Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions Co-GM Neil McEvoy + What We Learned

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with BC Lions Co-GM Neil McEvoy (1:05), whose squad looks to keep their win streak alive Friday versus Toronto, the boys tell us what they learned (15:00), plus we hear from the humanoids (30:00). 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.

803 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda, North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program.

BC Alliance General Manager Neil McEvoy is going to join us in just a moment. We are in Hour 3 of the program. BC Alliance General Manager Neil McEvoy is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 3. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise

of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands

of five-star Google reviews. So, our feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec. To the phone lines we go. Neil McEvoy joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Neil. How are you?

I'm doing good, guys. Thanks for having me on. It's September and all forms of football is kicking off. High school, professional, college. So, it's a good time to be a fan of football in all countries. Is there a bit of sigh of relief after the last two games by the BC Lions or maybe not a sigh of relief just pure excitement? Yeah a little bit of both I'd say you know when you're on a five game losing streak things start to get pretty depressing

and you know it's a testament to our coaches and our football team to keep things as positive as you could. And we were happy to get the big win in Victoria against Ottawa. Ottawa is a good football team and traveling across the country, playing on grass in front of a hostile environment. Victoria was good, but, you know, heading to Montreal and playing in that stadium, which is really tough to play in because the fans are right on top of you. And our team just playing the way they did. I was happy for that, and hopefully that will get us in the right direction and keep things rolling.

Neil, I know the Nathan Rourke addition isn't exactly new anymore. Matthew Betts was also added to the team. Can you take us a little bit behind the scenes about how those additions were made? Was there convincing to be made for Nathan Rourke or Matthew Betts to come back to the BC Lions or possibly were they entertaining other CFL teams? What are the conversations, for example, that you have to have with your ownership in terms of the financial investment? And then there are the conversations, for example, that you have to have with your ownership in terms of the financial investment? And then there are the salary cap concerns.

Can you take us a bit behind the scenes? Because if these guys launch you into a Grey Cup, it's going to be a big part of the whole narrative of the Lions season. Yeah, one thing that we do have within our football team is is a really good family environment and um and those two individuals went off to the nfl and we still remained in contact like they obviously weren't a part of our team because they are with other professional teams but certainly uh calls were made back and forth from you know trainers equipment managers coaches and everybody else just keeping in contact to see how they were, to see how, hey, how are things going? How are things in Detroit?

How are things in wherever Nathan was at the time? So when they made the decision to come back to Canada, you know, it was an easy decision for them. And like you said, probably harder for us because we had to go to ownership and god bless them are he came to the table and said i just can't see nathan rourke playing for another team in canada i can't see matthew betts playing for another team and so we were able to come come to a financial agreement and they're back at home and i've said that before i mean this is a family environment and these guys wanted to come home where they were loved.

And, you know, sometimes going to the other league, the NFL, it doesn't always, you know, a family environment as they found out. So we opened them, you know, back with open arms and so far we're happy with how those two guys have been playing. What are the salary cap considerations that you do have to deal with?

Oh, there's, yeah. I mean, that's one of the things that we have been playing. What are the salary cap considerations that you do have to deal with? Oh, there's, yeah. I mean, that's one of the things that we have to consider. And, you know, the Canadian Football League, the salary cap is done at the end of the year. So, you know, we do have to make some moves to get us under the cap, which we have been doing over the last month or so. So, you know, there's lots of time left. Unfortunately, in the sport of football, unfortunately, guys do get hurt. hurt and so um you know you just have to keep on things rolling and that's

that's how you have to navigate the cap going through so i i don't know the details of this so educate me like i am not a very smart sport sports fan which he is can you finish the season over the cap and then pay a penalty or do you try penalty? Or do you have to get under the cap by the end of the season? Yeah, no, we do have a penalty. I'm like Major League Baseball, I guess, is a good example. You know, we are trying to get under the cap as much as we can. And if you can't, there is a penalty at the end of the year when it's all calculated. So I don't exactly know, again, because of injuries and everything else,

where we'll end up, but we're doing our best to get it as low as we can so at the end of the day we can help Amar direct his team in the best direction. But again, back to ownership, it all comes down to that. If your owner is wanting to have these guys on your team, God bless them, and that's why we were able to do it and bring two highly skilled athletes back to the Vancouver market, which created a buzz for everybody, which was what it's all about.

I mean, at the end of the day, professional football is about winning and selling tickets. And two of the things that we've been able to do the last couple of weeks. We're speaking to BC Lions general manager, Neil McEvoy here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We spoke to Dwayne Vannot prior to Touchdown Pacific. I wanted to ask you, from your perspective as the general manager, now that you've had a couple weeks to let the whole thing sink in and the experience marinate,

some takeaways from how you thought Touchdown Pacific went, aside from a very good on-field result for your guys. Yeah, at the end of the day, the win was the number one thing, and obviously the win probably masked a couple of the issues behind the scenes that were there. I really liked the event. I thought the city of Victoria stepped up and really welcomed us, and our fans, I believe, stepped up and were all over the city of Victoria, which I thought was great for them and for us. So, you know, logistically, is that environment what you're expecting?

It's not like going to BC Place where everything's top class and the locker rooms are first class. Like, this was putting stuff, you know, together, not last minute, but again, the infrastructure there just isn't what we are used to at BC Place. But at the end of the day, what a great event. I mean, it looked great on TV. The fans had a great time. It was a beautiful day. So I think it was a great event to showcase the BC Lions throughout the province of British Columbia. And at the end of the day, we were very, very happy with how the event won. And obviously obviously with the win it was a great day for all uh the win in montreal was also the william standback revenge game uh he was

fantastic there how happy are you as an executive of what you've gotten out of standback after getting him uh over from montreal in the offseason yeah you know what we we you know sitting back at the end of last year thinking how can we improve this football team? Well, one of the ways we thought was to get a running back that can really pound the football. And Will has done that. I mean, if you watch him, he reminds me of an NFL back where when you hit him, he's falling forward two to three yards. And that's exactly the type of power that we wanted.

And in Montreal, they were hitting him seven yards down the field and he would fall forward for another three for the first down. And, you know, his exciting run. He is such an athletic guy, but at the end of the day, you're going to have to lower your pads and get back to technique to hit him because he is going to run you over. So, yeah, we're excited about how he has brought some physicality to our football team.

And, again, another great guy that fits into the mold of the BC Lions family. So yeah, just an exciting addition to our team, and we're happy to have him. How is the running game thought of in the Canadian game versus the American game? Yeah, you could say it's not as prevalent, but it's certainly, in all professional football, you do have to run the ball, or at the end of the day, the linebackers and defensive end just tee off on you. I mean, if you watch NFL football, those teams that can't run or try to establish the run and can't do it, they have trouble passing the ball because, like I said, the defensive linemen and linebackers just are able to come off the edge because you're not running it.

So you have to have a run game, at least a hidden run game, where if they're just going to blitz you all the time, excuse me, if they're going to blitz you all the time, you can run the ball or throw some screens. So with the addition of Will, that's exactly what we've been able to do. And in the Canadian Football League, you still have to run the ball. I know, you know, you only have two downs to get to the 10 yards, but the field's wider, which gives you more holes and you know that 10 yards is tough to

get but still with the field the way it is and the the amount of field that the defensive backs have to cover it does open up the opportunity to grind the ball and so uh with a guy like will we have been able to do that and you see teams in the canadian football league like the winnipeg blue bombers who have had great success the last four or five years they are a predominantly running team With a guy like Will, we have been able to do that. And you see teams in the Canadian Football League, like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have had great success the last four or five years. They are a predominantly running team that when the weather gets cold and it's tough to throw the ball, it's tough to deal with it

because they are just pounding you backwards. And that's one of the things that we are trying to get to, which so far we have been able to do that. It is the Lions hosting the Argos this Friday. That's September 13th. Ooh, Friday the 13th. 7 o'clock kickoff at BC Place. Get your tickets now at bclions.com.

Neil, thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Good luck against the Argos on Friday. Appreciate it, guys. Have a great show, and I hope to talk to you soon. Thanks, Neil. That's Neil McEvoy, BC Lions general manager here on the Halpert & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Should we do some what we learned?

Yeah, I got a couple. Okay, can I start with one? I've got a couple as well. Sure. I learned that the dream might be over, folks. For? Well, Sidney Crosby said he's optimistic that he'll get a contract extension done

with the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into the season. He told a reporter recently the scores. John Matisse at the NHL, NHLPA player media tour in Vegas yesterday. He said, I think I'm pretty optimistic it's going to get done. I don't know what day specifically, but it's been really positive. It hasn't been a difficult process at all. Bummer. Yeah.

I mean, it was a pipe dream probably that Sid would leave the Pittsburgh Penguins. And then we all knew that with the Pittsburgh connections in Vancouver, maybe they could find a way. But it doesn't look – I mean, Nick Robertson signs with Toronto. That's massive, obviously. Okay, so the Penguins open their season. Now Sid with the Penguins. On October 9th, that's their opener against the Rangers.

Yeah. So he's got a month, basically. It sounds like it's going to get done. Bummer. I know. That's really disappointing. I thought the time was less. I thought there was more of a crunch, but there's not.

It's going well. You know the contract talk that I'm looking at most now, right? No. Heading into the season. Which one? It's Canucks related. Okay. Which one do you think it is? Nils Hoaglander.

Rick Tockett. Oh, yeah, that guy. I didn't think you were going to go off the board. Coaching one's a good one, though. Yeah. That is a bit, yeah. One year left with the team option and, you know. Get it done before the season, man.

Get it done before the season. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When did they spring? Tockett said over the summer, you know, once we have time to talk about it, I'm sure we'll talk about it. Have you had time? First question at the press conference. Have you had time to talk about the extension?

Remember how the Canucks took care of the captaincy last year? And we were all like, nice. They did it. They got it out of the way. They gave it to Hughes. It was September 11th. They're like, go. You're the captain now.

And then they're like, let's go do training camp and stuff. They should do the same thing this year. September 11th, they're like, go. You're the captain now. And then they're like, let's go do training camp and stuff. They should do the same thing this year. September 11th is tomorrow. But if I'm Rick Taka, I'm sitting there going, well, I'm coach of the year. So I want a lot of money. No, I get it. I want elite hockey coach money. Give it to him.

There's no salary cap on coaches. I'm Rick Taka. I was a good player, too. If he's on camera right now, Brough's pointing at himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm Rick Tockett. I was a good player, too. If he's on camera right now, Brough's pointing at himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm Rick Tockett. Yeah, yeah.

But maybe, I don't know. What would be the, other than like, oh, it costs a lot of money, what would be the holdup? There's no salary cap on coaches. You just did everything. Does Rick Tockett want to see more?

Did everything. Well, he wants to see money. Probably. Is that it, though? I don't know. Don't you think Rick Tockett's in a position right now where he could be like, I bet I could find a job if you don't want to pay money. Is that it, though? I don't know. Don't you think Rick Toc is in a position right now where he could be like,

I bet I could find a job if you don't want to pay me. Yeah, you just give him the money. Personally. I mean, don't do this. At least try that. Yeah, give him the money. I'll pay the money! Don't do this thing in Carolina

where they keep always nickel and diming Rod Brindamore. Don't do it. Just give Toc the money. I mean, he's earned it this is they did everything you asked them to do last year he brought structure he took them to the second round of the playoffs he won the jack adams he was named a canada's coaching staff like he's he ticked all the boxes sometimes you just have to reward good people and good players and good coaches and just give them the money.

Mark at the office is flailing, texting in, just because Crosby signs a deal doesn't mean he can't be traded. I bet there'll be some no-movement clauses. It means it's a lot more likely that he's going to finish his career in Pittsburgh. I bet old Sid could negotiate himself a no-trade clause. Crosby's like, I look forward to ending my career in Pittsburgh. Yeah, about that, Sidney. We've actually traded you. Market the office. They could

fold. They've been bankrupt before. They could happen again. You never know. They could move and that could trigger a clause in his contract. Anyway, Mukau all that. I'll follow up with a hockey one as well. Here's a situation to monitor

in Calgary. We talked about all these sort of minor news and notes that are happening across the league. The Crosby one's bigger than minor, but these ones on their own might not mean something. Collectively, they might. The Calgary Flames have signed

veteran journeyman defenseman Jared Tenorti and invited Tyson Berry to training camp on a PTO officially. So Tenorti signed. Berry invited to camp. The reason this is of interest is because over the last couple weeks, it's been reported on multiple fronts that Calgary is shopping a number of players,

including two defensemen, Rasmus Anderson and Mackenzie Wieger. Now, if you're looking at the Calgary situation right now and you're saying, this team sure feels like it needs to undergo a rebuild and they've got a lot of pieces that they could probably fetch some good assets for and they're coming off a year where they traded Lindholm and Zdorov and Hannafin and Markstrom why not keep going and trading guys I would say bringing in two cheap veteran defensemen who probably aren't going to be there for a long time in Barry and Tenorti would paper over and you know band-aid solution while you get rid of Anderson

and McKenzie. They're going to be so bad, aren't they? They're going to be really bad. Is there any way that they could surprise? No. I don't see it. How damaging is this going to be for your boy Dustin Wolfe, Laddie? Are they throwing him to the wolves?

There's really no backup plan there. They got Vladar and Wolfe. But, I mean mean I know you Are especially protective Of your young goalies When they get thrown Into questionable Like is this gonna be

A shooting gallery It won't be as bad As It won't be as bad As San Jose last year No but it'll be pretty bad The environment's gonna be Very very tough for him

But I still think He prefers it over Playing in the AHL Cause yeah right Cause Markstrom faced a ton of shots last year. Like, they weren't

good last year. Well, he was breaking down, too. It was just too much for his body to handle. Anyway. I should tell you all you need to know.

I'll be very curious to see, since the Canucks have already dabbled in acquiring a defenseman from Calgary, I mean, Rasmus Anderson, I think. I know some people

have connected the Dodds, but he'd be a great fit in Vancouver. I don't know if they can make it work money-wise or asset-wise. But hey, they've done a deal with the Calgary Flames for a defenseman before. Wieger's got so much term left on his contract. That's sort of like the defenseman-lite version of the Huberto contract. Like, we got him.

We got him. This is exciting. Let's sign him right away. I've been so anti. This is me. I's sign him right away. I've been so anti. This is me. I realize that this is dumb. Okay. But ever since I saw Uyghur have a really bad couple of moments in the playoffs for the Florida Panthers a couple of years ago,

I don't really care about all the points that he piles up. He does pile up a lot of points. He's a good player. Yeah, but I saw him make these terrible mistakes in the playoffs. And I realize it's a classic getting tricked by a sample size or loud mistakes by a defenseman. I saw something once. Don't like it.

Don't like it. Don't like it at all. He turns the puck over too much. Just concluded from those two or three moments that I saw in the playoffs. But he was gone from the team the next year. Yeah, they got rid of him. Yeah, he was part of the Huberto trade.

Points don't matter if you don't win the cup. Moo cow. Okay, we've spoken a lot about Tom Brady's foray into media and his debut over the weekend. What about his former head coach? Bill Belichick, who, by the way, in one of the the best it's not quite a heel turn but it's a turn all right has gone from despising media to being on every media outlet imaginable so i'm gonna run down the list like torts when torts is when torts except if torts took eight

media jobs at once so um bill belichick is on the Manning cast, and I'll get to that in a sec, because he made his Manning cast debut last night. He's on ESPN's Pat McAfee show. He's on the CW, who I thought just did reruns of One Tree Hill, but apparently they have football programming, inside the NFL on CW. He's got a 30-minute show with Peyton Manning on ESPN+.

He's got a spot on Sir with Peyton Manning on ESPN plus. He's got a spot on serious exams. Let's go, which is the old Tom Brady podcast. And then he's got another show called coach with Bill Belichick, which is like a fantasy football show. So there's a lot going on anyway. Um, it's hilarious to find out that Bill Belichick actually does have a

personality and can be, uh be gregarious and engaging. I think it just goes to show you how disciplined he was in his day-to-day life. That's a very nice way of putting it. Disciplined. Don't you think, though? Yeah, but... You have to be disciplined in your dealings and be consistent. Also was dickish a lot of the time, too.

Consistently dickish. He was a disciplined dick that's the thing anyway uh here is so i watched he was a what but don't you hurt me but don't we all want to hear from this guy yeah it's considered one of the greatest football lines of all time i want to hear him where'd you golf yesterday by the way i'm getting into that oh okay um while bruff was golfing yesterday uh he made his debut on the Manning cast. There's a good 45-minute snippet or not. I don't know how well it's going to resonate on radio

because on TV, it's the three of them. You've seen the Manning cast, right? It's Eli Payton and now Belichick on every episode. That's a lot of forehead. A lot, right? Actually, I think Belichick has the least out of all of them. Anyway, he was wearing a cutoff hoodie, so he was in character.

And when they're doing it on television, they're talking while the play and then the replay is right beside it, so you get a good visual. And they're walking through it because they're watching it on TV as well. We'll try it anyway. This is the three guys just nerding out on football and Belichick talking glowingly about the Jets wide receiver, Wilson. Let's just play it. 45 seconds of what the Manning cast sounded like with Bill Belichick,

who's going to be a regular this year. There we are, third down. No huddle right here. No huddle. Yeah, no huddle, dummy snap count. So we can see what the defense is doing. Right, yeah, he's doing two leg kicks. That's his version of a hard count in the silent count.

He knows what the defense is doing, so he can audible, just like Bill said, to a place, calling a man-beater. Slot fade, back shoulder. 3-by-0, man coverage. Nice catch. Perfect. That's the guy you've got to get right there. You've got to get Wilson in these critical

situations. That's in the Belichick list right there. You've got to cover this guy. I'd double him. In third down critical situations, I would absolutely double this guy. If he's single, Rodgers is absolutely going to him. He's a hard guy to match up on. And that was football dorks.

Yeah, that's exactly what it was. So it's funny. But cool. It's listening to those guys and how quickly they process everything that's happening so i didn't like the manning cast last year because it was like today on the manning cast it's barack obama and vince vaughn i'm like i don't want to i mean i don't like i like i like obama i like vince vaughn but i don't want to hear them talk about football especially when i'm trying to watch the game because it's all these annoying distractions but it's all these annoying

asides yeah it's nothing to do with what's going on that to me like i watched that during the game because it's all these annoying distractions but it's all these annoying asides yeah it's nothing to do with what's going on that to me like i watched that during the game yesterday and i was like oh like i because that was aaron rogers behind center right and he's got all the pre-snap cadences like it's understandable but it's still crazy how quickly they like it's insane down the play like i mean you know obviously know why because they're so good but you're just like oh my god they like that's so fast it's really cool yeah and like belichick too like you know that he's processing it at that speed yeah adog's like what down is it i guess yeah what's what's happening right now so you know i process that so fast so as i understand as i understand it belichick is going to be on every manning i think what they're going to do is he's going to do like the first half and then like yesterday

they still did they brought adam Sandler on like okay fine like has anyone seen his Netflix stand-up was any good I didn't watch it Happy Gilmore 2 has started filming

I haven't watched Adam I haven't done really any sort of like Adam Sandler I went to his show when he came here was he funny

yeah was he funny yeah he's funny it was a really good show yeah I haven't seen what's the

Rob Schneider not so much he was he was not well received by the crowd what was the movie Was it funny? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funny. It was a really good show. What's the... Rob Schneider, not so much. He was not well-received by the crowd. What was the movie they did with the Safdie brothers? Uncut Gems. Uncut Gems, yeah. That was very stressful.

Too stressful. Yeah, but it showed his versatility as an actor. I was watching that. I was like, shouldn't have had that third cup of coffee. Oh, man, yeah. I don't like sweating during movies. Okay, I want to do a real quick what we learned here. I got to mook out that. I learned, I already knew this, but I learned it once again, that the University of British

Columbia is a golf dynasty in Canada. The men's team, the women's team, national champs. Once again, the women's team has won 17 of the last 20 national championships in Canada. So they play kind of a, it's a different schedule because they play against Canadian colleges and universities sometimes. They also play in NAIA. And you are an SFU alum, so you are very familiar with NAIA. I didn't even notice it still existed. But the Canadian men also qualified

for a new tournament that is going to occur in Ontario next week. It's called the Canadian Collegiate Championships and it's a D1 tournament. So Canada Golf is bringing American Division I golf to this super swanky private course. I can't remember exactly what it's called, but it's in Muskoka.

Wow. Back in cottage country. So I think Kent State hosts it, but teams like Michigan's going to be there. It's like the big school. Notre Dame. Big power program. Yeah, so it's a really cool opportunity for these players

to play in a legit D1 NCAA tournament, and I just wanted to congratulate the coach, Chris McDonald, the original C-Mac, who's a really great guy, and guys like Marty Zlotnick, who spent over 40 years raising money for the UBC golf program. Give me a moo cow on that. I am such a pillar of the community. You are. I go to these events and I support them.

And then when they ask for donations, I dive under the table. Is that him under those coats there? Oh. I was like, I'm going to go get some more cheesecake. All right. We got to go to break. When we like, I'm going to go get some more cheesecake. All right. We got to go to break. When we come back, Humanoid What We Learns. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet.

6.50. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I 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. 835 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for,

sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. All right. Turns out we're not done with Halbro What We Learned

because the dogs are ready to take center stage. Laddie's going to go first. Bruff was talking about NCAA golf. Laddie has what we learned about NCAA hockey. Laddie, what did you learn? I learned that there's a new rule, not change, but a clarification added to the NCAA hockey rulebook for this upcoming season.

Tell me all about it. And the added text is in the face-off rule. It says, quote, a goalkeeper may not participate in a face-off. What? And the fact that it's been added to the rule book, it's like they say, if there's a sign, there's a reason the sign is there.

If something that specific is added to the rule book, just that line, then you know someone probably Division III somewhere tried lining up their goaltender for a face-off, and there was nothing in the rulebook that said they couldn't. Right. So did this happen? Did you look into it?

I looked into it. It must have been an obscure game that had happened, because there's nothing I could find. Where do you think that would have occurred? In the offensive zone? I don't know. Imagine your goalie. You can't bring the goalie.

You're a goalie, so you should know this. Where is a goalie limited to be on the ice? You can't go past the red line. You can't go past the center ice line. Right. But imagine your goalie takes the center ice face-off. He's your best face-off man, then just skates back really fast to the net. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, I got this massive stick, I'm going to win all the face-offs.

Yeah, he just laid that line. Can't use your hand, though. No, skate, skate, skate! Okay, uh, move, Cal. I mean, it would be very funny. I thought you. You can't use your hand, though. No, skate, skate, skate. Okay, Moo Cow. I mean, it would be very funny. I thought you were going to say you found the game or something. No, I was looking. I can't. But it must have happened.

It must have happened because that is now officially a rule in the NCAA rule book. Okay, A-Dog is here for his daily non-sports What We Learned. He has not one, but two. We're going to begin with an update on tonight's presidential debate. Yeah, I learned that it's... Oh, God. Why are you bringing this to the show? I learned that it's streaming on Disney Plus tonight, which is strange.

Yeah, well, I mean, it's an ABC debate, which, of course, Disney owns. Yeah. It makes sense. So it'll be on Disney Plus up here. Gather around, children. And in the States, and it'll be on Hulu as well in the States which of course Disney owns also part of their media empire but

is this Frozen? no why does that man look so angry? no it's not I don't know yeah it just caught me off guard when I saw it

I can't recall I guess that's the world we live in now so presidential debates will be streamed on and you're sad because you're not going to get to watch

yeah I'm busy at that time tonight so I'm going to miss it unfortunately I'll have to tape it you would actually take time out of your day to watch it? oh yeah I mean it's going to get to watch. Yeah, I'm busy at that time tonight, so I'm going to miss it, unfortunately. I'll have to tape it. You would actually take time out of your day to watch it? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's going to be very important. I vote. He's a dual citizen. Oh, that's right.

I'm a voter. You're a duly. And it's just very... You're a libertarian, and you always will be. I just find the debates generally to be very entertaining, so I always try and watch them anyways. Do they not stress you out at all? They did at first, but now I'm at a point where... Doesn't politics stress you out? all? They did at first, but now I'm at a point where... Doesn't politics stress you out?

Following it? Again, it did at first, but now I'm just so numb to the whole thing. I'm just like, it's whatever at this point. There's just so much apathy in my life that I'm just like, I like watching it for the spectacle, even though I realize how terrifying it can often be. But nevertheless, I'll definitely check it out. There's a... I mean, there's a...

Do you want to talk about the Tyreek Hill arrest next? Whose side are you on? I don't want to say that there's an unprecedented level of hype for tonight's debate, but there's a lot. It's pretty important. It's a big thing. The betting odds are pretty

much even. It looked for a while like Trump was, I mean, he was a heavy favorite. He was. Then Biden dropped out and Harris became a slight favorite, but I think those odds have since evened out a little bit.

Love to hear from the listeners about why that is. Or don't. Just kidding. Or don't. Text in 850-850. That's the text line, 850-850. No, no, no. The real number is 9-1-2.

Yeah, we're going to direct everyone to Toronto. Okay, mook out that. Imagine. 590 just starts getting all these angry Trump texts. What's going on right now? Are you being swatted? Oh, so today is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Day for you. Yeah, I'm very excited to see that.

You have a movie update as well. Yeah, so this is this caught me by surprise yesterday i will say that this has been announced all the way back in 2017 when i first heard about them this they're making another goonies movie apparently the goonies of course a childhood staple for many one of the most popular movies of the 80s probably right in bruff's wheelhouse i'm assuming because it's an 80s movie And I want to say the first time I heard about the rumored Goonies sequel was, yeah, about back in 2017 in that time period. Anyways, the New York Post, The Sun, other outlets have been reporting that this actually looks like it might finally be happening. Spielberg will be directing it.

He was a producer on the first one. Richard Donner, I want to say, who directed Superman, directed the first one. He's no longer with us, I don't believe so. Spielberg is going to be directing it, apparently. And more or less the entire original cast will be coming back. Sean Austin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Hui Kwan, who of course won an Oscar this past year. He's made something of a career comeback as well, amongst others. So yeah, pretty much the entire original cast is going to be returning with Spielberg behind the helm we'll see I guess I mean I'm not

expecting anything incredible but it is cool that it's finally happening. You just keep getting sucked in don't you? I do. Hollywood rebooting a movie? Man they should try that more often. That's crazy. I'm against the idea of reboots on principle but No you're not. Yes I am. You're hyping

them up constantly. No, I don't like the idea of it in general, but I will say if they do it well and it's entertaining, then it's great. So, I mean, every now and then, a prequel or a reboot will be really, really cool. What's the best reboot? I mean, the Mad Max Fury Road one. Well, no, that wasn't a reboot.

That was a prequel. Or a sequel, rather. Yeah, I get what you're saying. Reboot? We'll count it. Nothing comes to my mind. I have to think about it. Did anyone see the...

But I know I've seen good ones. Did anyone see the Blade Runner one? And this one isn't a reboot. Blade Runner was good. This is a sequel. Blade Runner was good. Again, that's not a reboot. That's a sequel, right?

What about Rise of the Planet of the Apes? All the new ones are all... I guess those are reboots. Yeah, those are all really good. So a reboot... I guess those are reboots. Yeah, and those are all really good. So a reboot... I prefer the musical. So differentiate between a reboot and a sequel or a prequel or... A reboot pretends the other movies doesn't exist and starts from scratch, whereas a sequel

is obviously after. Like Starsky and Hutch? Oh, there we go. The Star Trek prequel from 2009 with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto. That was awesome. So there's an example of a prequel done well. Here's a real... Sorry, a reboot done well.

Here's a real... Explain it to me like I'm five years old. Layman's explanation. A sequel is a direct continuation of the previous works. A reboot cleans the slate, erases the board completely. Correct. Okay. Just uses the intellectual property. And I'm going to clean the slate, erases the board completely. Correct. Just uses the intellectual property.

And I'm going to clean the slate with a moo. We're going to fire up the old dot matrix. Give me some of that sweet, sweet fire plan. Oh my god! We're having a fire plan! The show makes less and less sense as we go along. Anyway. Joven, with what we learned, the 49ers proved last night that they are the team to beat in the NFC.

We all knew that. Yeah. You might get some Cowboys fans that say, well, what about us? Lions fans, what about us? Yeah, they're the team to beat because they got to the Super Bowl last year and they're not weakened. Going for the amount of rushing yards that they

did with their backup running back getting inserted into the starting lineup on short notice that of course Jordan Mason uh pretty impressive I think maybe that's what he's talking about like they don't even necessarily like who would you say is their best player on offense? I would say it's Christian McCaffrey. So to not have him in the lineup. Another C-Mac. Yeah, so many good C-Macs. Well, some good. There is something to be said for a team that can take its best offensive player out of the lineup, run for 147 yards, and put up 32 points.

That's pretty impressive. Yeah. If we're going to pick knits here, we're going to nitpick a little bit. They weren't thrilled with their inability to put the ball in the end zone. They had to kick a lot of field goals yesterday. That's how they got a weird score. 32-19.

It was a score-a-gami. It was a score-a-gami last night. Yeah, so that's good. I love a score-a-gami. If you don't know what a score-a-gami is, by the way, because I could see people hearing that and being like, what the hell are they talking about? It's a score that's never happened before, right?

That's right. There are a handful of unique scores in the NFL, final scores, and 32-19, which was the margin that the 49ers beat the Jets last night, that was a unique score, a score-a-gami, if you will. Oh, Ryan in Yeltown has a What We Learned, and you were wondering about this earlier. Okay. I know you've been following this closely.

Ryan texts in, What We Learned, the Adrian Newey saga is over. Aston Martin confirmed he will be the chief technical advisor. Oh, that's a vroom vroom car. Yeah. F1.

Yeah. Yeah, nice. Drives to survive. Every once in a while we get these. I don't know if I'm pronouncing his name right. Newey? N-E-W-E I'm pronouncing his name right. Newey. N-E-W-E-Y. Why not?

Yeah. Newey sounds right. I sometimes screw up. I'm like, Austin Martin. It's not Austin Martin. It's a place for the twins. You really have to say, Aston Martin. Aston Martin.

You know who's a huge auto racing fan? John Shorthouse. Oh, really? All of them. NASCAR, F1, Indy, across the board. Shorty's watching NASCAR? Yep, yep. Golly!

I have talked to him about this numerous times. Like, what are you doing? He's like watching NASCAR. I'm like, on purpose? Did you lose the remote? What does he like about it? The cars, I guess. Is his bucket list to call a race? Does he want to do play-by-play of a race

like the indie comes to town and they're going left and left i could hear shorty doing auto racing i've actually live from tallahassee yeah i mean yeah i mean that would be um breakneck pace that would be tough to do right it's a weird thing because i actually remember working one back at the old station like the radio broadcast of of, I forget which one it was, but and they have like different play-by-play teams for different parts of the track and they keep cutting to all of them. It's very, it's a strange listen because it's not just like one

voice you hear consistently. It's all these different play-by-play teams. Now they're here, now they're here. It's really weird. Where is NASCAR right now in terms of the hierarchy of American sports because it had oh a massive push yeah it did and that seems like it was a decade ago and it has since kind of fallen off yeah um that's a good question i don't know i i remember the push i remember it being

everywhere and like being inundated with it yeah um yeah i don't know i i can't get into auto racing i just can't i don't know why it's like some sort of like mental block that i have i've tried it and i understand that f1 actually would be a pretty cool circuit to follow like i watched drive to survive i was like oh man it's here's the thing when you were a kid a lot of rich people when money when you were it's not if you don't have it. When you were a kid, did you like cars? No. Yeah.

Neither did I. I guess that's probably it. Also, are you into any other kind of racing? You said auto racing is hard to get into. It's not like you're a fan of a bunch of other types of racing, right? You're not really. What are you talking about? Like horse racing?

Yeah. There's not just auto racing. I'd be into it if they had weapons. A track and field? Are you watching the, you know? Like if they had like spikes in their tires or there are traps around the racing. Yeah, right. You know, like stuff like that.

I'd watch that. You should just go ahead and watch Mad Max again. Yeah. If they did Mad Max, but in NASCAR style, I'd watch that. I got one here. But I honestly do think it has a lot to do with, are you into cars? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

A hundred percent it is. And I've never been interested in them. I don't care Yeah. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. I've never been, I've never been interested in them. I don't care. But you know, like what I'm trying to say is like the, I think the recent influx of fandom isn't just car enthusiasts. Cause I know a guy like I had, no,

it's not, it's not, it's not, it's the drama and the opulence of like a million dollar, all the cars and all their billion dollar cars or whatever. Anyway, I think that there's more than just. I don't know how much the cars cost. 95 bucks.

I don't know. I don't watch it. This one is from Mario, the huge 650 and Canucks fan in Calgary. What up, Mario? Fight the good fight, brother. Hashtag WWO, what we learned. Hey boys, what we learned.

The unfortunate passing of James Earl Jones, who made it into our intro. That's right. This morning. Which is sports related because he was in Field of Dreams and Sandlot's one and two. And we will do him the honor of not trying to do an impression. No. So, yeah, very limited role in Sandlot. I think he played a more prominent role in the second one.

In the first one, he really only makes an appearance at the end of the film, obviously. Still never seen it. You should. That's kind of crazy to me. Watch it with the boys. Yeah, exactly. I think you'll really enjoy it. It's a great movie.

It is. It really is. I'm sure it is. I also read he was the last surviving cast member of Dr. Strangelove. Really? One of his first movies. Would not have known that. Good intel, Greg.

There you go. You got one? Greg and Abby, what we learned, what I learned is Kiefer Sherwood's parents knew exactly which sport to put their son in while Easton Stick's parents robbed us of the best hockey name ever. Yeah, Easton Stick is a quarterback? Backup quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers. Right.

I think he went to Montana, I want to say. North Dakota State. Sorry, my bad. North Dakota State. Kie my bad. North Dakota State. Kiefer Sherwood is my favorite hockey name. Kiefer works too, right? I don't know why. It's just Canadian.

It's Kiefer. He's not Canadian though. I don't care. Okay. He is to me. Sounds like it. Yeah. Yeah.

And I don't know if his brother still plays hockey. I'd have to double check that one. Cole Sherwood. I think I'll spell him with a K. What we learned, MLS need to take all international breaks. They should be respecting what's going on right now and not play during this. Yes.

Although... Is it too hard for them to do it? It just doesn't work with their schedules? So, as I said... They play that League's Cup that nobody cares about. Right, that's important. Sandwich. By the way,

so one of the more underrated parts of league's cup is that every match is supposed to be a neutral site match even though like the white caps played uh pumas from liga mx here so what they do is um they make these like very small but noticeable match day changes to reflect that so when uh the visiting team scored when puma scored against the whitecaps there was a um like a goal celebration totally and then the pa announcer came on um and it was it was latin she was speaking spanish and she was very animated and then all the commercials that were airing were all of the ones that would be shown in League Amex. There's like a Lionel Messi Lays commercial.

And I'm watching it and I'm like, this is kind of cool. It's a very weird atmosphere. But anyway, to the point, your point, that tournament, along with the Canadian Championship, along with the regular season. No, we need the Canadian Championship. It's the only thing the Whitecaps win. Sometimes I think Axel Schuster must be like, what are they doing here in North America? This is the most complicated schedule you could possibly have.

It's so janky. They really do need to start recognizing international breaks, though. Taylor in Richmond texts in, I got into NASCAR during the pandemic. There's more to it than just going in circles. Yep, we did assume that. No, I'm aware. Yeah, yeah. Like I said. There's factors like your tires just going in circles. Yep. We did assume that. No, I'm aware. Yeah, yeah.

Like I said. There's factors like your tires and... Steering wheels, power windows. When you fill up with gas. Do they call it that? We got to fill up with gas. Fuel? It's a fueling break?

Fuel stop. Remember when we had David Coulthard on the show? I do find the pit crews incredible. Yeah. I mean... How quickly they can do it here's the thing i don't want to um disrespect the sport by suggesting that because i'm not into it it's a novelty like i've done that with other sports i mean i'm not into mma don't care i don't care

if you like it though i'm just not i've watched it i've been to it i don't like it uh here's one from rocket and langley hashtag wwag WWO, what we learned. What I learned is that Vegas really underestimated San Francisco and overestimated the New York Jets. Thank you, Vegas. You improved my bank account. Yeah, I texted Rocket back, and I asked how much the line moved

when the Christian McCaffrey removal from the game was announced. It actually didn't spike that dramatically. I thought that was a weird line to begin with because I was looking at it and I'm like... What was the line? I think it closed it around... It was somewhere between four and a half and six. Oh, that's not many points.

Yeah. The Seahawks was one of the biggest lines of the weekend. And it was six. Like, I know week one is... They're always... Survivor pools got decimated. Yeah. By Cincinnati. And it was six. Like, I know week one is, they're always. Survivor pools got decimated. Yeah. By Cincinnati.

Cincinnati was a problem. But I think a little, not a lot of people, but some people were on the Seahawks. And probably a little bit worried in the first half. Yeah. And you know what?

The one that was the biggest layup of them all, with the benefit of hindsight, was taking the Saints over the Panthers. But it's the Saints. You're just kind of like. I know.

Well, and people were. The problem in week one, you want to take a legit good team. Yeah. And you don't know if the Saints are good. You're pretty sure they're better than Carolina. Yeah. But you never know. I think you knew that the Panthers were bad.

Yeah. Right? The Panthers are a nightmare, by the way. I don't know what's going to happen there. But short quarterbacks did not have a great opening. Their stock is down now. Yeah. Their stock is down.

Like Kyler Murray, who I guess got them out to a pretty good start, and then it kind of flatlined after that. Kyler might have been the best of all the short quarterbacks. Yeah. It wasn't a great weekend for short quarterbacks, and the rookies didn't play well either. Mike, the urologist from Brockville, what we learned, Aaron Rodgers in his prime was one of the greatest quarterbacks I've

ever seen. Aaron Rodgers is now a washed up 40 year old who will never be able to accept it because he has unwavering, unfounded confidence in everything he does. I expect his new Netflix special will showcase this mentality which I think is a common personality

trait in many great athletes. We're going to end the show with Mike the urologist calling Aaron Rodgers a washed-up 40-year-old. Yeah, I wouldn't go that far yet. I don't know. Who am I kidding? I'm going to watch the documentary.

Maybe I'll do it tonight. We'll have to see. The music means we've got to get out of here, though. Enjoy the night, everybody. Go, Canada, go. Get another win. Reminder, it's 5.30 kickoff against Mexico from Jerry World in Dallas. For now, we've got to say goodbye.

Signing off, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog. He's been Laddy. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.