Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions Owner Amar Doman + What We Learned

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with BC Lions owner Amar Doman (:57) about the season thus far and the upcoming Grey Cup in Vancouver, the boys tell us what they learned (11:20), 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.

804 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, 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 picking up with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in Hour 3 of the program. BC Lions owner Amar Doman 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. The owner of the BC Lions, Amar Doman, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Amar. How are you?

I'm well, thanks. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So let's start big picture here because it's a bye week and it's a chance to look back on everything that's happened. Your team on the field is 7-7, a 500 football team. There was a five-game losing streak in there. There was a brief two-game winning streak going into the bye uh on a loss and then there was everything else that's happened of course touchdown pacific planning for the gray cup so at

this point of the season the bye week uh how would you ammar doman sort of encapsulate how the season has gone thus far yeah it's been a season of ups and downs obviously there's been some injuries etc and some you know roster adjustments roster adjustments that the team's getting used to, obviously, having Nathan back and Matthew Betts. So there's been some adjustments there. Certainly, we're not where we'd want to be or thought we'd be, probably at 7-7,

but throwing in those factors, and there's still four games left here. So let's see how this team finishes up. I think we've got a great roster, one of the best in the CFL. When we're on fire, no one can beat us. I'm confident we're going to have some good, strong games here as we finish

and head into the playoffs. What was the toughest thing about bringing back Nathan Rourke? Did it create a bit of controversy? No, not at all. I think the whole team, including VA, welcomed him back. And, you know, it's just evidenced by how good the locker room is. There is no riff. There's no bad

comments. We've got a good club that's well coached. And, you know, I just think the locker room's in great shape. What do you like about Rick Campbell as a head coach? Because here's a guy that's come under some criticism, especially after the performance against the Toronto Argonauts yeah I think we always look to point to the coach but you know the players were out there too it was a bit of a soft start and you know it's one game so we look at the 31 regular season games he's won two playoff games since 2022 we're very pleased with his track record so and he's had a lot of different things to deal with like all coaches and you know Nathan leaving and quarterback carousel You know those kind of things happen in the CFL we get that but certainly he's done a hell of a job

And you know, he controls that locker room very well He's a level-headed guy and we're very pleased with Rick Campbell and the challenges he's faced with and how he's overcome You guys need a bye week. I think the bye weeks good You know number one just to get everybody healed up. And we play the next three out of four here at home. And we're hoping to have some big crowds in there to get noisy and really, really help when we're on defense. Take us through your experience when Nathan Rourke became available,

when Matthew Betts became available. I know you're not the general manager, but you're kind of in charge being the owner of the team. How involved were you with those discussions? And what was your thinking in bringing back Nathan Rourke and Matthew Betts? How much of it had to do with the fact that the Lions were hosting, are hosting the Grey Cup this year? Yeah, you know, I think the Grey Cup thing is something you chase every year. So, you know, it's great that we're hosting it here and that's wonderful for the CFL. We're going to put on a hell of a show and no matter who's in it, obviously, selfishly, we want to be in it and host. That's the dream for any team. But that doesn't factor

in our decisions on personnel at all. You know, those two quality players, you know, I think it really, I would say, reflects on our organization, how, you know, they came back to us. You know, those two quality players, you know, I think it really, I would say, reflects on our organization how, you know, they came back to us. You know, we were certainly not the only ones interested in having them, you know, play. So for us to have them back, I've got to tell you, you know, hats off to our team and our organization to, you know, attract them back and have them, you know, with us and playing hard immediately. Difficult circumstances, going from the NFL back and forth, this kind of stuff is difficult on the brain and the

travel and the headspace, but I think it says a lot for the BC Lions that they're here, they're back, they're happy, and they're working their butt off. We spoke with Matthew Betts shortly after he rejoined the club, and he did acknowledge that there were other offers out there. From your perspective, was it as soon as he was done with the Detroitroit lions like he was coming back to bc and

there were no questions about it yeah you know our obviously the uh the management team handles that but certainly um you know when it you know came across my desk it was uh you know an absolute um 100 green light on both those players we're speaking to bc lions owner amara doman here on the health and rough show on sports net 650 okay off the field stuff here amara i mentioned it's green light on both those players. We're speaking to BC Lions owner Amar Doman here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, off the field stuff here, Amar, I mentioned it's been an exceptionally busy season. Feels like there's constant planning going on from

the opener with the big concert and then to Touchdown Pacific and of course the Grey Cup festivities. I do want to ask about Touchdown Pacific because now you probably had a couple weeks to take everything in and digest. Were you happy with how everything went in Victoria? You know,

for our first time doing an away game like that at a true regular season game, you know, it's a big deal. The planning, the, you know, the infrastructure set up that we did.

I mean, God, we built, you know, 12,000 seats, you know, that's a lot. And,

you know, I think it was a hot day. You know, there were some issues, I think, with water and concessions. And, you know, the end zone was packed, you know, so, you know, could we do a couple things better? Absolutely. Is it a nine out of 10? I would call it easily a nine out of 10, if not a nine and a half. Few things that we could have done better, we didn't know. You know, just on the fan experience on certain zones and stuff. We've listened to the fans and said, hey, we hear you. And if we ever go back, we'll have another exceptional experience. So I had a great time over there. And I think, you know, virtually all the fans did. It was one of the best environments I've ever been to. It was very, very special.

And I think everyone involved, the players, the fans, everybody will remember that one forever. Are there other places in the province where you could play a game? You know, I think there are. There's other, you know, mayors calling us saying, hey, what about us? What about us? And, you know, obviously it's complicated. We have to lose a home game to do that. And so there's a lot that goes into the cauldron to make that thing work.

But, you know, hey, we're going to study kind of any and all situations to see what's best for the fans and the CFL and the BC Lions. Amar, we got a text in to the Dunbar-Lember text line that said, could you ask Amar if he would consider putting decking in the end zones for a bar zone area type thing? Yeah, we've seen it in a few other CFL stadiums. They have these, I guess you could call them social areas where people are able to congregate. They're usually at field level.

Anything like that planned for the BC Lions? Yeah, you know, a couple of things there. You know, we certainly would love to have that type of experience. And, you know, in the end zone is kind of a party zone, whatever you want to call it. You know, a couple of things, obviously, BC Place is constrained to what they can do. But I do know that I think some changes are going to be made in that regard, hopefully for the upcoming FIFA renovation. So I think let's just stay tuned to see what Pavko is up to at BC place. But I believe that that is part of the strategy going forward. So let's stay tuned and hope that

happens. I'd certainly be a fan of it, but I can't change the seating and do things like that. It's pretty much cemented in as it is right now. Is the World Cup going to be, is it top of radar for you or is it kind of back of mind, but knowing that you're probably going to have to deal with some stuff? You know, right now it's still a couple of years away. So we're focused on finishing this season and then getting into 25. So it's a ways away. You know, I know we'll have to be away for the first part of that season, but, you know, pretty cool that Vancouver's got this international event here.

So I think we can all just say, hey, that's super cool for British Columbia and having FIFA here is an honor. So I think that we can kind of swallow hard on what we have to do as a team to get around the difficulties and challenges that will come with that. I mean, it's been a season of events so far. We mentioned the opener with 50 Cent. We mentioned Touchdown Pacific. The Grey Cup is obviously going to be a big deal.

And if you could give our listeners an update on the latest, I know that the Grey Cup Festival musical acts are now being booked. Over 20 artists, they're going to be coming into town. So it sounds like it's going to be similar to everything else that you guys have done this season, and it's going to be a really big party with a lot of really big names. It really is. And, you know, it's been 10 years since we've had the Grey Cup here in Vancouver.

And really to have BC coming in and fans from all over the country, I'm really after kind of the younger and the youth group to really kind of see, hey, this is, you know, Canada's Super Bowl, if you will, and to see how cool the parties are, how fun the vibe is, and what we're going to do. You know, zip lines over the water. There's going to be, you know, eSports pavilions going on, and most of it's free down there, which is going to be great for the fans.

And, of course, the big game on Sunday is going to be incredible. But the lineup of artists is ridiculous, so it's almost going to have a music festival theme to it as well. But I've got to tell you, our Grey Cup team, they deserve the credit. This is going to be, I believe, the best Grey Cup that Canada has ever seen. And the organization, the list, it is going to be special. We've got, I think, 120 school buses of kids coming in. We are going to really re-energize the CFL here in Vancouver,

and it's just going to be awesome. And I'm just very happy to be part of it. Can you give us an update on ticket sales for the Grey Cup? Absolutely. So I think we're just about at 45,000 already. And I think that last little bit of a squeeze starts to come now when the rest comes on sale. But certainly what happens is who ends up in the Grey Cup starts to drive ticket sales in a certain fashion as well as we get towards the end. It's a big building to fill.

It will be filled and it will be rocking for November 17th. Amar, thanks for taking the time to join us. Thanks, guys. Have a good day. It's been a busy year, so good luck with the rest of it. Thanks, Amar. All right. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks, Amar. Amar Doman, BC Lions owner here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet.

Six, 50, 20 acts, 20 musical acts lined up, including Sam Roberts band, Biff naked. Voted confidence for Rick Campbell was what I was going to focus on. Fine. Yeah. Fine. That's fine. I mean,

the great cup is going to be fun. I hope the lions are in it. There's a zip line apparently. Yeah. But also the vote of confidence for Rick Campbell. I suppose. Like over the field. Like I,

I don't know where the zipipline is going to go Andy we didn't get that deep see that's what I want to know we get back on the air hey Mar sorry one more thing okay let's do some what we learned here we'll go around the table I have one

and I'll kick start now this is probably more of like a media nerd one although although it is big news. The preeminent, I would say sports insider, not just NBA insider, but sports insider in the industry is retiring to take on a very interesting new role. Everyone knows who Adrian Wojnarowski is, right? The Woj. Woj bombs. ESPN, NBA insider, constantly breaking the biggest news in the National Basketball Association for the better part of what, two decades?

Everyone knows. When you can just be known as Woj, you have certain clout. That's right. Moj. Exact same. Woj, Woj, Woj. It's the Woj.

Anyway, please stop. He is retiring from his post as espn's senior nba insider and he's going to become the general manager of the saint bonaventure men's basketball team now for those that are wondering what is saint bonnie's the bonnies of saint bonaventure it's a very small school in western new york he is an alumnus of the school okay it does have a long-standing a kind of proud basketball history why is he doing this well he's been working for a long time well that's one he has been working for a long time the other thing too is that there's this i don't know if anyone's been paying attention we've talked about it quite a bit a radical sea change in collegiate athletics one i think we've talked about it length all the conferences have been blown up and everyone's just kind of playing everybody now to make the most money that they can but two the name image likeness nil has really

changed the landscape of collegiate sports and And that recruiting now isn't about, you don't go sit in a mom and dad's living room and have coffee cake and talk about how you're going to give their son a good four-year education and they're going to graduate with a degree. They ask you how much. Yeah.

Like, what are you going to do? How am I going to make some money off this? So the idea here is that uh woge comes in and uses and he's got probably the most massive network of nba influencers insiders agents general managers all of this he will use that clout and that power to recruit maybe higher end prospects to saint bonaventure okay with all due respect to his new job, the fact that he's leaving his job that made him famous is the big story here. This would be the equivalent,

just the equivalent of Elliot Friedman retiring to become the general manager of the Flint Firebirds or something. Is that fair? St. Mike's Buzzers. St. Mike's Buzzers. There you go. I just wonder, and I've wondered how much,

I've wondered this about all NHL insiders, especially the real top ones, the ones that everyone expects to have information on every little story, regardless of the market, how exhausting that must be. Day-to-day life. Cannot, how many of these guys

have like three or four phones? Yep. Constantly on them, constantly getting texts. Working for a college recruiting is a step backwards for him. It's relaxing to him. That gives you an idea of how much he would work. This is a transitional gig to retirement.

Would you want the insider job? No. You would get paid a lot of money. Hearing stories from Friedman, though. He is always on. He always has to be working. And I think it takes a certain lot of money. Hearing stories from Friedman though. Like he is always on. He always has to be working. And I think it takes a certain type of personality,

very type A, very energetic. And also probably you have to make some sacrifices along the way in terms of time that you can spend doing other things that you want to be doing. Can you imagine, for example, you're out on the golf course, a story breaks in the NHL or something happens in the NHL. Your round is over. Yep. Do you know what I mean? Like it's.

To have life interrupted by breaking news is tough. Yeah. I mean, your nap time would be decimated. I couldn't handle it. But because you're so good at your job, you kind of knew that the interruption was coming. Because you had the rumblings, right? I just think. yeah, no. Doesn't make it any better?

I would say, well, the other thing, too, is someone just pointed out, like, look how much Freed just to do shows like ours. Right. Everyone wants to talk to Freed. Whenever anything is happening, can we get Freed? Because he's the guy. And there is a lot of responsibility. There are a lot of responsibility. There are a lot of hours. As you suggested, you probably compensated quite well.

Oh, yeah, of course. However. Yeah, and you experience a very exciting life when you're up front talking. You're out all the big games, and you're talking to all the players, and you're known, and you're famous, essentially. I don't know. Everyone's different. Someone texts someone texts in i'm gonna be that guy right now i'd rather do elliot's job

than work in the snow and rain for 10 hours a day fair enough right elliot's got a good job i'm sure elliot's happy with his job what i'm saying is that it would not be for everyone i don't think it would be for me because i don't like having to constantly check my phone for texts and constantly be connected to everyone. Okay. That is not for me. The counter argument to that guy. It's hard.

The counter argument to that guy who was being that guy with being in the rain and snow for 10 hours is you do get to go home from that job. What if you didn't get to? Because that's kind of what we're saying. You don't get to. The rain and snow is texting you at all hours.

Constantly. Three in the morning, just pelting you incessantly. It goes and it goes. And then the phone rings. It's really snowy out. It's really snowy out right now. Right. It's still snowy.

And then give me an update on the snow. Is it going to rain? And then five minutes later, have you heard anything about the snow and the rain? That's what we're talking about. I think just Freeds does just a tremendous job with how composed snow and the rain? That's what we're talking about. I think just Freeds does just a tremendous job with how composed he is. I think it's just incredible.

I think it's just a conceptual thing that is very timely for probably a lot of our audience and a lot of people. It's like, do you get to not be at work? Because some people don't. Some people don't get to not be at work. Some people are at work all the time. Yeah. That's how I feel. When I go home, I always have to answer texts from you jackals.

Just no breaks ever. It's just nonstop. Do not put yourself in the plight of the modern day worker. Always on the call. Hey, dog, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we want guests for tomorrow's show. First of all, how dare you? And we are wondering if we have any. How dare you?

Can't talk for three hours to yourselves i've got friends of mine um that work and like they are compensated well but their job is non-stop yeah non-stop and there's and it we've now they entrepreneurs are like that if you want a restaurant that's your life right they have crossed that threshold of unplugging. It just doesn't exist. Yeah. And it's tough. That's not for me, though.

I think my brain would start ticking over so fast that it would eventually just explode. And that's the risk that you run. Yeah. Now, someone texts in. All joking aside. Someone texts in, you want millions? You work all the time. Yeah.

No kidding. Right? We're not. I'm pretty sure hockey players get the summers off yeah like if you want to make if you want to make a lot of money typically you have to work hard and what i think really helps is like if working that job energizes you yeah as opposed to so for for me draining you for me getting texts throughout the day is draining. I don't like responding to emails.

I don't like doing that thing. I love what I do right here, talking about sports with you for a maximum of three hours. I like that. That energizes me. But when I go home and we have to do the administrative stuff that we have to do for this show i want that kept to a minimum but some people you know love being in the the middle of it all yeah and those are the people that do the job really well because they actually like they love it and they almost put them in a flow state when they're in it as opposed to taking them out of whatever state i think those people also understand too that if you want something done right sometimes you just have to do it yourself

and in the case of the show, it's almost always, but you know, it's like, there is that there's a sense of control and then validation when you're like, okay, I took care of this.

It got down, right. And things are getting done the way I want them to. There's a reward in that right now. It can go drastically to the other side where then you're left to do everything. And you never unplug. Just an interesting conversation about work folks. We're not trying to pit one against the other side where then you're left to do everything and you never unplug. Just an interesting conversation about work, folks.

We're not trying to pit one against the other. Don't turn the Dunbar-Lumber tech message in Baskin into a fight zone. We're not doing that today. Yeah, yeah. We're just merely exploring the current working conditions. The grass is always greener. Yeah.

You know, like, well, you don't have to do this. Well, I don't have to do that. I was like, yeah. I mean, I think the only conclusion is that Halford and I have really easy jobs. Yeah. And there they go. Now the texts are coming in now.

So, you know what? We're going to go to break. All right. We're going to do humanoid. What we learned is coming up on the other side. Yeah, it was inevitable.

It was inevitable. We're not having the most nuanced conversation with the most nuanced people here. So on the other side, what we learned humanoid additions, we'll turn it over to the guys behind the glass as well if they have any what we learned as a reminder Dunbar Lumber text line is 650 650 get them in it's your chance to be on the radio you're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 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. 8.31 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of 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. That one was okay. I felt like I rushed it a little bit. A little early. A little early. You're still feeling it out. A little early A little early Feeling it out

A little premature if you will I wasn't gonna go there Sure you can Okay A-Dog When I asked Does anyone have what we learned He said

I do It's a day late But it's still kind of funny So A-Dog And it's gonna annoy Brough I think I've set the table Quite well for you here Yeah

So go ahead Okay so Brough. I think I've set the table quite well for you here. Yeah. So go ahead. Okay, so Brough, you know Batman? I can answer this one. He's the superhero that was bit by a bat and now has bat powers. No, he wasn't bit by a bat. He doesn't have any superpowers. He's just rich. Okay.

And he's trained to fight crime and he's a detective. Keep going. Being rich is a superpower. Okay, do you know who Batman is? You're familiar with the character? I know who Batman is. Are you trying to, what are you doing here, buddy? Okay, so Batman is the first superhero to ever get a real star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Good for him. The first ever superhero. So not an actor who played Batman, not Michael Keaton or Christian Bale or Robert Pattinson or Adam West, etc, etc, etc. But the character itself, Batman, is getting a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame on

Thursday, September 26th. It's the 2,790th star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I'm going to regret asking this, but why? Well, the press release says he is one of the most iconic fictional characters in the world, and he's getting honored because of that. What about Superman?

Superman does not have a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame yet. No, I realize that because you just said that Batman is the first. What about Superman? What about Spider-Man? Why does Batman get this honor and Superman and Spider-Man does not? Because Batman is the most popular one. Or at the very least, financially, from a financial perspective, his movies have made the most money.

That's probably how they're doing it. Also, from a financial perspective, they paid for the star. Who, Batman? Yeah. A-Dog, did you think there was a chance that I didn't know who Batman was? You know, I don't put anything past you, man. I know we come from different worlds here. Apparently the bat that bit him was radioactive, by the way.

What? I didn't know that. Halford. Anyway, who's generally considered to be the best Batman? See, that is an argument that can go on for days. Everyone has a different opinion. Who's yours? For me personally, because I grew up with it, it was Michael Keaton and the 89 Batman with Jack

Nicholson. He's my Batman. Okay. My all-time favorite. However, with that said, all-time in the world for Adam West and I think, obviously, Christian Bale was great and Robert Pattinson in the new one is terrific. There's a lot of good ones, but Michael Keaton's my favorite. Who's the worst?

That was probably George Clooney. Yeah. His movie did not do great. Wasn't Affleck? Did Affleck? Affleck? Yeah, he was okay. I mean, Affleck was fine.

Val Kilmer did one. He was okay. Lopez was the villain. There's a lot of bad. Are they together again? I think they broke up. No, but I heard they were canoodling. You know, I don't follow celebrity gossip.

It's not my realm. It's much more interesting than superheroes. Yeah, I would argue that. So the worst one's considered Clooney? Well, yes. He did the worst. Affleck is okay. I mean, Clooney by far, but no fault of his own.

It was just a terrible movie. I mean, he's in the worst of the films by far. Okay. Mr. Freeze, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I used to see you. Anything else? No, we're good. Moo cow. All right. Let else? No, we're good. Moo cow.

All right, let's fire up the Thot Matrix. Nobody has had one. Yeah, yeah. I had one. Thot Matrix has been fired. I might know. Can't possibly be a good vibe, though. You said you wanted to do Tua, right?

What? I was also... Say that again? He wanted to do Tua. Well, there's a couple that I wanted to do, actually. Well, it's just, it's going to be crazy, man. It's going to be crazy.

Okay, well, first of all, I was going to skip Tua, but Tua's on IR, so he's got to miss the next four games. Right, we covered that with download hour to the podcast.

And then I realized that. We'd already talked about that when you shook. Yeah. We haven't been talking enough about Shohei. No. He's baseball's first 48, 48 man.

It was in the intro. Yeah, no, I know. That's all we've talked about. But you try and always force baseball into the intro, even when. There really was only baseball last night, but yeah. You can do other stuff though. It doesn't have to just be like highlights from games. I can do like the high school track and field highlights.

Batman clips. My highlights from Delta Ice Hawks. Doesn't matter. Okay, so let me talk. Yeah, go. Otani, he's a 48-48 man. And what I wanted to get into was, did any of you guys see that David Ortiz made some comments

about Otani potentially winning the MVP? He said in a recent broadcast i guess they always had issues not giving me the mvp because i was a designated hitter i'm gonna see what they're gonna say this year when otani and he called him the pretty girl of Major League Baseball is in the race. And my reaction to that was, I love Big Papi, but I don't remember him being much of a threat on the base path. He never swiped 50 bags. Came close to that one. Papi and no running.

I saw this as well. I get that he still got an ax to grind because when you look at the prolific offensive numbers, you probably could have made a case that he should have been closer to an MVP. I think he was also making the case for other guys like Lindor. But that's where the conversation should stop

because he's not in that... Stratosphere is maybe too strong a word, but he's not in the same conversation as a guy that might be the first and only and possibly ever player to do the 50 50. Yeah. Like, you know,

Ortiz was a designated hitter in the purest sense of the designated. He had 17 career stolen bases. Yeah. Like he has 48 this season. Right. I mean, yeah, again,

I understand what he's saying. He probably got, got um shorted some votes in mvp vote for sure during his career right like there were times where he was such a difference maker and you almost had to pitch around him because you couldn't put anything in the zone he was gonna knock but he's not this and he never was and you know i mean we're talking about a mark like who's gonna even come close to doing a 50 50 moving forward show hey again show hey again that's it there's one guy in the conversation uh mukao and you don't want to do another one right no okay let's do the

dot matrix again did show hi double dot matrix and then give me some Fire Plants. Oh my God, we're having a fire. Plan. Very good. So maybe Bobby Witt. Maybe he can do it. Bobby Witt Jr. Sorry, Bobby Witt Jr. His dad is not doing it anytime soon. Probably not.

A little old. Basketball Phil is combining what we learned within Ask Us Anything for A-Dog. Okay. Basketball Phil says, in Dallas, they are selling Luca Loops cereal. Yep. What Canucks player should get his own cereal?

Patterson Pebbles. Describe them. Petey Pebbles. Describe them. You can't just be like, there was once a Flintstones cereal. I have a few things. Here's just alliteration? Yeah, just want to try and be respectful.

Got a good title. We need the actual cereal. I got one based on our conversation earlier. What? Nils Hoaglander cereal and you don't know what it is. Oh, it's a mystery box. Mystery box. Right.

You never know what you're going to get. There's a piece of metal in there one time. Other time it's marshmallows. You don't know. You never know what you're going to get. Hoagie hoops metal in there one time. Other time, it's marshmallows. You don't know. You never know what you're going to get. Hoagie Hoops. Hoagie Hoops.

Hoagie Hoops. You don't know what it's going to taste like, though. There's no description. So who's most likely to have a sugar cereal? I think it's Quinn Hughes.

Yep. Yep. Who is the most likely to have a brand-based fiber? A lot of fiber. Tyler Myers? JT Miller's vector? I thought Tyler Myers, too, for some reason. Tyler Myers? JT Miller's vector? I thought Tyler Myers, too,

for some reason. Tyler Myers? Yeah, that works. I don't know why. I hope the Conex marketing team is kind of the oldest. We're giving them gold. Yeah.

The best is the marketing target group would be like, can anyone explain why? And they're like, no. And then like, but does it make sense? Everyone's like, yep. Vibes.

Yep, just vibes. He's got real brand vibes. Josh in his video van. What we learned. I learned that Shams, another basketball insider, his screen time average is 17 hours a day and up to 19 hours during free agency. No, thank you.

Yeah. All of your waking hours. The conversation about work. We've done this enough times that we should know better. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. All of your waking hours. The conversation about work. We've done this enough times that we should know better. Yeah, we should. But it always had. There's and let's be clear. There are people that work very hard, very physically demanding labor jobs.

And we understand that they don't want to hear anything about the two pretty boys sitting in front of a microphone for three hours in an air condition. You call yourself pretty boys? We've been a microphone for three hours in an air condition and then he's a student. You call yourself pretty boys? We've been called sad. Yeah, right. You're carrying a lot of weight for this. Sorry, let me rephrase. A couple of adequate boys sitting there.

Anyway, and we just broke one guy's brain. We just had to mute him. It ended up being, the conversation got weird and slightly uncomfortable. You know what? I think he's having a tough day at work. Yeah. I was like, what are you talking about work? You're texting a radio show at 8.34 in the morning. Yeah, get back to work. Yeah, get back to work.

Like what do you do? He's a crane operator. He's probably be doing that right now then. Sure there's a field that needs to be plowed somewhere, pal. The world needs jitz jiggers too. God, I love that line from Caddyshack. That is a good one. Juan from Colmox. What I learned, the Champions League is too complex. There's games on Thursday now.

Whatever happened to just keeping it on Tuesday and Wednesday? Or am I just getting too old? Juan, I'm going to be the guy here. You know how I kind of pushed back a little bit and railed against the new format because it was sort of big and overarching and confusing. And different.

It's pretty good. Lots more matchups, right? Some really good. You don't get the home and away. Are they groups of eight, essentially? So this week is like this great week for what's the better league, the Premiership or Serie A in Italy?

Because yesterday it was AC Milanan and liverpool liverpool one three one today is the big one it's inter in man city right that's huge and then tomorrow like as if you couldn't get enough uh atalanta not atlanta atlanta atalanta the lost city of atalanta except they know where it is uh they're playing Arsenal. So, I mean, the storylines, you know, we're big narrative, like we love that stuff. This is great. So I'm on board right now. And you're right.

Like I'm the one that says they play too many matches. And then I'm like, but they're playing so many matches. But I'm going to watch it. I love it all. It's great. So I'm very excited for the city intermatch. And text in from Joey Jojo Jr. Shabadoo. That's the worst name I've ever heard.

The mouse-touching urologist and former cracker factory worker from Brockville. That's a tough one. What we remember. Oh, there's a twist. Oh, there's a new segment. What we remember. Edler. Actually, WWR.

Edler was a beast. I hope he goes up in the ring of honor. I had his jersey from early on. I remember game one in 2011 against the Hawks. He crunched Kane along the boards. Within the first minute, of course, I loved his stints as goalie as well. Great team guy. Hope they put him into the ring of honor.

I'd be shocked if they don't put him into the ring of honor. He deserves to go in there. The definitive Halford and Brough collective show stance now is Alexlex edler should be in the ring of honor no yeah gray area no confusion i think brough said his jersey should be retired no you know i remember him saying that too yeah is that what he said stop what we remember we don't remember anything brough loves when jersey numbers are never said that he's an obvious ring of honor guy. Yeah.

Chef Graham with a What We Learned. Hashtag WWO What We Learned. We got a lot of chefs on this show. I learned the Seahawks have a legit shot at the division this year. Wow. Almost a hot take, Chef Graham. San Francisco is dealing with too many key injuries. Arizona is fun, but not sure they are a threat yet.

And the Rams are cooked already. I'll agree with you on the Rams. No Cooper Cup now. No Puka Nakua. I think they're in trouble. Arizona, that's actually a good way of putting it. They're fun. Yeah. But I'm not sure they're a threat yet.

They're fun. They're a fun team to watch. They could be 2-0. They could be, but they blew that leading. I think they're going to be the team that beats up on bad teams and can't beat good teams. Possibly. San Francisco.

Whoa, the Seahawks beat. Here's the thing. They're a team that barely beats bad teams. Chef Graham, in his text, he mentioned the Niners, the Cardinals, and the Rams. What you didn't mention is I'm not sure how good the Seahawks are. But they've got a great chance to improve to 3-0 because Miami's coming to town this week. They're not going to have Tua. Here's a question for you.

What was the more impressive or better win? The first week's win against Denver or the second week's win against? Second one. Yeah, second one. For sure. Just because they went on the road? Yeah, and they didn't have Kenneth Walker.

And Geno was, I thought, incredible. Yeah. Had to deal with all sorts of drops. I have time for the first one because they showed resiliency, like the Canucks young stars. But the first one because they showed resiliency, like the Canucks Young Stars. But the first half was a disaster.

That's what I'm saying. I'm not going to give them credit. They should have smoked Denver. But they put themselves in a more difficult situation to play themselves out of. However, I do think going on the road in week two. Justin in East Van

with what we learned, what we learned. Alex Edler has one last chance to frustrate torts with a really long pregame ceremony on October 11th. Yeah, I didn't even think of that angle. So the Edler game where he's signing a one-day

contract, it's not going to play. A healthy scratch. It is going to be October 11th, I believe, against the Philadelphia Flyers. I think it's the second home game of the season for the Canucks. And I was listening to the station a little bit yesterday.

I made a mistake and it was on in my car for some reason. Okay. And they were just remembering how he did not perform well under torts and it was just not a mix. I seem to remember Torts wanting his guys to pinch really aggressively at the blue line

and them having a lot of trouble with that. So they would often be caught flat-footed at the blue line through the neutral zone. And then didn't Edler get suspended because he took some guy out in that situation? It was a long time ago. He went knee on you with someone, didn't he? Yeah.

Yeah. I think you're right. So he just, ah, just never. I'm going to look it up. That whatever didn't work for Alex Edler. Why are they doing this with a Flyers game and not a Kings game? That's a good question. I don't know.

Yeah. The Kings are definitely coming to town, I would assume. Edler got a suspension for kneeing Zach Hyman. I think that was in the bubble season or when we weren't playing in front of crowds. I don't know if there was another one. We'll have to double-check on that. So many Edler suspensions to keep track of.

A few good – sorry to go back. No, keep going, Andy. A few good serial names coming in. Pee-Dee Wheaties. A couple people saying Dem-co's, like Dem-co's, like Cheerios. Oh, okay. That's a good one. And another one here as well, which I lost, which I'll find.

Oh, good. Oh, good. I like that one the best. What we learned, all it takes for Jason to admit he's wrong is less than four hours of sleep and uh being wrong if you missed hour one of the show where brough admitted that he was wrong uh download that and then hour two nick shook comes on and confirms that jason was indeed wrong so it's great like there's multiple times in this show i still think saquon you gotta make that catch of course he has to make the catch but if you don't put him in the position to fail, everyone succeeds.

And he has a history of drops. It's true. He's not sure-handed. The G-Man with a What We Learned. Hashtag WWO What We Learned. There's nothing better than Canucks training camp in the Okanagan and fall golf. LFG.

When do you officially pack it in for golf? Because you're a fair weather a uh you're a fair weather worker you're a fair weather golfer as well yeah i like to separate my seasons you know i'm hockey guy in the winter and i'm a golf guy have you put the clubs away yet no i'm gonna play on friday you can play into october i'm not a big uh you know get out there in november and december and play yeah you know it just'd like, I like to have a break. That's fair. From it.

Yeah. Put the sticks in. And also it's, it's cold, you know, we're soft. Haven't we already gone over this? We kind of discussed it.

I thought we went through it with the whole working thing. Um. A-Dog says, I get a little hilarious. Sorry, I'm throwing you on the spot here, A-Dog, but in the break,

A-Dog was just like, I would be a terrible construction worker. Oh, dude, I would last. And I tried to talk you up i was like you would come on you would you would find your way through it might be hard at first but you would develop i don't even mean the physical labor aspect of it like i'd be fine there i'm just saying like i'm the most like you know what a handyman is yeah i'm the furthest from that so whatever the handyman is people learn that it's an acquired skill i've just never been good at that kind of stuff. You're not very tactile? Yeah, I just... I can't...

You'd also have to wear a shoe. You'd pick up a hammer and swing it the wrong way or something like that? Honestly, I'd be a disaster. There'd be so many accidents. I think you'd have to wear shoes with laces as well. They're called boots and they have steel toes. I don't think any of that works for you. Yeah, it would be rough. It's like, did any of your slippers have steel toes? I don't think so. The fore for you. Yeah, it would be rough. It's like, do any of your slippers

have steel toes? I don't think so. The foreman would hate me. A-Dog would show up with like a grilled cheese sandwich that he needs to warm up. Yeah.

Is there a microwave anywhere? Guys, does anyone just want to go for like a cozy lunch somewhere? By the way, I'm going up to Penticton for the first day

of training camp. Oh, so you're going to ask the tough questions. Yeah. No, no, no. Media's today and tomorrow. I'm going up to Penticton for the first day of training camp. Oh, so you're going to have to ask the tough questions. Yeah. No, no, no. Media is today and tomorrow. I'm going up on Friday. Are you going to do any media stuff? I have a media pass.

When was the last time you asked a question at a press conference or a scrum? Ooh, probably when we were at NBC. Yeah. I think. You barely did it then, too. You know, one of the scrums that I did was at the Winter Classic when Brad Marchand got suspended. And I actually ended up getting – it wasn't even a scrum.

Did you ask him a question, though? No. Or just stole a quote? No, no, no. I went and talked to Landon Ferraro. Oh. Yeah. Who, by the way, I think will be featured a couple times this year

as he kind of makes his story. Was Landon in the lineup before for Mars. So this was my bad. Actually. I was looking for someone to talk about Marshawn suspension going into the winter classic and how he's going to miss this game. And I was like, I wonder what he says to the team.

Yeah. Right. Or like how that conversation goes. So I, you know, like, Oh, no one's talking to far.

I'll go talk to him. And I didn't realize that he had just joined the team. Yeah. So you didn't do your research. He was like, I don't. So I'm like, oh, no one's talking to Farrar. I'll talk to him. And I didn't realize that he had just joined the team. Yeah, so you didn't do your research. He was like, I don't know. I'm like, all right. Good talk. Yeah, you're Ray's kid, right? And then we talked about that.

By the way, we are trying to get Ray on the show on a regular basis. That is in the works. Yeah. That is in the works. Yeah, and I know a couple people have texted in about the broadcast this year. And yeah, there are going to be four games

that are going to be on Amazon. So the official broadcast plans for Amazon's Monday Night Hockey haven't really been released yet. Nothing official exactly, but there are going to be, what, four Canucks games that are going to be on just exclusive to Amazon Prime. And I believe that they are in the process of naming all of their on-air talent and who's going to be in charge of calling the games and whatever else. I know that those conversations are going on in back channels,

and they have been for a while. John Forslund, the name is out there? It's out there. Nothing's been official yet, but I think that people are talking about this brave new worlds. You may as well start to get used to it, because I think the way that you see with media rights is every league and quite frankly, broadcasters understanding that,

you know, breaking up pieces of the pie. It's so expensive now. It's expensive. They want to spread it around. It's very expensive. You know, to have a monopoly on rights is a tough thing to do because it costs a lot of

money and everyone looks at the NFL model and college football too, right? Where everyone gets in on the action, uh, then they can all charge you more for cable. By the way, streaming services. Edler was suspended in October of that 2013-14 season

for a hit to the head of Thomas Hurdle. Oh, I don't even remember that. Yeah. I remember the high. And then Torts said, I would teach that play to all our defensemen. The one he was suspended on, we're teaching that. The league just happens to believe it's suspendable.

Never change, John Tortorella. R12, the funky archaeologist. What we learned. Are you looking for a nutritious, no-nonsense breakfast? Eat J.T. Miller's steel-cut oats. They'll be painful, but they'll be delicious. Actually, no, they won't be delicious. J.T. just stands over you and watches you eat them.

Yeah. Choke them down. You better not have a good time doing that. Okay. I don't want to see a single smile. It's got to be work. Before we go, I'm going to tell you and do some real broadcasting and let you know what's on tap for the remainder of the day

and the remainder of the week right here on Sportsnet 650. Connect Central featuring Satya Arshan, Dan Riccio will be live on location in Penticton starting today. They're going to do live shows every day today through Friday and a special Saturday show as well. We'll be back tomorrow to break down everything that happened on the first unofficial day of camp and we'll look forward towards the first official day as well.

That's all tomorrow for today. We've got to say goodbye. Signing off, I have official day as well. That's all tomorrow. For today, 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 Laddie. He's been Arash. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I'm good. Are we going to talk young boys or what?