Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions President Duane Vienneau + What We Learned

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason preview the upcoming BC Lions season, their huge opener as well as the Grey Cup at BC Place with team president Duane Vienneau (3:00), 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.

8.01 on a Big Band Tuesday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is 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. BC Lions President Dwayne Vigneault 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, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for.

To the phone lines we go. Dwayne Vannot joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Dwayne. How are you? Excellent. Good morning to you. I didn't even know where to start here with the call because there's so many different things going on with the Lions. We're like, hey, you got 50 Cent coming up.

Oh, but Grey Cup tickets also go on sale today. Oh, don't forget the season is starting. So these must be pretty exciting times for you and everyone involved with the bc lions at the moment yeah absolutely it's just been last monday we announced 50 cents um that was going to be playing our home opener and last week was just incredible and on sunday night we we broke the 50 000 number and we're down to you know very limited tickets left in that in the entire building so that is, really exciting for our home opener. And then as you suggested, we officially go on sale today at 2 p.m. Pacific time for Grey Cup. And yesterday we announced our halftime artist for this year's Grey Cup was the Jonas Brothers,

which has been a huge success so far. So, yeah, it's been busy times over here at the Lions office. When do tickets go on sale for the Grey Cup? At 2 o'clock today, 2 p.m. today, they go on sale. Okay. Have the season ticket holders already had access? Yes, yes. So all of our season seat holders,

and we also allow season seat holders from all the all of the other teams in the league we give them access as well and then some some partners so we have some pre-sale opportunities and so far those you know we've been very very happy with the pickup if you will from the people that were allowed to get early access to buy these tickets. What's the challenge of pricing the Grey Cup? Because you want to obviously make money, but you also want to have a full building. Yeah, we're very conscious of our pricing. You know, we have one of the largest buildings,

as you know, in the CFL. So we have a lot of tickets to sell, 55,000 of them, and we want to make sure that we set the pricing up, you know, that it can sell that out. It's not a 22,000 stadium. But at the same time, we have to be protective of the pricing and making sure that it's not going too low or too high. So we're very, very cautious.

We have an entry-level ticket of $99, which has sort of been consistent over the last sort of five to seven years of all Grey Cups. And our highest ticket price is around that high for almost $500 range, $500,000. $500,000 would be a lot. That better be a hell of a seat. But no, we would be a lot. That better be a hell of a seat. But no, we really take a lot.

We don't want it to be too high, and we don't want it to be too low. So we really just sort of work on that. How much pressure is on the team to, you know, make it to the Grey Cup? Well, we, you know, if you were to ask our coach, Rick Campbell, that question, and I've heard him answer this a lot, he said, we have pressure to be in that game every year. So hosting, it doesn't change that pressure. We want to be in it.

We want to win every year. And, you know, obviously we want to be there, but we have that pressure every year. It's exciting and special if you can play in your own Grey Cup, but, you know, we don't think about that too much. We want to do that every year. So tell us what it's like to work for the BC Lions under the owner, Amar Dolman, because I can't tell you how impressed I am with the commitment to the market that the Lions have had.

And my thoughts are continually echoed by our listeners as well who just could not be more impressed. You know, Amar is tremendous. Since he bought the team in 21, he made some statements early on when he bought the team and he just listened and he said, it's going to be a very simple strategy. I want to be BC Lions team.

I don't want to be the Vancouver Lions. And I want to re-engage the youth. And I want to promote the sport of football. And I want to make every game an event. And I want to make everyone come into the game no matter what happens on the field. It's exciting and fun. And you get a real value for your dollar, and we've done exactly that, and it's all driven by Amar's leadership. He truly believes it.

I tell people this all the time, and if we just want to use 50 Cent as an example for this pregame concert, a lot of teams will do a halftime show at a game and you get that 15-minute set, if you will, and it's a part of the game. This concert is actually a pregame concert. You're not paying any extra to come to this game and there's going to be a 45-minute pre-show prior to the game.

And the way Amar looks at that is it's a gift to the market. Come to a Lions game, we didn't increase the price, and you get this excellent show. And the market has reacted when you have over 50,000 people coming and the game's still two weeks away. Tell us about the game in Victoria on Saturday, August 31st. That's obviously part of the strategy to engage the whole province. Absolutely.

And, you know, we just were obviously talking about Amar. That's his hometown. So he was born and raised in Victoria. And when the opportunity presented itself from the league to do a touchdown Pacific, we jumped on it. And it's very exciting from, you know, from the minute we announced it last, I think it was early December, and put the tickets on sale in the spring. We sold out in under an hour.

We're playing at Royal Athletic Park, which is essentially a baseball stadium. It holds about 3,000 seats. We're building it up to 14 and a half. We've added more seats. We're going to be just busting at the seams there. Everyone's really excited. We have a lot of season seat holders and fans that come to our Lions games every week. They're coming across on the ferry.

So it's really nice to get there and do something for them. But at the same time, when we went on sale, we had people coming from across the country. Every single team is represented from coast to coast. So it's like a mini Grey Cup, and it's going to be very, very exciting. We're speaking to BC Lions President Dwayne Veneau here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Dwayne, how much has the rise in popularity and the variety of successful events that the Lions have put on

resonated across the Canadian Football League? I know there's a sense of the rising tide lifting all boats here where the Lions have sort of been that rising tide. I'm just curious how it's been received in other markets. Yeah, really well. You know, to your point, we all drive each other to be better. And when one team does something and it's successful,

every other team is looking at how how do we incorporate that and and it's just it's great for the entire league to have a team like ourselves that is definitely on the upswing and and it just helps every other team and and we're all competitive we're all in the sports business and we all want to do very well and compete against each other. So I think it just makes us all stronger. And you know, when,

when that game, that, that home opener games on television and there's, you know, 50,000 screaming fans here for a home opener game, it's going to just sort of the rest of the country is going to see that. And, and I,

and we just believe it's going to help everyone. Dwayne, this was great. Thanks for taking the time to do it today. We really appreciate it. A reminder to everyone, Grey Cup tickets go on sale today, 2 o'clock, our time, ticketmaster.ca forward slash Grey Cup. Thanks for doing this, Dwayne.

Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Appreciate all your help. Thank you. That's Dwayne Vino, president of the BC Lions here on the Halpert & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. When do tickets go on sale for the Grey Cup? 2 o'clock today.

Is that today? 2 o'clock today. Is that today? Two o'clock today. November 17th, 2024 is the date of the Grey Cup. And the tickets go on sale today. Tickets go on sale today, 2 p.m. I just wanted to be sure. June 4th, 2024. 2 p.m. today.

Five o'clock Eastern. Grey Cup tickets. Do you remember when we had that, it seemed like years of no big games in the city? We're having some. There's a few. There's a few now. Now, the Messi game was a bit of a disappointment. How so?

Well, Messi didn't show up. Oh. A big crowd showed up. It was just the game. Messi didn't show up. 51,000 big crowd showed up. It was just the game. Messi didn't show up. 51,000 people there to see Jordi Alba and Julian Gressel. But we had a game seven of the second round here in Vancouver, which is not the Stanley Cup final.

It's not even the conference finals. But it's a hell of a lot bigger game than we'd had here for a long, long time. That was the biggest game since 2011, really, for the Canucks. We're going to have the Grey Cup here. We're going to have a sold-out BC place. I hope everyone stays for the game, by the way. 45-minute concert?

Yeah, yeah. There's going to probably be some people. Some people will leave. There wasurday in november of this last year where the lions were playing the stamps in the playoff game and right after the canucks were playing the stars on hockey night canada and a bunch of us boys made a day of it we're gonna go to both games yeah and like do the double we're gonna do a double header here and it was the first time in a while i was like yeah these two teams are both relevant. This is fun.

It was like, this is my city. I was really proud to support it and be a part of it and be a part of a city where there's success in sports. And to your point, it's been a long time. Well, wait till the World Cup is here. Exactly. I was just going to say that too. That is going to be incredible.

It's a spectacle. And I'm sure the cost will be way too much and there will be all sorts of overruns and costs and other 99 tickets to that one probably not and there will probably be complaints about it andrew and victoria is going to be frustrated because they're going to be a lot of soccer talk but it's going to be exciting to see which countries are going to play here yeah and Canada is going to get a game yeah ticket prices do plummet sometimes when you get that last group stage match where both teams are eliminated and the game means nothing to neither of them like that's one where you could get in the door for but they're going to be expensive there's no question about that but yeah getting

back to your original point about the this finally feeling like a big event city. Between the local sporting squadrons playing like junk and the pandemic, the last few years have been extremely difficult in terms of refiring what it felt like to have a big event locally. And the surrounding energy the aura the atmosphere like ben was saying a double header night right you and your boys getting out there going to the blarney stone hey doing the business that's exactly what happened yeah i love that the blarney stone still a thing too that is incredible when i was his age which sounds terrible for me to say but when i was like in my early 20, that was also the place we would all go.

The Blarney's was the place. Because you don't want to really go to a club, but you don't want to go somewhere as quiet as a bar, so the Blarney was this perfect balance. That is a come-as-you-are bar. It's a great bar. It's the perfect description. It's a classic.

It's the perfect description of what A-Dog just said. And they have real Guinness, not North American Guinness. They get theirs imported, so you actually get a taste of what Irish Guinness tastes like, which tastes like nothing like our Guinness. You think it's a different drink. How many Guinnesses can you drink? They're pretty heavy, man. I don't know.

It's not so much the alcohol content. It's just how heavy they are. Yes, that's what I mean. After a couple, I'm like, I need to switch it up here. The limit does not exist. Yeah, that's true. I can drink a lot of Guin a lot i can toss them back we have a group we have a group chat where we rate guinnesses every time we try one yeah

it's just it's like i'll just skip lunch and dinner and tomorrow's lunch and dinner they got a lot of iron my dad calls it a big mac and a blender yeah it's i mean there's something and you know why you don't get now don't me wrong, you get full and you get the blow, but you don't get the acid reflux that you would from a regular beer. See? Yeah. That's me anyway. That's just me.

That's how they should advertise it. No, acid reflux. Someone texted in, don't forget the Wrexham game. They just opened the upper deck for that. Hope Wrexham actually show up. No, the guy that needs to show up is Ryan Reynolds. Yeah, Ryan Reynolds should probably not skip out on this. The precedent has been set in a bad way for footballing clubs

and their most prominent individuals not showing up. So I would say that it would be key for Ryan Reynolds to show up. He should just dress and sit on the bench. I don't know if Wrexham would be like you should play man it's his team yeah that's true i mean it's just a friendly no one's gonna get hurt except for ryan reynolds if he plays but okay let's do some what we learned here i have one i want to talk a little bit about the national basketball association uh a psa and an apology the a could stand for apology to our listeners we have been all season all season incredibly lax in our nba coverage we've done next to nothing

we barely talked about basketball we barely talked about the playoffs i think i could count on one hand the number of nba guests we've had on the show since the calendar turned to 2024 we're gonna have one thursday though right that's our bad i'm working on it yeah that's our bad that's our bad we're still working have we had any nba guests this year i think i'm trying to think gerald came on once oh that's right yeah i've been on this show a couple ben's been on i guess you can't right and like we just call them basketball ben we don't actually ask him any basketball questions we can't ask him now well i've audio. Okay. So Kyrie is doing his media veils with the Dallas media ahead of, you know, this big, pivotal, very emotionally charged series against Boston.

It is jarring to hear Kyrie speak right now because he sounds so calm, so introspective, so level-headed, and with a sense of profound sadness about how things went in Boston. There's a real sense of acknowledgement about not just his time in Boston, but when he went back and, as he put it, didn't show the best version of himself. I'm going to play the audio now. You got it ready, Ben? Here's Kyrie Irving. Now, I will say there's a swear in there, but don't worry. I think Ben bleeped it out. Kyrie Irving talking about his past trips back to

Boston, this upcoming series, and what he's learned about himself. You know, last time in Boston, I don't think that was the best, not this regular season, but when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my shit a little bit, that wasn't a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level.

You know, it wasn't a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you. Homer Simpson's like, but Marge, look at his hang dog expression. He's learned his lesson. Let's get him a present. Yeah, that's exactly me right now. I'm like, ah, you little scamp.

Come on, buddy. He just sounds so different. He sounds so different. I'm actually a little disappointed, I'll be honest with you. Not for him. It could all flip in a moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. different i'm actually a little disappointed i'll be honest with you well not for him it's good it could all flip in a moment yeah yeah because there's there's the pre the the lead up the talk beforehand the pre-game stuff and then there's the main event right and when you're prepping to

get thrown into the fire it's one thing but when you're in it it's different do you think it do you think if uh if if the mavs win the series, imagine if he wins it on Boston's court, then he's like, I lied to you before the series. I hate you all. Dancing on the leprechaun. He's like, I'm doing it again. Stomping all over it. I mean, this is going to be a great,

I use litmus test a lot too on the air, I realize, but this will be a great litmus test a lot too on the air, I realize, but this will be a great litmus test too. How crazy Boston fans can get, because their number one priority right now is to try and needle Kyrie to the point where he becomes not effective on the floor. They know that's what they want to do. And going back to our earlier conversation about the race to the floor and

how everyone wants to jump in the mud when it comes to hurling insults and making it as toxic an environment as possible you're gonna see it play itself out do you think those words might take a bit out of it though from kairi no expressing some regret might take a little bit out of it i think the boston fans are going in with a singular focus, and that is to make life as miserable for that guy as humanly possible. The question is, does he have the patience? Does he have the inner calm? Does he have this newfound perspective for real?

Because he said at the beginning of the clip we didn't play it he was like I understand that you're talking about the fire and the emotion and the passion and the hatred in Boston he's like but it's a basketball game yeah you know and he did say like there's real reasons to have those emotions

this is put on it's performative yeah totally and also like he talks about how it was a two and a half minute answer. He talks about how the people in Boston appreciate good basketball. And there's nothing better than a silent TD garden. Right. And I think him already being in that mindset is like, I want to silence this crowd. Who are you cheering for, Ben?

I can't stand Boston. I'm riding with Dallas. I love Luka. I think Luka's awesome. Yeah. So what is the Porzingis angle on this? They tried it in Dallas. They tried to team him and Luka up.

It didn't work. They moved on. Was that an ugly breakup, though? Not really. No? Just like this isn't really clicking. Just didn't work. Their styles never mesh. Compared to

Luka and Kyrie, it's the ultimate backcourt. Right. Because what's happened is... So it was a good breakup? There was no... I mean, it was a breakup. I'm sure that it was amicable. It was amicable? They both agreed that it was time to move on. Yeah. This isn't working anymore.

I don't know if either of them signed an NDA. It's really interesting. Boston's the better team on paper. Boston's the better team. But Kyrie and Luka are the better closers and the knock on Boston's been they're not clutch.

They can't get it done in the big games and the big moments. So who is this the biggest series for? Is it for... It's for Boston. It's for Boston.

No, no, no. But no, no, no. Which player? Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum. It's a referendum on Tatum. He's 26 years old now.

He's been to Eastern Conference Finals with teams every year. It's time. It's like, okay, dude, you want to be that guy? Time for you to be that guy. This is a series that he should be able to put up big numbers, not necessarily go off because he's got running mates too. Jalen Brown's a fantastic player. He's the reason he's the running mates too like jalen brown's a fantastic player he's the reason he's the eastern conference mvp right so i look at it and i'm saying this is compared to other times

where boston's made a run deep like when they played the warriors they were the second best team on the floor yeah right but they were i remember working the show with you guys and for the first three games boston's up to one yeah and i remember coming on the show being like they're the better team right now. Yeah. But then the Warriors changed some stuff and completely took over. But the pressure is on Jason Tatum right now.

Yes. And Kyrie Irving. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see if Kyrie can hold up this, I don't want to call it a persona, but this newfound character. The sense of zen. When everything is being hurled at him, literally.

Yeah. Who's more likely of the two childhood friends to win a championship? Jason Tatum or Matthew Kachuk? You saw the video? Well, I saw it last year. Yeah, it was making the rounds again recently. Oh, really?

I guess someone unearthed it. Yeah, so they went to prep school together. St. Louis. In St. Louis, yeah. That's a really interesting one because the Florida Panthers are the betting favorite, which I'm still trying to wrap my head around because I would have just assumed that the team with Connor McDavid going into the final would be the betting favorite.

I equate Edmonton with Dallas, the best player, but the best team in my estimation is Florida and Boston. So basically, who's more likely to win the Florida Panthers or the best team, in my estimation, is Florida and Boston. So basically you're asking who's more likely to win, the Florida Panthers or the Boston Celtics? I would say the Boston Celtics. I'd probably agree. Yeah. Moocow all that.

Okay. I'll just do a quick what we learned. The Ottawa Senators have hired a couple familiar names as assistant coaches. Nolan Baumgartner. Bomber! Is back with Travis Green. And Mike Yo has joined the Ottawa

Senators as an assistant coach. The team also said that assistant coaches Daniel Alfredson and Ben Sexton, goaltending coach Justin Peters, and pizza, and video coach Mike King will return to the team's coaching staff next season. Greener and Balmer back together with the Ottawa Senators. I'm actually very curious to see how Green does with the Sens

because I do think he lost the room a little bit in Vancouver. But we often see these guys that go back for a second chance have more success because they've learned a few things the first time around. Yeah, and he got a brief – I mean, he did get a brief second gig with New Jersey the tail end of the year. It wasn't a real gig, but he did get a brief second gig. Mike Yeo making a lateral move. Why would he go from the Canucks to the Sens if it's the same position?

Money, money, money. Oh, he's just going to pay more? That's all it is? More term, I think. I did read a couple things that if he was ever to get back into an NHL head coaching gig, the chances of it being in Vancouver to replace Talkett were... It's true.

That's tough, right? Well, it was the same with Colleton, right? He's like... Well, yeah, Colleton was... I mean, Talkett wins the same With Colleton right He's like Well yeah Colleton I mean Tuckett wins The coach of the year He's a very popular Figure in Vancouver

Is there any room For me there No And you know Maybe it looks like Well if Green doesn't Work out I'm right here guys Yeah that's right

Yeah He's Mike Yo That makes sense But I also think It might have been Contractual I think that's Possibly it as well

Yeah I mean these guys These assistant coaches Have to make sure That they get Not only a good salary, but also term on their contract. Okay. Mukau that. To the inbox, we go on the other side.

Also, Murph texts in. Oh. Ottawa is much closer to home for Mike Yeo. That's the main reason. Oh, that's a good point. Good point. Thanks for listening, Murph texts in. Ottawa is much closer to home for Mike Yeo. That's the main reason. Family. Good point. Thanks for listening, Murph. Such a good guy.

Wait, is our Murph or just a Murph? Dan Murphy. Oh, really? Our Murph? Sportsnet's very own. Oh, nice. Big fan of the show. Awesome.

Huge fan. Great. Despite his insistence of never appearing on it. You're listening to the Halber Albert and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the

People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 time. It's what we learn time. On the show.

832 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is 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. Good fade out. Did you see the, uh,

Killian Mbappe to Real Madrid deal is now signed, sealed and delivered. Well, maybe finally Real will have some success. It's about time they caught a break. So here's a question for you. Yes. It was on PTI.

And I'd like to ask you, Mike. Yes. Bigger deal for Real Madrid winning the champions League or getting Kylian Mbappe? Getting Mbappe. They win the Champions League all the time. It's old hat for them. So this is interesting.

So this is a... Who's the best soccer player in the world right now? Mbappe. Because he's younger. Right. He's in his prime. He's 27. So this is sort of the culmination of a childhood dream in which Mbappe,

who's only played football professionally in France, first with Monaco and then with Paris Saint-Germain, finally goes abroad and goes to the club that he was. There's all the pictures of him. He finally goes abroad, went to the country next door. So far. Offer looking at a map, buddy. He had to drive.

Well, it is abroad. That's kind of the point, is he left France to go to Spain. I feel like abroad means you have to cross an ocean. Really? Well, I don't know. It's anywhere that's not your country. Is it? Yeah. Even if it's insanely close. To go into a foreign country or countries. I mean, it's not

far abroad. Right. I always thought abroad you gotta go over a body of water. Doesn't matter. But it is technically I always thought abroad it is technically abroad. You gotta go over a body of water. Doesn't matter. The point was that he left France. Right, he'd only played

for French clubs. Sometimes we get tripped up on this show. How far is France to Spain? Right next door. Like how many hours? You could just walk there if you wanted.

Please tell me you knew that France and Spain were neighbors. I did, but I want to know the distance. You could walk through the past region. How long of a drive is it?

You just go. For length of the capital to say. Depends where you are. How long of a drive is it? You can just go. For the capital's sake. It depends where you are. If you're on the border, it's a five-minute walk. Yes. Anyway, the point of this, in a very long roundabout way, was that this is a fulfillment of a childhood dream to one day play for Real.

Do you think he took the TGV? What's that? The train grand V. Oh, I'm like, sorry. Yeah, okay. Is that what it means? I wanted to make a point here. I've been on it.

It's quite fast. Is it? Yeah. Do you feel like you're going fast? Not really. Oh. By the way, he's 20. I'm like sucked back into your seat.

He's not 27. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, oh, man, that'd be awesome. He's 25. A roller coaster. He's 25, not 27, by the way. Anyway, the reason oh man that'd be awesome he's 25 not 27 by the way anyway the reason I wanted to bring this up

is that he grew up idolizing all the greats that played for Real Zidane, Ronaldo Beckham, Figo and there is a hope

deep down inside that maybe one day this great crop of young players that grew up as diehard Canucks fans that are now in the NHL will one day,

it might take a while. It took Mbappe seven years before he was able to orchestrate a move to the child, his childhood club. He loved Real growing up. That one day, maybe all these players will come back home to Vancouver to play for the team that they grew up cheering for. It's possible. Yeah.

But remember that winning part? Yep. Of Real Madrid? Yep. That is part of the allure, is that all they do is win European trophies, right? Where does Davies end up? When's that going to happen?

Probably Real. But hasn't a transfer been rumored for years now? Yes. So when does it actually happen? This summer? Yeah. The window is now essentially open, right? Guys can move around and what have you.

The Mbappe to Madrid has been, I think, two years in the making, feels like. And it's not just been actually formalized where Real officially announced. They have an official statement for it. It's a very hoity-toity label and classification. Is the writing just on the wall for these types of things?

Like, oh, we know he's going to go there at about this point. Okay, so certain players of that ilk where they make that much money and they have that magnitude, there's only a handful of clubs that they can play for. Like, all due respect to Aston Villa, but like, Mbappé wasn't going to Villa, right?

He's like, I have chosen to live in Birmingham. But can he do it on a cold night in Stoke? Anyway, Mukau. Fire up that dot matrix. Humanoid What We Learns are brought to you by GetFirePlan. Protect what matters most with comprehensive fire safety plans, monthly audits, and risk mitigation at $200 off. Visit them at GetFirePlan.com.

Oh, my God. We're having a fire plan. You want to do the winner? The winner of the Snoop Dogg tickets, congratulations to Corey the Carpenter. Regular text or what we learned. My anxiety levels will be increased this week during another round of potential winning tickets to Snoop Dogg for my wife of 14 years.

The concert is on her birthday, and this year she'll be 41. Wait, put her name out, or put her age out there. Didn't need to put her age out there. Yeah, the concert is on her birthday. And we only read what's in the stats. Yep. Corey adds, let's make it the best birthday ever.

I like the idea of someone's wife basically being like, finally, all that time you spent listening to those idiots on the radio has paid off for me. And now the entire world knows I'm 41 years old, 11 years younger than Snoop Dogg. That time you spent listening to those idiots on the radio has paid off for me. And now the entire world knows I'm 41 years old, 11 years younger than Snoop Dogg. Corey the Carpenter's wife will now inform Corey that she's been telling everyone that she's 34. Which would be 18 years younger than Snoop Dogg, who is 52. The youngest of all the performers that will be there. Have you ever lied about your age?

No. I've forgotten my age. I forgot how old I was this year. I told someone I was turning 44 and then I'm like, nope. That's wrong. How old were you turning? I'm turning 45 this year. That was more because I can't do

math though. I looked at the calendar. You were 37% sure you were turning 44, right? 45 is a decent, like a pretty big... I actually just forgot how old... Am I 47 or 48? Oh, God. I think I'm 48. It doesn't matter.

25 turning 26. It really doesn't matter. You're turning 26? In September. You're right in your prime. What the hell are you doing here? What are you doing here? I'm better things than you.

I'm hanging out with you guys. Yeah. I'm going to the Blarney's. I'm going to the Blarney Stone. Shouldn't you be at the Blarney Stone right now? Aaron in South Van. What we learned. Speaking of Murph, I learned Murph is doing the Lord's work, playing golf with Big Z and JT.

Hope he can convince Zdorov to stay. I bet that was a very enjoyable round of golf for Murph, playing with JT Miller and Zdorov. Some personality in that group. I was going to say. Some personality in that group. You think he let him win to try and help the contract negotiation?

Zdorov? Yeah, went easy on him. Wow, great shot, Z. Amazing. You know what? This place just suits you. Do you think Miller's a fist pump guy? I can see him getting pretty fired up on the green a little bit.

I can see him being really hard on himself. And so is Murph on the golf course. So I bet self-talk wasn't at a very good level yesterday. I'd fit right in. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. I could see that.

Some beers would help it. I've played golf with- He misses a shot. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. I could see that. Some beers would help it. I've played golf with... He misses a shot. Stop pummeling me! I've played golf with Murph and Ferraro and Shorty and Murph and Ferraro and I guess me, like, we are not kind to each other out on the golf course. Like, you know

how you're supposed to... Shorty's just having a great time out there like, what are these guys from? Yeah, Shorty's like, I'm amazing. Great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a lot of things you wouldn't say to your best friend, but you would definitely say to yourself

out on the golf course. Right. Oh, that vibe. Okay. Here's one from Jay. Hashtag WWO, what we learned. Caitlin Clark will have the same effect on the WNBA in player salary, league value,

TV contracts, brand marketing, philanthropy, as Tiger Woods had on the PGA. Okay, calm down, Jay. Oh, wow. I, you know, so of all the things that are going on right now, I wanted to read that one because there's a good piece that's in The Athletic right now talking about how she's being used as a proxy and a proxy is a great way to describe it for so many things that have nothing to do with what she's there to do just play basketball she's become the flashpoint in a referendum for gender relations race relations

wage disparity all this other stuff and i mean and the same time, if you just want to look at it from a sporting landscape and athletic feet, she's just a rookie basketball player that's getting beat up by veteran players. If you just want to look at it in the sporting lens. And that's tough to do for some people because I think some people aren't willing to look at the league as just a sporting entity. I hate the notion that certain players should get preferential treatment.

That has always really bothered me, even when I hear people like, I agree with the notion that leagues are responsible for protecting the players, but it really bugs me when I hear the league needs to protect the superstars no you need to protect players so you just brought up a really important point in all this is it's not on any players in the wnba to do anything other than try and beat the living daylights out of one another the league is respond hard the league is responsible for player safety and officiating and all that other stuff. That's the league's job. It's a business.

It's a private business. They're responsible for their employees. It's not up to any of the other players in the league to do anything other than try and beat the living daylights out of one another to win basketball games. That's what they're out there to do. Maybe I'm a bit of a dinosaur with this take, but I remember when Conor Bedard got hurt and I was thinking, well, he's learned a lesson.

Don't skate through the middle with your head down. You know, don't skate over the other team's blue line with your head down. It's still hockey. I know it's not the hockey of the nineties and there are rules about how you're supposed to be hit,

et cetera. And that is good. Like, you know, it boggles my mind that hits like Matt Cook on Mark Savard used to be legal. Like you could pick someone's head. That's incredible. Right? So the NHL has done a better job of protecting players, but it's still hockey.

And in this case, it's still basketball. I actually, when I first saw the clip of the flagrant foul that everyone was talking about, I was like, is that it? She got shoved to the ground. Right, that was the flashpoint. I know there was more to it, like people were cheering on the bench and all that sort of thing. She's been physically, I don't want to say assaulted like there's been a physical approach

to her introduction yes yeah it's a cumulative effect of a lot of physical play why are her teammates not standing up for her they didn't enforce her I was laughing so hard when I read that uh Draymond said they need to bring in an enforcer. I'm like, yeah, I get it. But seriously. Is there an enforcer in the WNBA? Yeah, of course. You just hire a goon.

I didn't bring my mom in. She was pretty scared when she got mad. Yeah. You just bring in. I remember when Steve Francis first came back to Vancouvercouver after spurning the city yeah it was uh antoine carr the big dog he was responsible he never played but he was responsible for going out there and was he the guy with the sunglasses yeah that was awesome he was in the utah team yeah big dog was out there to bite and he bit steve francis not literally i just liked watching

a player like are you going snowboarding? Yeah, he was awesome. But that guy was an enforcer. That's what he was out there to do. By the way, many people rightly calling us out, because I guarantee you, both you and I have lied about our ages at one point in our lives, and it was either to get alcohol or get into a bar. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, obviously.

I didn't count that. I actually often didn't lie. As soon as I got caught, I was like, you're right. I didn't count that. I actually often didn't lie. As soon as I got caught, I was like, you're right. I'm out of here. Bye. I had a fake ID, the name of Brian McGee. Stayed up listening to Queen. I had a fake Saskatchewan ID. Oh, you had one of those.

Did you go down and get it on Granville Street? Was your name the same? Second, or did you change your name? Second floor of Granville, above the rock shop. They're like, this is for fun. I'm like, uh-huh, it's for fun. What was your name? Mike Halfer. Oh, you didn't change the name?

It was always like a personal ID card or something like that. It wasn't a driver's license or anything. It was a personal ID. So every experienced bouncer must have been like, you. You know where it really worked? Uh- you. You know where it really worked? You know where it really worked? Was it the Fog and Suds in Burnaby? It worked very well there.

1,000% they knew, though. They were just like, I'm covered. He showed me ID. Yeah, whatever the case. And he's going to give us money. And then I'd order Newcastle Brown Ale. Oh, I did it for movies. I thought it's what a grown-up did.

I did do it once to sneak into an R-rated movie when I was 17. Yeah, and I can't remember. Oh, it was Hannibal. That's what it was. I didn't even like the movie. It sucked. I can't believe I wasted my time doing it for this movie. Do you remember the king's head in Kitsilano?

Oh, yeah. It's a good spot. That was known. Did you guys spend time memorizing your new address and postal code in case somebody quizzed you? I was always scared that they were going to make me sign because I had someone else's ID with a very complicated signature and that my hands were going to shake so badly that I couldn't even get the signature out.

I was always a little bit nervous about that. The King's Head, though, man. Remember they turned it into a Wings? Oh, it did not do well. It did not do well. The King's Head was a good bar. You don't get bars like that anymore. Yeah, you used to go down there and be like, what's on special?

A sea breeze? Yeah, I'll take six sea breezes. Six sea breezes. I know I've told this story before, but I got to say it again. Because I think the guy listens every now and again. I was coaching a soccer team, and all the guys had just between the ages of 17 and 19. So they were just on the precipice of either being legal to drink or uh were faking it enough to go to bars so this one kid and he was a little green around the gills

when it came to like experience and how to talk at a bar we they went into one and he asked you know is there anything on special tonight good good intro sure yeah yeah that's a good way to go about it and the waitress was like yeah yeah we you know highballs are on special tonight good good intro sure yeah yeah that's a good way to go about it and the waitress was like yeah yeah we you know highballs are on special tonight and then he said oh good what flavors do you have she's like sir i'm gonna need to see some flavors yeah that's incredible i'm yelling in the back i'm like you're not ordering ice cream at my store i've turned away my fair share of fake ids at this point generally speaking they're made, and you actually have to look at them for a while, and we have little charts that tell us what to look for.

Are you tough on IDs? You have to be, yeah. They shut you down if you don't. It's very strict. Have you ever had any? Seriously, you'd be like, do they go undercover and check? Yes, they do.

When I was bartending, they did that too. Yeah, they do that. It's very strict. But there was one time, I always remember this kid. He gave me this fake ID and he was shaking so hard. And I think he must have made it himself, but he spelt license wrong. Like it was a driver's license fake ID, but license was spelled incorrectly. You're shaking so hard, you're like, wow, you need a drink, buddy.

I think it was me. Give my recommendations. Yeah, I was missing like a C or something. It was like L-I-S-E-N-N I'm like did you Is this real bud And he's like no And he just leaves

Unsigned what we learned Luke Gazdik needs to heed Joe Rogan's advice And just not read the comments on his posts That's a very interesting text Because First Joe Rogan can't read No I'm just kidding Okay

Wow Come on So no no no hold on a sec Very interesting text because – First Joe Rogan can't read. No, I'm just kidding. Okay. Wow. Come on. No, no, no. Hold on a sec. I think one of the toughest things as – if you want to call it a public figure or whatever is to differentiate between garbage criticism and constructive criticism. Yes. Because there are plenty of people that text into the Dunbar-Lumber text line

that said, you made a mistake here or I disagree with your point and here's why. And I'll be like, yeah, good point. And they like the show. They want you to do better.

We don't only read the texts that agree with us, right? And, but, so how do you draw the line between taking in that constructive criticism and being like, okay, that's something for me to consider. Not just on a, on a, on a point about the Canucks or whatever, but on, you know, how to do the show or whatever versus the ones that are, you know, abusive or whatever, because I think it's actually like lazy and wrong. If you just say, you know, like you hear people would be like, I ignore the comments because people are just jealous, right?

People just, they, they, they, they, you know, like they want to have a show or something. I'm like, that's not true at all. And you're lying to yourself. In that case, you should be able to take constructive criticism but the interesting thing about the the rogan approach as i will call it is that um it's also to block out the comments of praise and support because those will also give you a false like inflation or sense of self-worth definitely right you're just all you're gonna do is use those to counterbalance the bet so it's almost like none of the feedback good bad or

otherwise matters and that's a really interesting approach because some people will say well how will you know what people are thinking about your stuff and then you have to get into the mindset and the good comments feel so good oh my god my God. Speaking of, do you remember George Mumford, the mindset guy that we had on? Yeah. He was working with the Edmonton Oilers. Oh, was he? Yeah. I saw a picture of him after they beat Dallas the other night.

I was like, I remember him. Yeah, he used to work with the Chicago Bulls. We had him on the show back during the pandemic days, back at the old shop at 1040. Anyway, brief little aside there, letting people into our little world. I like a lot of, we're getting a lot of stories. Yeah. the old shop at 1040. Anyway, brief little aside there, letting people into our little world. I like a lot of, we're getting a lot of stories. Yeah.

I had a buddy who modified his driver's license from 1982 to 1981. It worked great for a year, but on his birthday, when he was actually turning legal age, the bouncer called the, the ID fake. He missed his 19th birthday at the bar because he couldn't get in. That is hilarious. That's tough.

Woodrow, the eligible bachelor. This is on a similar note. Hashtag WWL what we learned. Even Connor McDavid would rather pick up beer from the liquor store than pay for outrageous delivery fees. Yeah, so that video was making the rounds yesterday. Oh, man. What a good captain.

I feel bad for him. Poor guy. I just want to buy some beer, guys. How do people not see that they're making him uncomfortable? Yeah, like just pat him on the back and stuff. Do people not understand body language? Like he's like not smiling, rushing to get the cord lights in his car or whatever. It actually bothers me.

And like not talking to them. And these guys are just right in his yeah he had some other drinks too car or whatever it actually bothers me and like not talking to them and these guys are just right in his personal space like how do you not how do you not read that honestly bruh the answer that i have is because it's these people's quick moment of fame and like i think from you know our perspective like look what we're doing right now we're talking on the air like and not that we're like anything near that but like it's these like these people like this is my moment he's famous i'm gonna be on a video i can take a video of him and they take advantage of it and they're so blind to his emotions and what's right and completely blind and it they they just don't care or they don't know because it doesn't matter to them because he's a godlike figure he's a celebrity and this

is how celebrities are treated exactly i have a question as well like why wouldn't connor mcdavid just send somebody to get the drinks or something that's a good captain right there that's a leader if i was in his shoes i probably wouldn't have even been there like ah this is a worth the hassle i'll get one of my buddies to do it yeah to me, that was the most relatable. This is more of a Derek Ryan thing. Or Fogelder. Oh, Derek. You couldn't have called Fogelder in a second period and been like, go get some Coors Lights.

We're not going to need you in the third. I'm going to go play 12 and a half. That was the most relatable thing that Conor McDavid's ever done. Can you imagine? After the game, we don't have beers. Can you go get some? He's like, I'm going to the liquor store. You know, that must have been awesome for them. They're like,

when's game one? Saturday. We are getting wasted tonight. Let's go get some Coors Lights. It could be a serious disadvantage coming up on Saturday. Both teams look very hungover. It's been a fun show. Thank you all for listening as always. Basketball Ben, is this your last ride with us? This is for the foreseeable future.

It's been great having you here. A lot of goalie talk coming back tomorrow. Yeah, and that'll be a lot of fun. Blue Jays, Korean baseball, and goalie talk. All to follow. Ben, thanks for doing this. Signing off for now, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog and he has been Basketball Ben. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.