Halford & Brough in the Morning - Don't Forget About The Baseball And Also The Golf

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest baseball news with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (2:39), plus they talk day one of the US Open with Sportsnet golf analyst Adam Stanley (26:45), who joins the boys live from Shinnecock. 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.

It's time to chat with Adnan. It's Adnan Burkees on the show. We're gonna talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Atnan. Yes, Adnan Burkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he sees see.

703 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford, Debrough, Sports Night 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. They're open seven days a weekend. They're open late to help you get debt-free. With no judgment or upfront fees, visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program.

Adnan Burke from Emily Network is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason Hominoch at Jason. Dot Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason and shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason.com. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio. Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech.

Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline. Email sales at abele auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Before we get to Adnan, really quickly, I need to do tonight's one to watch brought to you by Limitless A-V. I know all eyes are going to be on Canada, Qatar today for the World Cup. But the night match tonight, it's a beauty. It is Mexico at home taking on South Korea. That's a huge game.

That's a great matchup. My eyes are going to be on Jungman-San, of course, playing for LAAFC, formerly of Tottenham. I'm going to be curious to see what he can do in his second. I'm a little quiet first match, even though South Korea got a huge win against Chequia in the opener. Be curious to see what he's going to do on this grand stage playing against Mexico in Mexico. And don't forget Mexico wants to win their group so they get the path of playing in the home stadiums. So there is your one to watch brought you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces.

Book your personalized tour of their experience center today. Visit them online at limitlessavie.com. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions. Hotline. Our next guest is the presentation of Angry Otter Liquor. It's Adnan Burke here on the Halford & Brough Show. on SportsNet 650. What up, Adnan. I'm doing great, fellas. It's always fun, Mike, Jay. I love the sound of limitless A.V.

And I got to tell you, this is a great time to be in the New York, New Jersey area. Nick's parade today. And, of course, the World Cup going on. And MetLife Stadium is like five minutes from where I work in Seacoccus, New Jersey. So I was terrified the other day as that France match was ending. But if I did not get stuck in the vortex of congestion traffic. But my wife did say at the mall, she's noticing a lot more Europeans, a lot more foreigners visiting us. So World Cup fever everywhere right now. What is this Knicks parade going to be like? Excellent question, bro.

I'm going to be honest. Maybe this is an unpopular take when the Canucks win. I'm sure everyone will love the parade. It'll be so much fun. But imagine this. 10 a.m. I just saw the phrase just for the start. I see Jim Dolan walking in.

I see Carl Anthony Towns there at City Hall. They said you to get there at 6 a.m. So four hours you're just standing there? Why? I'm trying to explain this to my kid because I'll be so cool. I don't, guys, you wouldn't enjoy this. I promise you. You're not going to think this is fun.

Like you like live sports. me like a normal person, you're not going to find it fun to stand in a stationary spot for four you can't move. If you're moving, you're going to lose your spot. You're going to stand there for four hours. You can't eat. You can't go to the bathroom. And all you get is a wave like the clean when Carl Anthony Towns goes by in his car wearing sunglasses. That's it. Like apparently, brought five million people are expecting for the parade. It's insane. It's crazy. Like I get it. Right. If I lived in Manhattan, I guess I just went down the street, okay, I'm going to stand and wave. But the people are coming from all over the country for this.

And it's going to be just madness. I know that a couple of the Knicks were at Yankee Stadium yesterday, celebrating their NBA championship while watching the Yankees just continue to cruise along here. Eight wins in nine with a win over the White Sox yesterday. I believe they've got nine wins and 13 since they lost Aaron Judge to that stress fracture in his rib. And I know all the headlines are being written now. Like the Yankees are taking a page out of the Knicks book. And it's going to be championship summer in New York.

This is really impressive what the Yankees are doing, though, without one of the biggest bats in the league in their lineup. No question about it. You know, we've talked so much, Mike, this is how bad the American League is. Well, the White Sox, look at it, they were going to be a legit team. Like, they're going to, like, you know,

hey, at the very least a playoff team, they've been in a wildcard spot. We're almost the halfway park of the season, so you can't say this just an aberration. But they've been absolutely dummied by the Yankees. As far as this being a lip-test series, I'm like, well, they're not ready for the New York Yankees. And you're right.

What's so impressive is the Yankees' offense does not miss a beat without Aaron Judge. Nine and four, you're correct in that stat. They're averaging 5.8 runs per game over that stretch. Brunson and Josh are at the throat ceremony of first pitches. My buddy Aaron Boone tells me he texts all the time with Kat because currently in these towns. Dominican loves baseball, loves the Yankees.

So maybe a little bit of Nick's powers, you know, going off the Yankees right now. But there are three and a half games up down the raise. And the rays don't look now after a great start. They lost 13 to 17 on the road. I'm not going to quite say they're Fragisies because they had a great start. But it feels like this is the Yankees division. and of all guys to mention, one that's the most shocking.

I'm going to tell you, Bellinger's leading the major leagues right now at home OPS over a thousand. You go, okay, well, obviously he's a good player. If I told you the pitching's really good, Garrett Cole's now back and Rodon's great. But, yeah, of course, I expected that. Cam Sloot was one of the best pitchers in baseball. But the shock is Paul Goldschmidt.

Ball Goldsman has 11 home runs this season. That surpasses this total in 146 games last season. Like, I've been astounded by Paul Goldson. This guy's a former MVP. He figures he's on his last legs. He's basically a platoon player. No. He homer for the third time in four games. He's been a big part of their offensive resurgents.

So the Yankees are usually fairly active as we get closer. And by the way, the trade deadline is still a ways away. It's not until the first three days of August that things really start to heat up. But we're seeing these sort of like trade index 1.0s across various media platforms. Give us a sort of early synopsis of, I know the scoobel is going to be one of the big names, but two-part are here, the big names that are going to be in play, and then the teams that are going to be most active leading up to that deadline. So the challenge becomes, of course, Mike, in the American League, because there's so many bad teams, nobody's out of it.

So therefore you go, well, we're only three games in a Walker spot. Teams are going to be less inclined to sell, right? Having said that, you're right about the Tigers. They're 14 games under. To me, I'm like, I pitched Terrick Scoble one more time just to prove that it's okay. And then trade him, right? You're going to get more value for this guy. You're 14 games under.

You're not going anywhere, okay? If you're going to resign and you would have done that. So just trade them and you'll get eight starts free, you know, eight starts the rest of the way. People will be happy to get them. Kansas City, I think, we'll be trying to sell it. don't have any options. I can sign South Bres is going anywhere. The angels are terrible once again.

But again, Mike Trud doesn't want to wait with no trade clause. Austin, I think, is interesting. Wilson Contreras is a good right-handed slugger. Now, Austin has a possibility of offense. So why would you want to trade the one guy they can hit? But Contreras is a right-hand slugger. He would get you back value. Sonny Gray's got, I believe, he's expiring contracts.

He can get some value. So look out for the Red Sox to trade a couple guys there, perhaps in Gray and Contreras. I don't think Houston trades. They still think they're in it. And then with regards to the National League, I think the match are the most fascinating. They're eight games under 500. Again, they're not a good team.

And the one that I think would be most intriguing is Bobichette. Bobichette was hitting 213 for the first 60 games this season. He's hit 35 his last 13 games. And he's six multi-hit games over his last six games. So if Bose is, listen, I'm making $40 million this year, but I'm really not that a happy in New York. I'm going to opt out anyways that, hey, how about the Toronto Blue just make a reunion? Now, this is where it gets tricked.

I knew you were going to go there. Okamoto is at third. And then is it short. Ernie Clements is second. Ernie Clement's about to start the All-Straim and second base. He's been the best hitter on the Blues game this season. So I get it. Bo's not going to second.

But just put him at D.H. Listen, Springer's in his final season. Springers been terrible. I mean, just playing once a week in the outfield. You can do a once a week, you know, Okamoto, D.H put Bo at third. But, like, just make both a guy. Like, clearly the J.C. offense. He's had success in Toronto.

He doesn't look very happy in New York. Go get Boba shed. But if there were. I should mention too. I should say one more I should mention is the Giants, Raphael Devers and William Thomas, they would love to unload. But both those guys have big money,

Mike, on those contracts. But the Giants have absolutely told people now, but suppose they call me, we'll make a trade. Both those guys are available. I know, I know you said the Js need to address their offense. Is that,

if you, if you could pick one area to address, would that be it or would it be something else? No question. Because before the whole concern was, rough. What about their bullpen? Louis Barley's been unbelievable. This guy's got a sub 1 ERA 14 saves and he's yet

to blow a save. So that solves the Jeff Hoffman problem. Hoffman has been better as a setup guy or a tempting guy, etc. But you're two games under 500 and you can sell me on the pitching staff. Again, it's the other day. He only went five in for 108 pitches and nine strikeouts. Your Savage's pitching tonight. Goss is really good.

Even if heures are going on the IEL. If we all knew this guy was not going to have an impact on this team. Who cares? Like, you're fine as far as your starters are concerned. And hopefully Beaver's coming back on the next week or so, he can give you a boost. To me, it's absolutely the offense. When I look at their numbers overall, Jay, it's crazy. It's criminal how bats and he's got.

Vlad is a 368 on base. Remember I telling you guys, oh, 390, 394? Well, now that's dropped 20 points. And his slug is now down 362. He's like barely above average hitter right now. And Springer's numbers 308 on base, 369 slug. He's not much better than Vlad. Those are supposed to feed your top two hitters right now.

Okay, I know Perk was hurt. He's back. He's hitting 200. 282 on base, 3-43-3 slug. So if those are your top three hitters, if something's got to give, Ernie Clement can't be the best hitter in this team, followed by Jesus Sanchez. Those are your best two offensive players right now.

Something's got to give. Yeah, it boggles my mind that Vladdy's played 70 games and he has three home runs. He's such an interesting guy because he can clearly get hot and hit home runs. He's got the swing. It's a nice one. What do you think is going on? I know we talk about this every week, but it's pretty fascinating to me.

And I think we saw in the playoffs that when he leads, his teammates follow. Yeah. I think that's what most is maddening about it is that we've seen the potential. You know what Vlad can do. Like that season, when he's runner up for MVP, and I know people can say, wow, they're playing in Buffalo or playing in Florida. I'm like, I get it. I'm like, you can see the potential of this guy.

We've seen him single-handly carry the Blue Jays against the Yankees, not only in the regular season, but of course in the playoffs last year. we've seen him in the Dominican Republic World Baseball Classes. There's all these moments. And yet, the evidence is irrefutable. He's on pace for seven home runs this season. Let that sink in. $500 million.

He's on pace for seven home runs. And last year he hit 23, which wasn't exactly mind-boggling. To me, I'm like, you get at least 25. And I'd like 30 to 35, but I'll accept 25. He might not get to 15 home runs this year. When we look up at the end of the season, think how shocking it's going to be to go out. flat like you'll look back years from now if he continues to be the star player we think he is

he'll be hey what happened in two thousand 26 how did flat hit nine home runs like it's it's crazy so you're right we talk with a lot but there's a reason we're talking about you're getting five hundred million dollars he has to produce and i think of the past it's been the issue with the launch angle right he hits the ball hard his a xen feel is good the hard hit rate's good but he doesn't hit with enough lift he's got to get with the hitting coach david popkins and go please teach me how to hit more home runs i'll sacrifice a bit of batting it's not like his hitting is that good anyways Again, it's the Albuyl said to me, if he's hitting 3.30, then I'll accept the three home runs. But he's now hitting 280.

So if it's 280, I'll take 260 with some more power. Make that sacrifice. I think it's a willing bet to take. Is he known as a guy that works on his swing? Is he known as a guy? Like, there are some guys that, you know, like, yeah, I'm pretty good at hitting the baseball. So I hit the baseball. Other ones want to know every little technical aspect about their swing and they work on it constantly.

like an obsession. Do you, do you happen to know which category he falls under? Yeah, I wouldn't say he's obsessive or a tinkerer, but he's very aware of all the knowledge because Poulos managed him at the World Baseball Pizzer for the DR. And Albert told me, because he got, let's me eat some more home run. He was, well, he knows. He knows what everyone says about it. He's well aware. People wish he could do it, but he's, I wouldn't have to say he's stubborn, but he's set in his ways that he feels like, hey, I'm going to be a line drive hitter that hits to all fields. And if I happen at home runs, so be it.

So that's his approach. It's not, I'm going to be a slugger who murders home runs. It's going to be, I'm a line drive hitter with Saul Fields. And because of my natural power, sometimes the ball will carry. And I'm at the point now, I think someone should be telling him, hey, might want to change that approach a little bit. Stop working out. Adnam, this was great, buddy.

Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy all the atmosphere going on around the New York, New Jersey area over the next little bit. It should be a lot of fun. Stay out of that parade today, too, okay? Yeah, I hope to not get swallowed up in it and go Canada. hopefully we beat Qatar. Let's get it done. Absolutely. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. That's Adnan,

Verc, on MLB Network, from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 965. A presentation of Angry Outer Licker. Hey, just a quick little tidbit here. Sure. Darren Drager is reporting that multiple teams are exploring a trade with the Buffalo Sabres involving defenseman Bo Byram. Byram has one year left on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. I've been wondering what the sabers are going to do with Bowen Byram. And we had Shannon Goldman on yesterday and we talked about Alex Tuck and what would happen if the Sabers weren't able to resign Alex Tuck.

You know, a Bowen Byram trade has almost seemed, I don't want to say inevitable, but I wonder if it was going to happen because he's going to, he's going to command a really big contract. Rossmus Dahlin is locked up long-term cap hit $11 million, which is reasonable. Owen Power played a little bit better, coming around a little bit. Only 23 years old. Still has time to make good on his first overall draft selection. He's locked up, cap hit of 8.35 million.

And Mattia Samuelson is locked up as well. And so that's the team perspective. do we maybe need to, you know, apply some of our cap space elsewhere. But also, if you're Bowen Byram, do you want to play behind Rosmiss Dahlene your entire career? Or do you want to see if you can go out and be a number one defenseman? Yeah, I think the latter. He's so up and down. Like, sometimes he's playing, like, unbelievable.

Like, I remember when he was playing for Colorado, when they won the cop, it was like, oh, my God. This guy's incredible. And at times, I think for Buffalo this. season. He looked really good. But then he'll just go into these kind of funks. Is now a good time to mention that Buffalo made a trade yesterday involving a defenseman that was actually rather interesting? Tell me. Well, so yesterday, the Buffalo Sabers made a trade with the San Jose Sharks. They sent Michael Kesselring, who they got in that Josh Dohn, J.J. Petrka deal. I want to say, that's what it was. And it never worked out for Kesselring, even though people

were pretty high on him when he went to Buffalo. He's 6-5-215. He's 15. He just, finish a two-year contract, so he's in RFA. He didn't play a lot last year. He only played in 34 games. He was injured a lot. He wasn't well liked by the coaching staff. He was in Lindy Ruff's doghouse a lot. He was a healthy scratch a lot, but I still think there's some potential there. Anyway, Buffalo trades

Kesselring and the 27th pick in next week's draft to San Jose. San Jose trades them the 20th pick. So essentially to move up seven spots in the draft, Buffalo tags Kesselring into the deal.

And that's maybe some would consider a loose idea of what the going rate is to move up in the first round, because we just don't see it all that often. But to your point about bringing up the Byram trade, like, this is a Buffalo blue line that could be moving off to, now they're at different stages of their career and obviously Kesslering had a tough year, but two young defensemen in a league where defensemen are still very much in demand. And they just don't have the space in Buffalo because for both guys, I think part of the reason that they're either on the move or already moved is that they were blocked in the lineup.

There was just nowhere for them to go. Byram, you're right, is probably topped out for what he's going to be in Buffalo. Because I'm not sure he's ever going to get some of those prime cherry minutes that a guy like Dahlene and maybe a guy... Dahlien's a top three defenseman in the league. So if you're,

Byram, do you welcome the change? From a personal perspective, yes, but you're also leaving a Buffalo team that is very much on the rise. That's an interesting one for sure. Sure. Well, I wonder, you know, could there be a deal with a team like St. Louis? And if the Sabres are going to lose Alex Tuck, then maybe you bring in a guy like, I don't know, Kyru. Does make a heck of a lot of sense.

You know, something like that. If there's, if I, if I'm Buffalo, I'm looking for a straight hockey trade. Yeah. You know, because you don't want futures unless you're going to flip them. but that's always easier said than done. Anyway, just something to keep an eye out. Bowen Byram's name is out there as well. We can shoot down the text that are coming into the Dunbar Limer text message in basket. I know, I know everyone wants to say it, but we're not going to say it. No.

I mean, it's, it doesn't. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make it. That's why I didn't even say it. Okay, let's say he's an unrestricted free agent. Oh, we're doing it. We're doing it. he's only 25

okay use my previous logic which is add five years on then you've got to by the time you're ready to be good you got a 30 year old bone buyer you know that you know they'd overpay him and he's so streaky

yeah like he's just like oh I don't think he's one of those guys like when he's on you're like wow and half the time you're just like what is he doing out there I don't think I like I like his playing style I'm fine with it I know that he's a bit erratic but I like him as a player

I'd like him in Vancouver under any other circumstance we're in a situation now using the collective we like you the royal we the royal we where this is just not even a topic of conversation yeah like we're burning it down we're not building anything up we're trying to take to get guys out of here that's the priority yeah it doesn't seem like the type of move that this management team has been signaling that they're going to do they're going to take it real slow and i think they're going to go into next season not expecting to win, but expecting things to change off the ice.

Their practice habits are going to change. The spirit of the team is going to change. And if you're Bowen Byram, the only reason that you'd want to come to Vancouver is if you somehow missed the area. Or you thought you were going to get paid so much that you're like, all right, fine, I'll go play for a bad team. Right? That's fair, yep. And, you know, some guys would take that. But I don't think the connects are going to do that.

No. The connects are going to be running a pretty lean operation. Tight ship. A tight financial ship. And, you know, I know some of you are so desperate to, like, be like, yeah, well, they're running a business. So, of course, they're doing that. But you can't spend money in this NHL and you can take on bad contracts. and even in a rising cap, you can still spend your way to a better future.

Yeah. You know, and it's just a bit of an indirect way of doing it. But I don't expect them to do that because I don't think they want to, on an annual basis, lose money. They are making money. Like, they're profitable right now. And I don't think they want to go into a situation where the revenue, user down and their expenses stay the same. Now, if the Canucks had an ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra,

wealthy owner, they might do things a little bit differently. They really might. You know, in pro sports, we see owners that are like, I don't care if I make money on a day-to-day basis or a year-to-year basis, like, I'm super rich. It's nothing to me. this is an investment in the future. But I don't think we're going to see that in Vancouver. Yeah.

I'm also okay with this being the summer of burning it to the ground. Like if you're not spending... Oh, totally. If you're not spending a free agency this summer, I can almost chalk it up to being like, yeah, we didn't splash any cash in this strategic way because we were too busy getting rid of all the guys we wanted to get rid of.

Well, that's the upside of being frugal is you're not going to drop any massive July 1 contracts and overpay a bunch of guys like they historically have done. Yeah, like slashing and burning in my eyes is a great thing to do right now. Yeah, it's kind of fun too. Yeah, see you later. Adios, don't let the door hit you. Like, I want to see this get going now. Thanks for nothing. You see, Aaron Portsline had a blurb in the athletic about Columbus potentially being

interested in Jake DeBrask. I saw that they were like, maybe we could give up our first round pick. So, yeah, he's good. Now, if you didn't pay attention to the Connor Garland trajectory, in Columbus last year. It started very brightly when he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks.

But like the entire Columbus season, it petered out near the end. His production wasn't great. And his impact was significantly less than I think they were envisioning. I think that they thought that the boost, what a freaking boost, was going to carry them through

to the postseason and it didn't. I'd be a lot. Cray frankly, I was shocked that they would dip back into the same well with those, Just having those reds, I know they're totally different players. Okay. I know DeBresc and Garland are totally different players. But conceptually, going back to a place where

Connor Garland, maybe in some ways looked a lot better, a little better than he was because he was playing in Vancouver. And he had such an elevated role and he was given maybe more of a role. I think there were times when he was playing really well. Here? Yeah. Yeah. But I think part of it had to do with the opportunity.

Sure. That I'm not sure you're going to get, like even in Columbus. I know Columbus isn't an all-star team. But you're not going to play as prominent a role there. Anyway, we got to talk about our hometown heroes lottery. Yeah, before we go to break, we do need to do that. I've been dreaming about the cruise around the world. Around the world.

And this is part of the early bird bonus. Cruise takes six years. It's a, it's, I mean, or you can take like $125,000 in cash. So if you think that's one of the. options and then you apply it to like the cruise around the world. I'd like to be in charge of the cruise. How long would a cruise around the world take? Like actually?

I don't know. We could probably find that out. It seems like it would take a long time. I'd be like, I'm not going to be here for a while because I'm going on a cruise around the world. A very different. A traditional crew. A very different group of people will end up on this cruise.

I have the answer. A traditional cruise around the world typically takes between things. three to six months, roughly 90 to 180 days. Oh, yeah. You don't actually stop anywhere, though. You just don't one big circle. Can we get off there? No, we're going around the world.

There's no time to stop. You just pointed all the countries as you go by. All right. Well. It's the worst cruise ever. So it is the hometown heroes lottery. Win with BC's bravest that help save lives. Millions and prizes are just waiting to be won.

And tickets started four for only $85. For you athletes out there, that's only $21.25 per ticket. Don't wait. Buy your tickets now at heroeslottery.com. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. The Jim Rutherford era in Vancouver, now that it's over, is largely defined by the fact that he did the Pedersen. Okay? That's right. I did the Iggy.

Oh, yeah. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650, from exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 734 on a Thursday. A little golf music here on the Halford & Brough show on Sports Night 650. It's Father's Day on Sunday.

That means the U.S. Open is on. Hopefully the fog clears up by then. I think it probably will. You are listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halpert and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're ready to give you the financial fresh start you deserve with no judgment or upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands dash trustee.com.

We are in our two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. Adam Stanley, Sportsnet Golf analyst is going to join us in a moment here from Shinnock Hills in New York, side of the U.S. Open. Hour two of this program is bradded by Jason Homonock at Jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.morgage.

Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions. Hotline, as mentioned, our next guest is live. Studs on the ground in New York for the U.S. Open. Spikes on the ground. I prefer to call them studs. Oh, okay. Well, you'd be asked to leave a lot of golf courses. Are you wearing cleats?

Adam, Stanley joins us now in the Halperdinand-Aruff show on Sports 10650. Good morning, Adam. How are you? You may not be asked to leave Shinnecock Hills. I think this is like one of these iconic, like, old school golf courses. If you had studs in your shoes, probably, you'd be just fine. I think everything will be okay. How is the fog right now, by the way?

It has lifted. So we had a formal two-hour delay this morning due to the fog, and sometimes there's hyperbole around that, and it's like, come on, guys, like, let's get going. No, not here. Not this morning. It was pretty bad. So it was a fair two-hour delay, and now they're off to the races, and they are going to use up every ounce of daylight that they can

in order to get as much of this first round in the books before tomorrow. Adam, has the course been the main story heading into this one? Yeah, I would say that the golf course and Scotty Schaeffler's made an attempt at winning the career grand slam of kind of like parallel path in terms of in terms of storylines pre-tournament. I will say really quick, just as I'm talking to you guys, Rory McElroy has just made a second birdie in a row and is now leading championship at 200 par. so Lori, I'm sure maybe we'll talk about in a minute or two, but pre-tournament, yeah, Shinnecock Hills, you know, is arguably, you know, maybe the golf course at the back of American golf was built on, you know, it's been around since the 1800s, and obviously it's been an iconic host of the U.S. Open for, you know, a century, I guess you could say, and, you know,

there's always been conversation around it and if it's, you know, on the line, which way is the guy's going to go with the USGA, and that's kind of part of the identity of the, the of this particular major championship. So now I think like the trickle-down kind of word from the USDA is like, hey, let's not lose the golf course. Let's not have Seneca-Kalke-Hills kind of give off this main character energy and it be like kind of a negative of the week. Like let's have Shinnecock kind of be more of a star of the week.

And yeah, I think like that is, it comes with reason for when this championship goes to a place as iconic as this. So yeah, I mean, I think the USDA has done everything they could have prior to the tournament beginning to make sure that things are as even or as on the line as possible. And I think Chinnecock being part of the pre-tournament story was completely within reason. So the USGA wants to make it so what, balls aren't going to be running off greens after like, you know, three-foot puts or something like that? Is that what they're looking at?

So are they going to water them a lot? and make sure they're not cut too short. Is that basically that? Yeah, I mean, like, so two questions there. So the first one is, like, are they going to water them? Like, no, what they are going to do is syringe them. So they're going to, like, inject the greens, like, with a syringe instead of actually, instead of actually watering them.

So that'll keep them, I guess, like, moist but not wet because if they don't want them to be, like, soaked, they want them to still have some fire to them. but they don't want to lose them. So that's what they're going to do. And then also, like, the green complexes here are so, so incredibly difficult that when the wind does blow, which is forecasted to be upwards of now 60, 5-0 miles per hour later on this afternoon, they don't want, yeah, even when guys are standing over putts, they don't want, you know, the ball to be, you know, ripped around as much as possible.

So I think a lot of the efforting from the USDA is wrapped, in the green so then they just don't, they don't lose them, and then things don't, you know, become just extremely unfair. Care to throw out what you think is going to be around the winning score? Yeah, I don't think anyone's going to finish this championship under par. And if they do, it'll be, you know, like, one reason. Like, it's just, we're not trending towards, given the, given the weather today, you know, I don't think that we're trending towards somebody being extremely, extremely low by the time we get

to Sunday, with it set to be even drier, sunnier. right now there's kind of like that post-fog, like misty-dew kind of situation that's holding on. But that's going to be eliminated by the time we get to tomorrow. And then, of course, the pressure is going to ramp up and I can kind of go on and on. So, yeah, I don't think that someone's going to win this tournament being under par at all by the time we get to Sunday night. Where is Scotty Sheffler's game right now? It's a curious thing with Scotty Sheffler because like when you zoom out with Sheffler, you're like, yeah, he has already won this year.

He's played 12 tournaments and he's finished in the top 10, seven times. And he's had three runner-ups in a row, including at the Masters. Like, wow, this is really good. But then you kind of like dig in a little bit deeper and, you know, his driving's been off a little bit at times this year. And then his putting has been off at other times this year. He's had some trouble closing, but he's also had trouble starting. Like his scoring average on Thursday is in the 50, like 50th on the PGA tour.

but his final round scoring average is number one on the PGA. So, you know, I think Schaeffler said it best himself a couple days ago. He's like, you know, when I was winning a lot or what it takes to win a lot is you have to be really, really sharp, he says. And this year, he's like, I've just been dull. That was his words. And I think it's kind of perfectly, it perfectly describes how his campaign has gone to this point. Okay, so who are some other compelling stories you already mentioned, Rory McElroy? I assume there's quite a bit of talk about Brooks Kepka,

considering he's won a major at this course before and also he had to withdraw out of his last tournament with a hand injury. Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, by default, he kind of go back to somebody who's won this before and Brooks of courses on his return tour to the PGA tour. So, you know, you hate to kind of keep bringing up the same names, but when they're the best in an individual sport like this, like they're the best players in the world for a reason

and they keep appearing on the biggest stages. So obviously Scottie, obviously, Lori, you know, out of that other, out of that, you know, kind of tier B group, like Ken Matt Fitzpatrick, World Number 3, who finished second of the Canadian Open last week, can he break through and win another U.S. Open championship after he's already won three times this year, obviously an incredible body of work? Cameron Young, Ludwig Aberg, can those guys break through and finally win a major championship? you know, does Patrick Reed or somebody like that have another great weight in him? Because this golf course is going to demand a lot of scoring touch and shorting prowess. And that's exactly what Patrick Reed has. So, yeah, you know, again, a Sam Burns kind of guy. Any of these guys, Victor Hodlin, you know, he finished third in Canada last year.

Can he break through and win his first major? So, you know, I think there's the obvious like Rory Scotty tier. And then there's like the Fitzpatrick, Cam Young, you know, Colin Moracawa, Justin Rose kind of tier. And then there's like the guys that we are all anticipating will eventually win a major at some point. Will it be their week as well? Like that kind of tier. So it always kind of happens that way at majors, but that's kind of what makes them so exciting.

Okay. Four Canadians in the field, Cory Connors, Ben Silverman, Nick Taylor and Sudarshanarshan, Yelah Marajou. Adam, I did want to ask you about the Canadian Open last week. and I just wonder if it felt overshadowed at all because we came in on Monday and we were like, okay, the Knicks won the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup is over,

the World Cup has started. You know, for us, we just, honestly, and I know Yolamara was even leading the tournament at one point and he's a terrific story, but we just didn't have the time to get into it. Did it feel that way at the course, or did it, was there still the same level of excitement? Yeah, I mean, tough, tough time of the year, obviously. I think, you know, obviously personally and professionally, this is what I do for a living.

So I was obviously dialed in and probably more dialed than most folks. But yeah, you're right. I mean, I think was it Sunday night that the Knicks were on or Stanley the Final could have been on? Anyways, I'll let to say, you're right. It's a very, very busy time in the sporting. calendar with the World Cup being included in that mix now, which of course we don't get, we only get it every four years. And then obviously, as everybody knows, this is the first time it's ever been on Canadian soil

as well, and probably a once in a generation kind of thing. So I think the other part of it is that like Bud Colley, who won the tournament is an incredible, incredible story. And you really only have to peel back like one little layer that's kind of like as thin as an onion skin to realize how great of a story that is. But, you know, he's just not like he's just not a. not a big name, obviously. Yeah, we did get into that, I mean, because that's a,

that is a terrific comeback story. Exactly. Like he should have been, like he should have died, right? He should have died in that car accident. And he didn't. And now here he is finally breaking through for his first win on the tour. So, I mean, all that, all that stuff is great. But, you know, golf again, I said this a couple minutes ago, individual sport is built on, it's built on star power. And it was a little, it was a little dicey there for a while on Sunday that we might have had,

you know, a pretty, pretty, you know, no-name winner, which was not going to do the tournament any favors. You know, Bud Colley, again, is not really a big name, but at least, you know, again, he's got an incredible, incredible story. And when people find out about that, they're like, oh, wow, that's crazy. And then if you look at who finished second and who finished third and who was kind of in the mix, it was pretty good in that regard. The Canadian guys last week, I mean, they just get, they're just such big demands on their time.

So it was cool to see, uh, Sardt, have his third top 10 of the year and kind of win low Canadian. Matt Anderson, one of the guys on the Gulf Canada, the national team. He was leading the tournament for a little bit, too, before he stumbled down the stretch. Justin Matthews, an amateur. He was in the top 10 for a little while, he stumbled down the stretch a little bit too. So, you know, now, you know, a week later, we're over kind of the Knicks. We're over the hurricane. It's kind of like, oh, we have time to, like, look back on how the Canadian Open went, and there was plenty of good things to talk about. But you're right. Like, that's Saturday, Sunday, there's just so many other things going on.

Okay, one final question. Are those New York fans going to behave themselves? And is there any sensitivity to it considering, you know, we're still talking about some of the behavior at the Ryder Cup? Yeah, I mean, this is like, these are like Hampton's New York guys and fans, not like just pure Long Islander. Yeah.

Long Islander. I think it's a bit of a different crew, a bit of a different vibe. And also they've like, I guess putting it up lightly, but they've also kind of capped the number of tickets to, you know, kind of a manageable number. Because, guys, like, there's literally only one road in and out of this golf course. Like, there's just, it's just not efficient for people to get to. And, I mean, it's meant to be that way.

Like, the golf course is one of the most exclusive ones in the country. Like, they're just not going to trot out hundreds and thousands of people every single day. So I went between kind of just the pure quantity of fans and also kind of the fact that they're Hampton's people and not, like, pure New Yorker people is going to make it, make it a little bit different. And even Rory kind of said it himself a couple of days ago. Like he likes playing in front of knowledgeable sports fans. The Ryder Cup was very much a us versus them kind of situation.

And this were kind of back to normal. So, yeah, I mean, the golf course is going to be the star this week. Scotty chasing the career grand slam is going to be one of these things where we can't ignore all week long. But I don't think like the fan stuff is going to be as prominent. This year is certainly as it was at the Ryder Cup. Okay, Adam. You're upper crust as well, too. and that's what we love about you.

I hope you have a great weekend. It should be a fascinating tournament. And thanks for taking the time to join us this morning. No worries. Happy to. See, Adam. Adam Stanley, SportsNet Golf Analyst here on the Halford & Breff Show on SportsNet 650.

So in addition to everything else that's going on in the NHL right now, there's a lot of coaching news that's happened in the last 24 hours. Is everyone aware of what a hotbed the province of British Columbia is become for NHL head coaches. Jim Hiller's a Portel-Eld Burning guy. Let's go through what's happened over the last week. Rod Brindamore. Campbell River guy.

Yeah. Wins the Stanley Cup. First time as a head coach, second time overall. He's going to get into the hall. I think this is going to get him, get him in. So you got Rod. You got Jim Hiller, like you mentioned, right? The new man on the job in Vegas,

Ryan Craig, who jumped up from their H.L. affiliate in Henderson is an Abbotsford guy. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. And this morning, this just came down about 18 minutes ago, the Washington capitals have signed Spencer Carberry to a contract extension. He, of course, from Victoria. Now, there's also an extension for André Tournier,

who's not from British Columbia, he's from Quebec. However, he gets an extension in Utah. So that's, that's interesting. The Carberry extension isn't a surprise. but Turing knee extension I don't want to say it's a shock

but I was kind of of the opinion and I'm like they got his decision to make there he's been he's been the coach for a while

he's one the longest tenured head coaches in the league so he got a one year extension okay yeah right

yeah Laddie's looking at me quizzically gotcha right right you know what that is right laddie

it's not allowed that's the extension that you give a guy that you're not sure of, but you don't want him going into the season as a lame duck. Is that what it was going to be? Like he didn't have a contract for 2026, 27. Oh, okay. Now he has a contract through 2027, 2028.

It's when you want to sign a guy. That's the McDavid. You want to, yeah, well, I think it's the other way around. From the team. They're like, we like you enough so that we'll keep you around for now. But the moment things go south and we have to fire you, we're not on the hook for that long of an extension. To give you an. Andre has to say that it was his decision.

decision. He's like, there's a bit of a shot across the bow. Yep. I just want it. You know, like, look, two years. We've got two years now. I'll tell you why this out or I'm out of here. Utah did not see it coming when I put it down in contract negotiations. They have some kind of legitimacy, right? I think that you go. Yeah. We like you a little bit. It is true. One of the things that'll never change in the NHL is like the notion, the adage of a lame duck where you go into a year where you've only got a contract through that year, it's always going to be a distraction because it's an easy thing to ask about at every turn and especially with the turnover of the coaching position.

So we'll see what happens there. But Turingier. Yeah. I find his name difficult. I find a lot of things difficult. I pronounce it Tornier. Okay. Yeah. He was hired by the coyotes. Yes. On July 1st, 2021. Guess how many coaches have a longer tenure than him. I'm going to try and name them. Okay. Okay. So Coup. Yeah. Maurice. No. Oh. Um. Um. you mentioned one of them already on this segment probably going into the Hall of Fame just say well Brendan Moore

yeah Marty St. Louis? No, Jared Bendinard that's it he was hired but yeah he's the fourth longest tenured coach in it I was like well I didn't think he was fourth I mean the top ten not the top five

yeah that's amazing but if you go to the Wikipedia page it only has his tenure starting with Utah. Right? Because the Arizona Cotades are wiped off the record. It's like they never existed. Yeah, exactly. Okay, by the way, so back to Carberry for a sec. If you talk to enough people

around the Canucks and then around the NHL, there is a real sense of optimism that the Canucks have found in Mani Mahhotra what the caps found in Spencer Carberry. Because they follow very similar career paths in terms of going to the American League, achieving great success. Carbary actually won the HL coach of the year, which man, he never did, despite winning a Calder Cup.

I think Carberry also won a Calder Cup, but the caps identified him as their guy, despite having zero NHL head coaching experience. Yeah. Now, the big difference. Different tasks assigned to them. Yeah, but he did a really nice, I mean, he's done a really nice job since being there. Yeah. He obviously won the Jack Adams in 2025.

And I always thought that it was a super wild choice to have a guy with zero NHL experience going into that veteran team, but he did a nice job. he was able, I know we talked to Tariq Elveshir about this a couple times, he was able to really coax something out of Ovechkin at this stage of his career. Yeah. And had kind of like a frank and honest conversation about his fitness levels. So you're saying it was a smart decision to rehire him? No, that's not the smart decision. It is going to be a coaching one, though.

So I mentioned Ryan Craig got the job in Vegas, right? Well, Kelly McCriman, the general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights, met with the media yesterday talking about that hire. This is a smart and also petty decision, which I love. So we were all under the understanding that the Vegas Golden Knights refused Bruce Cassidy to interview for other NHL head coaching gigs, correct? That's what we all thought. Not so, according to Kelly McCriman. This actually changes the equation for me a little bit because McCriman said, well, we actually did allow him to interview for one job. The Toronto Maple Leafs job, which is a hilarious decision.

So it did come out. According to Sportsnet Insider, Nick. Capriose. It was that the Toronto Maple Leafs were the one team that Vegas allowed Bruce Cassidy to go interview with. So he did interview though? He was granted permission to speak. I don't know if it actually got

because I don't know if the Leafs were even interested in going down that road. By the way, I know you've got to do your read here, but it is very funny that the Edmonton Oilers, apparently the core players want to coach that is going to yell at them

and push them. But Toronto Maple Leafs clearly want a coach that's going to be nice to them. Yes. Just be nice. And it is so funny how it just goes back and forth and back and forth. It's like, was your last guy mean? Okay, we'll hire a nice guy. Was your last guy nice?

And maybe he kind of let the standards. Well, we're bringing in an ass kicker. That's an important part of the, that's the important part of the recycling program is you have two bins. You have players coaches and you have hard asses. Yeah, yeah. Jim, Jim Hiller is a player's coach. came out yesterday and he was like, he was like, I think in hockey, it's really important to have fun. It is important to have fun. It is. It is important to have fun. Now, the guy that replaces Jim Hiller won't have any fun, but we'll deal with that at a later time.

Neil Anders is like, can I wear the tank top or? Because I find that fun hockey players. Smart decision. This is one coach you're going to want to screw with. What was that guy's name? I can't remember, but it's all I think about. Your smart decision today, as always brought to you by Crow. smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at chromokai.com.com. It was Leon.

Leon. You're listening to the Alford & Breath Show on SportsNet 650.