Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Stamps Talk With John Bender & Jay McNeil | FN Barn Burner - May 25th, 2023

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

FlamesNation Barn Burner Live from the Tower Chrysler Studios in Marda Loop! - John Bender Co-Hosts With Pinder In Studio- Jay McNeil Joins The Show In Studio- Panthers vs Canes Game 4 Recap- The Pinder Report Presented By Village Honda- Betway Bets Of The Day Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is a Thursday special edition of Barnburner guest host, John Bender, Johnny, what's happening? I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? Very good. We got a special guest. We're going to unveil not just a guest host as well. Welcome to the Tower Studios. Tower Chrysler voted Calgary's favorite Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, dealer, 10901, McLeod Trail South and Towercriser.com. You have a Tower Chrysler anecdote. You have met Serge, the man the legend. You're correct. Yeah, I went in, got a new Dodge Durango a few months ago. And it's been great. I really like it. And I really like Surge and his team. They did a great job. Free plug, surge. That's just big join. Un solicited. Well, kind of solicited. And you can just hop into any car and drive, right? You don't need any sort of extra room anywhere in the car? That's not true. There's about seven vehicles in the world I fit in, so I had to find one. It was good.

One of them's a tank that the U.S. Army uses. There's only six that are allowed on roads in Canada, something like that. That's about right. How you been? We've had you in studio a bunch at the old shop. I haven't had you. I think you've swung by the studio, but haven't been on. Is that fair? Yeah, this helmet behind me here, I dropped off at one point.

So you're just back to get the helmet today. Some Vlad and Dad stuff over there and, you know, a few things. I dropped off to help you guys with your setup here and everything looks great. We can't really zoom, but it's Vladie and Daddy and Daddy here. Senior and Junior at the Bobblehead. Vlad Senior was never a blue chase, but he's actually wearing the Expososos gear with the pinstrives. Amazing bobblehead.

You may or may not get that back. That's fine. Depends how nice you are today. Or maybe you just threaten me and you get it back right now. It's up to you. Johnny and I obviously have known each other for a long time since I moved back to Calgary about a decade ago.

I think Andrew Walker had you on our old show a fair amount. And then we became pals. We played slow pitch together and golf together. Have you been out to St. Eugene? I've not. Cranbrook area. They're a partner ours. I just want to remind you, St. Eugene Golf Resort and Casino, Championship Golf, Casino,

spa, restaurants, mountains surrounding you in all directions. And we were looking at the forecast just like mid-20s and sunny this weekend, no sweat. That sounds great. Get out there to the tranquil St. Eugene Golf Resort and casino. St. Eugene.orgia for more information on that. You see the phone number on the screen. 866-292-2020. Okay, we've made our guests way too long already.

Let's get to it. a six-time All-Star. His career spanned from 1994 to 2007, a Great Cup champion in 1998 and in 2001, number 50. Moving over to the front office side from an oil and gas career, Jay McNeil, Jay, thank you. Thank you guys.

I'm excited to be here. This is kind of fun. This is a new gig for you, I guess, first off. You were hired, it looks like September 22nd. That was like two weeks before we started this project, this show here. Right. Rets and Bob.

Buffalo, boomers kids graduating, so they say hi. But we've kind of thought, man, like it's only been seven months and it feels like less, but it also feels like a decade. How has it felt for you since, what, late September coming in as VP of business ops? Yeah, it's been, you know, the first few weeks we were up still in the season. So, and that was, I was just along for the ride, right? Everything was happening and it was all planned. And I was just kind of watching and learning and observing.

Sure. And then getting into the off season, I can't believe we're already here. year the season started and it's it's been you know as we talked about before the show drinking from a fire hose there you go you think you know but you don't until you actually get here so uh season opener not just home opener it's a CFL season opener yeah lion stampeters on a Thursday should be great two weeks from today two weeks from today like that's coming up isn't that crazy that's uh that's wild so I guess how does a guy go from playing career to oil and gas back to the stamps give us the evolution, because I feel like you've got some business savvy that you might not have had when you took the helmet off.

I would say that's probably true. So I was working while I was playing my last, probably six years, in oil and gas. So it was an easy transition once I retired, showed up at work the next day, and off I went. And unfortunately, I just started in sales and then just grew from there. And my last job, I was the chief operating officer of an oil and gas service company. And it was a great job. and then an inadvertent conversation with the stamp eaters and three weeks later I had a job offer. So it's funny how that works. And, you know, I've never been more stressed out.

I've never worked harder and I've never been happier in a job. So it's pretty awesome. So this is, this sounds like a big challenge. Yeah, that's awesome. So I guess when you come in, is it the blank canvas or is it like there's just so much to learn I'm not ready to like throw my fingerprints on everything? Like, how do you approach that? Like I think it's a bit of both.

I think what is nice is I bring a fresh set of eyes, you know, with a football perspective. And so, you know, able to make suggestions and try some different things, but also have a lot of great institutional knowledge within the stamp eaters and within Calgary Sports and Entertainment to fall back on. So it's been a good combination of both. So we were looking for a date to bring you in. I thought, okay, we got to do it ahead of the season opener, which is great.

I want to hear about plans for the season, what you've been working on. But then I was like, you know what? like I am the most maybe Calgary football fan of all time. Not like hardcore, but I want to be at Labor Day. Yep. I want my kids to be at the family game and I'd love to go to the season opener. Like if I get to three, that's the pocket. And at times earlier in my life, I obsessed over the team and I could talk about the ratio.

I'm not there right now. We had Dave Dickinson on the old show. Boomer would do those chats. So I feel like I'm a very casual football guy. So I got to bring in my guy, John Bender here. Johnny, you are like maybe the most passionate CFL fan, I know. know and played in the league briefly after a great collegiate career at Nevada. I mean, where are you at on the things that intrigue you about Jay coming in?

And I guess open floor for, you know, what you want to know about the stamps moving forward. Sure, yeah. I mean, I think we just, there's a lot of great football being played in our backyard here at McMahon Stadium. I think it would be great for everyone that is big football fans in the city to get out there and enjoy those games and go see the team play. I know Jay as a former offensive lineman, you're probably, used to doing a lot of work and maybe not getting a lot of the credit and maybe not getting a lot of interviews like this. So how's that been for you and how's that changed? Because I know that a lot of the offensive linemen are some of the smartest guys on the team, but they don't always have the biggest

voice in the media because you don't score touchdowns, right? So people don't want to talk to you as much. But when it comes to business savvy and business metrics now, you know, how has it been the transition for you to, you know, for you essentially be in the face of the business operations for the stampeters? Yeah, and that's a great question. And it's, you know, it's, I've really enjoyed it. And it's, you know, and I'm going to be that guy that says, it really, this has been a team effort, you know, all throughout the organization, through Calgary Sports Entertainment, you know, and it's amazing to watch how, you know, well of an oiled machine it is. But really one thing that we've been lacking on the business side of things is a face in the community and out there, you know, telling our story. And because it's a story that needs to be told and for people to understand where we are, where we're going and how we're going to get there.

So it's been a lot of fun. And I've taken every opportunity I can to get out there and tell our story. Yesterday I was talking with the Calgary Firefighters Association. And so how do we partner together? And so it's been a lot of fun. So what would your focus or priorities be for this season? I mean, I think there's always this overarching conversation about where's the CFL at? Why are we at nine teams?

What's the league office doing? You know, there seems to be some consistent gripes about the league. and yet it's a very strong TV product. It is part of the, you know, the fabric of this country. What are the concerns you're hearing or what are the things you're really trying to improve for this first season at the helm? Yeah, no, great question. And, you know, the reality is, and we're being quite transparent about where we're at as an organization.

And then the CFL, you know, we've got some challenges there too. But from a league or from a team perspective, really focusing on, you know, the Calgary Stan Peters and reestablishing our connection to Calgary. And I think, you know, since the pandemic, that's, we've really been hurt and lost their connection, lost relevance within the city. And that's, you know, with individuals and that's also with corporations. So we're focused on three things this year. We're focused on delivering value to our season ticket holders and our partners. And we're fan growth and fan engagement.

And so, you know, that's everything we do feeds into those three things. And it's, you know, it's a year of investment for us. We know that we have to do some. things differently. And so we are going to do some things differently this year. And it's exciting and it's scary and it's a lot of fun. So when news breaks around the CFL, their stamps, where I get it, it's not Twitter like I'll get other stuff. It's not like someone phoning me. It is John Bender's CFL chat on WhatsApp. And we got former players in there. We got broadcasters. We got super fans. We got season ticket holders. I have heard that the red

white clubs got a new twist that's making it a little more accessible than that should be a fun, you know, ecosystem or environment that you're adding to the McMahon portfolio and that you've sort of been more open-minded about, I guess, expanding, tailgating opportunities for people rather than sort of like this number of tickets comes with this number of parking passes. I feel like that's a really good investment into, you know, the community getting to the game. You know, and what we've what we've come to learn is that fans want more than just a game. They want something beforehand. They want an elevated experience during the game and they want somewhere to go afterwards. And so we're trying to really deliver an experience as opposed to just a game.

And it's everything, we did talk about that every day. And ultimately, you hit on it. It's a great TV property. And, you know, the pandemic changed the way people consume sports. And it's when you're sitting in a climate controlled, your house with a 50-inch TV, you've got cold beer in the fridge, you know, it's hard to get people back. And so how do we deliver something that they can't get on TV?

And that's something we focus on every day. So, Johnny, you as a guy that works, in the business community here. You love taking clients to games, and that's a big thing that, you know, allows you to build connections with them, show them a bit of your background as a football player, get them sort of touching that Stam Peters brand. What did that red, white club mean to you? What do you think about sort of expanding that or opening that a little more? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think over the years, like, I've got, you know, four or five season tickets, and I bring four or five clients off into games and bring them through the red and white club.

And often the next year, when I reach out to them again, they tell me, we have season tickets this year. We really enjoyed that experience. We really enjoyed what we were doing. And, you know, we're going to come back. And I think that, you know, maybe just in Canada, maybe in Calgary, the culture around football hasn't been, you know, like it is in the States or like it is in other places, like it is with hockey here, things like that. But if you can watch a game with someone who knows a lot about the game,

can tell you some ins and out, some, you know, things that are happening, it becomes, you know, more exciting, more important, and, you know, there's some things to watch for. And I can't tell you how many of my clients are season ticket holders at St. St. Peters games now, how many times I go through the concourse. And it's like, oh, hey, what's going on to, you know, half a dozen people or more every time I go out there. But no, it's great. I think there's a lot of opportunity.

But one of the questions I have for you, Jay, is I know that since I've been a season ticket holder for about a decade now, I noticed that the flames, or since the flames took over ownership, there's been a lot of increase as far as the, you know, different premium activities you can do, whether it's, you know, the Talis patio, whether it's some different things like that. Now, from a metric side, I don't know how it all works on the business side. You could probably tell us more. But I know that you guys are probably trying to increase revenue as a number one goal or as a top goal. But, you know, we also, as a fan and as a former player, you know that that stadium's a different environment when there's 30,000 plus there, right? So I guess the question becomes, you know, is there a way to marry the two where you can have, you know, great premium experiences and have, you know, a stadium that holds 30,000? plus that routinely holds 30,000 plus. Yeah, and I think there is, there is an opportunity to do that.

And we're, we're exploring different scenarios, you know, for next year. This year, we are increasing the one premium area that we're increasing is our quick six stable. So we're expanding that into Section W because we had a lot of success with that. And so we want to make that that bigger and offer more premium seating. And then, you know, we're looking at different ideas, you know, for the stadium. The command stadium is challenged. You know, we are limited in what we can do.

do with it. But, you know, there are things that we can do. And we're trying to improve that experience. And, you know, especially the younger crowd has really come, we've seen this across all stadiums in the CFL, is that they want social areas where they can stand and socialize, but have the game going on as well. And so we're looking at opportunities and where, how can we deliver that? So we can continue to keep the capacity of the stadium, you know, the way it is, but also offer up those premium social areas. And you know, you can see what, what the Blue Jays have done with Roger Seder. That's all about building those social patios or the social spots for watching the game.

And so we're trying to look at opportunities to do that for next year. It's funny about the Blue Jays. I was thinking in my head is this anecdote too off CFL. But covering three spring trainings at the old job, I got a chance to chat with Mark Shapiro, the president of the Blue Jays. And this was before the renovations, probably four years ago now. And he said, the business of sport now is you want to provide a bunch of different experiences. Tears is sort of one way to look at it, but think of it less

of like first class, business class, coach, and more of like, this is a party area, this is a family area. This is an area you get close to players. This is an area that's a little quieter. Like, you want to create all these different experiences within, rather than just 100s, 200s, 200s, or whatever the case may be in a venue. And I guess the challenge of McMahon is that it's built on the sort of 1940s model of everyone has the same seat or it's a bench. Those are your two. So that's something you're trying to expand upon. And I imagine pre and post be at tailgate or, you know, whatever the red, white club is now branded as that.

That's part of creating more of those experiences. That's exactly right. So that the red and white club, which we've now rebranded as Stamps House to capitalize on that, on our, on the party we've created at the Great Cup Festival. Yeah. And that brand. And so after the game, and you mentioned this, we're bringing our players into Stamps House after the game,

and they can interact with fans, and it's a place to engage. That's what makes the CFL so special are the players and the engagement with the community. And so we want to create as many opportunities as we can to have that interaction, and that's one area we can do that. So, but you're exactly right, is how do we, how do we use the McMahon's Day and built in 1960, although we are, we're changed, and John's heard me say this before. We're trying to change the narrative on McMahon Stadium. Yes, there are challenges.

Yes, you know, we have some work to do there. but we have the Fenway Park of the CFL. I don't like that analogy. I've been to Fenway. Well, that's the thing, right? Have you been to Fenway? I have not. So that's where I'm going to warn you.

Careful with that one. A lot of people travel to Boston just to go to Fenway Park, right? And just to be a part of that nostalgia, the tradition, and those sorts of things, too, right? Yes, the seats are, you have pillars blocking your view and you have troughs to go to the bathroom and there are some challenges. But there are some great things that go with along with that. and we have that at McMahon Stadium too. That's fair.

We're going to do what we can to update it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that the biggest thing that you have at McMahon Stadium is you have a team that wins at home consistently. You have a team that's won almost 80% of their home game since John Huffnickle's been back in 2008. It's a long time period and a lot of success and a lot of wins at home. And, I mean, I think you've hosted, what, eight or nine West Finals in that time period as well. So if you want a team that has playoff success, which I know we're all starving for in this city, right, Ryan?

I want to talk about you. So if you can find that with the Stam Peters. And I mean, everybody knows somebody from another city in Canada, right? So if you can talk to your friends at Edmonton, talk to your friends in Regina, and remind them like, hey, you know what? That road in the Great Cup is probably going to go through Calgary here at some point. And, you know, I think that's a great opportunity for us in the city to, you know, look at and say, you know, a very, like, you know, for all the citizens of Calgary, you have a big,

you know, to be very, very proud about that moment and, you know, the team that we have here. Absolutely. 17 years straight of making the playoffs. So it's the longest playoff streak of any professional sporting franchise in North America. So outstanding what this team has done and what Huff Nagel and Dickinson have done as coaches and GM and to create that winning culture. And, you know, as through some of our presentations this off season, you know, trying to re-engage corporate Calgary, you know, somebody says, hey, you know, just put a winning team on the field and people will come. That's not that what's happening.

John, as you said, almost 80% win percent. you know, since Huffingle took over in 2008, and we've seen a declining attendance since 2015. So we've got to do some things differently to bring people back. What's the magic number for you? Because there is, John said it. Like you get to Labor Day, you get to a riders game in the right season, you get that perfect summer day.

Maybe it's a season opener. If you can get over 30, I always just feel like, yes. Okay, like there's challenges with 30,000 people all in one spot anywhere in the world. Okay, I might have to wait a little longer for washrooms, or okay, we put more outhouses outside the gates, whatever it is. But that's when you feel like you're part of something. And whereas the opposite side of that is at what number are you like, ooh, this is not the vibe.

We have to stay above this threshold. Or do you not like those numbers floating out publicly? Well, and I don't think it's something we talk about internally. But I would agree with you. If we, you know, on a Labor Day or, you know, a Saskatchewan home game, you know, in the middle of the summer, like on Saturday night, which we have this year on the 24th of June. Nice.

Yeah. It's, you know, you'd hope you'd get over 30. You know, there was a time when you would, there was no doubt that you would get 35, it'd be sellout, right? Exactly. Yeah. And those times have gone. So, you know, now I think we strive for 30. If we get there, we're, you know, we're actually pretty happy. Last year we didn't get there on Labor Day. And so, you know, we're, again, trying to do things differently to try to bring people back and enjoy the games. You mentioned the pandemic. Like, I think that that is a big challenge. A, the CFL's fan base sort of skews a little older to begin with. So those

people as they continue to age are less keen to get into crowds and, you know, okay, the weather in the fall is X or whatever it is. But it's also, you know, two years where you didn't get to reel in new younger fans and sort of those millennial under 40s, right? Yep. And, you know, when you think about it, right? So every year we lose a certain percentage of our season ticket holders just a turnover. And then we replenish them with new ticket sales. Well, in 2020, we had our turnover. Yeah. We couldn't sell tickets. Right. And then in 2021, we did announce the season until a month before, so we had our same turnover again.

We weren't able to sell any tickets. So we got hit pretty hard two years in a row, not replenishing tickets. But also, you know, that engagement with the younger fans, right? That really has hurt us. And this off-season, we spent, you know, Calgarians are, you know, our population of Calgary is 25% new Canadians.

So we spent our whole school program visits this off-season visiting schools in the Northeast that have a high population of new Canadians. to introduce them to football. We would go in there and teach football. Trey Roberson led that for us and did an unbelievable job. And we're really focused on that. You know, predictions that in 20 years, it'll be 50% new Canadian. So, you know, we do have to,

and football is foreign to a lot of people. So we really have to do our best to try to teach the game and get to the grassroots level and connect like we weren't able to do during the pandemic. Well, like we said earlier, I do believe the greatest asset of this league is the players. Like it's, you know, it's, we always say, say, oh, that's a little CFL.

The league can feel clunky at times. And there's three buys and nine teams. And like, what the hell's going on in Halifax? Get us a 10th team. Balance the schedule. But it's a great product. And the best part is you meet these players that are not here to collect $5 million and disappear to their vacation home.

Like these are the fabric of the CFL. And when you get them in the community, you're just like, how can you not root for these guys? Like you can say this or that about three or four down. But you meet these guys in our community. There's your real asset. Absolutely. They make this league. And one of the thing that's also hurt, too, is the way the media has gone in terms of, you know, their faces, you know, without their football helmets are not in front of people very often. We have to work really hard to do things differently that way as well, right, to try to get them without their helmets on. So people get to know them as people and really understand them. They are fantastic people, good human beings, and we want people to get to know them.

So walk us through some of the big events and dates coming up. Obviously, what is it, June 8th is the 5th? Thursday, that's your season opener against the Lions. I mean, that's going to be an exciting game, whether you're Stamps fan or not, because CFL's back, the unofficial beginning of summer, some would argue, and coast to coast, there'll be lots of interest. But that's obviously a big one. What else have you got going on? I know there's sort of a promotional schedule where you do special events or you honor a certain group of people before game, whatever it is. So June 24th, so we had our fan fest. So we were for the first time since 2018 bringing our fan fest back this year. We had a plan for Monday prior to our preseason game.

And with the smoke, we just didn't know what we're, what we're going to get on Monday. So we decided that we were going to postpone it. So we're going to do that June 24th against Saskatchewan. So it's going to be a fun night. I mean, we're playing the riders. So on a Saturday night in the summer, it's going to be exciting anyways, but we're going to bring our fan fest back out for that. So that's going to be a fun game to be at for families, for, you know,

anybody wants to come down and have a good time. That'll be great. Stock up on watermelons the week before that. Folks, it's really tough to get a good watermelon when the riders are in that week. Yeah, it's, I remember as a player, my introduction, you know, I remember we, Jeff Garcia, nothing bad, but he threw it, well, I guess nothing bad, he threw an interception. I was blocking my guy, and then I heard the crowd erupted. And I thought, wow, you know, we're taking this in for a touchdown.

No, they were taking it in for a touchdown, right? So that was a tough one. The green fans. It hurts. However, I do not love that, right? It's rivalry, right? Exactly. So that will be a fun game, you know, August 18th versus,

is Winnipeg. We're going to honor our 98 Great Cup. Nice. So that's 25 years since they've won. So I've talked to Jesse. That's a group you're part of. That's a good group I'm part of, yeah. So talk to us about some of the characters of that group. Oh, man.

It's, uh, I could go on. But first of all, like Jeff Garcia, I've already talked to him. He's coming to town. Awesome. But you got, you think guys like, uh, Alondra Johnson, right? Just, you know, one of the best linebackers ever to play in the game. Like I just, just a character in the locker room.

But, you know, stalwarts like Rocco Romano. and Dwayne Ford, Greg Knox, guys that, you know, my friends and guys that I were, when I came to the team, you know, guys I looked up to, you know, he could go on. Terry Vaughn, I think of him back in, you know, like it was, Mark McLaughlin, clicking the last second field goal. Like, it's just, it's kind of what, something that you've done now, business side of the stamps for a bit. He was president, I believe.

That's right. Yeah, yeah, he was. I think he took over in 2004 as president of the team. So, yeah, like it's, it brings to, years of mine is when I think back about that win. So really excited to bring those guys back and really celebrate them and have some fun with them. Nice. So that's August 18th. Labor Day's Labor Day. That's correct. Labor Day's still Labor Day. Yeah, you bet. That's the best weekend of the year, Ryan. Honestly, I have, I've come back from the mountains early and been dropped at McMahon to

tailgate and do Labor Day three years in a row. If you get to one game and the other thing is, and I don't think I have to tell Jake, because I can't imagine what it's like as a player. When you get the flyover, like how do you not just get chills? The flyover is the greatest. Labor Day is unbelievable. It is, I agree with you. That flyover. One of the things, because of our tailgating is so good, you know, it's hard to get people into the stadium for kickoff. Sure. And so we've really tried to talk about how do we do that. But, you know, on Labor Day, everybody's in the stadium because they want to see the flyover. That's right. And it just brings chills all every time. We actually tried to reach out and see if we could do a flyover for the CFL opening game on June 8th. But with the

world being on alert because of the war in Ukraine. Yeah. Really? They couldn't do that. So, you know, totally understandable. But, yeah, there's nothing better than that flyover. It's, it's so cool. And Labor Day, you know, this year is a little bit later. So it's a five o'clock start. So it's a lot more time for tailgating. It's going to be a fun day. And you know what? I think that's, like, we only got a couple of minutes here before you got to run and appreciate you coming in. We talk about what's not great about McMahon. You just talk about what it is.

Like there's not a ton of facilities necessarily that the tailgating is as fun or the culture around it's as greater that it's so easy to get in and out of from tailgate. And you guys done a great job letting people come back out at half time. It's not like once you're in, you're punted if you leave. I can't say I've tailgating a lot of CFO markets, but I know some of them, there's just no room. Like, sorry, BC place. There's no tailgate.

It's downtown. There's, you know, like it's a unique. and very positive thing that you've got at McMahon. Honestly, and I'm not just saying that because, you know, I'm Calgary. It is the best tailgating in the CFL. Like, as head and shoulders above everywhere else, just because people just don't have the access that we do. And so it's a special part of game.

I love pulling up and seeing people are already at the stadium and having fun. And it's a great, it's a great experience. Our boy, Greg, at Bon Tonnell would be like smoking some ribs for eight hours there at five in the morning. Hey, Jay, thanks for coming in. I wish you had more time. We'll do it again soon. congrats on the new challenge. I love the way you described it where it's like stressful, anxious and rewarding.

Like that's something that you don't gloss over. This means you're really engaged in the fabric of this thing. Best of luck this season and we'll see you around the stadium. Well, thank you very much for admin. I really appreciate the opportunity to let me come and tell the story because it's, we need more people to hear it. Well, and you know what? August 18, you get the band back together.

That'll be a ton of fun. Yeah. Okay, we're going to take a short break. We're right back. We got a Pinda report. the zaniest flames trade proposal I've seen maybe in a year. We'll run that. I think we're going to have to save it, Jack,

for Monday for the boys as well when everyone's back together. But we got to visit it today as well. And Jack's got something happening in his neighborhood that I'm frankly concerned for his life. There are scary things and then there's the scariest thing. I think we found something that might top the list. That's coming up on Barnburner. Back in a moment.

All right. We were back. Big thank you to Jay McNeil, VP business operations for the stamps. and the old number 50. These are football guys, big, big humans. Just putting that together. Yeah. There's a lot of big humans out there,

especially the old offensive linemen. A lot of us played well over, you know, it's usually six, four, six five plus, 300 pounds plus. Yeah, a lot of big humans. A lot of big humans. I was thinking one of our partners, outdoor dental, we got a snoring cure.

Is it just me or do bigger humans have a better shot at being like awful snorers? Like I get the sense some of your roommates at Nevada, or maybe here on the stamps, like there would have been some world-class Guinness World Record-level snores. Yeah, there was, at some point in my football career, I don't remember when it was,

but it was something about the size of your neck, makes your sleep apnea be more prevalent. I want to say it was around 18 inches, and I think a lot of football players are breaking over 18 inches, neck, no problem. Neck, what neck? It's a thing. Luckily, our pal, Dr. J. at Outdoor Dental

got the cure. Snoring treatments at outdoor dental. What? Yeah. And pain free. Two 15-minute sessions. They got a laser into the soft palate at the back of your throat. No pain.

15 minutes. Come back. Second session. Tightens up that loose skin back down. Get rid of that. Sleep better, Johnny. There you go. Honestly.

Now, question for you. Remember when Homer got the bowling ball that said Homer and gave it to Marge as the birthday present on the Simpsons? if I get my wife, my snoring treatment, is that a good birthday present for her? I mean, it's probably a good birthday present, but you might want to get something else on top of it.

Yeah, okay. Is it present for me, press for her? Probably her, because if I'm snoring, I'm not hearing it anyway. Yeah, some work to be done. Outdoor. Dot dental for more information. Also, no needles, no saws, no primitive torture techniques.

It's dental implant treatment can be scary and confusing and expensive. they use cutting edge technology, make you happy, confident, and again, any fears of dentistry, all sent away with the Salera laser treatment, whether that's the snoring treatment,

or just fixing your teeth up. No saws, no needles. Love it. Okay, let's get to the Pender Report. It's for Village Honda. This is the news of the day. We've got a long time without talking about Matthew Kachuk. And Johnny, did they keep the receipt?

Yeah, I mean, that could be a tough one here for the next, you know, decade plus as a flame's going. There's only seven, eight years left on that because there's one year. Uh, Northwest Auto Mall, VillageHonda.com. Their million dollar used car event is still on. Sell your vehicle. Get the cash. Also, they'll throw on a tropical cruise to boot more at VillageHonda.com.

They want your used car. So we'll start with, well, the Zane. trade proposal I've seen for the Calgary Flames this year. Let's live in Fantasyland. This is Julian McKenzie of the Athletic. Shout out Julian. He and Aaron Portsline got together and came up with this. What if the flames dangled Elias Lindholm with one year left on his deal,

sent to Columbus, and in exchange the third overall pick in the draft, and maybe there's another pick here or there to even things out either way. It would be contingent on Columbus extending Lindholm, which, why would you do that? Well, remember who he played with? Johnny Goddrault's there. Reunate that pair.

Mix in a Patrick Linae somewhere if you want. All of a sudden, Columbus moves a little quicker out of that rebuild mode. They've had a lot of high picks in the last few years. And for the flames, if you're getting the sense of Elias Lindelam's not going to extend here, number three overall might be the next face of the franchise, given what we've heard about how good this draft class is and how high end the top of this draft is. holy smokes that that's that's a blockbuster and a report's line from columbus for the athletic said yeah if it's the third maybe you throw another third overall of flames flames throw another pick in lindholm they get an

extension why not uh what do you think of when you hear that deal i mean obviously it gives me a lot of excitement uh just uh get a better idea i think everyone has flame sends was wants this the new gm to uh you know show his cards you know where's this franchise head you know where's your Your fingerprints on, right? Yeah, where's this franchise heading? Is there a new window? Is the window next year? Is the window the next few years?

What are we going to do with these, you know, six, seven players that are heading to, you know, for agency in the next year? You know, is this going to be an opportunity for them to do a little bit of a reset or are they going to, you know, go back into this and try to win next year? They're going to see what happens here soon. Let's go to one of the guys that was here last year. This is like salt in the wounds, Jack. They nearly missed the playoffs. But nope, Florida did get into the playoffs. and they seem to be on a bit of a heater.

This was Matthew Kachuk last night in a tie game in the dying moments. 4.3. Third game winner of the series. A little screen from someone named Sam Bennett we've never heard of in these parts either. Jeez. You think Kachuk's, they're calling him clutch Chuck now,

which is a change of how the playoffs went here. with him, but man, has he been great. Overtime winner in game one, overtime winner in game two. Dying second game winner for the sweep. Florida's moving on. And if you like Matthew Kachuk, let's get to the exit, bus in 10 minutes celebrations he did in games one and two in Carolina. Little different at home, no bus to catch.

So what do you do for the Selly? Let's take another look here. Kachuk enjoyed this one. Into the net, it goes. And this is Shades of Theo. Yakopov, sliding on the knees. He's just eating this up, Johnny. He is an absolute star in Florida right now.

There's going to be kids doing that celebration at every U-9 hockey in the city the next year because, you know, that is something else. You know, it's going to be tough to see you here. It looks like, you know, for a guy like Maddie Kuch, he might become the face of the NHL here soon. Man, honestly, some people today are saying, is that the best winger in hockey? Like, oh, does that hurt? Is he a top five player in this league right now?

I guess how do you rank it? I mean, I feel like how do you compare him to a number? number one defenseman. How do you compare him to Igor Shasturkin, if that's the best goalie in the world? How do you compare him to Leon or Connor or McKinnon? I mean, what we know is he's scored 40, he's got 100 points two years in a row. And in the last three weeks a month, he's just on an absolute heater. And Leon was too until that dried up, but it certainly doesn't feel out of place putting him in that second tier of names. I mean, yeah, that maybe that leaves him around five to ten. Holy.

I think if he wins a Stanley Cup, he's going to bolster right up there too. I'd agree. I think it's either him or Bob for the Khan Smyth if Florida wins at this point. Now, there's still a series to be played and we'll find out later who they're playing. But yeah,

Flames fans might be missing number 19. I know Jackie sent me the Wolverine. Just Chuckie, we miss you. You know who else you miss maybe if you're a Flames fan? How about eggs? Our boy Sam Bennett. Watch the thunderous hit he laid out last night on Jacob Slavin.

This isn't malicious. There's no charge. Oh, there you're. Boom. Walloped. And you can see, oh boy, this is not easy.

Slow to his feet. Left the game. The Carolina's number one defenseman did not return. Did say after, as he was hammering some pizza, that he's okay and he'll be ready to go. So also it was a clean hit. I don't know if Sam Bennett got enough credit for his old man strength.

Like he lost his hair and he turned into an absolute ox, the mustache, whatever it is, magical powers. You know, Samson had the long hair. It's Ben, it's mustache in the playoffs. But I always thought this guy's so strong. You wondered about the hockey sense where he'd end up on the depth chart. But that's some serious man strength he's showing right now. Yeah, I mean, he's bullying guys out there. He's going to be a guy that finishes hits.

And I think that's one of the things that we maybe don't see as much in the metrics when we talk about possession and things like that. Sure. Where does that show up? Yeah, he just knocked a guy out of the game. That's a valid point. And now every time he goes to the corner, the rest of the game, the rest of the guys aren't going to be in there, you know, play this hard.

Yeah, buckle up. And buckle up. Here it comes. Okay, so Florida's through. Here's how they did it rarely. In fact, it's the only team ever that has gotten into the playoffs and this far while spending 72% of the regular season outside of a playoff spot. That's right.

only 28% of the regular season were they in a playoff spot. They are the only team in NHL since the expansion era, 6768, to reach the final after spending less than 30% of the season in a playoff spot. There's lots of numbers there, but essentially what we're saying is this team wasn't good for a lot of the regular season. In fact, if Pittsburgh picked up wins against two of the worst three teams in the league, Chicago and Columbus to finish their season, this team doesn't get in. What are the narratives then?

Not good. And the flip side is, how immaculate are the first. vibes in Florida right now. This team is absolutely rolling. Off they go to the Stanley Cup final. This is how you do it. We're seeing a lot of this from teams, the artwork. There's the Studs, Eastern Conference Champions. You want to see how not to do it, Johnny? Let's have a look at this next one. This was TSN, little whoops a daisies. As they also noted that, hey, this team's going to the Stanley Cup final as well. Only problem is that's Orlando's skyline. That's a lake and Orlando, which is inland. That's not Fort Lauderdale. That's not Miami. That's not Sunrise, Florida.

Can you imagine that the stampeters win the Great Cup's like champions? And then they put like Winnipeg skyline behind. Like this is epic. I love it. And you know, you make a mistake like that. You're going to get roasted on Twitter. I think someone out there was saying, you idiots. Here's the tweet. You morons up in Toronto can't even get the right city skyline of your graphics. How do you expect to win the cup? People are a little hot about that in Florida. Florida. And Brooks Capka's. You've seen him, the golfer?

Big, big Panthers fan. Getting lit up at the games. Good for him. He's pumped up. Okay, tonight's game. Do we get two sweeps? We find out it is Dallas. Hosting Vegas, another 3-0 series lead.

What's up with the NBA in the NHL? 3-0 series leads everywhere, Johnny. Like, I know Boston just won it, but we nearly had four sweeps, you're telling me, and NHL conference finals? Wild. Six o'clock tonight, Robertson, and is that Marshall? So there?

Who do we get there? I might put down on the Marshall. Either way, a big one tonight. We'll get to that game more in our betway bets of the days. One thing we won't be betting on is Jamie Ben getting anything done. He's been suspended. Two games. The NHL's Department of Player Safety handing out that punishment to the Stars captain.

There, yeah, no surprise there. It was early on in game three. So we effectively missed a full game there. Now two more get tacked on. That means they're going to have to go to what? A game six before he's eligible to return and they're down 3-0. Might be it for Jamie Ben, who, oh, by the way, duct media after that. He did chat with the media yesterday, the off day in the series.

And it didn't go much better than anything else the last few days. Here's a tweet. Ben had the whole game to think about it, ran away from the media, had the whole night to sleep on it, and then came up with, quote, I fell on his throat with my stick, end quote. Is this the best excuse he can give? Add 20 games to the suspension for taking us all for idiots. It's pretty weak.

I mean, it's terrible. I mean, as a former offensive lineman, I was very good with the art of falling on people. The dark arts. There's a dark art. Yeah. I mean, you fall on people. You know what you're doing. You know where your weight's falling.

You know what you're trying to do there. And, I mean, he knows what he's doing. there. I mean, he just got a man up and say, hey, you know what? Made a mistake, bad decision. I regret it. I'll take the suspension. We'll move on. I hate it when I, you know, fall with my stick being the landing spot. Boy, that's just unfortunate. What are you talking about, Jamie? It's malicious. Gross. Let's go to baseball. You saw the 20 run explosion a few nights ago for the Jays. I know your big Jays guy. One of those at bats, position player Luke Rayleigh, was brought in. Rays were getting pumped.

They were down by like 11, 12, 13. It's like we don't want to burn any more bullpen arms. It's a position player pitching time. So Rayleigh comes in and is throwing like, what, 45 to 55 meatballs. Use this pitch. Yeah, like just lobbing them in like it's slow pitch practically. Vladdy had a Herculane cut and actually struck out and won at bat. Did hit a grand slam the next inning, but signs the ball to Luke Rayleigh after the game.

You got me, end quote. How good is that? That's amazing. I mean, as a position player to, you know, go out there. I don't think he ever thought he would have been striking out Vladimir Carrot that day or ever in his career. Yeah. I think he thought what happened in the next head bat was probably what would happen anytime.

Right. It's going to land a long way away from the place. Got him instead. Good stuff there. And we'll close. I want to bring Jack in, producer Jack. Something concerning in your neighborhood. Now, you live down in the south.

What neighborhood are you in? South East. Cranston. Okay. And what's gotten to happening in Cranston? Because you sent me some very disturbing and, I guess, alarming images from your neighborhood down south. Article here.

So I was going home. Talking to that, Michael Lomars. I'm going home Tuesday afternoon after the show. And I'm wheeling into Cranston. I'll pull up the photo here. There's fire trucks everywhere. The road's blocked off. I don't know what's going on.

Is that some sort of black, black liquid there. Someone's got tar on the road. What is that? So I kind of wheel by, I go home. Like, I usually take that left there where the massive hole is. I go right. There's fire trucks blocking everything. Construction people everywhere. I get home. Two hours later, my girlfriend sends me this article. There's a massive sinkhole. Sink holes are terrifying, John. When you can't trust the ground below you isn't going to give out, I mean, no good. No good at all. And I don't weigh what you weigh. I mean, that's, you can't be hanging around sinkholes.

Get the hell away from those. I'm not getting anywhere near that sinkhole. I'll tell you that. So what else do we ever images of this? Because this photo does it some good justice. That could swallow a car right there. Here's a close up. Oh.

I'll take on my phone here. And what is that thing in the middle? That's, oh yeah, that's the little pipe that comes up to the street surface. That's how deep the hole is. Don't like that at all. Ugh. Then shout out to my stepbrother Mark here. He went out and got a couple of photos.

Snapping some pics of the sinkhole. Yeah. And there is. Shout out, Mark. Yeah. Hey. Sox and slides looking good. Yeah.

Love the socks and sandals, no tarp. That is a vibrate thing. That is a look. That is the king of Cranston right there. Just one of the time, ladies. There's the sinkhole behind him. Careful. Are you changed your route to work?

What's the takeaway? I just got to go the other way now until they, what's the process behind getting this thing? Figure out what the hell's going on and fill it with some stuff. And if it keeps swallowing that stuff, shut down the neighborhood. These are terrifying. No good.

No good at all. Don't like a sinkhole. No. And I got Aussie in-laws and they got snakes in their roof. They got all these animals, spiders that can kill you and shit. Syncoles, way worse. I'll have a snake in the rafters versus the sinkhole, please.

Yuck. Pretty bad stuff. So we got one video here that John got us. Some corvettes falling into the sinkhole. Yeah, we started talking with sinkhole ahead of the show. And so what else did we find on sinkholes? So this is what, John? Walk us through this.

So I remember this from 2014. There was a Corvette Museum that had a sinkhole. And they lost some old corvettes. Oh, man. And the sinkhole opens up here. And I remember this is the first time I even ever heard of it or remember it. Oh! Rape-a of the orange one.

This is not looking good, Johnny. There, there go. It gets worse. I imagine it would. But that looks like a floor panel that's gone or a big piece of concrete that's now sinking in. And these are all like Primo vets, you said? Yeah, this is the Corvette Museum.

I believe this is in Kentucky. Oh. I'm glad Dean's not here. He dwell up over this. That is no good. And apparently they had one of their biggest years ever in the museum because people actually came to see the sinkhole. The vets are always there.

This year, the special isn't like a one-off vehicle. It's the sinkhole. Yeah, I mean, it's not going to be here next time. I think it's come now to see the sinkhole and the vets. Exactly. I mean, that's something else. So people, we're getting closer to the sinkhole. That's against our vibes.

I'm not getting anywhere anywhere here. I'm one of those guys that would watch the video. That's fine. That's great. I'm not going to look at that firsthand. No way. Getting anywhere close. Yeah, careful, Jack.

We can't lose you, buddy, all right? Thanks for that. That is the Pinda Report for Village Honda. A reminder. turn your vehicle into cash today during the million dollar buy-in event. They'll buy your vehicle, even if you don't buy theirs. Sellers will also receive a tropical cruise for two exclusively at Village Honda. And, of course, they got detailing packages.

Get yourself nice and clean for the summer. You know how they have the rubbery gross winter mats? Oh, yeah. Clean those, get those out. Get the nice furry, soft fabric ones. Summer mats, yeah. Get them all cleaned out. Village Honda's got you set up starting at 79.995.

Clean up the gross spring winter residue. Get ready for summer. book today at your dealership for life, village honda.com. All right. St. Coles, not a thing. Matthew Kachuk, very much a thing. What's your vibe? You're around town a lot, and I know you're football first,

but you can't not be a hockey fan. You're a sports fan. You live in Calgary. You go to a bunch of games. Like, where are people at on this? Is this like turning into the worst trade of all time? Or is it like, hang on, hang on, there's a first.

You got Uyghur and Eubredo. You got Cole Schwint. Like, he wasn't going to resign here. We got guys. Like, what are the vibes here around Matthews? are blowing up in Florida? I mean, I think, I don't think anybody thought that what's happening right now

would happen in Florida. I don't think anybody saw them going to the Stanley Cup finals. There's a bit of that. But at the same time, I mean, you know, the flames got, you know, they got Uighur, they got Huberto, they got them signed forever.

Yeah. So we better see some playoff success that matches something similar to what the Panthers have been doing. And, I mean, as Flames fans, I mean, I think that everybody wants it sooner rather than later. Yeah.

And, I mean, I don't know, there's kind of two sides of the coin here with them going in there is the number of 17 team, I believe, in the NHL when they got in the playoffs. Yeah, so the flames actually finished with one more point than the Panthers. Division's different. Florida plays in a harder division, but again, they snuck in by the skin of their teeth. Pittsburgh beats Columbus and Chicago, two of the worst three teams in the league. They're in. Florida's out.

So does this lead us to more teams where they barely sneak in? Does this lead us to teams where they want to have, you know, a better direction of the next three to five years where they know if they're trying to do some sort of reset or what's going to happen. So I'm very interesting. Yeah. And then you get the new rink looming too, right? Which is like, does that change your window?

If you're the owner, you're saying, hang on, we've got the shiny new facility. I don't want to be an old group of bums that suck. Like, let's turn the corner sooner to be ready to win in that new building. And they're pressed right up close to the salary cap too. So it'll be interesting to see what a new coach, new GM will be able to do here with the team. And, you know, what kind of changes that, you know, us is this fan. I'll be expecting here over the years. I want to talk about the hearing loss clinic partners of ours.

We gave away a couple jerseys this year with our boy Rhodesy. And a reminder, if something just a little off, go and get a test it. Might be nothing. Get that weight off your shoulders. Since 1993, hearing loss clinic has this had a simple mission, make a positive difference in the lives of their clients. It's never been about hearing loss or impairment. It's been about allowing people to be socially active,

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What are we going to happen to you? I've booked you in. Thank you for coming in. Sure. Can I steal you for lunch? Absolutely. Maybe a few innings. Yeah, sure.

I got to ask you, where are you out in this Blue Jays team this year? It was like two weeks ago, they swept Atlanta and you feel like this group's on top of the world. Been rough since then. Yeah, I mean, I think it's still very early. There's a few guys that we're still waiting to see them kind of get out, you know, get out and get going.

One of them is Vladimir-Garrow Jr. hasn't played as well at home. I think that, you know, we're going to see guys like Alejandro Kirk pick it up down the stretch. Everybody's waiting on the lefties to come around. I think Brian and Belt's done that. Now we're waiting on Dalton Varsho.

But, I mean, I think they're a team that's built to have a lot of success. They're going to be great defensively. It's kind of pick it up offensively with the bats. It's fair. By the way, Matt Knight today, we catch a few innings. Sure.

Sounds good. I want to know where that shirt's from. That looks great. So, again, I do have, people don't know, being in the media, you're incredibly important and famous. And I have someone that shops for me that does my wardrobe. This is the John Bender wardrobe today.

This is the vintage CFL logo hat, which is an extra large hat. I don't know if it's made for CFL players with the 18 inch necks that snore or normal size. But it's like one of the only hats I can get over my coconut with all this stupid hair I got going right now. And then this is one of my most prize possessions. It's like the most inside joke of all time,

but I love it. What year did we do that show down at the sheer? in O'Clair in the pub when Calgary was hosting the Grey Cup. They're the 2018 Grey Cup. Right. So 2018 Great Cup was here. And every team has their own little party area. And I think a bunch of them were in the Roundup Center or the Convention Center here in Calgary.

A little center yet. And a team that doesn't exist even has their own party, the Atlantic Schooners. And they've had it at the Grey Cup every year for every time I've been in the Grey Cup for decades. It's the stupidest thing that the CFL somehow has not got a team in Atlantic Canada, whether that's Moncton or Halifax. You can build me a floating stadium. I don't care. Put a team out there, get to 10, balance the schedule, allow the maritime's to feel a part of the CFL aside from Annex Exhibition

Game a year and the beauty of the Atlantic schooners still undefeated, as it says on the shirt. Still undefeated and probably will be for at least a few more years. It seems that way. Yeah, we'll see. They figure out what the hell they're doing there. Yeah, but I mean, it's crazy because every great cup you go to, they sell like a pallet of about a thousand of those T-shirts. 100%.

And they go in quick. because it's so unique, so different. I remember you text me, like, yo, I'm at the Atlantic schooners. And you want a T-shirt? I need a yes-and-o right now. I'm like, yes. It wasn't even like, how much does it cost? Like, just give me the goddamn schooner shirts.

There's a lot of unique CFL merchandise out there. I think that you have a few of them on right now. I think they're great. Yeah. The other one is there's the traveling Kevin Glens because he played for all but one team in the league, like eight of nine or something crazy, seven of nine.

So they all dress up like the traveling joggers kind of did. Honestly, the CFL can at times feel a little, campy, but there's so many amazing, cool things as well. And I feel like if this league doesn't expose that to younger people, it's a problem. But if they do, I think it's a win. Like if people go to these Grey Cup events when it's in their city across the country, they're amazing, like great parties. Meet the players.

This is, you don't find pro athletes as accessible as CFL athletes. I remember we were just rolling through guys. Solomon Elementary came on with us that day. it's here amongst like numerous other stars of the league that year. And it's like you don't do that in the Stanley Cup final. You don't get that at Super Bowl. I mean, maybe if you're spending 20 grand to go to some VIP party, but for a common fan to touch and feel the sport

and be that close to the athletes, really is pretty cool. Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of the CFL players, I mean, they're guys just like, you know, it's back to the old days of, you know, this is a guy in your community. And I think every CFL community that has a team, that community becomes better because that,

that team's there. You see how many former players become, you know, members of the police department, the fire department. They make that community better after. You know, there's five or six financial planners like me in the community after as well.

People that work in business like Jay. You know, there's people that start businesses. You look at the Frizzani groups, Spalumbo, some... Institutions. Big institutions in Calgary. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Throughout the years have been started by, you know,

former Stampedeters, St. I can't wait to see at the stadium. It's always a blast. Our boy, Greg, from Bontone's always. they're tailgating as well. I'm excited. I mean, it's, it's a summer thing. It's, it's to me, like, we're in summer now.

Let's go to the game. Let's make it a day, not a three-hour window, right? For sure. Yeah. You've got to circle those dates on the calendar, and you've got to go there and make it happen. Fan Fest June 24th, season opener, June 8.

Thanks to Jay McNeil for coming in. It's Lions stamps to open the hole. CFL slate this year. That'll be fun. And again, the August 18th, they honor the 1998 Great Cup champion. Samson Garcia, Alarnda Johnson, Dwayne Ford, Jay himself, amongst numerous others. Those are some great dates highlighted on their schedule.

Can't wait to get out there. Last one for you, bets of the day for Betway. Johnny, you know how we roll here. Like to have a little fun, not putting the mortgage down, maybe a couple bucks here or there. See if we don't spice things up a little for the games we're already watching. Today, I'm jumping in on the NHL hockey game tonight. It is Vegas at Dallas game four.

Can the Golden Knights? sweep. I'm going to jump on the Vegas puck line. They're actually dogs here. So Vegas minus one and a half is plus 240. That's a big number. All I need is a Vegas win. Throw an empty netter at me. Let's go. And I got Jack Eichel, who I think has turned the narrative around on him since, you know, this postseason started. Let's jump with Jack Eichel. He's a bust at number two. He was a big problem with the sabers. Okay. So there's some truth in that. But he's been an ox for them this postseason. Two plus points. Plus 200. Triple your money.

That's my bet way bets of the day. And you've got a couple of as well. I got a couple bets in today as well. I mean, for the first time maybe ever on this show, we're going to talk a little NBA. What? We're going to see that I think that both of these series are ending. We're going to see the finals come up here right away.

All right, all right. NBA and both in the NHL. We got, you know. Miami Heat Money Line plus 240. So they're huge dogs here in Boston. I guess that does make sense. Boston's what, two seed? Miami's the eight seed?

Yeah, but Miami's up. Miami up 3-1. I don't mind that value. And then the other one, you're jumping on that Vegas money line of plus 105. They've had a big player step up for Miami this year, Caleb. Of course. Nevada? Nevada.

Of course. You can't do a show with a fucking Nevada. So, John, you got Miami winning finals, Nuggets Heat. Who are you taking? I mean, it's going to be tough to get past a guy like Yokic. He's been doing it. He's unbelievable. I'm not a huge basketball guy.

but watching game four, I didn't realize, like, how many facets of the game he controls and dominates. I mean, elite, elite vision passer. He's hitting threes behind his head. And the dude's a monster. Like, it's, I don't know who you put on that. Like, what's your game plan to stop him?

What is he back-to-back MVP? Is that right? Two of the last three. Two of three. Like, it's, I always knew, like, you've got to be good to get those awards, but his fingerprints are all over that game. All ends.

He runs their offense completely. He's big, he's strong, he's efficient. you know, he's everything you could ask for. He's a lot of these big European players have come over to the NBA and they're causing a lot of problems for a lot of people. But, you know, he's not the most athletic guy on the floor. It doesn't need to be. Kind of got that dad bod vibe about it.

He's a better. He's a player you'll see, though. It's amazing. Awesome. And shout out of Canadian Jamal Murray as well. It's been a big part of what they've done in the last few years there. For sure. Right on.

Those are bats of the day. Thanks for being with us today. Retro's back tomorrow. I'm not sure if I pulled back the curtain or not. Rett's flying to Nashville. So on the scale of foggy to bury me now alive, how hungover is Rett going to be tomorrow? We'll find out.

Also, we've got a couple special guests we're working on tomorrow, including a guy that has done a ton in our community and had quite a run as a coach this year in the sport of hockey. There's some hints. So that's coming up tomorrow. We've also got Memorial Cup starting tomorrow. Cavalries in action this weekend. And we'll see if the Js.

can stop the spiral. Let's go have a beer and watch some baseball. Absolutely. Let's do it. Thanks for watching. We're back tomorrow on Barnburner. Thanks to Jay McNeil, our boy John Bender, guest hosting, and Jack producer. See you, fellas. Ret would say go cats. Exactly. And oilers suck.