Halford & Brough in the Morning - Ashton Bell + WWL

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

In hour three, guest host Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolfe are joined by PWHL Vancouver defender Ashton Bell to preview the upcoming inaugural season plus the guys tell us what they learned!  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Welcome back to Halfer and Abruff, no Halper, no Brough. It's Josh Elliott Wolf and Jamie Dodd here with you, coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Halpert & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates, B.C.'s first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 5-star reviews. Visit sands-trustee.com. This hour of Halpernabroth is brought to you by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound visit Campbell-pound

dot com today and very excited now to bring in Ashton Bell the first overall expansion pick for PWHL Vancouver and you've recently signed a two-year contract extension as well. First off, thanks for taking the time.

Second, how does all that feel? Yeah, that's a mouthful but yeah, first of all, thanks for having me and I'm just, yeah, really excited to be that first pick and honored and, yeah, just looking forward to the inaugural season and years to come now with the extensions. Yeah, and that extension, which just got done earlier this morning, we were talking about it earlier on the show. I imagine especially just going through the expansion process, and we can talk more about that and the player's perspectives on it, but the certainty of where you're going to be playing must feel pretty good. Yes, no, it's definitely comforting knowing that you'll be somewhere, hopefully, for years to come. And, yeah, just super honored that I get to help build this franchise and kind of kickstart it with the group we have.

And what was it about the roster and the team that you were like, you know what, I want to sign an extension here and kind of walk in for a couple more years? Yeah, I think from the top bottom with Kara and then Brian being the head coach and the team that we have already is just super exciting. And I've been here for over a month now and just the city and how excited they are about having a team here definitely makes me want to be a part of this. How's it been getting to know the city And I know I've seen on social media You guys are out there meeting fans And doing a lot of stuff around the city What's the last month or so been like here?

Yeah, it's been great Just anyone you run into in the community Is just super excited Knows about the league Knows about the team being here And either they have season tickets Or getting tickets to come to the game So it's just pretty cool

To see the excitement around Vancouver And there has been a lot of excitement A lot of people really excited About how the team is kind of coming together And the I think the thing we talk about with expansion teams in any sport is like oh you know what it might take a while for this team

to be truly competitive but it does feel like at least from the outside looking in this team can be competitive right away does it feel the same for you guys yeah definitely I think we're going to hit the ground running we have a lot of experience and a lot of depth to our roster so it's just yeah really exciting for us and looking forward to see

what we're able to do with our group part of the release that the team sent out when they signed you to the contract extension earlier here today. The quote from Kara Gardner Mori who says Ashton will play a significant part in building the foundation of our defense. She also says she's going to be a leader both on the ice and

in the locker room. How does that sound to you? The general manager saying, you know what? We're not just looking for the on ice contributions but we expect you to really be a leader off the ice as well. Yeah, that's definitely great to hear that coming from her and yeah, just a huge honor that I'm able to be a part of building this organization

on the ice and off the ice as well and just want to really take pride in that leadership role. So I mentioned it a little bit there with you're getting the extension done after some of the uncertainty and you did move teams as part of the expansion process. And it's kind of fascinating to watch this play out of a league, a startup league with six teams and now going through that expansion process for the first time. From a player's perspective, when you started to hear the rumblings and, okay, it could be

Vancouver and Seattle and now it's official, what was your perspective on the whole expansion process for the league? yeah it was definitely there was lots of unknowns heading into that and obviously super grateful for my two seasons with ottawa but yeah when i heard there was going to be they were going to be expanding out west and vancouver was one of those spots and with the expansion draft coming up i knew um yeah it was excited about the opportunity of potentially going to vancouver and um yeah knew that it was pretty likely so yeah just super excited to be heading out in this direction and starting uh the professional league out here so it wasn't a surprise when your name was called for first overall in the expansion draft? I know. I was still a surprise. And yeah, just super exciting and have family out here as well. So yeah, it's just nice to be out here and to hopefully put roots down here. And it seemed like a big focus for Kerrigard-R-Mory was, you know, building the team from the defense out. And you're obviously a big part of that. But what do you think of how this team has

been built and, you know, the focus on defense? Yeah, I think, obviously, I'm a little bit biased being a defender, but I think defense are, yeah, what makes or breaks teams coming down to the end in the championship games and the playoff in the playoff runs. So I think yeah, when they came off with those two big signings of Jakes and Thompson,

you know that that was a big focus of theirs and yeah, they continued to do that through the expansion draft and free agency as well. So, yeah, just looking forward to playing alongside all those incredible players, defense and forwards and goalies as well. Well, I was going to say they invested in the goaltending position in a big way as well.

right? So when you look at the blue line and the goal tending, I mean, teams should have a pretty hard time scoring against you guys, I think, next year. Definitely. How much have you talked to, whether it's the GM, Kara Gardner Mori, or the head coach, Brian Adolsky? What have those conversations been like about identity, your role?

How much have you had the chance to talk to them about those sorts of things? Yeah, we haven't touched base too much on that, but I think, yeah, we just have a very unique group with a lot of experience and skill, and I think we're going to be able to put a great product on the ice and yeah a lot of versatility and can kind of throw different

styles at different teams so that's definitely exciting for us and I think once we get a name and a logo we'll be able to kind of build their identity around that and so you guys are coming in at the same time as PWHL Seattle and anyone in Vancouver anytime there's a matching team in Seattle it's like you know what we got to hate those guys and and everything about them do is that what you guys are hoping to have is a rivalry right of way with the team just south of the border? Yeah, I would think so. Just playing in Ottawa the last two seasons, we already had that rivalry instantly against Toronto. So I'm expecting it will be the same here with Vancouver and Seattle. How has it been just kind of getting to know? I mean,

I know, you know, not everyone's in town yet. The training camp won't start for a couple of months here, but it's such a unique situation where you're not just joining a new team that's already established and everyone knows each other there and you're coming in new. Everyone's new, right? And I'm sure obviously you'll know people from Team Canada and from other stops along the way. But what's kind of been the process of just everyone getting to know each other and, hey, like, guys, we're all in a team together all of a sudden here. Yeah, obviously, we have people from all over and coming from different leagues, other teams and all the college girls coming up as well. So, yeah, it's just really exciting for us. And we have a group chat going already.

And just, yeah, we're all super excited to get out here and for the season to get started. And so you've kind of been, I guess, through this process before with Ottawa. but how long does it kind of take for everyone to kind of find their footing and be like, okay, I kind of know where I'm at, where I stand with my teammates here? Yeah, I think it'll kind of happen pretty quickly and organically. Like you said, most of the girls do, you know of each other or have played with each other against each other at some point, or I've seen the girls play as well. So I think, yeah, it's usually pretty quickly for the team camaraderie to kind of form

and for that to develop. And yeah, I think we have a great group of girls in the locker. room so that's really exciting for us who's the funniest member of the group chat who's getting the most laughs in the group chat i don't know i would put my money on miller right now probably all right interesting good to know um you mentioned the name jersey something that'll help you guys build an identity know we were having this conversation earlier in the show and obviously we love to speculate what it might be i'm not i'm not going to ask you if you've heard anything or ask you for a favorite but like do you know a timeline do you guys know when we might when we might hear something no we have

no idea when that will be announced. So your guess is as good as mine. Fair enough. Fair enough. So for now, it is the PWHL of Vancouver. We will be looking forward to the season getting underway and everything that comes with it. Ashton, we really appreciate you stopping by, taking the time,

and we look forward to seeing you on the ice for a few years now. Absolutely. Congratulations again. Thanks so much for doing this. Thank you. There is Ashton Bell from PWHL Vancouver. We're going to take a quick early break here. So get your what we learns in and we'll hit them on the other side for an extended segment here on Halpert & Brough.

It is Josh L.A. Wolf and Jamie Dodd filling in on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show, what is they say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time On the show

Welcome back to Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott Wolf, Jamie Dodd filling in for Halford and Brough today And Halpert and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn out a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sands-trusty.com. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound

Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit Campbell-Dashpound.com today. I was listening yesterday, and I was like, is Jamie going to do it? No, I'm not even going to try. You didn't even try. Poor attitude.

I don't care of it. Very poor attitude. No dog. No dog. It's called putting yourself in a position to succeed. You didn't put yourself in a position to compete. That's right, exactly. Can't fail if you never try.

I get your What We Learns in. We have some extended time here to get into them so you can text in 650, 650, and we will try to hit them as the show goes on. What we learned is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Expand your palette with AJ's white pies made with rosemary, rosemary, rosemary, rosemary.

It's made with rosemary. And infused with cream sauce or garlic oil only at AJ's pizza online at AJ's. out pizza. Which one is it? What do you say? I hated all of that. It's Rosemary. How did you say it? Rosemary. Rosemary? That's like a name.

Yeah, I know. Exactly. It sounded bad coming out of the mouth and then I was like, well, I've committed to Rosemary. Now this is how I say it. Rosemary. There you go. You're doing it. You're doing it. Clearly you don't cook with Rosemary. Two of the most common names.

Rose and Mary. Rose and Mary. Yeah. You put them together, Rosemary. Becomes a challenge. Cool whip. That's where we're at right now. Okay, 650, 650. Dombar Lumber Text Line. Keep the text.

Coming in there. We'll go around the room here. I didn't do what we do and break to peel back the curtain. We ask who has a what we learned before we come in? Who has a what we learned? Shouldn't we be?

We berate the producers. You guys have what we learns? We should be probably doing this before the show. That's like a segment before. Multiple hours ago, though. I have one. You have one? You want me to do it.

Yeah. Am I the only one that has one? You lead the way. No, I think we have more. Okay. Well, there's a Canadian connection to tonight's Blue Jays game as the Chicago Cubs. Are playing the Toronto Blue Jays. That's right. That's my what we learn. Moukow.

No, they're calling up their top prospect, Owen Casey. C-A-I-S-S-I-E. And if you recognize that name, he played for Canada at the World Baseball Classic. He was one of the breakout performers of that tournament. And now he's

making his M-O-B debut. He was a player that the Cubs acquired in the U-Darvish trade back in 2020. Yeah, he's from Burlington, which is right next to Toronto, and he's going to make his debut, hoping he's in the lineup tonight against the Jays as he's getting his first call-up. Yeah. Exciting news. Good for him.

I expect he will be. He has mashed at AAA. He is from really, really impressive numbers for the Canadian lefty bat. So we'll see. Did Denzo Clark make his debut against the Jays, or was that just early in his? I think it was early. I think it was early. He had already made it an amazing catch before he got to Toronto.

But still, he got to have the kind of big moment early in his career, and we'll see if Owen Casey can duplicate that tonight. Very excited. And you guys, he's a ginger. So now the Cubs have two with Pekro Armstrong and Owen Casey. Oh, no. It's the market inefficiency in baseball now. People are scared of them.

It's like, well, we're not. We'll deal with it. Does it get hot in Chicago? I'll go, do they have to worry about the UD? Yeah, I would in the summer for sure. It's a little windy. Yeah. Yeah, fair enough.

The city might be named after that. Okay, Mucal that. Jamie, do you have one? Oh, boy, do I? So what I learned, and these reports came out not too long after I signed off in the show yesterday, but first from ESPN's Sham Sharania reporting that the Carolina Hurricanes owner, Tom Dundon, will own another major sports franchise soon.

purchasing the Portland Trailblazers at an valuation of more than $4.25 billion. So Dundon, which is interesting because his reputation in the NHL, of course, is, yeah, they're doing a lot of forward-thinking progressive things. The Carolina hurricanes have been very successful under his ownership, but he's not known for being a big spender, right? Their facility situation isn't great. They do a lot of shoestring stuff there in Carolina. but here he is splashing out more than $4 billion to buy the Portland Trailblazer.

So a big time investment in the NBA from Tom Dundon. I also learned this in the course of reading up on it, that Dundon is the majority owner in the major league pickleball. I did not know that. He's the majority owner? Of MLP. I've actually, he runs,

he owns the league. Are you a pickleball guy? I am not. I've never played. I don't have anything against it. Yeah. I just have never played. A friend and I have recently gotten, like, pretty into it.

Okay. It's a lot of fun. I prefer one-on-one rather than the traditional two-on-two. Sure. Because you get more cardio that way. I'm in it for the exercise, not the enjoy it. Well, I do enjoy it. Is that the league that hired Eugenie Bouchard?

Probably. I believe so, yes. And we just had her on. Yeah. Look at all these connections. Should we get Tom Dundon on? Lena. Absolutely.

Did you guys see the meme going around of, is the office meme of Pam holding up the two pictures? And it's the Hurricanes logo and the Trailblazer's, logo and it's the same He's just really He's really like abstract That color scheme and the kind of the swirl thing going on he's like I need to own that

Are there more absolutely need to own that? I need to own that. Are there more sports teams that have that? I didn't know he had NBA franchise money I know right throwing it around He seemed pretty he seems like One of the owners that doesn't like to spend Exactly yeah and so I would assume

That anyone who doesn't like to spend that much Is probably not buying another franchise And it's not just the the upfront cost, right? Like, NBA payrolls are big, big time. That's a big yearly outlay as well. But you're talking about the upfront costs of a money printing machine. Sure.

I think in the long run, he's going to be fine. All right, give us a moot out there. Lena, do you have one? Okay. Lena doesn't have one. I have one. That's fine. I went to lean had a bad time.

Okay, so I have one. Ahead of the... Carrying on Adog's honor of not... I know. She was like, I heard Andy never has one. so I don't think I have to have, which is fair. Okay, ahead of the 2026 edition of the Masters Tournament, have you heard of it?

I have, yes. There is a Lux experience that Augusta National is offering for a cool $219,600. That's a lot of money. What does it include for the Masters in 2026? well, it is a premium patron experience. It has curated service includes transportation, housing, fridge, pantry stocking, you get tea times, and of course the master's tournament badges for the week, so you can go to every round throughout the week at Augusta. So the nearly $220,000 package includes two homes, so you get a host home and a sleeper home.

You get to bring all your friends. You get a dedicated staffer for the week and other amenities like, yeah. You get a man servant? You get a man service. Holy cow. And other amenities like airport transfers to vehicles with on-call chauffeur service, six nights of chef-prepared meals for eight guests and tea times, not at Augusta, but at courses like Champions Retreat, Sage Valley, Old Barnwell and Tree Farm.

and also your 20% tip is included in that. So your 20% tip of $36,600. Just included. Yeah. That's a lot of money. $220,000. Wow. But once you get there, the pimento cheese sandwich is like $1.50.

So it's like a Costco experience where you go in, you spend a lot. You're like, oh, this feels bad. But then you walk out and you're like a hot talk for $150. What a deal. I do, I am a yearly, I enter the lottery for the master. What's the like minimum spend if you win the lottery? If you win the right to purchase tickets, like how much is it cost to get in? I think it's like a hundred bucks.

Oh, wow, really? Maybe 100 to 200. Like they're price locked. Okay. Well, good for them. Yeah. So that's why they got to sell these packages. We're at this point now.

It's good for not gouging. Way to go. Well, well done. They do gouge, but they gouge on merchandise because they're like, we know you're going to want something from the master's. Augusta, everything is expensive. I haven't been there, obviously. Eventually, I will. Eventually, I'll win the lottery. That's right. But, yeah, apparently shirts are like over $100 and stupid little things like TMA or like ballmarkers are like 20 bucks or whatever it is. It's crazy

expensive, but they do gouge on that, but the tickets and the food, that's cheap. So you have a good time while you're there. Speaking of expensive extra experiences at sporting events, I can't find exactly which college football team it is, but I saw this yesterday, and it was a big time program, is selling a special add-on. And I don't know if it's just for like season ticket members or whatever, but a special add-on for around $700 where you can buy access to the coaches post-game media conference. Oh, let me tell. I don't know if you get to like ask a question or not, but it's like, I hope. I was like, that's a dangerous idea. If that team loses and two really hardcore fans have

shelled out $700 to be in the room. I feel like that's not in, like, simultaneously, that's too much and not enough to be in the room. I would just be in the background. I mean, like, nope, that's wrong. What are they going to do? Take away your credentials? It's like, yeah, I'm not a media member.

Yeah. I can do whatever I want here. Because that's the, that's the thing, like, for some, as someone, both of us who have, like, been in scrums, it's like, well, it's not that. I wouldn't pay $700 to be in a scrum. No. But I can't imagine. But if you had an axe to grind?

That's what I'm saying. Like, die hard Canucks fans after like the team's on a losing's kid, they're like, you know what I'm paying the 700? I was going to say, I'm going to talk to Adam for it. What? So I'm curious to hear. People can text in. What would you pay to like be in the scrum?

Does that interest you as a, an extra add-on if you're on top of your Canucks tickets? And I think, see, I don't think it would be the coach's scrum after like on a losing streak. I think the big money item for Canucks fans would be. like the Jim Rutherford year and media availability. Well, that one's going to cost more. Well, sure. That's the luxury package. Absolutely. That's the $220,000 pack. The thing with

Jim Rutherford is, even if they were like, okay, you're not allowed to ask a question, just sit there, just observe, you're just here for the experience. If you did just shout out a question to Jim Rutherford, he'd probably answer you. You'll probably give you a good, candid answer. So once you're in that room, you've got the ability to go and really make

something happen there. We have those town halls every once in while. People pay to get into those. That's true. It's kind of the same idea. They've had a... I don't think they had one this year. Maybe they didn't have one this year. But they've had them. A couple years ago, they had them.

And yeah, they talked to fans in the stands and answer questions and all that. You're right. That would be the more... Like, if that was an option for fans to buy tickets to, which is crazy. What an idea. I love it. I mean, way to make money. Everyone's just like, how can we squeeze more money out of this?

What can we do? How can we debase ourselves? Hey, getting people... It's a video you can watch after. Getting people around. up and angry and then making them pay. That's a great money-making plan. You think the coach was like in the know about this?

No, I don't think he was. He's like, what? You're letting boo in? Why is there multiple people? There are dozens of people back there in jerseys. What are we doing right now? Yeah, that is, that's wild. Okay, Mucow that.

We've got a lot on the 650, 650, Dumbar Lumber text line that we will get to on the other side. But also, I can keep texting them in, 650, 650. We could always use more. It's never too late. It's never too late. Until like 8.54. Then it is too late.

You missed your chance. It will not be read. It will not be able to read it. Okay, so we'll get to some. On the other side, it is Halford & Brough. Josh Elliott-Wolf, Jamie Dodd, SportsNet 650. Jamie Dar, coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Halford & Brough, brought to you by Sands and Associates.

I'm ditching it. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by update. 80% with no more interest. Visit sands dash trustee. com. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit Campbell-Dash-Pound.com. That was great. Why did you stop? I didn't, I kind of felt like I didn't have to, I didn't feel like I could carry it through all the reads. At a certain point It would have been a little much The bit expired

Yes You know It sounded kind of painful For your voice too Well it was Yeah Two minutes later I don't have the experience of

You know No Being a metal You haven't worked up to it You haven't done All the exercises They have to do How many exercises

Like I guess they do to Okay Probably not I don't know I think they do You can break your vocal cords Yeah

You gotta warm it up You gotta warm up Sure guys All right You fragile vocal cords We're coming to you live From the Kintech Studio

Kintech Pootmore I guess I'm just built different. Working together with you in step. And then also guess on SportsNet 650, call in on the hotline powered by PowerWest Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on.

Okay, so now we have time. We took an extra break today. Yeah, but they were short. I don't know if you noticed. They were short. So now we can get to all the listener submitted what we learned. So let's print those out. And we get to them now.

Do you have any that stand out right there? I do. Justin and Langley text in. And a couple of people texted about this earlier in the show. And we were talking about the white caps. Of course, in addition to the Thomas Mueller stuff, they drew Forge 2-2 in the Canadian championship semifinals first leg. Anyways, Justin and Langley texted, what I learned with Vancouver FC's win last night,

we were possibly 90 minutes away from a Vancouver, Vancouver, Canadian championship final. That's from Justin and Langley. Yeah, Vancouver FC is in the semifinals. They beat Atlago Ottawa 3-1. Don't call yourself. Out in Langley at the Willoughby Community Park yesterday, which is significant one because it gives them a 3-1 lead.

They got the office has to go play in Ottawa in the second leg in September. So it sets up a potential Vancouver of Vancouver Canadian Championship final, which would be pretty cool to see it local like that. also a big deal because as somebody texted in earlier this week, they had not won a match at home in over a year Vancouver FC. They did it. So they did that. They finally got that taking care of. Yeah, that's a big deal. Do we count it? Even though it's like not a CPL? I mean, they won a competitive match

at home. It was a win at home. It was a win at home. So they won a CPL game at home, but they won a game against the CPL opponent at home. So I'm not going to split hairs too much here. I also discovered that former white cap you're a casual fan I don't know if you'll remember this name but Nicholas Meskita who played like a hundred appearances for the white caps

like 10 to 8 years ago 10 to 6 years ago is now playing for Vancouver FC Oh okay yeah you liked it here Apparently he's back He scored a goal I think last night Excellent so there you go So anyways we could have a potential

I'm hoping for it A Vancouver Vancouver a derby match As they say in the Canadian championship final It'd be a tough look for the white caps If that did happen and then they did They lost? Yeah. With Thomas Mueller.

With Thomas Mueller. Not ideal. Okay. I got one from Mike theologist from Brockville. What we learned, it's heavy baseball talk when it's a Dodd-Elli-Wolf Day. That's right. Supposedly called a do-day. Is it called that?

Apparently, that's what Mike is calling it. So he also says, seems like you guys should drink only Mountain Dew on Duh. No, thank you. I haven't had a Mountain Dew in, oh, man, like 25 years. What if we, tomorrow, we, tried to crush three mountain does each. Well, bringing different flavors.

It'll be code red, a Baja blast. I do like a Baja Blast. Yeah, you can go through all the different Mountain Dews. Mountain Dew, Baja, but by the end, we're not going to be able to do the show because we will have drinking too much liquid.

Yeah. That sounds disgusting. Mountain Dew is pretty nasty. Mountain Dews really leaned into like the gamer audience. They were like, people joke about gamers drinking us, so we're just going to go for it. We're going to go into it.

The Monster Energy drink of soft drinks. Yes. Yeah. Has there been a monster Mountain Dew crossover? It's got to be. Mountain Dew started as like,

it's like a regional Appalachian thing. It's like from the top of the mountains. That's what it is. That's what they were trying to sell it as. Yeah. Yeah. And that's for like guys in their basement. It's a real,

a real transformation of their target audience. From rural Appalachia to hardcore gamers. Good for them, I guess. Hey man. They're doing it. They're surviving. This one from Leaf, what we learned. I learned that I'm right in my assumptions when I see a hoodie in the office. Someone has had to flee their place in a hurry.

Yeah, that's me today. Or someone is just not trying that hard. Yeah. Which is fine. I'm doing both. I wear, I rock a hoodie in the, not in the summer months so much, but in the fall and winter. I will say that the reason I'm wearing a hoodie today is because, so my apartment is generally because it's a few floors up, is generally very hot in the summer.

summer. So I get accustomed to it. And I'm like, I don't really have air conditioning. We have portable ACs. But then I went to my dad's house and like very nicely. They were like, hey, take the basement. And they have air conditioning. It is very cold in the basement. Wow, AC and the basement. I know. It's deluxe right there. I know. We talk about Lux, Lux hospitality offers at the Masters. This is what it is at the Elliott household. That's a Josh Dad's house. Yeah. So I just, I woke up and I was like, I should not be this cold. And that's why I'm wearing a hood. But we get up at, like, 4.30 in the morning.

People are really ripping our style choices at that hour. Like, I get dressed in a dark room. I can't even see the clothes that I'm putting on my body. It's dangerous, guys. I'm wearing a colored shirt, all right? So speak for yourself. People might say, you know, people have told me to get, you know, get an outfit ready the day before, but that requires preparation, and I can't do that.

I'm sorry. And, you know, I'd like to go with the flow. I'm going to go with the flow kind of guy. But I do, uh, also in this line of work, we can kind of wear. We get away with it. It doesn't matter. whatever. That's pretty much the directive. Even now that we're on camera, it's like, ah, who cares? Just

wear something. Don't be presentable. Wear a shirt, please. I have sometimes joked that if I ever wanted to like get a really hot controversial takeoff, but not have the producers clip it and put it on social media that I should just wear like something really like distasteful

or like, yeah, like have like a way too much my chest showing or something on the clip. Just something gross. They're like, oh, we can't put this? You already have deep Vs. Can you can your bees get deeper? make them a little bit deeper. Okay. This one comes in the mildly athletic quarterback.

What we learned, I learned that the white caps may need to make one more move in the transfer market to seriously contend for the title without Vesilinovich. They probably don't have the centerback depth or quality required. I wasn't able to watch the match against Forge, Forge F.C. last night, but reading the comments online in the reports after the game, a lot of fingers pointed at Bjorn Utvick, a Norwegian class central defender for the Vancouver Whitecaps as the scapegoat on both goals that Forge scored actually. So I think certainly the mildly athletic quarterback is not the only one who has identified

that as a need spot for the Vancouver whitecaps. And I have seen rumblings out there on social media as well that something like that might be in the works. I know with Sam Adakoubigh injured as well, but there might be looking at a left back. So I think you're right overall, mildly athletic quarterback. Who would we call in the NFL a mildly athletic quarterback? Kirk Cousins. Do you mean like he's not athletic? Yeah. So mildly athletic. I would say like Baker Mayfield maybe. Yeah. He's like mildly athletic. He's not like a dual threat. That guy's Lamar Jackson. Yeah, but he's not like a statue. Yeah. All right. Well, sure. First name comes to my mind.

Anyways, I think the front office for the white caps is on the same page as you mildly athletic quarterback. Okay, good one there. This one from Owen formerly of Burnaby. Since we had a texter named Grimmis, what I learned was that Grimmis is actually a taste bud. I had no idea. Like the grimace. Like the character? The character is a taste.

Yeah. Okay. When I. Classic purple taste bud. when I read that text I thought what they meant that it was like Grimmis is the name

of a specific taste bud you have on your in your mouth I was like that's weird yeah they're like well call him Grimmis that's great

what a great now I realize what he means that Grimmis the character is meant to be yes a taste bud

come to life they don't really do as much with the McDonald's cast of characters as much anymore it was a big thing I just saw a thing

they're bringing them back yeah they did a commercial with Ronald for the first time in like a decade yeah Yeah, because when I was a little kid, that was that Ronald was all over the place.

And to all commercials, everything, Grimmis. He was a hamburger. Was it Mayor McCheese? Yeah. Yeah. All of them. Very popular. Or is Mayor McCheese just from Family Guy.

Was he an actual thing? I think he was a real guy. Oh, okay. I'm pretty sure. I could be wrong. Anyways. Yeah, they're bringing them back for McDonald's themed meal as an homage to McDonald's fictional world.

So they're, yeah, they're bringing them all that. They've killed off 10 years ago? yeah I guess so they're bringing it back I did uh I took my kids to McDonald's recently they got the happy meals and the toy was just like

brutal toy McDonald's stuff it was like this is like the cash register McDonald's I was like you guys aren't trying hard that's what we and it was like a Disney movie tired it was a pack of stickers and like a QR code to play a game on their website like that is so pitiful I'm sorry that's bad I don't know if this is like

they're like really focusing on themselves now it's like we're going to try to hype every kid's dream to pretend they're playing playing at McDonald's. I felt horrible for my kids. I felt bad. This is a joke. I'm like,

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're in the lunch rush here. Got to get some more burgers on the griddle. So by the way, in the imaginary world of McDonald land, hamburgers grow on patches and apple pies grow on trees, which they say makes it the perfect place for Ronald McDonald and his friends to

grab a quick bite. Sure. So I do, I think, I feel like what happened is we, went through a long stretch where clowns were very out of favor in our culture. We're out on clowns. It got rebooted.

As a society, we were out on clowns. No, like, well before it got rebooted. There, you could, like, you could find a lot of people who are like, I'm terrified of clowns. Or even if they're not terrified, they're like, I find them unsettling, which I get. The makeup, they're not, like, pleasant to look at. I wouldn't describe. I would not describe clowns as pleasant to look at.

Yeah. Yeah. they're not are like people professionally still clown yeah absolutely I'm sure you can still hire a clown for your kid's birthday party or for whatever or for your birthday party I won't yeah I think I'm okay

last time I saw a clown I think they were just like a person at a festival making balloons and stuff so you got to have other skills on top of being a clown you got to be a versatile versatile athlete all around player if you're going to be a clown 650 650 just in the East Van Parking attendant

what we learned Shador Sanders is out day to day with an oblique injury. Oh my goodness. And is unlikely to play on Sunday. The run is over. Yep. It's over. RIP,

the Shudor Sanders hype lasted one week in preseason. Yeah. What a week it was. He was going to take the job from Joe Flacco. I mean, is he like, I still, I kind of want to see him keep playing though

to at least be like, you know, maybe it is something. I don't know. Well, maybe we'll see it during the regular season when they're really bad. And they're like,

you know what? We don't need to play Joe Flacko anymore. It's fine. so yeah no Shador Sanders this week we'll see how long it is though basketball fill text in what we learn the Blazers

need a new arena Portland citizens are not going to pay for it we have seen this movie before and know how it ends and this is in relationship to my in relation to my what we learned earlier which was that Tom Dundan the owner of the hurricanes is buying the trailblazers now the

reporting was the intent is to keep them in Portland the intent is not to buy and move them. I saw some Portland Trailblazers fans immediately reacting with relief that there's already a basketball team in Charlotte. So they don't have to worry about him like consolidating all his teams into the Charlotte area. The other wrinkle here is that the Trailblazers are being sold as part of an estate

sell-off from Paul Allen, who of course also owns the Seahawks as well. And apparently in his will, it was sell all my teams. so the estate's been directed to sell the Seahawks as well there for sale we'll see like hard to find an NFL buyer they're just so expensive so that one might take a little longer but I don't know if there's stipulations in that will of a condition of the sale has to be that they remain in their market or anything like that I get what basketball field is saying arena battle feels like a tough sell to the citizens of Portland to get them to to buck up for that one and there's the city just a little bit north in Seattle that desperately wants a team back. I'd still be a little surprised, especially because if the NBA allows that, you are taking a really,

really potentially lucrative expansion market off the table. I think the NBA would way rather get the maximum expansion fee. And if the Trailblazers are going for $4 billion, the expansion fee is going to be an awful lot in the NBA. They would way rather get that out of Seattle rather than relocate the trailblazers. Yeah, and then you also have like the built-in rivalry aspect of like you can have a team in Portland and in Seattle. I do, I do agree. It does seem like it would have to be a, like they're going to have to try to figure out something in Portland. It does feel, it does feel

precarious to an extent though, because I don't know how willing. Yeah. And will be to, like if Dundon isn't going to foot the bill for a new arena, how willing is Portland to cover it? You know, when the team has been struggling and like, hey, maybe people aren't as into it as they used to be. But I don't know. I guess we'll see. I do think it's a situation to keep an eye on. And it could be the kind of thing that becomes more of a conversation

after they get expansion done. But even then, I mean, they've been like slow playing the whole expansion thing. So we'll see very odd. We'll see when that ultimately does get done. But again, I just think if you, I still think despite the, oh, well, maybe we'll take it slower.

teams aren't convinced because they don't want to divide the TV pie up in extra ways. I still think we're going to see two NBA expansion teams in the next like four to five years. I think that's going to happen and I think it's going to be Vegas in Seattle. I wonder if after that, after they've taken care of that, got those expansion fees, then maybe do they start putting the pressure on Portland and saying, hey, we could move somewhere else now? I think the issue is that usually they want to figure out any relocation situations before they kind of shift their attention to expansion. But I guess, in the NHL they just had to do the same thing

where they expanded to two places obviously Vegas and Seattle and then the Arizona situation was up in the air for a while and then they moved to Utah so I guess it could be a similar situation that plays out where hey Seattle, Vegas they get their teams in the next few years and then they try to figure out the Portland situation

it does feel weird that they haven't expanded yet though like the NHL's talking about expanding to 34 already and the NBA is still waiting for to get to 32. And it feels like they have the talent to do it. They've had the talent for a while to be able to get to 32 teams. And Seattle and Vegas have been clamoring for teams.

So I am surprised that the NBA hasn't taken the dive yet, especially because it's like those franchise fees are going to be so expensive. They're going to be astronomical. And so that's why ultimately I think maybe I don't know if this is posturing on the NBA's part or what it is, but the money involved is just too significant. that I think they're going to find a way to get it done. 650, 650, Dumbar Lumbertex Line.

What we learned. I learned that the UEFA Super Cup game was yesterday. Sure. Tottenham gave up a 2-0 lead both in both the regulation 90 minutes as well as the penalty shootout, tough outing for Hotspurs fans. That's from Dalviour. Who are they playing against? PSG, yes, I believe.

Yeah. good job another tough outing for Tottenham supporters which again based on my relatively limited knowledge of the Premier League

feels like that happens a lot you can say that an awful lot for Tottenham supporters we'll go around the room we have a question from Dalvia as well have you guys ever tried the Doritos so it's Mountain Dew flavored Doritos

no no absolutely that sounds disgusting seems like Alina I why does it seem like a Lena thing I just kidding Honestly, she would be the last person in the, in, at 650 that I would be like, oh, she tried the Doritos.

Do you like Doritos? I actually do like Doritos. I actually do like Doritos. Do you like Mountain Dew? I don't, I think I had a, last time I had a Mountain Dew, I was probably like six years old. You know what we're doing tomorrow, guys? We're all getting due down. Here we go.

Where do you even buy Doritos? That's a good question. I feel like one of the like specialty snack stores probably have them. I have a take. I am a hundred percent out on all novelty food combinations, right? All of the like, it was a couple years ago in the show, some, I think it was like French's like, we have mustard popsicles. It's like, that's disgusting.

And I know you're doing it for social media. So people will tweet like, oh, it's so gross. It's so wacky. And people like take videos of it, whatever. I hate it. I'm out. I don't find it amusing. I don't find it entertaining.

So you didn't get the hot dog sushi at the nat when they had that. I would not. Well, I mean, at least that sound. I can see that being good. Yeah. But you know what I mean. It's probably not. All of the like dumb novelty

mashups of food that are just purely designed to get people talking on social media. It's gross. I hate it. Stop it. Another sign of our fallen world in my eyes. Okay.

So for me, anytime I go into the snack aisle or the pop aisle at the store and there's something new, I try it. Oh, you're one of those. I'm so weak.

Well, I don't mind like, variations. Like Reese's peanut butter cups, there's all these different variations, right? And they've got the ones that's got like the Reese's pieces in the cup. I'm like, that's great. Have you seen the new one they're doing? But that's not purposely disgusting. No, I have not. I must have missed my latest edition of Reese's magazine

with all the new models they're launching in the fall. I'm not up to date. It has Oreo in it. Did you see the new Reese's? Wild things are happening in the peanut butter cup. Incredible. The industry mags are a buzz. You're getting angry about this in Canada. If you go to states they have like a billion even more flavors of mashups of things I can't believe how much

they have a problem I don't have a problem of like Reese and Oreo of those are those are in the same genre those are fine those make sense as a flavor combination I don't have an issue of that I'm talking about the dumb stunt ones that are clearly no one would ever be excited about eating they're just designed to get a reaction from people I think Doritos falls into that category is that's just stupid you know if it's stupid or not when you hear about what about these so we get a question. Brendan and Burnaby, no Selena Gomez Oreos for Jamie Doddman. I don't even know what that means.

That's a, it's a celebrity endorsed, it's still regular flavors. This is what I was going to ask. Yeah, what do we feel about celebrity endorsed? I'm out on that too. There's an ad on TV right now. I think it's for an espresso where the weekend is like, I designed this coffee as a tribute to my mom.

I'm like, what are you talking about? How did you make sense? In the flavors. So I hate that trend too. It's like Selena Gomez did not improve the flavor of Oreos in any way. Get out of here of that. I don't care about her endorsement. I don't need her involved in my Oreos in any respect.

And when they take them away, no, bring back the Selena Gomez. Those are my favorite Oreos. I don't think anyone's going to be saying that. That would be the worst thing, though, if you actually find a limited edition item that you love, and then they're like, ah, it's gone now. Yeah, what if we fall in love with the Doritos?

And then the next thing you know, 10 years from now, we talk about the Doritos. Yeah. It's a nostalgic. thing to look back on. So the Selena Gomez Oreos are a limited edition flavor inspired by Horchata, Mexican beverage. I said it wrong, didn't I? No, I think that's right. Oh, okay. All right. You're shaking your head. I'm shaking my head at the limited edition Oreo concept. That's another thing. I hate the whole like, it's a limited edition collab. It's a, it's a collector's

addition. Make sure you line up and get it. Don't even eat it. Don't even eat it. Oh, give me a break. They prey on guys like Josh, because he said every time he goes to the store, he will buy a new matchup. The whole business model relies on you. Josh. I know. And I'm sorry. But any time I go on the snack aisle, anytime there's like a new, like, Coke has like an orange cream Coke that I was like, you know what, I got to try it. Try it once. And then if it's good, I might get it again. It was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I've recently had to convert to, not had to. Had to. You were forced to. Yeah. I've recently made the conscious decision to convert to zero sugar, soda pops. Because I kind of had a pop problem,

to be honest. And I, you know what? As an adult, I was like, I at least have to make this slightly better for it. So I switched to a zero sugar. And it's been tough, but I've done it. I've committed. And it's okay. But I've had to learn which ones are better zero sugar.

They're also making pops out now with just like a tiny bit of sugar in them. Are they? Which I find is better than. Well, they need to find that, those aren't available a lot of places though. There needs to be a sweet spot just for generally, not even just pop, but for like convenience store, drinks between sugar that's going to kill you instantly, the most sugar you've ever tasted in your life, and like the sparkling water with almost no flavor.

Like, can you just add a little bit? Just like a quarter of the sugar if it's in a Coke, that's what I'm looking for. The issue I think that's going to arise with that would be that it would be close enough to a Coke, but also not close enough. So you drink it and you're like, oh, this is, it's just a worst Coke. I just find, and this is like the most old man thing. and be like I it's hard for me to like finish a whole can of coke because it's so sugary and I feel like I can like feel my teeth eroding and I love the flavor yeah but it's just like I just need

sometimes you just want a nice refreshing drink from the convenience store that's not water just a little bit of sugar they got the mini cans they do yeah I've converted that this is why I've converted like an espresso shot I find anything with stevia and it does that for me like I can't stand it yeah I've never been a big sugar substitute guy all right Give me the real thing. We did a really good job killing some time there. I'm really proud of us. Got all our pocket.

Do you get angry about some nonsense some more? No, no. We'll do it tomorrow. We got to ask us anything tomorrow. I'll finish with this one. Woodrow the eligible Bachelor. What we learned, Josh's flooded apartment stories should be the basis for a new jiffy on demand. It's true.

On SportsNet 650. I'm always available. I'm always available. Okay. Appreciate it everyone texting in 650, 650. Everyone listening to the show as well. Think of our producers, Lena and Laddie. Thank you to my co-host, Jamie.

I've been Josh Elie. We'll back tomorrow for one more days and that's gets anything Friday tomorrow on SportsNet 650.