Halford & Brough in the Morning - Clutching The Pearls + WWL

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

In hour three Mike Halford and Jason Brough talk to Dan Robson about co-authoring Atiba Hutchinson’s memoir which includes his journey through the ranks of pro football and fighting for Canada’s name in the game. The fellas, also tell us what they learned.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

8.04 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough, the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program.

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I always get nervous when that screen... Beat you to it. Come on, Lena. I always get nervous when that screen stays up there. A-Dog always has it ready to go. No, he doesn't. He misses it all the time.

A-Dog sometimes leaves it up over the break, too, and you guys don't realize it. People lip reading what we're saying? I'm always worried. I hope they don't do any hand gestures during the break. Because of our history of being dismissed whilst on air, I'm always scared when the screen just says, we'll be right back. And then we never come back. We've been lied to before.

Yeah, I know what that means. That's an empty promise. We'll be right back. We might not be right back. This is trauma that you need to unpack. I've done it before on the air. Maybe not on the air. I can still see Cletch.

I've got no control of the board. It was one of the more underrated comedic moments of my life. They say, you know, tragedy and comedy are often aligned. So it was a bad thing that was happening. But man, it was funny. Do you know what's really sad and funny at the same time? When that happened, I was like, I'm going to get some time off. Yeah. And I was kind of happy about it. Yeah.

Panic and fear. It was more like unplanned vacation. I was like, that's not the worst. Like a snow day at school. Right, except the snow day was permanent. Right, permanent snow. It cut deeply into our wages. But other than that, it was a good snow day.

Okay, let's go to the phone lines now. Our next guest, I'm going to call him a co-author, even though it's a memoir from Tiba Hutchinson. It's The Beautiful Dream. It's out now and available for public consumption dan robson of the athletic joins us now on the halford and bruff show on sportsnet 650 good morning dan how are you good morning thanks very much for having me on i'm doing great um okay so i want to start um with the idea and the genesis behind writing the book. I know back in 2022, you wrote an excellent profile for The Athletic about Atiba Hutchinson as he was spearheading and captaining Canada

en route to an eventual World Cup qualification. Is that where the original seed was planted for the book? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Atiba, that story was so interesting to me, and it was well-received by our readers at The Athletic. And probably about several months later, we kind of had the idea maybe we could expand this further into a full book because it's such an extraordinary story. So for those listeners that might not be aware, Atiba Hutchinson isn't just one of the greatest Canadian soccer players of all time. He's one of the greatest Canadian athletes of all time and one of the more underrated ones

because, you know, Jason and I have joked about this, but he played for so long in Turkey and had such great success that he's actually like a borderline icon in Turkey, but he probably wouldn't even be recognized walking the streets of Brampton where he's from or anything. But it's a very curious dynamic. Did you get to experience a lot of that when you were speaking with the team and putting together the book? Yeah, actually, I was actually supposed to go to Turkey,

but we had a child that we were working on and I wasn't able to take the time away to go and actually see what it was like with his club, Besiktas, in Turkey, where he was playing at the end of his career there. But I've seen video, talked to him at length about it, and sort of seen it. It's a different, I mean, it's like any iconic sports figure in a town,

probably even more dramatic than we'd be used to in North America to see how a team is received there. It's quite extraordinary. And as you said, the contrast, especially earlier on in his career, to be able to walk the streets of, you know, Toronto or Vancouver and sort of nobody know who he is because he's a soccer star from this country is sort of part of the interesting dynamic in the book and sort of, you know, being famous abroad, but in your own country being

somewhat anonymous. When did he really hit his stride as a professional soccer player? It came probably when he was playing in Copenhagen, the Danish Super League. He really had to earn his way up through European pro soccer. I mean, it was a long journey to even get a tryout with the club. It was a different era. We're talking back in the early 2000s when he was just in his early 20s and kind of coming onto the scene. And so he had to learn. And so part of the book, we go through this sort of coming from Canada

where his athleticism was just enough to sort of excel and he was an exceptional Canadian soccer player. But at that time, that didn't really translate to the European game where everyone was playing at a different level. And so he had to sort of find his way and constantly evolve as a player. And he eventually ended up being named the Player of the Year in that league when he was with Copenhagen FC. And I think that's sort of where his rise,

he sort of went to the forefront of soccer and kind of became well-known. And it was a pinnacle moment for him. Did he have some big decisions to make about where he would play next after Copenhagen? Because I remember him being linked to some Premier League clubs in England, but obviously that never happened. Did you talk to him about that for the book? Absolutely.

Throughout his career, especially when he started to make a name for himself in Europe, he had a lot of looks from the Premier League and was looking at that. He grew up a Manchester United fan. His dad was an enormous Manchester United fan. Back when he was growing up, that was some of the only European soccer he could watch. That was a different reality at a different time. There was no international streaming site. They had a massive satellite dish that they splurged for on their TV, and that was the one expense that they really went for. So he dreamed of going there, but when he got to his actual career,

he had to look for the best opportunities, and he always wanted to go where a coach wanted him. He felt that a coach reaching out was one of the best signs that you're going to continue to learn and develop, as opposed to just the organization itself. And Masik has made a really big pitch. He knew very little about soccer in Turkey at the time, but it was an eye-opening experience when he visited. And the fan base just brought him into their own

and made him sort of right away. They just became beloved. And he ended up spending a decade of his career there, even though he did have offers elsewhere. It ended up being a place where the dream kind of shifted and he decided that this is actually next to Canada. This was the place where he called home. Turkish soccer fans are so impressive that they're almost scary.

You know what I mean? You're just like, you're so passionate, maybe too passionate. What did Atiba have to say about just the atmosphere of playing in Turkey? I imagine not only did he receive incredible support from his club supporters, but also going into some places like Galatasaray, what must have been pretty intimidating. Oh, it was absolutely wild. I mean, we get to go through some great stories in the book about that.

But just the experience of, you know, like the intimidation of going into, you know, stadiums where you're arch rivals who are, I mean, this is very, very serious rivalries. You know, this is fans are, you know, banned from each other's stadiums. And there's all kinds of, you know, a history that a team has had to learn and became part of as you went through. But, you know, when they win the championship, their parade is on boats to the Bosphorus River right through Istanbul.

He has photos and videos of it, and it's just wild. When they win, when they're playing in an away stadium, their fans would follow because they weren't allowed to play because they'd been bombing their own stadium. It was being built, had they'd play away and then there was um you know fans like a convoy would just follow their bus like it's it's absolutely wild um you know it's sort of this this next level of fandom that uh was really exhilarating and interesting to learn about i think the coffee is just too strong like if they went to decaf, they're there. Yeah. Like, you know? Um, so one of the things when you're writing, uh, about, uh, about any person really, um, is you have to come to the

question of what makes them tick? Like what, what drives them in their life? Maybe it can be internally, maybe it can be externally. What did you write about when it came to Atiba Hutchinson? That's always the interesting question at the heart of it. I've done several ghostwritten or co-authored memoirs. I've worked with Andre de Grasse and Doug Gilmore. So a wide range of different kinds of athletes and looking at what motivates. With Atiba, it's interesting because often I think, you know, athletes don't, they just do. They're obsessed with the sport.

They're obsessed with the game. They don't really always think about sort of what's driving them. But when you actually start to talk about it over hours and hours and really dive into it, you kind of see where the heart of it all came from. And, you know, for Atiba, you know, he grew up in Brampton, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, playing in a, you know, patchy field where there was sort of no, there weren't a lot of resources there for football at the time because it was all hockey and it was, you know, it was a different era in sort of the generation that he was growing up in. And so there was sort of this longing that he formed, I think, as his dad was cheering for Manchester United.

He grew up actually hoping to one day play for the Trinidadian team because that's where his parents were from. And there wasn't really, at that time in the 90s, a Canadian team that he was looking to to say, like, I want to be like that. He went to a few, but he just began to excel. And I think what drove him as he carried on was sort of the constant denial, the sort of sense that, you know, you're a Canadian soccer player, you're not going to make it. You're a Canadian soccer player, there's no real path for you.

And that might be forward now, I think, as we're seeing this next generation of great athletes coming through, and then obviously making names themselves in the game, but it was a different time when Atiba was coming up, and all of these athletes were looking at him as he was sort of fighting through discouragement and rejection, and also people

being sort of humiliating experiences with Canadian soccer. I mean, there's just coming into a stadium in Canada and seeing a game against Honduras, and there's more Honduran fans than there are Canadian fans. That was a very real reality for years. And so for him, I think a lot of the drive was pushing against that, just trying to say, like, no, we can make this.

We can be something as a Canadian soccer player, and we can be something as a Canadian soccer player, and we can be something as a soccer nation. And I know his beloved experience with the Canadian national team, 20 years, the most capped player that's played for Edna Mensah, and finally making it to that World Cup in Qatar. I mean, that's the sort of unlikely dream that he just willed himself to continue to pursue. We're speaking to Dan Robson of The Athletic. The book is The Beautiful Dream, a memoir from Atiba Hutchinson,

the most capped Canadian men's player of all time. And you mentioned his relationship with the Canadian men's national team, Dan. And we've got to say, from a narrative and book perspective, it ends great. He rejoins the program. He comes back. He leads the team and captains into the first World Cup in 36 years. Canada wins the World Cup. That was incredible. That was a great ending to the program. He comes back. He leads the team and captains into the first World Cup in 36 years. Canada wins the World Cup. That was incredible.

That was a great, great ending to the book. I missed that part. Such a high point. Now, it has to be said that there was a real disillusionment with the Teva and the national team. I think the low point was the 8-1 loss to Honduras. And then he left the program. I don't want to say

they were at loggerheads, but the two parties just really weren't on the same page. And I'm curious about how big a role that plays in crafting the narrative, but also in telling the story of he's out of the program and then he's back in and it comes to this great

finale where they do eventually qualify for a World Cup. Yeah, well, I mean, as a writer, I'm always looking for conflict in narrative arc. And so, I mean, obviously I was asking a lot of questions about that and it does play well into the book because it's an essential part of the story. I mean, the reality was he was the most, this dedicated player who would constantly show up for camps

and constantly show up for exhibition games and matches all over. And he'd be leaving his club in Istanbul. I mean, that's a haul of a flight to be able to come and do that. And at the same time, there's some context here. When you're playing in Europe and you're playing for a Canadian team, he'd come back and he'd be mocked for going and playing for his team. They would actually say, like, why are you wasting your time playing for Canada?

You guys are terrible. I mean, he experienced that a lot. And so, I mean, there was a period in his career where he'd given so much and things were going quite poorly with the national team. As you alluded to, several disappointments in a row in which he sort of had to sit back and say, okay, I'm now in my 30s. I have a limited window. My health is something I need to think about.

So do I need to take a step back to the national team? And that was a really conflicting decision that he had to go through. It was certainly not an easy one, but in the end, as you said, he decides to come back. A lot of that has to do, and we talk about it in the book, his experience with John Herb and the coach at the time who kind of rejuvenates the program and basically begs Atiba to come back. I mean, it's a very interesting sort of story behind the scenes about how he convinced Atiba to be part of this squad of young, young talent that's looked up to him for so many years,

and he views him as this sort of central leader that can, you know, even though he's not the same player that he was when he was, you know, Canadian Player of the Year and Danish Super League Player of the Year and, you know, all those things, he was still an excellent midfielder, but he was a leader in his own way. And that's what they saw in him. So he was giving up on his World Cup dream. I mean, not, I guess, giving up.

He'd always thought of it being there. But, like, as he went on, it was more and more unlikely. Then all of a sudden there was this hope rising, and he was able to be part of it. And it really makes for you know i think uh a captivating story of never giving up in the end and and sort of reaching out and finally getting to that point where canada is playing on the the greatest international stage there is hey dan this might seem like a question on a left field but the word narrative often comes with negative

connotations in sports media now like Like you've probably heard it. Well, that suits your narrative or, you know, the false narrative. But I always push back on that and say, like, we need narratives. And as long as they're responsible narratives and as long as they're accurate narratives, isn't that kind of what makes sports special? Like it's the buildup to something and then something happens and then there's a reaction to that. The whole thing is a narrative arc.

When you're writing, how careful are you to craft a responsible narrative, but it also has to be entertaining? Well, it has to be true. And I think that, I mean, that's my, you know, I'm a journalist with The Athletic and anything anything I write, even when I'm writing a book with somebody, my focus is to make sure that It has ups and downs. It's bumpy. It's not clean. It's not tidy. I think that, as you were saying before,

I think all sport is narrative. It's story. I had a conversation with this last week when we were talking about the Joey Votto situation in Toronto and stuff. I think there's the reason we pay attention, the reason that we as fans are watching. We're passionate. We're a beloved team. We get into. We're both with their beloved team.

We get into who's being traded and all this stuff, but really it's the story of it. It's every season a new story begins, and it carries on from the season before. And with Atiba, every season he played, it was part of a story that he was getting to the ending of. And my job is really to sort of unpack that and all of the difficult moments within it

and all of the interesting moments within it and all of the interesting moments within it. And I think that it's interesting to be for that reason. I mean, I think that most lives, if you really dive into them, are interesting and especially extraordinary lives like, you know, Atiba and other exceptional athletes. You know, if you can get out of the mode of sort of the sort of cliche conversation about sport and you can really get into what motivates and what disappoints and what drives and what keeps people going and, and how hearts break and how dreams are fulfilled. I think they're the best stories that we can tell.

But Corsi is fun too. Discussing that is really fun too. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not great at Corsi, I must say. Dan, congratulations on the book. You picked a great athlete and person and story to profile. Best of luck with it. And thanks for taking the time to join us to talk about it today. Thanks so much, guys.

I appreciate it. It's Dan Robson from The Athletic here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. And a reminder, the book, which is available now, the Atiba Hutchinson memoir, The Beautiful Dream, written, of course, by Atiba Hutchinson, co-written by Dan Robson. When I was in Denmark, I got asked about Atiba Hutchinson. Really?

Well, yeah, he was like a Danish player of the year there. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just pulling my leg. Well, that'd be a weird thing to lie about. Thought it was just a way for you to tell me that you remind me that you were in Denmark. Do people brag about that? So when I was in Denmark. God, you're a weird guy.

Do you have any what we learned? I do, as a matter of fact. I learned that yesterday was a bad, bad day for Canadians at the U.S. Open. I'm back in my U.S. Open. Oh, yeah. So the only good thing that happened yesterday was the youngest and probably most unheralded of them all,

Gabriel Diallo, he won his match, but everyone else flamed out. Bianca lost, Felix lost, Chapo, he lost, and he had about four meltdowns along the way. He lost as well. He's got a bit of a meltdown issue. Yeah, it's not great right now. What's going on?

I watched the extended highlights of his match. What are they saying about him? He's got some sort of feud going on with his coaching staff. He was gesticulating wildly and mouthing stuff to his coaching staff during the match. He was smashing rackets. It was not a good look. It looked like a guy that was just unhinged. Even John McEnroe was like,

it'll take it easy. Well, right, right. But it also, it would come on the heels of these really wild swings and misses and returns that were several feet wide or long. Was he looking at his coaches? Is that what you want me to do? Kind of. Honestly, I was like, why are you looking at them?

You're the one trying to do the weird jump shot. I don't know what's happening here. So the only reason I was kind of drawn to this one was I was um I kind of remember a conversation that we had with Arash Madani about Canadian tennis I think it was earlier this year and he really pushed back on the notion that Canadian tennis was in a bad spot and in a bad way and I remember thinking I'm like I think you might be off on this one because the big name players that we've come to expect things from the big i just classified as the big four the two men and the two women bianca leila felix and chapo um it's just been a series of disappointment after disappointment after disappointment especially the grand slams

and once you once bianca won that grand slam once canada tennis got over the hump because it never happened before then the expectations are raised. Yep. And Bianca actually, it was a good fight. It went to three sets, but it was the same thing where, you know, there would be a shot longer, a shot into the net, and I'm forced there, and then like start grabbing at the aches and pains that she's had because she's gone through

so many injuries in the past. Which sports does Canada still have imposter syndrome with? Oh, that's a good one? That's a good one. That's a good one, eh? Yeah. Tennis? Like, do a lot of Canadians feel like we shouldn't be good at tennis? Maybe.

Is that where it comes? But the Bianca thing changed the narrative, as we talk about narrative arcs here. I think it happens with golf. It does happen with golf. You know? Yeah. Like, there are some good... Mike Weir was a long time ago. Mike Weir was a long time ago.

Mike Weir was a long time ago. A long time ago. And I'm 100% talking about the men's side here. Okay? Yep, you are. There are some good golfers on tour. Taylor Pendrich is going to play in the tour championship.

He's been playing pretty well. Probably going to make the President's Cup, which is in Montreal in a few weeks, and Mike Weir is the captain. I imagine Corey Connors Probably going to make the President's Cup, which is in Montreal in a few weeks, and Mike Weir is the captain. I imagine Corey Connors is going to make that team too. I don't know about Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. We'll have to see. Weir has six captains picked.

Six have already qualified, none of them Canadians. But it feels like they're good, but we don't expect them to compete in the majors. Well, it's funny. When you said imposter syndrome, you know what the first thing that popped into my head was after the Olympic debacle was the basketball. Really?

That was the first thing. It makes sense, doesn't it, though? I don't know. Okay. The FIBA World Cup was a good performance. Some would say great. You didn't win gold, so I would push back. I'd say the Canadian men did well.

I thought, I mean, say what you will about a bronze medal game against the USB team, which it ended up being. But I thought that they showed some things at the FIBA World Cup that maybe were going to put that narrative to bed. And then the Olympics happened. And that was, I mean, I don't know how else to describe it. It was a huge disappointment. Yeah.

Huge disappointment. Going out in the quarters. In the fashion, the manner, the way that they did. And I know that that French team was inspired. And I know they made it all the way and eventually captured silver. And they played well. And you got to credit them. And they had the home crowd

behind them. I think the start that they got was I mean, Canada never overcame it. But if we want to go back to, you know, you put expectations on a group that maybe you know, you think that they should get there even though they never have in the past. Like this

program is more synonymous with choking on the big stage than it is with doing something on the big stage. so i think that plays into the imposter i think that's a that's a really good one because when it comes to basketball i would compare it let's say with canada going to the world cup and qatar i don't know if that was imposter syndrome or just them not being very good right like they're when it comes to a sure world-class level yep canada has obviously improved but i don't think they belong with the best countries in the world they just don't in the men's game women's game absolutely they do but the men's game, absolutely they do. But the men's game, I don't put them up there. But with the basketball, you're like, look at, like, you know, Canada has Alphonso Davies, and he's good.

But he's not in the same class, relatively speaking, as SGA is in basketball. No. No, he's not. And that's really... The expectations for the two separate programs, I think, are the big differentiator, right? Is there huge expectations

for the Canadian men basketball team to do something at the Olympics? There were no expectations for the Canadian men's national team to do, other than to show up, like, make sure you get on your flights to Qatar. Might change a bit when we host. There's going to be more expectations,

but I don't think anyone's going to be like, we've got to get to the semis. I think Copa America changed the expectations. I really do. Because I think that was an incredible showing for that program and Jesse Marsh and what they can do against really good opponents. I mean, that was a test of metal, really,

because it wasn't just about who you were playing. It was the conditions you were playing in. And it was stakes involved like it was wouldn't it be nice if canada when we host could pull something like remember when korea and japan hosted yeah and korea which was not considered a world soccer power they make it all the way to the semi-finals yeah they were in the brown the the third place match at the end of it which is a huge accomplishment yeah um i you know the issue there is we're way up against it for time is gonna be the prep going into it yeah it's gonna be so vitally important like jesse marsh is already on record saying like we are taking these next two friendlies against the u.s and mexico about as seriously as you can take a friendly i'm sure he's gonna give him the fire

and brimstone speech beforehand because he's got an emotional He has to learn things about his team too. Yeah. All of these things have a heightened importance. Get your what we learned into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. We need more what we learned. You are listening to the Halford and Brough

show on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show What'd I say? Talk to the audience Oh god, this is always dead It's what we learn time It's what we learn time It's what we learn time On the show learn time. It's what we learn time.

On the show. 8.35 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brow, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brow for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in Hour 3 of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. Nice, nice, nice, nice, nice. Okay, we're going to do some What We Learns from our side of the table.

Josh was not nearly as good as you. I hit Matt most. No? I have to say. It's nice to have you back. Thanks, Greg. For that one reason only, though. Everything else is a backhanded compliment.

Lena has not won but two What We Learns today. So we're going to start and finish with your what we learns. Can you do the slang one first? This was one that was near and dear to all of our hearts. So apparently this is a slang terms in the nineties that have been forgotten about. Okay. Okay. Where is this from?

Where is this from? This was going viral. It's from a Twitter page called historic videos. Okay. And, uh, which yeah, same, same. Congratulations. It's from a Twitter page called Historic Videos. Okay. Which I follow, by the way. Yeah, same. Congratulations.

It's great. Humble brag. I follow it. Not a big deal. The 90s is historical now? Right. Yeah, it is. Yeah.

Okay. Hold on. Before we start, what year were you born in? 93. Okay. So this is kind of- That's a tough question to ask. Why? A lady? Yeah. I don't see things like race and gender

and color i just everyone's a person and i want to know everyone can be embarrassed by their age yeah i think actually saying that can get you canceled i should have said yes oh yeah i should have said yes and then i would have been like, I'm sorry, I asked. I shouldn't have said anything. So this isn't really relatable for you because you would have been very young when a lot of this was hip and cool and slang. I do have a brother that's eight years older than me. So I have been heavily influenced by him. By 90s slang. And I feel like he definitely used a lot of those terms. Okay, well let's hear it.

Let's hear it. Yo, a greeting. Yo, Curb, what's up? Clutch the pearls. Said in amazement or disbelief. Well, you know he's married. Clutch the pearls! Bucked. In the 80s

it was just wasted. I don't know how many I had, but boy did I get bucked. I sure felt that the next morning that was really the worst thing I've ever done. I hope you didn't drive home. No way. MacGyver, as in the TV show where the impossible is often accomplished. I can't believe you got off that speeding ticket. What a MacGyver.

Norville, to secretly undermine. What? I can't believe she stole your job. You've really been Norville to secretly undermine what? I can't believe she stole your job you've really been Norville Black and Decker or a real tough assignment

you get the analogy right? this job is a real grind it's just a Black and Decker some phrases may be around

forever well look I gotta run bye Tom so as you know what I realized? As that video was playing on the air, I'm like, ooh, this feels like it might get racist. I was like, we should have really vetted all these before.

Thankfully, it didn't. It didn't. But I don't remember any of those. I was in high school in the 90s. Okay. And I wasn't like, wow, this is a real Black and Decker math test. That one irked me the most. I don't understand. I was one in five. So one irked me the most. I don't understand.

I was one in five, so they went through six. Yeah. I said yo. I still say yo. But that's, was that 90s? I say sup yo.

But I didn't, I never said. Yo MTV raps, that was from the 90s. You don't say, first of all, how did that person get out of that speeding ticket?

That's what I want to know. To get the, did he duct tape the cop or something? A real MacGyver. A real MacGyver move, right? None of those. Clutch the Pearl, don't remember that.

What was the one for drunk? Bucked. Bucked? I got bucked on Friday. Bucked. I've heard buckled, but not bucked. Yeah, but bucked? Uncle Buck?

Did you drive? He's like, no way. I wasn't that bucked. Anyway. Well, because we were using, I feel like it would be more appropriate for the show instead of like our ham-fisted attempts to use modern slang. Like yesterday when we were saying Riz and I.

I got a new one. What? Skibbity. Skibbity. Yeah. Skibbity toilet. I don't know what it means. I don't know what it means.

I think it could mean anything. I kind of like it. I think you just got canceled. Really? Damn. You don't know what it means i think it could mean anything i like it i think you just got canceled really yeah damn you don't know what it means definitely gonna happen you'll be throwing out these phrases it's like albert oh no i sigmed myself am i using that right no that also got you canceled anyway that was a good slang one uh moo cow all that slang uh laddie uh what we learned there was a pitching matchup yesterday in major league baseball between the braves and the twins spencer schwellenbach versus simeon woods richardson too many letters they became the longest named pitching matchup in the history of baseball

people at baseballference searched their database and they could not find a game that featured two starting pitchers with a longer set of names than Schwellenbach and Woods Richardson. Spell Schwellenbach for me. Schwellenbach is S-C-H-W-E-L-L-E-N-B-A-C-H. And if you're wondering, 8-6, the Braves ended up winning the game. I was not wondering. Shwellenbach with the win.

Okay. What's the longest name in NHL history? I always thought it was Rejo Ruotsalainen. Remember that name? Conor Walchuk? Conor Walchuk's a long one. Tabarashi? Ivan Miro Shnichenko, apparently.

I don't even remember. He played for the Capitals. I've got a good list here. A lot of hyphenated ones. No, we don't count hyphenated. Well, Woods Richardson is hyphenated. The longest one is Pierre-Luc Letourneau LeBlanc, who I think had a cup of coffee with the Devils back in the day.

Okay. What about non-hyphenated? Is Ruatzelainen in there? It would have to be. That's like two-thirds ofils back in the day okay what about non-hyphenated is ruat's alignment in there it would have to be that's like two-thirds of the letters in the alphabet that used to be like the test for nhl broadcasters if you could say ruat's alignment you had the job yeah they slipped a six in there somewhere like just to keep you on your toes okay mook out that one do you have one or we're going back to leaner we're going back to leaner? We're going back to leaner. Leaner, you're up. Ooh, I've got a good one. Okay.

So what we learned is that apparently Mr. Dress Up is the best Canadian TV show, but in the comments there's been some controversy and someone commented saying no one's clearly watched Farm Crime. Have you guys watched Farm Crime? Pardon? Farm Crime.

Farm Crime. I'm intrigued. What is this about? Please tell me about Farm Crime. So it is a true crime documentary series investigating unconventional offenses in the world of farming and agriculture. Largely unseen dark side of Canada's agricultural industry. You know what?

I was thinking about cows robbing banks. That's true. That's immediately... Gary Larson comic? That's immediately... Yeah. But the far side. The obsession with farm animals?

Yeah. The duck is the teller. It's got wings up in the air. When Lena said that, I was immediately disappointed. I was like, oh, I thought the animals were going to do the crimes. An animal cannot be charged with a crime. But yeah, this does lend itself more to like crimes on the farm as opposed to the farm animals leaving to do the crimes.

Yeah, yeah. I didn't realize. Less interesting. I didn't realize there was enough farm crime to have. Well, what are some of the episodes? So one of them's called. Growing weed again. Cattle cops. One of them is called- Growing Weed Again. Cattle Cops.

One of them is called The Blueberry Bandit. Yep. Okay. There's another one about a theft of beehives. Well, wait a minute. You can't just say The Blueberry Bandit and leave it at that. What's that about? $100,000 worth of blueberries are stolen from a transport yard in Hamilton, Ontario.

What? Yeah. Crime in Hamilton? Surely you jest? Yeah. Crime in Hamilton? Surely you jest. How did they fence them? How did they move them? So apparently it was in between. You got limited time.

I think they stole them at truck stops. Yeah. It didn't say what they did with them. It just said they were stolen. So they, okay. Did they even know what was in the load? Maybe they were just like, let's take this truck.

Hopefully it's diamonds. Damn it, it's blueberries. There's one here. Dedicated beekeepers in British Columbia discover the first murder hornet nest in North America

and they wage a war against the honeybee's deadliest natural predator. That one's called Invasion of the Murder Hornets. Well, that's more, well, that's actually the animals being the criminals then. Yeah, I mean more... Well, that's actually the animals being the

criminals then. Yeah. I mean, I think it works all over the map, right? It's just crime. Doesn't mean who's doing the crimes. The trailer for this is wild, by the way. So did this get votes? Or did... It got voted. Okay. I'm not really sure on what. What was it? Is there a list? Have you got a list? There's no list.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Mr. Dress-Up's a good choice, though. Yeah, yeah. Farm Crime's not a bad choice. It's the neck and neck between the two. And that's all we've got. All right, give us a mookow there. Do you have anything, Brough, or do you want to go dive into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basketball?

Let's dive in. Okay. And let's hear our fire plan. Oh, my God! We're having a fire! Fire plan. Oh my God, we're having a fire plan. Basketball Phil, what we learned, a Netflix doc. Basketball Phil watches every sports documentary. He's a man of my heart.

Basketball Phil. Incredible. A Netflix doc called Starting Five is coming on October 8th, where they follow Jimmy Butler, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, and Sabonis on and off the couch during the 23-24 season. Of these five, I'm most interested to see Jimmy Butler.

I don't know anything about this documentary, but I did see a clip of LeBron talking about what his working relationship would be with his son. I saw this. And he said that. I have the clip. Okay, let's play this because basically, to make a long story short,

LeBron is not going to let Lil' Bronny call him dad during working hours. You thought through, not relationship because you'll always be his dad, he'll always be his son, but what's your working relationship? Is he going to call you dad at practice in the locker room? No, we already laid that. No, we already laid, no, he can't. We already laid that down. He cannot call me dad in the workplace.

Once we leave out of the practice facility and the gates close, I can be dad again. In the car, if we ride together. At home, I can be dad. No, he got to call me like 2-3 or Brian. Okay. Or, you know, goat if he want to. It's up to him.

I mean, it's up to him. But it's easy for me. It's easy for me because I've been calling him Bronny for so long. It's not like I've been calling, hey, son, hey, son. So it's easy for me. It's going to be the adjustment for him. But we cannot, we cannot be running down the court and he'd be like, dad, push the ball.

Dad, come on. No, you cannot do that. Clutch the pearls, LeBron. What's wrong with saying dad on the court? That's his dad. I implemented this rule when I coached the league baseball. Really? Yep. What does he call you?

Coach. Definitely not goat. It wasn't goat. No, yeah. No dad in the dugout. Really? That's mean. That's not mean.

Why? Bronny's a grown man. You're talking about children. Yes, you are. In the dugout, I'm the coach. In the dugout, I'm his coach. Bronny is a man. You're talking about coaching young children. They can still call you dad. I think it's weird with LeBron. Well, I'm the coach. In the dugout, I'm his coach. LeBron is a man. You're talking about coaching young children. They can still call you dad.

I think it's weird with LeBron. Well, I didn't want any of the kids... Just to be clear, I didn't want any of the kids calling me dad. Have them all call you dad. Let alone my... I mean, my son was one thing, but the other ones, I'd be like, please, honestly, don't do that. That's strange.

Kids always get super embarrassed when they do that, too. I still remember calling my teacher mom once. And they got to just stay home for a week. just turn right around like where are you going even the teacher laughs at you the teacher's dunking on me um so you make them call you coach but okay that's i i understand exactly what what if you were brawny what would you call i would call him old man then give me the ball old Old Man! Old Man, yeah. 2-3. 2-3 is lame.

2-3 is lame. 2-3. Pops. Pops. Pops would be incredible. It's got to be something insulting. Yeah. But, like, fun.

Right? Yo, Pops! Give me the ball! I got a What We Learned here from Trevin. Trevin. Kevin, the traffic guider. Hashtag, WWO, What We Learned. The CFL is upholding sean lemon's

suspension for gambling the complicated relationship with sports and sports betting continues the one thing that i have it's not complicated don't bet on your team they're gonna like don't bet don't bet they're gonna need to not complicate they're gonna need to increase the amount of education around this and the education is going to be if you participate in professional sports do not bet on professional sports i think i don't think that's a crazy thing i don't think that's a crazy ask for the guys like i know some people will be like oh but it's my human rights to be able to gamble i'll be like well you give there's certain concessions and there's certain things that you just can't do anymore. I just compare it to insider trading.

Yeah. Just don't do it. If you work for the company, you can't trade on inside information. Right. We're all looking forward to the NVIDIA earnings today. Right? Yes. No one knows what I'm talking about. I prefer to do outsider trading, but you do you.

A lot less successful. Colin and Tawasin, what we learned, we need another hammer throw competition to raise our national spirits again. The Canadian performance at the US Open is depressing me. Yeah. Ian, the abacus in Surrey, texted in a similar

I don't know what that means. You're a human abacus? I don't get it. He's probably an accountant. Yeah, maybe. Not a very good one, though, if you're still using an abacus. Where's my tax return, man? Hurry it up. Ian the abacus putting together someone's 2016 taxes right now writes in,

we are no longer a tennis nation. Here's one from Peter in Cloverdale related, what we learned. Halford got to me and I switched over to the U.S. Open tennis. Men are allowed to the U.S. Open tennis. Oh, good. Men are allowed to wear tank tops now. What happened to collared shirts?

Also, there's advertising on the shirts. One of the female players has the Jack Daniels logo on her shirt. Way different than the Yvonne Lendl and Stefan Edberg era

I watched growing up. You know, she's getting bucked. You're getting canceled now. It's 90s slang. Jack Daniels clutched the pearls. Are they wearing tank tops and stuff? Sleeveless shirts. Sleeveless shirts.

Yeah. They're not like tank tops. Yeah, I don't... There's a difference between sleeveless shirts and tank tops. Dear Texter, do you know what a tank top is um i yeah but this isn't anything like new yeah i don't know if you're talking about but i think peter and cloverdale is just going to show like i have not been watching tennis for a while yeah the only one that um still has like upholds that

tradition is and that's just the whites at wimbledon, like the all-white clothing, right? The clothing, not the people. And even that is going to fall by the wayside eventually. No, I think they'll stick with the all-white motif. It's just you won't have to have the print. Like, I think there's, if I'm not mistaken, that you can do the sleeveless look at Wimbledon as long as you're wearing the all-white. Yeah.

I don't know. The tank tops are for the Pat McAfee cross promotion. It's on ESPN, I think. My hot take is, or my strong take is that I do not want to see the male golfers in shorts. Yeah. Well, I mean. And I will stand by that. It's not, I will stand by that.

I think it looks ridiculous on the live tour. But on the live tour, it's just one of a million things that look ridiculous. But you know what I don't get is that it should. God, I hope the Aces win today. Yeah, that still doesn't make any sense to me. It shouldn't look that strange, though. Because when you play golf, no one wears pants, right? Unless it's cold.

Yeah, unless it's cold. Yeah, and you're rarely golfing cold, right? But I don't want to see me on tv no i know but it's just like you'd think you'd be used to it because i mean what percentage it looks like a practice round that's all i'm used to it yeah well that's true as well you know it is jarring from a television aesthetic because all we've known throughout the time of televised golf is pants yeah um melissa in a helicopter with like a super insulting what we learned, but it's kind of fun too. What we learned. I don't think she meant it to be insulting.

Okay. What we learned. That's kind of insulting. I want to learn what Halford and Brough would rather have. McDavid for one season with the Canucks, I suppose, or McDonald's free for life. Are we that? Good question. Good question. You reference

McDonald's. You don't eat McDonald's a lot, but every time you do, you reference it. I don't need it free. I'm not rich, but I can afford generally to pay for McDonald's, right? But it's for life.

Yeah, but that would be hurtful, frankly, at the end of the day. Every time I go by McDonald's, I'm like, I'm getting something here. Breakfast is set every morning. I would way rather have McDavid one season with the Canucks. Really? I would take McDavid. For life, though. One year versus life.

He might not have that long left. Here's how far I'd go. It's going to be the amount of McDonald's he's going to have. Here's how far. Yeah, exactly. Here's how far I'd go. I would take McDavid for a season with the Canucks and agree to never have McDonald's again.

Yeah, I could get down with that. One season. Canucks would be better, and so would I. All right, the music means we've got to get out of here for another day. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you all for listening, and thank you all for contributing. If we didn't get to your What We Learned today, don't worry. There's always tomorrow.

But for now, we've got to go. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. She's been Lena. He's been Laddie. This has been the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.