Halford & Brough in the Morning - Dhali Talks Canucks + What We Learned

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

In hour three, Jason and guest host Jamie Dodd talk the Canucks Daniel Sprong signing with Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal (2:00), plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Rick Dolly. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. That's right. It is a special Monday appearance for Rick Dollywall here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford.

This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit campbell-pound.com today. And, of course, the whole show brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

Sorfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec, 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Text in on the Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber, and Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. Still a chance to get your What We Learned In.

Include the ticket emoji still a chance to get your what we learned in include the ticket emoji for your chance to see tickets or for your chance to win tickets to see Billy Idol July 30th at Rogers Arena we do have some submissions now so it's not a completely open field but you still got a chance Billy Idol and who

platinum blonde yes rough favorite band a dog and laddie have some great what we learned to read coming up, right guys? They've really put a lot of work into these. Absolutely. So you've got 15 minutes for that research while we talk to Rick Daliwal. But first, before we do that, from Donnie and Dolly, of course, he is Rick Daliwal. I bet he's a big Billy Idol guy.

You a Billy Idol fan, Rick? Oh, Rebel Yell, are you kidding me? Like, come on, man. And dancing with myself. Billy was great in the 80s. There's nothing better than Billy Idol. What about Platinum Blonde? Do you remember them, Rick?

Oh, are you kidding me? Are you going to get me going here, bruv? I am. Is it Monday morning? Yeah. You know, Honeymoon Suite? You want to meet John Cougar? Bruce Springsteen?

You want me to keep going? Born in the USA. I'll be here all day long, buddy. Are you just going to name 80s stars? Let's see how long you can go. Why not? Duran Duran. 80s, the best decade for music, and I'll fight anybody anywhere that says otherwise.

Worst decade for music. Wow. Wow. That was Lattie, by the way. Don't make him hang up on me. Worst decade? Worst decade for music. Worst decade? Wow. I by the way. Don't make him hang up on you. Worst decade? Worst decade? Worst decade?

Wow. I said the best, the Vladdy guy, he's 21, two years old. How the hell would he know the 80s? It's the decade where the music industry sold out, Rick. That's where the 80s is. What do you know about music, guys? Rick, before we start, Rick, what's your favorite 80s band? I just need to know.

If you had to pick one. The 80s was a top 40 decade, right? And it was just top 40, top 40. We had Dick Clark. We had LG 73, top 77. It was just, it was hard to explain, but it was just top 40, top 40, top 40. Okay, but do you have one band that you like the most? Not one that sticks out, but I think

John Cougar, Bruce Springsteen, Purple Rain. It was just a decade where you loved everything all the time. That's it. I'll leave it at that. Rick, are you going to see Bruce when he's at BC Place in November? I'm trying to get in. I'm

working on it. I'm working on it. Okay, if you get a hookup, let me know, okay? I will let you know. Rick, tell us about Daniel Sprong and how this deal came about. A couple of weeks ago, I was told the Canucks were still sniffing around, trying to add some more offense, which surprised me because everybody thought they were looking for another defenseman. What was the huge problem in the playoffs for the Canucks? Lack of goals, especially from wingers. You know, after Besser

and his seven goals in the playoffs, they didn't have a winger who consistently scored. Hoaglander was at one goal, McKay at zero, they had Lafferty in the top six. They didn't have enough wingers producing and Sprong's going to help in that area this guy can score he's got a great shot 21 goals in seattle two years ago 18 last year in detroit heavy heavy shot a former teammate of his told me this guy shoots the life out of the puck another former penguin are you surprised no so jim rutherford drafted him in pitts Pittsburgh right I think in 2015 so agent Pat Brisson says of all the teams that were talking

with the Canucks or were talking with Sprong the Canucks were the right fit he's excited to come to Vancouver I think the lack

of right shots in Vancouver played a role in their decision to come here so Besser Garland and Sprong so the Canucks

are really solid on the right side. This guy's also great five-on-five. He's 11th in the NHL five-on-five scoring in the last two years, so that's going to help. So everyone asks, what lines are you going to play on? Well, that stuff gets sorted out at training camp. Impossible to know where he's going to play in July. But I don't think he signed in Vancouver with the fourth line being the focal point of contract talks.

I think this guy gets a good shot to crack the top six. And you got to remember, this is a goal scorer. So the agent is not going to put him on a team where his offense is going to go down. It's a one-year deal. This guy's going to be looking for a contract again very soon. So you want to go to a team that gives you a good chance to produce. So keep that one in mind.

And one last thing. This is the second straight summer the Canucks have added a forward in the summer. If the Canucks had two to three forwards from Abbotsford that were absolutely close and knocking on the door to play in the NHL, you don't make these signings. But again, six years of trading first and second round picks and the talent pool on the farm has suffered. Let's be honest. There's nobody knocking on the door from Abbotsford,

and that's why for the second straight summer they've signed a forward. I know people are saying, and I think you mentioned this, Prof, I know people are saying this is his sixth team, I think in six years. He may be a bad apple in the dressing room. Well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not in the dressing room. That's hearsay. Unless you played with him, you really don't know.

I texted a former teammate of his, and he said, and he had nothing but good things to say about this guy. He's bounced around, but all I can say is as of today, he's excited to come to Vancouver and let's see where this goes. For the record, I did not call him a bad apple in the room, but that is the Rick Dye. I think it's fair to ask the question

why is he bounced around? Yeah, six teams. Yeah, six teams. Is it his defensive game? I mean, I don't think his defensive game is, you know, anyone's writing home about it. You know what? Only he would know why he's bounced around and uh but i know i do remember watching him in seattle and saying to myself hey this guy's a player right and then last year he goes to detroit uh he scored again look he's bottom line he's he's brought to vancouver to score goals and

and we'll see but i just like the fact that Canucks have more options on the wing they didn't have that last year especially in the playoffs you saw in the playoffs the lack of uh production McKev was in the top six Lafferty was in the top six the whole glander became um a healthy scratch look you have added, the Canucks have just added DeBrusque, Sprong, and Heinen. I mean, those are three guys that can score. So I think their situation on the wing, scoring wise, is much better. This makes it less likely, too, that the Canucks will be in a position to try and make Lekker, Mackey, an NHL player

in his first season over in North America. I mean, I talked about this in the past and I said, look, if he comes in and even if he plays well in training camp in the preseason, you know, a lot of young players do, especially the really talented ones. But it doesn't necessarily mean that they should make the team because sometimes you need to go and experience the everyday life of North American pro hockey a lot of these young guys come in ton of adrenaline and they play well and they stand out training camp preseason you know we've seen it in Vancouver they make the team and then the league gets pretty hard for them um does this affect does this affect Jonathan Larker-Mackie in any way no I don't think so he's just got to go to camp and show them what he's got.

Like, I just think that kid, I'm just, like, he had a great year last year. Let's be honest. I mean, he got to Abbotsford late. I don't really count his time in Abbotsford last year. I know he didn't rip it up, but that kid finished a long season, you know, and then all of a sudden they decide, hey, why don't you come to Abbotsford? And then he goes back for the Worlds.

That kid played a lot of hockey last year, World Juniors, all that stuff. He did a lot of travel. That kid needs a good summer rest and rehab, not rehab, but a good summer rest and getting ready for training camp. It will be a bonus, Jason, if that kid plays games in vancouver um we have seen the struggles of holglander we have seen the struggles of pod colson the last thing you want to do is put pressure or uh you know just say hey look here mackie you know show up in vancouver you're going to be in the top six that kid's going to develop at the rate he wants to develop that he had a

horrible year two years ago he He bounced back last year. And I think this, I am very interested to see LaCarimacchi's training camp with the Canucks. I think they're going to do what they did with Pod Colson and Hoaglander last year at training camp to put them in the top six on day one. I could see them saying, okay, Jonathan, we're going to give you every chance to make this team.

But I think this kid's got a bright future, but you don't want to rush him. You've seen this franchise rush a lot of players over the years, and it doesn't end up well. Just let him come to camp, and he himself will decide what team he plays on, Vancouver or Abbotsford. Rick, are the Canucks sniffing around anything else? Well, you know, it's interesting. They got 15,000 left under the cap,

but you can put Tucker Pumann on long-term injured reserve, so that'll give you cap relief. I do believe that the Canucks need a puck-moving defenseman. After Hughes and Aronik, there's not much there. And that third pair of Forbert and Desjardins, lots of size, tons of size, but not much skill there at all. Now there's two defensemen I get asked a lot about, Tyson Berry and Oliver Shillington. The Canucks are showing no interest, and they have showed no interest in Shillington. There hasn't been any talks with Berry's agent, but things can always change. Barry's a veteran guy

who won't cost a lot. He would solve a lot of those puck moving issues. The Canucks don't have to necessarily sign another USA. They can make a trade. Doesn't have to be always in free agency in the summer. They have plenty of time left, 79 days, I think, till the season opener. But I think a lot of people would like another puck-moving defenseman. I do know they're not showing interest in Shillington. Barry, for me, I like that's a guy maybe you check in with later on in training camp. I don't know. Tyson Barry's a guy that I would, you know. Do you remember the game when he was in Colorado and he was in Vancouver?

And he had five points? I think they were all in the power play. I think it was two goals, three assists. He's a power play guy, but the only problem for Barry in Vancouver, he wouldn't see a lot of power play time, not with Hughes and Aronic here. So I'm trying to see the fit. He's a veteran defenseman. He's not going to cost you a lot.

I would certainly take a look at that, but time will tell to see if they add another defenseman here before training camp. Rick, you mentioned the possibility of a trade for a defenseman as well, and just with the number of wingers they have with the addition of Sprong, I mean, I think a lot of we're getting texts in about Hoaglander, Pod Coleson, could they be trade bait now? Is that something you see the Canucks exploring or considering, given the state of the roster at the moment?

And you know what? I saw a lot of that. Pod Colson, Holglander. Okay, so are you really going to move to high draft picks for a guy who signed for one year? Holglander's got 38 goals in his last two years. He's 23 years old. He's a former draft pick.

He's at a very good price point. He just scored 24 goals this season. Yes, he had a tough playoff, but you've invested a ton of time and development in Hoaglander. Do you want to just move him now because you signed a guy forward for one year? This is the player, whenever I ask, the Canucks don't want to get rid of. Yes, his name pops up in trade rumors. It pops up at the trade deadline it pops up all the time things can change but this is a young player you drafted that's coming into his own i don't know why there's such a thirst to move that guy but anyways that's that when it comes to pod colson you got bluger

garland and joshua on the third line heinen suitor and sherwood on the fourth line i've got pod colson as an extra forward right now fighting to make the the team with Amon and DiGiuseppe. But he could have a great training camp and take a spot. It's a very big year for him. I mean, this is the year I want to see Pod Colson not go to the minors. I don't want to see him be a healthy scratch. It's time. It's just time for this guy to take off.

And we all see the potential. we all see it uh but you know uh this is the big year for him and i i just hope he gets a good shot at camp and he comes into camp ready and and shows what he can do yeah i think everyone hopes that for pod calls he's gonna have to beat out an established nhl player though to do it right rick like especially to avoid the press box so you just laid it out there's it's a crowded bottom six now it's a crowded and the canucks did the best thing the canucks did was uh to get gar uh joshua back to have that line right and and with blue bear joshua garland and then the fourth line can be suitor heinen and sherwood i've got him as an extra right now but i mean there's going to be injuries there's going to be, let's see how he does at training camp,

but it's time for him to become a everyday NHL player, I think for sure. Rick, really appreciate you doing this on a Monday. Thanks for chatting with us. We'll let you get back to enjoying your summer. All right, guys, take care. Have a nice one. That is Rick Dalywall, of course, from Donnie and Dolly and a regular contributor here on Sportsnet 650. Ryan Henderson just tweeted,

I get in my car to take Max to daycare and flip on Sportsnet 650 and Dollywall's on. I'm supposed to be on holidays and away from this guy. Sorry, Henderson. Rick, who is your favorite 80s band? Dick Clark. Yeah, that was some politics. Well, there's just a lot of top 40.

It's like, what? Yeah. We have one example. To be fair, I did put him on the spot. Name one some politics It's like what? We have one example Name one band He likes them all Let's do some what we learned here I've got an extended audio clip That I want to play And it's John Harbaugh

The head coach of the Baltimore Ravens Going to bat for Lamar Jackson Who we all know has had some terrific regular seasons and some less than terrific postseason performances. And I'm going to play the clip for you, but I want you to keep this question in mind. Do NFL head coaches sometimes just go a little bit too far? That's the question. And at the end of this clip, I think you'll know what I'm talking about. Here is John Harbaugh

coming to the defense of Lamar Jackson. Lamar, for whatever reason, you know, he gets a lot of great things said about Lamar. but there's a lot of stuff that's said that you've got to just scratch your head about and kind of wonder, what's that person even thinking? But we take it personally. You know, Lamar's a guy all his life. Lamar Jackson has been a guy who's been answering those same questions. I'm talking about since he was a kid, junior high, high school, college, the draft, the success he's had in the national football league, and it still comes up.

Okay? He's still growing. He's got a growth mindset. He's going to get better and better, no doubt. But what does he have to do to prove himself to some people, right? And so the thing for me is, talking about vision again, you know, there's a vision. And I believe the Ravens and we've always had a vision

for Lamar Jackson. It started with Lamar's vision and his mom's vision when he said he was going to be a quarterback. He was going to be a quarterback in high school. He was going to be a quarterback in college. He was going to be a quarterback in the National Football League.

And we bought into that. We embraced it. We built an offense for it at 19. We're building another offense for it in 23 and 24 going forward, right? The next iteration of our offense around Lamar Jackson. Because in my opinion, the vision for Lamar Jackson, and it's a vision, it's something you see it like it's already happened.

You can see it like it's already been done. The victory has already been won when you pour into a vision. And the vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League. That's the vision, all right? It's going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic, and his brilliant talent by all of us pouring into that effort together as a team, teamwork and by the grace of God

and God's goodwill. That's how it's going to happen. And I believe it like we've already seen. Do you now understand why I asked the question, do NFL head coaches sometimes go a little bit too far? I love the reporter following up like,

uh, coach, my question was about the offensive line. Yeah. Oh, the protection though. Okay. That was like asking Dollywald.

It just goes on and on and on. This is a Wendy's. That's great. Here's the quote. Here's the quote. The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League. So that's a high bar. With God's grace.

That's a high bar for a guy who is granted still young. He's only 27 years old and that is pretty young in the NFL considering you go to college for four years. But it's also a guy that has already been to the postseason four times and hasn't played particularly well in any of those games. It's just like, why don't they just say like – We think we can win a Super Bowl. Do you remember when Russ went to Denver and he's like, he's like multiple Super Bowls, you know, like let's start with one.

Start with one. Yeah. Let's get to the playoffs. Let's get to the playoffs. And I understand the whole vision thing. And it's almost like a negotiation where you start high and then maybe you're satisfied with being like, I don't know, the fifth greatest quarterback in NFL history. But all this stuff, it just makes people go like,

are you crazy? There is this sort of stuff. And then it's fodder for when Lamar Jackson has a bad game and people go, oh, is he the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League yet? Has that happened yet? Because I heard that that was the vision. I think the coaches just get so worked up

on the role of hype man too, which they play internally for their team that they can't turn it off, right? Like there's so, everything is so over the top, right? They use so much hyperbole when they're talking to their team and then can't turn it off right like they're so everything is so over the top right they use so much hyperbole when they're talking to their team and then they're talking to the people on the outside and we're just like normal people like what are you talking about this is crazy this is not how people talk right and he's you could hear him getting himself worked up think about the bar that lamar jackson has to jump over. And again, the greatest quarterback ever to play

in the history of the National Football League. How many Super Bowls does Tom Brady have? So Lamar's going to have to get hot. He's going to have to get real hot. He's going to do a lot of winning. How would you feel if Cam Barra told everyone that his vision and they're building a program around it was for you to be the greatest sports radio host of all time.

Would you feel like you feel honored or would you feel a crushing pressure to be like, I'm going to need a raise, man. Like a significant raise. If we're going to do this together. Oh, my goodness. All right. I have what we learned. It's not as audio themed as Profs was there. We have some administrative nonsense that we have to take care of here.

Can we please get a moo cow on that? And we also need to have a bit of a break. Okay. So you're what we learned. That's what we call a tease in the business. Yeah. And then, of course, the dogs have what we learned because we've given them the heads up 20 minutes yes they've been hard at work they've been hard at work researching their what we learned and final call for what we learned

uh we're gonna pick a winner for the billy idol tickets uh in the next couple of minutes so if you've got a last minute what we learned text, text into the Dunbar Lumber text line and include the ticket emoji if you want to be entered into the contest for best what we learned and go to see Billy Idol. Speaking of administrative nonsense,

Janpro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial of your workplace demands a clean environment. Contact Janpro for a free, no obligation quote. Visit Janpro.ca. What we learned. We're giving away Billy

Idol tickets. That's coming up next to your final segment of the show. Halford and Brough, 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. Welcome back to Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. Final segment of the show. I'm Jamie Dogg filling in for Halford. He'll be back on the show tomorrow. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers.

Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit campbell-pound.com today. We've got some what we learned to deal with here. Then we'll get into the listener inbox. 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. We'll announce the winner of our billy idol tickets i'll start i've got kind of a couple what we

learned but they're linked they're they're olympic basketball related the first is lebron james is going to be the flag bearer the male flag bearer for the u.s olympic team first men's basketball player uh ever i also learned by reading about this it's going to be a flotilla down the what is the sane river sen sen yeah you said i think so in paris so that's pretty cool um but also wait hold on a sec that's how apparently the opening ceremony is going to be a flotilla that's awesome that's according to this article i'm reading about it right now yeah yeah so that should be pretty cool they're going to like clean up the river as they go? Well, no, because the mayor of Paris has been swimming in it and saying it's totally fine. Nothing to worry about.

She passed away yesterday. She's definitely ill. 13 different. Turns out there is a lot to worry about. But also, the U.S. men's basketball team, they played a friendly against South Sudan over the weekend. Barely won. They needed a last second layup from LeBron James. That's basketball team, they played a friendly against South Sudan over the weekend. Barely won. They needed a last second layup from LeBron James. That's why Biden dropped out.

Yeah, they almost lost to South Sudan. And I want to focus on South Sudan here for a second. As you expect, not a traditional basketball powerhouse. In fact, they don't have a single indoor basketball facility in the country. Not a single indoor basketball facility in the country not a single indoor basketball court and yet they're going to the olympics they almost beat team usa albeit in a friendly without having a single indoor basketball court i'm looking at their roster they have guys playing uh in canada actually in the canadian elite basketball do they have any nba players none no they have one guy nearly beat okay yeah but yeah like guys playing in the Canadian league in Australia in Lebanon in Finland like all around

the world that's like a hockey country that doesn't have any indoor hockey rinks qualifying for Olympic hockey yeah that's just unbelievable former NBA player Luol Deng he runs the program right so he's put this together he's managed to assemble this roster and pretty incredible story when you think about just that stat no indoor basketball courts to be going to the olympics to be competitive against team usa on that stage so if canada incredible canada can't win we want south sudan right yeah absolutely they're the they're the bandwagon team and they're in a different group than canada so you can cheer for them in all their group games as well they're canada's got a tough group they have a very tough group. They have a very tough group. They've got a really tough group.

Yeah, they sure do. I hope they can get out of it. They have the talent to get out of it, but it's going to be really tough starting Saturday against Greece. It's going to be very, very exciting. Anyways, that's your Olympic basketball update here. Give us a moocow. All right, A-Dog, Laddie?

I'll go first. What we learned, you guys have probably heard the Nick Castellanos, the urban myth that he always homers during big world events. Well, there was a big world event yesterday, Biden dropping out of the race. All eyes are on Nick Castellanos. The jokes were flying. Oh, we're putting money down on Castellanos. He's going to hit a home run.

And, of course, with two outs in the ninth of his game. Castellanos lifts one to deep left field a home run. And of course, with two outs in the ninth of his game. Castellanos lifts one a deep left field. Going back is Reynolds. It is gone. A long home run for Nick Castellanos. Now you might think

I'm just, you know, playing it up, saying this happens all the time and it doesn't actually. But I actually have a list here of the events that he has homered during.

Okay. It goes on forever. He homers during these big world events. So we just saw the Biden withdrawing from the race. He homered during. Okay. It goes on forever. He homers during these big world events. So we just saw the Biden withdrawing from the race. He homered on the day of the assassination attempt for Trump. Okay. He's homered on three separate celebrity death days.

He homered during the Ocean Gate submarine explosion. This is very dark. He homered during the bridge collapse in Baltimore. He homered right after Queen Elizabeth died. He homered right after Vince Scully died. He homered the day that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. And of course, the one that started it all, the day

that the announcer was doing his apology after getting kicked off the air, he homered during the apology. It goes back even further than that, though. But isn't there kind of a big thing that happens every day? Well, that's what I... He doesn't homer every day, I guess. Former Major League Baseball pitcher Brandon McCarthy said on Twitter said on twitter is like this guy's going to uh cooperstown because there's just we've reached like peak world events yeah you know what i mean it's like there's a new

one every day the one that started it all though his first ever career professional home run happened the day that they announced that Osama bin Laden was killed. So I think that's the one that started it all. Okay. Okay. But interestingly, I saw even before the Biden news yesterday, I saw people saying he's going to Homer today because Tom Brenneman, the announcer was in the news, getting his first broadcast job since he was fired for using a homophobic

slur on air and then awkwardly apologizing while Castellanos hit a home run. Deep drive to left. And the aliens have appeared to leave their spaceship. They have drawn their ray guns and Castellanos is rounding. And here's deep drive to left field by Castellanos. I tried to explain the Biden news to the boy by saying that the Democrats

were bringing in their backup goalie. They're going to the bullpen. I was like, okay, how do I explain this? That works. The starter was looking a little shaky out there. Explain this in hockey. They brought in the backup goalie. There was a congressman in this.

I don't want to talk about this too much for obvious reasons, but there was a congressman in the States who wrote an open letter using the bullpen analogy. It was like, hey, there's no, you got us to the seventh inning. There's no shame. And, you know, going off to the ovation of the crowd and letting the manager go to the bullpen. Some people think he should have been pulled in the fifth inning.

He's only had 81 pitches, though, you guys. All right. Hey, dog. Oh, well, please don't make this political. It's funny you ask because, Bruff, I know you'll appreciate this as a big Eminem fan. The news yesterday, Eminem has dethroned Taylor Swift to claim the number one album in the country.

The Death of Slim Shady, in parentheses, coup de grace, or coup de grace, if you will, marks Eminem's 11th album to top Billboard's 200 albums chart, and it ends Taylor Swift's 12-week tortured poet's reign as the number one album. She was just about to pass Stevie Wonder's record. Wow. And it stopped it from passing Stevie Wonder's record.

Was it Superstition? Whatever record Superstition was on, yeah. Eminem's back. Eminem's back? I haven't really listened to much of his new stuff. I haven't either. I'm stuck in the old days. I liked him when I was a kid in high school.

Obviously, he was huge then, like Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers, et cetera, et cetera. I did read something where your brain, and maybe you're different, but your brain, as you get older, becomes less open to new music. Yeah, I mean, well... Like there's something about... I don't know, man. I just, I mean, speaking of new music, Japan Droid's newest single is insanely good.

So, I mean, I still discover new music all the time. It means nothing to me. For me, it's the time spent. And they're local, too. They're actually, I want to say one of their songs was the Knapsack Gold Song. It was, yeah. You need to spend time searching new music.

No, no, they're a local band. I think they're from Victoria originally, but Halo is a Vancouver band. It doesn't really matter. Now, I'm pretty open to new music. Whatever the algorithm throws in my face, I'll usually discover something once in a while. I just find I have less time to seek out new music. That's what it is. Yes, that's the thing. If I am introduced to it,

I'm open to it, but I just can't invest time in trying to find new music. I'm not as good at finding new artists as I used to be. I try not to live in the old days too much, but I did can't invest time in trying to work on music. I'm not as good at finding new artists as I used to be. I try not to live in the old days too much, but I did enjoy the experience of going and buying an album and going through the entire album, reading the album. Oh, dude, I love that. I loved reading the album liner notes when I was a kid. I remember being very disappointed.

I was like, this one doesn't even have the lyrics or anything. Remember, you'd feel cheated by an album that didn't have a big fold out or whatever that came with it. You'd feel cheated by it. that didn't have like a big fold out or whatever that came with it you'd feel cheated by it yeah um i don't know i guess that's i remember a trip to like the big virgin records downtown when it was still there that was like a big deal i was exciting man like and then they got dvds and everything that was great i bought my first ever album at london drugs van halen 1984 the one with the smoking baby. They don't even let babies smoke anymore. That's true.

Because they're woke. Because they're woke. Because this world got too safe, and helicopter parents won't let the baby smoke anymore. Since we're talking about Eminem, can I bust out this little classic that I have saved in our folder? If you guys had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you've ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?

That was awesome, Bruff. Someone texted me, Bruff doesn't actually like Eminem, does he? I mean, I did back in the day when he first came out. It's not to like. I know it's a big like, oh, you like Eminem? And like some people do and they have a big fight about it online and I'll be like, I'll be on the golf course. Are there really people you like Eminem, and like some people do, and they have a big fight about it online,

and I'll be like, I'll be on the golf course. Are there really people fighting over Eminem? Oh, yes. What? There's a new generation of like hip-hop fans apparently that just don't get him. He's seen as cringe nowadays. Yeah, he's seen as old and cringe.

Sure. Yet he has the number one album in the, so I mean he clearly has a lot of fans still, but I think there is a generational divide a little bit there. Yeah. Who cares? With every musician, there's got to be that one guy who'd be like, you don't really like him, do you?

I'm like, yeah, a little bit. When you're older, everything you do is cringe, so who cares? Yeah, that's the thing. It's like, college and cringe can't hurt me. They changed what it was. You should have seen me in Europe. I was dressed cringe real comfortable shoes and just like like i am not trying to stand out what

kind of socks what kind of socks were you wearing were you wearing shorts no i was wearing ankle socks okay so that is cringe i am out i thought you might be like, oh, it's so cringe. I have the high socks. I was like, no, that's it. I tried to wear the, I guess, do you call them calf length socks? Crew socks? Crew socks? I don't know. Just normal socks? Yeah.

But like those, if you would have been seen in crew socks 10 years ago, you would have been laughed off the street. But then the kids bring it back, and then it becomes you know popular and then all of a sudden i'm sitting here with 600 pairs of ankle socks and i'm like all right what the hell am i supposed to do with these pale pallet of ankle socks yeah i mean damn kids in their socks stupid kids in their socks give us a Muko. 600 pairs of O'Reilly. All right, let's go into the Dunbar Lumber Tax Line. Let's announce the winner. First of all, are we going to do the, do we still leave a drop?

Even though it's not paid for? We do it, yes. All right, here we go. Oh my God, we're having a fire! Plan. Had to get that in. So this one goes to, I believe his name is Dan and his early, what we learned was nothing. I've learned nothing.

You're still all immature beauties. I've just honestly always wanted to see Billy since I bought his old band generation X's record when I was 13. Now, if you call Billy Idol Billy and you know that he had an old band, Generation X,

and you were 13 when you bought that record, you're going to see Billy Idol. Absolutely. And you're probably going to be pretty happy about seeing Platinum Blonde as well. And called us beauties. And pretty tired at the end of the night. Immature beauties, but I'll take it. How long is this concert anyway?

Eight o'clock, man. Wrap it up. Rob and Suri, what we learned, what I've learned in my first summer as a recently single teacher, I'm starting to realize just how little sports options there are in the summer. The Summer Olympics couldn't come quick enough. Well, they start Friday, and then you're right into the basketball. Yeah. I don't know if Rob is super into basketball.

But I feel like even if you're not a basketball fan, Canada at the Olympics. How many people aren't huge soccer fans but get into it? Oh, dude, I'm stoked. I'm not basketball at all, and I cannot wait. It's going to be awesome. People will get really into it. I'd say the basketball I'm hyped for.

Are you into the Olympics overall, though? Yeah, I really do. Because I don't like the summer Olympics. Do you like breaking or break dancing, as normal people call it? I don't know. If it's on TV, I'll sit down and watch it just to see what it's like. It'll be on TV. Yeah, but, you know, if it's like I'm in front of the TV, I'm not going to, like, set my alarm for it.

What do you like about it? I just like how many how much there is of it, like how many different sports there are. I think a lot like do you ever start to think that the reason that we don't see some of those sports regularly? Sure. But it was every four years. So what's the problem? I don't have to watch them regularly. Right.

But like the basketball I, track is awesome. The 100 meters is awesome. Could you name the top contender for? What does that have to do with anything? Well, I think it matters a lot. It's like the heavyweight champion of the world, right? You knew who the contenders were going into the 100 meter. I think this year is just a little bit different.

But I'm still going to have fun watching it. It's still going to be fun. It's still going to be exciting. It's still going to be exciting. It's a big deal. But what are you excited? It's pretty fast. Do you see how fast they run, Matt? What do you mean?

What's exciting about it? What are you talking about? Do you like watching swimming? I enjoy the swimming. Why? Because they swim real fast. It's not that fast, though. It's pretty fast.

I wish they were faster. It's faster than I can swim. You wish they were faster? I wish they were faster. Well, swimming. What do you want from that? I can still run faster than they swim faster? I wish they were faster. Well, swimming. What do you want from that? I can still run faster than they swim and I don't run fast.

So that's your barometer? They gotta be able to swim faster than you can run? I just never liked swimming either. You know, like going to swimming lessons always felt like I was gonna drown. Oh, dude, I'm with you there. I took swimming lessons when I was a kid. Terrified me. I enjoyed gymnastics at the Olympics.

Yeah, those are cool. Gymnastics is good. They do wild things. There's a lot. And then those are like the big ones, and then you tune in for the random ones like the handball and the canoe. Halford's all about the shot put. Yeah, shot put, decathlon, high jump.

I don't know when the track and field events are going on, though. It's so complicated. You've got multiple events going on at the same time. You're flipping around. As we mentioned before, because it's in paris it'll be on while we're on the air so it's that's why you gotta just be awesome you gotta just like get in the flow where you're like i'm sitting down and i'm turning on the tv and i'm seeing what's on right if you try to time you don't plan it out not too much like the big ones i will like the 100 meter dash right break dancing is gonna be a basketball But no, I love it because you just sit down.

You're like, all right, let's see what's on. Let's see what's going on. And it's great. And then there's like, I'm learning about this new sport that I've never seen. And they're doing wild stuff out there. It's fantastic. Okay.

Speaking of the Olympics, basketball, Phil, Texan, what we learned. We won both of our friendlies this weekend. He's talking about the Canadian men's team. One versus Wemby in France. The other versus Puerto Rico. Jamal Murray only played in one game, seven minutes though and didn't start he also points out the wmba all-star game was the most competitive all-star game i have seen in years i didn't watch a lot of it but i saw a lot of people talking about it and i think i think it

was alfred and i um talking about just the overall problem of All-Star games in sports. And unfortunately, what the WNBA did. Nobody tries. It's not. You can't replicate it to other sports, but it's a genius thing, right? Where they had the American Team USA that's going to the Olympics in their tune-up game versus all of the best players who got snubbed from Team USA. Like, it's the perfect scenario to have the players actually care, to have actual bad blood.

So you had, like, Caitlin Clark, who a lot of people thought should be on the team, going out there trying to prove that she should have been on the team. And, again, it's like, I don't know how you import that idea to other sports and replicate it, but in this year it worked out really well, and it was a good game. Do you think the Four Nations tournament is going to be good because i'm excited for it i do and i know i know

there's a lot of people that are kind of like i'm just looking at it as a warm-up for the olympics i just think that like halford is making the point how are they really going to care are they going to be into it i don't think you can put on the team canada jersey go on the ice when you've got Sidney Crosby on your team, you've got Connor McDavid on your team, and the Americans are on the other side, and they have Austin Matthews. And the crowd is going to be expecting something. And half-ass it.

Like, no matter what they think going into it, maybe they're disappointed it's not the Olympics. They're like, ah, this is kind of corny. When the puck drops, when you're in that situation, those guys are going at each other. Like, no doubt about it. So I'm really hyped for it. I think it's going to be great.

What if there's a Sweden-Finland final? Gary Bettman's going to be very disappointed. Very, very disappointed. He's going to be throwing stuff around in his office. Marcus and Gibson's, what we learned, I learned there's dark days ahead for Toronto sports teams. The Leafs are just holding on and running it back year after year. The Jays have fallen off with nothing in their system to replenish the team,

and the Raptors are in for a decade of futility. I find it hard to disagree with that. Yeah. I also think that when you're looking at the division that the Leafs are in, one of those teams has to. I mean, I know we've been saying this for a few years, but you're in a division with Detroit, Buffalo, and Ottawa. One of those teams has to make a move soon, right? I still don't think any of them are that good.

I know Detroit, Vladimir Taras like yeah does that really move the needle they're they're like there always seems to be this perpetual optimism for that team and it never really amounts to anything i still don't really think it will this off nothing i thought buffalo was going to be super busy in tradings maybe some of their draft picks and some of their young prospects for players that can play now nope instead they did pretty much nothing yeah yeah i don't really get no moves of significance ottawa i think there's still big questions there so that's like that's the biggest reason i'm not buying into your the leafs will miss the playoffs take is because like one of those teams have to step up and take it from them at least one of

those teams has to step up and take it from them and And I just, I'm not sure. And Boston and Tampa Bay could easily fall off too, just as easily as the leaf. So maybe it's not the leafs that are replaced. If there is one of those three teams that, uh, I don't know. I just, I just think that Bradshaw living's in a tough spot there.

He's in a really tough spot. And I don't think he's done a particularly good job in his first, but Marner has full control there. Even if you to move him marner could be like no no sorry nope yeah and that's the word has been out there that that's probably what's going to happen right is that marner's not particularly interested in facilitating a trade he doesn't want to go to utah for one year no he's in a contract here he's in a contract year. Let him be in Toronto where he wants to be and then he'll make his decision. That's his point of view.

And again, there's very, very little that the Leafs can do to change that if that's what he wants to do. The Sabres didn't even do anything in goal, did they? No. Laddie? They got rid of Eric Comrie.

Right. That'll do it. So they've got the greatest name in sports, Ukapeka Lukanen, Devin Levi. Ukapeka Lukanen. And then they Levi. Uka Pekalukunen. And then they signed Reimer too, right?

Yeah. They have James Reimer already? No, they brought him in. Okay. Uka Pekalukunen picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pecks of pickled peppers did Uka Pekalukunen pick? Still blows my mind. Unsigned what we learned.

Evans trying to recover that fumble last night is me trying to recover my will to work this morning. Yeah. The Lions had a chance to recover a fumble last night is me trying to recover my will to work this morning. Yeah. The Lions had a chance to recover a fumble late in that game against the Stamps. I don't know how it wasn't recovered. It was possibly covered in grease. But the Lions didn't really deserve to win that game. Classic cheating Calgary. And I think what you said earlier, you know, we're not happy that the Lions lost,

but maybe they needed to. Maybe there'll be a blessing in disguise. And I mentioned that Rick Campbell was talking to the guys in the dressing room and the Lions released some video of it. And he said, you guys are probably disappointed about this. Well,

you should be, you know, we're a better football team than we showed. And now the Lions have a bit of a break and they've got to come back. And here's the thing, with the Grey Cup in Vancouver this year,

you really want to have the West final there too. You want to win this division. This division is eminently winnable. You don't necessarily want to give the Blue Bombers too much time to find out their game or to find their game. You don't want to to give the Blue Bombers too much time to find out their game or to find their game. You know, you don't want to be like the Mariners. No.

Who are sitting around and going, well, I hope Houston doesn't catch fire at some point. And then Houston caught fire and then all of a sudden the division lead is gone. So it is important for the Lions to win every game they go out and get, they go out and have. Because you do want that West Final. You don't want to be going to Winnipeg

or Saskatchewan for a trip to the Grey Cup. So these games are important. No doubt about it. We'll wrap it up there again. Mike Halford will be back on the show tomorrow. Thanks to all our guests. Thanks to everyone who texted in. And then congratulations to Dan for winning those

tickets to Billy Idol. You'll have more chances to win throughout the week. We're giving away a pair of tickets all week or you guys are. I'm not. You're giving away a pair of tickets all week to go see Billy Idol at Rogers Arena next week along with, of course, who could forget Platinum Blonde. Thanks for listening. We'll be

back tomorrow here on Sportsnet 650.