Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Jay McNeil (FULL INTERVIEW)

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Jay McNeil joins Pinder and Rhett to talk all things Calgary Stampeders, the Grey Cup and the future of football in Calgary! With the Stamps desperately needing a win, the boys break down the team's situation and what's at stake as the season rolls on. Plus, Calgary is preparing to host the Grey Cup, but can the city actually SELL OUT the big game?! Jay weighs in on the challenges of filling the stands, the excitement surrounding the event and the growing concerns about McMahon Stadium. Has the historic stadium finally reached the end of its life, and what needs to happen next for football in Calgary? Plenty of CFL talk, laughs and classic Barn Burner banter with Jay McNeil! Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/mPRuFdbZ1CA#nhl #nhlshorts #nhlplayoffs #nhlpredictions #nhlhockey #nhlpicks #stanleycup #stanleycupfinal #calgaryflames Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All right, we're back. We have a special guest in studio. We go, our guest hotline is brought you by Crystal Waters. Right now you can bundle and save big. It's early bird pricing on furnaces, right time of the year for that. And also, you know, the end of the season? You're a good deal on an AC. One visit, get them both done.

They can set you up with new heating and cooling systems. They are the best in Calgary. Also, whether it's air filtration, water filtration, they're like the nerve center for your house. Check them out. Online crystal clear, Calgary.com. or call them at 58731715. Our guest today is the president of the stampeters of a huge game on Saturday.

And a gorgeous hoodie. I really like that bad, eh? Not bad. Jay McNeil, ladies and gentlemen, admittedly as I was walking in here, I'm like, I'm coming empty-handed. That was a Ricky mistake on my brain. So we'll have to fix that one.

We've been set before. You visit us enough. You've got half a closet. It's awesome. Plus, if I took that home, it's just getting stolen. Yeah, his galutes are that big. It's just like very much.

Oh, can I borrow that? No. Well, I just did. It's in a hockey bag for a year. She's doing his warm up in it. The blazer and the hoodie survive. Like this is. Not bad.

Not everyone can pull it off. Not everyone can do it. I appreciate you recognizing that. Thank you. I've tried it and I enjoy it, but it takes some cahones. My wife still questions me on it, but I get up and leave before she can comment. Wow, that sounds familiar. Lots to talk about, but one game left.

It's at home and the stakes are huge. And I saw the stamp social media today. Calgary, we need you. Let's go. All the marbles. Weather looks like it's going to be really big to this time of year. Let's go. First off,

the weather gods have not been kind to us. No, it's been tough of it. To finally, you know, middle of October to have a beautiful, beautiful day. Like, it doesn't get any better. Five o'clock kickoff. But this game is huge. It is, you know, unfortunately,

we missed the opportunity to close it out. In Winnipeg last week Winnipeg last week So this is a must win game for us Against the team that's You know they're battling for first place as well So it's not going to be an easy game And we always have a tough

You know It's a good back and forth with BC It's going to be a great game It will be a great game They have I thought it was trouble When you had the Labor Day Where you had the big league

He's like oh shoot This is slipping away And then you go up to Edmonton the following week Which is the old Labor Day back and forth And I'm like shoot like this hole might be too deep. And they've been on a heater. René kicks the 62-yarder.

You then go to Ottawa win again. Now you get a win over the riders on the road. Like aside from last weekend, like it's been quite a turnaround this group's put together. Yeah. You know, you're right after that, you know, the Labor Day back-to-back.

That was a pretty low point for us. Humble it as an organization. Humbling is right. You know, first to let the Monday game slip away the way we did. And then to go up and just lay an egg and inventory was pretty disappointing. the one thing I'll say about this team,

our players and our coaches, they have been fighting all year long. And then we went on that three-game win streak, you know, went into a hostile territory in Saskatchewan, and, you know, we controlled that game. You know, then last weekend, Winnipeg, disappointed.

Winnipeg played very well. Zach Kilaros came out. You know, he was, you know, who he is as a quarterback. And, you know, we had an opportunity, you know, to keep it close and eventually we didn't make it. So, you know, going back to that fight, you know, it's, I think we're learning how to make big plays and big situations.

Yeah. And this game, this is, this is it. There's been lots of tight games. I was there. So many west shores. Were you really? When you guys were in Regina. The folks are around Sask, not happy with how things went.

No. No, I've heard it a little bit from this as that as well. It's the pink power game. Tell us what that means and what you're doing because you've done a great job of branding these home games. You know, you've got the stamp people and got family games. And there's some themes, but this one's about giving back. Yeah, this one definitely is about giving back. And Pink Power, presented by Mayfair Diagnostics, you know, we're going to be raising money for women's cancers.

And, you know, through the sale of merchandise, we're going to have tukes and gloves and these hoodies that you can buy. And then a portion that's going to go back to women's cancers. So awesome celebration of women. And then we have our junior outriders that goes hand in hand with this game. and we're going to have 300 young ladies performing with our outwriters at halftime. Oh wow, so the big show at halftime. The big show at halftime.

That'll be good. I looked at the injury report yesterday. You're not the coach. I get it. But there's a lot of guys not practicing right now. I'd like to practice. It's also yesterday. It was Wednesday and the game's not until Saturday.

And I never really know what threw it into. Is it rest? Is this guy done? Do you feel like we got the right before? I just saw Alfred on there. I'm like, no, you said that huge game in Saskatchewan. Yeah. Yeah.

He, I think he still is still up in the air. Today we'll make the decision on whether or not he can go and play. Yeah, we have more injuries than we would like this part of the game too. And we're getting a few guys back off the injured list like Derek Moncrief and Dante Demery and a Joe and Joe. So happy about that. And, you know, we're going to put the best team we've got available. And it's, we've said it. Winning here.

Maybe a little dog fight. Well, actually, it's not. Here's the crazy thing about the way this is. Yeah. We could win. Yeah. And not make the playoffs. And we could lose and still make the playoffs the way they see.

That is so wild. It is so wild. So I look at the schedule. Yes, right there. Yeah. Winnipeg has got Edmonton and BC. So that's the top team in the West. And BC who you see, they're still fighting for the first place. So Saskatchewans got Montreal and Ebbiton, the two division leaders.

And then you've just got BC and then the buy in the final week. If you could get in, coming off a buy in a playoffs, it would be just awesome. Get rested up. But then again, it's like, oh, they're playing the top teams in the division. They'll be tough. like, well, are they resting? Yeah, I don't like, it's just good luck figuring this one out. But I, you know, Jason Moss in Montreal, he was quoted last week and said, hey,

we've been here before. We've rested players. And it hasn't got well. So we're not going to do that again. That's good. So, yeah, I was. And they. Send a bottle of wine.

They didn't do it. And football that that's not a. No. No. And they get a buy week in the first round of playoffs anyway. That's right. You finish your first place. So there's built.

There's built in rest there. Right. And you know, like, as you mentioned, though, like, you know, When we first saw the schedule, we saw that we had a buy week in the last week of the season. We weren't thrilled about that. Now we're actually kind of happy. We get in the playoffs. We got a week to rest up, a week to prepare.

Guys, you want to get back. We'll know who we're playing and we can spend two weeks, you know, game playing. Yeah. That's good. Awesome. Okay. So it's Great Cup. It's year of the horse.

Calgary's hosting. What does that mean for the president of the stance in terms of your regular workload? And then, oh, by the way, we're hosting like this week-long festival where the whole country invades. Right now it's like at the perfect storm. We're trying to win a championship. We're trying to host a championship and we're planning for 2027. So it is, there are long days. And not that I'm counting down, but we have 31 days until November 15th.

Right. But it's, it is exciting. As hard as it is, and I know our Grey Cup team is, you know, they're putting in long hours. And, you know, we're going to debut our temporary sweets for Grey Cup in this game on Saturday. fans are going to get a chance to see those. And so it's all starting to come together. It seems right now for Grey Cup, the only things that come up are challenges. And so we're, you know, we're dealing with challenges every day.

But I'm super excited about what the team's got planning, where we're going. And it's going to be a great week. The Olympics are always a pain. And it sounds like a pain of the butt. And then after the Olympics, everyone's up, that was great. Yeah. So. Yeah.

One city of the opening ceremonies, no one is like, no, it's all, we're ready. We're good. So this is the, it's crunch time, but it'll get done. Your half-time show is wonderful. Actually, you know, the pregame and the halftime show, like, you know, when you look at Sarah McLaugh and sing on the national anthem, Jim's Barker band, you know, going to be joined by Jim Cuddy and Greg and Greg Kuehler from Blue Rodeo. And then Riley Greed, like, you know, talking about somebody on a rocket ship right now. Yeah.

This is, we are so incredibly lucky to have him play at halftime. And we're excited about that. That's good. Jackie, you pumped for that halftime show or what? It sounds like up your out. Hell yeah. That's not. Good, Jeff Jackson, so that's a good sign.

Okay, Grey Cup, I know there's always the festival. Stampede grounds, our pals of Atko, they're going to have a little warming area, lots of hot stoves. I wanted to go to a memory and lane with you. Like, what does a Grey Cup mean to you? And on the other side of it, it's a lot of work, but what kind of environment are you trying to create for fans and the players, given that it's such a huge event in this country? Canada's largest single-day sporting event. So what we're trying to create this year is so have, you know, all of the traditional events,

you know, Great Cup events that people have come to know and love. And when you think about, you know, cheer extravagance, team parties, the Legends luncheon on Friday, Spirit of Edmonton breakfast. Was the Legends luncheon where the old guys were whacking shows? That's where it started. Yes. Yeah, exactly. I want tickets for that.

Let's go. But then we also want to introduce, you know, new fans to the CFL. So we're trying to bring in some new events. We've got a Girls in Support Summit, the first ever on Saturday morning. We're going to have concerts Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday night. Yeah, so we've got the Trues on Wednesday. Cool. And then Ellen Doyle and the strumbell is on Thursday.

And we're hoping we're going to announce Saturday tomorrow. And we're just, we're finalizing that one. So I'm excited about that as well. And then, you know, it's Calgary. We need to have a rodeo. It's all right on. So we've got two rodeos, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. So more on that.

That's the Nutrient Event Center. Oh, sure. Yeah. It's going to be in the Rohing Stadium for the Saturday. And we're going to have like, you know, traditional bull riding and all that. But we're going to have a couple of different events that are going to be pretty cool to watch too. So as you're coming out from like Eastern Canada or BC or maybe you're, you know, Atlantic Canada. Like there's a group of people to travel on and pretend they cheer for the Atlantic schooners.

this dreamed on team that's never existed. We're undefated. But like people literally will go to every great cup, no matter where it is, wearing their team's gear in it or not, they're going to get to come down to St. Pete Grounds and see a rodeo concerts and go to the big game and see the traveling Kevin Glens.

Like it really is a festival. It is a festival. And, you know, as a player, you don't get exposed to that much at all. Right. Unless you go there, you know, without,

when you're not a competing team. But then, you know, since my experience in having to, you know, enjoy the festival, It gets pretty awesome. As you described it, people from across the country, different jerseys, putting the rivalries aside, you know, to have fun. It's like a homecoming.

And it's pretty cool to see Canada respond to something like that. How many great cups you've been there? One. Where was it? Here. Is it Montreal? It was too many men. Oh, no.

The case of beer one. One too many. I thought I won the 50-50 in that, too. Really? Come on. Like me and my brother You got to run. We hold out on your train.

Let's go. Hurry, 50. Take it to zero one doesn't count. Oh, well, the zero one counts. We were exactly 100,000 off.

Oh, it's so close, right. I can see why here. Oh, totally. Well, I saw an article in the paper

or an interview or something you did and you're like, we got to sell this thing out. Yep. So where are we at? What do we need to get done? Let's sell out Saturday too.

Let's sell out Saturday too. We need, we need, ready to get behind. It's a big game. Two big games. Two big games. So Saturday, yes. But what are you looking at what's left? What's been the stuff everyone wants a piece of what challenges remain?

I mean, we've got tickets available for all of the festival events. And so there will be lots of opportunity to fans to come for that. And then as far as the game goes, you know, we've got another 9,000 left to sell. When you look at years past, you know, we're right in line with that. Okay. You know, anything less than a sellout, it's going to be a disappointment, right?

This is Calgary. We don't have the teams. So the teams that get there, those fans are going to be like, let's go quick. We got a week to get less than that for the festival. Let's go. There's going to be a lot of that. But, you know,

I've been to Gary Cup a couple times in this city when Calgary sourn. And Stamps run it and other time. It's like, you still, it's here. Like you got to go. Got to go. It's an experience. Like you'll once every 10 years, you get to experience that.

Yeah, fair enough. Yeah. I saw news from the dinos. They're doing a lot of pub on it on their new football facility. I don't know that that'll include you given the scale of it. It's not going to be big. It's going to be a varsity stadium. You've got a great cup.

You're trying to get in right now this year. But long term, is that something you visit in the offseason? Say, okay, what's our long-term planar? Because if the dino's are moving away from McMahon, it's probably not an indefinite lifetime. Fair to say? I think that's very fair. You know, when I first started four years ago,

I would talk about McMahon Stadium being at the end of its life, or approaching the end of its life. The reality is it's at its end of life. Yeah. You know, there's a significant investment that needs to happen over the next five to six years just to keep it where it's at. Right. Not to make any improvements, but just to keep it where it's added. You know, so you throw it bad money after good there.

And so it doesn't make any sense. It's, you know, the good news is, you know, four years ago, nobody was talking about a new stadium. Right. I think with the dino's making their announcement, that's actually spurred on and act as a catalyst to conversation. So now you have all the right stakeholder. Still talk. But, you know, I was, I was with the mayor this morning and he talked about a new stadium. You've got the, the guy knows talking about a new, what to do with McMahon Stadium and how do we help with a new stadium.

The province is talking about it. Everybody's aware of the challenges with, you know, the stampede announced they're doing a feasibility study and how do they turn GMC into a football stadium or GMC stadium into a football stadium? So a lot of talk, a lot of momentum starting to build. we've got a long way to go. Yeah, and clearly from Burtar stuff, Great Cup. Let's go get in this weekend. Finally, I just saw a note in the last hour, George Hopkins is going to hang him up.

Yes. He announced a thank you to Calgary, the longtime equipment guy for the Stampeders, who is a legend. I believe he's the guy behind the Black Betty Day during training. He is, absolutely. Like, what do you remember about meeting George?

And, like, talk about this guy's legacy because, like, he's been around through all of my St. St. Peter's memories. He was there working for him. And I'm not young we found out today. Well, no, you and me both. And, you know, I remember my very first day walking into that locker room, you know, and you head to the equipment room, and there was a sign above it that said,

Rookie should be seen and not heard. And then you meet George. And, you know, and he's this little guy, but with a big personality. And he just takes care of, you know, what I love about him is the relationships that he builds with the players. Yes. And it's, you know, he's, there's a reason he's been. there for been here with so long,

uh, and it's had such an impact on our organization. So it's going to be tough to see him go, but it's, it's also exciting for him as well too. People underestimate the importance. Absolutely. You have to be on the team to get it.

And I didn't get it until I was doing play by play for hockey. Like, oh my God, the hours. It just doesn't end. And it's like, yeah, we might get to bed by two or three and then we're back at the rink at six. We hung out with the year. Now we're doing laundry.

Like it just doesn't end for these guys. No, it doesn't end. Right. And they sacrifice their family. and their personal lives to, you know, to be, to take care of the team. And, you know, he truly was like a big brother. You know, my entire career in summer, I still look up to figuratively. And not so that you can make fun about his height.

Right. No, but he likes, you know, and I mean that sincerely. Like, he's still somebody I think I have so much respect for. And he just adds so much, I don't want him to save value. He just adds so much as a person to, as a human being to her. organization and we're going to it's going to be sad to see them go their personalities are like i'm saying it repeat again but their personalities in the room are so integral to success they can those guys could ruin it or make it you always talk with the guy pizza in buffalo

no pizza yeah pizza was the medical trainer georgie babcock and rip simonick were there forever just like george when you get good guys you keep them and and they they become some of the best friends you have. Like, I'm still in contact with Georgia. When I go to Buffalo, I text Georgie. Yeah. Like the traders, and I go to Florida, I text tank. What's going on? Those guys are integral to the team and how it performs. Yeah. Amazing. Stanpeters.com, obviously for more on this weekend's game, the Pink Power game,

raising funds, getting behind the team trying to get in in their last game of the year. And for Grey Cup information, same or different spot. Graycupfestible.ca.ca.cule.ca.c.j. Jay, thanks for coming in. We appreciate it. Thank you, guys. a four four game winning streak away from glory here let's do this i actually was talking to some of our players this morning 2001 we were uh seven and ten going into our last game no way playing winnipeg who was 15 and two we had to win that game to get into playoffs and then we won the great cup so like truly anything can happen in this league and we just we just need an opportunity you also had a sorry well

before i was saying goodbye but the president's award i believe yes president's ring president's ring so thank you tell us about that and the recipient's yeah so the president's ring goes to the player who exemplifies on and off the field. And a whole bunch of things that go into that, leadership character, commitment to their teammates, commitment to the community. It really,

like, you know, embodies, you know, what it means to be a Calgary standpeter. And I think this year's recipient could not, you know, exemplify that anymore.

And it was Vernon Adams Jr. And they'll see the look on his face when we announced that. It was pretty special. Yeah. Having a heck of the second half of the season, too. And the offense, like,

you're, like, you're about 600 points is of crazy. It's crazy. Geez. Now, Unfortunately, we're not that far behind points given up, too. So we've got to fix that one.

Never boring. It's high event football. Good luck this weekend. We can't wait for a great cup week as well. And you're the horse. Let's keep her going. Thanks for coming in, Jay. Thank you very much.

And for all your support all year long, thank you. Hey, right on. It's been a fun season. And you guys have done a hell of a job. That's damn people. Let's have it. Let's continue. Let's keep her roll.

Let's keep her roll. Let's keep her roll.