Halford & Brough in the Morning - Canada Soccer Appeals Punishment & Olympic Updates

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

In hour two, Josh & Jason chat with Olympic panelist and former athlete Perdita Felicien about her Olympic experiences and breaking down Canada's successes at the games so far (1:00). As well Ben Steiner joins the show to discuss the breaking news that Soccer Canada has appealed their six point deduction punishment and what that means for the team moving forward from here. (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.

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You're back. Oh, man, I nailed it. Wow. Nowhere to go but up. Here we go. Let's bring in our next guest. It is Perdita Felician, host of CBC Olympics Primetime and two-time Olympian. Thanks for taking the time, Perdita.

How are you? I'm good, guys. How's it going? We are doing very well. Josh is hanging in there. He is hanging in there. I'm hanging by a thread, but I'm here, and that is okay. Josh is like you know, because you're a hurdler. Josh is like

he's hit a couple hurdles, and the hurdles have taken him down. But he got back up, and he's going to finish the race. He's going to finish the race. Did you ever have a, Perdita, did you ever have a, uh, like a big wipeout at the hurdles?

Yes. At literally at the Olympics in 04, I was the favorite to go in world champion and still at the first hurdle. If you Google it, it's quite historic. Oh, I'm sorry to bring that up. Yeah. I actually did not know about that.

Now you have had a hurdle. But I saw a couple. It was 20 years ago, so you probably didn't. It's like 15 Olympics ago in Olympic years. I apologize for that. Yeah, no worries. Are you over it? You know, I don't think you ever get over it,

but it makes me a better broadcaster, and it makes me more grateful for my experiences my experiences that did do i did do good at okay fair enough what did you think of the opening ceremonies oh it was a lot of it was too much going on it was too much going on it was a lot but i will say as far as like visual appeal and interest and just craziness that was that was kind of cool but for me the best olympics ever was like opening beijing 2008 hands down this came this came close because you're like hmm how did they do that and why why did they do that so maybe we'll talk the the paris experience so far as a whole has been has been kind of great just from like a standpoint for me personally. The beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower, the fencing venue too has been great.

It kind of feels like they've at least nailed the visual components of everything going on. Yeah, well, that's the thing, right? Paris, world-class city, it has all these world-f famous landmarks from you know the the Louvre the Arc de Triomphe the Eiffel Tower we saw like our queen Celine singing and opening ceremonies from the top of that which was pretty iconic right and so even if you look at the Olympic flame like I would love your listeners to go on and like check out a video of the olympic flame it has never been done like that it's like this hydrogen type looking balloon in the sky that's just there and they have it in the middle of the city because they want it to be accessible to tourists and visitors where typically when you have the olympic flame it's like in the you know

the olympic stadium and that if you think about it like if you're not if you don't have a ticket to get into the stadium to maybe watch track and field or soccer you're never going to see it but they're putting all their stuff you know on on front street can i say that in toronto on front street they're putting it all out there and in terms of you know the the actual sports going on right now what has been the highlight of these olympics for you so far i mean it's early days still but summer mcintosh gets the the silver medal and then what she's doing at 17 year old 17 years old is just insane yeah we've been calling it the summer of summer like she is um she was she was 14 when she went to her first olympics in tokyo now she's 17 first race at the olympics she's an olympic silver medalist that's iconic

today we're going to see her in the 400 meter uh im in um which is her best event she's the world record holder in that but you know what eleanor harvey so she's a woman from hamilton my very first ever olympic assignment in 2016 as a brand new like mix zone reporter you know broadcaster was fencing and i'll be honest i was like man this is not a real sexy sport like i want a sexier sport but you know as a rookie you're not going to get that but today eleanor harvey of hamilton ontario won canada's first ever medal in fencing a bronze and let me tell you i was like screaming for her like this was a rock star event because i'm'm like, this is iconic.

Like I love fencing. I've fallen in love with the sport. So that to me was really, really exciting to see. What's the best part about fencing for you? What have you come to appreciate about it? The way they scream, the way they scream and cheer on. It's like, well, you're doing the most right now, but every jab, every stab, and I'm not, you can write lingo, right? But every single maneuver that they make is so important.

So I, I dare anybody watch Olympic fencing. Okay. Go on to CBC gem because you know, it might not be on the main screen, but that's okay. And just go and listen to the emotion. I won't even do it for you right now because it will scare your viewers off. They won't come back. But it is wild stuff. What is the most impressive thing about Summer McIntosh? I think it's her age.

The fact that she's 17 here and she's already gone in the pool and won a medal. But also the fact that she has not even touched her peak. And she has multiple Olympic cycles in her, and what is that going to look like? That's kind of scary. What is great is her mom, Jill, is an Olympian. She was in the 70s competing for Team Canada in the pool, so I'm thinking, like, the Olympic apple does not fall far from the tree,

and it's pretty cool to have an Olympic parent because her mother can really help guide her, and she's been sequestered. Essentially, she's pretty cool to have an Olympic parent because her mother can really help guide her and she's been sequestered essentially she's not talking to media but like this this young you know athlete can rack up more medals for Team Canada in the pool during these Olympics uh certainly you'd know this what's it like to to have these I mean you're competing all year at various events and you've got the world championships. But the Olympics, is that a whole different animal in terms of the pressure you feel to perform right now? Like you can't have like, well, it's only this tournament. A bad moment. Yeah.

And so what's that like knowing that you don't have to be perfect, but you have to be pretty close? You've got to be pretty close. So I competed in my first Olympics. I made the Olympic team in track and field in the hurdles when I was 19 and I retired in 2013. So that's 13 years of competing. And I never got an Olympic medal. I got world championship medals and national titles and records, but never Olympic medal because on that day, something just went wrong as we've talked about. And so what you said is so key. You kind of got to be perfect on the day. And here's the thing. If you are not,

the wait is so long. It's not like, okay, I have the world championships next year, like you do in swimming, the world championships in track and field are every two years. You don't have that opportunity. So there is, quickly, if we have the time, there was in judo yesterday, there was a four-time Olympian, a woman from Japan, Uta Abe. So she came in here, supposed to win, supposed to be the best. Her brother is also a judoka, and they both had the gold from Tokyo. So the sibling pair had the gold from Tokyo.

They come in as the favorites. Yesterday, she gets submitted. So it's an ipon, which is almost like a knockout in boxing, by an athlete from Uzbekistan. If you have the nerve, Google it, Uta Abe. She breaks down there and then in front of everybody her coach is trying to hold her and you just hear these guttural screams she's done her olympics are over it's done and then the french crowd starts clapping and chanting her name to try to fix whatever is broken inside of

her and we've talked about it i've been. I've had that exact same experience, like fallout the first hurdle crashed out. It is over world champion, the favorite commercials, billboards everywhere. So that primal scream that came out of her, I felt a little bit like, Whoa, I get it. I understand. But it's exactly what you're saying. It's millimeters. It's fraction of a second. It's, you know, know the the slightest thing and your olympics is over and the weight is so long and atomizing and from for some olympians you might this might be your last your one and done or your fourth and done do you know what i mean so it is it this is why we watch though right this is why we talk about it this is why we tune in there's no competition on earth like it super bowl cool i love it not it, but that's every year you go for that, right?

Not with you being an Olympian. Not to bring up your fall again, but that day, did you feel like something was off or did it just happen? No, I was perfect. No, no. I was on fire.

I was on fire. Like sometimes you can have a little bit too much gas. And this is the thing. You can visualize, you can practice by yourself bit too much gas and this is the thing you can visualize you can practice by yourself when you get into an olympic situation your adrenaline your body saying oh you you want more okay here you go but sometimes it's something that you're not ready for right and so this is what's happening here athletes all around you're asking more of your mentality

asking more of your body, right? And then you have to be perfect. Like I said, a race of millimeters. I did not clear that first hurdle, but you could put the width of a dime or a nickel between that. That's the difference between winning and losing, right? And so it's one of those things. That's what informs me as a broadcaster. That's what makes me a better broadcaster because i understand what is at stake i understand what's so delicate like even our women's soccer team they are going through it right now and i you know with the cheating scandal the drone scandal if people don't know basically you know their coach got sent home they were spying on their opponents with the drone to get some tactical information illegal cheating can't do that and so they've been docked six points, which is essentially like being given two losses.

And so you get points every time you win. So they are in a deficit before they've even gone to their next match. Yesterday, they went up against France, who's the home team. It was a must-win situation. They won. And if you saw the emotion in our players, it was like, whoa. And it was them being defiant. So there's so much emotion.

There's so much drama into these two weeks, these 16 days. And I think for all of us watching, you know, be careful if you're being too critical about a player or an athlete. Be careful, you know, what you're saying about them, because their dreams that they've been working for, for years and years and years really come down to this one moment in time. What do you think the players felt about the punishment that was levied on them? I think it was too harsh. I think they feel it was unfair. It was too harsh. I think they know, and they believe that they were not cheaters. They were

not beneficiaries of it in their minds. And so they think it was cruel. I do think it was a little bit, I think it was fair as far as they needed to be punished, unfortunately, because they benefited from the system, whether they knew it or not. But I thought six points, two wins, like that's saying you just lost twice. I mean, it's almost worse than that because you got negative points for a loss. Like a loss would just be zero points. No, but I'm saying it's almost worse than that because you got negative points for a loss. Like a loss would just be zero points.

No, but I'm saying it's almost already ascribing them to them. Like it's already saying you've already lost. And then what if they lose again? So it's already giving you two like you're done. Right. So it's almost insurmountable. And they have to be near perfect moving forward. So that's why that win against France was gigantic and huge.

And so I think three points would have been like, still hurt, but okay. Six, you have a lot of these athletes who are, they're brand new. They're rookies to the team. And so Vanessa Gilles, who's on the team, gave a really emotional interview yesterday where she said, we have been crying. We have been laughing. We have not eaten in three days we just have not been able to function so we talk about mentality of an olympian right having to

have perfect conditions you know all this imagine being so mentally and emotionally wrecked before it's even started and then you have to take to the pitch with a minus six like what are we asking these players to do that is not the right mental state so i'm sure they have great you know sports psychologists and great family members helping them but that is just wow wow how much anger do you think they have towards their coaching staff that put them in this position you know it's hard to say and to know what i do know is they they like bez they've liked bez they've trusted bev and you know let's be honest like for them to win olympic gold three four years ago that is gonna

make you love your coach even more like they did it yeah and they never probably suspected that any of this you know they said we've not watched any drone footage we didn't we didn't see any of this but the fact that there were two um or at least one official and then one other that was implicated that was taking this drone footage let's not be naive here what do you where you when you get that information you're watching New Zealand right before your opening game what are you doing with that where are you feeding that information where you but you know giving that footage to you're just keeping it for yourself that's really doubtful so I think think now, putting myself in their position, I would be resentful, I would be upset at you,

but you can't give that energy to Bev. You have to do your job. Your dream still is alive, though it looks very different than when you first showed up in Paris. Well, that game against Colombia is sure going to be something to watch. Perdita, thank you for joining us today. I apologize for my blunder and you were very graceful

and you turned it into a great interview. So I thank you for that. Well, let me say this. Don't beat yourself up because this has been talked about a lot. It's been there. I don't shy away from it. And I think, you know,

it's one of those things that everyone has had a moment like that in their life. Maybe not publicly, but everyone has. So you bringing it up did not, you know, affect me or impact me at all. It's part of sport. It's part of life, you know. But I appreciate the apology. That's really sincere and kind.

You are the best. Thank you for Perdita. And enjoy the rest of the day. Enjoy the rest of the Olympics. It sounds like you're having fun covering them. Okay, keep having fun. Okay, I will. Bye.

Bye. That was hilarious. Bro, if we're going to talk about your worst round of your life now as punishment. There's nothing compared to that. Oh, my God. Did anyone in this room have any idea, though? I vaguely remember it, her being a big fan. Because when I was chasing to get her as a guest, I was doing my research on oh okay and so i saw it and so

when you asked the question i should have done i just put my hand in my face oh my god yeah that's an all-time moment though that is an all-timer yeah that was good yeah kevin on the road texting in um it was like no it was it was Colin in Tawasin. What we learned. Next interview, Brough will be asking Steve Smith if he ever scored on his own net. Kevin on the road, text in. I remember watching that 0-4 Olympics

where Perdita wiped out. She was devastated. Way to go, Brough. Yes. Just the toughest thing to bring up. Matt not on the island. If Brough didn't know about Perdido's foible, wait until he hears about Bill Buckner,

Steve Smith, and Steve Bartman. I didn't know. See, this is the problem. I've never been a big Summer Olympics guy. Perdido was a big story, though. She was pretty... It was 20 years ago. How old were you?

It was 20 years ago. I don't know. Well, I was still old. Old enough to remember. I was in my 20s. It happened 20 years ago. How old were you? It was 20 years ago. I don't know. Wow, I'm still old. Old enough to remember. I was in my 20s. It happened long enough ago that it's within range that you might forget it. Yeah. That was a fairly direct question though, wasn't it?

Yeah. Have you ever done the thing that is most important for you? Here's the thing. This all started. This is, okay, I'm going to pull a real breath. This is working with me now. It's Josh's fault because he was screwing up his reads, and that led me to make the comparison in hurdles,

to wiping out in the hurdles. And then what are the chances that you would have someone on? I should have told you too, maybe. It's your fault. We're not preparing me And Laddie's sitting there Like an idiot I'm supposed to have a support team here

Damn it I had the thought process when I saw this I was like okay let's maybe not bring up That this happened to her Bruv don't bring up her big blunder And then what about like the big Right from the start? First question.

I thought she'd be like, yeah, I might've had, I had one at like a college track or something. It was pretty funny. Instead it was, I had one in the biggest moment of my sporting career and it's lived with me ever since. And she adds, I was the world champion and the favorite. Yeah. On the first hurdle.

This was my one chance at winning a medal. And it's all Josh's fault. Hey, if I didn't get the reads wrong, I wouldn't be in this situation right now. Fumbling like that. Yeah, my bad. That's on me. I'll be better.

How much of the Olympics have much of the olympics the have you been watching so you should watch this weekend you're not a summer olympics guy i am like dude i mean i'm into it this year because of the of uh the men's basketball right it has been on my tv constantly like i love all these like random sports like judo is on right now i will sit there and watch judo for like hours okay so i don't want this to sound harsh but like why i just really i don't i i don't know what it is do you follow it in other times no no no like so why once every four years i just find it really interesting and your appetite's only good for once every four yeah and then you're like i wouldn't go out of my

way to watch judo but something about it and like it's it's something about this being everyone's like moment you know like they work their lives to get to this event and like like in 2004 like yeah and then if you remember she fell over the hurdle. Right, right, right. Very dramatic moment. Very famously. She was expected to win, actually. Do you find yourself becoming an expert in all the events? Like, real quick? I do.

Yes. I watched Simone Biles yesterday. In gymnastics? Yes. No, in badminton. She's excellent. She was playing a different sport uh insane probably could honestly in the tumbling and she had a couple landings which were i guess a little bit off i was like oh can't be doing that she went out of bounds yeah yeah when they

like listen listen if you're gonna do like a double double flip and like you got to stick the landing. Everyone knows that. Triple twist. Yeah. Right? This is the fundamentals. I mean, it is basic tumbling, Simone. It is basic tumbling that you've got to nail those.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. I do think that we were talking about this the the judging events where it's just like a score I don't know if I I like those as much because I I agree when they stumble I'm like you suck I don't know how you did that yeah but when they actually do something good I'm like I don't know I don't know if that's good uh there's text in when I heard you ask the question I immediately

turned off the sound I feel for you bro at least i hate i hate that i've provided my listeners with the secondhand embarrassment because the secondhand embarrassment for me is one of the reasons why i can't listen to certain sports talk especially the ones with the call-ins because i feel so much secondhand embarrassment sometimes for the guys that call into the post-game show, for example. Yeah. And now I'm that guy. Now you have an appreciation for those guys.

Yeah. Well, no. Not at all, actually. I'm not drunk. At least she handled it well, handled it gracefully. She handled it extremely well. Yes. And, uh, Basketball Ben, I would like you to

text her and say that Jason is still feeling badly about it and Jason will feel badly about it for the rest of his career. Uh, a text in, if Canada wins gold in soccer, is it the greatest Olympic victory of all time in any sport? Uh, I don't know about that. Cause they're still not like, it's, it's hard

to get out of the group stage, obviously you have to win every game. But they're not favored though. They're not one of the favorites to win this tournament. Like they came into the, the, I know they were the defending gold medal, gold medalist, but they're eighth ranked in FIFA. Yeah. Like they haven into the, the, I know they were the defending gold medal, gold medalist, but they're eighth ranked in FIFA.

Yeah. Like they haven't been great. So if they do win, let's just say, will the pundits and haters be like, they're probably spying on all these teams beforehand. I don't think so. Some of them might be.

I don't think so. It's tarnished. But no, I, I think the punishment was so harsh that you would have to be out of your mind not to admire what the players did, not only dealing with the actual six-point deduction. You know, it's not like getting a loss.

It's like a negative, right? Like you can – It's like, yeah. Yeah, right? Like it's negative. You have to go out and win these games. You have to. Canada had to go 3-0.

They gave you the slimmest. The slimmest margin of getting through. Yeah. And the way they beat France, one of the best women's teams in the world, in France, come from behind victory and doing it the way that they did. Now, we all hope that they don't have a slip-up

against Colombia, but they will be the favorite in this match, but they have to win. I think there's like a slight mathematical chance if they draw that they can get in, but I think more than likely they're going to have to beat Columbia in order to advance. And then if they get out of the group stage,

don't forget, like they're not done then. They're just into the quarterfinals. And if they were to win that, I don't know. I'd have to watch it play out, obviously, but I still don't know if that would, for example i think the miracle on ice yeah exactly there are other olympic events where or olympic victories

that have been way more of an underdog story i think though this would still be uh incredibly impressive we'll talk more about this uh everything going on with the women's soccer team in Paris, and more with Ben Steiner covering the Olympics for CBC Sports. On the other side, it is Halford and Brough, Josh Elliott-Woolf filling in for Mike Halford today. I'm going to do reads better on the other side, I promise. It is Halford and Brough 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 three to four on Sportsnet

650 or wherever you get your podcasts. welcome back to halford and brough 731 josh elia wolf filling in for mike halford jason brough is still here barely barely uh halford and brough is brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today in this hour of Halford & Brough. It's brought to you by Bridge Brewing, meticulously brewed for quality and taste.

Primetime craft beers, full flavor without compromise. At a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it is made. Wow, I did it. We're back on track you did it now i'm not gonna screw up because of your screw-ups yeah so it's clear sailing from here don't bring up ben steiner's big hurdles incident so yeah let's bring in our next guest ben steiner covering the olympics for cbc sports did you have any super embarrassing things you wanted to uh talk about from your career before we uh fully get into the interview to to give you the context behind this we oh good we're gonna tell the story awesome sorry well i brought it up and now i have to say we accidentally uh brought up perdita felician's uh hurdles mishap i guess at the 2004 the 2004 Olympics. To her. To her. To her.

I asked a direct question. Have you ever had a big screw-up in the hurdles? Did you know about that, Ben? I certainly didn't know about that one. But for mine, it probably has to be back in my ski racing days when I was so hyped to get right out of the gate and chase a good time, and I missed the first gate because I wasn't quite focused. And I was a bit too hyped up.

So that's definitely got to be my most embarrassing sports moment. Not quite the Olympics though. So what's the latest? Tell everyone about your setup and your job during these Olympics. Basically, you're just watching every event in the Olympics, essentially. Are you sleeping at all? I slept about two hours last night and then got up to watch Summer McIntosh

from her preliminary 400-meter IM. It's pretty hectic hours, but, you know, managed to get out for a run yesterday and keeping things fairly balanced to an extent. But I work until midnight at the CBC Broadcast Centre here in Toronto, and then I'm up pretty early as well doing some other stuff on the Olympic beat and covering everything Canadian sports.

You're bringing me on at the seemingly perfect time you arranged this interview because Canada Soccer just announced that they're appealing to the Court of Arbitration for support against the punishment that was laid down on them by FIFA. Yeah, I wanted to ask about that. So just minutes ago... They don't even need to, though. They're good. Yeah, they're to ask about that. So just minutes ago... They don't even need to, though. They're good. Yeah, they're just going to win.

They're good. They're going to win the whole thing. But yeah, tell us about this appeal and what it means, what it could mean for Canada at the tournament. Yeah, so the Court of Arbitration for Sport is where you go when you don't agree with the governing body punishing you

or a doping scandal and stuff of that ilk. So Canada Soccer has gone to the ad hoc division, which is set up to quickly review things at Paris 2024. And, you know, given the speed of the women's soccer tournament at the Olympics, it has to be a quick decision. So they made this quick decision to appeal the points deduction as well as the suspensions to the Canadian soccer staff that were suspended for a year. And if it's approved, they will find out hours

before their game against Colombia whether there's less of a points deduction. If they even get it to minus three instead of minus six, they're already through to the next round. And if they win, they're through not even as a third place team, but, you know, as one of the top two. And if they get the points deduction reduced, they could even conceivably win the group as well.

Which when you consider everything the last week has had in Canadian soccer would be quite surprising. Do you think the punishment was justified? Could you see this being reduced, or was it kind of fair for the crime? I think the punishment of a points deduction is fair. I don't think Canada should have gotten anything out of that New Zealand game in particular when this was really all coming out and was breaking news about this whole drone gate thing. But I do think the six points was maybe a little bit too much.

And that's something where there could be a successful appeal. That's sort of what I see being the most successful potential of this. I don't see the suspensions to the coaches being lifted because at the end of the day, they still broke FIFA and Olympic policy. And then I don't necessarily see all the points being awarded back because then, you know, what really is the punishment? And it's still something that should probably be punished. So bringing it to minus three and just having one game a loop seems possible.

And, you know, given the way that Canada played against France, if they can continue to play with that vigor, that anger, you know, place a bet on Canada played against France, if they can continue to play with that vigor, that anger, you know, place a bet on them to win a medal at this point. So apologies if you already mentioned this. Like, what is the timing in all this going to be? When's there going to be a decision? When's the game against Colombia? And I suppose if they do get a positive decision

and, like, the punishment has changed from 6-3, that would do what? That would affect their matchups in in the quarterfinals uh so i mean it really depends on whether what canada needs from that last game as things stand canada needs to win there's no other option uh if they get it reduced which they would find out midday uh in paris on the day of the game. So hours before their 9 p.m. local kickoff, which is certainly going to be stressful. And, you know, everyone saw Vanessa Gilles' interview after the game yesterday. And, you know, this Canadian team is probably going to be stressed waiting for that release

from the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And even if it's, you know, the three points, then Canada's already through and they can get a fantastic top seed in the group as well. So it's going to be interesting to see how this all unfolds. But Canada might already be through at this point with the performances they put in. What have the players been saying about this? What has been the emotion that has been? Has it been sadness? Has it been anger?

What have you gotten across from them? I think it's a mix of everything. I mean, we heard from Vanessa Shields after the match yesterday, and I don't think I've seen a more emotional interview in Canadian sport. She was saying that the team has been struggling to eat. They've been crying. Some players punched walls.

And probably the best quote was, we're not cheaters. We're damn good players, a damn good team. And we proved that today. And she said it while crying. So I think they use this as a bit of a rallying cry. And if you watch the game yesterday, you know, they played angry, but it was like an iconic anger that they played with

and one that got them a massive win that keeps them alive and potentially puts them in a good position to chase a medal here. So what does Summer McIntosh's day look like today? What has already happened? What is going to happen? Well, it was bright and early for Summer McIntosh's day look like today? What has already happened? What is going to happen? Well, it was bright and early for Summer McIntosh.

She had the day off yesterday. Didn't swim the women's 200 free yesterday, but today it's her marquee event. It's the one that she has the world record in, and that world record she broke in May at the Canadian Olympic trials, and the previous world record was also hers. This is her event by far. It's the 400-meter individual medley,

and she finished third in the heats this morning at 5 a.m. Eastern, and that was certainly an early one to be up for and watch. And at 11.30 Pacific, she'll be racing the final in the 400-meter IM, and it's the gold medal favorite there. It would be her second medal after winning silver on the first day of the games and would be Canada's first gold medal of the games should be able should she be able to get that done. So third in the heats to was she just taking it easy? She looked very composed she has a lot left in the tank for for later today all you have to do in

the heats is is qualify it is more advantageous to be in the middle two lanes of the pool. That's where the water is a little bit calmer and you have a little bit more time to go fast. So she's not in four and five, which are the two middle lanes of the pool. She is in lane six. And so she's right there. And she's the outright favorite in this event.

And it's probably going to be Canada's first gold medal at the Games. But, you know, there's still a race to swim. Do you think her experience at the Tokyo Olympics, and of course, that was three years ago, not four years ago, when she was just 14 years old, has that helped her? Has she talked about that at all? I think that helped. But I think a lot of what's helped as well is, you know, the world championships in Budapest and Fukuoka have been in front of big crowds. They've been, you know, against the best swimmers in the world. And she's prevailed in this event at both of them.

She's the two-time defending world champion at Fukuoka and in Budapest. So I think those are probably ringing a little bit more true. That's the only time she's kind of swam a program that's as grueling as the one that she's taking on at Paris. But it's certainly one where, you know, she was 14 at her first Olympics. You learn a lot from that, even if it was a COVID Games. And she's still 17, you know, but she's built different. Um, I know that

is a mantra, you know, praised by a lot of athletes that build different and, and stuff like that. But I think when you look at Summer McIntosh in the way that she just, you know, happy to swim, she enjoys the sport. Um, and she's pretty darn good at it as well. Uh, women's rugby sevens. What's the latest on the women's team? Because they went into this tournament with metal expectations as well. They're through to the quarterfinals. They beat China this morning.

New Zealand playing Fiji right now. And New Zealand is blowing Fiji out of the water. I've got it on right in front of me. And they're up 21-0 on Fiji. So it looks as though it's going to be Canada and New Zealand moving on from their group in preliminary play to the quarterfinals. And off the top of my head, I believe, the quarterfinals begin later this afternoon.

What else are you keeping an eye on today? I know there's Canadian women in judo right now in the semifinal. What else should people keep an eye on in in terms of medal hopes for the day yeah krista diguchi is certainly one to keep an eye on uh in the woman's 57 kilogram uh judo she is ranked number one in the world and is pretty well the outright gold medal favorite in this event and canada had some success in judo at tokyo a few years ago and actually won a bronze medal in this event but the woman who won that one isn't at this year and has the potential of

missing these games apologies my alarm clock is going off there but yeah Krista Degucci is certainly one to watch at these games and she's potential for a gold medal she's in the semi-final right now as we speak. Hey, Ben, really appreciate you taking the time and hope to do this again soon. Awesome. Certainly an exciting day. There is Ben Steiner covering the Olympics for CBC Sports. Only a couple hours of sleep. He's a trooper.

How do you... This is a weird question. How do you watch the Olympics and keep track of everything? There's just so much stuff going on. I think I find I turn the TV on and I'm like, wait a minute, is this recorded? Is this a big moment? What's going on here? I do think you get used to,

you adjust to the time schedule pretty quick. For us, we'll always know that in the morning it's always going to be live. In terms of following it, i will say like the the networks here if you're only in it for canada i feel like they do a pretty good job of like hey this is someone who's competing for a medal like they they keep you pretty locked into canadians who actually have a chance as opposed to you know like there are some guys that you're in the event and you're competing and it's awesome to be at the olympics but it's not a canadian event that they're going to have a strong chance but you just have to kind of just be watching it all day

yeah because all of a sudden i couldn't wait a minute we've got a bronze in fencing yeah yeah exactly yeah do they just cut to that i guess so so. Yeah. Like yesterday, I think it was, um, well, the other thing is they have for fencing, for example, you, you do, you have all the matches leading up to it, right? So eventually,

you know that they're going to be competing in a certain, whether it be for bronze or whatever. And then you have a couple hours until they lead into that. So, so someone texted in, there's an Olympics app, Jason, like I'm,

I'm not that old. I've got, I an olympics app jason like i'm not that old have you heard of apps i've got the olympics app but i still find like there's just so much information to parse through and i know you can filter it based on the canadian team but there's a lot going on there is it's still i i don't know, I do find the easiest way is just like turn on a TV and you will get the information. But also, like, if I was doing the job of Ben Steiner, I don't know if I could do that. Where you have to know a decent amount about every sport. Because I could just turn it on and be like, oh, Canada's good at judo now. That's fun.

Yeah. Whereas he's like, oh, I know Canada's good at judo. This is this person. You have to know. That's fun. Yeah. Whereas he's like, oh, I know Canada's good at judo. This is this person's background. You have to know the backstory and everything. Yeah. But in terms of just following it from a very casual fan's point of view, I do think it's relatively easy because they kind of force feed it to you. I've reported at the Olympics before, but I was just covering hockey.

That's it. So there was a lot to cover. I was doing the men's and the women's hockey. And, you know, I had to know when they were practicing, when there's going to be media avails, and that was hard enough. But then there were these reporters that were doing everything.

And the planning that goes into that is just ridiculous because you also have to plan your transportation because you have to get from venue to venue. And it is one of the toughest things to do as a reporter covering something like the Stanley cup finals or a super bowl. That's easy. You just show up and they tell you where to go and then they bring you the players and they talk to you and you go write your stories. But the Olympics is just so widespread. It's just such a massive operation. Have you ever done anything like that? Have you ever done any,

any actual reporting? No, no, I've not done any actual reporting. I've only worked here. Okay. All right. And they don't send those places. You guys brought up the fencing. I watched a little bit of it. And then there was that clip that went viral. I don't know if you guys saw. One of the guys was just jumping repeatedly. Oh, yeah. And I guess it's sort of like a new strategy. It reminds me of playing Mortal Kombat when you want to piss off your buddy,

and you're just jumping constantly. Yes. It's essentially what it was, but it was at the Olympics. He's jumping with his fencing sword. Do you think Andy did that? The guy couldn't get him. Andy would have done that for sure. He would have got tired though. It was a lot of jumping.

This is the thing I love about the Olympics. What's your favorite sport to watch in the Olympics that you normally don't follow? For me, I will always get into a volleyball game. Really? So like beach volleyball is on right now. Very easy. Less beach volleyball, more I watch the men's team lose to,

I think, Estonia yesterday. Classical Estonia. What's that? Was it Slovenia or Estonia? Doesn't really matter. The men's is almost less exciting, though, because they're too strong. Their serves are too strong. Their spikes are too strong.

It's so hard to return. They had some good. They didn't break their fingers blocking and stuff. Yeah. But their hops are unbelievable. Like they are, I mean, I found that they actually had some good, do you call them rallies in volleyball? Rallies?

Like they had some good rallies. But like I know what you're saying it's kind of like sometimes you watch men's tennis and if a guy's just known for a serve it's like all right well this is pretty boring it's you know ace or ace or or winner or or whatever um but i think volleyball for me is the one sport that i'd be like, I can maybe get into this full-time. Really? But, well, see, I don't know, right? How are you going to pursue this?

How am I going to pursue it, right? What do I watch? The two-on-two stuff's fun because then you can really get rallies going and you're saving, you're diving everywhere. It seems kind of crowded in men's volleyball. There's not a lot of space. Yeah, that's why I tend to prefer beach volleyball

to the regular volleyball just because it's, I don't know, it feels more, you get more rallies and it just, I don't know, feels more fun to watch. In terms of what I tend to watch that I won't in my spare time is swimming I find I really get into. Like anytime there's a swimming event on, I am watching it. And I know nothing about beach people. What do you like about it? find i really get into like anytime there's a swimming event on i am watching it and i know nothing about what what do you like about it and i and i hate to come out from the negative because when i watch swimming i'm like i realize they're going fast in the water yeah but they're not going that fast they can go faster online like i know i said i said it last week and i got it i got i said it very tongue-in-che cheek and some people took it too seriously.

I'm like, I could run faster than they're swimming and I don't run very fast. Yeah. It's still like crazy impressive. Maybe it's cause I'm not. It is crazy impressive. Yes. That's the biggest thing.

Yes. And you're still like, I don't know that there's, I could drive faster than people run, but I'm still interested in people running. It wasn't the best analogy. I didn't say it was the best analogy. It was just something that, in some ways, it can be more exciting

because they are going so slow. So you're like, you've only got that much to make up? Come on, can't you do it? And so there's a French swimmer who's like the new Michael Phelps, Leon Marchand, I believe is his name. And the crowd obviously is like super into him but he is i i forget what event it was yesterday it might have been uh the 400 it was the men's 400 individual medley that summer macintosh is going to be in the females or the women's side today

um and he was like ahead by half a pool by the end of it. And so like stuff like that where it's just like someone dominating, I find. Is there a way to, you know, sometimes you'll high step into the end zone or in track and field you'll raise your fist for the last, if you're way ahead, is there something you can do in swimming? No, I think you would just stop and then... You start splashing the other team. Can you imagine if you stopped, just look behind you? That would be amazing.

But I think most of them, when they're that far ahead, are like, oh man, I could get a world record or an Olympic record right now. I love seeing the line in the pool. Yes. And they're chasing that line. That is cool. Yeah, that is cool.

That's Michael Phelps' record. He's going after it. Exactly. Like Leon Marchand yesterday, they Phelps' record. He's going after it. Exactly. Like Leon Marchand yesterday, they had his own world record ahead of him. And it's like, man, he's just racing against himself right now. That's really cool. Okay, we're going to have some hockey talk coming up with Aaron Portsline from The Athletic. He covers the Columbus Blue Jackets.

And you might be asking, why are you guys talking about the Columbus Blue Jackets? Well, they're the most exciting team in hockey. They are. I know a lot of people in Vancouver, they're everyone's number two team. First it's the Canucks and then it's the Blue Jackets. Got my Rick Nash jersey at home. The reason we're going to talk to Aaron is that Patrick Laine is, and good for him, he is out of the NHLPA program

that he was in for mental health reasons. So the doctors have cleared him to leave that program. And by the way, you go into that voluntarily, but only the doctors can clear you to leave it. So now the Blue Jackets are going to try and trade him in part because Patrick Laine said he wants a fresh start somewhere else and who can blame him after spending time with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The questions that the Blue Jackets have are, are they going to be able to trade this guy? He's got a big cap hit. I think he's got two years left on his deal. His cap hit is sizable, $8 or $9 million. And people don't even know if he's going to be that good a player. And also, here's another challenge. Even if the Canucks wanted him, how would they do that? Yeah.

Everyone's spent their free agent money. There's a lot of teams that are up against the cap. So we're going to talk to Aaron Portsline about what makes sense for Patrick Laine, what went wrong in Columbus, what he needs. Can you think of a team off the top of your head that makes sense for Patrick Laine? I kind of just think of a team off the top of your head that makes sense for Patrick

Laine? I kind of just think of the teams near the bottom of the standings, you know, where it's like you can go, there's not a lot of pressure, they're going to have the cap space to take you on. Maybe it's like a Chicago or whatever where it's like, hey, you're playing with Conor Bedard. Hopefully it works. If it doesn't, you're gone in two years.

Maybe they retain half your salary and put you next year. I know there's a lot of Montreal Canadiens fans who are curious about the idea of Patrick Laine. I'm not going to lie. Like if the Canucks had the cap space available to do it, I would be pretty interested. Really? At that cap, even if they retained, even if they retained 50%. I would be into it. But at 8.7, which is his full cap hit, I would not be.

No, not even close. I don't even know if I'd be interested in – that's a lot of cap space, even $4 million, to spend on a player that you just don't know. Can the Canucks afford to take a risk like that? It's a big bet. It would be a big bet. But if it hits, that's your Elias Patterson winger.

If it hits, it solves one of the main problems they had in the entire postseason. You need goal scoring. Yeah. And I can see a world. But is he the right player to play under a guy like Taka or would Taka go crazy with him? I mean, it would either really work or it would blow up in your face immediately. It would either be Kuzmenko again, maybe to a more dramatic extent, or it would just work,

and maybe he buys into what Rick Taka is telling. But again, like Canucks have $16,000 in cap space. They can't really make it work unless they flip someone, and I can't see anyone on the roster who they'd be willing to part with to take a risk like that. It is half an abrupt.

Before we go, CFL report. I got to do that. So it's time now for the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. So over the weekend, BC Lions were not in action. It was their bye week. Every Eastern team in the CFL was playing a Western team,

and every Eastern team won. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Yeah, that's really good. That's good for the BC Lions. So they stay atop the West Division. They're going to be taking on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg this week.

So things going well for the Lions, even on their bye week. But to run through the games, Montreal beat the Rough Riders. Ottawa beat the Stampeders. The Toronto Argonauts. Slim victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. And the Hamilton Tiger Cats beat the Edmonton Elks. Yeah, yeah. God, the Elks are terrible.

They are so bad. They are soks are terrible. They are so bad. They are so, so bad. They are very bad at football. What can they do? 0-7. 0-7. Just impressively bad. Hamilton's now 2-5.

Yes. Good for Hamilton. Big win for the Balecks. That was the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securing Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. Aaron Portsline is going to join us on the other side. It is Halford & Brough on Sportsnet 650.