Wednesday, June 18, Hour 2

Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fIF day.

Hey, welcome back to I'm the ball around Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today's Blake Eager. I love the discussion. I know it's not about sports, but let me see if I can get some callers who have been around for a while and maybe I've had some experiences with some of the sports events that we've had here forever. The old Toros, the sidewinders, the pro volleyball people from back in the day, right, the

That's some one thing that I think Tucson does better than almost anywhere else to the most degree. When you're talking about this is it's they're pretty everybody's pretty selfless, right, Yeah. I mean Bob Bob Hoffman with the Roadrunners literally will bend over backwards, give you a shirt off, and be like, don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. I mean, we were going through it with the WBC kickoff event and he's just like, I don't know what your budget is.

But this is what we'll do. We'll do this for you, and he takes care of you, right, So let me I'll throw maybe a loophole in this whole thing. Don't you think let's say, twelve twelve entities here at the table, do you think that they're so busy worrying about themselves, Yeah, that they'll help solve or help pull the rope together.

Yeah, you actually.

I mean that's why you need you need community leaders at the table, and then you need a separate entity altogether. That says, Okay, I'm going to compile all this data and all this information you just threw out there and let me get back to you with maybe where you're doing.

Things not the best way right or could do better? Right?

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes total sense because you're, like you said, the what's the first order of business, the goods and the bad souff.

Yeah, absolutely, I mean think about it. We've had I mean we've had some Look at Pima Community Colleges last year, how great did their outside?

In fact, I was with someone from Pima yesterday saying what a great, great.

Year it was.

I talked to Ken hackmy all last night. You know, it's just it's blown away. How do we get them, how do we get people more involved?

Let me tell you something. That's a group that wants to be at the table. Yeah, because they've always been not always most up until the last few years, they've been kind of like the step child because they're under the shadow of Arizona. But the success hasn't been like it is now.

Yeah.

I mean it's one of the premier junior colleges in the country.

Yeah, I mean you're looking across the board. I can't name a team that did poorly over there. It's just it's wild. So yeah, I think it's a perfect time to kind of to do that, to start it and see where it goes. And I'll be brutally honest with you, Steve, I'll do some research on it, but I don't really want to go in there saying this is how we have to do it. You really want to just go in there asking questions and learning and saying, Okay, maybe we try this.

You know who else is doing this?

Has it worked?

Yeah?

I mean it's like you know, I John Schmieder is a guy in Phoenix that runs Huddle Up. He used to run the Tulsa Sports Commission. He's a Tucson guy. Went to Sabino, but I call him, you know, not all the time, but a lot, just to talk to him and pick his brain about a sports commission, what that would look like, what could we do better? I mean, he's so well connected. It's asking those people want to be part of this community. Sarah de with Garman, who

How did it get to this point? What do you mean, Well, hasn't happened yet, so how did it get here.

Yeah, I don't know you for another show. No, the only thing you know, I don't know. I don't know that. I think that's a deeper dive conversation.

It is that we could offend some people just and yeah, and I so say that could offend some people and be wrong.

Yeah, I will say this. I think there's a there's somewhat of a perfect storm right now. You have some really really great people that are all trying to do the same thing or that are having these open conversations. I mean the counties, I mean Jen Lesher and Carmine Damonas are phenomenal with all these things bringing new opportunities.

It's just it's unbelievable.

And then you have other people in the surrounding communities that are all like, okay, let's do it, Yeah, let's figure it out.

You know.

I mean, you've got so many great partners in our area that are that want to be at that table.

Yeah, no, no, okay, we'll probably talk about this more as all he comes in and because you know he's full of ideas and good ideas, you know, sometimes out of the box. It doesn't make sense that you look at against his you know what, that's a pretty good idea and he wanted to bring I.

Don't was that the Raiders?

Oh yeah, oakand Raiders like a yeah, they or.

Something I can't remember. It's not crazy.

No, No, you're thinking, damn, how come I couldn't I think of that?

Yeah, I couldn't have thought of that. Yeah, and he I mean with all E you're getting, you're getting all E. It's not this, it's not it's not. What you see is what you get. And that's why he's so successful, right can I So last week, I know I wasn't able to make it in, but you did have my buddy Robbie mohan On, right, Yeah he was great. Yeah, he is great. So it's it's wild Robbie's Robbie is great. And if you look at his kind of body of work, you kind of forget, I mean, how how great he

Again, that's why I say this. And I was like, you're not wrong. I'd probably be your yeah somewhere around there.

Yeah. Yeah, well but I mean my dad took me those games all the time at Frank's. That's sure.

You know. We talked about that all last week because of the baseball team. Yeah, it doesn't doesn't seem that long ago, but it's thirty two years ago.

Yeah.

I don't want to. I mean, and you we don't have to put numbers to it. Steve, So what do you think? What do you think about the baseball? Have you been watching the College World Series?

Probably too?

Like in and out? I stopped, well, I kind of stopped. I'm not a big college baseball fan. Yeah you said that, which is kind of wild.

But after U of A was done, I just, yeah, you I don't have all of tucsons. Yeah, but now we have what Arkansas and LSU and the two teams at.

Coastal Carolina and in Louisville. But I think Coastal Carolina was up six nothing today when I.

Go, yeah, just and if you could do it at Coastal Carolina and baseball, you can do it anywhere.

But it's not Listen, that's not People are like, oh, they're underrated. I'm like, no, they're a number thirteen team in the country. They've won a World Series in the last ten year. You know, they beat us for a World Series, which I mean.

And baseball is different because you played the game, and you know how different it is.

You could have just a rag tag dudes that can play. Listen, I've some of the best teams I had and ever played on were guys that had no business probably played baseball. But it was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win this game for my timemate. And that was amazing, right, Yeah. I mean I was fortunate

Yeah, you know, no, no.

It brings to me to as you say this, that brings me to the point that I bring this whole time, even though he can't defend himself. It's Jay because he tells me, you look good, play good, blah blah blah. And I'm thinking, give me a glove, give me some cleats, put some shorts on me. I'm gonna run right through you,

I listen, I played with this guy from Coaches College and and this is summer ball in Northwoods, which you've got you know the cape CODs number one Northwoods and number two. So we were both very fortunate because I was at Eastern and he was at Coach. He's very fortunate because their pitching coach was the head coach out there, brought us over. If he didn't get hit by a pitch at least twice a game, he was pissed off like that's he was like I'm getting on. I'm gonna

Yeah. And then if you're pissed at the end of the game, so you got beat like that, yeah, yeah, yeah because you didn't do it. Yeah, Tomor are gonna come back. I'm gonna keep Yeah we used to. Maybe I shouldn't tell this on there.

So, So when we were in so I uh for summer ball in Northwoods. We I played in Waterloo, which is great. They drew fifty five hundred fans a game in college. Coming from Eastern Arizona Community College to that was this like you're in pro baseball, right, It was amazing. But there was a group of us like minded individuals that would like to hang out after the games, right, And we got to know the clubby there really well, and we got to know the ownership of the group, and they liked us, so.

We would.

They would end up giving us the key to the bar after saying so we would go out after the games and then go back to the stadium and hang out and drink. And but it was a whole team effort, right, So it wasn't What I'm getting at is that you don't bond because you're on the field together. You bond because you go through these things and you have honest conversations, you have real talk and you and it's outside the game.

So those things matter. And it doesn't have to mean you have to drink. You're just a part of it, no question. In fact, that's a secret weapon. That's what people don't talk about. Oh, you guys are all good at I can't tell you how many good teams I've covered they didn't have that. And you could tell they don't have that.

They don't talk to each other, they're not sticking around playing cards right after the game.

I mean, that was the greatest.

That was the funnest part people ask me, do you miss professional baseball?

I don't.

I mean, I love you and I and I was really good at it. I love on the mount, but I love the camaraderie because you have people from all over the world. You know, English is the second lane, with religious beliefs, political beliefs, all different, all sitting at the same table playing cards, having an honest conversation and then not always agreeing, right, but coming to some kind of a solution, not always agreeing. But the thing is,

There's a there's a reason why when you go to bars with baseball teams, you're like, I'm not just fighting you.

I'm gonna fight twelve for you. And you're probably not good fighters, but it's gonna be tough to be twelve with you up. Right?

Are the guys behind me are helping me?

No? No, I mean that's part of part of sport, right. You just kind of you're one, one for all, all for one. Yeah, and you can tell who's not in because they're either trying to do their own thing, yeah, and that person usually gets a pretty strong conversation or talking to right, you don't have to collapse and do it, but you can't be the outside the having covered thousands of thousands of games, the one thing I hate the most, And what does it matter to me or to anybody

But but you know, it's not about you.

One of the things that I had now during the draft, and I say this every now and again, Richard Jefferson. Okay, so he's a junior. They're playing the two thousand and one NBA file National Championship with Gilbert and Luke and then Laura and all these guys and one of my colleagues, national colleagues. Because he's gonna go the NBA. Look at his stats. He's twelve, twelve points a game, seven rebounds, whatever, he's not ready. The numbers don't show that. It's not

Yeah, I mean the combine changes everything, right, sure, NFL, especially NBA, NBA.

How far did you go? Double double A?

If you like, if you are good enough to be in the major leagues, would you have played in the major leagues? I was good enough to play in the big leagues. So if someone screwed on my labor, I mean that was onto my courage. You know, people, if you're good enough, guess what they do. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, So if not for bad luck or whatever.

It wasn't bad. I mean it was you know, it's life.

But yeah, I mean yeah, people asked me that they used to have I used to coach with the guy he pointed out out all the time, and I was like, you haven't you think you should know the situation before you say that to the people. But yeah, I mean, people will find you. I mean, I listen. I played at Eastern Arizona, right, I didn't have a scholarship out of high school.

Nobody was recruiting me.

I had a family friend and Jeff Stanley that gave me an opportunity that knew coach back now at Eastern. He came out and watched me pitch in the summer league game. And then after that game, I think I've told the story. You know, our players are in a fistfight with Amti High School's parents and I'm having this conversation I have to walk on. I mean, I was I had Western, I mean coaches College's coach gave me a chance to play in the Northwoods League.

You know, it's so like, if you're good enough and you have the drive and you.

Listen, I tell this to everybody, you have to love it, Like, yeah, it's gonna be some crappy living at times. It's going to be crappy ups and downs. But if you truly love it and you find a way, there's opportunities.

Let me ask you, so, how many in fact to somebody over the weekend, and we're talking about in the NBA A lo, let's say there's five hundred people in the rostaurant that a lot of them don't love it. They're just good at what they do.

It's a business. Yeah yeah, in your world you've seen that.

Oh yeah, absolutely, they don't love it, but they get that they play because it's a good living.

Yeah, there's I mean, there's players I played with. I played with the second rounder who hated baseball and couldn't two years afterwards, quit and gave away half his bonus, like you're talking at that point, I think it was six hundred thousand he had to give back to New York Mets because he hated it. He didn't want to play. He was just better than everybody else at it, which is wild to me. Could you ever imagine, like there's nothing in life that I'm much better than everybody else at.

Well, here's what I is. When I go out to dinner or whatever, especially when I was married, people come, can we talk about excuse me? I hate to bother you, but yeah, and then they bother you like my wife at the time hated it because no, I don't really want to talk about sports.

I talk about it too much. It's all the time.

Yeah, So that's why when you when we talk about this outside, then people talk about like I don't. The best is like when you have people in their professional community, when people come up to you and they're like, oh, yeah, I you know I. Then there are there's authentic people, and there's people that are trying to tell you and how to do your job, and you're.

Like what happens all the time.

And then but you have other people that are like I only played baseball or whatever in the little league and you're like, yeah, that doesn't matter, and they just want to have a conversation, right.

I love those people.

The other side of it, when people are like, you know, you should do this or this, you should this is why he's failing.

I'm like, where did you? Like you have?

Don't tell people that what's your resume? Yeah? Feel like me trying to tell you how to invest your money. Don't listen to me when you don't have any. Let's take a break, get a hold the Ali farhang.

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This is High on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifding. Want to take part in the show Call up steam now went five two oho four one seventy four forty.

Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball. He know, Foxports fourteen fifty Steve Rivera your blake eager. We're waiting for all of I hope he got his message to call. Maybe maybe taking a nap. Maybe he's taking a nap. Yeah, I don't think he's staying a nap. He's probably doing something more important. Yeah, like taking a nap. That's more important to me. Let's let's talk about that. How often in your life do you get to take a naps?

Oh?

I don't, But I love that. There's the best. Love him, even if it's a twenty minute nap, it doesn't matter. It's a power. Now. I used to do the when I worked at the paper. I did it, you know, to get my energy back, you know, I because you know, when you're in the sports writing business, you're going to sleep at two in the morning, and you're waking.

Up late, and you gotta be ready to go at any time if a story pops up. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, and especially nowadays. I'll tell you, man, I don't care what people say. The Europeans have figured out they get a little css, they get a two hour they get a two hour lunch.

Yeah, oh god, right, find me out it is. You're right, Yeah, I missed those impact. In fact, Kevin covering Dick told me he used to do that in his office. Shut the door at the couch there, boom, and he was ready to go to practice.

How great was Dick tomy are?

We talked about that yesterday because we had rich Tony on yesterday. Yeah, no, fantastic, you had rich On great baseball player. Yeah. Now he's got that the coaching founder Coaching Alliance. Yeah yeah, it's really good, done, really well. Yeah, he's ups. I'm trying to get a move back to Tucson. No, he's got a lot of stuff going on. He's very successful. But that's another thing. I mean you just like I said, you have a lot of people who are involved in

We you and I have talked about it.

Think about think about the people that were successful here that went on to become multi multi multi millionaires or billionaires. Right, there's been a few, Yeah, like a few, Sam Fox. It's funny because there was a list just on.

The internet Time five top five ARTI Marine and he was like the guy that owned he was number two.

The guy that owns Carvana, who's number one.

I didn't even know who the heck he was two. Zoning the guy that started airs on ice K did have the New York Giants, New York Jets guy, yeah, you know, and then they had the Phoenix.

I mean, but the problem is who's reaching out to them saying like, this is a community that you left, but you could be back down.

So funny because there's a lot of money there. I'm sure you have a if they're connected to you, a ay has.

You know, there's a lot of success and I'm you know, we're obviously having a conversation about bringing something back or coming back into the community, but just leadership, right, like these were two zon ins, they were two zonings. Look at them, now, how did they get from point A to point B. You know, well, I'm telling you I have two cousins as a teacher. What's a door if you go and you try to do and you hey,

Or no?

And you got to go and fail, you gotta go fail. I'm afraid of failure, but I've been there, done that, and it's it's tough, but it's also helped me do other things.

Yeah, it's hard for me to be afraid of failure after being a baseball player, where you all you ever do is just fail, right, and people are like, I failed, I'm damn okay. Well to pitch, yeah, I've given up some home runs that haven't landed yet, like so yeah.

No, and situational stuff no, no, you have to kind of just forget about it, Broda Belding, and forget about your successes too, because those are fleeting.

My wife reminds me of that. So we're good there. Because you're married.

I don't know, I mean she's never taken care less.

I mean that's a good thing for me.

So you and her do you guys go with former friends the pitched or played.

I've got a pretty I've got a little group that are all ex guys.

So so let me ask you. Do they get into those oh back in the day, you know, remember that time and the wife are saying, oh, shut.

No, no, no.

My wife would say that with my high school friends when we because we only see each other maybe like once a year when we get together, it's kind of that way. And my wife's like, I'm going to go ahead and skip this one. I don't I don't need to hear any of this stuff. And I'm like yeah, and she's like, I could probably recite it orbat him for what you've said already.

No.

Like Anthony Vega, who's my best friend, played for the Orioles. He's a Long Island guy from New York. We we rarely like. He doesn't watch baseball anymore, so we talk a lot. And we're in like three fantasy football leagues, so we'll talk about that, or we talk about kind of just what's going on in the world. My other buddy, Jared McDonald, who's now the heading coach at Utah State for the women's softball team. He just got that job. I talked to him yesterday and we just talked about

Don't have a friends. No, I don't talk about anything. I don't I don't talk to anybody.

I know it's wild.

I know you don't strike me as an introvert, but I get I get it.

I just kind of you know, yeah, it's okay. I invited George Arias.

I was like, hey man, you need to come to this last night, right, And then Edgar shows me a picture and they were facetiming.

He's laying on his couch.

I was like, thanks, thanks George for getting off your butt and coming here.

Too busy.

So I've had him on the show and he's difficult to have a conversation with.

Georgie.

He's very soft spoken and yeah, and he but he is he is. But you can get him riled up talking about golf. You know how good he is a golf plus free.

You could tell he's a good Yeah, good athletes you can play golf, yeah, because they hit the crap out of it, and they're smart and they know stuff.

Yeah, he needs to get on the champions to where if he can.

Yeah, you know, good athletes, they're not afraid to fail into.

He can't be a good athlete if you're afraid to fail.

No, I mean they just beat the crap out of the ball and said, guess what I'll do another one.

You might break some clubs going along the way. So yeah, and they're good at everything. Yeah, it takes time. You've got to fail to get better at things. So let me ask you this, Steve, and we're talking about something, we're talking about all these things. You've been here long enough. Does it feel different right now to you from a community standpoint, Tucson as a whole, as a sports community than it has in the past.

No question. If back then was a three, this is at least a seven.

Yeah.

And I'm not a politics I hate politics. I hate politics, but it's unavoidable now. But back then there was it was political. You could tell right downtown stadium over here, stadium, YadA YadA. And maybe that was a big fail. Not maybe it was a big fail because we know the results here, we know the actual results We don't know if it would have failed Downtown. Maybe it would have. We don't know that, right, Yeah, you know, so here we are with no question, very much potential for success. Now.

Yeah, I mean Edgar Soto said this really early on. He's like, well, why don't we try to go after an NBA team? I go, it's never gonna happen. No, And it won't happen no.

But you know what.

Happens when you have that conversation is things come to the table. You bring people to the table having those conversations. Well yeah this NBA, No, but why not this?

Yeah?

Yeah, why not an exhibition game? Why not having the suns come back down here? Was good at that And you probably knew him sitting. Yeah, nbelief, you've sitten all the the new Dave sitting. Dave came out and said, Okay, let's go do it, let's get it. Yeah, blah blah blah. Dave used to come into U. I used to run an indoor facility called the Yard East. He used to come in and hit uh oh really yeah, batting practice? Is that the indoor place? Where is it at?

Used to be on golf links and like past Ponta talk.

Okay, it's funny because as little as I know, when you you almost less than a year now, you do think that way. You think out of the box, and you know it takes your swings. You're gonna take your hacks. Yeah, and if you hit the ball, you hit the ball.

I mean, there's there's there's different ways to get to your destination, right, and I think our destination is a better community.

Well, it's funny because you talk about that guy that wants to get hit by the ball or whatever. His job is to get on base. That's steal second.

Get score on a base hit, steal second steal signs from the catcher, give it to the hitter, right people. People hated on the field, but after the off the field? Yeah, smart base. Yeah, why isn't he on my You want that guy on your tea. You only hate him because you want him on your team. That's why I want two soon to be I want the rest of the United States to be like I hate two song, but not because they're doing things wrong.

Soon Yeah, find a way, find a way and make it work.

I mean, think about Steve, you think about all the things weaken off because we're just talking about sports. But I mean, how many cities as side have a national park Inspacker.

I don't know, if any, I don't know. Right, so you've got some national part. Then we got a call, got a call. Hello, you're on the air and line on the ball.

Who's this?

That's Richard?

Uh?

Hey, he talking about that.

You know.

Oklahoma City is my hometown. And they have done a remarkable job there. They had a lot of extra land.

That they could do things on.

They're very fortunate. Uh. And they also had ten years of an oil depression that they used to do their planning.

But one of the things I think we could use downtown and.

Here there are some more tactile events.

For example, Okahoma City has.

These giant climbing structures. You strap a harness on, you climb this thing up and you take a zip line down several hundred yards, or you go have these giant slides that go down three or four stories. Then they also have a ferris wheel down on down by downtown now by the park. Uh, the old Santa Monica ferris wheel.

That's pretty fun. It's all lit up at night and so.

Or you know, we could have a wave machine or something. There's things could be doing.

Yeah, no question. When was the last time you lived in Oklahoma City?

Oh, it's it's been forty years.

See Okay.

Roan Arizona. Now, you know, I've watched what they've done. I'm familiar with the people who did it. And the biggest dan is they also have. And you guys were talking about all these billionaires there who you may in Oklahoma City. The people donate back to the city, the oil company people, they've given tens and tens of millions of dollars to build boat houses at downtown o Coome City on the o Canadian River. Donate tons of money.

That, Richard. So how long have you been in Tucson?

That long?

Okay?

So let me ask you what what do you like the most about Tucson?

Well, uh, just it feels good.

I like, I don't mind going downtown and and enjoying that They've done a lot of great things, and but I love the outdoors here.

You know.

I'm an old landscapeer Steve Landscape Homes.

For thirty five years and Tucson, Okay, So I've.

Been out there every day, you know, and I've been helping to try to build p mccounty and Tucson, Arizona the best I can. Okay, So what do you make life better for my clients? So?

Know, what do you think would be your first work of order to improve?

Well, I think what I just started talking about downtown.

We need a plan. I'm more of a tack file plan with some kind of physical things to do if we can find.

A space for it, and just a sort.

Of a revamping a rebranding maybe where we have an overall design and plan and maybe there is one.

I just don't know about it.

Yeah, you know, right, Okay, thanks Richard, ok thank you, thank you guys.

Thank you. Good ideas, no great ideas. I mean Richard's right.

I mean I think there's a story that we were talking, we were reading about with Oklahoma City that I think when they were looking at maybe expansion early on in the NBA or something else somebody maybe it was baseball, they went there and they looked at Oklahoma City and they left and they said, sorry, we're not gonna pick it.

There's nothing to do here. It's a boring city.

And the city said, okay, here we go and they completely over did, like redid the city. I mean it is for me saying that it takes a lot, right, because I do. I enjoy Oklahoma City. It's a great little it's a great city. It's a great place to be. Two weeks ago.

Yeah, softball, yeah right, yeah, NBA file like at Omah Yeah right. I mean those worst place I've ever had from a food standpoint. I mean just awful food, terrible food.

But I mean, if you ever get a chance, have you been there during the cultural he is crazy, there's so much going on the whole city. Was like, and that's what we do for the gym show, right, if we did that for other things, like we were just bought into it and said this is gonna be crazy touson Meet Yourself is it's an unbelievable event. Everybody buys into it. Four thousand New Street Fair. Let's buy into

I don't.

I think we're missing out on things to do like Corbett's right has you've got yeah, what you might call it, thank you?

You have pickaball. If we had more places like that, I.

Think you do. I think you do. We don't know about it. A Touson Record Club has a downtown oh down yeah, okay, yeah, okay.

Rec Club's amazing right now? What they did? You've got the Paddel plays on paid way. You've got all those things. Yeah, I mean downtown though, right, you're in Congrete downtown. There's got to be stuff to do.

Yeah, I still think too, it has this reputation, and reputations are hard to beat up upon. But it's what that was dangerous that No, that it's just uh not that it's dangerous, dangerous, not the worry word that there's nothing to do.

And maybe because there's people to people that haven't traveled downtown have no idea.

What let me tell you something too, because people mentioned complaining about the bark Keno the ballpark there, right, Yeah, what's the difference now than twenty five years? What the hell? Yeah?

You can't if I if I if there you're ting you MA had ten many rays. I can get anything I possibly want exactly. Yeah, I know, David Busters. I can go to the movies. I can go to I nineteen, that venture that has literally every restaurant, you could possibly everything.

Here's my issue.

I know people who are afraid of going south that way. Come on, you haven't heard that? Yeah, but I listen. But to me, that's stupid. To me, it's yeah, you're right.

I mean I think it is really stupid, and it's dangerous anywhere you go. Right, I missed dangerous downtown where it was sketchy in the district, and I miss my dive bars. But I'm happy for the community. Yeah, yeah, I know better. Now I'm older, I don't want to go I mean, listen, I don't want to be in that crowd anymore in my life.

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Breaking down all the I says and ohs. This is I on the ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Hey, welcome back to my the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're a break eager, and I'm not sure we're getting here. Told me with your guy, that's okay.

I'm supposed to be on spears and Allie tomorrow, I just will all know, show them, I'll show you.

Yeah.

I wouldn't do that to Justin No, you know all he's a very busy person, so I confirmed this morning. But we'll get him on okay, Yeah, we'll get some wed some time. Unfortunately, people just have to listen to me ramble for long.

Well we got ten minutes if you guys want to call we We've kind of gotten off topic after baseball with Victor. But I think he's a good topic because you know, we talked about this in the summer, right that they're going to have a lot of downtime, a lot of idle time to talk about different things like music and things like that. But this is a this

No.

Two sounds like a parasite. It gets any the your lives and this is home for you.

And I have lived in some great places around the world, and I still I mean, I just it's different. Yeah, it's you know, it's different. We were just talking about Denver, right. I love Denver, Denver. I lived in Denver, but it was it's pretty segregated, like people didn't walks of life, didn't really hang out with each other.

It was confusing to me. I never felt like I never felt like I was part of the community, right because it didn't welcome you. Yeah, it wasn't just a very It wasn't. The people are just different. But they're not from there either.

I mean, what place's talking about people?

I'm Denver, right, Like my closest friends from Denver were from Vegas to so On and Phoenix. So I was like, well, why am I? This doesn't make anything. If you didn't live here, where would you live? Where would you want to live? At all the places I lived?

Yeah?

Why?

Oh for obvious reasons. But you also the way in life and then everything else. Yeah, what about money because it's figured out? Okay, okay, see somebody that's yeah, I've been poor. It's fine, it's no, no, I get it. I totally so fine. It's funny all your life. I wanted to cover Triple A baseball, cover baseball, right, I covered the Rangers helped in the summer of eighty seven, and I realized, what the hell I hate this? Yeah,

I mean, listen, I love I love living in New York in my twenties. I don't want to live in New York, and I don't want to live in the city in my forties, right, you know. I mean I'd live in Sweden again, heartbeat. That was the best place I ever lived, probably, But yeah, you know, you it's the same thing. You get this, you change, You've all right, sure, so no, it's get off my lawn and just don't be you are Actually you were definitely a get off

And twelve or better for forever.

I'm I'm so glad you brought that up. I just had this conversation. I said, the older you you asked me ten years ago. I'd been like, it's fine, you figured out. At this point, I'm like, I gotta get it.

I can't do this.

It's one hundred and thirteen tomorrow. I don't want to be here. I'm not leaving the house like I don't want to be outside exactly. And it's like it makes me angry. I get angry about it. I'm like, why is it so freaking hot? And why is it so hot? I'm like, you lived here, your whole life is what happened? Nothing changed, right, No, exactly exactly. We talked about Phoenix, right because you were up there and I was up there and it's one hundred fourteen and you could just

I listened.

I if I'm notching about something, I'm not living. I like, I complain about everything. I lived in in a fifty five and older community, and this this is best place I really actually Yeah, in South Florida, in Port Santee, right outside of Port Saint Lucie.

But you were what thirty eight?

No, this is like when I was twenty three, I was living in Port Saint Lucie. I was playing with the Mats, so I stayed there a nafseason. So the girl I was dating at the time, day, yeah, yeah, she had just had hip surgery.

It was perfect.

Uh. Now our dad had a place there, so we would go. We would live there when I was staying there, and my best friends was my best My two best friends was a seventy eight year old and eighty two year old. We'd wake up at five in the morning and play a round of golf. We'd go have lunch, go take a nap, come back and play cards and have drinks and then go to somebody's house. It was the greatest joy in my life. And all we did all day long was in complaints. Yeah, it was the greatest thing.

That's how it was.

I joined a new group, my my son and my son and his girlfriend. I met her parents and the family on that side recently, and it was a bunch of dudes like that old dude. It was like Walter Matthallen and some of those other people. And I'm thinking, I.

Even joke with them.

It feels like I'm in the cocoon and I'm in a cocoon movie, like Cocoon eight. And it was like yeah, And they were smoking cigars and we're playing and I'm thinking, how did I end up here? And I was texting my study says, yeah, there are a bunch of you know whatever, And I'm thinking, God, good luck you're married into this thing.

It's so funny that I have no interest in being crowds. So we go to concerts all the tunch. Yeah, we go to concerts all the time. And somebody touches my elbow and I'm already been standing there. I'm just lose my I lose my mind. I'm like, I've been I've been here for forty five minutes. Why are you touching me?

Now You're trying to get closer, like no boundaries, And people were like wait till they still asking you questions. You know, what did you do for a living?

Yeah?

Yeah, oh no, I'm just a dude works a circ Okay, bus driver. I've always that was my alter ego every time, because it's a great job. Great first thing. The first thing you said, tell me you're a bus driver. Yeah, I'm a bus ride. I'm sure you could tell some story.

Yeah, and then you got one. Oh, I can go into it. Yeah.

See that's a great thing. At a young age, when you take on an alter ego, you have to create a hole.

Yeah.

So I was all in on it, stabbing people on the bus. I was good driving in Houston. I never lived in Houston. You're talking about worst cities. Oh god, hoon, can't stand Houston. I went to the Woodlands once. Yeah, great, gots your great poopa.

Yeah. A little to uppity, yeah, a little yeah, but it was nice. It was nice listen. Although it was it was in the summer and it's holy crap. I don't want to live that vice.

But the first the first guy's flight, it's pretty nice when you get it, you ever get upgraded, it's it's pretty nice.

It's it's your seventy two hour thing.

Yeah, yeah, give me one.

And then I got to get back to listen. I'm not this person could be cranky anyway. Yeah, yeah, I could keep up this facade for a little while. But it's not a it's not a life it's not a life changing side.

I'm glad you feel comfortable in this radio gig of yours that you got who you well, it's pretty easy to do. This is your former dream job. I think I always wanted to just be a producer. Oh that's what I did at KX. I would set up with bands and play play music. That was a lot of fun. I never envisioned myself being on there. Who'd you go see Monday? The Pixies, The Pixies, I've heard of them? Okay, so who is your going mind? Who your favorite band's growing up? Who are they?

Oh my god, we're gonna get into it. Just give me three, uh favorite bands growing up? N w A, Rolling Stones, the clash. But you're saying and my favorite like three, I would definitely include Marvin Gayano's reading and or Howling Wolf, Hellanwolf our Muddy Waters.

Oh well yeah, yeah, you're an old schoolish guy. But Rolling Stones to me back in the early eighties were pretty good.

I mean, I don't know if I would say the early eighties, No, that's sixties, seventies yeah, no, no, no, because I listened to that music. But me, that's how old.

Yeah, that's what I was.

You were a big Rod Stewart hot legs fan, right, probably faces.

Good God, Yeah.

He's old now he's any Jewish? Yeah, I mean people grow old. Briannon and sly Stone died back to back days.

My heart was crushed. Yeah, using sly Stone arguably is the greatest musician of all time. You think about the people that I mean, Brian Wilson's insane category, but sly could play every instrument and the people that came after him that he, you know, essentially created because what he did.

So what about you? Growing up?

It was the foreign the foreigners, I just saw them. I don't know, I don't I just did a lot of I'm a seventies guy. Seventy. That's what I listened to now, rock rock, kind of easy. Yeah, you're yachtli rock guy, right, Yeah, you know any money back in the day, Yeah, rolling stones, stones, not the Beatles your stones, guy, Yeah, not the Beatles stones guy. Uh god, wango tango, Oh my god, no, no, that was nus. Yeah, just you know, back when you think you know it all you had.

Yeah, I envision you. At some point in your life. You owned a like a rock z camaro. It's a Berlin cam What did you own it?

Did I?

It pretty just car champagne. Yeah, it was nice, nice, nice. I drove it here when I first got here. That's a great get you. Hey, I uh, I love that car. That was my first car in college.

All right.

So I can kind of build the structure of who you are depending on what kind of music like. That's that's my superpower that my dad and my uncle, both my uncles gave me and my family gave me so yeah, I can. I can say, Okay, you're probably into this because you like this, like.

Yeah, okay, yeah, wait till I show you pictures when I first was, you know, doing media stuff. That's the radio shows I did when I first got here. The hair, oh man, the jeans in the car. Yeah, I had a convertible vo five. No, not a convertible. And that was a lot of the waving there. Who the hell did I think it was stupid? You look back the one where I'm grompy because I'm stupid. Hey, thanks for joining me today. Yeah, this was This was actually a lot of fun.

I mean, for as much crap as you gave me for me wearing a suit today, you better go to dinner for this or something. No, uh, visit to songs. Actually hosting a sports conference and so I've got to go general benns Yeah Lopez put it all together.

Well, okay, nice kick him, but over tell her thanks for the invite.

I don't know you're not gonna go.

I don't need to go. I mean, you don't go to anything I was telling I was telling Anthon, Jimmy know that today you because if we were talking about you going to Evince and We were laughing about it, and I said, listen, I had to force him to go to the World Baseball Classic. And then he calls me when he gets there, like where are my ticket? And then he will he refuses to wait in line and makes me go back and get tickets for we'll walk him back in.

Guess what it's like.

Yeah, that sounds like the first thing he says, you get your wallet, your keys, your classes, because this one most of the time I don't.

Thanks for coming in, Yeah, thanks for having me me