Halford & Brough in the Morning - Canada's Got To Keep It Together At The World Cup

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest Canada Soccer news with GiveMeSport senior soccer analyst Ben Jacobs (4:31) ahead of this summer's World Cup, plus the boys do some Ask Us Anythings (29:00). 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.

Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Bruff, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visiting today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in our two of the program.

AJ from AJ's Pete's on. He's going to join us in just a second here. He is going to be followed by Ben Jacobs from Give Me Sport. Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.orgia. Let's go right away to the able auctions hotline. Our next guest is the owner and proprietor of AJ's pizza on East Broadway. AJ's pizza in Tuoson and AJ's pizza in Florida. I think I got them all. It's AJ from

AJ's pizza here on the Halford & Breft Show on SportsNet 650. What up, AJ? What is going on? You got them all. Thank you. That's how Pizza Hut started, isn't it? What it was like one in, Tuasson, one in Vancouver and then one in Florida. Two in Vancouver. That was exactly their strategy. I'm just running with it. Okay, so we know AJ's for its pizza.

We know it's a great place to watch football. My personal favorite, though, is this time of the year. March Madness at AJ's. It is the best place in the city to go watch the NCAA basketball championships that's on all day. You guys have all the TVs locked and loaded. There may be a certain owner sitting there sweating out some bets while the games are going on.

Maybe. Yeah, maybe just maybe. Maybe two. Maybe two of the owners are doing it at the same time. Who's to say? I love it. So you teeed me up. Because, Howard, I know you and I both love this tournament.

And I've just been thinking about it. Why do you think it's so captivating, especially that opening weekend? It's the fact that there is multiple games going on at once all day. And you can just flip. If one stinks, you can go to the other one. The gambling. It's also the gambling. Well, the gambling.

But for me, it's the ultimate. and maybe the only one left of David and Goliath. For sure. You watch that and you're just so cheering for that 13th seat. It doesn't even matter. You know what it is? It's the 13th seed and the 4 seed, for example. They might actually not be all that far apart in terms of talent,

but once the committee puts the number beside the name, you've got a built-in David versus Goliath, right? Like I'm watching games last night. These two teams are pretty even. It was Kennesaw State and Gonzaga. There wasn't that much to choose between them, but it was a 4-10. Does Wisconsin ever win anything? Wisconsin is a five-season.

They never win anything. Football, basketball, they're just always choking. As soon as Wisconsin gets a five between its name, you're like, they're out in the first round. That is the best bet ever. Okay, real quick, because we got a bunch of stuff we're getting into. What's going on at AJ's today and this weekend for March Madness? So remember, happy hour on Friday's 230 to 530 and Saturday and then obviously all day Sunday and come and just have fun. You know what?

And I think there's a rumor that they'll actually be sunny tomorrow, so you'd be able to get out of your house and office. Oh, my. And come by and have some slices and beers. Big scoop there. Okay, AJ, buddy, I'll try and make it by this weekend. Love the tournament. Love AJ's for it.

Thanks for doing this day, man. We appreciate it. Sounds great. Everybody have a wonderful weekend. Yeah, you too, thanks. That's AJ from AJ's Pete Tony's Broadway here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. From one guest to another, we jump very quickly here. We go back to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest is the senior football correspondent for Give Me Sport.

It's Ben Jacobs here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sports net 650. Ben, the reason that we got him on the show and do two soccer's in one day is that Ben had a big lengthy sit-down interview with Canadian men's national team manager Jesse Marsh recently in which Jesse unveiled a whole lot of stuff that I don't think a lot of people knew and it made the rounds on social media yesterday. One was just how close he was to taking the U.S. men's national team job before eventually taking the Canadian gig. Secondly, his aspirations for this upcoming World Cup in which Canada will be hosting and has pretty lofty goals to get out of the group. So we're going to go back to the ABLE Auctions hotline right now. Ben Jacob,

senior football correspondent for Give Me Sport, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Ben. How are you? Good morning, guys. I'm good. How are you? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So we wanted to talk about your interview with Jesse Marsh. A lot of good information and a lot of new reveals coming out of it. I want you to tell us and the listeners first, how close does Jesse Marsh feel he was, or how close was he, period, to taking the U.S. men's national team job before eventually taking the Canadian one?

Yeah, his path to Canada is very unusual and full of sliding doors moments, and he wasn't just close to taking the U.S. men's national team job. He was prior to that at Leicester City, who had got rid of Brendan Rogers. And on the 8th of April, when he got the call from the U.S. men's national team, saying basically this is a lock, the job is yours. Marsh was actually fingerprinting, which is a formality required to get a visa, and he was at Leicester City's training ground. So in his mind, he'd started the day as the Lester manager,

and he was going to attend a game against Bournemouth, midway through doing that fingerprinting for his visa, he got a call from US soccer, and he was led to believe that this is not a process, this is a job offer. So he turned down Lester, and then within about 24 hours, U.S. soccer decided to go back with Greg Burhalter. Marsh was left in limbo, and of course he couldn't go back to Leicester,

but it all worked out fine because now he'll lead Canada at Home World Cup. There is an origin story here, though, as to maybe why Jesse Marsh has a fairly sizable chip on his shoulder, especially when it comes to the U.S. How disappointed was he, when he was relaying this story to you, How disappointed was he in the way he was treated from a U.S. program that he played for and he also had coached with previously? I think to be fair to Jesse, every time he's asked about the U.S., he's trying to deflect now. So clearly he wanted to tell his side, and that's partly because people have speculated over the last 18 months or so as to why it was such a big deal that he didn't get that job. And in essence, it was definitely a U-turn from U.S. soccer that changed.

the trajectory of Jesse's life. But he did also reiterate that he's over it, that Canada is the right kind of role for him. And interestingly, he revealed to that there may be a renewal, and that might come before the World Cup, rather than only after it and based on how Canada perform. So everything happens for a reason. And it's obvious that Jesse, who's always candid,

wanted to tell that story. But it's also clear to me from his tone and his demeanour in over a one-hour interview that his full focus is on, Canada now? What's his reputation like abroad? I'm a lead supporter. So I've got a unique perspective on how Jesse Marsh is viewed specifically in the UK. But I'm curious to where it's now, given that he has had a lot of success with the Canadian team. He's also very outspoken, very demonstrative, as you put it, very candid. And that can rub some people the wrong way. And then, of course, there was the Ted Lasso thing.

I know that he brought it up with you as well, and he's mentioned it a few times. So there's a lot to get into here, but how is Jesse viewed in terms of his reputation in Europe? Yeah, I think Leeds fans were dubious when he joined and there was the prejudice and the Ted Lassau stereotype, which perhaps at the time was unfair, but remember, as you're well know as a Leeds fan, Macella Bielsa, even though everyone appreciated that he had to go, was incredibly popular amongst the fan base and suddenly an American comes in. And at that point, he had to win people over. Then he kept them up on the final day in that first season with a late Jack Harrison goal in a victory over Brentford and suddenly his stock rises. But by the time he left,

Leeds were exactly where they started when he inherited that squad, only outside of the relegation zone on goal difference. And I think Leeds fans felt like tactically there were some dubious decisions, particularly, for example, playing Rufina at wingback at times. And yet let's not forgetting that second season. Raphina went to Barcelona, Calvin Phillips went to Manchester City, so two big players departed, and it was always going to be difficult. So Leeds fans probably are split as to whether they like him or loathe him, but as far as the wider football community is concerned, highly respected as a tactician, learnt his trade under both Bob Brandley and Ralph Ragnick, came through the Red Bull system, managed players like Dominic Sobersly, Christopher and Kunkoo, Erling,

Harland. And when you have a manager that's still quite young by managerial standards that's had that kind of tactical upbringing, it's clear that Canada have got an asset who has time, because he's not in club management in between international games, to really get into the detail. And I think that style through Red Bull, that intricacy translated into international management should bode well as Canada, as Jesse told me, look to not just qualify in this World Cup out of the group stage, but actually win it, which will obviously be a much harder task if the third team ends up being Italy. Well, we'll get to Italy and just a sec, but I wanted to ask you, what's he like? How would you describe Jesse Marsh? Does he, does he have a big ego?

No, not at all. Quite the opposite. I would say that he's amicable, he's hospitable, he's kind. And, you know, sometimes people that are very open and warm and friendly, when they get into a professional capacity, you see, I think, the maverick streak that all good managers need. And you see a candidness because he wears his heart on the sleeve and the dugout in press conferences. And I think sometimes, even though he is, of course, speaking English, it can be lost in translation or tone and he can be prejudged at times. But I went over there. And the story is, it was a World Cup draw in Washington where I met him. And then he texted me straight after and went, I'm going straight to Qatar now,

because we've drawn Qatar, and I want to scout them within 12 hours of the World Cup draw. So off he goes to Doha, game against Tunisia, and then straight back to his home in Tuscany, where he can see from his balcony on a clear day, by the way, the leaning tower of Pisa. That's nice. And he flies straight back in, jet lagged, having been to three different countries, and does a one-hour interview, him and his wife give you a tour of the home, something to eat and drink. We met their very two cute dogs as well, and he could not have been kinder or more generous with his time. So I think anyone that thinks there's an ego there obviously hasn't spent any time with him because he's one of the nicest people that I've met in football.

Normally with the Maverick types, there is a bit of an ego there. And perhaps that's that's one I'm alluding to because he's not a friend. to speak his mind. And I do wonder at the World Cup if he's going to say something or do something that's going to become a real talking point. And part of me is like, I love personalities like that. But another part of me is, you know, after John Hurdman in Qatar and he said some things that he probably regretted like we're going to go F Croatia, for example, and then they certainly didn't do that. You know, I just, I just want everything to go smoothly and, you know, I want Canada to be composed at this World Cup because there's going to be a lot of pressure on them. There's

going to be a lot of eyeballs. And I don't think they handled the pressure very well in Qatar. No, and this is a nation that has not won a World Cup points and therefore not won a World Cup game. And I think that's not been lost on Jesse Marsh. On the one hand, you want somebody that embraces the culture of the country and defends it. So I think many Canadians will have applauded what Jesse said after Donald Trump in a political context called Canada the 51st state. And Marsh responded that that's arrogance and that he doesn't want as an American associate himself with that type of narrative. So with this World Cup being quite political and with Marsh on record as saying that Canada and Mexico were politically merged into a bid to help it be successful,

he'll get asked questions and he'll answer them honestly, whether they're football ones or whether they're political ones. But you're right in what you say. The focus has to be on winning that first World Cup game and really trying to get out of the group in first place because Home Advantage is such a big thing at a World Cup. And obviously if Canada win the group, then they'll stay in Canada. If they finish second or third, they won't. and that puts completely different complexion.

And the last thing I would say is that usually at every other World Cup we've experienced, you would say if Canada get out of the group, brilliant, that's the starting point to judge a World Cup in success, especially if you can have a legacy afterwards as well and develop and improve the player pool. But this is an expanded World Cup. And the honest truth is it's not that bigger achievement for most nations, especially ones like Canada in the top 30 of the rankings,

just to get through to the knockout stage. because of the 48 teams, 32 go through, and third place, for example, into the knockout stage and then a game outside of Canada and then going out, that's probably underwhelming to most Canadian soccer fans. We're speaking to Ben Jacobs, senior football correspondent for Give Me Sport

here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Ben, how much concern did Jesse express about the health of his squad going into the World Cup? Yeah, I think injury factors are somewhat concerning particularly Alfonso Davis because he's not been part of the long-term planning due to rupturing his ACL. He was back in December with buy-in and then picked up a muscle injury. That's not serious. So hopefully plain sailing for the Canada captain and he will obviously be arguably the most important player along with perhaps Jonathan David. I think with David Marsh was really clear that this is a character who is super confident.

and even though he's only got five seria goals this season, the feeling from Marsh at least is that Jonathan David will raise his game for a World Cup and will be prolific for Canada, regardless of whether or not he's on course for his lowest single-season tally in domestic football. So no real issues there. He spoke about Ismail Kone,

being someone that could announce himself on the world stage. And then I think one of the most interesting debates are around Jesse Marsh players that are only peripheral to this Canada squad, but could be different makers and games and Jaden Nelson probably falls into that category. Is he going to make the squad or not?

That's definitely a topic of conversation, the narrative to watch between now and the end of the season. And then, of course, what goalkeeper he's going to go with and Marsh told me that he still hasn't decided who his number one is. So basically the read I got from the interview is of the 26 players. I think Jesse Marsh knows the vast majority

24, 25 of them in terms of who he's going to take. But does he know his entire starting 11, not at the moment and particularly in that number one position? And finally, and I know we alluded to this earlier, but from his home in Tuscany, what did Marsh have to say about the possibility of playing Italy in the group? Yeah, I mean, Jesse Marsh from his time at Montreal

was surrounded by Italian French Canadians and is living in Italy. So his perspective is that he'd like to play Italy in terms of a challenge, but at the same time he'd like to avoid them because it makes the group and certainly winning it a whole lot harder. And I think as a neutral, it would be an incredible spectacle for Canada to kick off a World Cup in Toronto on June the 12th against Italy because you would have a phenomenal atmosphere, but it might not feel like an entirely home game or all Canadian crowd. And that's a complicating factor as well. So I don't think Marsh wants to

come out there and say do or don't want Italy, he'll be respectful to the UAF playoffs, but if it is Italy, great occasion, brilliant for the World Cup. But you would then have to say it's a whole lot harder for Canada to go on and win the group. Ben, this was fantastic today. Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this. Great interview with Jesse. I recommend everyone go give it a read and give it a listen at give me sport.com. Thanks again for doing this. Thanks a lot. All the best guys. Good luck for the World Cup. Thank you. Ben Jacobs, senior football correspondent for Give Me Sport here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 6.5.

This one's for J. Dogg, the Carhawk, who is, you know what, patiently, patiently sat through a lot of soccer and football talk this morning, just so that we can get to some NHL stuff. Specifically, he wanted Connock stuff, but brother, let me tell you, there ain't much meat on that bone. But there was a lot going on in the National Hockey League last night. We already mentioned the Edmonton Oilers. Do we need to talk about the Pacific Division in which the Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks play? Because it is a turtle derby right now. Well, I think we should talk about the Vegas goaltending situation because so much has been made of Edmonton's goaltending situation.

Laddie, I would love to get your thoughts right now on Aden Hill in Vegas. Yesterday against Utah, he allowed the first shot on goal, the second shot on goal, and then the third shot on goal. And was that it for him? Did they keep him in there? Did he go three? We got pulled eventually. I don't know if it was after the third.

Yeah, and Vegas went on to lose. And you look at Vegas and Edmonton, similar records and similar issues. No shortage of star power on either of the rosters, but they're not looking good. Vegas 3, 7 and 0 in their last 10 and lost two straight. You could argue they've had a worse time with their goaltending than Edmonton, really, when you look at the number. Two of the worst state percentages in the league are Carter Hart and Aiden Hill. This is why you go play in Vegas, though, because nobody talks about it. Schmeet's been the best.

Yeah, you just kind of get through your year. The Carter Hart thing is obviously imploded on them because of, I mean, he hasn't been able to stay healthy. And when he has played, he hasn't been good. Has not been anything close to the savior they thought he was going to be a net. But they got Aidan Hill locked up for a long time. Got a cap hit just over $6 million. Yep. He's one of those guys with the makeup where you're just like, ooh, is he going to last?

That exact franchise saw it happen to Robin Lainer Right in front of their eyes And then went out and signed Aden Hill to a longer... Make up in what way? Just a bigger dude that plays a style that's heavy on the body And we've seen the way the goalies have not been able to last In the last decade or so And it didn't look great for Aden Hill

You know, just future optics of his career But they still went out and did it Because they had the trust in him And he got them to the cup final So they obviously wanted to keep him there Has Vegas ever done anything shady to get out of someone's contract before? No, never. Historically, is that a thing?

They don't seem to be worried about that, are they? Okay. Has Marner been fine for Vegas? He's been very good, I think. You think so? He's a pointy game, which is not the problem. Yeah, he hasn't been the problem. What's the problem besides the goaltending?

Goaltending. It's just that? Yeah. Well, they can't keep the puck out of the net. They've given up 215 goals for a team that's got really good defensive forwards, a very good blue line. I think they missed the hell out of Petrangelo still. They do.

That was a tough one for them to make up. And, you know, I almost felt like they waited too long on the Rasmus Anderson deal. I know that they were. They also had to give up Zach Whitecloud in that tool, right? Like, that's, that's, that you're losing something in him that you're hoping to gain in Rasmus Anderson. I thought that they should have made that deal. And I know there were cap considerations. But that was something they should have on right at the beginning of the year.

Because the trade deadline acquisitions, you got to remember, they don't always click right. away. Like it is a bit pie in the sky to think that you're just going to plug and play a guy with a new, especially on defense, a new D partner where you're playing a third of the game together. And then if that doesn't work, you've got to try out with another guy. And let's not forget here, Vegas is by no means made in the shade comfortable when it comes to the playoffs. They're only five points up on the Cracken, who got 71, Vegas is on 76, L.A., and they're not even playing that well either lately are creeping.

They're now in that second wildcard spot on 72 points. So if Vegas doesn't pull it together in the next 10 games, they could fall into that wild card and then suddenly find themselves in that dog fight for that final spot. Because right now in the West, you would say that Utah is looking pretty good for the first wild card spot, right?

They're not going to jump into third place in the central. I think that's way out of reach. It's 12 points gone. So let's say Utah gets the first wild card and they're going to be locked in. Right now you're looking at a group of, I would say five. L.A., Seattle, Nashville, San Jose,

and I'm willing to keep Winnipeg in there for now because they've got games in hand. So you've got five teams looking at one wild card spot. None of them are playing well. None of them. Yeah. Right? L.A. is the hottest team of the five,

and they are five, three, and two. They're five and five in their last 10 games. The matchups are going to be fascinating because really you want to avoid you want to avoid Utah You do Like you don't want to win the division But

You probably do want to win the division If the alternative is Anaheim wins the division Does that make sense? Edmonton probably doesn't want to play Vegas In the first round What they ideally like Is to

If you're Edmonton Here's what you want You want Vegas to win the division And you get Anaheim Maybe No not Definitely. Definitely. I mean, Evanton hasn't had great success against either this year.

Anaheim's not very good. Well, Vegas isn't that great. If Evanton plays Vegas in the first round, there's going to be 9 million goals scored in that series. What do you think it'll be against Anaheim? Yeah, it'll be the same. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I get what you're saying. No, no, no, you'd much rather play Anaheim than Vegas.

Would you much rather play Anaheim than Vegas in the first round? I think so. Just the inexperience factor. Lack of expectations. No, I thought about it. I think that's the right one. So right now, it's not... By the way, what's going on with Mason McTavich?

She's a healthy scratch? So I'm glad you brought this up because my biggest fear right now is that the Canucks are going to put the old accelerator on the rebuild and move a bunch of... That's the guy right now that scares me more than anybody. There's a handful of players out there right now. They don't have the assets to go and get Mason McTavish. I think the shine and the luster is very much off McTavish. I don't think he's a Joel Wenzel guy.

I still think they'd be at least a first round pick to get. Oh, and the Connucks don't have a couple of... They're going to be drafted. They're going to be using those picks. Here's what I'm saying. EP 40 for McTavish one for one. I would do that. What I would do in a heartbeat.

My fear factor right now is that the Canucks will hit the accelerator on the rebuild way too early. And that's a fair fear to have, right? There are a handful of players out there right now that every time their name comes up, I'm terrified that the Canucks are going to go after them. One is LaFrenier out of New York. and the other one is McTavish out of Anaheim.

I'm terrified that they're going to find someone else's... What about Shane, right? She's another guy. Sure, throw them on the pile. The reclamation projects that are out there right now scare the hell out of me. Yeah, but you know why those three that you just named aren't so bad? It's because they're all so young still.

So assuming you can get them for very low cost, it's not the worst thing in the world for a rebuilding team to take a swing at them. But you know my thought on this. I know. You don't like the reclamation. And I don't either generally speaking, especially for players that are in their prime or later on in their careers. The contract for McTavish could be pretty appealing.

I'm just saying that they're young still, young enough that if they don't work out and you don't get them for a whole lot, it's not a big deal. I just don't know how you get it. I don't either. Unless, unless. Unless they really just want to get rid of them. Unless a team is interested in and thinks there's a higher upside in a guy like Petey. Yeah. Right?

Well, maybe Anaheim feels the same about McTavish that the Cunx feel about PD. Maybe it's just like it's just not going to work here. So we'll take less than we probably could get because he needs a fresh start. He had a tough. he had a tough contract, right? He held out of camp. This season? Yeah.

So sometimes that can affect your play. We saw that in Vancouver with Pedersen and Hughes, and then, you know, you can dial it in in the summer and then come back and have a much better season. So I think there's that, like, I would say I still like Mason McTavish as a player. I don't know how good he's going to be. Yeah, no, that's fair. I'm just ready to throw that out there right now.

That's fair. Are you still only 23? Yeah, like he kind of strikes me and I'm not talking about being a similar player in terms of attributes or anything, just in trajectory. He's kind of got a real byfield vibe to him where you're always wanting more

because of the physical stature and the draft pedigree and everything else and it's supposed to work out. But you look at, I mean, they're still doing the waiting for byfield thing in L.A. Like when is it going to happen? When is he going to break out? The other interesting thing here, though,

is that he wasn't a Verbeek draft pick right? It was from the previous regime and he doesn't strike me as being a Quinville guy because Quinville he waited a long time before he made him a healthy scratch but if you don't have the backing of your general manager

and your head coach it can be a real tough place to play and that did I'm not talking about Anaheim I'm talking about anywhere where you don't feel like you've got anyone in your corner you could be like my career's like it's stagnating here Zegra's got traded and look what happened to him

same sort of thing yeah man, is he good in the shootout? Yeah. It's just ridiculous. And that was a bad loss by the Kings last night. Just terrible. They got a point out of it? No, they had the flyers on the second of a back-to-back.

You got to win that game if you're in a playoff race. Okay, we got an open segment on the other side. So get your Ask Us Anything's into the Dunbar Lumber text line, 650, 650. Halford, I've got an interesting ask us anything about Steve Nash for you. and it ties into college basketball right now. I'll ask it on the other side. Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance.

Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I think the drop's going to come like three different times if it just keeps on going. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% when the upfront fees visiting today at Sands-Trustee.com. We're in hour two of the program at the midway point of the show.

Hour two is brought to by Jason Hominoch at jason.morgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dot mortgage. It's time now for the one to watch. Brought to you by Limitless A.V. Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. Today's one to watch is just a few hours away.

The battle for iced tea supremacy, the drink, not the rapper, in the first round of March Madness, top-seeded Arizona against 16-seated Long Island. Which ice tea is superior, Arizona? Arizona? Or Long Island? The sports books have Arizona by 30 and a half.

Yeah, some of the long. Lines in the first round are amazing, quite frankly. LI.U. Long Island University, the most Canadian of all the teams in this year's NCAA tournament for players from the great country of Canada, including one from British Columbia. They're actually, they're all spread across Canada. They're going to get absolutely wax today, but that's fine. LIU, Arizona. By the way, if you're looking for an upset special through the first two games of this opening

rounds plural of March Madness. The late game tonight has number 10 Missouri Missouri. They're playing at home essentially. They luck of the draw, a 10 seed gets two games in St. Louis. And they're going to have a huge home crowd there. So I like them to be my...

It's not a huge upset 10 over 7 though. No, I like him to get to the Sweet 16 actually. Oh, okay. Just a little a little inside knowledge that they are going to be playing at home and there's going to be a very pro-Missouri crowd there. So, anyway. So another game in St. Louis is Purdue versus Queens University.

Did Queens get in from Canada? Congratulations to Queens. That's awesome. Defying the odds by going all the way to March. Where is Queens University? Have you heard of this? Yeah, it's in North Carolina, if I'm not mistaken. Okay.

Yeah. I've never heard. Is this the first time? Not the one in Kingston? Yeah. Did you think that? Assumed, yeah, no. Not actually.

No, I'm pretty sure they're from North Carolina, yeah, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know a lot about them, though, to be honest. They're a 15 seed, and they will probably get trouts today as well. Anyway, those are your ones to watch, brought you by Limitless AV, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at limitlessavie. com. Queens University of Charlotte is a private liberal arts institution in Charlotte, North Carolina, founded in 1857. Wow.

The libs. Betting Purdue to own the libs. All right. What do we want to get into here? Oh, you had to ask us anything. March Madden's. I've got an ask us anything for you. Okay.

About maybe your favorite athlete of all time. There's no maybe. Steve Nash played four years of college ball at Santa Clara. Yep. He wasn't recruited heavily out of British Columbia High School. Shout out St. Mike's. End up at St. at Santa Clara and as a freshman was part of a huge upset of Arizona.

My question to you is, is there any way that if Steve Nash was playing college ball right now, he would have played or he would play all four years at Santa Clara? No chance whatsoever. No way he lasts four years at Santa Clara. Yeah. With the portal and NIL money and the way that you see other guys parlay, their first two years of college into going somewhere else for the final two years

or maybe even switching schools two times in the final two years. So here's how it went. Do some guys change even after their third year and play their senior year somewhere else? Yeah, and then they apply for a graduate year and play a fifth year or they apply for a medical red shirt and play a six year. Anyway, so Nash in his freshman year,

everyone remembers the very famous free throw run that he went on to upset Arizona and then they lost in the second round. after his freshman year, the program and Steve kind of took a step back. They really struggled, didn't make the tournament. He wasn't playing great to the point where, if you read enough of the biographical stuff on Steve,

he was considering leaving the school altogether and just maybe either going back home or trying something different because he was having a real struggle with it. His junior year was the one where he really broke out and won WCC player of the year. they got back to the NCAA tournament. And that was the year that he actually flirted with the idea of leaving to enter the NBA draft. Right.

So he would have been drafted in 95 instead of 96. That to me, if that was the, if you took his career and then sort of teleported it to the modern day, he would have left after his junior year. After his junior year. He would have said, I'm either going to the NBA or I'm going to a big school. And if you go back and you look at the draft in that 95 year, there were a lot of, blue blood, pristine NCAA high-end programs that were losing tons of talent that in the modern landscape just would have reloaded with upper classmen.

Yeah. Like he would have gone to like a UNC or a Michigan or maybe even Arizona, the team that, you know, he kind of, you know, he had a major hand in beating in his freshman year, but he definitely would have gone somewhere else. And it really, really would have changed the trajectory of his career. Does anyone like the new landscape? Like, is there anything to be said for the transfer? For portal.

A lot of people. So why do they like it? Because I always liked the, um, I mean, I always liked that, that you would have these, these storylines because the same players would come back. I mean, it wouldn't be forever, but it would be three or four years. Because the big programs have been able to bring in upperclassmen, they've allowed themselves to, um, keep core groups together for longer. Like when you graduate two guys and you have three remaining off a really strong five,

let's say. You can plug and play two guys in that are like 22, 23 years old, I've played four years of college basketball. The product is actually pretty good. Yeah. I know some people are saying like basketball in general stinks now. But if you watch a lot of the teams that have been there for a long time now, like Houston's been a really power program for a few years, Florida. And then you've got the Arizona's and everything else. Also, so did they build them with like, here's our core guys and then we supplement them with transfer portals? Oftentimes. Yeah. Or in the, or then you can, and you still get very talented one and done's now, right?

Because the rules have changed so many times with, you know, draft regulations and everything else. Like, you, this year in particular, there's going to be a lot of guys that are playing college basketball. They're going to be high-end draft picks, right? And in the case of Duke, for example, they've got the boozer twins who are the sons of Carlos Bueser, long time. God, we get old. Right? By the way, you want to how old we are? It's bad enough when you see second generation players.

But at least you can understand that. You're like, well, you know, guys are age. They have kids and other teenagers. The guy that coached VCU to the upset over UNC yesterday is Phil Martelli Jr. So now we're seeing the sons of coaches get old enough to coach. Because I remember Phil Martelli when he was at St. Joe's, and he had the great teams with Jumear Nelson and Delante West and everything. And now his son is coaching. That made me feel old.

Anyway. Steve from Burnaby texting into the Dunbar Lumber text line. And we've had a bunch of days here in Vancouver to think about this question. What is your favorite rainy day activity? Well, I mean, it's a no-brainer for me. It's sleeping during the day. There's nothing, nothing better for our jobs than a rainy, cold morning where there's not even a hint of sunlight. Because I go right.

It's so easy to fall back asleep. But if you don't get exercise, do you get a, do you get a, do you? get like the Jimmy legs and all that sort of stuff like I I have trouble exercise I what what I was going to say to Steve from following is like actually have a bit of a workout and then you get to like I rest a lot easier for me like having a workout and then crashing on the couch is the perfect rainy day activity so I mean except for the whole workout part but it does make it it does make it better like I feel like I just feel a little uneasy when I when I when I haven't done anything.

I'm just on the couch all day watching sports. I do the inverse. If anyone really cares about how my day breaks down. And I'm sure many of you don't, I do the inverse as I go home, sleep, wake up and then go either to the gym or do soccer or basketball. I find that really difficult sometimes. You're just like at the end of the day. You're like, I don't really want to go work out.

It's pretty dark out. It's so blissful. It's gorgeous. And the rain in the background. You know, there are some positives with the consecutive days. How many days are we now consecutive? I've lost track. Yeah, is the atmospheric river almost over?

Have we had a sunny day yet this year? Don't know. This year. Matt Ladner asks us anything. A World Cup question. Would you rather watch Canada play live and in person with a significant other or watch downtown with all the boys at the pub? How important is the Lads hangout for World Cup hype?

I feel like a good ladding. Canada in person, I mean, that's a bucket list item at the World Cup. probably do that, but there is something to be said for watching a soccer game in a pub, in a packed pub where everyone is cheering for the same team. Like, it is really, really fun. You can kind of run around in the pub when your team scores and that sort of thing. Like, it is, it is, it is a, I've had, I've had a lot of fun in pubs watching soccer games. That being said, seeing Canada play in Canada in a World Cup match is so unprecedented. Like I'm not lying.

I never thought we'd reach this day. Never. I, you know, you used to hear about Canada one day hosting World Cup games. I'm like, like, there's no way. Yeah.

There's just no way it's ever going to happen. But I think the way it was presented was maybe Canada can host the World Cup by itself. I, and I always thought like what, like, time it was like, what, are we going to have games at Iverwin Stadium? You know, like we don't... Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey. We don't have the stadiums. I mean, even

even now, the games in Toronto are going to be kind of embarrassing from a stadium perspective. They've set up, BMO. It looks like it's hosting the Grey Cup. Yeah, I know. With the temporary stands. The scaffolding. Great scaffolding you guys got there. It looks terrifying. It looks terrifying. It looks terrible. It looks terrifying.

See, they'd put an article saying, yes, it has been checked. It's been certified. It's not just a flimsy scaffolding. That stadium gets so windy too, doesn't it? It seems like it's too steep. Like the incline isn't right. Like if you sit at the top and there's wind, you might fall to your death.

Like I'm like, it feels like it needs to be like, what is it, a gradient maybe needs to be like a little less steep? I'm not sure. Anyway. Well, to your point, though. But when they brought in Canada with the U.S. and Mexico, then it's obviously like, yeah, of course we can, we can handle this. The multi-

host country thing is still a relatively new thing for the World Cup. It used to be one country got the World Cup. Yeah. Hosted it. We never thought about it that way. It was 2002, actually, when there was a joint bid and a joint hosting that you really started to saw the possibilities. But that was another reason why I was like, well, if Canada is going to host a World Cup,

they can't do it on their own. But I would never, to be honest, given what I know about Americans, I never thought they'd be interested in sharing. Like, why would we host it with somebody else? Yeah. We could do it all on our own. There's no country more. They don't need to share it.

No, they don't. There's no country better fit to host the World Cup. Cup than America, despite the fact that it's not maybe in the cultural fabric of the country to, you know, celebrate international football. In terms of stadium. You can't beat it. I mean, there are a couple in Europe. I mean, Germany, England, of course, has as the stadiums. But the size of the stadiums in the United States. But there's also the benefit of it being spread out. Yeah, lodging, the ability to accommodate billions of people. Like, it just has all of those things going. for it. There's a reason

Feeful always wants to go back there. Brad and Chiluag, ask us anything. If you were to put together an all-time hockey team of BC-born players, would Bedard and Celebrini be on the team at this point in their career?

So what are we looking at here? We're looking at Joe Sackick. You're better at this than me. Can you repeat the entire question for me? If you were I'm getting it, right? To put together an all-time hockey team of BC-born players,

would Bedard and Celebrini be on the team at this point in their career? So it's still very early in both their careers. Badard and Celebrini haven't come close to winning a Stanley Cup. Celebrini was on the Olympic team, nearly won a gold medal, and Celebrity is going to be in the heart conversation this year. The first question I always have is, do we get to claim Eisenman as our own? because I think he was born in Cranbrook. And most people say no, he's Ontario.

I'm like, okay, that's fine. So Sackick is in there for sure, right? Mark Recky. He's a Hall of Famer he is. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Glenn Anderson, Paul Korea, Jamie Ben.

Those are the guys that are kind of near the top of the list. The two off the top of my head that I always go with are Sackick and Korea. Yep. Shea Weber. Yep. On the blue line. I don't think they're there yet. They haven't been in the league long enough.

But in terms of maybe if you're looking at it. Trajectory, yes, current, no. But maybe if you're looking at the level that they reached. Like let's say you judge each player by the level that they've reached. Has Celebrini played better than Joe Sackick at his best? Has Celebrini played better than Paul Korea at his best? Not yet. Not yet.

Not yet. But he's got the potential to do it. But I think he's played better than Mark Recky at his best. Oh, doctor? The Dr. Mark Recky? I don't know. The good doctor himself. Recky was more of a cumulative career total resume guy.

I agree with you. At his heights, he probably never will come close to the, especially the offensive exploits of those guys could put up. Actually, like, geez, he had 123 points for Philly when you're three-time 100-point guy. Yeah, everyone was doing it back then. No, I know. he's a Hall of Famer for a reason. I'm going to say no.

By the way, who are the best defensemen that BC's ever produced? Weber, obviously, number one with a bullet. The other ones, and just in terms of, and this is all,

these are all cumulative counting stats, so don't yell at me. I'm just going to rip off a few. Morgan Riley, Doug Bodger, Tyson Barry, No-Den annes. Brent Seabrook,

Seabes. Seabes, yeah. Yep. Shea Theodore. Where's Duncan Keith from? Penticton, right? Yep. Why is he not on this list?

I don't know. That's very strange. He'd be number two with a bullet, right? No one's debating this. No one denies this. I would take Duncan Keith over Shea Weber? Over Shea Weber.

Oh, great debate. Neidermeyer Myers from BC. Yeah, why are these guys on the list? Your Google searching is off. Well, the Niedermeyers is another one that are in Cranbrook slash Alberta. Rob was born in Alberta, I believe. And Scott was born in Cranbrook. I'm looking at just the counting stats on players born in British Columbia.

So obviously this is a very poor list because, yeah, Niedermeyer, Keith, Weber would be top three. And now is there anyone that we're missing? Okay, I'm going to ask you another Ask Us Anything. And I have a bit of a backup story to go with this. And I was out at Richmond the other day, Mineru Park. And the boy had a hockey game. And it was a very nice day. it wasn't this week

and he has to get there like an hour before the game so I went and wandered around and I watched some soccer at Minoru Park and it was middle-aged soccer okay I don't know how old the guys were

but they were probably in their 40s maybe some of them in their 50s some of them could have been in their 30s too and I'm watching the soccer and it's pretty competitive soccer and the one thing I thought of was this looks so dangerous to be doing

in middle age and there were a couple guys that came up with you know not huge injuries but there were injuries out there little knocks as they call them in soccer and I started looking at that and going

that looks more dangerous than beer league hockey why though because in hockey it's it's like if you fall you just kind of slide yeah but I always thought I always thought that the one that has the more unforgiving surface is the worst one for potential injuries.

That's what I'm talking. No, it's not. It's not. Ice is not unforgiving. Ice is pretty unforgiving. You fall on the ice and you slide. The sliding aspect does take some of the impact. If you fall and soccer, it's a thought.

So my question is, my question is, what is the most dangerous sport to play at middle age? And I'm not talking about, don't be like rock climbing or something like that. Like, yeah. Gun fighting. Right? Yeah, yeah, dueling. I'm just talking about the, like, you know what I mean? Like, is it, is it men's league soccer or beer league hockey? I mean, some of the most horrendous injuries I've ever seen are in beer league softball. Just because either you're super out of shape and your hamstring just like explodes or, you know, there's like a hole in the outfield. Have ever seen that? And so like the field isn't maintained and, you know, it's like all of a sudden someone's, you know, leg is ripped off over there. I'm watching soccer. I'm serious.

And I was talking to a few people about this. And one of the things one guy said was, he said, you know, if a guy gets carted off the field in soccer, you're like, you're never going to be playing again here. Right.

Right? Like, that's it for you. If you have a serious injury in soccer, that's, you're pretty much done. Like a racehorse? Yeah.

Yeah. I've seen it take you up back. I've seen it. It's the glue factory time for you. It's sad, but it's the right thing to do for some of these guys. I always thought that it would be hockey. I just naturally assumed that there would be more injuries. And there's like a reason that they have the defibrillators at every bench.

Those guys that don't wear the visors. They just have like nothing. That is crazy. In beer league, astounding. Not many leagues allow it nowadays, but. Yeah, that is insane. Similar to that. I have seen the highlights.

And we talked about this on the show before. And I think it's mostly in like Georgia and Florida. of the over 40s, I think you have to be between the ages of 40 and 45, full contact, full pads, American football. The guys that do that and then go and are like UPS drivers on Monday, like that blows my mind.

Because I could not even fathom going across the middle, getting laid out and then being like, all right, I'm going to get up and like get ready for work the next day. Like you would be over. I would live at that field for the rest of my life, potentially in a bed, or in a chair. Well, honestly, man,

I would rather be tackled in football than some reckless 45-year-old guy who's got like 30 extra pounds on him tries to slide tackle me in soccer. So that's, is that not, is that totally, is that like super wimpy of me? There's a sense of pride that I have right now that someone is actually considering soccer

to be like violent and dangerous. I'm like, oh, that's so sweet. No, no, no, but it's not, it's just, it's just dangerous. It's like reckless. It's like reckless. seems reckless with all those guys out there not in tip top shape

you know I saw some slide tackles I'm like are you out of your mind it is funny that it was on artificial turf too like what if you get your legs stuck in the turf or something like that like your knee is done I've seen guys slide where they think they're going to slide and then they don't and they've got a few like they're not they're not trim you know what I mean you've seen those guys right they're just like barrels out there barreling around slide tackling guys I'm like this seems dangerous so the smart decision is don't slide tackle.

That's the way to get around this. And the smart decision today is brought to you by Crow. Your trusted accounting and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at crow mackai.cai.a. We're heading into the final hour of the program. Rick Dollywall, our intrepid Canucks reporter, is going to join us on the other side. I'm loving all these texts in because I think the takeaway is that playing sports in middle age is just dangerous.

You're like, I've seen pretty bad injuries in golf. I was going to say. Every sport you can play. My croquet league is just filled with injury reserve. They're like, you know what? Don't do it. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.