against the type of players that Texas gonna be coming in with today. Yeah, so I think that that I think that's what I think, that's what a deal will be looking for, uh, to see how they do, how they step up to

it. It's a huge challenge or number five in the country, and and then and they need and this lecture kind of helped them measure because we talked about yesterday there are five PAC twelve teams in the top eleven, you know in the AP women's basketball rank. I think I think it was fine. I mean, this is a time, this is a type of team they're gonna have to face seven, eight, nine, ten times this year. They're gonna have to They're gonna have to step up. We'll see what happens.

Okay, we gotta go all right with yep. Yeah, we're gonna come back. As you heard Jack Hols waiting for us to get out with

him. So stick around for Jack Hollin, We'll be right back. For more than twenty years, the Window Depot has provided the best price and the biggest inventory on in stock bottle windows and now the Window Depot is more than a window store, offering homeowners and contractors, a one stop warehouse offering interior and exterior doors, granted and courts, countertops, in stock, cabinatry and

skylights to finish your project. Their team of professionals will help with everything from free kitchen design to custom orders from leading manufacturers like mill Guard in Jailwyn. Order online or find a location near you at the Window Depot dot com. Steve Rivera here to talk about Doroto Rock Materials. I needed a lot of gravel from 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? I heard one of his on the radio. Doroto Rock and Materials provides a wide range of landscaping materials, including decorative rock, boulders, gravel, soil, and sand for residential and commercial use in the Tucson area. They are locally owned and have been around for more than fifteen years. Give them a call at five two zero four zero zero four two three three. Where do you

buy exercise equipment? Arizona Health Arizona Health Arizona Health. Of course, to feel better and look better, it makes sense to buy your fitness equipment from the people who know it better than anyone else. At Arizona Health, our goal is to help you choose the equipment you need to reach your goals. Your health and fitness deserve the best you deserve. Arizona Health the leading edge

and exercise equipment. On twenty second this quest of Wilmot. At Nova Home Loans, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy the independence that comes with home ownership. Paul Volpi is ready to help you find an option that best fits your needs, whether you're a first time or veteran home buyer or want to get cash out with the refinance. Nova has a variety of home loan

programs to meet your unique situation. Visit vultpeteam dot com, that's Volpe team dot com or call five two oh six eight five six two six today in MLS three arizon A BKO nine two nine four two Equal Housing Opportunity, How to commitment to Lindridxon. Credit rates and available loan programs are subject to change. With unice It's summertime and the summer leagues are wrapping up. Volleyball, softball, baseball, swimming, and pickleball are coming to their season end.

Come down and visit the cool and relaxing Creative Awards Idea center to pick out your awards for the champs and MVPs. It's also time to replenish your corporate apparel with new Polos caps and safety t shirts with your corporate logo to make your team look sharp. Creative Awards also has a large selection of brand names like Nike, Eddie Bauer, New Era, and car Hard just to name a few. Believe it or not, its corporate holiday gift season time for

your clients too, with over one hundred thousand items to choose from. Come visit Creative Awards, Inc. Two twenty eight West Drackman Street or online at Creative Awards az dot com. Did you know sports cards that memorabilia are setting records sales last month of the nineteen fifty two tops Mickey Mantles for twelve point six million, Lebron James Rookie so for five point six Also, collecting cards is a family fund hobby that can be very profitable if you want to start

a collection or expand your collection. Check out Showtime Cards. They are one of the leading card shops in the country and have served our local community for twenty five years. They are located on e Speedway. That's show Time Cards. The Secret Savings Account from Pyramid Federal Credit Union is an account you pay yourself and save oh right. It's set up as an automatic transfer for any

amount and the transfers add up over time. You can save for a down payment on a dream vacation or an emergency fund and the best part for withdrawals. Your Secret Savings Account can only be accessed in branch or over the phone. Visit Pyramid FCU dot com slash Secret Saving to learn more. Federally insured by NCUA. It's that time of year, Summer in Tucson. Time to take control with Temperature Control for all your air conditioning needs. Will keep you

cool during all the hot streaks. All you have to do is stay in control with Temperature Control where we handle everything you need with prompt response, affordable pricing and sound solutions. We also excel in plumbing and electrical work. We handle everything you need. Give us a call at five two oh eight, one five five six six' five or visit our website at tempdash con dot com and remember stay in control with temperature control. Need concrete, hard Works

Concrete has it. We have more than twenty five years of experience with all things concrete. Installing sidewalks and patio floors are our specialty and handle masonry work and retaining laws. We're locally and family owned. Just let us know what you need, how you want it, and we'll take care of it. Leave the hard work up to us. We're at hard Works Concrete. Call us at five one two nine six' two five six six zero or visit

our website Hardworksconcrete dot com. We'll put the work in for you. Gout bugs, termites, vs or rodents, Arizona Pest Control will hunt them down. Arizona Pest Control is your complete a desert pest management specialist that's can't run or hide from Arizona Pest Control. They use only the latest and most technologically advanced methods of pest elimination available, which minimizes the effects on the environment. Let Arizona Pest Control get rid of your bad bugs, termites, bees,

or rodents. Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona since nineteen forty seven. Go to azypast dot com to schedule your free evaluation Today. Dreamy Live, I mean, iHeartRadio WAP. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jacobzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Hey, welcome back to I'm the Boat here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jagingsauce. Now NFO, we have Jack Howell, a new inductee into the PEMA College Sports Hall

of Fame. Former Pima baseball star, Arizona baseball star. Jack. How are you. I'm doing great, nice, Thank you so much, appreciate the call. Great to have you on the line. We've never met you and I personally, but go and doing some of my books that I did for basketball. I realized a while back, I think I'm right. Your dad played for the hoop team Ale. Yeah, my dad was a star.

Yeah at Tucson HI, and then got to go to Arizona and he was in two Border Conference championships, one NCAA tournament and then had the single game scoring record there for probably ten or twelve years. Yeah. Before another guy shows up and Ernie McCrady comes in, Well that yeah, dad said My dad always joked, and he was a very humble guy, but he always joked and said had they had the three point line instead of thirty three out of score sixty three, he was shoot the way they hell out there,

he was jo That's interesting. So does that mean that you know, as you were as you were coming through and playing at Pima, actually coming through high school? I mean, was the u of a kind of the place where you were gonna where you go you were gonna want to end up? Or did you have a pretty open mind about that? Yeah. So when we did the whole Hall of Fame induction, they only gave us about

a minute and a half to talk. So I did mention my dad, But if if in an interview or given my testimony, you're hitting right on where the big testimony would be, and that is he's Jack hal senior. I'm junior. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. So a lot of people don't know, but I do share this is that growing up in you know, middle school and even up into high school, I wanted to be

a basketball player. I wanted to you know that everyone says, you know, where is it always a dream to be a pro baseball player, said no, I wanted to be in basketball. I went to two or three of Fred Snowden's basketball camps, and then I even went to the Jerry West basketball camp in California. So, yeah, I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to go to Arizona. But when you're a senior and you're five six, one hundred and thirty five pounds, of those dreams slowly

go away, quickly go away. Plus you were able to hit a curveball, so that that had a factor in right exactly, So I went to the Well, I think there'd be a lot of people that say, I never really figured out the curve ball, but I could really turn on a fast fall. Well there's that. So so you do really well at Pima. At what point did the U of A come calling? Well, So, then the second reason for wanting to go to Arizona was one staying in

state where I was born and raised. But I had grown up in the Christian faith and had gone to a lot of the FCA meetings where Jerry Kendall would speak, and so the next mentor would have been I wanted to play for Jerry Kendall, and just so happened that two really good years there at Pima, and that I got an opportunity to go play for him my junior

year. So, you know, back, I'm going all the way back to you know, when I covered good Piema, and I think I don't know if I have actually wrote this, but you know what I what I got from Rich all day. I think I recall it that you were just

a guy that worked hard. You know that there were there were players who were you know, naturally don't take this wrong, but naturally more talented than you, but you outworked them and that's how you made your bones as both as a college player and then obviously later, you know, all the way to the major leagues. Would you agree with that? Oh yeah, yeah,

no you're not. I don't take that person at all, because that's my testimony and it went all the way through, you know, my story of how I got to play at pimat to then getting the chance at Arizona, to then you know, making it quickly to the big leagues with the Angels, but then going you know, after eight years, going to Japan and you got to go figure Japan out, and then you know, everyone thought that after being an MVP and having four good years in Japan. I

would just call the Angels and they'd asked me back. They did ask me to come back, but they had me comes as a free agent tryout, and then had a really good year with them and wanted to re sign with them, and they said, well, come to screening training and try out. So everything has just been tryout, work hard, you know, and and and and get the break. And I've just had breaks. But I think it's what you said is probably learned that through my dad and even my

mom. I talked about the faith, but then just just hard work, ethic. Yeah, no, and a lot of work. I'm sure. So I'm kind of I google you just to see what what's up? And your cards, your car? Do you know your baseball cards? I'm curious. I have a lot of them. Yeah, you get some money in your pocket. So are you telling me I can retire from baseball? Not quite. I'm saying you have a dinner at Flemings waiting for you. I know a card guy. We know a card guy who's a sponsored jack.

If you ever feel like you want to do something with that, hey, let me ask you. You know, you played for arguably two of the greatest coaches in any sport to coach here in Tison. Rich all Day Jerry Kendall too seemingly really different guys. Describe any similarities or differences between the two of them were playing for the two of them. Yeah, I talked a little bit about this in a minute and a half speech for the Hall of

Fame. I just my whole career based around my parents and those two coaches that you're talking about, Well, I talked about, you know, especially this time of year, faith, hope and love, especially with Jerry Kendall, was about the faith, you know that being a believer, trusting in the Higher power, being the best person you can be. And all Day was that way too. And then the hope they just gave you hope.

You know. I walked in and tried on a team and if you remember, and I think that eighty team with Garrett Naugo and the season he had that was the first team to ever go to a Junior College World Series for Tema. That team was loaded and all they even told me that when I walked in the office that day, But he said, you know what, come on and try out and let's see what we got. So he was. He gave me hope, He gave me an opportunity. One needs opportunity

and then love. Both of those people, not you know, could really showed a lot of love into their players. And I know that love sounds corny, but there can also be tough love too, and they were both to do that too. If you weren't working hard, if you weren't being the type of person and player they wanted you to be, they could really show tough love as well. So just a faith and a belief in yourself, hope and opportunity and then of course, of course, you know,

disciplined us with love and with discipline and set boundaries for us. I mean, both of them had their own unique style, but it was all based around that. And you know, when you can you have a leader, you know, I try to do that in my you know, I'm working for the Angels now. I try to do the same thing. You've got to have tough conversations. You've got to be honest with players, and you've got to push them, you know. But on the other hand, they

have to know that you love and care about them and their career. And that's what those those two guys really did. I knew they cared about me. I knew they had the best. And then even at school, you know, the chances are going on and playing pro baseball. But they pushed the school too. If you weren't passing your grades, where they'd find a tutor for you, or they'd make you miss a practice and go in and finish your work. They didn't get let you get away with much. I'll

tell you that. So now that you're a manager, do you use some of that in how you coach or how you teach? Well, there's no doubt, there's no doubt. I've been known to I didn't create the phase, but I lived. When I'm talking to coordinators or staff or else. You know, the players they know that. You know, attitude reflects leadership. So I think if we as leaders don't have that attitude, then it's not going to trickle down to the players. So I tried to show them

that same thing. I try to lead by example. I've got myself and you kept myself in shape, and you know, I try to have open communication. My door is always open. There's times they're coming in and we're talking about their swing and the mechanics or their swingers. Other times they come in and talk about troubles they're having at home. You want that door to be open, that they can come in and sure anything with you at any time, and you just want to give them, you know, some confidence

and to try to help them work through it. So I just preach attitude reflects leadership. If I don't have the right attitude, and I'm not setting those examples for myself, you know, how in the world can you really get players to play for you and to exude the same characteristic So tell us more about the coaching piece of this, because you've been you know, you're still in baseball. I'm looking at your thing, you know, not giving

anything up. Right, You're sixty two years old and you're you're still in baseball. I mean, was that always the plan? What did you think you're going to do? And then you know, what's the plan now you're managing a minor league baseball team. I don't know if that's still what you're doing with at least you were relatively That's a great question. And you know, you get done with baseball. You've had a long career, You've been away from your family, and I took a lot of people don't realize this.

I didn't play that I tore my bicept in the off season lifting, and so I didn't come back. In the year two thousand with Houston, I was going to try out again for them, and that would have been playing in the eighties nineties in two thousand and three decades, which was really big for me. But once that bicep tour, I said, you know what, I'm just going to quit and I retired. And so from in two thousand and two thousand and one, I just spent time with family.

You know, a lot of people don't realize, you know, the sacrifices you take. And I had four kids, had been away from my family for sixteen seventeen years, spent time with them. I coached some what do you call it independent baseball for my son, watched the help coach some of

his high school and just enjoyed family. But then, really long answer to your question was, I had tried a couple little business things, and then I thought about lessons and I did this, and I said, you know, I realized about me, really, the only thing I truly have a passion for and that I really know is baseball. So you guys will appreciate this name. I called up Ron Hassey, who was a great friend of

mine. We used to golf together in the offseason, and he was a director for the Diamondbacks, and I just said, look, man, I want to go back to work, and he gave me my first job. My first job was with the d Backs as a rookie ball manager in the Zula, Montana. The very next year, I was the hitting coach for the Triple A Sidewinder baseball team, which was a really great experience. Then

I became a hitting coordinator. Then for a long time for the d Backs, I was their field coordinator, kind of help and run the minor leagues. And then I got a chance to be the d backs big league hitting coach for two years, and I went to Jim Fleming, you know we talked about team. Was a vice president for the Marlins, and when the d Bucs let me go, he brought me over as a hitting coordinator.

Then Seattle signed me for four years and I was their field coordinator, and I came back to the Angels was the field coordinator for two years, and then for about four or five years I went back into managing, so and then now they made me the player development staff coach. So you can just see this big circle right from just getting your start all the way to big league coach to then back to managing. And it's like this big circle of

baseball. And as long as I love the game, which I do and I've given opportunity, I just want to give back to players and I just love doing it. There's so many coaches and people that pushed me along my career that that's I feel like I'm kind of giving back to other players. After reciting all those numbers, I have you about eighty years old? I mean, yes, you know that's how I feel. So we talked. We talked to Gil Ready a couple of days ago. I think it was

how was it? And J asked this question of Gil, So, when you eventually get to the big leagues and you get in your first game, where were you and how did that feel? Yeah, it was a great call up in Anaheim and the best people have asked this over the years. The best thing I can explain it is, you know, all the years of you know, playing in college and then even in the minor leagues, you could hear the crowd and the noise and you learn to kind of tune

that out. Of course there isn't much in small college and of course in minor league baseball, but I mean, you can just kind of hear all the sounds and you just you're in tune with what's going on. You're locked in. I guess everyone uses that word you're focused talk in. When I went up there for my first at bat in the big leagues, you know, with thirty forty thousand screaming people, but it was really weird because it

was I felt numb and it was a super quiet. I think that was part of I think it was the fact that I was really probably scared to death, you know, and the body, the body just kind of froze. But it's it's it's a hard thing to explain. Man. It is the weirdest, craziest feeling. Never really ever had that feeling since. But then once you kind of get a hit and start playing, and you kind of start realizing, wait a minute, this is just a game of baseball,

you know, and things kind of loosen up a little bit. But what playing in the big leagues is just a daily grind, and you know, you get media and you're playing in front of fans and parents and people, and it's a grind, man, it's a mental grind. I spend a lot of time, you guys ask kind of in those field coordinating.

And then this year as a staff coach, I really probably more than nexes and o's and I don't think anyone when my career is over would say I was, you know, the greatest hitting coach or the greatest in field coach or whatever. I talk a lot about the mental side because had I not had that mental pecuity that I had, and I don't know really where that

came from, but you know what's the it's the greatest. It's a it's a cliche saying, but it is so true, and that is, you know, we spend the game is eighty percent mental, but yet we spend eighty percent of our time on the mechanical. Yeah. And so I constantly push pushed our staff in front office into the players. They'll come in and want to talk about their swing, and I won't even talk mechanics first until I talk about, well, where are you are you? Are you breathing?

Are you focused? Where are you mentally? Is there stuff going on at home? You know? And Inevitably, something other will come up that we can kind of clean up and clear up, give them a little bit of hope, and then the next thing, you know, the mechanics sometimes take care of themselves. I love that. I love that's really interesting because

I love that's but it's true. I mean, you could have something that's so true at home or girlfriend because we talk about Well, the one thing in this business, in being a journalist business that I found out you can't tell in college specifically, is the emotional emotional state of the kids, right because you don't know with class girlfriends, YadA YadA, and they have a bad game on Saturday. He says, here's this guy who's fantastic, but then he had a bad game. How does this happen? Well, there's

other things going on. Well, I learned this, and I wish I could give credit to who it is. I believe. I believe the Seattle football coach talks about it a little bit. And maybe I learned that when I was over in Seattle. But you have to learn a learner so that

you can influence the influencers, right, you know what I mean? So if I learned, if I'm learning the learn or the kid that I'm trying to teach or the athletes that I'm trying to teach, if they really buy into me, then that has a big influence on the other people that are influencing, whether it be their nightlife or the way they're eating, or trouble

with a girlfriend or a wife or whatever it is. If I could really get them watch and then learn and understand them, then that really helps to influence the people that are having an influence outside of the game and in veribly. Does it work, definitely, And that's the reason why. I mean, you know it's not always true, sure, And that's that mental piece. There's just sometimes when I see it all the time, you know, they're like, this guy is so talented. It's the best swing I've ever

seen, such a great athlete. He can run like a deer, he plays great defense. But you know, he just is not consistent. He just doesn't perform. I'm telling you ninety percent of the time. I'm like, you can have the greatest swing in the world and be the best athlete, but he's mentally weak. Yeah, just when the lights come on, it's it's it's hard to lock in and and then you see it on the

other side too. I've seen you and you guys have probably seen it and all the guys you cover, You're like, it's not the greatest swing. He's below average speed, he doesn't really have a great arm. He's a basic vender. But man, when the game on the line, the guy just produces. Right. Well, thank you very much, Thank you very much for joining us. We didn't even talk about show. But we'll get you another time. Yeah. Sure, you guys are welcome to call it

anytime. I love sharing my stories and anyway I can help. Please call and thank you for all the support you do for the sports and around Tucson. Well, we're happy to do it, Jack, and give my regards to your son. Dallas. Actually was coaching softball at Saint Gregory when he was coaching baseball over there, so I had a chance to meet him. Great, great kid. He's a kid, and he's a wonderful, wonderful

young man, and I'm so proud of him. And he's so in real estate and Tucson now but still has that Arizona Select baseball team and you know, well, I know we got to go but real quickly. I don't know if people know, but he married Andy Lopez's daughter kill so he is tied into the baseball family there man and hangs out with Andy Lopez. And then the influence that I give him and I'm just proud of he's leading the young man in two soon. That's great. Well, the stories you guys

probably tell me, I can't imagine. Okay, Hey, thank you, thanks a bunch, Jack, appreciate it. Be well, yeah, that was good. That was good. Very mild man guy. Yeah, Hey, let's go straight to commercial. Let's let's hit the Let's hit the hit the We'll be right back. We'll take your calls five to zero, four, one, six, seventy four, forty. If you're an Arizona man's

basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludolsen era in my new book, Lessons from Loot. It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Lut is an insight

to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one, email me at Steve dot RIVERA ninety five at gmail dot com. Hey walk at Nation. Jake Fisher here, I got to tell you about my winning team over at Arizona Health in SI. I was able to get a custom private health insurance plan with no deductibles, no copays, nationwide coverage, and I get to pick my own doctor for less than two hundred dollars a month.

If you want to avoid getting gouged on the exchange and you want real health insurance, call Arizona Health Insiders five to two zero eight five zero six eight sixty six five two zero eight five zero six eight sixty six fare doown. What's your goal? A new career or career advancement? How about transferring to a four year college. PEMA Community College can help you make Someday today and

reach your goals affordably on your schedule. With over one hundred programs to choose from and financial aid available, it's time to earn the degree or certificate you need to prepare for the career you want. PEMA offers free career exploration classes so you can choose the field that's right for you. Learn how at Pima dot edu slash Someday now to the end of the year with purchase and installation of a new AC and heating system, We'll give you a one thousand dollars

piece of gift card to help with all the expenses. Merry Christmas for picture odds. Last crowning Ball season is upon us and fans are bearing down for our new and improved Arizona football team. I know Edmund Marcus is He's a huge Arizona football fan and of course a University of Arizona graduate. If you don't see him at the football game or you a sporting event, go see him at All State Insurance on Campbell and get a quote for your car and

home insurance and more. Visit Edmund Marcus All State Agency at twenty seven nineteen North Campbell or give him a call at five to two zero three two three nine three three to three. You are in good hands with Edmund Marcus All State Agency. Do you want to be part of a winning team? A team? Security is looking for friendly, outgoing event security guards and event staff to be a part of our team. We've been providing our outstanding services to

some of Arizona's biggest sporting events and concerts for over twenty years. We want you to join the Action. A Team offers a fun and exciting opportunity to work in the sports and entertainment industry, with flexible schedules that are perfect for those looking for a part time job or a second income. Come be a part of a winning team the A Team apply online today at a team security

dot net. It's put Shangha time. The Barstool Sports Arizona bo is thrilled to bring two powerhouse programs, the Toledo Rockets Wyoming Cowboys, to Arizona Stadium on December thirtieth. But Pat Shungo Week is more than the football game. It's Tucson's own end of year park. It doesn't stop until the Taco touchdown at the Taco Belt New Year's Eve Downtown Bull Bash featuring fireworks presented by O'Reilly Chevrolet. Start your Putshanga journey and get your tickets today at the Arizona Bowl

dot com breaking down all the x's and oh's. It's Steve Rivera and Jacin Salmas. This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteenth fifty. Hey, welcome back, to Oin of the Bault Hero Cooky Young Steve, He's Jay Be better known as Jeff pay with us today. We got ten minutes. Three went a little long when it was a good long five minutes.

That was good. Yeah, well that's good. I liked them. And you know what, it threw me off because I thought I started covering Pima when I became a full time sports writer, and it was when I was still doing the high school stuff, so it was before I graduated. So he left Pema b at the same time I did, So I was still twenty one years old when when I was. Because he's a little younger than you writing he's two years younger than me, I was still he was barely

younger than me back then. Yeah, sixty. It was when I got my first job at the Star. Was was part time of covering high school sports. I was one of the guys in that they gave me the assignment to cover PEMA as part of that group of reporters who did that stuff. So it was before I was actually a full time reporter with the Star. So it was that eighty eighty and eighty one time frame that he was their team and they did go to the College World Series and being that I was

just a little put knocker at the time. Yeah, no, they I think they hired a stringer. Yeah. I think the thing was in somewhere Nebraska. Well obviously wasn't in Omaha. Maybe it was eighty fours won. I think it was in Omaha or not. It wasn't Omaha, but it was in Kansas. We got a call. It's like this call. Hi, You're on the air and I on the ball. Hey, how you doing what? I'm not talking to you? Okay, here's the lead.

My family were pretty good for we're good decent friends back in the day around two thousand with howl and Kelly, Jack and Kelly and of course you know they're good friends with Bossburg. Oh yeah, okay, of course yeah. And Kelly always said when they went to Japan, because the twins, the twins are the same age as Adam, You're and my oldest son, Howie, they're the same age. They're like thirty, right, isn't Adam about

thirty? So is the twins, and so is my son Hunt the Hunter and Haley and she said when they were in Japan, everybody they thought it was so a blessed day the Japanese that she had twins. It was very they just loved that. I got a really funny story about Jack because we're into wine, right and of course because we went to church together too, or we saw him at church. They went to the same church. Anyway, we're drinking wine, I mean, or there's a wine story. We

weren't there. But Jack always tries to hide the wine from the kids back then, so he would like put it in a dixie cup. My wife can say, why did you say that? Tell that story? You know what I mean. He tried to hide the fact about to his kids that he was drinking wine in a dixie cup. Yeah, it's like my dad never drink. You know. That's because he just has that personality like my son, they don't drink, which is great, you know, and like

being Nico, Nico's on a whole other level. I'm not sure. Yeah. Yeah, the spread is going to be about handicap at the Produo game, and we're probably going to be favored even though we're by two and a half three. Yeah, I think that's going to be the spread either way, either way. I think a couple of points, yeah, either way, one way or the other. Right, But but I'll be steve vere here. We're going to cover I won't go to say it's more. It's

hard to leave it at that. It's hard to say I wouldn't. The Warriors got more problems than just dream on his behavior. Yeah, well their talent is diminished. And Thompson, oh yeah, Thompson's not going to get a big contract at all. It's business and he's not worth the contract. The Draymon's not worth his contract to twenty five million. And and Clay he's not going to get that either. Well, it's unless it's going to be a thank you for what you go to the past, because you can't do

that anymore. When you lose two years like Thompson did, it's just you don't get it back. He's not the same guy, Howard. Let's worry about your backyard, your son's your sons are playing that the Michael Bridges tonight in Brooklyn. You know we're going the right direction. Unfortunately Golden State's not going in the right direction. All right, Thank you guys, thank you, thank you. Howard. I love Howard because he's all over the map.

We covered the Suns, that covered the Warriors. We covered solved the world's problems. He was in Japan for a little bit there. Yeah, crazy stuff and Howard always a great caller. Yeah, okay, we got about five minutes. Anybody you want to call one last second, we can take your call. But again, good talk to Jack. Don't even know you know, he probably wouldn't. Well. The thing is he listens to us on the radio because you could tell what he you know, when he

talked about certain things, right, which is cool. Yeah, people listen to us sometimes, Yeah, kind of nice. I don't I don't know. Jeff over here listened just before he got here. Jeff didn't know who the heck we were to hispanic dude two hispanic guds on the radio. We're not in his wheelhouse. We're not in the demographs a lot of people's demographic. Yeah, it was good that the gym called yesterday to kind of because

he had he already called me to say he called. I remember I posted that I was out, and I posted that that podcast when he wanted to test you up to his uh, his complete uh miss on Arizona against Utah, which weeks ago. But I'm glad he stepped up and did that, you know, is that kind of a guy. It seems like another guy. Did another guy leave Oklahoma? I think in the last couple of days or so, it was ah uh defensive back. I think we're lying back

something on defense. It was it was really good. So just you know, I'm just another guy leaving and it was not getting ready for the true they're back on the field. I think, right, this is when I think the start. I think this is the week that they kind of do a lot of you know, fundamentals. A lot of the young guys get there, get their time on the field. This is where the really the benefit of playing in a bowl game comes in. They sure guy some extra

practice, some extra time, but it's an extra you know. It's funny that jet. And this is another thing go ahead. Was they were at the click the coach at the Clippers game. Oh I saw that. I saw that. Yeah, because he was out recruiting. Probably well, I think it's probably trying to get some money from Steve Palmers. They need something and money, Steve. Did you see that? The Robbins, I guess is getting ready for the presentation. If not, he already did it today.

I say something in the Star. Well, it's the twenty fifth. The fifteenth is his deadline for for presenting it. I think that I saw something in the Star that you can go live and see some of the meetings. So yeah, he's up against it. He's up against it now with two days left to get a proposal of what's gonna what they're gonna do. It's scary, man, yea for people that were at the Arizona were working

in Arizona. The people were mad about what's what's happened? Let me ask you for maybe a clarification, and I'm you're not going to conferb it. Uh, maybe you will, but you're not a source stops conferment. This is the first time they've been under over budget. No, they've been over a budget before. Well, they had to sell furniture or they change furniture. I can't remember the university as a whole or athletic athletics. Well, you know, when when Live and Good was here, that was that was

go. I know. But when Live and That was the thing that they were always in the black always. I don't know how that went or how that's been going since then, but at that time, and yes, it meant that there were times that you had to let some people go, so I I just stayed there, right, But they never went in the hole. Okay, that makes sense, you know, but they went in the whole, you know, nearly fifty million dollars alone the COVID year. Yeah,

right, so there's that. But there obviously has been some more since then. And I don't know if it's a hangover from the COVID stuff, you know, or if it's the you know, the the you know, a lack of attendance at football, because you know, they always say that football is the most important. Sure, you know, if you want to help softball, you know, buy a football ticket kind of thing. And attendance during the sum of the years was awful, awful, and then they

had to buy them out. But it's my understanding that someone the buyout came from. Yeah, someone else paid for that, and and with Sean too, but Sean was But when you're getting twenty five or thirty thousand people at your games instead of forty to forty five, which is pretty much with the crowds that were here this year, and they're obviously hoping for more than that, you know, in the coming year, that's big. That's huge.

You know everything relies on football and even basketball to a degree. His stay. You know what, there's somebody calling us right now. We got we can't take the call right now. Call us on the other side, man, give us a call on the other side of this commercial, we'll be doing breaking news. We would love to hear from you. We got to break for our for our top of the hour here. We can't go over, so I appreciate your trying to call. We give us a call back

after this break coming up, So we got to wrap up. We got about fifty seconds here. But you know, getting back to that Steve, you know, it's it's all about the It's all about the football, not even the basketball. But I was gonna say basketball has even attendance, is you know sure it's not fourteen thousand and six eighty sure every game? No like last like last game. Yeah, we'll talk more about this on the other side and maybe give a couple of callers or two talking about it.

Yeah, who you got right. We got Jaydon Bradley coming about four twenty from Arizona basketball sophomore, a key guy to what they're doing right now. We're talking about the Fordue game coming up and then he's transferred in from Alabama. We're talking him about facing his old team next week. So stick around. Don't believe. Let's just last. Don't believe, Let's la. Don't believe, just La belie