Halford & Brough in the Morning - Fitzy Talks Olympic Basketball + What We Learned

Episode Date: July 18, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with Sportsnet 650's Basketball Central host Marcus Fitzgerald about how Canada Basketball might do at the Summer Olympics (3:00), the boys tell us what they learned (20:00), plus we hear from the humanoids (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.

803 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brass Sportsnet 650. Halford Brass of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly,

knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Marcus Fitzgerald

from Basketball Central right here on Sportsnet 650 is going to join us in just a sec here to talk some hoops. The hoopies, if you will. Hour 3 of this program is brought to you by by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers.

Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com 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. Sophie, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. To the phone lines we go.

Marcus Fitzgerald. Fitzy joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Marcus. How are you waiting for? Kintag, that's what you're waiting for. To the phone lines we go. Marcus Fitzgerald. Fitzy joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Marcus. How are you? Guys, I'm great because my stepdaughter just before day camp this morning was watching the Itchy and Scratchy Land episode of The Simpsons. So I couldn't possibly be in a better frame of mind to join you guys right now. The Bort license plate.

It's very good. Exactly. I literally just saw that, so I'm locked in right now. The Bort license plate. It's very good. Exactly. I literally just saw that. So I'm locked in right now. Okay. Throw in the hole. Did you happen to catch, Fitzy,

while you were watching television, any of the highlights of the U.S.'s destruction of Serbia in their pre-Olympic warmup? Oh, Michael, I'm way heady on that. I watched that yesterday. I saw them play Australia as well. And it's kind of funny. Two weeks ago, I thought, Michael, I'm way heady on that. I watched that yesterday. I saw them play Australia as well.

And it's kind of funny. Two weeks ago, I thought, well, you know what? Maybe, maybe Canada or some other country can give them a run. And then I watched them play Serbia yesterday, a team that boasted Nikoli Jokic, of course. And the Americans just kind of figured out who they were in that game. I feel like they really hit their stride. So basically, not to suck all the drama out of this hit, but what we need to be saying right now is that the Americans are going to go over there and mop the floor with everybody for two weeks and everybody else is just playing for a second based on what I saw yesterday.

Pretty impressive and just an ungodly amount of talent. You mentioned you kind of saw them come together and figure out who they are. Who are they? What will be their strength? And you can't say everything. Yeah, but Jason, they have everything. No, the main thing is, and I noticed this when they played Canada eight days ago as well, what's going to happen is when you have a roster that talented that deep

it's those little runs when the other teams have their second units out there that's just going to kill them like you know they they played canada a week ago canada goes up 21 to 14 after the first quarter i'm watching this i am thrilled i think great. We're here to play. We can play with anybody. And then Steve Kerr turns to his bench and it's Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker and Jason Tatum and Anthony Davis. And I think, oh my goodness. And they go on this massive run and that's where it's really going to add up. That's where the talent disparity is really going to show itself because yeah, sure. If you're a casual fan going into this tournament you think hey wow the americans can start kevin durant and lebron james and steph curry in the same starting same starting spot this is amazing the big difference though guys is the fact that again steve kerr can turn to his bench and say hey joelle mb former nba mvp get in there michael

grains pointed this out uh yesterday in fact on on our station. The U.S. team basically has nine guys you could qualify as the top players on championship contenders. No team in this tournament can match that. They obviously have the talent advantage, and it's those little things, those little margins, those little stretches in the game where it's really going to make a difference. So how would Canada game plan for that? Would they just have to play their best players more minutes than they probably want to? I think so. Obviously, they would have to shorten the rotation a little bit. I think the biggest thing for Canada, though, Jason, is they're going to have to play fast because they lack a little bit of size. It would have been tremendous to have

Andrew Wiggins at this tournament, not just for the size that he brings on the perimeter but his ability to rebound the basketball at 6'7 and also all due respect to Zach Eaddy I'm not going to criticize him because he withdrew his name rather politely wanted to focus on the first season

of his NBA career and that's fine I'm not going to dump on him for that but it would have been awfully nice to have Zach Eady in this lineup because that's the one thing, guys, that's going to hold Canada back a little bit. They just have to play a little bit smaller, and when you play smaller, you've got to play fast. You've got to get out and run.

You've got to try to generate some opportunities in transition. So the next time Canada sees the U.S., they're going to have to turn it into a track meet, and unfortunately, like we said, the Americans have everything. So the next time Canada sees the U.S., they're going to have to turn it into a track meet. And unfortunately, like we said, the Americans have everything. They want to play a track meet, they can play a track meet too. But I think, you know, if that meeting happens again, that's their best chance. Shorten their rotation to like eight guys.

Just get out and run and try to generate as many offensive opportunities as you can. Can we just also point out that comparatively speaking, the Americans group of the three is considerably softer than the other two? Oh, for sure. You look at that group and you say, okay, Serbia will give them a bit of a run. I said that before the U.S. blew their doors off yesterday. Who else is in that group, Mike?

It's the South Sudan and Puerto Rico. Exactly. Okay, well, they're going to whoop Puerto Rico and they're going to whoop South Sudan. It's like South Sudan and Puerto Rico. Exactly. Like, okay, well, they're going to whoop Puerto Rico, and they're going to whoop South Sudan. It's like back in 92 when they asked Charles Barkley about playing Angola, and all Charles had to say was, well, I don't know much about Angola, but I know they're in trouble. Yeah.

That's kind of the mindset when you look at the American group for sure. Now, guys, they're going to handily beat everybody. They might have a challenge here and there. Australia, if they run into them, not a bad roster. Saw them play just a couple of days ago against the United States and actually look formidable. And you know what? Hey, Canada should give them a run. But at the end of the day, it would not surprise me if the Americans win every game at this tournament by 20 points. So we can gripe about who's in their group, but they're going to get out of that group anyway. I don't think there was a lot of drama there.

No, the only reason I bring it up is because Canada's group, comparatively speaking, is way tougher. Like, I know that the FIBA rankings are kind of flawed, but Spain and Australia are two top five teams in the world as far as FIBA rankings go. Greece has Giannis Antetokounmpo. And then, you know, if you look at that Australian team, it's maybe not as strong as some of the Aussie teams

that they sent in years past, but they've got about eight NBAers on there. Like, I'm not trying to recalibrate expectations because Canada's still the best team in that group, but that group's going to be tough to get out of. Oh, for sure. And even just watching the Australians play the U.S. a few days ago,

I kind of realized, hey, you know what? Australia may not have a dude. They may not have that star to kind of bring it all together because we watch the NBA all the time, and that's what we expect. Hey, they've got all these good pros and these grinders, but they need that superstar to kind of build it all around. The Aussies don't have that, but what they have is they have a player in Josh Giddey who can run the point a little bit who's also playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder because he just got traded from Oklahoma City to Chicago you have Jock Landale a Phoenix Sun big guy offers some size down low and actually looked like he had some

chemistry playing with Josh Giddey in that game against the united states uh dyson daniels of the new orleans pelicans as well josh green dante exum patty mills and the funny thing about fiba guys and you probably know this it's not necessarily about who has the best player all the time because i know we we talk about yannis and greece in this group but that greek roster it's basically yannis and maybe you've heard of one other guy and they're just pros that play in europe and they're good professionals and that's the way it is with the australians there's just a lot of guys on that roster where you go in and play them and suddenly you look up oh why did patty mills give us 28 points why did former cleveland cavalier folk hero matthew delvadova just give us 22 and five rebounds and five steals that's the

magic guys of FIBA basketball you don't necessarily have to have the best guy all the time Canada has one of those candidates of course in SGA and even Jamal Murray depending on how you feel about him but Australia's got that group like you said Mike seven or eight guys NBA talent and you never know who's going to light you up. And sometimes that's a bad thing as an opponent. Complete this sentence. This Olympic basketball tournament on the men's side is the most hyped up since which Olympic year? Ooh. I know the easy answer is to say 1992, even though I'm 37 years old and changed,

and I don't really remember 92. I think, and I say that, guys, because you could draw some similarities between this, you know, American side with the 92 Dream Team. But I think you'd have to go back to 2008. And again, not to put an american lens on it but you know the americans kind of drive the interest around the world uh for the sport when the olympics come you know every four years and back in 2008 uh there was the redeemed

team and they basically loaded up and kobe bryan was the veteran he was kind of polarizing and they brought him in and that stabilized things and LeBron James and Dwayne Wade and they go up against a good Spain team in the final featuring the Gasol brothers and Ricky Rubio and all this stuff. I think in terms of hype, I haven't seen it or heard it like this. I would have to go back to 08. Now, again, I'm not really old enough to remember 92. So if I had to make the connection, I would go back to 2008.

But it has been a while. And it's also been a while up here because Canada is playing in the Olympics for the first time in 24 years. I remember the Steve Nash, Rowan Barrett run quite well 24 years ago. So on this side of the border, it's probably the most hyped Olympics ever, I would say, for men's basketball. We're speaking to Marcus Fitzgerald from Basketball Central right here on Sportsnet 650. Fitzy, let's turn, for men's basketball. We're speaking to Marcus Fitzgerald from Basketball Central right here on Sportsnet 650.

Fitzy, let's turn our attention to the NBA. David, or sorry, I always call him David Silver. That's the guy from 90210. Adam Silver said on Tuesday, following the Board of Governors meeting, that there will eventually and soon turn to the consideration of expansion. I love the wording from Adam Silver there.

What are we expecting with regards to expansion? When are we going to get announced? When are the Sonics going to be back in Seattle? Well, I like that he said consideration because the worst-kept secret in the NBA for like the last, I don't know, five and a half years is that Seattle's going to get a team. Vegas is going to get a team. LeBron will probably be in the ownership process with that Vegas group it's been blatantly obvious

so the fact that Adam Silver you know is trotting out here it's like oh you know we're considering it now we might do it no Adam we know that it's going to be Vegas and Seattle now the wild card the stuff we don't totally know who's going to be that third

team I think that's where the NBA wants to go. I think they will add one more after Vegas and Seattle. But again, you know, maybe it's Kansas City, maybe it's Louisville, maybe it's Montreal. And I know this is the part where it's like, hey, hey, Fitzy, what about Vancouver? Is it going to go down? I would think that in the NBA's mind, Vancouver is probably fourth, fifth, or even sixth on that list. And you guys know as well as I do that I don't know too many white knight tech billionaire bros with six or seven billion dollars who can just bring the NBA here. That's also a big question as well. So bottom line, guys, we know that Vegas and Seattle

is coming. That's locked locked in the drama is who's going to be that third one where you go oh louisville okay we just don't totally know which market that's going to be yet so they're going to go to 33 that's an odd number that's why i always say because if 32 is just a it's a good number in terms of you know you can have four divisions of eight or eight divisions of four equal conferences on on either side going past that complicates that a little bit oh for sure but i don't think that's stopped a professional sports league no i know they don't care the tv yeah no they don't care jason you know why because it's money tv money's coming in the league's going to be getting like eight billion

dollars in revenue uh starting in about a year's time. So they bring in more TV revenue. Here come the expansion fees and more money in their pockets. Away we go, because that's the world we live in, gentlemen. Will we see a billion-dollar contract in the NBA? Well, it seems like we're getting there, right? Like, what's the highest right now? The highest right now,

geez, off the top of my head. Putting you on the spot, I apologize. No, no, it's okay. I think I can do it. I think it's Jason Tatum right now at 314, and that's only going to get higher because of the TV money I just mentioned. The cap will continue to go up, and it's so wild, guys. We talk about all the time, oh, the salary cap, and the NHL is going up.

That means the highest paid guys can make $12 million. Well, guess what? In a couple of years, we're going to have NBA players potentially making like $65, $70 million a year. It's a completely different plane. It's a completely different ballgame. And it's just wild to recalibrate our brains to even think about it, because at this point, it's all monopoly money to us. What do you think the return of the sonics is going to be like i think it'll be bananas i mean they've they've renovated that building i haven't seen it yet i haven't been to renovated climate pledge uh but i i from what i can tell it's a terrific basketball venue uh look there's there's a lot of pride there's a lot of history in that seattle. Don't forget, before that team was ripped out of there in 2008, they won a championship. What was it, 1979? There's

championship history in that market. I've attended football games in Seattle. I've attended baseball games in Seattle. You guys know as well as I do, it's a tremendous city for sports. You know they've been just starving for Sonics basketball. And the crazy thing is, guys, they left in 2008, and it seemed like a year and a half later, it's like, well, you know, don't worry about it. Sonics are going to come back. So they've been waiting for that. So I can only imagine.

And, you know, the great thing, too, guys, is there's so much talent now in the NBA, so much individual talent. Like Peyton Pritchard of the Celtics, you outscore 35 points, and you wouldn't even bat an eyelash. So by the time the expansion drafts go down, even when these expansion teams, you know, hit the ground running, there's actually going to be a lot of talent on these rosters. So to me at this point in 2024, it sounds like a win-win.

It sounds like it's all good. You know, I'm very excited for Seattle to get that franchise. And I'm also excited to, you know, drive only two and a half hours potentially to go to an NBA game and not five all the way to Portland Fitzy thanks for doing this today bud we appreciate it thanks so much guys take care yeah have a good one Marcus Fitzgerald from Basketball Central right here on Sportsnet 650 you know the one I can't wait for the Sonics to be back well it's gonna be awesome so he was talking about the third expansion team you know the one that's getting the

most buzz right now is mexico because there's that there's a few different things they already have a g league team there and david adam silver said on a number of occasions we put a team there intentionally to see the feasibility and viability of having a team in mexico uh it's the population it's the large, if you, because Mexico is part of North America, correct? Technically speaking, right? Yes,

Mike. Yes. Thank you. People think it's just us and Canada. Just saying people don't. So it would be, Mexico is going to be the largest per population in North America, right?

Yeah. And they've played more games in Mexico than any other professional sports league, like regular season games. They've got a G League team there. Do they have a good arena? I mean, they have an arena. They have an arena. Yeah, I don't.

People talk about the NFL to Mexico and they can play at Azteca. Azteca is not exactly the most modern. It's big. It's big, but it's not the most modern stadium. Where the G League team plays. Because the G League team is not just your typical G League team in Mexico. It's a big deal. Yeah.

It's called the Arena CDMX. And it is classified as, quote, capable of housing an NBA team. Okay. So read into that what you will. And for you, it's capable. It's not great. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not unlike what Utah is doing right right now where it's like you can have a hockey team yeah yeah you know um might need to build a new one down the down the line the x factor is being the first being

the first north american league to put a team in mexico full-time and not just play exhibitions and regular season one-offs there right because i mean it is the would you worry about security there yeah that's kind of about security there i mean so there was a you know the president of the g league team said all the american players that came down were surprised and they didn't expect to find uh living in mexico the way they found it translations they found it better than what they thought they were going to i just wonder if the nba because it's always been sort of very forward thinking and a lot of things that it does they missed the opportunity to be the first team in vegas i wonder if they're thinking now maybe we could be the first team to go to mexico yeah

would the elevation have any issues there because i know it's even higher than denver right it's uh 7 349 feet so more than 2 000 more than denver so it would be an issue would it affect the shooting you know what affects baseballs and stuff in den would be an issue. Would it affect the shooting? You know what affects baseballs and stuff in Denver with the Rockies? Does it affect the way... Balls just flying over the backboard? A casual three-pointer sailing through the air? I don't know. Ball really travels down here.

I did not go deep enough to figure out what the G League shooting percentages were like in Mexico City. But it's interesting to think about the ramifications, right? The Capitanes. I did not check their shooting percentages from distance. Anyway, mook out that, because that was what we learned. A reminder to get yours in. Dunbar Lumber text message in basket is 650-650. I'll remind you that the Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber, and Ladner

has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. As I've mentioned before, my favorite of the industrial parks. More room, more product, more awesome details at DunbarLumber.com. What's your Mount Rushmore of industrial parks? Tilbury's Industrial Park, for sure. Gloucester. I love Gloucester. Tilbury's Industrial Park has a hockey arena.

What? Tilbury Ice. See, I was joking when I said it was my favorite. That's where the Gi has a hockey arena. Yeah. What? Tilbury Ice. See, I was joking when I said it was my favorite. That's where the Giants used to practice, right? I don't even know where it is. Well, they have one in Ladner. Oh, okay, sorry. That's a different arena.

Wow, I didn't know that. Thank you for letting me know that. Yeah. It's my favorite industrial park because it has a hockey rink in it. There you go. There we go. Didn't ADOG pronounce Anasus Island like Anassus Island? Yes, it did.

Anakus. Anakus. I love Anakus Island. You realize a lot of people who work there would listen to this showus Island? Yes, it is. Anakas. Anakas. I love Anakas Island. You realize like a lot of people who work there would listen to this show, right? Yeah, I know. Just, you know, building my fan base up. I'm not allowed to go there.

One Anakas Island resident at a time. Okay, yeah. So do we have what we learned that we want to do prior to going on a break here or are we just going to stare at me blankly? I wanted to mention something I did learn yesterday. Yes, Greg. A guy I didn't know a lot about

named Pat Williams. He passed away yesterday. He's the former owner of the Orlando Magic. He brought the magic to Orlando. He was trying to get a baseball team there because he had a crazy life. I was just reading all about what he did. He started his life as a baseball player. He came

up through college and was actually Fergie Jenkins' first battery mate. Oh, really? He played a couple years of minor league life as a baseball player he came up through college and was actually fergie jenkins first battery mate he played a couple years of minor league baseball got into the business side of things then he worked in the nba he was a gm for the sixers and the bulls and then he authored over 100 books and ran 58 marathons in his lifetime this guy just accomplished so much does he think he's better than honestly though like i couldn't do half of that stuff. Even the easy stuff. And you won't.

And I won't. And yeah, I didn't know anything about him. I knew a little bit about the Orlando bid to bring an MLB team there, but I didn't know who was behind it or anything but his story. So that was my what we said. So there's a 30 for 30 on the Orlando Magic when Shaq and Penny were there together.

And it was a brief moment in the NBA where they were both these great young stars that obviously didn't end well for the Orlando Magic. But Pat Williams plays a pretty central role. And I didn't really understand kind of what an outpost Orlando was in terms of like a major city. Like it had Disney and that was it. That was all it was known for it wasn't ever considered a place where you would put pro sports teams or it would be that sort of market it was it was relatively small ish and then they got so big so fast and so popular in large part because shack became this larger than life character that pat williams was there just being

like this is amazing and then it all fell apart they when the the best part of that documentary you should go watch it's a good 30 for 30 is when they like they tried to play hardball with shack right and they were okay i don't know if you should do that like you're orlando you don't have the leverage or the negotiating power if shack wants something you give it to him gladly. And then of course he left for LA and it kind of ruined the franchise. Although they're still around, but it's just sort of been like an anonymous franchise ever since.

All due respect to those Dwight Howard teams. So rest in peace to Pat Williams. Yes. It was great to learn about his life. And we've got an Ask Us Anything here. This is my first year golfing and I'm about to buy a single top tier club. Which club would I notice the largest

change in my game, a nice wedge or a nice driver help? Okay. I don't know this. 1000% a new driver. Yeah? Yes. Okay.

Get a new driver. If you're playing with an old driver, compared to an old wedge, I mean, the wedge is going to be the wedge. The driver could make 20-30 yards difference Off the tee if you're playing with an old driver Yeah Text in your what we learned into the Dunbar Lumber text line

650-650 You can do some ask us anything As well since it's a Slower part of the sports year You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 Now for my favorite part of the sports year. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show.

What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God. This is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time It's what we learn time On the show 8.32 on a Thursday.

Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers.

Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. Shout out to Justin and East Van, the official archivist of the Halford and Brough Show. He has pointed out that today is the one year anniversary of Laddie and A-Dog introducing the world to It's What We Learn Time. I didn't know that.

How does Justin know this? Why does he know this? I don't know. I had no idea. It's stuck in Learn Time. I didn't know that. How does Justin know this? Why does he know this? I don't know. I had no idea. It's stuck in his head. Should he know this? I mean, we thank him for this knowledge. I mean, it's nice to know.

Somebody's keeping track of these things. He truly knows more about this show than the four of us combined. I think this is what it's like when actors from Star Trek go to Star Trek conventions and they ask them like, what setting phase or would you need to stun a Klingon? Is it different than the one you need to stun a Romulan?

And William Shatner just looks at him like, I have no idea what you're talking about. It's a TV show. Yeah. Get a life. Not you, Justin. Please do it. Keep doing what you're doing. Please continue archiving the show.

Anyway, happy one year. Are you guys good with, if people say like, when did this happen in your life? Are you good with naming a year? Because I'm awful with that. Yeah, no, I am. People ask me, when were you last,

because I was just in Europe. It was like, when was the last time you were in Europe? And I can only remember through sports that I watched. I was like, okay, well, I remember watching the World Cup then. Because the last time I was in Italy was actually in 1990 during the World Cup that was in Italy. That's how I do everything.

My life, like things could happen either three years ago or 20 years ago. And they seem the same to me. Because we've worked together for how long have we worked at? When was the curtain? When was the curtain blog 2005 prior to just 2005. I had no idea prior to Justin being the archivist for Halford and Brough. I was.

So the curtain blog is coming up on its 20th anniversary. Yes. Even though it's been dormant since 2011. And that's when you, that's when we stopped. That's when we stopped. Fall of 2011. And that's when we stopped doing it. That's when we stopped doing it. The fall of 2011. Even the show? The show came back, the first iteration.

I have no idea. And second. And then we stopped calling it Curtain Blog because the name didn't have any meaning anymore because we weren't writing. It was so much easier when you were in school, right? You knew your grad year. That sort of thing. Do you remember what year you graduated?

I did, yeah, 94. Good. That's an important one. Mine's easy because I have a birthday that ends in a zero. I'm right at the start of the decade. So I need to like correlate times. It's an easy addition. But I don't know what year things happen.

90. All right, you're not 24. You're 34. Right. Sorry, what were you saying there? I don't remember what year things happen. I do. People will be like remember what year things happen like i do we'll be like when what year were you did this happen if you're looking back on a funny story

i mean like that could have happened five years ago it could have happened 20 years ago yeah i don't know why i'm i'm better at it than you you're the reverse stamkos yeah yeah i have no idea i just like haven't been paying attention throughout my entire life memories being connected to joy maybe you don't have joy in your. You need joy to remember these things. Top text in the inbox. What is the curtain blog? Please note they spelled curtains C-U-R-T-A-I-N. And now I'm thinking like, I'm picturing you guys having a blog where you rank like curtains.

Purple dreams. That you buy for housing. Trust me. In our, because we, I was in my. Velour was always number one. Yeah. Are those silk? I was in my like late twenties and doing that for a living.

And then having to explain to someone what I did, they're like, that's not a real job. And then they're like, do you blog about curtains? And then after a while, I'd be like, yes. It was just easier that way. So Curtain Blog, for those that don't know, was the name of... That's how we started.

We were bloggers. We were working for the province newspaper. They hosted our blog and it was called Orland Curtain Blog, a clever play on the first Canucks captain, Orland Curtain Buck. If people that got the name, they always thought it was funny. They're like, I love the name. It's great. We're like, thank you.

It's perfect. And then over time it was just Curtain Bloggers. And then the KB. Yeah. And then we eventually just dropped the moniker all together and now we're just Halford and Brough. And that's it. So there you go. You learned something there, people.

How long was the Curtain Blog show on the other station for? How long were you guys doing that show? 19 years. Yeah, it felt like a long time. I have no idea. I don't know what years it was. We started in 2007. I'll ask Halford then. We started in 2007.'ll ask alfred then we started in 2000

useless we started in 2007 it stopped in 2011 oh it was a good run though yeah was it every day or it's just once a week oh god no when was that i don't remember that either we first started it we got the sunday morning 9 a.m slot which was hot time yeah you know if you ever want to break into the industry it's when all the insomniacs are basically about ready to fall asleep. We had a lot of church traffic. Yeah. Did you guys do any hymns? Yeah.

So we had that. And then when the Canucks went on their Stanley Cup run in 2011, we did the show every non-Canucks game night. Oh, cool. So it was a very sporadic schedule. You just kind of slot in when there wasn't any programming. A nighttime show at that point? That was a nighttime show.

If you think this show goes off the rails. Those shows were nuts. I vaguely remember hearing it because I listened, obviously, to the old station growing up forever. And I vaguely remember hearing the curtain block from time to time, but I don't really remember it very well. We did the show from sometimes 9 to 11 and sometimes 10 to midnight. It was late night radio. And then we'd go to the old martinis on East Broadway.

It was open until 2 AM. And that's gone too? And that's gone too. Oh man. Everything is good memories though. Okay. Let's do, there aren't many what we learns in the inbox, so we can get to those in just a bit,

but let's do this latest, another mountain Rushmore, hard hat heroes. Okay. And I can't remember who this came in from, but it was. I've got it here if you want me to. Players from yesterday. Players who Canucks fans inevitably gush over

because of their all out nightly effort while earning a modest contract. This is right up my alley. Yep. These are the guys you like. So. Tyler Mott was in the text. Tyler Mott for sure. Yannick Hansen for sure.

Yeah. I got two. If you'd like to hear them. Okay. Derek Dorsett. No. He's overpaid. He got a big contract.

He got a big contract. Before he got the contract, he was a Canuck. He was heart and soul. Two-time Fred J. Hume winner. The only time he broke his body for the team. The team was so bad, man. What a heartless monster. The team was so bad.

Scott Walker. The wild thing. Yeah. Marty Jelena. Jelena, for sure. Jelena's on it. Don Brashear, maybe? No.

See, that's the heat. I wrote in here. It's not enforcers. Okay. I asked a couple of buddies, and they both said Tiger Williams, and I pushed back because I said it shouldn't be the toughest player or the best face puncher. It has to be a hard hat guy.

He had some good seasons, though. I know. He scored some goals. I know. And so did Geno, for that matter. But there's a difference between Tiger Williams and Tyler Ball. Are you talking about guys, honestly, like this guy gets in on the four check and hits. He's just a lunch bucket guy.

Yeah. It's not a. Works his butt off. A banger. Put it this way. Would you watch. Like Yannick Hanson? Yeah.

Yannick Hanson's on the list. Well, that's why we mentioned Yannick Hanson, Tyler Mott. I mean, you might have to put Stan Smeal on there. Yeah, but he was too good. Is that too good? Yeah, he was too good. Too good a player. Yeah.

Mott, Hanson. Would you put Matt Cook on there? Too dirty. Yeah, but he was like a pretty effective player. Rafi Torres? Definitely too dirty. I feel like Cook got dirtier later in his career. I think so too. The real dirt happened post-Vancouver.

I mean, he had his fair share of controversial moments as a Canuck, but he was way dirtier when he was with the Penguins and the Wild and everyone else. Yarko Rutu is a great shout. Yarko Rutu is a very good shout. He was a... Like, Marty Jelena, I think, might be the perfect one because every time you watch Jelena play,

you're like, that guy's working hard. Some people have suggested Sergio Mameso, and that name, actually, I thought of that name too, but I don't know if he was consistent enough. There were times when you wanted more out of Sergio Mameso. The knock on Mameso sometimes was that he didn't work hard enough. Yeah, he was out of shape.

Yeah, that he had the big frame and all this potential, but he didn't work hard enough to get to that. What about D-Man? Garth Butcher? Well, Gerald Diddick for me. Gerald Diddick. Yep. Tanev?

Tanev's a good line. Tanev is like. Tanev's a hard hat guy. Dana Morrison? He's like in the Hall of Fame of hard hat heroes. Dana Morrison, Dave Babich. They were just big. Yeah. They were just big. It's different. a hard hat guy he's like in the hall of fame of hard hat heroes dana murrison dave babbage they were just big yeah they were just big it's different oh babbage was a good skater inherent you know what inherently part of this is being undersized and working so hard because

you have to compensate for a lack of size strength all those sorts of things i mean a lot of people are texting in burr and obviously when burr started, definitely. But I think he just rose to the ranks of... See, here's the thing. I remember... Burr got too good. Yeah, he got too good. He got too good. He scored too many goals.

He became way too talented. These are underappreciated players. Yeah. But Burr was never cheated. He would stop on pucks, never took the wide route or anything. That's why he got to the next level. That's how he got to the next level. That's how he got to the next level. Yeah.

He learned that from his ball hockey days. He got to have quick feet in ball hockey. He got to dance out there. That is a good one, though. Feel free to weigh in with more of them. While we're on the subject of just, we're doing our own, Mukau that mountain, I'm sure. We haven't done that yet.

So I learned that there is the longest golf hole I've ever seen in the history of golf at Royal Troon. You seem to shrug this off when I brought it up. It's 623 yards. Yeah. The sixth hole. That seems too long. It's par 12? I mean, there's probably guys that can, like, is anyone going to?

Honestly, if the wind is right, could Bryson get on there and two, probably. How is that even possible? 350 yard drive. And then like, I don't know. I guess.

I mean, the wind. Um, cause we, we had a discussion about the other last week while you were gone about as I get older, I find things like too much like the flashlight on my cell phone is too bright uh and it's always on because yeah televisions are

too loud how did i turn this on right um and then i was saying that uh horror movies are too scary now they're too fast yeah horror movies you see that you see that ad for long legs We spent so much time talking about it. I cannot wait to see this movie. It's supposed to be really good. It's getting great reviews. He was talking. I don't know if you've seen any of these. Both are Ari Aster movies, right?

It's Hereditary. Hereditary is fantastic. Have you seen it? It's too messed up. It's so good. It's too screwed up. I can't. Midsommar.

Midsommar's great, too. Midsommar's crazy, man. The lightful rum. Too screwed up. The lightful rum. I nearly didn't go to Denmark because of that. Is it actually like this? It's too close

It's too close A little summer too Yeah They give you like a travel brochure We are not actually like this in Denmark Too many blonde people There's too much sun Isn't it Sweden?

I can't deal with any of this Sorry Isn't it Sweden? That's what I said It's too close It's Scandinavia You were just there You're going to call them the same?

No, no, no That's why I You can literally just drive to Sweden. It's right across. Ask a Dane if they're Swedish. Let's hear what answer they give. And they'll probably be like, we are pretty close. Yeah.

He's right. I hate to admit it, but- The sense of humor over there. Somebody called you American while you were there. By the way, the sense of humor over in Denmark, I have never bombed so badly in my life. It is. I had flop sweat. Tough crowd. I was like, had flop sweat. Tough crowd.

I was like, can we get some drinks into these people? They're very serious. They're very, very serious. That was a very funny joke. Yeah,

yeah. You'd say something sarcastic and they'd be like, they'd be like, no, I don't see it that way. Talking about their favorite comedy film,

Midsommar. Imagine it was over there. It's a Historical movie. But yeah, so that, and now golf courses and the holes on them are too long. That's too long for a golf hole. I got a, what we learned from the open and that is a couple of Canadians are hanging in

there early on. Mackenzie Hughes is at two under now granted just through four holes, but that's tied for second. The course, uh, I don't know if it's getting easier over there. Maybe it's going to get a little easier in the afternoon, but it was tough early on.

Justin Thomas is the clubhouse leader. He's in at three under. So Mackenzie Hughes is just one shot lead and Corey Connors, who probably came in as the most likely Canadian to contend, has survived so far. Right. He's even par through 15 holes.

That's good for a tie for 19th. So that's fine. As long as you haven't played your way out of it. And a lot of guys have played their way out of it. I'm trying to find Rory's score. I don't know if he came back at all, but he was six over at one point, and a couple Canadians are going to be in tough to make the cut. Nick

Taylor and Adam Hadwin both finished at four over. Tiger, he's at three over through seven, and he had a birdie in there, so he's having some tough times there. Mukau that. Laddie, you have the children's rodeo.

Or A-Dog has it. The children's rodeo. Nah, this isn't what we learned. Laddie pointed this out to me. Yeah, I sent it to him. Just so we're clear, and so we don't run afoul of anyone, he wasn't actively looking at a children's rodeo in Utah. This went viral.

This is the names of the participants. Go ahead. Okay. Give us the highlights. the participants. Go ahead. Okay. Give us the highlights. Well, I can go through them pretty fast. McCoy Sweat, Cash Pullum, Hayes Hunter, Ryler Hughes. Nice Ryler. Tuckin Anderson.

Tuckin. Okay, let's pause for a moment here. Tuckin. T-U-C-K-Y-N. Why would you name your kid Tuckin? I don't know. Sounds like Turducken. Tuckin. Tuckin. I knowU-C-K-Y-N. Why would you name your kid Tuckin? I don't know. Sounds like Turducken. Tuckin. Tuckin.

I know. It's like Tucker, but it's not. Time to put the kid to bed. You want to tuck in, tuck in? Or should I tuck in, tuck in? Bronk Heiner. Nice. B-R-O-N-C. Bronk.

Draxton Miles. God, you're kidding me. That's terrible. Hayes Gammon. Ronan Brown. Another Hayes. This one with a Y in there. Hayes Olsen.

I'm not kidding. Excuse me, my son is Hayes with a Y in there. Hayes Olsen. I'm not kidding. Excuse me. My son is Hayes with a Z. Yeah. Hayes Olsen. Carson Sparks. Cool. Lars Christensen.

I'm going to pause you right there because the best one, the best one of all of them is Ray Gunn Steel. Yeah, I was getting to that one. Ray Gunn Steel. That sounds like the pair of sunglasses you'd buy on an infomercial. That's true. The tactical sunglasses. And they're only $39.99.

If you want another pair, well, that's also no more. J.J. Stevens. They're very cheap. True Richards. True Richards. Holden Gammon. Another Gammon. Cash Sweat.

That's McCoy's brother. Bryton Thornton. What? Bryton Thornton? Yep. Cutter Sagers Quaylen Hughes Quaylen

Quaylen Quaylen Quaylen Smithers Y'all hear about Quaylen? He's so great down there And Tibbs Thomas Not Thomas Tibbs Tibbs Thomas

Tibbs is the first name Old Tibby If you I would imagine Quinn Hughes Has a cousin in Utah That is in a children's rodeo And his name is Quayle.

So one of the kids' name is Bronc, though? Yeah. B-R-O-N-C. He kind of has to be in rodeos, right? Is that a nickname? Bronc. This is his registered name. I agree with how for the-

This is his registered name. Is that on his birth certificate? I guess so. I agree with how for the Ray Gunn Steel is the best one. Imagine naming your kid Ray Gunn. If your surname is Steel, you get a leg up on everyone, because you can have really good names. Anything Steel, right? The best are the three hazes,

all spelled differently. It's the modern Brayden. Raygun, get over here! Okay. Bronk, I've had enough of this horsing around. But it's my name! Okay, Mukau that. Bull noise, instead of a Mukau. Yeah, right. Okay, mookow that. Bull noise instead of a mookow.

Yeah, right. Okay, let's fire up the dumb matrix and fire plan me. Oh my God, we're having a fire plan.

I like this one from Marshall and Ysvan and this is on the heels of our conversation yesterday with Drancer. What we learned, I learned that Drancer views NHL coaches

as Batman, die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain. And Drancer's point was that every coach, well, almost every coach eventually kind of gets run out of town. Yeah. Even if

they've won cups, you know, their methods get tired. Like Like here's a spoiler alert. One day this market will tire of Rick Talkett. Yeah.

It sucks. Unless they win the cup and then he retires. Yeah, you can, that's a good point. Gotta go out like

that. You can control He's so young still. He's got a lot of coaching ahead of him. But that's the only way. Go to another team

then. That's the only way you can really go out on a high note is you have to win the Stanley Cup and then retire. Trotz did that in Washington, right? Yep. So.

Won a cup and then he's like, all right, you don't want to pay me? I'll go somewhere else and they'll pay me. Like Paul Maurice tried to go out on his own terms. My theory with Trotz in Washington is everyone was so drunk they forgot to sign him to a new contract did you take care of barry and they're like no i've been in the fountain with ovi yeah damn and he's gone yeah i guess that was one and then he took some time off and now he's back exclusively general manager that's weird that i didn't jump to mind right away though

the trots one for me mark texts in with what we learned and he calls himself Mark on a leave and that's not a place that is a pill. What we learned swinging and missing in beer league softball at age 50 hurts more than almost anything. The full burst of energy that culminates in a wild miss that twists the body in ways it shouldn't twist.

Today I am sore. I sadly know exactly what you're talking about. There is nothing like missing a slow pitch softball. Not only is it embarrassing, it is physically very uncomfortable. How do you do that, though? Swing and miss? I'm sure it happens from time to time.

Those pitches aren't going fast. I don't watch slow pitch or play it, for that matter. I'm assuming there's the occasional miss. The better thing would be to say, I don't watch slow pitch or play it for that matter. I'm assuming there's the occasional miss. The better thing would be to say, I don't play it. I don't think a lot of people are watching it. Look at that. You'd be surprised. We get 500, 600 fans a game. There's tickets being sold.

I don't know. It just doesn't happen that often to me. I've played for years. I've swung and missed maybe like twice. Anecdotally, I had someone tell me. Are you a bomber? No, I'm not a bomber at all laddie's the guy that goes up and hits it the other way because they've got the shift on no i'm actually the opposite i i always pull your pull hitter yeah but i just i get it at the right angle anecdotally i don't know this person this is a friend of a friend of a friend type thing but

i was told that there was a story of a guy who played low level like anything it was co-ed saw like slow pitch so i mean it is what it is is a quote-unquote sport um and he would not encourage but more demand his girlfriend to film his at bats yeah on her phone and she also did it enthusiastically not like jeff really wants me to do this so i'll do it Does he want to film it for his mechanics? I don't know. Or does he just really watch this bomb? It's for stat keeping, you know? I don't know why.

Do you ever film yourself doing anything? That's why you don't improve. Oh, man. What ways can you go with that? That's why you have not improved in that area. Oh, God, do I look like that? He never watches the stream. Everything looks so hurried.

Actually, you know what we do? Yeah. Wait a minute. There's a couple of things I've improved on. It's not like the pros seem to do it a lot smoother. Yeah, they're so fast. We're filmed for three hours every day yeah i know back have you ever watched yourself you should because you've gone a lot you look at your phone and the tv is quite often yeah man

never change so i guess you'll be on vacation so we won't notice it but imagining summer olympics halford would be just insane oh yeah my eyes will be yeah you would not ask a single question to any guest all day oh speaking of going on vacation you you're going to be working with Josh Elliott-Wolf when I'm on vacation. So on the subject of softball injuries, he broke his arm sliding in a slow pitch game. I'm a little out of it. Yeah, he did. It was pretty painful.

He's got to go in for surgery. Yeah, it's a whole thing. So I was asking him about it. I'm like, was it a close game? He's like, no. I was like, and you knew it was slow pitch softball. He's like, yeah. I was like, and you knew it was slow pitch top. I was like, yeah. He's like, I had a lot of regrets about it.

Is he on our hard hat heroes now? Yeah, he is actually. Yeah, he's right there. Break a bone playing slow pitch, then you've earned it. Bruf, ask Josh about his Hank PD take. I won't give you any more context. His Hank PD take.

Oh no, you got to tell him now. You got to tell me. Because the show's almost over. So Josh, we did this thing where you had to come up with a starting six of canucks so goalie two defensemen three forwards and each had to be a different country right so he had worked it out so that he left the center position for sweden okay and he went with elias pettersson so we all kind of took a pause and we're like no hen Henrik Sedin there, Elias Pettersson. And he said that based on talent,

he thinks that Pettersson is better than Henrik Sedin. Based on talent, he might be. But yeah, it didn't go over well. And then Josh was gun shy for the rest of the show. And he had no opinions left. That was it. He just slowly closed his computer screen down. Slunk in the chair.

I'm ruined. We're going to slowly... Never recovering. We're going to slowly close our computer screens on today because that's what the music means. But we will be back tomorrow

and a reminder, it's Ask Us Anything Friday. So start getting those in now though. For now, we got to go. Signing off, I have been Mike Alford. He's been Jason Brough.

He's been A-Dog. He's been Laddie. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.