Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions Head Coach Rick Campbell + What We Learned

Episode Date: August 19, 2024

In hour three, Jason Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe chat with BC Lions head coach Rick Campbell (1:15) on Nathan Rourke's debut in yesterday's loss, the boys tell us what they learned (15:00), plus we hear from the humanoids (27:00). 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.

I think he'll fare well, and if he goes out there and lights it up, it wouldn't surprise me. I want to take this moment to publicly apologize. That was not my best football right there. I don't think he's going to go out there and have a clunker. I'm sorry to the fans. There was a lot of excitement going into this game, and I didn't deliver. 8.02! He's kind of throwing Mojo under the bus. He just turned 60 at a party, and you're throwing him under the bus on the Monday.

Happy birthday, Mojo. He's not listening. We're going to replay that on Friday when he's on. Over to Brock. It's brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. You can text in 650 650 dumb bar lumber

text line the bridge street dumb bar lumber and ladder has moved to progress lane tilbury's industrial park more room more product more awesome details at dumb bar lumber.com and it is our three of the program this hour of alfred and brad is brought to you by campbell and pound real estate appraisers trust the expertise of camp Campbell and Pound. Visit 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, Orfi, what are you waiting for?

Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. We go to the phone line now. It is Rick Campbell, BC Lions head coach and co-GM. Rick, really appreciate you taking the time. And we'll start with kind of the big news heading into the game. It was Nathan Rourke's debut. What did you think of it in an obviously less-than-ideal situation? Yeah, we've been having trouble solving Winnipeg's defense, that's for sure.

Nathan's never going to say this, but there was a whirlwind of a week as far as him. He was down in Atlanta, flew out here, did get three days of good practice in. But he hasn't played a lot of football in the last year and a half. So I think it's only going to get better as it goes and he gets more of a chance. What is it about the Bombers that frustrates you guys so much? Well, I don't know. We got a better job of adjusting.

Sorry, I'm standing outside here. I got a train going by me. No problem. They've been getting better on defense. They do a really good job, and they're really taking away the deep stuff, so we needed to be probably more patient and being able to throw the ball underneath,

but that's two games in a row we never could get on track versus them, versus the defense. So let's just get back to Nathan. I know he wasn't the reason you guys lost, but he comes out afterwards and before answering any questions kind of takes control of the presser and says, listen, I just want to apologize.

What did you think about that when he said that and why do you think it went so badly in nathan's first game back yeah he's he's never going to back down from the challenge which is one of his best traits is he's he's not going to be afraid of a afraid of a challenge i there's no need need for him to apologize to me or our team. And he's only going to get better as it goes. He hasn't played a lot of football the last year and a half. I think he's probably played maybe two quarters of preseason football. So it's just tougher when you're going against a really good defense and you're playing live football again.

And that's not making an excuse. We played him because we thought he gave us the best chance to win. And my opinion is regardless of who our quarterback was yesterday, our football team needed to help the quarterback out more. And the quarterback needs to play better too. So he's going to get another week of practice in here. And like I said, it's only going to get better as he goes. He's also got to gain chemistry again with these receivers and the team here.

How long does it take for that to kind of come back and for him to kind of feel confident or where he was a couple years ago? Yeah, I think it'll happen pretty quickly. He did a really good job last week of just getting familiar with our playbook and how we call things and stuff. So he knows our, he knows our offensive coordinator. He's played with guys like Hollins and Hatcher, Latoy and much of our O-line. So there's a lot of chemistry that can happen quicker than, than normal. And like I said, he'll get, he'll get another work weekend,

and we'll come up with a good game plan, and we've got to go find a way to beat Ottawa. What else are you concerned about with your team? You've lost four in a row. We're literally not making plays, and we're not scoring enough points. So there's stuff we can do better on special teams and defense too, but we're competing on those two fronts. But life's tough in the CFL if you can't score points.

So I think our intentions are good. I think our guys are willing to work. We actually had a good practice week, but we did not solve their defense. But we have a lot of experienced coaches and players that I know will rise to the occasion. And, you know, we won five in a row, and now we've lost four in a row. And we're right in the mix.

So there's a lot of reasons to correct things and get better because, like I said, we're in second place, and we got as good a shot as anyone. So you mentioned this briefly off the top. Tell us about the whirlwind week that it was for Nathan Rourke. Yeah, well, when he literally called and said he was ready to come back up and we had to figure out a contract, and then he was on the plane the next morning.

He was still down in Atlanta from being with the Falcons and then flew up here. And there's things you got to, like getting equipment and getting physicals and just doing these off-the-field things that are necessary to get done. And then he literally came in and met with Jordan, our offensive coordinator, and then he's on the practice field. So, you know, it was just one of those weeks. It was totally exciting.

Obviously, a lot of hype around it. And it just didn't translate into the game. And I think it was a combination of things. And I think part of it was playing really well on defense and us not having an answer for it. What went into the decision to start him? Because I'll admit, when I heard he was starting, I was pretty surprised. Was it just that you thought he gave you guys the best shot at winning that game?

Correct, yeah. And I talked to him. At the beginning of the week, I didn't say he was starting 100%. We wanted to go through the practice week and make sure that he was comfortable with the calls and functioning fine. And we actually had a pretty good week of practice. So we absolutely thought he gave us the best chance to win. We like Chase Bryce too, but he's very, very limited experience.

And so Vernon's still not available. So we thought he gave us the best chance because he's played and obviously played really well and didn't work out. But I think better days are ahead. What have your conversations with Vernon been like? Man, he's good. I love that guy. He just wants to win.

He's been all in this whole year on 2024 of finding a way to win. When we had a chance to bring Nathan back, I think he totally understood that we're not going to turn away good football players and we don't want to be playing against Nathan on some other team. So between those two guys that I think are elite quarterbacks in the CFL, we're going

to rise to the occasion and find a way to get it done. Hasn't been fair to Vernon? Fair? What do you mean? Well, he was playing pretty well. I mean, he had one rough outing but there were a lot of people talking earlier in the season that he was uh he was a candidate for most outstanding player in the cfl um i mean life isn't fair and you know i i'm not saying it was a

bad move to bring in nathan rourke but you must have empathy for him you know oh yeah no i just mean he's hurt so he's not available and we're going to look out for the bc lions and try to get players to to help us out and vernon will help us out again when he's when he's healthy and ready to go which which shouldn't be long and um yeah he's been he's been great last week helping Nathan or helping the offense the best that he can until he's back and ready to go. So when he's ready to go, you just consider it an open competition for who's starting for the BC Lions? No, we're not having a competition with those guys,

but we're going to play who gives us the best chance to win, and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. And I think it's coming sooner than later. I don't anticipate Renan being available this week, but I think the next game could be pretty realistic. And we want to make sure he's 100% when he comes back, that he's not playing limping around or anything like that. So we'll go from there.

Could we see a scenario where both guys get into a game? Because that could present something difficult for the other team. Exactly. That's our whole plan. We want to do whatever gives us the best chance to win. I've been on a lot of teams and seen a lot of teams do well that have two really good quarterbacks. We're excited to have both those guys. We'll keep going and play better in the future um what challenge do the ottawa red blacks

uh provide because uh you're going to play them twice in the next little bit yeah they've been playing well they got a good record so they've been one of the teams that's been trending in the in the right direction they're a big big running back that runs really hard, and then their defense has been playing well too. So that's why it's going to be really important. We've got a good game plan going in there, and it's our first time seeing these guys. So it'll be an interesting two weeks,

but we'll get in here and get a good game plan going and then head out east. Hey, Rick, really appreciate you taking the time, and good luck against Ottawa this week. All right, appreciate the time. Have a good one. There is Rick Campbell, BC Lions head coach and co-GM, talking about last night's game, Nathan Mork, what might happen when Vernon Adams is healthy.

Because to me, we were talking about this all last week, that's the really interesting part of all of this is it's a really, and they've been saying all the right things. Everybody's been saying all the right things, but it's an inherently awkward situation when you have like two amazing quarterbacks and you're trying to balance that and you bring in Nathan Rourke and we all know like he can be the best player in the CFL. And if you're the BC Lions, you do have to, if you can add him, you do it.

But it's a very awkward situation. What do you think the main reason was they didn't trade Vernon Adams? I just think it's because he's hurt, to be honest. Honestly, I don't know. Because I can't think of a reason that... Well, there's lots of reasons. There's lots of possible reasons. Insurance in case Nathan Burr comes up, doesn't play well.

It's a small league, man. Do you really want to trade away Vernon Adams who is a pretty good quarterback and then possibly play him in the playoffs or even the Grey Cup? Yeah, but like – Is that another possible reason why they didn't trade him? I think you take that risk though. Assuming – and the other part of this is like – But to to what end like you're not going to get much back from that's that's the thing if you're not getting much back from them okay whatever then keep them because

yes that might be your competitive edge not having him on another team but in in the way i viewed it if you were going to get something back for him that was worthwhile that helps your team you shouldn't be afraid of making that move because he'll end up on another team that could potentially go up against you in the playoffs. They want to win a great cup in Vancouver, right? So 1A, 1B scenario, you want to give yourself the best chance to win. Having both those guys in your back pocket in case one doesn't work out or one gets hurt or whatever,

you have a pretty good insurance. But doesn't it feel like they're going to be more loyal to Nathan Rourke? Yeah, sure. Of course. Because they just see him as the better quarterback. Yeah. And he kind of just is the better quarterback when he's at his feet. When he's on.

Yeah. But worst case scenario, if something goes wrong, or say what happened with Nathan last night continues to happen, having Vernon as your backup is not a bad move. Yeah. It's a good problem to have. It's just like I feel like it's going to come to a head at some point and maybe it doesn't because everything i have heard we have heard about vernon adams and how he's handling the situation and how nathan mork is handling

the situation is that it hasn't seemed that awkward and that vernon adams is all for it but these guys are also incredibly competitive and i think when you get to a point when both of them are healthy they're both going to be wanting to play the entire game they're not they like they're not going to be super for i would assume not super into a split and maybe they'll be forced to do that but it's just again a very awkward situation. And maybe this is the best way to go about it. But to me, I just look at it and it just feels weird for now. Let's do some What We Learns. It's my first time doing What We Learns.

And I do have one. And that is that Gabriel Landeskog could be back early next season is reported by, actually it was a Jared Bednar head coach quote on Gabriel Landeskog, who is the captain. People always forget that. They're like, McKinnon's the captain, right? I was like, nope, it's Landeskog.

Bednar said to NHL.com, he's trying to make a return here sometime near the start of the season. And if that goes well, it'd be a really big boost for us. So that's something we're all a little anxious about, but really excited about as well. He hasn't played for us in two years. Uh, we talked about this quite a bit during the playoffs and we talked about how that team, that Colorado team that did win the cup a few years ago was one of the best teams of the salary cap era. And they just had so many good players.

And then they just really lost a bunch of them, right? Like they just had to go through the loss of Lanscaux. Caudry goes to Calgary. The Nechuskin situation. They won't have him on the team going forward. So when you look at that Colorado team right now, everyone says like there's one thing they say, top heavy. Yeah.

Right? Honestly, their second line right now, you look at it, and this isn't just on Daily Faceoff, but one of their wingers on the second line is Nikolai Kovalenko. Who? That's a made-up guy. Right. I don't know who that is. Wasn't he a high line is Nikolai Kovalenko. Who? That's a made-up guy. I don't know who that is. Wasn't he a high pick? Nikolai Kovalenko. Oh, maybe.

But still. We always say names and Laddy's like, actually, that guy's a pretty well-expected player. I just remember him having some fanfare when he came over. Maybe. Maybe. Regardless, though, it's like when you were a Stanley Cup caliber team, and then a couple years later, you got Nikolai Kovalenko penciled in yeah in on your second line it's not a great spot i just i just

want to see i want to see landis kog return like he's a good player yeah and i know you know that wouldn't necessarily be good for the canucks for you you want all your rivals to be weak as possible but landis kog's only 31 years old seems like seems like a decent guy. He's a very good player. And for him to have had to deal with this at this point in his career, when he should be in his prime, like I guess it started what, when he was 29? Yeah.

He'd just come off a Stanley Cup win and he's got to go through all this stuff. Like I would like to see him coming back just for his sake. So it'll be interesting to see what, what happens with Landis Cog and frankly what happens with the Avs because we can now talk about the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche in the same breath, which is weird. That's wild.

And I hope that continues. Give us a mookow on that. My what we learned, the U.S. flag football team is not happy about NFL players thinking that they will just get an easy spot in the la 2028 olympic games on the flight football team okay so explain their 35 year old starting quarterback for the u.s flight football team daryl doucette said uh i think it's disrespectful that they just automatically assume that they're going to be able to just join the Olympic team because of the person that they are. They did not help grow this game to get to the Olympics.

Give the guys who helped this game get to where it's at their respect. So basically he's saying because you guys don't play flag football, you didn't get it to the Olympics, that the guys who do play flag football should be going instead. Also, he's 35. Right. Are you going to be stuck? So what are the expectations for NFL players in flag football? I believe, like, because Jalen Hurts was, like, he had that ad campaign where, like, he was the one, he was like, it's our time now.

Right. I think they all think that they're going to have a shot at playing in the Olympics. And they've all talked about it, and they're all excited about it. So is Nathan Rourke going to be our quarterback? I guess he would have to be. I would assume so. Right? Don't have a better option.

Yeah. So yeah, probably. Unless for whatever reason the flag football teams, and I didn't do my research on Canada's flag football team. Their depth chart? Yeah. But unless our team is like for whatever reason really good or there's like unique rules in flag football that lend themselves better. But it seems like you should just go with the best football players

and have them figure it out. As an addendum to that, do you remember when we were working together, what, three weeks ago before the Olympics started, right? Yes. Well, no, we did week one of the Olympics. We did week one. And do you remember I said, like, I don't really get into the Summer Olympics as much as the Winter Olympics, and I don't really care a lot about the Summer Olympics. Yeah.

This Summer Olympics, for whatever reason, I loved it. Yeah. It was awesome. It was such an awesome Olympics. I was into it. Like, I was into it loved it. Yeah. It was awesome. It was such an awesome Olympics. I was into it. I was into it every day. Yeah. And there were some great controversies

with the women's soccer team. There were some great triumphs for Canadian athletes. That four by one win, terrific. Unexpected, unbelievable. There are also some big disappointments. We missed your instant reaction to Ray Gun. I wish you were here for that. The instant Ray Gun reaction.

That would have been nice. The Ray Gun. Australian breakdancer. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, you didn't hear about this. Yeah, right? Yeah, I know. I've seen a bunch of-

Like the most talked about topic. Once in a while, I opened my Instagram on vacation, and there was like some weird stuff going on. I was like, was that the Aussie? So, okay. Tell me what the story was was she doing her best well you would assume so but like how did she qualify so there's like was she doing a different style of breakdancing was that the thing there's theories around her qualification okay conspiracy theory a lot of false theories because they are and they're false um but there's, so basically for most sports,

there's like a committee separate from the IOC that kind of governs everything, like FIFA or whatever, that you like, that's how you qualify for the Olympics and they kind of run it. Whereas with breakdancing, they don't have that committee. So it was up to every country to kind of figure out their own way of how to send representatives to the Olympics. And the conspiracy theories that are fake were saying that-

What were some of the conspiracy theories? I'm really interested in those. Ray Gunn orchestrated Australia's judging panel. They're saying her husband was on the panel. That's how she got there. The rot runs deep in the Australian breakdancing federation. That was the rumor. That was the rumor.

And there was another conspiracy theory that she was like doing bad on purpose to like make a statement about something. I forget what the statement was, but basically that it like benefited her personally. Some sort of social experiment. Yeah. I think she was just bad. Yeah.

Right. Okay. Well, I like the spirit conspiracy theory that she was just bad. And that's okay. Well, I like the spirit conspiracy theory that she was doing bad on purpose in order to get the notoriety. No publicity is bad publicity. She'll be famous for the rest of her life now. She'll be making money off of that performance for the rest of her life now. But hasn't she released some statements like she's quite hurt and she worked really hard at this?

Yeah. But then the responses were like, You should have worked harder. But we watched your video. So explain that then. Because, I mean, I'm pretty sure I could do that. I'm not a break dancer, but I think I could do most of those maneuvers you pulled off there. A-Dog, you once again hijacked the conversation.

But I just wanted to tell Josh that I was really into the Olympics. And I was actually thinking like, man, L.A. would be incredible to go down. It's going to be. It's an easy trip. Yeah. man la would be incredible to go down it's gonna be an easy trip yeah um i know you know it wouldn't be cheap but imagine watching summer macintosh swim at sofi stadium that's gonna be insane i think that i think the paris was and like i i can't really like blame tokyo because it was you know during covid there was a lot of issues with that. But Paris felt like a return to, like, the feeling of watching the Olympics

and being excited about it. Whereas in Tokyo, it just didn't feel the same. And I think L.A. is going to bring that up to another level. And also, selfishly, here in Vancouver, it's going to be wonderful to have things on at our time as opposed to Europe time. The pressure for theadian men's basketball team to get back to the olympics is going to be immense and i'll be curious to see what is the commitment level there like are they able to are they able to get the guys back on board with you know this

being important because i think paris was big because it's Paris. And I think the Americans, especially the era of Steph Curry, LeBron and KD, like they wanted to go out and they wanted to, they wanted to go win gold. That was important to them. Right. And a lot of very good American players didn't play much.

And so that was important. And it was obviously became important to the Canadian team to get there. And they did that, but they fell short. Yeah. They were disappointing at the end of the day. A lot of the things that we talked about on the show with basketball, Ben and you, like they came to fruition when it mattered against France. Like the lack of, you know, having trouble against the bigs, right? Like Jamal Murray not looking himself, et cetera, et cetera.

All these issues that came up, like the weird FIBA stuff that can sometimes catch you off guard. And I also think they were unlucky to get France at home because that crowd, I think, made a real impact early in the game and Canada never really recovered from that. They kind of made a couple runs in that game, but they never really did recover from that bad start that they had. But now I can't imagine any of the Canadian basketball players,

the top players not wanting to be part of LA. Yeah. There should be more pressure on this one. And realistically, and you can say that was a learning experience. Yes. And next time you should have some better bigs, like you should have Zach Eadie there.

And like, hey, Shea should be like, he's really good now, could be even better in four years. You can make the argument for Jamal Murray. If he's still playing well, could be a bigger piece or a better piece because I still think. Oh, he could be completely forgotten by that point. Who knows, right? But realistically, like they should be a better team because I still think... Oh, he could be completely forgotten. Yeah. Who knows, right? But realistically, like,

they should be a better team in four years. And yeah, there should be more pressure on them to be better than they were in Paris. Okay. Give us a mookow on that. We might have some more listener or producer what we learned on the other side, but we do need some more of what we learned.

So get them into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650 the Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber and Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park more room more product more awesome

details at Dunbar Lumber dot com get your what we learns into the Halford and Brough show you're listening to the Halford and Brough show Josh Elliott

Wolfe in for Halford on Sportsnet 650 and the war is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th And the war is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. 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, 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. 833, Halford and Brough.

No Halford. It's Josh Elliott-Wolf with Jason Brough No Halford It's Josh Elliott-Wolf With Jason Brough It's what we learn time Halford and Brough Brought to you by The Dilawri family Of Honda dealers

Experience the Dilawri Difference today Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer Today And it's hour 3 Of the program This hour of Halford and Brough

Is brought to you by Campbell and Pound Real estate appraisers Trust the expertise Of Campbellbell and pound visit campbell-pound.com today get your what we learns in on the 650 650 dumbar lumber text line uh the bridge street dumbar lumber in lanner has moved to progress way in tilbury's industrial park more room more product more awesome details at dumbar lumber.com i i think i was told i was pronouncing progress the wrong way are you a progress guy i was saying progress but i guess that's not how we say it well progress you've made progress wow it's poetic

uh laddie a dog you guys got what we learned we got a joint what we learned. Aw. Yep. So what we learned is the Indiana Jones iconic felt fedora fetched $630,000 at auction. This is courtesy of Canadian Press. You know, the brown felt hat that Indiana Jones wore in all the movies by actor Harrison Ford, of course. Would you call that a fedora? It's a fedora. Okay. Yeah.

All right. Yeah. It's a fedora. All right. Hat experts are going to chime in now. It's a fedora. Okay. All right. It's a fedora. Hat experts are going to chime in now. It's a fedora. Okay. All right.

A nicely loved fedora. And it's been through a lot. This was the one that was worn in the second film, Temple of Doom specifically, the one that I love and Ladi hates. You, of course, love that one because you are a child. I don't hate it. It's great.

It's the worst of the three. It great. It's the worst of the three. It is. Easily the worst of the three. It is, but it's still... Easily the worst of the three. Yeah, it's still great, though. If the first two are 10s, this is like a 9.5. Oh, come on.

It's a great movie. It's not. It is. 630... It may be no Iron Eagle, but it's pretty damn good. Anyways, this hat was worn in the second Indiana Jones movie, went up for auction for $630,000 and somebody bought it. That belongs in a museum.

Nice. That's what I think. That was a good drop. Thank you. Thank you. It was all setting up to that. Did anyone see the last one that was made? Unfortunately.

That was a fifth one because Crystal Skull sucked. That one sucked as well. Horrible. The last one. The last one. Shut up. Yeah. That one was bad. What's the newest one? There was another one Shia LaBeouf, yeah. Yeah. That one was bad.

What's the newest one? There was another one, right? Yeah, the newest one, Dial of Destiny. Yeah. And they like the age. I mean, it had these moments that I liked, but ultimately, no, I didn't really enjoy the film that much. Speaking of old franchises, during my vacation, I finally did get to watch the new Beverly

Hills Cop on Netflix. Did you like it? I hate it. Oh. I, they tried to- They made it for you though. I didn't want it. I didn't ask for it.

I don't want to see all those guys being old and trying to bring back the same vibe and energy that that show, that, I mean, you just like, when Beverly Hills Cop first came out, out you know it was kind of the era of like the action comedy and you know it had followed on the heels of like a 48 hours or something like that lethal weapon that sort of thing like those movies had they were they were original they had great energy you can do them with different actors now younger actors but when you try and do it with the old like i'm watching eddie murphy like be an action hero i'm like you're old man like you

shouldn't be doing this right you don't like to be reminded that we are all aging and like something about his delivery has changed yeah over the years it's not as edgy as it's not as raw it's not as like oh that's. That was one of his comedies. Yeah, raw. And I was delirious watching it. Oh, there's another one. Anyway, I just didn't enjoy it. I had a feeling I wouldn't enjoy it, but I watched it anyway, and I don't know.

It's to be expected. I mean, Hollywood, for a very long time now, has been all about the reboots and the retools and the unoriginal IPs just keep rehashing the same things over and over again. And yeah, I mean, it's depressing, man. Like there are very few new original movies being made that are actually really, really interesting. I did watch one that I did enjoy on Amazon Prime, Monkey Man. Oh, I've wanted to watch that. It's on Amazon now? That is very good.

That is like John Wick meets Bollywood. Right. Yeah, it is. I really enjoyed that. Now, I'm an old man, so I had to watch it over two nights

because I nearly fell asleep. But that is not on the movie. That's on me. I'm old. And it was 9.30 and I'm on vacation. Anything longer than a nine-eamon run time. No, thank you.

No, but I really did enjoy it. The main guy in it, he helped finance the movie himself because he had no way of becoming an actor. He wanted to get into the action movie game and nobody would hire him to be an action hero. So he just went- Didn't Jordan Peele produce it too? Yeah, he went off and did his own thing and it turned out to be an amazing movie.

I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard really good reviews. I really enjoyed it. If you get Amazon Prime, it's on there. I want to see the new alien Romulus that's the one I got to see next but another alien I know I mean I'm expecting I know I know what aliens are there I already know what it's going to be going into it but I don't care as long

as someone takes it in I liked Crystal Skull God I missed you guys all there's always like the contrarian I will say about Crystal Skull that was Aaron Rodgers texting him contrarian take unlike Dial of Destiny which I more or less hated all the way through i will say i did enjoy crystal skull kind of up until the spoilers for those who haven't seen it at this point up until the alien reveal once the alien thing started whatever the final act of the movie yeah i was like this is so stupid up until you'd

rather religious overtones i don't know it just it just felt so out of place i don't know i just and i love aliens like i'm a big sci-fi guy. But up until the alien reveal, I actually didn't mind Crystal Skull. But I definitely enjoyed it more than the last one. I don't even remember Crystal Skull. I just remember leaving that theater going. And I went with my buddy who's my age. And we were excited about it.

Oh, sure. Because we're idiots. And we laughed. We were like, that sucked. Well, didn't he survive an atomic bomb by hiding in a fridge? That was like the main. Yeah. All right.

Give us a mookow on that. Anyone else? I think that was it. Let's print off the listener submission. This was giving Jamie such a nightmare. Fire plan me. Fire plan me. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We're having a Fire plan me. Oh my god!

Oh my god! We're having a fire plan! I did say it twice. Jamie and the administrative nonsense. It was an ordeal. So who was driving the bus with you and Doug? Jamie. Oh, okay. And he was like, now you gotta do this stupid thing and then this thing and then this thing. I'm like, yes you do! The listeners will be upset if you don't.

It's why we're so successful. I nailed the context. You don't. It's why we're so successful. I nailed the Kintec. You don't get endless reads without administrative nonsense. Yes. Brian from East Van, what we learned, pods to the Oilers is great for them, and I hope it works out for him there. We have traded all our Russian players. Yeah, I saw some people making a big deal about that.

Yeah, there were some takes last night, I got to say. Oh, there were some takes. Vasilyev, Bostrovan. um yeah there were some takes last night i gotta say oh there were some takes um yeah it it is interesting though because it seemed like it was two years ago where the connects were like trying to corner the market on russian players like dan milstein agm now they're all gone who does milstein still have left uh we got a what we learned him for that let me find it's uh danila klimovich kriill Kudratsev, and Max Sasson. The Russian Max Sasson? I was like, I don't know how you got any.

Sassonov. I actually think that we hadn't asked us anything. Who do you think could push for a spot from Habits for a Minute? I think Max Sasson is a guy that could push for a spot. That is a good one. Plays center. He's got some wheels. He's just the type of guy that might be able to fill in in a pinch.

And if I was Nils Amon, I'd be like, this guy might be competition for me. Yeah. Because Nils Amon kind of has to take it to another level. I don't know if he's got it, though. It's tough. And it's fine, I guess, if he just ends up being a 13th forward. But yeah, it would be nice if there was another level. But nothing about his offensive game has sparked any confidence

that there is another level of Nils Amant. Colin in Tawasin, what we learned, Nathan Rourke's odds of winning CFL MOP have changed slightly since just before yesterday's game. I don't know if there were odds out there. Yeah, so last week, Jamie and I were arguing about this because Nathan Rathan work got signed and he was immediately the second most likely to win most outstanding player okay and to me i was

like there's no way just because he's playing half the season to me they were like i just can't get by and maybe it's the way i view mvps mops that half season's not good enough half season isn't good enough unless you are transcendently good which which I guess for Nathan Rourke was a possibility, still might be a possibility. But to me, I didn't really buy into it. But Jamie thought it was a real possibility. Do you think Rick Campbell hung up the phone from his interview with us and be like, I don't like that Bruff guy?

He was asking himself. Why is he drilling me? I liked your question, Bruff. It's a fair question, and everybody was thinking it. Is it fair to Vernon Adams? And he said, well, what do you mean by fair? I said, well, he did have some good games early on in the season. I understand.

I'm not saying I was all about getting Nathan Rourke back to the D.C. Lions. Everyone is. It's just an interesting situation. Now, I will say that before Vernon Adams got hurt, he had some dreadful games and he wasn't playing well. And I was concerned about the quarterbacking position. And I've said of Vernon Adams, the same thing

I've said about Geno Smith in Seattle. I think he can get you to the playoffs. I don't know if he can do you much when he's there. But I thought it was a little – Rick Campbell kind of bailed out of the question by saying, well, Vernon Adams is hurt. Yeah.

But it was kind of like you didn't bring in Nathan Rourke just because Vernon Adams got hurt. And that's actually an interesting what if. What if Vernon Adams hadn't been hurt? You still do it. Would they have, do you think? I think they would have. Yeah.

I think it's a convenient excuse right now. Yeah, we brought him in because Vernon Adams was hurt. But I hope this doesn't happen. I hope it doesn't happen because I want Nathan Rourke to be really successful. I want the Lions to find their footing again, win the division, host the West Final, get to the Grey Cup, win the Grey Cup. I want it all to go great. But this is Vancouver.

It doesn't always go great. I think it will be very interesting if Nathan Rourke doesn't find his footing, what they do then when Vernon Adams is healthy. What does it look like? Well, I was thinking about it yesterday. It's like not that I'm going to panic after one week, but how long of a runway does Rourke have? And it probably comes down to like, hey, when is Vernon Adams? look like well i was thinking about yesterday is like not that i'm gonna panic after one week but how long of a runway does rourke have and it probably comes down to like hey when is verdon

adams healthy and does that coincide with hey you've lost now you've lost four in a row does that stretch even further and then all of a sudden you're like how much how much time can we give rourke because verdon adams should be like he should be. We've seen him be good at times this year, but also was struggling at times this year. What do you think about the idea of having them both play games? I mean, other CFL teams do that. Yeah, I just think it's... But it's different types of quarterbacks.

Yeah, and they feel pretty similar. And so to me, it's just, it could be interesting. Sounds good in theory. Like you're like yeah you can get the best of both worlds but will you really yeah it's like when when we talked about splitting up Quinn Hughes and Philip Peronic it's like oh man you could have two really good pairs and think of all the options and then eventually you're like well it's just better to have one pair they're really really good yeah and when you're talking about a quarterback it's like oh man you

could have two quarterbacks but also you could just have one really good one, and it's about the same. Although I do think they should experiment with splitting up Hughes and Horonik. For sure. It makes sense. Just for the record. Experiment with it. They better be able to. Can you imagine Horonik by himself is just terrible?

Terrible. Okay, our second pairing of Tyler Myers and – Carson Soucy. Oh, boy. Here we go. 25 minutes a night. Maybe it's a hot take. I still think it's fine if Hironic is only good with Hughes.

As long as he's... You're okay with that second pair? As long as they're really, really good. They have to be really, really good. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. And then it's on the rest of the guys to fill out. Like, find a third guy, you know, that can carry his pair.

You're not only allowed to have two good defensemen on your team. Are you sure? Austin and Langley, what we learned. Jokes on Edmonton. We traded Pod Coles in there, but Steamer drafted Vasiliev Podsloven. We get to keep him. I wonder what Podsloven is up to anyway. He's been lost for

a few years, but I believe. I imagine there was a Podsloven kid at the draft and he got so excited he started walking down. He stood up. Oh man. Yeah, his parents were like I did not think you would go this high. We did not want to make the play, but it was worth it.

Arsh Deep. It's not what we learned, but while we're talking about Pod Colson, Arsh Deep asks, who's going to be the first call-up from Abbotsford? Interesting question. I threw out. I think that was from Joven, by the way. They were asking if Arshdeep is going to be the first call-up.

Baines. Oh, right. Okay. That was from Joven. It was Baines texting him. It's going to be the first call-up. I think it's this Arshdeep guy. Well, Baines could make the team.

He could. Right? Yeah. Like, not big. He could. Right? Yeah. Like, not big. He could. Would he be, like, in the lineup night one, though? I have to admit that the loss of Cap Friendly has really affected my ability to look at whose waiver is eligible and everything.

I need to get sharpened up with, what do we use now? Puckpedia. Yeah. All that scrolling. There is a lot of scrolling. Like, the waiver stuff. I just knew Cap Friendly so well. Yeah. All that scrolling. Ugh. Yeah. There is a lot of scrolling. Like the waiver stuff. I just knew CapFriendly so well. Yeah.

So just to. The first call up will obviously be LaCareMackie. I mean, come on guys. Let's go here. Just to help you out. It'll obviously be LaCareMackie. Yeah, fair enough. Assuming he doesn't even make the opening roster, which he might.

You just love a sugar high, don't you? You just love it. LaCareMackie. Use my new Kazmanco. There is a, so if you're looking for a cat-friendly copy, catwages.com is pretty good. So it's basically the same information? It's basically the same thing.

Oh, and they laid it out the same way? Yeah, it looks like this. It's basically just cat-friendly, but stolen. I don't know if it's allowed. Maybe I shouldn't have said it on the radio. Anyway, R.C. Baines. There's also carp-friendly, but that's a fishing site. Oh, yeah. My mistake.

R. Steve Baines is waiver exempt. Basketball Phil, what we learned, the guy who killed us in the Olympics and put LeBron on a poster in the gold medal game, Gershon Yabusele, signed with the 76ers where he instantly became the most popular French player on the team ahead of Joel Embiid. That guy was awesome. As soon as I started watching him, I'm like, how hasn't that guy been in the NBA? And then I learned he was drafted by the Celtics. I guess didn't find his way in the NBA or went over to Europe.

But he was so good. He had a good basketball butt. Like you could not, it would be hard to box him out. Yes. Yeah. I was really impressed with him. He was awesome. I think he was like, even though France beat Canada, he might've been my favorite player

in the tournament. Well, Steph, but yeah, Steph was incredible. I always love when random guys like that emerge, especially in like international tournament tournaments for a while. It was always Dennis Schrader played for Germany and he's just like, Oh man, I'm Steph was incredible. I always love when random guys like that emerge, especially in international tournaments. For a while, it was always Dennis Schrader. Played for Germany, and he's just like, oh, man, I'm good at basketball now. And he felt like,

Yubisel felt like one of those guys. What we learned, Gunnar from Kelowna. After being in the USA for the last three weeks, I learned that the US is the only country in the world that measures the winner of the Olympics by total medals as opposed to total gold medals like the IOC does and

every other country in the world. To me, I've always gone by total medals. But I think the usual ranking, the official ranking is by gold. Yes. Do you think it should be? I think it should be by total medals. What about a point system? 3-2-1. Point system works too. That's how I would do it.

Yeah. If you're going to go out to the length of giving medals to the 1, 2, and 3 performers, then you got to give them some points. My thing is we celebrate when a Canadian wins silver or bronze most of the time, assuming it's not a disappointment that they won silver or bronze. And maybe it's different in other countries. Like the U.S., they win so many medals that maybe it's like hey you should only be celebrating the golds but i i don't know maybe to me at least when i look at it it was just a crazy difference

though right like they had so many more total medals but fewer golds than china yeah china had more uh or sorry they were tied 40 40 for gold golds. But then US had 44 silvers. China had 27. And then US had 42 bronze. China had 24. So total difference ended up being 35 medals. What was your favorite moment of the Olympics? Might have been the 4x100.

Yeah. Because it was just so unexpected. I actually wasn't watching it. And then I saw it because I was on vacation. I was trying to unplug and then i saw it on an email came through like a work email that canada won the four by one i was like what how how and like going into it i had also lowered my expectations because you know the grass hadn't really looked yeah none of them had looked that good and then they just put it together for uh for a run and the u.s choked before in this really did not like i want to say they have a history of

this with this specific event oh yeah yeah in the worlds too yeah something about it like there's something that always goes wrong with them yeah the only thing that would have made it better would have been if noah lyles was racing for the u.s i tripped. Yeah. Oh man. I really learned that. I just have a huge disdain for Noah Lyles. But, but I think that's good for that sport. Yeah. Because we came into this talking about the lack of names in the men's sprinting category.

And that used to be just like, you knew everyone. And now some people that followed the series on Netflix or followed the sport a little closely than we do knew the name Noah Lyles. Right. But I wouldn't say it was a household name going into those Olympics. I think now it is not necessarily like for good and bad reasons. Yeah. He won the gold in the a hundred meter,

but he also kind of put his foot in his mouth yes and isn't that like like that's good for the sport definitely a guy who's willing to talk like that but also is pretty good yeah the fact that he backed it up i think for like if you were watching and you like a lot of people didn't want him to win but at the same time you're like man i don't like gotta respect it and it does make it more intriguing was he a bigger name than i'm giving him credit for i don't think so yeah i i think it was just the sprint series that that helped and uh the only again the only time i had heard about him was when he did the world champions of what thing right which then came back with a vengeance in the Olympics,

won the US one. And then he was like, oh no, you're just an Olympic champion. You're not a world champion. I don't know. What do you think the American basketball team is going to look like in LA? I was talking to Jamie. Would you be surprised if LeBron stuck it out for four more years? Yes. I wouldn't count it out.

Yes. But I'd be surprised. And he looked really, really good. How old is he now? He's 39. Like playing until you're 43 is a lot. Yeah. But that would be his like final send off, I think.

And he'd probably be coming off the bench. I think Curry should just be like, I'm never playing in the Olympics again because I'm not topping that. I shot 100%. I am good. I'm out. Yeah, he was really, really good. But it is going to be like it's a new headline for the U.S. team,

like a new group of core players. I wonder if it's going to be the Anthony Edwards show, like how much he's going to grow in the next four years or if someone else is going to step up and take that like tatum tatum obviously got a lot of the headlines he's to me just like uh he just doesn't have the as the kids say the aura yeah of a like a leader of a team like that no No Riz. He has no Riz. I got a breaking what we learned. Okay, go for it.

The parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain has confirmed this morning that it has received a purchase offer from the Canadian giant Alimentation Couchetard. Couchetard. They're massive. Alimentation Couchetard. It's Max. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. They're massive Alimentation Couchtard It's Max Oh really Yeah So Alimentation Couchtard

Could be the new owners Of 7-Eleven Well we are like The leading slurpy country In the world Isn't Winnipeg Is considered like The slurpy capital

Of the world Wait what Whoa I'm learning so many things We'll have to get into this We gotta go now Oh we need an hour Can we both take us for this Can we do a fourth hour Please We gotta get into this. We got to go now? Oh, we need an hour. Can we book a guest for this?

Can we do a fourth hour, please? We got to get into this. Yeah. I appreciate everyone texting in on the 650-650 Dunbar-Lumber text line. Everyone listening, thank you to A-Dog. Thank you to Laddie. Thank you to Jason Brough. I've been Josh Elliott-Wolfe.

This has been Halpern and Brough on Sportsnet 650. Before we go, Jam Pro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace demands a clean environment, contact Jam Pro for a free, no obligation quote. Visit jampro.ca. This has been Halpern and Brough

on Sportsnet 650.