Seen and heard: Brian Jeffries escapes foggy Pullman for lights of Vegas

Out of the fog

Arizona radio play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries missed the Wildcats’ basketball game on Friday against Wichita State because it was a direct conflict with the UA football game at Washington State — but he almost missed that one, too.

That is, the fog that enveloped the Martin Stadium press box on Friday meant Jeffries had to watch much of the game just like everyone in Tucson — off a screen.

“Most of the second half, we couldn’t see the field,” Jeffries said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jeffries said he became used to calling the game off a monitor after halftime and was OK with the slight delay from the action on the field — until analyst Lamont Lovett managed to peek through the fog and notice that Michael Wiley was breaking free for a 27-yard touchdown.

“He didn’t say it loudly but he said `It looks like Wiley scored,’ “ Jeffries said. “But I was still trying to call what was on the monitor. I didn’t see it yet.”

After the game, things didn’t get much better. Instead of the Wildcats being able to fly out of Pullman’s recently extended airfield, the fog also prevented their charter flight from even landing there to pick them up. Instead the Wildcats had to bus 45 minutes to Lewiston, Idaho, and didn’t arrive home until 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

After getting a few hours sleep and a morning at home, Jeffries then caught a Southwest Airlines flight from Tucson to Las Vegas. At least the weather was clear for that one.

Bottoms up

While McKale Center has been selling beer and wine since 2018-19, fans are awash with alcoholic options at T-Mobile Arena.

On the main concourse between the upper and lower sections, there are no fewer than 17 separate stations for alcoholic drinks in addition to the standard concessions that often also offer beer or wine.

The dedicated alcohol stands are either named for a sponsor such as Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, Elysian Brewing, Foley Family Wines — or given generic names such as “Cocktails” (two stands), “Bar” (four stands), or the one location known as “Drink Up.” There are also new fewer than four stands called “Lit Up.”

Those interested could start with a 25-ounce can of domestic beer for $16 or trade up to cocktails priced between $20 (for a craft margarita) and $26 (for a “Double Luxury Cocktail”).

Radio swaps

While Jeffries was off in Pullman on Friday, he was replaced by Westwood One broadcaster Ryan Radke, who spent a decade earlier in his career working UA pre- and post-game shows.

Radtke is also scheduled to work play-by-play for UA’s game against Sacramento State on Nov. 27 at McKale Center, because the Wildcat football team will be playing at ASU earlier in the afternoon. He said the two games fit his schedule perfectly, since he just had to make the short hop to Los Angeles to cover a Sunday NFL game between Chargers and Steelers for Westwood One.

Radtke will be making the trip to Tucson for the Sac State game via Detroit, where he is scheduled to work the Lions’ traditional Thanksgiving Day game.

First timers

While nearly every elite American high school player stops in Las Vegas at some point to play in club-ball events, the Wildcats have several international players who were making their first trip to the city.

As a result, their Instagram stories were full of video from their brief free time on Thursday night. Estonian Kerr Kriisa even reposted a video Pelle Larsson took of him playfully shrugging his shoulders in front of the Bellagio fountains while Adama Bal of France simply posted video of the nighttime Strip action.

However, their activity was considerably more limited over the weekend. Both Larsson and Kriisa were banged up in UA’s win over Wichita State on Friday and given repeated treatments on Saturday and Sunday.

Ryno, Geary will split road duties

Veteran UA analyst Ryan Hansen made the trip to Las Vegas, saying he’ll split up road duties this season with former Wildcat Reggie Geary.

Hansen said Geary will make all four of UA’s two-game Pac-12 road trips, plus upcoming trips to Oregon State and Illinois, which has been designated as the annual “donor” trip in which some are invited to take a charter flight with the team to a game.

Hansen said he would make the trip to UA’s Dec. 21 game at Tennessee, along with the UA’s game at ASU and all home games.

As the COO of Bon Voyage Travel, Hansen said the pairing works out well because his job makes it difficult to spare the time needed for two-game Pac-12 road trips while Geary’s job involves staying in contact with UA donors, many of whom travel to Wildcat road games.

It also helps that Hansen and Geary know each other pretty well: Hansen joined Lute Olson’s program as a manager during Geary’s sophomore season with the Wildcats in 1993-94.

“We got back a long way,” Hansen said.

Aloha spirit

Just as the Wildcats moved out of Las Vegas after Sunday’s game, the Maui Invitational moved in.

Thanks to continued COVID-19 concerns, the Maui Invitational will be held down the street at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena. It’s the second straight year the prestigious multi-team event has moved off Maui, having been playing in the decidedly non-tropical environment of Asheville, North Carolina last year.

This year, at least, it is being played in what has long been an especially popular vacation spot for Hawaiians.

A Maui Invitational release spun it this way: “Las Vegas is full of Hawaiian food, culture and community and has been a mainland home to Hawaiians for decades, hence earning its name as the ‘Ninth Island’.

As it turns out, though, the Maui Invitational will go head-to-head for local attention, since the “Good Sam Empire Classic” is moving into T-Mobile Arena for games involving UCLA, Gonzaga, Bellarmine and Central Michigan on Monday and Tuesday. UCLA and Gonzaga are scheduled to meet in the marquee matchup Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Martelli finally faces Wildcats

Now an associate head coach at Michigan, former St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli never did face Arizona again after Lute Olson infamously called off a 1995-96 game in Philadelphia because of bad weather that never materialized.

In fact, they never even talked. After Olson passed away in August 2020, the Philadelphia Inquire phoned Martelli to ask if he ever ran into him since that season.

“A number of times,’’ Martelli said. “Not only at the Final Four. Sometimes more intimate than that. Nike would take their coaches on a quote, unquote retreat. You went to a lot of places. Lute was there and I was there.”

“Never was a word exchanged. Never once.”

The big number

13.9 — Seconds for an average Arizona possession entering Sunday’s game, the third-fastest nationally.

Quotable

“We have lunch together, we have dinner together, we ride the bus together. This is the time where a team becomes that brotherhood, that family that we’ve talked about, with our culture and we have the chance to know and be forced to communicate and talk to one another. So I love a tournament like this at this time of the year. Because I think this is what growth starts.”

— Michigan coach Juwan Howard