Thursday, June 5, Hour 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Breaking down all the exes and ohs. This is I
on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports Sport
Team fifty. O.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey, welcome back to my the ball here on Fox
Sports Portuin Cookie, I'm Steve Rivera and with me to day.
Is what your name?

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Andy Brown with eight team Security of Big Sponsors and Services. Yes,
we're a proud sponsor of the Steve Rivera show. Yes,
very fifty, very consistent.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you. I'm gonna put in for your second job here.
You're gonna play when you retire in two years. I'm
still here. I've been begging for a second guy. You
gotta just be funny. If I gotta, I'll do some
tapes for you. Okay, I'll get your demo, give you
a rehearsals. You can give you a sponsor spot.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
But then don't. Then then guess what happens. But I
gotta sell my own advertising. Yeah advertising, glad lose both
split it. Yeah, that's that'll work. Okay, I'll help it,
all right, I'll help it. You come on. You got
ray with breaking news.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
This is Eye on the Ball Breaking News on Fox
Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 4 (01:06):
All right, so kind of staying on track with the
softball from the first hour. Two of the freshman signees
that are coming in were named PGF All Americans or
were named to the PGF All American roster. So, you know, glimmer,
I hope at the light end at the end of
the tunnel, even though there's a.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
You know what she she made Jenny mentioned something that
was very interesting to me because everyone I hate I
hate Facebook in terms of people throwing stuff out there
almost as a bad word, throwing stuff out there without
really knowing. And yesterday I saw one and I won't
see what what was said, but maybe they should hire
this person and without really knowing the story or the background,

(01:48):
and Jenny brought something up. Okay, there's ten people, and
Juan has probably brought him out a lot. You were here,
Maybe maybe there's some that they didn't want back absolutely,
you know what I'm saying, because you had to clear
house to bring people in and maybe refresh the roster.
That's never taught. Well they left there was disgruntled or whatever.
Well maybe maybe that's on the other end, you know, Okay,

(02:12):
maybe it's wasn't good for the You put up a
fight to let him go, and exactly exactly it's like
how much of a fight doesn't put up exactly. I'll
say this, and I say this every now and again.
When Coach K had his guys that left thereon had
one Jeter with the guy with his Jeter whatever his
name is. We had his uniform tucked in their right.
So he left right the chancer and he came here

(02:35):
one of the big guys went to issue and I'm thinking,
if he was that good, you don't think for a
second that Coach K is gonna fight his asked to
keep him, keep him there right.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
No, no, no, they'd let him go. They let him
go because you're not good, no, or you don't make
the team better. There's a certain exactly you're you're constantly
putting in pieces right into a program, and sometimes pieces
don't fit. Yeh story ever, look, Coach Olsen said, and
we're stealing raised time here, But coach Coach Olsen explained
the kid that they didn't recruit. They did recruit, but

(03:07):
they didn't sign because all the guys told him they
weren't He wasn't an u A.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Guy, wasn't you.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
I've heard that story and that was Gary Payton, the
glove Like we're gonna pass on Gary Payton because in
a couple of years we got this kid named David
Salimara coming and we think he's more of an u
A guy.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, and there you go. There are some other guys too,
because they took some vote. Sure, guys, absolutely, yeah, right,
sorry about that, man.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
I just try to bring up some interesting topics for
you guys talk about anyways. Tomorrow Super Regional starts at
you n C. Nine am. I know it's killing good.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Nine am.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Guys awake, then nine am will have to be I'll
be ready to go. I know some of the guys
we had the.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Michael Live on yesterday and Brian Peterson, I guess he
was leaving at three forty five in the morning to
get to the plane and the plane wasn't ready or
something happened. They missed her connections and that's the worst.
The worst is actually that and then the luggage not
showing up. You know that happened to me this weekend.
Could you just get yesterday? Yeah? Did you have?

Speaker 4 (04:13):
I I had something at my house, so I didn't
take all of them home, thankfully.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
So people want to know what's raised segment. Let's guess
what's in raised luggage. We don't know because it's not
it keep moving to the MLB.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Diamondbacks just came back, well not just like a couple
of hours ago. Rallied and had a seven run ninth
to beat the Braves. Pretty interesting. I think there's so
fourth in the well, I don't think. I know there's
so fourth in the division. A Rocky's got to sweep.
Watch out NHL. Another big game that happened last night.

(04:59):
Uh Edmonton one four to three and O T.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Did you know that Edmondon has a hockey teams team?
Did you know that?

Speaker 2 (05:06):
I did, because you know how I know this When
you're a kid, you have one of those little hockey things.
It was a little with the sticks and you kind
of I remember that that's anything. I had that and
then it was like this is not fun because they
couldn't go into the corner and get the damn thing.
And you know what I'm talking about. It was a
little it's like electric.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah yeah, the guys that were moving and things. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
I know. I had one of those two that sounds
like it was a really cool concept.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Video games.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Before everybody had a video machine in their house, we
had these board games.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
That was like before the Rock and soccer.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
About that about the at that time. Yeah, soccer, that's true,
Yeah you armstrong? Yeah what else? NFL?

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Uh Yeah, we're getting into it. Another big one tonight
is the Pacers and the Thunder. Obviously it's a nine
points I think, yeah, nine and a half. Yeah, are favored.
It starts at five thirty, so I will be recently
now breaking some traffic laws getting back home to day.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
No, you don't have to watch the last you know, watch.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Just the last fourth quarter, fourth quarter. You get home
by the fourth. Well, you gotta check the score at halftime.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's fair just because see if it's worth tuning into,
you know.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Because if they're up thirty, Yeah, but yeah, I throw
up twenty. Yes, you still got a chance. Oh yeah,
twenty is not even close anymore. As are coming back
from twenty five to twenty seven now, Yeah, but thirty
seems to be the point. You're down thirty, people are
giving up.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, I mean it makes sense and ChIL dinner take
a night off.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Also Game two of the College Softball World Series or
a college World Series, the Women's the.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Women's World Series.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
That's I'm taking Texas five Yeah, well they had the
bases loaded in the first and yeah, I didn't.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
I didn't see what happened after that. I didn't. Yeah,
they manufactured some runs that that call was critical. I
still like, h.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Do you know if it's the same umpire crew, they
just oh, I don't know, they stay would assume they do,
and I'm assuming they don't. It's just like in the
MLBAM where they just kind of rotate positions.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Maybe I don't know, but it was and every other
it's like upon for the review. It's like the NFL
Upon it's like five hour game upon for the review.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Five more commercials to watch. Yeah, I couldn't believe that
is an obstruction. What Yeah, it's all good. It's like
you get in front of me.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
I ain't going through you, baby, I'm going around you,
making go around.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
I actually have a question, what it like, do you
think Kaylin Lowe should get like a bit like some
slack cut for her just because, like you know, the
regional didn't go the way that people wanted it to.
But I mean you think about the season overall, and
it's like you make the big toy.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
I talked about this yesterday. They had a fantastic year
forty and thirteen. If that's it, Yes, and everybody, here's
the problem. Here's the problem. The people talking a lot
of crap don't either go to the games or pay
attention that greatly. It's like it's like people, you know this, andy, people,
people have questions, but they really don't know. They really don't.

(08:15):
This is kind of curious. They don't. They don't. You know,
how's this guy's doing, how's his health? Eddie? Do you
And I said, do you really want to know? What
are you trying to use the information for? You know
what I'm saying? They don't. They're just My teaching is
that the gossip, we're just muscles. They're just kind of
like they can. You don't need to know, so don't ask.

(08:37):
They just want some noise today. Yesterday's was that thing
for me on Facebook, capt thinking you're throwing out names
and you don't know the story. If you don't know
the story, guess what, don't say anything muddy in the waters.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yeah, exactly, because whatever you read on the internet is truth,
right the gospel or creates more problems because yeah, those comments,
those are the experts.

Speaker 4 (09:01):
Yeah, all right, getting back to the NBA. Patino absolutely
not interested in coaching the Knicks again.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Dick won win. That was crazy, wasn't it? Fire that guy?
I mean, I don't like that dude, but what he
did for the Knicks was insane for twenty five years. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Oh a lot of people were coming out saying that
was just the dumbest move ever. Yeah, a lot of
New Yorkers.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, ahead, it's like, how impatient can you be? You know?

Speaker 4 (09:26):
It's like you just you just reached something that you
haven't reached in so long. It's like, why are you
going to fire him now?

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (09:31):
You know.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, but they're saying that Brunson's dad is kind of like.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
The Yeah, the main game, we don't know, we're not there,
we're not in that locker room.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Good point. And you were listening to me, I list
you're not in the locker room. You don't know? Yeah,
you're You're exactly right. It's why we go into the
locker room, nesking, Hey, what's up with it? Last?

Speaker 3 (09:48):
It's on the gild Arena show. We don't know what's
going on in that locker round?

Speaker 2 (09:51):
You do? You love that? See that's another one of
those I covered Gilbert here. I didn't listen to him
when he was here. I'm sure doesn't when he's I
think they're hilarious. I do.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
I listened to him and uh Channing Fry, those guys.
I like Channing and Richard a smart dad. I mean
they come up with a great I don't know about Gilbert, Gilbert,
it's it's entertainment.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yes, it is, just like this show he was entertaining here,
him and Batman and Robin and Jason and these guys.
We never lacked for stories. So who was gonna coach
New York? Then? Who knows? But Malone? Did you sayim alone?

Speaker 3 (10:28):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (10:29):
That's like people have been throwing his name out there
and the it's a recycled business. Yeah, yeah it is.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
I mean he took a team to the championship, so
I'm sure you know that's probably a favorable look.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
About the Uh then Phoenix get a new coach, Yeah,
some assistant from Kid right?

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, so maybe Booting hasn't he'll go to New York. Yeah, no, Yeah,
I think he's I would hear he's a check of
a coach. But I guess he couldn't pull this off
here because he had some new ties. You were you
were you there when he was coaching at the US
and camps? Yeah, I remember him because he's from southern
Arizona and he went to San Antonio. I remember him

(11:08):
there because I went and worked to camp there at
San Antonio one summer and he was there. All right,
just keep keeping it, keeping the ball rolling.

Speaker 4 (11:18):
Aaron Rodgers says he's gonna fly into Pittsburgh tomorrow, and
in that contract, I saw that.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Good luck Pittsburgh, Good luck Bill. Are you a Pittsburgh
guy who?

Speaker 3 (11:27):
No, I am not a Pittsburgh guy. I support the
local Cardinals. Oh do you? But I have I have
a lot of friends that are Pittsburgh fans. Yeah, good
luck with that. He's just a toxic He's just a
drama show at this point. But I don't want to
throw rumors out there on Facebook. Well I'll tell you what.
If Cleveland had a spot open, he'd probably be there.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
Oh yea with all the other twenty five quarterbacks. Yes,
that would throw really open just open tryouts, open, Mike,
open tryouts in Cleveland. That would be hilarious. I mean,
I don't know. I think it's getting to a point too.
It's like, do you guys, do you want this guy
mentoring you know what I mean, it's kind of he
would do that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Well, I guess Flaco is kind of that way with
his guys in that quarterback room. He's just kind of like,
don't don't look at me for any help.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, yeah, it's my job. I've been here a long time, right, Yeah,
I mean, I don't know. He did good in that
little Cleveland run a couple of years ago. Wow, he's
a super Bowl champion, isn't he. Fortunately, Black Origin.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson got sidelined with the shoulder injury.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Someone breathed on him, yeah, something like that, he was hurt,
Well he was, he got He's the one that took
himself out of the game. Did he tapped out? You
don't tap out.

Speaker 4 (12:42):
The quarterback man. That's that's kind of what you signed
up for. Yes, Oh okay, I guess. Circling back to this,
I guess the Knicks, uh well, Tom Thibodau getting fired
was it was going in that direction for months.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
I don't know. I don't know who's who wrote that.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Someone said that, Yeah it was Julius dumb Ball for okay.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me because you know how it is.
Well you you don't because there were.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Like here, But if you have a player or two
or three or four, it doesn't like to coach. Well,
I had coaches. I was on teams that before that,
coaches like that. So yeah, for sure, that's why I
left where I left a couple of times. Yeah, it's
uh when you start to think you're smarter than the coach, right,
it's not.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Don't you think that's more of a case now now
that hey I'm getting some scratch, I get some money,
you know, I'm just as smart as you. Yeah. Yeah,
money doesn't make you smart. No, no, no, we'll stop
with there. Yeah, that's it for me. Okay, those big newss. Okay,
four twelve. How much time we have in the break?

(13:47):
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Speaker 1 (18:39):
Streamy Live on the iHeartRadio w APP. This is I
on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Hey, welcome back to I I'm the Ball here on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera in today with
me is Andy Brown. Now on the phone. We have
the cornerstone, Pete Williams. Pete, how are you?

Speaker 12 (18:59):
I'm doing just fine, fellas.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
How was that knee holding up?

Speaker 12 (19:04):
You know, like I always say, it's still attached to
the body. So that's a good thing. But now the
thing is, the bones have been straight and the bones
are solid.

Speaker 13 (19:12):
You know.

Speaker 12 (19:12):
I still just have the issues the nerves, so that's
just something I just got to live with pretty much.
But but the bones are solid, They're intact. There's no
issues there.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah. So, and he was telling me a story. I
don't I knew this was possible or likely. Uh, but
he was telling me a story, and I said, hey,
just call Pete. Uh because Tommy, I know you're your
guys with Tommy, you know you're you're not bad, but
it's not bad. And he was telling me. He was
telling me, you know, because Tommy wants the connection you
guys with his guys to talk about the history. Tell
me your your love in telling them what it all means,

(19:43):
because you do that almost every year.

Speaker 12 (19:45):
Well again, I'm not here to to take shots to
Sean Miller, you know, because when the job opened up,
my choice is for the Arizona job, going back to
Don Miller, with Don Miller and Jamie Dixon one A,
one B. If we get either one of them, I
was gonna be happy. So I was happy with the choice.

(20:07):
I think Sean did it, did a great job as
far as the players he getting in. I know he
gets a lot of flack for not getting to the
Final four. I don't give no flack for that because
his basketball things happened. I thought he was a great coach.
I'm not happy with the stain that was from a program,
you know, under his leadership. But at the same time,
he never really embraced alumni. Some folks say he didn't
really embrace Tucson. I can't really speak on that, but

(20:28):
he never really embraced the alumni and former players or whatever.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
So you know, there was not that vine.

Speaker 12 (20:34):
When Tommy came in. It was just a complete reversal,
maybe because they saw Arizona as the standard as far
as building, you know, Gonzaga in the same makeup as
Arizona's respectful coach show and everything. And Tommy caught me
work when I was you know when the day the
day of this press conference, he called me at work
and I was hung up on it because I was
somebody's else. I think I can't watch, and I almost

(20:57):
hung up on him, but I took the call, and
I'm glad I did. We had a great conversation, and
that same day he had he had his former press
conference in McHale where he got a little emotional. He
got emotional with us when we did the zoom call,
and basically he was saying, how important you know the
history and the former players are. And he said, you know,
if you guys are ever in Tucson and you guys

(21:17):
don't come to the office, you know, I'm gonna be
pissed off. And I think he meant that with every
fiber of his heart, you know, so that that meant
a lot to us. And he's he's more than proven
that those were just words. You know, he's just he's great.
So I told Coach Holston. You know, I don't tell
a lot of people that I told Coach Holston because
when the program went under that little stand of whatever meant,
I had a hard time, you know, getting it from neighbors, uh,

(21:39):
co workers and this and that, you know, pay you
obey and all these other little catchy praises that came
up with. And I remember telling Coach Houlston, you know,
for the first time in thirty some years, I'm actually,
you know, kind of shamed to be a part of
the program, you know, based on what was going on.
But when Tommy took the job, it was a complete
three sixty for me, you know, and you know, you
guys probably.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
Heart me say this again.

Speaker 12 (21:59):
It felt good to feel good about Arizona basketball again.
And that's what Tommy Lloyd has brought.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
And your message to the guys when you when talk
talk to them in the locker room.

Speaker 12 (22:09):
We got the players, Yeah, well, you know, all we
can do is just kind of you know, give give
them the history of what it was like, the struggles,
the struggles that in the beginning, what it was like,
and then the prosperity the program has had over the
years and how proud we are of it. And they
would truly understand once they get out of school a
few years and you know, provided that, you know, the

(22:31):
tradition of winning continues everything. I mean, it's uh, it's
still just with a lot of pride, especially I think
from our initial group, because you know, you know, when
when Sean Miller came in, the program is down. That's
a little different. When coach also came in, the program
is rock bottom. So I think when people compare well
so and so on the first few years they they
did that well. When when when pasch Muller took over,

(22:53):
Arizona was still a brand. They were still a brand.
We were nothing when we came in with Coach O
and we helped get that thing, started to build it up.
So there's a difference. That's why the pride me and
so many other players, particularly in my era, the pride
we have in Arizona's nights because you know, we put
in that grunt work and the seat it's the same.
I won't say excellent, you know some good.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
That's the same.

Speaker 12 (23:14):
Success this program has had over the years just is
truly amazing.

Speaker 14 (23:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, I think what I was telling Steve about was
when you addressed the team and you're basically, hey, the
reason why you guys are sitting in these nice chairs
and this nice locker room is because the guys that
came before you, right, the guys that did work before,
and you're looking them up here, and it was you
and all those guys up the front. But you didn't
tell them, hey, play for us. You said play for
the guys after you, like, you need to keep building

(23:41):
it and play for the guys ten years from now.
And I think that, I mean, that left me with
a great impression of your leadership and what you mean.

Speaker 12 (23:50):
And if they do that, that means the program is
going to continue to prosper. That's what it's all.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
About, correct. Yeah? Yeah, you how often you touch to
tell me? I haven't.

Speaker 12 (24:02):
I haven't talked to at all this this offseason, but
normally during the season. You know, I hit him up
a few times of years, and you know, coach Lord,
he always he always comes back with a snatched the
little phrases things I can't repeat on the radio. But man, man,
I'm just I'm just blessed. I feel blessed we have
this guy running our program, and hopefully we'll have him
for the next ten, fifteen, twenty years. How much longer

(24:24):
he even wants to coach, because I'd love to do.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
You know, we are stacked going into this year, right absolutely.
Oh my gosh, Yeah, how did you feel? I had
you on a couple of times during the season. A
lot of it was it was down and then up,
and then down and up. At the end, I think
everybody had a feel good because of how they played
in the tournament and the week or so before that too.

Speaker 12 (24:47):
Well, even still early in the season when we were
going taking our lumps or whatever. I actually way back
then and we're going to the tournament. You know, there's
no not my mind, it's going to turn around. Sometimes
it takes teams a little longer, but see what it
is off so as people would see these names on
paper and they get so caught up with I can't
tell you how many years every y have so frustrated. Oh,
we have so much talent there right now, We have

(25:10):
so much talent, we have so much death and this
is what. Guess what, you know, how many other teams
in the country they have that same talent and depth
and stuff like that. So it's not just isolated to
just us. Everybody has just a matter of who's coming together,
who's ever sustained it, particularly at the right time. So
I felt we would be at minimum sweet sixteen team,
which we did, and after that anything could possibly happen,

(25:33):
you know. Unfortunately it didn't. But I came away from
the season feeling feeling really good, particularly how we started
and the way we finished.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
No question. In fact, Pete, I say that all the time.
Every one says, all we're gonna have players, are gonna
have players? I said, you are. But I've been covering
this team for thirty some years, and guess what, I've
never not said that one, And like this year they
have as Andy says, they're stacked, okay, yeah, but still
being stacked. They're ranked eighteenth going in right now, Yeah, chemistry,

(26:00):
it means that means seventeen other teams have the same abilities.
So it all shuts out. How does the team play together? Right?
You only got one ball?

Speaker 12 (26:09):
Yeah? You know, you know, and I hate the wedding,
but hey, since it, let's do it anyway. What if
you know, you probably know where I'm going if Carter
had it came back.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Oh, Henry and Henry, hen that one hurt.

Speaker 12 (26:23):
Well, they both hurt. But to me, Henry came out
of left field because that's the last thing I was
expecting there, you know, because you know, Tommy could say
that he felt that, uh, that Big Mo was maybe
the better place. That still remains to me saying, but
I love Henry's game. He too, thought he had opportunities
and get better.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
Me too developed he developed over that last couples. Yeah,
oh my gosh, that was fun to watch.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Oh yeah, would you let me ask you real quick
because you were you were mostly I think you can
correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure you will.
More near the basket blah blah blah. Could you have
transitioned more on the outside like today?

Speaker 12 (26:58):
Well, isn't it always been a swing man the whole
time I'd ever played and everything? But when I got
to Arizona, you know, we we had two big pressman
kids who you know, couldn't play, So I was forced
to play center by default. I had no choice. But
to play, and I tried to take on a center mindset.
You know, this is what I'm gonna do. I was
able to handle the ball, and I was actually guard

(27:19):
high school and junior college screen and got to handle
the ball. Well, that's thrown off the window. And that's
like one of the things I tell young kids, even
my son when he was in high school. Sometimes you're
going to be asked play out a position, but you
do what she has to do for the betterment of
the team, which I felt I did. Nobody really knows
how I Caey handled the ball. You know. Now I
wasn't a great paramecuter by any means, but my game
was totally different. I was a swingman. Then I got

(27:40):
to Arizona and you got me playing center at six seven,
one hundred and ninety pounds.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Are you kidding me?

Speaker 12 (27:45):
But hey, somehow I poured it off.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah. Yeah, Well today's game is there's really no center
unless you're you know of one or two guys seven six, yeah,
even those.

Speaker 12 (27:55):
You know, the game just evolved, you know, with all
the training, the skilled training and this and that. You know,
we didn't do nothing that Johnt And like I said,
I give it up like Steve Kerr and brought bront
Horse and Cradick your gunning. Those guys man were practice
over him, joke as still out there shooting around this
and that. Hey when practice when first of all I
busted my button practice Steve day. But when it was over,
I was gone, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
And don't get started on any of the nutrition or
any of that stuff back They know that stuff back then.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
You you're supposed to drink and eat and.

Speaker 12 (28:26):
And as finnicky as I was, I wouldn't put it
on the weight because I didn't really eat. People shoving
butter and stuff and everybody knows only.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Right, right, that's funny, that's funny. I don't know if
I've ever asked you, maybe I have, just how you
look back on your time here because you you were
you to me here at the cornerstone without you and
a couple of other guys just this place with me.

Speaker 12 (28:51):
Yeah, Steve bursting with pry only from this standpoint, uh
where it was when we came in and not really
knowing my place. My first disappointment was getting there and
seeing I couldn't get number twenty four because David Haskin
already had that twenty four was my jucode number, and

(29:11):
so not being able to get that that was my
first big disappointment. And then you know Plan Center and
you know, hearing just hearing names like Kenny Fields and
Stuart Gray. Guys you know I've seen in the high school's
seen on TV because I was a juc on my
first two years, and you know, knowing how big and
strong they were, and already some of those self conscious
by myself because again I'm only sixteenty and one ninety

(29:32):
and how would I be able to play? But you know,
under Coach Holsten, there was no excuses, and so it
took a while for me to buy into that. But
once I bought in, I understood that. I mean, I
can't make excuses. I may be smaller, maybe a little
lighter in the way, but I still got to go
out to perform. Coach Olsa is not gonna feel sorry
for me, and I was opponents, They damn sure ain't
gonna feel sorry for me. So I'm bursting with pride,
not only what we were able to accomplish, but again

(29:53):
what they were able to sustain over all these years.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
So I don't think I'll ask you this one too,
because you know in my book, I didn't ask you this.
Maybe I should have. I know the relationship you and
Lute had, which was a fantastic one like many of
the other guys, But when when did you see him
first kind of say, Pete, I really love you, you know,
like when you said and you're thinking, damn, do you
have some emotions?

Speaker 12 (30:16):
Oh, here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Uh.

Speaker 12 (30:17):
Bobby also would tell me all the time. She would
she would always, she would tell me all the time,
and her words were always, you know you're a favorite,
don't you You know that you can't believe, you know, hyperberctly.
I like to think it wasn't you know, But she
would tell me that all the time. But then, you know,
things change once you get out and you see that
person more as a coaching conversation. When he would just

(30:39):
call out of the blue, when I would see his name,
you know in my phone, how excited I would get.
And then even it worked because you know, when I
was in probation, we're not supposed to be on our
phone and stuff like that. But sometimes he would call
and I would saying I would differ into the laundry
rum or something like that, just to have my little
private MoMA would coach, oh, you know, coach and the
worker can't tup very blah blah blah blah, and just
the And then when I would come out, you know,

(31:00):
because a lot of times with improbation, your tenths all
the time. But then when I come out after speaking
with Coach O, my whole persona was changed. I'm I'm
being missed the nice guy. That's not why, because I
just talked to coach.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
You right, and hit that impact on you. Yes, And
it was.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
It wasn't until after because I was a walk and
I didn't get the warm fuzzies, you know from coach
until way after. And it was me taking my daughter
to one of his camps, and he sat my daughter
down and said, you know what, your your dad was
a great kid, and you played hard, and if you
play hard like your dad did, you'll be a good
player too.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
And I just went what And.

Speaker 12 (31:36):
And speaking of that mentioning kids, how how he knows
everybody's kids name, you know. And I remember we had
one one one function one of those areas on the
room and I get together and there was a party
in his house. This is when he was married to
the lady Christina or whatever, and you know, I just
kind of just sit back and even brought you know,
I was able to bring one of my one of

(31:56):
my friends with him, a unk with my family. But
what I really blew me away is how Coach Holsten
went around. He spent time with everybody from from Shane
the top of any of the even the matters, whoever was.
Coach Alsen made a point to spend time with everybody.
I watched all this, you know transport. It was just
it was a beautiful.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Thing to see he did. He made you feel he
made you feel good. Yeah, it made me not on
the practice court, but afterward that's different.

Speaker 12 (32:25):
You know, before he walked on, when he's out there
messing with he's got that mess around and stuff with
the assistant coaches, particularly coach Burns Song, we goofing around.
But when Coach Alsten walked through that door, man, man,
it was different. It was it was different.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
Clocking in time you cried the clock in and he
had the schedule right on this on this little white paper.
Oh yeah, yeah, I got to memorize those things. That's
where I sat everybody. Hey Brown, what's for conditioning to that?
I go you're not gonna like it.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yeah, I was.

Speaker 12 (32:56):
Gonna ask you. I did him.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
But I so you're junior, your senior, Uh maybe at
the same time Steve shows up and what do you
think of Steve when you first gets here?

Speaker 12 (33:09):
Well, no, my junior year, Steve came in, but Steve
was late because school had already started. So Steve may
it came late that first week. And so we were
at the used to play pick up games at the
Tusson Community Center at that time, so I mean sometimes
Becail bistically they were at the Tucson Tucson Athletic Club
whatever they called it. We're playing pickup games and we
knew he was coming. You know, he's just like some
of the late late recruit coach shows saw this summer.

(33:31):
And so he comes walking in, you know, a little
little shorts T shirt or whatever, baseball cap, and you
know there was a stop in action, but you know,
we all kind of just went over and introduced ourself
and a loose ball just kind of rolled over in
the corner and he just kind of nonchalantly and he's
basically sending like right out of bound. Nonsalantly just picked
it up, fired him the jumper, nothing but net.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
Well that's where it started.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
That's where it started. Yeah, did because because if we
did he play fait, did was Steve a favorite purposely or.

Speaker 12 (34:04):
You know, well none nessill because see didn't start. You know,
Michael Tait and Brock our point guard, where our guards,
and they're both natural point guards. So Steve came out
off the bench the whole year. But I think, you know,
obviously not only Coach O and the rest of the city,
even though it's maybe a lessers than with bracing, even
where whatever happened would happened to his dad or whatever.
So he came off the bench. But going into the

(34:24):
following year, you know when we assigned Creg McMillan, So
now with coach did he and Michael Tate and brought
Broncoors compete for the point and then Steve and Priig
millan be compete for the two. And my respect for
Steve grew even more because you know, Craig six six
Craig had all the side McDonald's all American or whatever,
but that didn't deter Steve one bit. You know, Brock
beat out Mike Fair and square for the point. Steve
beat out Craig Farans Square for the two and that

(34:46):
was into that.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
Yeah, yeah, imagine how good you guys would have been
if Tate had stayed.

Speaker 12 (34:52):
Well, not only how good we would have been, because
if Michael Tate had to stayed, he would have had
a minimum ten to twelve year NBA career because he
had everything you want in the point guard. He made
presh wan Au packed in team his freshman year. They
had the billboard of him bringing him down on Seedway
Boulevard bringing out a basketball advertising whatever the radio station
was that in Arizona basketball and Mike was pushing the
ball down the court. So Mike was the future of

(35:15):
Arizona basketball. But his father's and I love mister Takes,
you know, we grew up together on Compton. Mike Michael's
Fabably Wan't ruined that because Mike didn't really want to leave,
you know, but you know, he listened to his pop
and he left, went to Clemson. Had had a good career.
Asked that one year with CBA Player of the Year
when they went to the CBA. But if he would
have stayed with coach Cholson, no question. Mike plays in
the NBA ten to twelve years yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, And that's when we say I say all the
time because you guys tell me this, had you been
patient a year or so, they would have they would
have loved it, you know, because everybody wanted to transfer.
Everybody came here wanted the transfer. But those who stuck
it out here he didn't. He didn't.

Speaker 12 (35:48):
He didn't want to. He didn't want to. Tought the
principal from his post, and he had to, you know.
So that was unfortunately every because then you look at
the injuries that we had when Brocklin down, and you know,
Mike would have been solid because again and he was
off press and Pact Canna's freshman year, you know, and
he was the first player coach. Everybody keeps saying it
with me, No, Michael Tate the first person coach time.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah, okay, I got to rewrite my books now.

Speaker 12 (36:12):
Yeah, yeah, excuse miss, I got a few days.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
We fact no longer the corner sound. You just lost
your title. Thanks mine, Thanks as always, Pete, appreciate.

Speaker 12 (36:28):
You all right, I hope to see you this summer. Man.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
You got Pete man, be careful. That's that's good stuff. Hey,
shaped everything. I think that's all accurate. Just take a break.
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 Ludelsen era. In my new book, Lessons
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(36:54):
give insight to the coach and the man who led them,
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Speaker 1 (40:12):
Streaming live on the Ihearts Radio WAB. This is I
on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me
today is Andy Brown and Tom goes fast and we're
having fun. It does two hours goes fast when you
have a good show.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
You thank you for having talk about sports. We could
do this all day long.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Could I might find a new sponsor, a new go
hosting two years when you say, you know what, I
don't need this stuff and a guys like you nice
support me if you guys want to support me, just
kind of. Hey, Vince, I'm convincing. Tell the people, tell them,
tell them. Come on, this is a very small room.
We need a bigger room. We need TV, we need cameras.

(40:58):
We got we got all that, We got all that,
just going to see how they works. You go, yeah, depending, yeah,
you got Ray here working in the system. So hey,
anybody want to call him. That's a good show. I
didn't know a few things about the Pete stuff, and
I know a lot of the stuff from that era.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
I tell you, I've learned more from Pete just being
around in the last couple of years at your camp,
at the loud Wholsom fancy camp. And the guy is genuine.
He is a family man. And what he says he's
gonna do, he.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
Does he does right. Right, My thing is okay, So
the camp has you know, thirty five to sixty seven
year old guys, right, and he's a heck of a coach. Yeah,
and you know he's why. He's demanding. He's demanding man.
And he hates to lose.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
Oh, he hates to lose to the young whipper snappers.
Who was it? Oh?

Speaker 2 (41:44):
This year my team won? Who is your coach? You
and who? And who?

Speaker 3 (41:47):
Felicity one with me Fee and uh Reggie. I drafted
the team and they coached it. Okay, smart, you're GM.
She the GM. Yeah, he hates I have a good
eye for talent value wa for seventy year old men.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
He didn't drip it off his foot. He's good. That's
what I looked for it. I was like, you need
a guard to win this tournament?

Speaker 13 (42:09):
You do?

Speaker 2 (42:10):
And I went out and got two good ones. That's
what you need exactly.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
What's like everybody else get out the way guards win championships.
So my claim to fame at Ludolson camp one year
was I coach Julie Coach's grandson granddaughter.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Okay, back in, back in his back and back at
his camp. Yeah, okay, look you're on the air nine
of the ball. Who's this?

Speaker 3 (42:32):
He is?

Speaker 12 (42:32):
Vic?

Speaker 2 (42:33):
What's word?

Speaker 18 (42:35):
So I had a little, uh contradictory, contradictory uh statement
from you, and I wanted to see and he's there
and he's a big.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Booster and stuff.

Speaker 12 (42:46):
How you how you felt?

Speaker 18 (42:47):
So you were saying about the softball and you were saying,
on one hand, you say, this is Tucson, where's this
money coming from? And nobody has the money here, right,
But on the other hand, you were saying, oh, softball, Uh,
these people can't complain because they don't put the money
into it or whatever. And like me, I'm a working stiff,

(43:10):
and I'm you know, but I go to every sporting
event in this town. Yeah, I see Javier and eighteen
more than Andy does. I go to every high school game.
I go to every single probably football game. I miss
a few here and there. I go to girls basketball,
girls softball. But I'm a kind of guy that I

(43:31):
can't donate. I just don't have it.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
No, that's my point. And well, is that what you're
trying to tell me? What do you what do you
have an issue with you?

Speaker 18 (43:37):
You're you are trying to say, well, these people better
put up or shut up.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Well, the thing is, if you're going to complain, Vic,
how do you think you're going to solve the problem.
I mean, I think the people complaining and helping the
gym click or X, big big name is going.

Speaker 12 (43:51):
To help them. I'm hoping se Rivera.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Hey, dude, I like my electricity and my mortgage needs
to be paid. That's where my money is going. You
know what I'm saying, These guys can't do it for football, basketball, baseball.
But Andy, not that you're that guy, but you know
those people, I mean, how pockets, how big of the pockets?

Speaker 12 (44:10):
Vic? You have?

Speaker 2 (44:11):
You have season tickets. No, I don't do not do
you go? Do you spend money to go to the game? Oh?

Speaker 13 (44:18):
I go to it.

Speaker 18 (44:19):
You know that I go to every get, every football.
The only thing I don't really go to every game.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Is is men's basketball.

Speaker 12 (44:26):
But I go to all the.

Speaker 18 (44:27):
Girls and I go to all foughtball.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
So you do your part. You do your part in
a little way, right.

Speaker 18 (44:35):
I wish I could donate it. I'd give the million
dollars to Caitlan and a second for an arm.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
Well, my whole point is, if you're going to complain
and sell these things, I think you should maybe add
a little to the kittie. You know, it's like a
curse jar. You're gonna hate it. Put ten bucks into
the curse jar.

Speaker 18 (44:56):
I mean I put in a jar, like I said
that I could afford and whenever. I have my own opinions,
but I kind of keep them to myself because I
know how hard Cameland though worse and obviously to be called.
I hate for anybody to be calling for my job,
that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
And I think, Vic, you're You're not the guy that
Steve's talking about. You're the educated guy that has a
as an educated complaint. And that's the people we appreciate.
It's the people that make comments that have no idea
what's going on, that don't come to games.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
Right.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
You come to every game. You have an educated opinion
because you're there, you.

Speaker 18 (45:33):
See it, and it does get expended. I mean even
the high school games, and I go to a fun
of them. It's five, seven, twelve dollars for every single game,
and it adds up for an o geezer like me.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
Yeah, well, you're in the Steve rivera role. The same
text brokeets. We gotta go. You gotta get another color
you guys j great, Thank you gotta call Hello. You're
on the Aaron nine in the ball I hope you're
still here.

Speaker 13 (46:01):
Hey, favorite John, how you doing?

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Hey John? Could you hear your voice? Hey?

Speaker 13 (46:06):
Good talks. So a couple of quick things. As far
as you're at baseball goes. You know, the restue the
winning games. It's very simple. It's pretty repetitive with every sports.
It's not the fundamentals. And if we keep playing good
defense and we keep doing strikes, we've got a chance.
You know, if you do no matter what, we got

(46:27):
a chance. We can go try to tell in North Carolina.
But who is better at the fundamentals. If you have
walked lead off walks to start ings and softball and
baseball in college, that kills you.

Speaker 12 (46:39):
And so if we can keep.

Speaker 13 (46:41):
You know, make them earn their way on and we
just keep playing fundamental baseball, I think we got a
great chance to compete and a chance to go to
the World Series again.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah. I haven't followed them as closely as I should have.
Probably I didn't go to any games. Uh, you know,
but chips come on at the right time. Obviously, last
a few weeks after being kind of stunned by Utah
and some of the other ones, you've been to the
games by good pitching right.

Speaker 3 (47:07):
Now, some hitting, some good idea. What those last few
games were crushing it? Yeah, I mean that's fun to watch.

Speaker 13 (47:16):
Well, when you have your best player off of the
majority of the season and you're still able to win games,
that means that you do a lot of other things. Well,
you know, a lot of teams can't sustain losing your
best your number one player, your first round draft pick,
and still having a chance in the super regionals. Now,
I do have a quick kind of nil question perspective
question so you're seeing the impact that Kennedy as a

(47:39):
pitcher has for taxes, tech, if the world season, the
World Series right now, and you know, in softball it's like,
if you can get one shutdown pitcher, if we have
her on our squad, we've been playing for a championship
right now too.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
No question, no question, I agree, you know.

Speaker 13 (47:57):
So, So my question to you, I guess is where
is the value? You know, what is a return on investment? What?
Because the eyeballs that are on Texas a softball program
right now, to me are worth whatever she was, whatever
the cost was for her forever, for whatever. The star
pitcher that's entering the portal this year, who thinks, you know,

(48:18):
how does a process like that. I'm just kind of curious,
your guys.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
I could be wrong. I could be totally wrong. And
I'm gonna try to get her on the show at
some point soon. Jenny Finch, she was the face of
the softball world back in the day, right she was
that million dollar picture back in the day, without being
paid a million dollars. I mean you, I just want
to solid firsthand without having to pay this woman on
a million bucks.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
I'm different, different ballgame that then, but now it's people
are getting paid, so you can't discredit that. The way
that the money comes back to the school is how
you recruit not just players, but people coming to your institution.
So back when I went to grad school back in
the nineties, I did a paper about that. It was
a ball about how does your athletic department benefit your

(49:02):
school as a whole? And you see a multi level
return on winning a national championship. It's just it was
in the writing it was you got you got more
people come to your sending. You got more people wanted
to come there. Your rights to sell merchandise goes up, right,
your brand is boosted. So now you have now your

(49:23):
shirts are thirty five instead of twenty five.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
And John, look at Texas tex She's coming back another year.
She's got another year of eligibility.

Speaker 13 (49:31):
And to me, she like when I saw the shoes
in the portal last year, I'm like, if there was
any way to get her and spend what a cost.
That's in no disrespect to the pitchers we had. We
had solid pitching, but solid pitching is not next level pitching.
And I think the common denominator with all of our
championship teams is we have a dominant pitcher as our

(49:54):
number one, and they really did. Back then they threw
all the innings. We didn't have a second pitcher that
they came. Man, I mean, Jenny fins through all the
innings and you circle back to the pictures before. I'm
just kind of curious how that, you know, like Kennedy
woked to me, seems like, especially with what you just said, sir,
seemed like it would be worth the money because, yeah,

(50:14):
the chances to be on to playing against Texas in
the World Series, you know, it's just and and then
she ends up throwing a pitch down in the middle
of that hate go figure on the test for walk.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
But here's the second part of that is, now I
paid a million dollars for them. Now the next school
is like, well, I'm gonna pay one point five yeah, right,
and then the next things I'm gonna pay two. So
this free agency stuff with then il's got a stop
and it's gonna stop.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
It's hard for me to believe though you paid a
million dollar picture with that, and then you paid shortstop
fifty thousand first Pasion, what about me?

Speaker 3 (50:49):
Yeah, well, Josh right, it's it's it's worth she was
worth a million dollars. Yeah, easily worth two million, probably
for Texas Tech.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Who didn't know. If you didn't know about Texas Tech,
you know about Texas Tech now.

Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yeah, and she just drove up the price for a picture. Right,
you hit it on the hedge. It's not gonna stop.
It's good.

Speaker 13 (51:09):
To pay the next elite ish or that's a hard
thing to factor on all those ends. I mean, look
at Pisa and how much money he made this year. Yeah,
away for him, wanting to pay him a dime to
getting whatever in North Carolina offered him, and he was
worth it. He played it without him last year. We're
a five hundred team without Visa and his performance like dream.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
It's funny because what got paid about that same money
and you're thinking ballow you start, got a nice pitch. Yeah, Hey,
hey John, thanks a bunch. Good to hear from you.
Good questions, appreciate, thanks for listening. Has always. I think
we're almost done right, Yeah, we got a minute, got
a minute, Okay, thanks for coming on. And hey, give
me some red and blue gum next time. The red gum,

(51:51):
I'll bring you some. I don't know if they make
that gum anymore. What was it like?

Speaker 3 (51:55):
Yeah, I got I don't know him and his popcorn. No,
it us some Minty probably won. It's like a yeah,
big Red or something, I remember what it was. Go
look back to you. And then Ronald brought him his popcorn.
You know, give me.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
Yeah. I never got into popcorn stuff. It was all
gum and water.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
Get into the game. He apologize to you one time. Yeah,
that was all I didn't get you in the game.
That was the first game of the tournament. We got
blew out Team Ye Maryland I think it was, and
he wanted to win so bad he forgot. I was
on the bakatly a year before we lost. I'm playing
this game to the last second. He was the only
guy I didn't play. Apologized sorry, any, Sorry, hey coach.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
We won. Yeah, we gotta go. Thank you Any for
showing up. Thank you Ray, thank you for showing up.
Thanks me for showing up. Thanks