Streamy live on the Ihearts Radio, while this is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here on pod Sports fourteen. Because beyond Steve Rivera, he's Dave Silverton. Now we have Henry with breaking news.
Well, this is I on the Ball breaking News on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
The all WNBA teams were released. The first team was Caitlyn Clark, the FISA Collier, Breonna Stewart, Asia Wilson, and Alyssa Thomas. And Caitlin Clark became the first rookie to be on the first team since Candice Parker in two thousand and eight.
Yeah, well a lot of people watched her play, that's for sure. No surprise.
I mean, she's it's been like NonStop Kaitlyn Clark news ever since the basketball season college basketball season, so and her not being in the Olympics was a big story, and it just continued into the playoffs and you know, the playoffs are almost over, but she's still brought a lot of eyeballs to the w n b A this year.
The Game three of the w NBA Finals is between the Links and The Liberty is tonight at five PM. It is a best of five series. In the series is currently tied at one game a piece.
H Okay, I think fewer people are watching it, but it's still popular.
They're still getting pretty good rating ratings, though I think maybe not what they would have gotten with some of the bigger names, but they're still.
A couple of years ago. Well yeah, way more.
New Jets receiver DeVante Adams is expected to play Sunday versus the Steelers and make his Jets debut.
My guess is they'll finally win a game there. Aaron Rodgers will be happy. Yeah, and that's a difficult thing to do, Dave, to get him happy, to make him happy. Those eye rolls. Those eye rolls are classic. Well, oh, who's his other receiver? Wilson. He's pretty good. Went to Lozarno lot the other day.
Yeah, tizard, it's got some got some players.
So if I don't know if Davante's he's gonna learn the playbook.
He's not that fault either. I mean he's at fault too because he makes some bad decisions sometimes.
Yeah, you know, it's not everybody's fault.
Bulls guard Lonzo Ball will be playing in his first NBA game in over a thousand days today during the Bulls preseason game tonight.
Yeah. Wow, wow, he's been out for almost three years. I think it was January of twenty twenty two, twenty two. Well did you ever deal with that family? No?
No, but no, no, even at ucill I know, I don't even know where to city.
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it was just kind of they were like in your face.
Oh sure, sure. Didn't he think he could beat Jordan, he could beat the dad?
Yeah? He thought he was great. Yeah, but I don't know. Do they still sell shoot, they still sell shoes.
No.
I think they got out the business. They got sued or something. Oh really, yeah, and the kids don't world.
Game three of the NLCS between the Dodgers and the Mets is today at five o eight pm. The series is tied at one.
Is that Neilly? It's in New York.
They moved two two three two actually played three in New York.
Wow.
They've got to win at least one of those to have a chance, and they're the favorite to do it, right.
Dodgers. Yeah, the Dodgers.
Yep, I actually got a starting pitcher of pitching tonight Walker Bueller, so they did that bullpen game kind of backfired on him the other night, so.
We'll see ye Buehler.
Buehler kind of cool last night seeing Aaron Judge finally hit a postseason home run. This year, big Yankees cruising.
Yeah, that's what I was just gonna say.
The Yankees defeated the Guardian six to three to go up in the LCS two nothing, and Game three is tomorrow in Cleveland.
You you sound like you've have bad frequency voice, like tunnel which sets is fine. I know you're sick kind, but you sound like a like a radio guy with the.
I hate to you know, I'm I've we had the Cleveland baseball team here in Ducsan, so they're kind of like people remember them here. But I think baseball is just dying not for Cleveland to win, right, because look at the World Series. It's going to be, right, Yankees or the Mets or the Dodgers, that's going to be a big time.
Yeah, we'll be football season in the middle of football season, Cleveland and New York the Mets make it right. Yeah, everyone's waiting for the Dodgers and the Yankees. That'd be fine. You know the two big dudes. Yep, the two big dudes going against each other. Seventy six what all of a sudden you you're sound right.
Seventy six Ers forward Paul George has a bone bruise and his knee and he might be out for the regular season opener next week.
Of course he might have a board bruis. What about Kawhi? Are we ever going to see Kawhi come back? I don't think he's also playing the opener. No, he was.
East hasn't played a game yet either. I don't think it's already loads management time.
It's nice to make a ton of money, does not have to worry about we're getting paid or whatever.
Yeah, you know, the eighty two games.
It's a long the long season.
But still I just feel bad for the fam and plus their new arena that the Clippers Arena is opening. Oh yeah, yeah, be into it dome or whatever, so that that looks amazing. I haven't obviously haven't been.
Yeah, yeah, we were in LA recently. I think I don't know what for I remember seeing the start of it. Yeah, Clippers, Clippers new home. It's going to be pretty good. Steve Balmer's you know. Yeah, mister Microsoft. So the high you you grew up with the Clippers, right, were they not there where in San Diego?
Oh no you were?
Yeah, yeah, okay they were no longer they were no longer there. They were, they were there, they were the Okay, so you kind of there're still the Clippers. Yeah, there's still the Clippers. I remember in ninety seven, ninety eight, Uh, Bibby. Bibby was, uh, you know, possible number one draft guy. We're in Vancouver for the draft, and I wrote a column they'd be stupid, that they'd be not right to to not draft Mike Bibby, best guard in the in the in the country at the time, only a sophomore.
Yeah, yea.
And he went to and they got the guy from Stockton, the big dude, why Michael Olo Condo.
Yes, I remember that moment when they said drafts Michael and we oh yeah, what oh.
God, you know what day you can't teach hyped? Thanks llu, you can't teach hype and what the hell? Yeah you made it was a bad decision, but they always made bad decisions.
Yep. They were just they were not good. No, it's just never been really good. They had terrible ownership for one hundred years. Right. Did you ever see that series that Sterning. I just I've not seen it, but I'll probably watch it.
It's funny because I ran into somebody who was the secretary. I have to I have to recall who it was in town here that they used to work for me, and he says everything that's on the show is true.
He was. He was a strange dude.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, they just they just couldn't couldn't find the right players, couldn't find the right coaches. Never, you know, trying to compete in the shadow of the Lakers playing in the same building. It was hard hard to get past all that.
Arizona State quarterback Sam Leave It is out this weekend in Cincinnati. Backup Jeff Simms will be starting. What happened, he had rib injury.
Okay, they're pretty close to being Bowl eligible, aren't they.
Yeah?
Well, who would have thought that they picked the finish at the end of the league or the conference and then here they are. That's all I got.
So you got You mentioned something, Dave about the International series with the Bambos a Tuson Mexican baseball Pista. We're gonna have something here in about two weeks, right.
Yeah, that's when the stories were seeing on Tucson dot com just talking about that. Having games on November verse through the third Quino Stadium, A couple teams from the Mexican Pacific Winter League Liga Arco Mexicana del Pacifico or lamp as they're called. We'll play a regular season series here against let's see the Yang, the Yackys, the Obragone.
One of the popular teams. Yeah.
So of course, you know, Mike Vaders had the Mexican Baseball Fiesta for a number of years.
And they just had it in the last weeks.
So this is kind of almost a continuation of that with these teams playing three games on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
And maybe you want to talk about the the Oregon rule change.
Oh yeah, too many men on the field rule change. Yeah.
Yeah, And he kind of in the post game, I guess he kind of hinted that, yeah, he did it purposely, but without really saying I did it purposely, which was a kind of sly smart slime move.
Yeah.
I mean, the NCAA had to actually make some ruling on what he did by kind of trotting out an extra player. Then it was either going to be a penalty or or time taking off.
Yeah, and so well imagine how it not worked, you know, would be talking about it.
Yeah, ten seconds to go, right, calls time out, puts a twelfth player on the field.
So right, it prevents a big play. Ye loses, they lose four seconds. But now, what's the new rule? I know it is, so so you get, you get you have the choice of taking the penalty or of putting the time back. So have they been at the thirty five you're taking the five, right, you're taking the five and kicking the field goal. But this happened like at the forty five or fifty, so you need the time to get to the thirty five. So it's you have the choice now either or yeah.
It'll be a penalty.
So it's interesting, I mean it was. It was funny how instantly in just two days they got a ruling on that right, just to make sure it doesn't happen again, or it doesn't happen the next the next game.
So you know, you know, things can be done right away, right, No, we gotta wait.
The autopsy has to wait about six months. Yeah, Yeah, they gotta figure out anything else, anything else.
No, there's a volleyball game I think at six Yeah, Colorado.
Okay, So again, they're gonna be starting playing these games on Tuesdays and stuff.
That's how the schedules are breaking out.
I know that with basketball, it's gonna be a lot of yeah, weird days that we're not used to.
We'll see. It's gonna be fun. All the traveling.
They're gonna take their lumps because of the travel, which makes no sense to me because they're young guys. But the travel on the road for the Big twelve is gonna be huge. It's gonna be huge.
Ye.
Are they ever gonna get to class? Are you know? That's a good question. I mean, a lot of stuff is online as it is anyway.
I mean, I mean, and you can agree with me, David or not. I'm not too sure they cared about class before. I know some did. Some do obviously very smart ones. But now it's like we got paid already.
What the hell? Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way. They have a lot of help. Oh, no question. I'm assuming they have tutors on the road even if we if they need they I know they used.
To let me say this dave to you and and then you know, to dig in the head of yours. It was the last time you heard about a player not making it eligible.
That was almost a yearly thing.
There's somebody who would like, maybe make it through the first semester and then come.
January is not on the roster any right, right, right, So now not be the case now it's yeah, and maybe the money anything is an issue because I get paid if I don't if I don't play.
Yeah, So they and I, especially in Arizona, we know that they built a whole facility just for student athletes. Yah to uh, you know, have a place to go where before in the old days they'd be in the dungeons of McHale. Sure in that little area tutors. Now they have their own building, which is nice. Jenny clements, right. And then the A D is there too, right, the A D is she's over there. She moved over there. Yeah, I wonder how that's going.
I don't know, but she wants wanted to be kind of among the people owned.
The students and to kind of see.
Well, even back in the day, not long ago, is when the president of the U of A moved into Old Maine because for years they were in the Administration building most of the years I was around in Tucson, and then just in the last I don't know if it was might have been Anne Hart before Robbins, so they could be amongst the students.
Shelton was in one thing.
I wouldn't know where I went, but I went to see him a couple of times because during the Bobby the Loot stuff. Uh, I talked to him a lot because about you know, situation.
So now they would I think it was might have been President Hart when she was in show. Are you well you did you work for them? It was around the Duchess then, so yeah, it was a big they did. You know, they did a big renovation to begin with of Old Maine where it was it was condemned and uh, it was either gonna be destroyed or fixed, and they've you know, it's beautiful.
Now I'm gonna ask you a question.
You can tell me shut the hell up. So you worked at you worked to develop an office for all time you worked and then what you went to Journalism.
College of SPS SBS.
Okay, were you surprised what came of the program athletically and the school being down so much money. And let me say this just to Alibiu real quick, A lot of the schools, many of the schools are in the same situation Arizona's in. It just hasn't become public you mean universities around the country.
I think everybody was really surprised at least because we just, first of all, we just really aren't in that world where we're like keeping track.
You know.
Maybe the deans kind of had an idea, but I'm not going to speak for them either, because it's it kind of came out as everybody was just kind of flabbergasted. The university had just announced a big capital campaign literally like that week, maybe even the day before the news
came out, so everyone's on a high. We're going to raise four billion dollars and da da da da, and next thing you know, this news breaks and think for all I know they were they were holding that news to get the celebration out of the way, and then that thing happened.
So it was pretty shocking.
Did the did the four billion campaign end? No, it's still going, still going, And that's separa and that's separate from this, right.
Yeah, I mean people this, Yeah, definitely separate. I was talking to somebody too.
It's just about how does how does this school, any school survive these things with nil and then trying to raise money like you did for other other portions of the school journalism for one thing, you know what I'm saying, uh, and how many wells can you go to?
Well? I mean.
We would tell people as if as that thing was happening, you know, don't worry about if you're going to make a gift that's going to where you're where to go.
I mean that's the rules.
I mean, they signed basically a contract and we're taking money to go to be spent where they want it intended. That was very important. Sure, and we again positions I was in. I wasn't making those calls, you know, like why are we spending so much money on that building? I mean some of those things they I think didn't. Wasn't it like labeled as like a moonshot by Robbins Like he was just going for big things and it was maybe just too much. Like we build a brand
new you know, science builder, new engineering building. All these buildings are coming up, and like who's paying for this? Right, well, we know we get some money from the state, but the rest of it is coming from donors and people like that.
Right right, Okay, let's take a break here and come back with Micheleff.
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Streamy live on the iHeartRadio AB. This is I On the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to Eying the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Dave Silver. Now on the phone, we have Michael lev from the Arizona Daily Star. Michael, how are.
You pretty good? How are you guys?
We'll find your inner mister baseball today your official football normally.
What's going on? You're busy?
I'm not that busy. There was a little bit of base There was a little bit of baseball news today. There's gonna be a like official regular season series from the Mexican Pacific Winter League at Keno Stadium, which is pretty cool. That even implied or hinted in the in the news release that you might try to get an expansion team here or there could be future games here.
And we've always heard little rumors and conversations here and there about like professional baseball coming back here and maybe that's the form that it will take.
Who knows right, right, no question, how we hear the same rumors. Uh so that's kept you busy today. Hey, by the way, never say you're never busy in this climate of the media, right who knows?
Who knows?
Good? Point? Extremely busy.
How important was the success of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta to just getting these games? You think, I mean, you think Tucson is shown that they can support something like.
This, Well, I think it's definitely kind of paved the way they wouldn't you know, this would not be happening if that hadn't been a success. Obviously, there's a large Hispanic Mexican American population here in southern Arizona, a lot of people who love the sport of baseball, so in some ways it's a natural fit. I mean, obviously, you know, if they were to do this, you know, you you have to cross the border multiple times, and that, you know,
could post some challenges. But you know, there's Canadian teams in Major League Baseball and and the NBA, and they make it work. So I would say that, you know it's at least possible.
So let's go to football real quick.
I thought you were there yesterday, heard your voice asking a couple of great questions. One the last one was the one I wanted to hear, and you gave it. I think you'll have to remind you what you said before this. But you asked them about the fans and what you know, what would you tell them? And he had a great answer. Yeah, I feel for them and I and I want to win just as much as them. What were your thoughts on just the reason why I think it needed to be asked right?
Yes, well, I mainly I asked it because I know that the fans are really frustrated. They've grown there, They're incredibly impatient with the new regime, like they're just there's really no honeymoon. Period is over. And I think it ended at Manhattan Kansas probably on that Friday night and maybe even the week earlier. I don't know. Like the NAU game did not go the way that people had hoped. It was kind of an ugly offensive game. They were favored by like thirty and they won by twelve. You know,
scored only twenty points on offense. The offense really hasn't been the same since. So, yeah, that's why I asked. I wanted to. Sometimes you just throw out these questions because you're just curious what the other person might say.
No question.
I thought he gave a good answer. I thought it was it was genuine. I I know that he cares a lot about this program and this place and wants to do a really good job, and right now he and the team are struggling a little bit.
Me let me ask you, because I think we talked about this, Dave. You can go to many different ways and why they're struggling. But what do you think maybe you are the top three?
The top three, Okay, I would say number one. The offense just out of sinc They don't really have any kind of regular rhythm or consistency to what they're doing. I don't you know. I think their plan coming in was a little bit flawed. You know, Dino Babers, it's going to be the offensive coordinator. He hasn't done that
job in a really long time. But then they're also kind of trying to, you know, position him as a mentor to Matt Adkins to take over the job eventually, and then ends up happening after three weeks of the season, which I really don't think was their intent from the start. So that would be probably the number one reason. Number two, I think we underestimated collectively the losses that they incurred in the offseason. It's a lot of really good players
in NFL players, you know. I mean we've lamented for years and years Arizona never has any NFL draft picks. Well, they had three NFL draft picks this last year, and a couple of guys who are NFL caliber players as well. So significant losses, and almost all of them on the offensive side of the ball. And then I guess number three is this staff did not have the opportunity to really replace those guys because of the timing of everything,
you know, they took. You know, Brent Brennan became coach on I don't know, January fifteenth or seventeenth or something like that, six weeks after the first transfer portal window opened, you know, so it's not like the shelves were fully stocked at that point in time. It's so extremely challenging
to fill holes on the roster. They basically lost almost an entire recruiting class so even though there was a lot of top end talent coming back, you know, the depth now wasn't what it could have been if if Jed Fish had stayed here, And we're starting to see the effects of that now with so many guys banged up on defense.
Yeah, I was gonna just say the injury bug is I mean, just came on hard in the last couple of weeks, losing a handful of guys on defense.
I mean, how do you replace that.
You've got a lot of a lot of young talent who have not even had a chance to play yet, and all of a sudden they're in the middle of a big game.
Yeah.
I think the timing is especially bad this week with almost all of the injuries being in the secondary, and you're facing a Colorado team that has maybe the deepest wide receiving core in the country, that plays four wides all the time and loves to just chuck the ball all over the yard. How do you replace those guys? I mean, it's it becomes more and more difficult the
more guys who are unavailable. You know, sophomore Genesis Smith has done a great job as a as a sub who's basically came into the season as a sixth starter just as pretty much as good, with maybe a higher upside than a lot of the other guys. And he's done a wonderful job. But there's a you know, there's a cumulative effect when you you're missing Gunnermaldonado, you're missing trade in stukes. I mean, this is a lot of starts, a lot of experience guys with super high football IQ's.
And then Tacario Davis got banged up in the last game, and I think Marquis Groves Killerbrew got banged up. So I mean, that's a that's a lot. You know, I'm Duyna Keen is probably looking around h at practice in that secondary, going like like where all my guys you know, and a lot of them are unfortunately or in you know, in the trainer's room.
Let me ask you a weird question. You've been doing this a long time. I've covered teams for a long time. What do you make of Brennan just just him, his demeanor, his personality and all that. And when you're at USC, what coach did you cover?
Okay, well, I'll answer the second question. First. I got on a USC beat in two thousand and eight, so I had two years of Pete Carroll, okay, and then his successor was Lane Kiffen, and then I also then I was off the beat for a little bit and then back on it. And when I was back on it, it was Steve Sarkisian, and then he had his whole situation happen. Then it was Clay Helton.
Okay.
So let me have about half a season of Clay Helton.
Okay.
So if you had a variety and I didn't realize it was that big of a variety in my history, is is that good guys, good guys are good guys, and they're fun to cover because they're good guys. But good guys really don't make it in this business because when they're good guys and they don't command respect. And I'm not saying that's the case here, is just my interpretation. I'm not good every day like you, what do.
You think of him? And and is that is that maybe a fault?
Okay? So I'm glad you brought up like the guys that I've covered in the past, because I would say that Brennan is kind of a cross between Pete Carroll and Clay Helton. The Pete Carroll. Part of his personality is he's from California. He's very laid back, he's chill kind of guy who says cool and awesome a lot, you know, which is the types of things that Pete
Carroll would do. And then Clay Helton, I think the biggest criticism that people had about him was that he was two nice, you know, and people say that about Brent Brennan too, and you know, I'm not, but I don't see what goes on behind the scenes. Sometimes they put out videos where you can see how he's kind
of firing up the troops. I thought he you know, the video they put out after the Utah game, like that message really resonated, you know, like play for the guy next to you and you know that that can play for your teammates. That kind of thing worked really well. Yeah, I've heard a lot of things from various people about like what the demeanor of a coach should be, what works and what doesn't. You know, like Tony Dungee was quiet, probably never swore one single time in his life, and
was calm, and he did really well. I mean why did he do really well? Maybe he did really well because you know, he had paid many. You know that that could be a reason. But and then you know, there's the opposite end of the spectrum, right, there's like Rich Driguez type who very fiery on the sidelines, and he gets really mad and he has a short temper, demanding, yeah, and demanding. I don't know, like the way things are now with the transfer portal, right, and with the way
that society has changed and evolved. I mean, I don't know if you can be that coach who's you know, throwing I'm asking everybody and getting into spaces in the job.
Of the coach too.
It's just the job of the coach has changed so much. I mean, look at the ones who have walked away. I mean, look at Nick Saban. I mean, you know, at the height of this success, the job has changed, the transfer portal, the nil, Right, There's is just so much. These teams are hiring general managers to kind of run the show behind the scenes.
Well, what you're telling when I'm listening to you, Michael's really no right or wrong answer.
But I agree with you.
You can't f this or f that with the guys because you're afraid they're gonna hit the portal. Right, But but there's still like a fine line of they gotta play hard for you, and Adam not sure that's the case. Here he says they're playing hard for him. You see it more than I do. I don't know.
I think they're playing hard. I just don't think they're playing well. And on offense, I don't think they're playing smart. Now, some of that I think is that Noah Fafida is pressing. He's trying to do too much. Yeah, he came into this season feeling like he had to carry the program, and I don't think the coaching staff has done a good enough job of taking that burden off of him.
You know, Like I think this week, with all the injuries they have on defense and what Colorado's weakness is, like they got to run the crap out of the ball, right, I don't. I haven't seen a game this year where they have really committed to something like that. You know. That's part of the kind of the aimlessness of the offense, Like they're still searching for that identity. I mean, like
why not run the rock? Yeah, and you know, use play action and gets your offensive lineman moving forward instead of backward. In Kansas State, I don't know how many yards they finished with last game, but I was there, and you know they have they obviously have a very good system. But you can impose your will on this
Colorado defense. And I think that would be something that they could do this week to to take some of the pressure off of Noah Fafida, who's made a lot of you know, decisions that he didn't make last season when he I think he was just more playing within the system instead of trying.
To do too much.
Wasn't real quick? Was that your second? The other question that we're going to talk about. I think those two questions I thought you brought up to him, right, and he said, And I thought his answer about Nolan was pretty good too. That no one wants to win so much too, and he's that kid, he's that kid, and that might be an issue too.
Yeah, no, he said, Yeah, he said, he like, no one tries harder, no one prepares harder, no one cares more. And you love all of those things, right, but when you're out there on the field, you know, you have to manage the game. You have to manage your emotions. You know, they quoqually say you got to take what the defense gives you. Right, and I think sometimes he's tried to take what isn't there, and that's why he
had those interceptions in the end zone. So many of these drives that you know, it just not ended the way that you would hope they would. You know, they'd ended with three points instead of seven, or sometimes zero points in seven, and that's why they're averaging only eighteen point six points per game since the New Mexico game.
It's going to be our first time to see the Dion Sanders show in Tucson. What what's the scouting report there?
Yeah, because he was out, he was in Colorado.
Michael was, I was, Yeah, So I mean Hunter being around yeah, being around Dion a little bit like I was. You know, I was only there for the postgame presser. I wasn't like inside the program or anything. But that experience was different than I think a lot of people would have guessed. He was super polite, cordial, and courteous with everybody, and I think maybe he's a little more combative when they win than when they lose. You know, it's sort of like he can do that kind of
I told you so sort of thing. He was very humble in defeat, but that I was impressed with how they played in that game. I mean, they lost Travis Hunter in the first half, they lost Jimmy Horn in the first half, their receiving corps was kind of decimated, and Kansas State is really good, and they kept fighting, and they kept battling until the very end and they almost won. So this is not an opponent to be taken lightly. I don't really understand why Arizona's favored in
this game. I'm surprised to see that. I think it should probably be the other way around. I think it's gonna be really tough, especially with the potential absences that Arizona had in a secondary.
So I'm assuming we had one more question. I hope, Michael. I'm assuming you went there for a reason. Are you going to do a story? Have you already done the story? Maybe a profile?
I hit it. Yeah, it's up today, it's up today.
It was a personal or family slash work trip. We went to Colorado for a fall break, and my older son is going to be going to college in a couple of years, so we wanted to go see some schools up in that area of the country, and it just so happened that Colorado was playing Kansas State in this very high profile game, and then Colorado's coming here the following week, so it made sense to kind of combine the two things, go to the game and write a little something paper.
Okay, so give us a gifts like the preview because I'm gonna go log on for people who want to loe.
Yeah.
It was basically like, it's my observations from spending three and a half days or so in Boulder, Okay, like walking around, what the campus life is like, what the PEP rally was like, what the game was like, the post game, and sort of trying to tie it into the quote unquote prime effect that you know, Dan Standers has had on that school, in that program, and Boulder's fantastic.
That's I have a son that lives in Denver too, so we get to go up there as well. And I've been to Boulder a bunch of times. I've been to one game at CU and it's it's it's such a beautiful, beautiful setting for sure.
Well it's a great setting, and that place was it was a scene.
Let me tell you, well, maybe I was wont to connect that scene loud.
Yeah, yeah, we'll see.
Yeah, East Sound is enthusiastic as me when I say, yeah, we'll see Thanks Michael, as always.
Hey appreciate it, guys.
Yeah, thank you. Michael Evska Gho Rita's column. I guess today, right today on the Colorado thing'll go go to break. At least we're a little over right now, but we'll come back. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
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Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson sports station Fox Sports Sports een fIF day.
Hey, welcome back to I on the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're Dave Silver. We have Henry with us. I have my eye on the ball. I just kn't of remember the names in the back of the jerseys. Yeah, which ball, bitchball. So if you listen to if you listen to Mike Michael, his story is up. Just kind of go on Tucson dot com, go to Wildcats and it's there. It's been talks about his days, his days there right.
Yeah.
In Colorado is picturesque. The school's pretty. It's I think it's called Pearl Street. Is the down the downtown Boulder area, so it's a it's a fun place ye visit and yeah, fun place.
We'll see what happens this weekend.
Everyone that needs to Henry, they need to win, yeah or nothing.
I mean, I think these two next games are going to be probably their most difficult remaining and then the schedule gets a little easier. But yeah, I think the fans have kind of like started this rivalry with Colorado, so they've become more amped up for this game, especially because of the Prime effects. I think this is if they win this game, I think a lot of fans will be back in on the team.
Everybody has this bival with Colorado just because of Prime, right, whether do you like it or not?
Yeah, well yeah, you.
Know he's playing prime time this past weekend against Kansas State. That was a big moment for the program and for just to be on TV.
And they had that game. I mean, they didn't have that game. They had the game and they lost the game. Yeah, but they've also won a game like to be what it was a Baylor, Yeah, Taylor game they won on the helm there when they should have never won that game, and they won that exactly.
Yeah, I mean we've already got them. We've got like Big twelve. There's a Big twelve game on Friday. So you got at Oklahoma State and BYU at home. Oklahoma State by use at home. That's gonna be a Oklahoma State has kind of been. If dere's three and three, right, I'm a man, I'm a man, Gundy. Yeah, just want to call it.
Get us through the afternoon here five two oh four, one, six, seventy four forty. Would like to hear from you, just your thoughts on whatever. Jim was already called in. He says, see another guy saying run the ball, run the ball. Well, Colorado's run defense.
I don't know.
If you guys looked at the stats, they they're usually not too good. So this could be a good chance for Arizona no more. Look at the history just in the last five years of the Koalil Tate game, we've we've been talking about and I think even going back to Kadeen Carrey, he had big games against Colorado. A lot of a lot of good running numbers put up by Arizona against that school.
Right, yeah, no question, we'll see, we'll see what happens. It should be high scoring, whether it is or it is, and I don't know. Arizona has to hold up its end of the bargain.
Yeah, and we talked about the injuries and things like that, so that's going to be really interesting. As Michael was mentioning how they go for wide and you know, Arizona's.
DB's have been struggle.
They look good the first couple of games and then they just kind of noe apart and got hurt.
Yeah, we got a call. You're on the air. Who's this? Hey, Steve? This is done?
Don?
How are you done?
I'm doing better now, but it's Wednesday.
It's still early in your week's.
It is it is Hi, Dave.
Hi, Henry, let me don let me see I give I give h Gabe. I asked Gabe if I'm going to get the cranky Gabe or not? And am I going to get the cranky done or not?
No? Well, I just I still have questions. I think listening to Michael before the break was was pretty telling. But what I don't get, and this is what new coaching staffs don't do, is last year, no was most successful passing on time. It was three strip drops and the ball was out yea.
And what they do?
You know, Brennan didn't bring I guess he didn't bring all his staff from San Jose, which he would have had a ready made offense with him. He brought Babers out of retirement or wherever, and he put this staff together, and you know, it seems like what they could have done was meet with the returning players, what are some plays that you really really like that you know, and have them submit the plays that they like, the ones they want to keep running, and involve that into the
development of this offense. Because here in a couple of years, it's going to be Brad Brennan's team, and it's going to be whatever type of quarterback he wants it to be. If he wants to go back to the wish and shoot or whatever, then that's the type of team we're going to have. And right now he's got, you know, the offense is half of Jetfish's and whatever was left over. But it just it just seems like my biggest gripe is like everything every play offensively takes so long, Yeah,
to develop. Running plays are taking forever to develop, and we've got mall, We've got an offensive line it's still built to run over whoever's in front of them. I mean, if you if like like what Michael was saying about this game, we need to run the ball and you know, you know, then then running with dives, quick hitters, and and and just smash the guy in front of you and keep the clock moving. And I think the biggest thing with with Noah was was that, you know, last year,
he was right on time. Everything was timing, timing, he didn't have to like this year, it's drifting back, drifting back, He's looking looking, looking, looking for guys that aren't getting open, you know, Michael, I mean.
Michael brought this point up last week, I think did the press conference. Last year he got the ball out in two point five two point five five seconds. This year it's a little over three seconds. I thought in my mind, And I'm probably wrong with this. Guys, I know I'm wrong with this. They would seem that the more time you have, the better off you are, but that's not the case here.
Yeah, it just seemed like some of the receivers it's just taking too long for the receivers to get open, and the timing like like it seems like every time Noah is going backwards.
But you know, as he's throwing.
He just isn't like getting a quick snap and making a quick decision. And maybe that's the routes. Maybe that's the run of the guy's you know, running the wrong routes. Who knows the design of the play, but you know it's gonna take.
Time to think that we.
Go ahead.
We're missing Jacob Cowing so much. Yes, yeah, because last year, who was really the number one receiver? I mean it was like one in one a yeah, and it just kind of dependent at the end of the game. And it just it just seemed like to me that Leamonious Craig was in, you know, in prime position to step up and to become the solid number two. I mean, he had twenty eight catches last year. I think it
was three or four touchdowns. I mean, he was he was fairly productive, especially being in the shadow of Cowing and McMillan.
So what do you what do you do? What do you chuck this up?
I asked, I asked Michael this two top three reasons why they're not doing well?
The number one maybe two.
I think it's I think it's the coaching part of it, is the coaching staffs not not into rating some of the past offense with with what they want to do.
I think.
But and this goes through almost any sport, any teams. You know, it's always the new coaching staff.
This is the way we do things here.
And I was like, well, we're built to do this. This guy's really good at doing this.
You know.
It's almost like if if we had a defensive coordinator this year that wanted to play primarily zone, and here you got, you know, we got dbs that're really good in man and they don't know how to play zone, the defense would look the defense would be.
The problem if that was the case.
But our defensive team stayed the same and guys got to stay playing the same I think that's a big problem.
Dog, give us, give us a callback on fighting. Let me know who you're going to pick. You got another call?
Ok?
Good one. Hello, you're on the air and eye on the ball.
All right, guys, this is Robert just calling in talking about Noah Flafida. Why why didn't Brennan? Why do you think Brennan didn't bring in tannin bomb for the last five minutes of that b y U game? Fffiita. Six interceptions in two games is horrible and somebody on one of the other station said, well, the other quarterback doesn't have experience, Well, who cares? Yeah, giving somebody a shot, I mean, cannon bomb. They have to recruit these guys to score for a reason. If they can't play, why
would they recruit him? And Frafida needs to be benched because I don't know, it seems like he went colorblind this year because he can't go it to the right jersey. And we got to get that dumb first up, first down, every single first down play at the one or two yard game up the middle, and it puts us in a hole right off the bat. I don't know.
I'm sorry, go ahead, I was gonna say, I definitely agree on taking the quarterback out and those in those situations, there's no no point in having a chance with him getting hurts, and we've seen that so many times in the past. But you're right, he should have been He should have been out and somebody else give him the last you know, couple series and see what he can do.
Yeah, because I mean, you got to give the guy a shot somewhere. If the lawyer hadn't gotten hurt, for Fida wouldn't have played last year. I don't know if it came in over confident or what.
It is this year.
I just I don't.
I don't know. This team just doesn't seem to have it be clicking at all, and they don't they're not fired up. It seems like they're not playing with any sense of urgency, right, Like a previous caller said, they're played take forever the guy. Butafita gets the ball on a hand up and he stands there for like two seconds before the running back takes the ball and goes up the middle. It's like that's never gonna.
Work, right, and that's consistent. You're right, Robert, You're right right on all those levels. The change of quarterbacks. I'm with you, guys. You and Dave, why not? You know what do you have to lose? Right, even though the game's over, Q Himpson are shot? Yeah, And you're right. The Lord not gotten hurt. Noah, Noah would just be Noah.
And if we get off I'm sorry, go ahead.
No no, no, go ahead, you go.
If we get off to another slow start on Saturday, we have three points, Brandon's gonna have to do something with a Feita and if he doesn't, he's gonna little respect of his team, I think, and now and uh, I wish he'd take that dumb layoup that he's wearing every week. I don't know, but that's already old. I could see the first game or whatever, a couple of games, but I have no idea why he's wearing it. It might be a good reason, but I I okay, I hope we have a good showing and beat Colorado's.
Okay, thanks for the col Robert, We appreciate it.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks for Shilah Sanders. I mean, not Shiloh.
What's the quarterback Shader Sanders seventeen touchdown passes already.
Yeah, and then go deep. I mean they take chances. They take chances. They're gonna they're gonna fling it a lot. It could be it could get ugly early. Yeah, who get ARISONA is not a team to catch up.
They're gonna have to keep it close.
They're gonna have to kind of leep it, keep it respectable in the first half and don't get you know, don't get down like twenty one to three like that.
And if you you and I both have been at the University stadium for a long time, it's not that much of a home field advantage, just not even sellout crowd. They're there for a reason there, they're to watch Colorado and Dion.
Honestly, unless it's a day game.
Well, it turns out it's a day games that worked out well, right, it'll be a different atmosphere.
It will, but it'll be a different if they stay close or they have the lead.
Yeah, that's if they don't.
Guys like Henry are gonna leave it a halftime, go to gentle bits hit Am I wrong?
Yeah?
I've seen some pretty good games that usually they're later in the afternoon, not at night, like at four o'clock starts.
Those are pretty pretty rowdy sometimes.
But one o'clock if the weather's nice, you know it's gonna be sunny on the student side, seventy five degrees. See how many can stick around for the second half.
Yeah, we got to go, right, Henry, we gotta go. Hey, thanks, we're done.
That was quick.
Yeah, yeah, thanks day for coming in today, Henry, Thanks for coming in, and we'll see you guys tomorrow.