Wednesday, April 23, Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services Insure
your most Prized POSSESSIONETS.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to you.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera in with me today. Is gonna be
Blake eager and running the control is Ray?

Speaker 4 (00:24):
Thank you?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Ray.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
What's going on on Wednesday? O?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Not too much?

Speaker 5 (00:30):
I mean, you know, just another another great day to
be be here in the studio.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're not getting to raise You're not.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
You don't even think about it.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Not even a couple of dollars.

Speaker 6 (00:41):
Man, I guess some gas, your Mickey D's and your
Mickey D's fish for lay.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, what's going on out there? Everybody want to call?
Please do or anybody wants to call five two zero
four one six seventy four forty. I think we have
things under control today. Ray.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
If it's not, it's on you, that's right. It's okay. Though.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Blake's coming in pretty soon here. He's coming in from downtown,
so I'm sure he's just a few miles away. So
we're gonna talk to a couple of people here today.
Brandon Sanders, who just recently ran the Boston Marathon. Everyone
knows him, the former U of A football star back
in the day New York Giant I think he was,

(01:22):
and now he's with the U of A in the
high school recruiting or facilitating world of what he does.
We'll talk to him more about that, as well as
his experience in the marathon on Monday, and then in
the second hour, we're gonna have Rita Stubbs, the volleyball
coach at U of A. She's been on the show
before before they made that great run to win the

(01:44):
postseason tournament that they were in. But she's gonna speak
mostly about that UA caravan that's going on this week.
She's gonna be at it, and we'll get more where
they're gonna be this week, because we just had one yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
I think they were at one yesterday.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Right, yeah, I believe. So, yeah, what do we have
on We had, oh, the marketing guy, the marketing marketing guy. Yeah,
So we'll talk more about that. They're trying to make
a push for you fans to go and see and
say hello and get you guys engaged with what's going on.
So there's that. I'm not sure where they're at this week.
I want no gallaus. I think yeah, I think he
said no gallous after this and then somewhere. I think

(02:21):
there's two places. Yeah, so they're busy. They're busy right now,
getty rally those troops are you? H you a zoo's
on a zoo guy? Uh no, no, because just because
but you go to the games.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
Yeah, I go to the usually just mostly the football games. Okay,
because of my internship with Brian, but yeah, just uh yeah, never.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Been his oh with with Brian and Brian Jefferson. Oh okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I forget. I forgot that. You know the spotter. Do
you get paid there? Yeah, there's your gas money there.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
You go.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
That's a good job too. That's cool job. I used
to do that when I was in college. Yeah, it's
really fun.

Speaker 5 (02:57):
I mean, you know, I've always been like more of
a football guy, and so it's just it's nice to
you know, get get.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
The you're on the outdoor right, you're in that outdoor
little area. No, we got we got windows.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Oh do you you didn't before? I think that you
just had railings.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, next to us, next to us is only the railings.
Oh okay, but yeah, okay, yeah yeah, you got a
suite there.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh yeah, yeah it's usually cold.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Though, yeah, well and cold for her Tucson, Yeah, cold
like it is in his room, exactly for me, exactly.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Okay. Cool.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
So a lot of things going on, obviously, you can
have I don't want to step on your toes to
breaking news stuff. People coming and going with the portal, football, basketball,
last night's softball game, NBA stuff. Yep. Yeah, women's golf,
they're women's golf. They headed out somewhere yep. Okay, you
can tease it, but don't talk about it because then

(03:47):
you run out of stuff. We're just waiting for Blake
to to bs. I talked a little yesterday about the
Garment Garman Marathons coming here in November, so Blake knows
a little bit more about that too, given his situation
with the travel and and the tourism business, to talk

(04:09):
more about that, and things are looking up. I think
we'll know soon enough. Friday is a final day of
portal closure, right, comings and goings. They got someone today
just recently, and I don't think anybody else besides the
three that we mentioned yesterday going leaving Arizona. But there
was an interesting thing on OK on one of those

(04:34):
things that last year, I have to go all away
for Blake because it'll be a better discussion with him
about people transferring and how many people what the percentage
was where people left and each school had in terms
of like say you stay with Arizona and only forty

(04:55):
of the people who stayed played, so from outside took
up at fifty eight sixty eight sixty percent of the
playing time.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Right, Yeah, so if you go to Albuquerque or you.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Go to New Mexico, you're one of the guys they
want to be playing, not the guys that were staying there.

Speaker 5 (05:11):
Well, I mean you gotta assume too that it's like
if they want you to go after you in the portal,
it's like you're probably a little better, right, you know,
you have something more different that you can offer to
the team, sure, compared to the guys who've been there
who haven't played before.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
There was a book that I've said this in a
couple on the show a couple of times, called Sway
a really good book about so if I invested half
a million dollars in Ray to come to play and
he turns out to be mediocre. You're gonna damn play
the guy because you spend a half a million dollars
to prove that you're right, right until you can't anymore right,
because you spent a lot of money and you brought

(05:45):
him here. You better be making you better make smart
decisions for sure, until you proven otherwise.

Speaker 5 (05:52):
Yeah, And I feel like more professional leagues are a
bit more kind of like political like that. I don't
think we've seen it too much yet in terms of
college sports, but I mean, you know, yeah, futures coming eventually,
so I s see where that's sure.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
And you're right though in basketball or football, if you're
not good enough, you're just not good enough, and then
money at that point doesn't really matter for sure. Yeah, Blake, Hey, guys,
after the show, you gotta run about twenty laps?

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Can I just gripe a
little bit?

Speaker 5 (06:18):
Though?

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Like there is what's the easiest way to get here
from downtown?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
I would say twenty second or Broadway East to Swan
and North. Yeah it's miserable out there, of course. Yeah,
well it's still it's still the snowbird season. Yeah, you
always complain about that. I ran off the road by Mercedes.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
What do you be always complained about?

Speaker 3 (06:36):
You asked me a question and then you could you
want you can't handle the truth.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
I will definitely go Jack.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Nicole said on you you can't handle the truth.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
You ask me a question, don't like my answer.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Guess what?

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Stop asking me questions.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's true. That's a good point. So Mercedes. Oh, they
twenty people. She was just a little older.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
She was taking up about a quarter of my lane
and decided to be half of my lane. Then she
went back in her lane and she was like, this
lane is not nice enough. Really like that lane. She
kept just trying out my lane, but she never fully committed.
Didn't you know who he is? Don't you know who
he is?

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah? That line works all the time, right, Yeah, it
just gets you more embarrassed. Really, what's going on? You
try to get us?

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Garman?

Speaker 3 (07:14):
We had him on the show yesterday. He was a
good dude.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, we're working. We're working really hard on it. Really excited. Uh,
they're looking to do the marathon in November. But to
be able to have a you know, an organization like
Garman in our our backyard running a marathon. It's going
to be downtown course. I think the course looks Amay,
what do you mean by that downtown? Of course, you've
got twenty six miles of this. Yeah, they they haven't

(07:36):
mapped out.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
It's like, well he said he didn't want to go there. Yeah,
he didn't tell us. Well it's not official. Yes, I
just shared too much, right, Well you said just down.
Well he told us we're going to start it downtown. Yeah,
it's gonna be it. It's going to incorporate downtown. Yeah, yeah,
yeah he said that. Yeah, so he'll let us know later.
What's going to look like. I know what we go
through at El Tour. I mean we kind of peel

(07:57):
a lot of people because we're on the roads and
they have to stop travel.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
So I was thinking about this in the meeting one
of the meetings today that I had, and I wanted
to have this conversation with you and with Ray because
of his age. We have to disrupt our life for
a couple hours once a year, right to be able
to have the ability. I mean, El Tours humongous garment,
this international brand, right is humongous. Do we really should

(08:22):
we really be getting upset with that? You're talking about
the people. The people are locals, Like, hey, I listen,
I used to be the same way, going to work
in El tour, I'd be like the son of a Right.
But I mean if you step back and you go,
this is incredible that it's happening here.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
It's one day out of the year and it's only
for a few hours. Only for a few hours, right,
So I just I that's a question. I don't should
we be getting upset with that? No, but they do,
and we try to make here's the issue, here's the issue.
So in my role, I'll tour and I'm sure you'll
be a role over there with the garment. We let

(08:59):
them know the places are going to be shut down
or delayed or whatever. We do this maybe two months
in advance, and then we do it a month in events,
and then we do it right before the race.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
And people, oh, I didn't see it or I didn't
see it because.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
They're not looking one and they we have it at
the same time every year for last forty two years.
They don't see it. They don't know, they don't see it.
So what are you looking at?

Speaker 2 (09:21):
TV? Not TV?

Speaker 3 (09:22):
We put it everywhere everywhere you can see it websites
like yeah, yeah, and we didn't see it. We didn't know.
That's is that our We we do as much as
we can, and you're gonna have to do the same
thing for this for this event.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, I mean that's you know, it's we're not taking
the driver's seat like we did in the World Baseball
Class by any means. We just want to be a
good partner. That's what we're here for. But it kind
of brings us back to the last topic I think
we spoke about last week, the three of us with
one was do we have a centralized Uh do we
have something that centralized that people can go on and
find out information?

Speaker 7 (09:53):
Right?

Speaker 3 (09:53):
No? And that's I think that do you know the
answer are you asking? I know, I don't think there
is right is it? Is it visit Tucson? Is it
you know, city of Tucson, what is it? Pema County? Like?

Speaker 2 (10:04):
But there should be something where people are like, Okay,
I'm getting some kind of source of.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Little Danny notebook from the stuff that we talked about.
I already forgot what we talked about last week, you
know for a project. This is another one of those
Maybe that's how things like this are started. Yeah, I
think it is.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
I think there's a I mean, you're looking at other
cities our size, right, and we are a city, whether
we like to admit it or not. I feel like
they have maybe a little bit better grasp and understanding
on how to promote the events or things that are
going on. And this goes for locals, right, I mean
we're talking about you know, international events that are happening,
but local things that are happening, whether it's a fourth
happening street fair, whether it's I don't know, throw something

(10:43):
out there.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
I don't. I don't.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
I used to get it in the Tucson Weekly, right,
and I don't get that.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
I don't get that. Yeah, but yes, exactly another source
that nobody reads.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
Now, Yeah, I mean it's apology equated, whatever you want
to say. I still enjoy reading. So but there's got
to be a way. Like the technologies that we have,
we're all walking around with supercomputers in our pocket.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
Sure, but you know what, a lot of the people
who complain and I'm sorry, I apologized now are older
like me and maybe not you so much, but and
they're not on their phones.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Like yeah, I mean I can complain with the best
of them. But yeah, you might be right, but maybe
there's two. Maybe there's two or three forms, but they're
all going back to one thing, right, that we have
one centralized hub.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
I like that idea. What were the things we were
talking about last week? You don't, well, I have to
go on the shows and review the show.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
No, we were I think what we were talking about,
because who do we have on last week?

Speaker 3 (11:35):
Was it? Maybe? Was it?

Speaker 8 (11:37):
Now?

Speaker 2 (11:37):
It was before Kim who was on Wednesday? Last week?
That was Thursday? Okay, we'd have to go anyway. It
was something happening, and we were talking about like with
the World Baseball Classic, right where I run into people
and they're like, well, I didn't know anything about it.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
It's like I don't know who, I don't know what
they I hear that about everything though, right, I didn't
know anything about that. I didn't know about that.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Where are we? Where's the disconnect? Right?

Speaker 3 (11:59):
Right? No? No, no, And that's the fine. We're not
going to please everybody or make you really happy. Because
everyone gets her news sources or from different places, whether
it's Facebook, Twitter, newspaper, TV, or whatever, or not at all.
And it may be the sign of the times, of
the times we live in.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
I was thinking about, you know, we all kind of
get the mass text messages, whether it's during campaign season
or I got one today that was for It's the
first time I've got. Was like, Hey, we're in your
neighborhood redoing somebody's cabinets.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
Can we stop by and do it? And like, yeah,
what no, But maybe it's a mass texts start with
everybody with a five too oh number or you g
o fence it, and then people can opt out of that.
I don't know who knows. By the way, do you
need solar? I'll send you my text. How about that
car repair? I get a roofing call. I don't four

(12:51):
times a day. I don't know how many roofing companies
there are, but they're in my neighborhood. In your car,
don't forget that warranty bit.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, you get the ones where it's like we're looking,
do you want to sell your house?

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get those cars. Yeah
yeah for the price? Yeah price lo bolly me man,
what's up with that? Hey, welcome to the show, mister Blake.
We're gonna have Brandon Sanders on the show. Here in
about ten minutes. He just ran the marathon. I want
to see what gave him any thought to do this.
It's like, why, maybe he'll run into the do so
maybe I would, you would hope? So, yeah, Well he's

(13:23):
kind of football ish, so I don't know if they're
in town or not or whatever, but that'd be cool.
And then we're gonna have Rita Stubbs could Stubs the
bulletball could She's gonna be on that caravan of people
who are gonna be out promoting the shake hands, Kiss
Babies from you a. Oh yeah, you know, for the
football and the athletic department. Yeah, yeah, So we'll talk

(13:44):
more about that. So what else going on? You like,
what's going on with football? Basketball? Comings and goings? We
gotta call or we gotta go. You're already giving me
the sign three fourteen that went quick. Okay, wait, welcome here.
At fourteen minutes it's fourteen minutes late. About twelve minutes late.
I wasn't twelve minut late, eleven minutes late. I was
six minutes late at most. Okay, the time of your

(14:05):
text messages times two, that's tiled laps. All right, I'll
do it. Let's take a breath.

Speaker 7 (14:09):
Now your chance to win one thousand dollars in bonus
box just after this nationwide keyword on our website.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
When When, That's when?

Speaker 7 (14:21):
Enter it now block Sports fourteen fifty dot com.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
Are you ready ready to discover your soul, your wild side,
your passion, your joy and excitement. From the latest slots
and table games, to award winning dining, to world class
entertainment to a luxurious resort.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
Discover all this and more.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
Discover with Soul Casino del Soul, the Soul of Tucson.
Are you ready Enterprise of Fasco YUCKI try.

Speaker 9 (14:53):
The Window Depot has everything you need to create the
kitchen or bathroom of your dreams. Browseyisles of instock cabinet
available in a variety of sizes and configurations, and instantly
elevate your space Today. Visit a showroom and let our
experts guide you. Whether you're choosing for Maddy to Go
Designs or creating a custom masterpiece. We can help you
select the perfect wood, type, color and style and top

(15:15):
it off with unique hardware to complete your look. Find
a location near you at the Window Deepot dot Com.
The Window Depot more than a windows store.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
Steve Rivera here to talk about Doratle Rock and Materials.
I needed a lot of gravel for my driveway, so
I called Eric at Dorato Rock. He found out the
amount and color I needed and boom, it was taken
care of and at a great price. How do I
know radio commercials work? I heard one of his on
the radio. Dorato Rock and Materials provides a wide range
of landscaping materials, including decorative rock, boulders, gravel, soil, and

(15:44):
sand for residential and commercial use in the Tucson area.
They are locally owned and have been around for more
than fifteen years. Kim, we'll call at five two zero
four zero zero for two three three. Spring is in
the air and the school year is coming to a close.
Time to order your academic and spring sports awards for
your student.

Speaker 6 (15:59):
Asked lead Creative Awards.

Speaker 8 (16:01):
With fifty two years as your top awards and promotional
product supplier.

Speaker 6 (16:05):
Give them an award they can be proud of.

Speaker 8 (16:06):
They have trophies, plaques, acrylics, art class fine crystal, metal,
name badges, stock and custom awards. Come visit the Creative
Awards Idea Center at two twenty eight West TrackMan Street,
across the street from PEMA College Downtown campus, or visit
them online at Creative Awards az dot com.

Speaker 10 (16:24):
At Nova home Loans, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity
to enjoy the independence that comes with home ownership. Paul
Volpi is ready to help you find an option that
best fits your needs. Whether you're a first time or
veteran home buyer or want to get cash out with
the refinance. Nova has a variety of home loan programs
to meet your unique situation. Visit voltpeteam dot com, That's
Volpe team dot com or called five two oh six

(16:47):
eight five six two six Today n MLS three oh
eight seven arizon A BKO Ninez two nine four two
Equal Housing Opportunity, Got to commitment to Lindrixson credit rates
and available loan programs or subject to change with ut notice.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Did you know?

Speaker 11 (16:57):
Collecting sports cards is one of the fastest growing hobbies around.
Whether you're looking at start or expand your collection, Showtime
Cards is your ultimate destination. As one of the leading
card shops in the country, we've been serving our community
for over twenty five years with the best in sports
cards and trading card games from Rare fines to the
latest releases.

Speaker 6 (17:14):
Showtime Cards has it all.

Speaker 11 (17:15):
Check them out at Showtimecards dot Com or visit them
on East Speedway and discover why collectors everywhere trust Showtime
Cards for their passion.

Speaker 8 (17:25):
Richard Bacall Law Office, defending Arizonas for over thirty years
and a Wildcat fan for over sixty. If you need
an experienced criminal defense attorney, call Richard Briccall five two
oh seven to four h twelve thirteen.

Speaker 6 (17:39):
Broud sponsor of Eye on the Ball, Go Cats.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Why is mining so important?

Speaker 12 (17:44):
It's the foundation of everything, that defines a society.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Everything you see is a product.

Speaker 12 (17:50):
Of mine, no matter when, no matter how, no matter why.
Every society on this planet has developed rome and as
to based solely on them. In Rules of Patient process,
that's flidlining is so inportant.

Speaker 10 (18:09):
Donnybchybm dot com.

Speaker 13 (18:12):
Got bugs, termites, bees, or rodents, Arizona Pest Control will
hunt them down. Arizona Pest Control is your complete desert
pest management specialist. That's can't run or hide from Arizona
Pest Control. They use only the latest and most technologically
advanced methods of pest elimination available, which minimizes the effects
on the environment. Let Arizona Pest Control get rid of
your bad bugs, termites, bees, or rodents. Serving Tucson and

(18:34):
Southern Arizona since nineteen forty seven. Go to azpest dot
com to schedule your free evaluation today.

Speaker 9 (18:40):
The Window Depot wants to help bring your dream kitchen
to life. As a family owned and operated business, we
pride ourselves on offering the best prices, the biggest inventory,
and exceptional customer service you won't find.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
At the big box stores.

Speaker 9 (18:53):
From premium cabinets to stunning courts and granite countertops, faucets,
hardware and sinks, our designers are here to guide homeowners
every step of the way, all under one roof. Find
a location near you. Our shop online at the Window
Deepot dot com. The Window Depot more than a windows store.

Speaker 7 (19:09):
Steve Rivera, He's got his eye on the ball on
Tucson's sports station yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Hey, welcome back to iron the Bar here a Fox
Sports fourteen fifty.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
I'm Steve Rivera. You happen to be Blake Eager from
Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Yes, great to have you here, and now we have
coach Stubbs from the volleyball team at UVK.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Coach, how are you.

Speaker 14 (19:34):
I'm wonderful, how are you?

Speaker 2 (19:35):
We're doing fine?

Speaker 3 (19:36):
Hey, the last time we spoke, I know everybody remembers
when they speak to me. Right, damn yeah, sure, you
were on your way to become the championship, the winner
of the tournament. Let us talk about that real quick.
How did that go and how did that feel? And
then how did that help move forward?

Speaker 14 (19:55):
You know it felt good.

Speaker 15 (19:56):
Anytime you get a chance to win in front of
your home crowd and play that late into the month
of December, you know, you walk away feeling like a champion.
And our players enjoyed every minute of it, even though
going into it, you know, we were a little sad
and by the fact that we didn't make it to
the NCAA tournament. But once I let the girls know,
let's go out there and be the sixty fifth.

Speaker 14 (20:17):
Best team in the nation, and they bought in and
we did it and it was awesome.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
Yeah, no question. I think the crowd reflected that, right.
You had some people in the stands and it gives
you I hate to use this word, momentum, but it
gives you a nice run into next year.

Speaker 15 (20:33):
Yes, it was because I was on the radio. You know,
I got a chance to talk and tell people about.

Speaker 14 (20:38):
Everything that we're doing and why is the fun sport
to come out and watch, and the support and you know,
just being able to have it.

Speaker 15 (20:44):
Was a ton of basketball.

Speaker 14 (20:46):
Fans there, which was really.

Speaker 15 (20:47):
Cool, and so just educating them a little bit on.

Speaker 14 (20:49):
The sport was fun.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
You're always welcome on the show. You're checks in the mail,
by the way, thanks for seeing that.

Speaker 15 (20:55):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
So now what you get ready? I'm sure you guess
already practicing or what's the schedule like?

Speaker 14 (21:03):
So we had our spring season.

Speaker 15 (21:05):
We actually concluded our practices yesterday. We still have some
lifting to do for the next couple of days. But
we had a tremendous spring season. We had four weekends
of competition. And the spring is different than the fall
in the sense that we're not allowed to travel by plane.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
That's the nc double A rules.

Speaker 14 (21:21):
So we take a bus.

Speaker 15 (21:23):
We'll leave Friday.

Speaker 14 (21:24):
After everyone's out of class. We'll drive to.

Speaker 15 (21:27):
San Diego or Utaps where.

Speaker 14 (21:29):
We went this year, and up to ASU.

Speaker 15 (21:31):
And then we'll compete all day and then get.

Speaker 14 (21:33):
Back on that same bus charter bus, mind you, and
head back home.

Speaker 15 (21:37):
So it was a great spring for us in terms
of competing.

Speaker 14 (21:40):
We had four of.

Speaker 15 (21:41):
Our newbies graduated high school early, so they were able
to play with us this spring, which was really good.
That's a huge advantage by having your kids in school early.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
So you lost me at NC double A rules. There
are still some what's oh.

Speaker 15 (21:55):
Yeah, we still have a few.

Speaker 14 (21:56):
It's a few.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
And then I think you spoke just now about stuff
that I didn't know even though we know about it
in football, where kids are coming in early trying to
you know, start their their schedule here at u of
A and other schools, I didn't you know. I'm not
assuming this because you see them football and basketball when
they come early. But your sports are affected too well.

Speaker 14 (22:17):
Yes. One of the reasons why it's so important for
our sport is because we start.

Speaker 15 (22:22):
Writing in August, and so you imagine being a freshman
coming in and having to take classes.

Speaker 14 (22:27):
And you know you have about.

Speaker 15 (22:29):
Ten days to get ready for your competition.

Speaker 14 (22:31):
Season and it's a lot.

Speaker 15 (22:33):
And so now the athletes are wanting to finish their
club season.

Speaker 14 (22:36):
Early, so you'll get a lot of juniors.

Speaker 15 (22:39):
Playing at the eighteens level so that they're in a
position to leave and enjoy that last hourah and then
come into college.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
But the reps and.

Speaker 15 (22:48):
The classes they get to take and bonding with.

Speaker 14 (22:50):
The team is invaluable.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
Hey, coach, to kind of stay on that same topic,
So could you enlighten everybody, that's all the listeners and
even ourselves. What's your summer schedule like from a coaching standpoint,
and what's the schedule like from a student athlete standpoint?
Like for me, I played college baseball, so my summers
I was in the North Woods League, playing pretty much

(23:12):
the whole summer. What's it like for a college athlete?
And then what's it like for a college coach from
a recruiting standpoint? Just your personal life and everything that
goes into that.

Speaker 15 (23:21):
Well, they'll go practice and they'll have weights until Tuesday
of next week, and then we're not allowed to do
anything with them again until August. So that's the reason
why having our freshmen come in from January till the
beginning of May is invaluable because we get a chance
to work with them and they will report data. Is

(23:42):
August eighth, where the athletes come back and then we
are allowed to start working with them in volleyball. So
one of the things that we encourage them to do
is come back and work our camps. So a lot
of our athletes will come back the beginning of July
end of June so that they're in a position that
can start lifting weights and you know, get acclimated and
bond with one another, which you know is a loving sport,

(24:05):
so you've got to enjoy the people that you're working with.
But there's nothing that I can require them to do.

Speaker 14 (24:11):
And that's a rule that has been.

Speaker 15 (24:14):
Always in place for volleyball.

Speaker 14 (24:16):
And soccer, and we're the main ones.

Speaker 15 (24:18):
Pushing to be able to have some summertime with our
athletes and football, they're allowed to do it from a
safety precaution and it makes sense.

Speaker 14 (24:25):
I'm not anti that, but.

Speaker 15 (24:27):
I just want to be able to eat a piece
of that pie as well. Let me as a coach.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
Oh go ahead, Sorry, no, it's just going to say
only makes sense, especially with the timing of your season.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
You you, I mean you should have.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
You should be able to be afforded some time with
those players, especially from a bonding standpoint and a practice standpoint. Sorry,
keep going on. We want to know about your personal
side of it.

Speaker 14 (24:47):
Yeah, and so me personally.

Speaker 15 (24:49):
So I will recruit this weekend. This will be my
last recruiting weekend before we go into what's called our
quiet period, and that means that I can't go out
for the month of May. But because the transfer portal
is open, I'm still recruiting, trying.

Speaker 14 (25:02):
To get kids on campus and working.

Speaker 15 (25:05):
Hard to make sure that you know everything is going well.
So May technically is our downtime, but it's not because
you're in the portal trying to navigate getting kids on campus.
But it's a lot of handwriting letters and making phone
calls and things.

Speaker 14 (25:19):
Of that nature.

Speaker 15 (25:20):
Because June fifteenth is when we were allowed to get
on the phone call phone and start talking.

Speaker 14 (25:25):
To the uprising juniors.

Speaker 15 (25:29):
In high school.

Speaker 14 (25:30):
And so then I'll do.

Speaker 15 (25:31):
That all of May, and then June hits and then
I'm back out on the road. And from June technically
May thirty first until June twelfth, I will be out
of Arizona. I'll be traveling around to different clubs and
doing clinics and talking and willing and doing, and then
I'll come back for a day, do a clinic, and
then I'll get back out on the road and start recruiting.

(25:53):
And that takes us all the way until just after
fourth of July, and then you run about ten days
of camps, so you're asking kids to come on campus
and you know, Willing and Dylan and jazzing them up,
and then you'll have about a week and a half
two weeks, just depending on how you plan it out where.

Speaker 14 (26:11):
That's your downtime.

Speaker 15 (26:13):
And yet you're getting ready for your upcoming season, so
you know, May it's supposed to be our downtime, but
we really don't get any downtime coaching.

Speaker 14 (26:22):
Truth.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
You've been a coach for a long time, obviously an
assistant here for a long time, and now you moved
over in a chair, and no one would ever thought
you'd have to deal with a lot of stuff that's.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
Going on here right now.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
Nil other factors, you probably would have never thought this possible.
But now when you go recruit, I know what happens
with every football basketball Did they say, so, how much
are you going to give me?

Speaker 14 (26:45):
Well? I do hear it.

Speaker 15 (26:46):
I don't hear it as much because most of the
kids out there that are the high profile kids in
terms of requiring and wanting a lot of money. They
already know what program do it, so the.

Speaker 14 (26:58):
Information's out there.

Speaker 15 (26:59):
Are the best recruiter that is available with social media,
and so these athletes walk in.

Speaker 14 (27:05):
Knowing what schools.

Speaker 15 (27:07):
Will give and will not give, or don't have or
do have. But you know, at the end of the day,
I don't I'm not anti nil or anti you know.

Speaker 14 (27:16):
Paying the athletes.

Speaker 15 (27:18):
I just want to be in a position where they
I know that these are good athletes, these are good kids.
You know. I want to continue to raise up and
help develop young women to be the best that they
can be. And I believe that relationships is the way
that you do that. So, you know, we're selective on
you know, a kid maybe like.

Speaker 14 (27:38):
Oh how much can you give me?

Speaker 15 (27:39):
I'm like, well, how good of a person are you?
And so I spend more time in our staff, we
spend more time trying to get to know the athletes
as people, because at the end of the day, that's
what it really boils down to. So you'll see a
lot of kids make decisions to change schools because it
wasn't all that it was cracked up to be when
they were chasing that money.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
You had no question and you were I think you
were around with when Luke was here, right when he
was coaching here. Yes, yes, his number one thing was
if you recruit good people, good things happen because they're
good people.

Speaker 14 (28:08):
Yes.

Speaker 15 (28:09):
Yes, I one undred percent buy into that and believe that.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, let's go to one of the things you wanted
to talk about. They wanted to talk to you about
this caravan that keeps going on. I think, where are
you guys headed next?

Speaker 14 (28:21):
Listen here? These Beardown takeovers are awesome.

Speaker 15 (28:23):
Yesterday we were at the Monica and it was a
good turnout and just being able to talk to the community.

Speaker 14 (28:29):
And give that. Tomorrow we're actually going out. I'm excited
for the song.

Speaker 15 (28:33):
We're off at Drackman's Track and we'll be doing some cleanup,
which is pretty impressive.

Speaker 14 (28:39):
And I hear it's going to be a large group
of us out there and people are like, really, are
you doing this?

Speaker 15 (28:44):
Are you being made to do it?

Speaker 1 (28:45):
No?

Speaker 15 (28:46):
This is something I truly believe in because Tucson.

Speaker 14 (28:49):
Is all about community, and I think the more the.

Speaker 15 (28:52):
Community gets to see us do the takeover and see
us putting our you know, getting.

Speaker 14 (28:57):
Out there doing work.

Speaker 15 (28:58):
And one of my favorites of all is when we
do the how may I help you at football games? Yes,
I put on that shirt and I'm ready to answer
questions and.

Speaker 14 (29:07):
Direct people to their seats.

Speaker 15 (29:08):
And so I think that's a good bonus that Desiree
has brought to us, which I think is really important.
And then also tomorrow.

Speaker 14 (29:16):
There's one down in No Gallus.

Speaker 15 (29:17):
So the nice thing is we're up to twenty two
this year.

Speaker 14 (29:20):
I think we did.

Speaker 15 (29:21):
Eight last year, but we're at twenty two and we're
going around. We're going to hit every corner of the state.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
And so you become more cohesive. I guess as a group, right,
are you getting the bus and down there?

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Is that what you guys do?

Speaker 15 (29:34):
Yeah, we'll take buses or we'll take bands or whatnot.

Speaker 14 (29:37):
And you know, we.

Speaker 15 (29:38):
Get to talk to a lot of the coaches, and
you get a.

Speaker 14 (29:40):
Lot of athletes are going this year, and.

Speaker 15 (29:43):
Just our support staff. You know, we're a unit. We're
not going to ever be the place where.

Speaker 14 (29:48):
It's a one man show. You know, me going out.

Speaker 15 (29:50):
And talking to people on behalf of football is just
as important as me going out talking to people on
behalf of volleyball. I think that's how we grow our
business and our communit unity.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
What do you think the number one or two concerns
of the general public Maybe somebody who doesn't what do
they ask?

Speaker 15 (30:08):
The number one question asks is what are y'all using
the money for?

Speaker 14 (30:12):
Are you really just chating the athletes? And it's like, no,
that's not everyone across.

Speaker 15 (30:18):
The board and you know, and do you really support
one another?

Speaker 14 (30:23):
I get that question a lot, and I can tell
you I have a group.

Speaker 15 (30:26):
Text with all the head coaches and yes, we do
talk all the time.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Yeah, that makes total sense. Well, the first question, for
sure is because I get it too, says I'm not
too sure where to give money because I'm not sure
where it's going. Well, you don't know until you ask, right,
So that makes sense to ask, right, you guys? Right?

Speaker 14 (30:44):
Yeah. We put it towards the scholarship fund, you.

Speaker 15 (30:46):
Know, making sure that we can contain to support our athletes,
and all of that goes towards our academic services and
medical staff. We also put it towards our operations, you know,
to offset things everyone knows is real and you know,
we want to be able to compete and desiree has
done an awesome job of allocating funds in the right

(31:07):
direction and promoting and supporting one another. And that's why
we're all willing.

Speaker 14 (31:12):
To get in. If it weren't that way, you wouldn't
get to buy in and support of everyone.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Coach, you had some pretty big shoes to fill with
Dave Rubio, and you've done a phenomenal job there. I
know his son Dylan really well, what were the changes
going from the assistant world to the manager head coach
role that that you were really prepared for, you felt like,
and then some things that were that kind of caught
you off guard, especially with the ever changing landscape of

(31:39):
the NC double A. Can you give us some insight there?

Speaker 3 (31:42):
Well, and let me ask you say this because you're
talking to Blake Eager, who's with the tourism industry here.
He's a former manager in pro baseball.

Speaker 14 (31:50):
So yes, well, I can tell you the biggest change.

Speaker 15 (31:54):
And when I got offered the job, you know, a
lot of the kids were smiling, and I'm wondering.

Speaker 14 (32:00):
Like, is this for real? You're really smiling or you're just.

Speaker 15 (32:03):
Acting that way because I'm the head coach. So it
took me a minute.

Speaker 14 (32:07):
And so I've done one and sat.

Speaker 16 (32:09):
On the bean bag and I said, you, guys, my
biggest fear is that you're going to think that I've
changed as a person because I'm now the head coach.
So as an assistant coach.

Speaker 14 (32:19):
The kids come to you for everything.

Speaker 15 (32:21):
You know, they tell you things you probably don't want
to hear and you shouldn't know, but they're comfortable with you.
And I am a relational person. I am not transactional
at all, like I shriek at transactions, but I'm a
relational person. So I wanted to maintain the relationship with
my players and then let them know that I'm still

(32:41):
the person that they can talk to. But I said,
I do understand that now the decisions lie with me,
but I'm still going to be there for you, you know,
no matter what time. And so I'll get kids that
will FaceTime me, and I'm not a facetimer by any
stretch of imagination, but they'll FaceTime me and like.

Speaker 14 (32:58):
I'm like, hey, Rickan, I'm like, Okay, this is a
little weird. But I'm vulnerable with them.

Speaker 15 (33:04):
And that's something I learned from my when I was
at NC State is that I wasn't vulnerable. Then I
thought that you had to have this facade as a
head coach, and you know, there's a certain way to act.
And I used to think I was too immature to
be a head coach because I love to laugh and
I yeah, I loved and laugh and engage. And I
realized that I needed to be myself in order to

(33:26):
be the best version of me, which will then allow
people to continue to see me as the person they
saw me as before I got the head coaching job.
So that was my fear and I shared that with
that group that day, and you know, they and it
was a few that were like, oh, we do, we.

Speaker 14 (33:42):
Want to do this for.

Speaker 15 (33:42):
You, and I'm like, I'm just one person. I put
my pants on one leg at a time. Please don't
put me on a pedal. Still, that's too much pressure
for you, and quite honestly, I don't want the pressure
on me.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
No, I can. You said it perfectly because I've said
this historically that it's hard. It's hard to replace the
head coach with an assistant coach because it's like a
substitute teacher filling in for the main teacher. But I
think your approach is perfectly because one you are who
you are, right, and you haven't changed that? Yeah, So
and they know and you've told them that I'm not changing.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
I'm just in a different role.

Speaker 15 (34:17):
Correct, And I said, if anything changes is you towards me,
it will.

Speaker 14 (34:21):
Never be me towards you. And so I worked hard
at that.

Speaker 15 (34:24):
And you know, the piece that helped me out the
best was being able to get to write assistance around
me so that it allowed me to lie in my
strength and I didn't have to be someone or something
that I wasn't And I think that the players appreciate.

Speaker 14 (34:39):
That as well.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
Right, sometimes you have to be well all the coaches.
I've most of the coaches are good cop, bad cop, right,
so the assistants kind of the good top blah blah blah.
But if you're but if you're a good cop bad
cop all in one, then that helps too.

Speaker 15 (34:55):
Right, Yes, yes, And like I said, I'm always transparent.
Don't like surprises, so I worked.

Speaker 14 (35:02):
Hard to never surprise them.

Speaker 15 (35:04):
And I think that's something that they appreciate, that they
know that they can come to me and.

Speaker 14 (35:09):
Good or bad. If you want to know the answer, come.

Speaker 15 (35:11):
On, I'll tell you.

Speaker 14 (35:12):
And I don't hold back. And so it.

Speaker 15 (35:14):
Opens the door for them to be the same way.
And I even let them know if I don't know
the answer, I'll go find the answer and I'm not
gonna try to make it up. So don't do it
to me either.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Lastly, real quick, tell us explain to us the draftman
clean up one last time.

Speaker 15 (35:28):
Yes, So basically we will meet over there tomorrow morning
about seven forty five, and they're gonna give us some
gloves and some hats, and hopefully I had I may
take my own, But nonetheless.

Speaker 14 (35:38):
We're gonna walk around.

Speaker 15 (35:39):
The community and we're gonna pick up the trash and
clean up and get engaged and talk to one another.

Speaker 14 (35:45):
I'm gonna bring some music.

Speaker 15 (35:46):
Because I'm all about music, but it's people within the
athletic department, and I believe that there's a local charter
school that will be out there with us as well,
and so they'll be next to us, and I.

Speaker 14 (35:56):
Have to pick their brain and they'll get to pick
my brain.

Speaker 15 (35:59):
Say the most important as for about two hours.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
Most important question of the day. What are you listening
to right now? What's your what's your joy? Yeah? What
do you what do you put on?

Speaker 14 (36:08):
Listen? Anytime? I'm in my car because I.

Speaker 15 (36:10):
Think I can sing. I really can't sing, but it
is typically a song by Monica and I built it out.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
Listener.

Speaker 14 (36:21):
You know.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Yes, Blake's a music guy. That's why he asked you
the question. He loves this stuff. But thanks, coach. Thanks coach,
have fun tomorrow if you can have fun doing what
you're doing. How many people are out there?

Speaker 15 (36:34):
I know at least twenty, at least twenty. It could
be more, but I know it's at least twenty of them.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Okay, So if anybody's out there seeing you, guys, give
him a honk, get thumbs up.

Speaker 15 (36:42):
Yes, brother horn on, Please I'll be waving.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
Thanks a bunch, have a good summer, and we'll see
you in the fall.

Speaker 14 (36:48):
Okay, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
I appreciate it, right, coach, appreciate it. Those Arita Stubbs
from volleyball. Let's go back because I want to ask
you some questions about being the good copper back cop
because you probably had to do that transition wise. Well,
let's take the If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan,
you'd know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now,
take a look back at the Ludolsen Era In my
new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of
love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches

(37:11):
and friends to give insight to the coach and the
man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them.
Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's
beloved coach. Lessons from Lut is an insight to how
he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one
Email me at Steve dot RIVERA ninety five at gmail
dot com.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Where do you buy exercise equipment?

Speaker 11 (37:33):
Arizona Health Arizona Health Arizona Health.

Speaker 17 (37:36):
Of course, to feel better and look better, it makes
sense to buy your fitness equipment from the people who
know it better than anyone else. At Arizona Health, our
goal is to help you choose the equipment you need
to reach your goals. Your health and fitness deserve the
best you deserve.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Arizona Health the lead Madge and exercise equipment on twenty.

Speaker 17 (37:58):
Second just west of Wilmot.

Speaker 8 (38:00):
What's your goal a new career or career advancement? How
about transferring to a four year college. PEMA Community College
can help you make someday today and reach your goals
affordably on your schedule. With over one hundred programs to
choose from and financial laid available, it's time to earn
the degreer certificate you need to prepare for the career

(38:20):
you want. PEMA offers free career exploration classes so you
can choose the field that's right for you. Learn how
at Pima dot edu. Slash someday, Hey.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Tucson, Steve rivera heir, and I've got a tip for you.
Want to be in good hands while cruising the desert
or kicking back at home, then you need to call
my friends at the Edmond Markets All State Agency. These
guys are the MVPs of home and auto coverage. Whether
it's a fender bender or a leaky roof, They've got
you covered. Don't fumble your chance to save. Call them
today and score big on your insurance with the Edmond

(38:50):
Marcus All State Agency. You're always in good hands. Visit
them at twenty seven nineteen North Campbell or call them
at five two zero three two three nine three three three.
Where do you buy exercise equipment?

Speaker 11 (39:02):
Arizona Health Arizona Health Arizona Health of course to feel
better and look better.

Speaker 17 (39:09):
It makes sense to buy your fitness equipment from the
people who know it better than anyone else. At Arizona Health,
our goal is to help you choose the equipment you
need to reach your goals. Your health and fitness deserve
the best you deserve. Arizona Health the leading.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
Edge and exercise equipment.

Speaker 17 (39:27):
On twenty second, just west of Wilmot.

Speaker 18 (39:31):
Craving, Tucson's Best Burger, The Fourth Avenue Legend is back.
Lindy's on Fourth is celebrating twenty years, and Lindy himself
is back behind the grill. We've got new mouthwatering burgers
and great daily drink specials. Don't miss our upcoming twentieth anniversary,
Summer Bash and year end celebration. So come down to
Lindy's on Fourth or order online at l fourth dot com.

(39:54):
Lindy and Tucson's Best Burger are waiting.

Speaker 6 (40:01):
At Pyramid Federal Credit Union.

Speaker 19 (40:03):
We believe less is more. Let's peace means more money
in your pocket, Let's hassle means more time for what matters,
and less stress means more confidence.

Speaker 6 (40:13):
In your financial future.

Speaker 19 (40:15):
Pyramids Less is More philosophy is coming to your neighborhood.
With a new branch opening at the two sund Spectrum
Pyramid Federal Credit Union where less is more federally insured
by NCUA, an equal opportunity lender.

Speaker 7 (40:31):
This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Want to take part in the show call out? Steve
now went five two oh four one seventy four.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Bank to why about here? On Fox Sports fourteen fiftee.

Speaker 3 (40:45):
I'm Steve Rivera and will me today is Blake Biger
and we got ready with us running the controls here
if you want to call five two zero four one
six seven four four zero. So so I'm gonna ask
you what I asked her, and she kind of chuckled,
figuring that was a on the spot. Uh good cop,
bad cop? Were you one or the other? Depends on

(41:05):
the role. Oh we got a call hold that thought.
We got a call.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Hello you on the air and one of the ball.

Speaker 14 (41:10):
Who's this Steve?

Speaker 17 (41:12):
What's up is it?

Speaker 20 (41:15):
Hey? Blake? What's going on?

Speaker 6 (41:17):
Man?

Speaker 2 (41:17):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (41:17):
How are you doing? Man?

Speaker 20 (41:19):
I'm great. I just called to say hey, I just
love to call when you're on. I love your baseball
stories and and I had a real quick one. You're
talking about Steve Good Cop, Bad Cop, and Blake.

Speaker 14 (41:30):
Last week you.

Speaker 20 (41:31):
Had touched on kids that, uh that that aren't allowed
to fail. Yeah, I just want to tell you, did
you know John Young Blake I did intrumental in RBI Baseball?

Speaker 2 (41:42):
Yeah no, but I know, I know you were talking about.
I didn't know him personally, but yeah, oh.

Speaker 20 (41:46):
Well, my my daughter's played for his softball part of
RBI and uh, we were the only white guys on
the team, white girls on the team, and our coach
was Frank Price, and he was out of Crenshaw High
School and the guy was an f bomb and mother
and one of my daughters just hated him, hated him,
so she wanted to quit. We stuck with it, and

(42:11):
she actually worked her butt off because of the competition
on her own team.

Speaker 15 (42:16):
And she, like I said, she hated this guy.

Speaker 20 (42:20):
But they went away to Texas and she was going
to this horrible slump and she calls crime, Dad, you
got to come and then get tea work with me.
And I said, jes Me, going to Texas and doing
tea work ain't going to get you out of your slum, dude.
And so a couple of weeks later, fast forward, and
she breaks out with a vengeance. She goes something like
thirteen for fourteen and I said, so what happened? She goes,

(42:44):
You're not going to believe this, And I said, what's that?
She goes, Remember how much I hated Coach Bryce, And
I said, yeah, she goes, but he always told me,
e f and figure it out, figure it out on
your own. And she says, I drew back on that,
and that's how I got out of it.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
That's a good story.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
I was laughing because I've had I've had that playing
experience with those kind of coaches. Yeah uh, but I
mean one that we speak at total is like just
be better. You wanted to be better, be better.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
In sadly, the more the coaches get on you, the
more they're they're they're concerned about you because they see
some promising.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
I just say this, and Vic, you know this from
being in that world. When a coach stops talking to you,
and that's that's the problem, no question.

Speaker 20 (43:24):
So that's why I like calling when you're on Blake
And like I said, I know you're talking with coach
stuffs about that, and I honestly, just real quick, I
know there was a coach in Northern twos on the
loss his job today, and he's a pretty darn good
one and it was because of parent pressure and all that.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
And that's just ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
Yeah, the worst thing that happened to kids are the
parents and all that stuff, the pressure.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Vic.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
You know what I got from your conversation, for that
five minute conversation, that you're white. That you're white. That
means you know what, I'm white. Were given your last name.

Speaker 20 (43:56):
Okay, we're the only brown guy.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
We have to change the name of the show to
the Whos.

Speaker 20 (44:03):
There there you go, But you.

Speaker 15 (44:05):
Guys got a great show.

Speaker 20 (44:06):
And I tell you, Steve, when this guy's on, I
love because I have baseball in my life every day,
whether it's softball or going somewhere. It's uh I, I
just can't get that. And you know what, that little
yellow ball has kept me and my daughters together. And
they're thirty now, and and I call him and our
conversation begins with softball. So some form.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
Well, let me tell you, he's no Andy Lopes, but
he's a good three.

Speaker 15 (44:31):
He's a little bit behind, but you're right.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
And actually I love the.

Speaker 20 (44:36):
When Andy's son in law was on the other day.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
That was odd Dallas. Yeah, yeah, thanks, yeah, thanks Vic.

Speaker 20 (44:43):
Okay you guys take care.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
Thanks Vic Wost I tell you that was a good call.
Well to hold that thought. Uh the good cop bad cup? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (44:51):
Is that where we're okay? Were you one?

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (44:53):
Go ahead? So were you won both? Can you do both?
I think you started where you start losing facete to players. Right,
you don't want to be you want to be yourself. So,
like coach Stubbs said, you have to be vulnerable, set
an example.

Speaker 6 (45:06):
You're there.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
You care for the kids. You care for, whether it's
not a stop right, you want to see them for
the rest of their life, a successful and you can
be an a hole when that time comes, and it's
deserved to be an a hole, and you have to
be honest. But I think playing a role just it's
a it's a facade.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
It's a fake facade.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
And kids are too smart, young men, young women are
too smart or smart and they're gonna say no exactly.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
It's like parents are getting divorced. The kids know exactly
what's going on. You can go close the doors and
start yelling at each other and they can't hear you. Right, No,
of course, but I think you're right about coach Stubbs
saying that you have to be who you are, you can't.
I don't know if I could do that in a sense.
Is I could be a jerk? I could be. I'm
sure you ask a couple of people. But I'm too
nice of a guy to be that jerk. You know

(45:51):
what I'm saying. I'd be saying, come on, just kind
of do the job, guys, just to that I wouldn't
be able to rent and rave. Does that make sense?
I think there's times and places, Oh yeah, go right.
One of the things I say, you got to know
when to hug him and no one to kick him
in the butt. But there's also that, God do I
hate to kick you in the buck?

Speaker 2 (46:06):
I mean, this is Andy Andy's Lopez is famous for this. Right,
you're talking like two hour player meetings after games, right
lights are off, He's still in the outfield. It's a
little bit different because he is maybe the greatest, one
of the greatest public speakers around. But I had assistant
coaches or coaches around me that would do that. Like

(46:27):
if I was if I was at a tournament and
we had four or five teams playing and I'd stick
around and you listen to coaches, and at some point
I would just say, listen, you're having a thirty minute
discussion post game every single time. You have a detention
span of maybe thirty seconds with those players, right, So
at some point none of this is getting through them,
and it's not the time and place like hit on

(46:49):
it and you can say, listen, you have to up.
Let's move on. We're going to have a longer discussion
tomorrow or whatever next practice is. That's the last place
they know we know as players. Sure, I know when
I sucked. Hitting in the car with my dad at
times was not the greatest thing, and I needed an
ass kicking, right and I needed I need that conversation.
But I mean, there's a time and place, so let

(47:09):
me go to that point.

Speaker 3 (47:10):
Just because you made you made the point here us
players know exactly who's the best player on the team,
or you can depend on who's going to come through
with a hit when you need one. I'm not sure
about being a captain or non captain blah blah blah,
because you know, without naming names, who's gonna come through
for you at whatever time, whether he's a captain or
not captain.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
You know what I'm saying. Yeah, and I've we've I've
coached teams that we've had one captain, we've had two captains,
we've had no captains, we've had three captains. You have
to know we talked about with you a basketball the
time and place or the level of where you're at. Yeah,
and level where you're at, and who is actually going
and it might not be your most likely one of
them is not going to be your best player. When

(47:50):
when people just start appointing the best players on the
team captains, that's not good. That's not always going to work.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
Right.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
You want the guy that's going to show up first
and leave last, like people will follow that guy. And
then you want your first, second, or third best player
to be the other co captain because they're like, okay,
now this goes in hand.

Speaker 15 (48:04):
Well.

Speaker 3 (48:04):
So some of the best coaches were the guys who
didn't play. They have sat on the bench and they observed,
they observed, you know, what to do in time in circumstance.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
I had a coach in double A Brewer was my
pitching coach, and he was I don't want to say
it because I was so close with two other coaches,
pitching coaches, but just from a like like he was
no nonsense, like he was like, I'm not talking about
anything else. You want to talk about pitching when you
talk to and he's like, this is how you're gonna
attack hitters, That's how you're gonna set up. And it
blew me away in a good way, a great way.

(48:33):
And he never played I mean he played college baseball.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
He was analytical, but he had to work so much
harder because he didn't have namesake, no, no, I hear you
so and it goes you want a guy that knows
has been there, done that right and you can speak
to it, but you also want a guy that's going
to grind with you.

Speaker 14 (48:49):
Guys.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
Well, it's also a reason why like Michael Jordan them
could coach, because you're thinking player in the world, there's
nobody that has his ability. Like you're gonna say, you're
gonna say, how can you not do this? I did
it all the time.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
Well it's different where uh I was just watching a
video and I ray, you might know this. There's a
it was like Kwame Brown, but it wasn't Kwame Brown
with somebody that was like I can I should play.
I should be playing more. I can beat anybody. I
could beat Michael Jordan one on one. And he heard it,
and and Michael Jordan's showed up to the gym like
two days later and they played one on one and

(49:22):
Jordan like he was like eleven to one.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:26):
So to your point, as a coach, like, there's just
there's no there's no comparable player to you or skill level.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
And there have been those players who are good players,
great players who have been able to coach, but they
have that special.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
How many how many Hall of Fame coaches are Hall
of Fame players? Yeah, I don't have to go in
any sport, right, I mean I think Bird was a
pretty good coach with Indiana when he first got there,
but he didn't. But you're not not a Hall of
Fame coach by any means, right, Yeah?

Speaker 3 (49:55):
No, No, I don't think he's a Hall of Fame coach.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
I mean I say, say Thomas was somewhat of a
dumpster fire.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
Yeah no, And he was kind of like a wishy,
washy type of person too, you know, you know Paul
Westfall the Sons.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Yeah, pretty good coach. It didn't last long.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
But like we were talking before you have like a
ten game swing and you're done. Malone, who just was
player of the Year, player coach of the year two
years ago, he's gone.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
You see what he's getting paid?

Speaker 3 (50:20):
Though, Okay, here's my question, Like these coaches that just
get fired, right, just that just got fired, right, they
still have to pay out their remaining contract. Yeah, so
I think it was Malone is still owed, Like is
he fifty one million dollars? Well, to your point, I
think did you say with the Phoenix Suns guys seventy
five million? That was an exaggeration?

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Was it was forty nine million dollars for the Sons
because it was pasted it was his past contract and
this contract from a line from Malone.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
Yeahh so you were you were being a little exaggerate.
But but they had three coaches, Williams, Vogel and now
this guy, yeah, in three or four years.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Yeah, and that they're still all paying.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
You're paying more for those coaches, right than you are
for players that you're currently on your roster. Like, don't
how much money there is and at the next level, sure, maybe,
I don't know. Is that a good way to spend money?
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
I'd Like for me, we talked about this from an
NBA standpoint, it doesn't make sense to me because you
can't build a culture and what is the culture? Is
it driven by a coach? Now? Is there really is
there really coach in the NBA outside of I mean,
I can think about maybe Golden State, maybe San Antonio,
and maybe I'm wrong on a couple other ones, maybe Boston,

(51:28):
But I think that's more front office that you're They're
led by that front office, right, Yeah. I like the
way okay, okay, see plays.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
I like the way that.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Look hot Miami.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
Yeah, Houston, Miami. Houston.

Speaker 2 (51:41):
Miami is a good one too. Yeah, in Houston.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
The guy who played at Boston, right, he just had
some personal issues that you could but all of a
sudden he's got Houston. Yeah, but he's a great coach.
You could tell that. That doesn't happen by accident. You
just don't stumble into a good situation.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
But then you look at the other side of it,
like and then people are you're getting fired mid season.
I just that's to me, that's just too much turnover,
right right, or even like right before the playoffs. But
here's my question. Okay, so let's say, you guys are seconds.
Both you guys are headquartered or head coaches. Right, you
get next five years, you're guaranteed forty nine million dollars.

(52:18):
Are you looking for another job? Are you like that's it?
I'm done, Like I'm retiring, dude, I'm done. I'm John
r Gi me on TV and I'll be I'll figure
something out. Yeah, I don't even want to be on TV.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
I want I told Josh Josh Pastor, who's pretty good
at being on TV. Very why would you deal with
other crap? I think it's just it's a routine, right,
You're so used to call the ego, and it's it's
what you do.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
So we gotta go. You ruined it.

Speaker 3 (52:44):
You ruined it. I'm sorry.