Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions’ TJ Lee Returns From Injury + WWL

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

In hour three, Josh & Jason are joined by BC Lions defensive back TJ Lee to speak on his return from an achilles injury and talk all things Leo's football as the team continues to work towards a Grey Cup victory with the game being hosted in Vancouver this year (2:00). Plus the guys tell us what they learned (25:00). 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.

you know three on a tuesday how for the bruh i'm josh elliott wolf filling in for mike alford we're coming to you live from the kintec studio and how for the bruff is brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers experience the delari difference today visit your nearest delariri Honda dealer today. And this hour of Halpern and Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Torfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec. That's what you're waiting for. And also, the Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season.

Get your tickets now at bclions.com. And that leads into our next guest. We go to the phone lines. TJ Lee, defensive back for the bc lions joins us appreciate appreciate you taking the time tj how was it getting back on the field against calgary oh it felt amazing um i mean first off uh i was grateful you know um you never know when your last play is during this game you know so knowing that that last play last year wasn't, and, you know, I was able to step into the new

and play a good game was very, like, reviving for me. So correct me if I'm wrong, you have had an Achilles rupture in both Achilles now? Yep, I tore my left Achilles in 2016 and tore my right one last year. What is the rehab like for that? Is it painful? Is it a lot of work? What is the hardest thing?

Is the hardest thing being able to trust that you're not going to do it again? Yeah, it starts with the brain. It starts with the brain because you're not going to do it again yeah i mean it starts with the brain um it starts with the brain um because you're incapable of doing things and you know uh you have to go through the certain milestones and stages during it you know so not trying to like i guess accelerate the process but kind of just be like peaceful find peace in the process and understand there are certain stages you need to pass to get to that level, to get past it. But it's a tough injury to come back from. But every time I learned something new about myself, that's the main part of it. And I was thinking yesterday, I was like, because I'm getting ready to play in Winnipeg this week, where it happened.

I had a thought in my head and I was like, had I had given up, I wouldn't be able to play in this moment. I wouldn't be able to live this moment out, you know, to actually come back and have the success that I'm manifesting in the moment to come, you know, so not giving up is a big part of it. Was there ever, ever for a second a thought of retirement after that injury? No, not at all. Because I'm a mind-strong person, and then I got a great support system. Yeah, I've had the same people because I get physical therapy year-round. For the last five years, I've had the same team.

I had the same sports psychologist. I had the same wife.'ve had the same team. You know, I had the same sports psychologist. You know, I had the same wife. You know what I mean? Had the same, you know, everything. So knowing that my unit will support me. And this time around, I had kids. So there's so many, like, beacons of inspiration around me, you know, that every day, like, I knew I had to get up and do something towards my goal.

You know, and this is a good life lesson for my kids as well and for my nephews, you know. So, just being a model of, you know, of excellence for them was kind of my driving force as well. TJ, I read a quote from yours in the newspaper, and it went like this. You've got to have good self-talk. What you tell yourself is what you're going to believe. It really doesn't matter what other people say. It's really what you tell yourself. Has that always been a thing for you or have you had to learn that?

Absolutely. I mean, it starts with my mom. I mean, my mom telling me who I am every day as a kid, you know, those little seeds planted inside of me. And that was the biggest point. And then when you start to see it manifest in your life, and then when you have to be an example for your kids every day, you know, but you got to show it. You know, there's one thing telling your kids something,

and there's another thing going through it. So, like, all these injuries, like, that I've been through through my career, my oldest is six. She was able to, you know, see, you know, me recover from a pulled hamstring or, you know, an AC joint. The small things would then ultimately see me recover from a torn Achilles, you know, when I can't walk. She's like, Dad, why aren't you playing? You know, so just, yeah, yeah, there's just so much life lessons in it all that if I would have given up,

I would have not been able to show my kids and you know show myself what i'm capable of and show others really so um yeah it's just really what you believe and what you tell yourself but also what you do every day that mindset combined with the the fact that you've been on this team for 10 years how does that help you as a leader to to the guys on the team? Well, I mean, I also give guys just the – I tell them a lot about their hourglass. You know, it doesn't matter if you've been here one year or 10 years. You know, everybody's career got a different, you know, expiration date. You know, so you may be looking at me like I'm old, but I'm like, you know,

we're kind of the same age football-wise. You know what I'm saying? Like, this could be your last year. I could still play five more. So, you know, I don't say that in a bad way, but I say that to give them the reality, like, don't call me old. You know what I mean? Like, because you could be football old, too.

So let's just appreciate this year, this time, this moment, the newness of this year. And that's very important for me as well because a lot of people and a lot of narratives around me are like, oh, you're old, you're old, you're old. And I'm like, no, I don't see myself as old. I mean, my team tells me mental peak is like physical peak is like 35 and up, you know, and I'm not there, you know what I mean?

And a lot of people retire from football early because of one to two injuries or throughout my career a lot of people have retired um a lot of my friends and he hit me up two years later like hey man how do I get back in it you know what I mean so I just kind of take mental notes of all that and just not give up on myself and also watch what people are telling me when people tell me I'm old it's's like, no, I'm actually evolving. You know, I actually feel better than I was last year. You know, I actually feel faster than I was last year. So it's just the things that you subscribe to, you know, the rhetoric you subscribe to.

And this gives me a lot of confidence also in post-football because my mind, you know, I've been able to endure so much. It doesn't matter what I do post-football if I apply this mindset and attitude to things. We're speaking with TJ Lee of the BC Lions. TJ, tell us a bit about yourself. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? When did you start playing football? Yeah, I was born in Houston, Texas. Lived there until about seven, eight years old. My grandma started a business in Seattle, Washington, a daycare business, and our family daycare.

And we moved to Seattle. But most of my family is still in Houston. Yeah, so I just grew up in the Seattle area, lived, shared a room with all my siblings. It was about six of us in one bedroom, and I'm the youngest. And so basically, I was basically just the test dummy, you know, like WWF was out. I was roughed up by all my older cousins and stuff. So, and I would run back to my mom. My mom would tell me, she's like, if you're going to come back,

then you can't go back in there. Somehow, somehow I'll always find my way back in the room, you know, to get like slammed and, you know, to get off the top rope, you know what I mean? You know, all the, all this stuff, you know, that my siblings and brothers and cousins would do to me. So I knew I was ready to play up as a youngster. Playing football, I kind of just used that, all the life tools that I was given from my siblings.

That's what makes me the tough guy that I am. There's nothing I can't endure because of what I did growing up. Did you have to work at the daycare at all? I did. That was my first job in my family daycare. I had my child care license very young. And yeah, so the youth is very, very important to me. And I know that's my calling. Like when you grow up around public servants, like my mom and my grandma and my aunt, you know, you know, if you don't know what else to do, you know, that's part of your calling because it's in your DNA. In terms of...

Sorry. Go ahead. No, no, no, I apologize. Go ahead. Then you went to college at Eastern Washington. How many CFL players did you either play with or against at Eastern Washington? There's a long list.

I came in. I had terrible grades out of high school. So I had to prop. Prop means you had to academically, you know, play. So I had to get my academics up my whole freshman year to play. So I couldn't play football. That year, that was Matt Nichols' senior year. So I didn't get to play with Matt Nichols.

And then on came Bowie by Mitchell in 2010. I won a national championship with him. And then a couple years after that was Vernon Adams and Cooper Tubbs and Kendrick Barnes and Samson, Ebercom. Brandon Kaufman was a great receiver, all-time Eastern receiver didn't really make a much much hay in the league but he's one of those all-time greats I'll never forget but then also coaching wise you know the Eastern Washington coaching tree has spread all over the world where you got coach Bo Ballin now at Calgary so, there's a lot of people and coaches

that's been influencing my life from that Eastern Washington culture. Were you on that Eastern Washington team that went into Husky Stadium and nearly beat the Huskies? Yep, pretty sure Vernon was the quarterback. Was it Vernon or Hoyer was it? Because when Vernon was the quarterback. Was it Vernon or what year was it? Because when Vernon was the quarterback, we did beat Oregon State.

Right, right. Okay. So you would play – Then one year we beat Washington State. Right. So Washington State by like three one year, and then we lost to UW by six, and then we beat Oregon State as well. What was it like to beat a Pac-12 team

when you were playing for Eastern Washington? It felt amazing. I mean, we knew we were scratching the surface. We knew it was, you know, it wasn't talent that separated us, really. You know, it was scholarships and, you know, kind of just size. So these teams would try to just hold on to the lead

by running the clock out, but our offense was explosive, you know. But once, you know, a quarterback like Bo Levi or Vernon Adams got behind a quarterback or behind the center, you just didn't know, you know. You didn't know how the game was going to end. They would shoot out. It would be a shootout. It would shoot out and give us a chance to win ultimately.

So that was kind of what it felt like in all of those games. We just ended up winning. We had that fight comeback spirit towards the end of the game. You knew if we had the ball to last possession or towards the tail end of the game, it would be a game changer. You know, in some games we didn't end up well. I think it was Bo Levi. I think he threw a pick in the end zone towards the end of that UW game.

But still had the chance, right? He had the chance to throw it. And he got us all the way down there and put us in the situation. So, yeah. That's a cool experience. And you guys had red turf at Eastern Washington, right? Yep, red turf. I got a piece of it in my garage.

Apparently, every 10 years, you have to redo it. So that was from Michael Ruse. It was his donation to a university. Yeah, so it was funded by him, the majority of it. Does it seem like a long time ago now that you're at college? Because you've been with the Lions for 10 years now. Did you ever expect to stay so long with the Lions? I actually did, believe it or not.

But I didn't expect it to go this fast. Well, years go by super fast. But what kind of tells me, lets me know of my age is my children because I was four years in before I had my first kid, and now my daughter's six. So that just tells me, like, wow. You know, I see, you know, there was this baby, you know, that was here when I was four years in the league,

and now she's, like, so big. You know what I mean? And that just tells me, like, wow, this is what six years looks like in size, you know? Well, you haven't won a Grey Cup in BC yet. The last Grey Cup for the Lions was all the way back in 2011. You got a pretty good chance this year. How do you guys feel about your chances?

I know you've got to take it step by step, but that must be quite the carrot to have in front of you this opportunity to not only play in a Grey Cup at BC Place, but to win a Grey Cup at BC Place. Yeah, it's an opportunity and it's a privilege to be in a situation, have the guys that we have. I mean, we built a culture here. And it's starting to show. And we got the talent and the guys in place. And we just need to, you know, take it game by game. And first off, you know, have the bigger picture and the bigger goal. You know, we plan to come out here and, you know, win every game, you know, and grow from the games that we don't win, you know, to ultimately give us the right, you know, win every game, you know, and grow from the games that we don't win, you know, to ultimately give us the right, you know, the right mix to come out.

Because, I mean, it's a matter of luck as well when it comes to football and injuries and health and all that stuff. So you just got to just, you know, hope everything aligns, you know, to making it to the Grey Cup. But in terms of the talent, we have the talent and the people the right people in the room and the right coaching staff so we're excited tj thanks so much for uh taking the time to join us um congratulations on your return from the injury and uh stay healthy okay because because the lines are going to need you in this postseason if they're going to win

the great cup at bc play so stay healthy yeah Yeah, I appreciate that. I mean, I will say that's hard to do. You know, football is a very dangerous sport and, you know, you can't go out and half ass it. You know, I would tell you this, I'm going to give my all, you know, and I'm just one of those players, you know, if I'm not here for it, you know, just know I gave my all. If I'm here for it, just know I gave my all. So I'm not, it, just know I gave my all. So I'm not – I'm actually inviting any injury that comes my way. You know what I mean? Football is a game full of injuries. If I'm inviting it, I will promise you this, I will conquer it.

And that's all that matters in terms of the person and who I aim to be. Awesome. Great advice, great leadership, And thanks for taking the time To join us And good luck Thursday in Winnipeg I love it Thanks for having me

Thanks TJ That was TJ Lee Of the BC Lions Great mindset Yeah He's a good talker I was like I thought you were done

And then he kept talking And I'm like Oh god I've cut you off again I apologize Tough No you go No you go I'm sure you also, God, I've cut you off again. I apologize. Tough. No, you go. No, you go.

I'm sure you also. And then you both start. Please don't tackle me. He also loved the repeated questions about his Achilles injuries. I'm sure that's a great thing to bring up. It's no hurdles. It's fine. It's no hurdles.

Yeah. Have you ever had an Achilles injury before? Actually, famously, I had this one. Have you ever blown out your Achilles in a big game? You didn't go that far. Yeah. Yeah, he is one of the issues. And basketball, Ben, I know you're a loyal Lions fan.

One of the issues with the CFL at times and oftentimes has been the lack of players that have played for the team for a long, long time. Yeah, they bounce around so much. There's so much bouncing around. And then there's only nine teams. And that includes a quarterback position. That includes every position.

And you go back to players like Carl Kidd was here for a long time, and I think that meant a lot. TJ Lee, 10 years with the BC Lions. It's pretty rare. I mean, that's very rare. I remember watching him when I was in high school. Yeah.

And we'd go to games and be like, that's a name that was recognizable then, and it is now. That's really cool. And if the Lions are able to win the Grey Cup this year at home, that would be a terrific story for him because he's stuck with the team for so long. And, you know, when I asked him that question, when you, when you ruptured

your Achilles and you're like, oh my God, I'm, you know, he was probably 32, 33 now. So he might've been 32 or 33 then when he did it. And a lot of players would have been like, maybe that's a sign that my football career is over. So I wanted to ask him, did it ever even cross your mind of retiring? And he said, no. And I believe him because like, I think this is a guy that probably walks the walk.

And you know, like he is, he is a guy that does not want to quit. And at the same time, it was interesting what he said at the end of the view when he said, um, and I said, stay healthy this time. And he said, I cannot promise that because it's football. Yeah. And he welcomes it.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's the, the mindset for me is, is what's impressive. Cause even after, um, the Achilles thing, he was like, you know what? The trainers are telling me males peak in their late 30s. I think I can still play for another five years. Right.

And there's obviously the will and the desire from him to keep playing. And probably the responsibilities of like hey i got kids at home i'm gonna make a living yeah yeah like stretch this out as long as possible try to play like close to 15 years if you can and and see what happens after but it's uh it's wildly impressive to me that he was able to do that and not only come back but like the mindset like i i kind of broke my wrist and i was like mentally broken for three weeks you didn't have the same attitude oh dude we were like i'm retiring from slow pitch co-ed softball i was so it's time to go everyone everyone father time is undefeated yeah it

wins again the hater said i couldn't do it. Honestly, great call by the haters. All right, let's do some what we learns. I learned that this is kind of a Captain Obvious thing. John Elway went on a podcast. I think it was the Barstool podcast. What is it? Part of my take. And he said that his biggest regret as a football executive was failing to draft or passing on Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft. And he took Bradley Chubb instead.

And he said, I love that guy. It just didn't work out. He was my type. That was probably my biggest mistake of my GM days was not taking Josh. And it got me thinking, how many starting quarterbacks have the Denver Broncos been through since,

since Peyton Manning led them to. So you've got Trevor Simeon, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler. Remember him? These are names. Case, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco. Right.

Uh, Brandon Allen. So they got the wrong Allen. Yeah. They were confused. Yeah. Uh, Drew Locke, of course. Right. Brandon Allen. So they got the wrong Allen. Yeah, they were confused. Yeah. Drew Locke, of course. Yeah. Jeff Driscoll. Do not remember him.

Brett Rippon. I remember him. Yeah. Kendall Hinton. Oh, he was the one that was a receiver and he had to play one game as quarterback. Okay. So it didn't go well. So that was never really a plan for him.

Yeah. I was like, who's Kendall Linton? Teddy Bridgewater. And then of course they made the big trade to get Russell Wilson. And it all worked out from there. And then Jarrett Stidham after him. Now they drafted Bo Nix in this draft.

And, you know, there's, I guess, relatively high hopes for him, but Bo Nix wasn't Caleb Williams. So there's a very good chance that the Denver Broncos are still going to be looking for that quarterback of the future. Bo Nix is going to be probably their starter. Oh, and they also brought in Zach Wilson, didn't they? Yeah, they did.

Right. So it's Bo Nix, Jared Stidham, and Zach Wilson. What are the odds that one of those guys turns into the type of quarterback that can win you a Super Bowl? Nah, like zero to me. I'm not high on Bo Nix, though. But in terms of like Zach Wilson and Jared Stidham, it's just a bunch of mid, I think.

Yeah. That's what they have there. What do you think of Caleb Williams? Do you think he's going to be the guy? I think he's going to be good. I don't, well, he might be a little overhyped, but I think he's going to be at least like passable enough. Like his floor to me,

maybe not the same type of player as like Jared Goff, but the same type of impact as Jared Goff. Right. What do you think? Are you a Seahawks fan? I'm a Vikings fan. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's tough.

It is so sad. That's tough. But I'm sure you follow the Seahawks. What do you think about their quarterbacking future? They didn't address it in the draft this year. Some people thought they might. Some people thought they might take Michael Penix Jr., but the Atlanta Falcons surprised everyone by drafting him after

they'd signed Kirk Cousins. And that's going to be an interesting story to see how that plays out. That was bizarre. And Kirk Cousins was like, what? Guys. Like, get me a receiver or something, not another quarterback to breathe

down my neck. But the depth chart in Seattle is Gino Smith, Sam Howell, and PJ Walker. Um, I love the Gino Smith story. Don't get me wrong, but I don't believe he's the guy that's going to deliver a Superbowl for the Seahawks. And when they did trade away Russell Wilson, I

said, you know, look, it's time for this to happen. I am ready to have a divorce from Russell Wilson and I said, you know, look, it's time for this to happen. I am ready to have a divorce from Russell Wilson and I'm glad they did it. But it puts you in that wilderness where you don't know when you're going to be back because you don't know when you're going to find that quarterback, how you're going to find that quarterback. The Seahawks were in the wilderness when they unexpectedly found Russell Wilson. Nobody expected Russell Wilson to deliver what he did for the Seahawks

when they drafted him, but he did. So I guess the question now is like, when is it going to happen and how long is it going to take? And we just don't know that. Look at the history of the Denver Broncos since Peyton Manning. Yeah. And that's kind of the thing, especially when your team is good enough to make the playoffs still. And Gino Smith is good enough of a quarterback to get you to the postseason. Probably not like, again, I agree with you, not a Super Bowl caliber quarterback, but good enough that you're a passable team,

especially if all the pieces around him are as good as they are in Seattle. I do have like some sliver of hope for Sam Howell to figure it out. I do too, yeah, some sliver of hope. Yeah, but that's a long shot. Eventually you're going to have to trade up in the draft for sure. Someone texted in, don't forget about Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow was before Peyton Manning.

They had Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton, and that was after they went through Jake Cut know, Jake Cutler and Jake Plummer. And they realized finally we're going to have to go out and get a real quarterback. And they got a real one in Peyton Manning. But ever since then, it has been tough to be a Denver Broncos fan. Give us a moocow on that. We need more what we learns into the Dunbar Lumber text line. So text those in 650-650.

Do you have a what we learned on the other side? I do. I will have one. Josh has got a what we learned on the other side and hopefully we'll have a few more into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. You're listening to the Halford and Brough

show on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show. What does that 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 834 Halford and Brough It is what we learn time This hour of Halford and Brough is brought to you by Campbell and Pound Real Estate Appraisers Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound Visit Campbell-Ppound.com today halford and brough is also also brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers

experience the delari difference today visit your nearest delari honda dealer today i feel like i haven't messed up a review and i waited to jinx yourself i waited till late in the show yeah you've done you've done a great job. Thank you. We've been an improved show over yesterday. Oh, yeah. Yesterday, you know what? Write that one off.

That was an exhibition game, though. That was a preseason game. Yeah, there were hurdles. That was when the Canucks lost 11-0. Was it 11-0 to Calgary? Oh, yeah. Was that their first preseason game? First game of the preseason?

Was it 11? It might have been 8-0. I thought it was double digits. I thought it was double digits, I thought it was double digits too. Is it in net? What happened? I remember the Canucks did actually

beat Calgary 11-0 in a real game when Josh was like 2. It was 10-0. It was 10-0. Okay, so they didn't get to 11.

No, unfortunately. Do you remember how mid they looked? I'm starting to talk like a young person. Mid, good for you. They looked in the preseason? Yeah. It was concerning. Do you remember how mid they looked? I'm starting to talk like a young person. Mid, good for you. They looked in the preseason. Yeah, it was concerning.

Do you remember we were like, they're going to be bad again. Yeah. And then all of a sudden they had that great game against the Oilers to start and we're like, oh. Do you think the season goes wildly different if they don't have that first game against the Oilers? It feels like a lot of like, I think back to it. Yeah, I wonder.

The confidence gained from it. I mean, my logical brain says no, because that doesn't make sense. But the narrative brain says yes. Yeah. I wonder. I wonder. Like, because we had talked all summer about the start.

The players knew, like, the start was the biggest thing. And then to have that game be your first game. I'm just thinking it reinforced some things that they hoped to do. Anyway, what we learned, I have one. The White Sox have lost 15 games in a row.

They have been a franchise since 1901. You remember. And this is a franchise. I remember the Black Sox scandal well. It was devastating. Yeah, of course. Shoeless Joe. Say it ain't so, bud.

And this. I was that kid. This is a franchise record. So first time they've ever lost 15 games in a row. The previous record was 14 games. Surely that was set a while ago. It wasn't. It was set in June of this year.

So in a few years, are the socks gonna be really good probably not well i don't know baseball's weird like you can just remember how bad baltimore was a few years ago but they like they've hit on do you remember how bad houston was for a few years you have to think baseball if you get the top pick there's no guarantee you're getting the top player in the draft. But isn't it more than – well, maybe I'm wrong on this. I thought it was more about the number of prospects you could acquire. You can't acquire a draft pick. But you do have to be willing to pay at some point. And the Pittsburgh Pirates are a good example of that.

They're constantly bad, and then they do produce some good players. And Garrett Cole. Yeah, and then their owner's like uh see you later the the thing about the orioles too is that they could always develop players decently well they just kind of were at the the low point of their their bell curve i guess to go full drans about it um and so they just kind of had to wait for more guys to develop the white socks aren't really that great of a developmental system so they kind of had to wait for more guys to develop. The White Sox aren't really that great of a developmental system. So they kind of have to overhaul a few things to get back to relevant. I think it's more pronounced in the AL East, too,

where you need to be in your window to compete. Because if you're not, then you're probably fourth or you're third and you're not going to the playoffs. So some fun stats about this. If you exclude both those losing streaks, they would still have the worst winning percentage in the league. They have already clinched a losing record this season. First team to ever do it in July.

Yeah, they're at 27-82. And a stat Laddie mentioned is that they have blown as many saves, 27, as they have wins on the season, 27. Also, the White Sox have a 248 winning percentage. So if we're looking at historical comparables, this would be the worst season-long record since, you remember, the 1935 Boston Braves, who finished 38 and 115.

That's a lot of losing. Even the 2003 Detroit Tigers, which were a horrible team, had a better winning percentage than the Chicago White Sox have right now. Their run differential is minus 221. Yeah. The baseball season drags when you're a winning team. Can you imagine how long this season feels? There's still a month and two months left.

The White Sox don't even have a cool stadium. No. No. Do you remember, do you remember they built that stadium? You probably don't actually. They built that stadium right before this,

uh, the trend of going old school. So. The cool looking stadium. The cool looking stadium, which kind of started in Baltimore with Camden Yards. So they've got this stadium that's kind of cookie-cutter, and it's in not the best part of town in Chicago. Let's put it that way.

So sad. Even going to the games in Chicago is kind of like, this is not an enjoyable experience. This is not for me. I will go to Wrigley instead. Yeah. Anyway, this conversation yesterday, when we talked about the White Sox, you made a joke and you said,

Josh, your softball team could beat the Chicago White Sox in a series. We all laughed. We all had a good time. And then that led into me being like, oh, there was softball drama on the weekend in a tournament I played in, in Chilliwack. That conversation apparently got back to some of the executives in the league that I play in, in Chilliwack. That conversation apparently got back to some of the executives in the league that I played in.

The powers that be. The powers that be that I was complaining about. And my comments were like offhand. We talked about it for a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you were complaining about basically the team that you played in the finals of the lowest division. Yeah, semifinals to be precise. Semifinals of the lowest division yeah semi-finals to be precise semi

of the lowest division lot at stake and you felt that they brought in some ringers yeah and and my my whole thing and again like it this is i was pretty over it yesterday i was like whatever move on um but my whole thing essentially was we're playing in the lowest division we don't need to do this this is excessive is this a drinking while you're playing in the lowest division. We don't need to do this. This is excessive. Is this a drinking while you're playing softball tournament? Not technically. Is there any other kind? You're not technically allowed on the park ground.

Okay. But it's not so serious that people are like, no, we don't drink during these games. Yeah, exactly. All right. So it upsets some of these execs. These high-powered execs. These high-powered execs These high powered execs And it got back to me So I just wanted to take this time

To apologize For absolutely nothing Sensitive babies Nice If you don't want to say anything If you don't want me to say anything about your softball league Run it properly Because it was

insane that this has happened to us two years in a row i didn't even bring that up last year in the final actually it might have been the semis again i don't know last year the team that beat us did the exact same thing they had a roster full of players that were not on their team. Right. And so they kind of created a super team. They beat us. We had some complaints about it.

And again, to be clear, I wasn't like super upset about this yesterday. It was more of a, hey, this is kind of annoying thing. And I had moved on. It's D-League softball. It's not that deep. But now it's a fight. But now they're like, hey,

we should remove their team from the league because Josh was talking about it on air. Really? Which is wildly sensitive, I think. Really? Dictators. The roster thing is, I've never ran a league before, but I feel like it's a pretty important thing in terms of, you know,

getting people to want to come back and play in your league. Exactly. You think you want to be in control of something like that. And so they like, and look, I've talked to some of these execs they're actually great people i have no problem with them on a personal level but the league is for fun we had fun there's an obligation though to make sure the competitive rules are upheld to make the games fun for everyone so what was the pushback you heard on it it was just so they didn't like the bad publicity i guess so they were they thought i it? It was just so... They didn't like the bad publicity?

I guess so. They thought I threw them under the bus, I believe. You didn't even name and shame them. I didn't name and shame them. I'm not going to name names. All I said was, hey, they didn't even listen to our complaint. Or when they did, they were like, you know what? It's just for t-shirts. You don't have to be so sensitive about it.

So they complained about us being sensitive about the rule. Meanwhile, me not even mentioning them on air. You love t-shirts you don't have to be so sensitive about it right so they complained about us being sensitive about the rule meanwhile me not even mentioning them on you love t-shirts i love t-shirts i'm a big when it's all about everyone says that about the t-shirt and uh yeah and then getting one of those xl t-shirts that you're swimming in you never wear is this in your closet you swimming no it's like you're swimming. Oh, I thought you were like the shirt. Yeah. I only wear extra large heavy duty shirts. You're one of those people.

Heavy duty. You're just sweating as soon as you put it on. But yeah, you're spitting in the face of the rules and you expected me to be okay with it. And then you came back at me. I hope this is a soap opera all week with Josh. I hope so too. Okay.

Give us a moot count on that. I do want to get into the text inbox. So do you guys have one? I have a quick one if you want. I have a quick one too. Okay, real quick then. I'll go first. South Sudan won their first basketball game of the tournament in the Olympics.

They beat Puerto Rico 90-79. Wow. Tomorrow they play the United States, who they only lost to by one point in exhibition play a week ago. Pretty crazy, just out of nowhere. They've been a country for eight years, and I recently found out there are no indoor courts in South Sudan. Right.

They did training camp in Rwanda because they don't have basketball courts in South Sudan. This is amazing. That's incredible. This is fantastic. And they only lost to the US by one. Okay. I'm going to set the point spread at, just in my mind, I have no idea what the sports books are setting it at.

I'm going to set the point spread at 20 in favor of the Americans. Who are you taking? I would hammer the over on at 20 in favor of the Americans. Who are you taking? I would hammer the over on that. No, no, no. It's not an over-under. Oh. So America, the USA minus 20.

Yeah. So you're taking the Americans. I take the Americans. Okay. So they're going to win by at least 20. Yeah. Is that not the over? Wow.

No, that's just betting on a side. You're just taking them to win by 20. You're just betting on a side. Yeah. Yeah. The over would be point totals. Aren't you a side. You're just taking them to win by 20. Betting on a side. Yeah. Yeah. The over would be point totals. Aren't you a golfer? You should know how to gamble. The Sudan team, though, they have a few guys that play in the CEBL, right?

Like the Canadian League. Yeah, they do. And Luol Deng is- The Americans, though. Yeah. If you remember- You should see the teams that the Americans play for. They have NBA All-Stars.

They have an NBA champion who's been on the plate. They bench Jason Tatum. Alright, give us a mookow on that. Congratulations to South Sudan. Laddie, real quick. The last one I have, it's another quirky baseball one, but for the first time ever, the Detroit Tigers, they've been around for a while, right? They're a pretty storied

franchise. Well, for the first time ever this week, they will have a pitcher who will start three times in a seven-day span. Doesn't seem great. Doesn't seem like it's a reason that they want to be doing it. But, yeah, Tyler Holton, he's getting the start again against Cleveland. And it's his third time he's going to be starting a game for the Detroit Tigers.

How many innings has he gone in his previous two? I didn't look it up, but obviously he's not gone the full games. Complete games. But it's just so odd that you would have the same guy start three times in a seven-day stretch. In today's modern game, it's just something that's so wild to see. It's got to be so worthless for, like, you're doing this for the Detroit Tigers. He's going out there like, man, I'm ruining my arm.

I'm going to need Tommy John to pitch in three games in seven days for the Tigers. Here comes another changeup. So with the advent of, obviously, the opening openers and stuff, it's not as important to start in the regular routine. But yeah, he's gone about two innings in each of those. Oh, okay.

It's got far less dramatic. But it's still pretty cool. The first time in Tigers history. Okay. All right, give us a mookow on that. Let's print off the submissions into the Dunbar-Lumber text line. Todd has bad takes with what we learned. Canada is still reaping the benefits of the Own the Podium program brought in for the 2010 Olympics.

Canada is now an Olympic power in many events. Pretty, pretty, pretty good. So I have a, for the younger participants in this show. Who? I have some trivia. Okay. So I'm going to, this is going to be for Ben and Josh.

In 1976, Canada hosted the Olympics in Montreal. How many gold medals did Canada win at the 1976 Olympics? Zero. Zero. In 1988, Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics. Zero.

Yeah, zero. Because Alex Bilodeau was the first one on home soil. Right. It really is incredible that we hosted the Olympics twice and then the third time we got our first gold medal. It's incredible.

I know there's more events now. There's more events now. And we had the most gold medals in that games of any country. In 2010. Yeah, yeah. I remember 88 not getting that gold and being like, come on, Brian Orser.

Was there like legitimate chances in 88 at them getting the gold? Yeah, figure skating. Figure skating, yeah. Brian Orser and I think Elizabeth Manley won silver for Canada, but this was a long time ago. I was 12 years old,

but I believe she was more of a surprise to get the silver. And Brian Orser, he might've been the world champ. We should have him on the show. Ask if he remembers. Yeah, do you remember that? He didn't get it though.

He only got silver. It was kind of disappointing for the nation. Yeah. Do you remember that? He didn't get it though. Yeah. He only got silver. It was kind of disappointing for the nation. Yeah. Woodrow, the eligible bachelor with what we learned, great reminder about self-talk from TJ Lee, whether Brough and Ben are playing golf, Laddie is in goal or Josh is playing softball, negative or positive self-talk

affects your mindset. We've talked about this on the show before, Halford and I, and I think Halford and I probably have the worst self-talk you will ever imagine. Halford also has bad talk for his teammates. So he's kind of like, he spreads the negativity around when he plays, because he's a goalie in soccer, right?

And when you're a goalie in soccer, aren't you encouraged to like yell at your teammates? These guys blame public ads for a lot. Say mean things. My self-talk is famously bad in hockey and golf. And Ben, we were talking in the break about your self-talk on the golf course. Now, you are a very good golfer. You're a plus handicap, are you not?

I am. Plus four right now? Plus four. How much does that have to do, by the way, and I don't want to demean your plus four handicap, but how much does that have to do with you playing at the same course a lot? I've thought this too.

It definitely helps. But given that I play tournaments at all these other courses, those are all accounted for as well. I'd say 60%, 70% of my rounds are at cap, which helps because then you get to know the course for sure. And plus you're at cap, so you're feeling good about yourself. You're just happy. Just as a person.

Just a confidence builder. Just a confidence builder. Right. Right. Okay. But your self-talk is not good. It's not the best. Right.

But I use that as like a pushing off point to get mad at myself to get myself to play better. I don't think, I think that's very different when you're getting down on yourself and you're getting upset. Pouty.

Pouty. That's going to be a snowball effect in the worst way. If you use it as a motivation thing and you can snap out of it then quickly, like it's release and then you got to get back to being focused and and on target if you were playing a team event would you tell yourself

to knock it off with the negative self-talk just because you wouldn't want to influence your teammate in that situation and you don't want to get mad at a teammate no you would never do that no that's that's unless you're like like in a drunk two-man scramble. Then you'd be like, what are you doing? You stink. You stink, man. How did you miss that? We're not going to win this tournament.

Yeah, self-talk is something that's interesting, though, because I think there are some very, very good athletes that do have negative self-talk. And in some ways, they wear it like a badge of honor. Like, for example, JT Miller. For sure. Would be the example of that. And I think maybe Rick Toggett has worked with them on that.

But see, I think a lot of people see negative self-talk as holding themselves accountable, but it can reach the point where it's either not good for you. I mean, some of the things that I've said to myself on the golf course, you wouldn't say them to your worst enemy, but I think when it came to JT Miller, it was more like the distraction that he caused on the bench. Yeah.

Because you're like, hey. Yeah, it was a little too outward, but I think it came from a good place. Yeah. I think it came from like, I'm a leader on this team, so I'm going to hold myself to this highest account, but then maybe you didn't think about some of the consequences of having those outbursts.

And the outbursts were especially noticeable during the pandemic when there was like no one in the stands and it was like, wow, you really heard that F-bomb. Well, I think that the level, the amount of times it happened, it starts to become a distraction, right? It's okay if it's every once in a while, but if you keep doing it consistently,

it comes to a point where your teammates are like, okay, when's the blowup going to happen? And they're all looking at you. I think that's when it starts to, yeah. Your teammates are on edge. Yeah. I like this one from Robin Suri, because Robin Suri is the biggest Mariners fan

that texts into this show and the biggest Blue Jays hater. Robin Suri, what we learned, what I've learned is that it's awesome to watch the Mariners pillage Toronto's team during their demise. disappear again for 22 years like they did between 1993 and 2015 when they all discovered what baseball was for the first time. Rob and Suri bringing it. Rob and Suri, you better hope the Mariners make the playoffs, buddy. They all really better hope that they find a way to either win their division

or sneak in in the wild card because man, if the Mariners miss the playoffs after making these trades it's going to be real bad considering they hit the lead that they had at one point during the season also i take offense to the fact i i grew up in ontario i went to a lot of jays games i didn't sit there through jesse lich starts in the 2000s just to be talked to like this on the radio who's your favorite player again er Eric Hinsky was my favorite player growing up, so I don't deserve this kind of shabby treatment.

You went through. That was like me growing up a Canucks fan. I was like, I loved Petrus Kriko. He was Rookie of the Year, Hinsky. He was a good player, Petrus Kriko. JD and Coquitlam's going to get the last word here. What we learned, any Canadians backpacking through Europe for the next few years should hide their maple leaf while traveling through France. Yes, congratulations to the women's rugby sevens team that beat France yesterday in France and then beat Australia today to set up a gold medal match with the Kiwis in women's rugby 7.

Good luck to the women today. They are going to be significant underdogs. But you know what? They were big underdogs against the Aussies too. Let's go pull off the upset. 10-45. 10-45. The gold medal game.

Appreciate everyone texting in. Everyone listening. Thanks to Basketball Ben. Thanks to Laddie. Thanks to Jasonball Ben. Thanks to Laddie. Thanks to Jason Brough. I've been Josh Elliott-Wolf. This has been Halford and Brough on Sportsnet 650.