Halford & Brough in the Morning - Messi Has Reinvented Himself

Episode Date: June 23, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason look at yesterday and today's World Cup action (3:00), plus they preview Saturday's BC Lions game versus the Stamps with analyst Giulio Caravatta (23:17).  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.

704 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough of the morning is brought you by Sands and Associates. Are you drowning in tax debt? If you are, Sands and Associates can have to reduce your debt by up to 80% when the upfront fees. Visit today at Sands-Trustee.com.

We are now in our two of the program. We've got an open segment here. Going to get into all kinds of sports. It's been a busy time of the year, especially here at SportsNet 650. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason Homina. at Jason Dow Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dow Mortgage. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. You didn't get to talk about the World Cup at all.

The first hour, so much hockey talk. And man, the stars are performing. More pressure on Ronaldo today as Portugal plays. Okay, so that's going to be our one to watch. we're going to do that very quickly. I know England's playing Ghana at one, but in light of everything that's happening, the schedule works out great for the theater of this because

in both of Portugal's match days now, the day preceding it had Mbapé, Holland, and Messi, not just play but play spectacularly well. And then that sets the stage for Rinaldo. So Rinaldo and Portugal are taking on Uzbekistan at 10 this morning.

I'm going to make that the one to watch. Brat you by Limitless A.V., Vancouver's most trusted audio, visual, integration. experts specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces book your personalized tour of their experience center today at limitlessavis.c.a.

So you mentioned yesterday. Just another fantastic match day from what we're going to now start to refer to as the big three. Mbapé, Messi, Holland for a second consecutive match day, all finding the score sheet, all in multiple ways.

And another amazing day of theater. capped off by Jordan Algeria in the final match, which actually wasn't half bad, to be honest. It's a good comeback by Algeria. But the big stories, of course, Massey becomes the World Cup's career scoring leader with 18. Mbapé, on his heels,

with 16 World Cup goals now, now tied with the former record holder, the German Miroslav Klosa. And then, of course, Holland in his first ever World Cup, now has four goals. It's chasing the legends of the game. By the way, if you want to talk about age

when we were talking about the last time that we want a world, sorry, that Canadian team won a Stanley Cup was in 1993 and the people that were born there. The last time Norway qualified for World Cup was 98. Holland was born in 2000. And now he's already setting an assault being that,

you know, by far he'll be the greatest Norwegian to ever score at the World Cup, but he's going to be taking assault on that leaderboard. I think he continues to go this way. Do you think the Italians are like, seems a little unfair that, that team was in our group

in qualifying. Yeah, the Italians and you look at England's group and you're like, didn't have that, did you? I mean, we can relitigate this as much as we like, but they did not get the job done. Oh, I know, I know. I know. I'm just, I'm just saying, I mean, I know they got reduced. The quality of that Norwegian side is pretty, it's not

just Holland, but he is the biggest part. I know that Italy was reduced to 10 men against Bosnia, but in retrospect, in retrospect, in retrospect, losing that match was, that was cardinal. sin criminal stuff. You know how we were talking earlier about lessons for kids in sports? Here's a good one to send your kids

because yesterday, Lino Messi was once again a hero and everyone couldn't believe how incredible he was. Earlier in the match, he missed a penalty. Yep. And with that penalty miss against Austria, he became the first men's player in the last 60 years to miss a penalty at three consecutive World Cups. And I always think it's important to tell kids about, like, if you're a great player in any sport, you've had failures.

Failure happens. All the biggest stages sometimes. You've had it. You've been embarrassed and you've, you haven't got the job done. But the key is to win more than you lose. right? And what Messi is doing right now is just incredible because, and you brought this up on our text chat

offline, after the 2018 World Cup, there were people that were like, well, that's probably his last World Cup for Argentina. Yeah. And I think rightfully so. Yeah. You look at the age curve of players. And what you have to understand is that cyclically

a lot of the preeminent and prominent World Cup countries, the ones that win, let's just call it that. My son asked me, he's like, how come only a handful of countries? He didn't say handful, but only a handful of countries have actually won a World Cup. I'm like, well, one, it's incredibly difficult to do. You need an insane amount of talent domestically. Yeah.

Things need to come together. But I said, generally, it's the best of the best at the end. Every now and again, you'll get a surprise team in an upstart country, but it's the ones that, and I know this sounds like, so cliched, but have football in their culture and in their blood and there's this cyclical nature. So the cyclical thing I'm talking about is

the really preeminent countries, every four years, they've got another wave of players coming. Yeah. You know, it's another generation, another core group that's been crafted at the youth levels and brought through the system together. Now, those things

change over time. Players develop, players grow, players fall off. But a new program. can come on the scene and old programs can fall off. But there's a great old adage. It's like you go to the World Cup and they've expanded the field and Asian countries are making their mark and African countries are going further than they ever have. And at the end of the day, it's probably going to be Brazil and Germany in the final.

And the Germany wins. Yeah. So to that point with Messi, the reason pundits and scholarly pundits, guys that know what they're talking about suggested that the 2018 World Cup would be his last is because there should have been another influx of incredibly young, talented Argentinian players over two four-year cycles. Yeah. That would have come in.

It speaks to his ability. It speaks to the presence he has of mind to be able to adjust his game. Because you said yesterday, there's stages where Messi's just walking out there. Well, then like a python. The first goal he scored. Yeah. Where there was that the dummy. Yeah.

It was a smart play though. That's funny because it was a dummy. Yep. But it was a smart play. He's walking up the field and Argentina went up the left side. And then all of a sudden you could see Messi saw this opportunity. He's like, I'm walking. Nobody's really marking me.

And it was just quick steps into the middle of the park. The ball came to him and he clinically finished it. So there's this great piece in the athletic from a couple years ago. If I can try and find it, I'll post it online. And it actually goes. a really deep dive into how much messy walks during a match. Now, at this stage of his career. And you'll remember when he first burst onto the scene as a youngster,

it was this unbelievably balanced and shifty and dodgy darting player with this left foot blessed by God who could take anyone 1 v1. It was just running all over the pitch endlessly, right? This little whirling dervish, a pepper pot, if you will. That was messy. back in the day. To have been able to realize that physically can't do that anymore. He's almost 40.

To be able to redefine and almost like redo your game and then do it at a level where you can still score bags of goals at a World Cup. It is truly remarkable. And without being a liability. And this is where we get to the Ronaldo conversation. And this is meant as no detriment to Ronaldo. But it's almost unfair to compare the to because Messi, in a way has reinvented himself to become this player that

not unlike a python or whatever dangerous snake you want to refer him to. He can lie in wait and then strike with ruthless efficiency. Is it easier to be less of a liability in soccer than in hockey? Five on five versus 10 on 10? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

You can hide at times on a soccer pitch. I find it I mean, contrary to what? If you just stand in one spot in hockey, it'll be noticeable. Now I see. That's what Ovi does. Unless you're right. to say unless you're on the power play, then that's fine.

But he doesn't take away from his team. No. Because he's still score. He can still score. Overall, he's a net positive, I would say. Because Ronaldo in the first match, the problem in certain situations. No, but the problem with Ronaldo in the first match, especially was, well, if you're

not scoring, what is it exactly you do around here? And I say this, having watching Canucks last year, where I'm like, all five guys out there are a liability and a detriment to their team. I can't pick one that's been a positive. Anyway. Oh, another thing I wanted to bring up. Did you do the one to watch?

I did. It's Ronaldo. Right. Yeah. The other thing I wanted to bring up was, and this was an interesting point brought up by you, a rarity. You mentioned yesterday that the group stage of the World Cup has been incredibly star-studded, both in terms of the guys playing, but also how they've risen to prominence. And they're all scoring, except Ronaldo. And then I did think it was interesting.

you brought up the idea of have the star players benefited from a watered down group stage and the ability to score bags of goals against inferior opponents yesterday. For example, Mbapet is scoring twice against Iraq. They had a tough time and the second goal was on a platter form. I do think there's something to this.

I don't know if it was an intended consequence when FIFA originally expanded the field that we were going to go to America where they like their big stars and our big stars are all going to shine on the group stage because we're putting them up against minnows. it certainly played out in particular instances. This group, so this group, the one that's got Mbapé, Holland, and Messi,

and they all appear on that same match day. It's been brilliant and it's been a huge talking point. So five goals for Messe, four each for Mbapé and Holland. Yeah, they've combined for 13 goals. And then you've got Jonathan David with three goals. And I honestly think that's worth noting it came against Qatar. It's a very good point. Not very good.

How's he going to do? against Switzerland. Yeah. How is he going to do against Switzerland? And what are you thinking coming up to this biggest match in Canadian men's national team history tomorrow? I'm really intrigued about Bombito and Davies now, without question. Yeah.

If Canada at least draws, do they make, do they move on? Canada draws, they win the group. Okay. Yeah. End of story. What happens if they lose? Then they do not win the group to finish seconds. No, but I'm saying like, can they still move on?

Yeah, they're moving on. Okay. Unless somebody completely catastrophic, catastrophic happens. Okay. If they win or draw, they play at BC place. Okay. If they lose to Switzerland, they go to Los Angeles, and they probably play a Korea. Hmm.

Like a 77% likelihood. Who might they play if they win? There's all sorts of teams. There's too tough to tell right now. Yeah. Could be in there. It could be Iran. Yep.

It could be. Any country he says right now, I'm going to be like, yep. It could be them. Yeah. And so anyway, back to Canada against the Swiss. So the footage that they've got coming out of training is Bombito going full speed. I don't know who you take out of the back line, especially the centerback spot to put him in if he does start. Because Dufusrol has been great.

Yeah. Cornelius is maybe the guy, but he has... How old is Dufugural? 20. He looks... He's a kid. He looks... He's a little baby boy. He's a little baby face on a giant body.

A little baby boy. Yeah. Oli Mata. That's who he is. You want to tell that story? No. Oh, yeah, I do actually. Yeah. The Oli Mada story? So when we were at the Stanley Cup final in 2016,

Oli Mada was still with the Penguins. And they set up everybody at Media Day. The preeminent players get their own sort of makeshift podium with their nameplate and everything else in a microphone. And then the lesser known players get like a table where a couple of reporters can sidle up to them. not a basically like if you're like a kind of a cool kid in the cafeteria but not cool enough you're at a table where it's like yeah some people will come hang out ohlimata he he had a baby he looked

like a gigantic toddler basically that's what sean gentilly yeah we're gonna we're gonna name and shame jentil he started this meanness he he he said olimata looks like a giant toddler and then we looked at him and we're like oh my god he does it was just his look yeah go go google olimata 2014. Yeah. He looks like a giant toddler. His mouth was hanging slightly agape, not unlike a toddler would.

Anyway, where were we? Well, no, Sean was like, someone get that guy a juice box, like right away. Anyway, that was about Luke DeFuge roll.

Who does not look like a giant toddler? Just a toddler. Anyway. Canada, Switzerland. So those are, the first two questions I have are if they are

and how much are Davies and Bombito going to contribute? Because we've been talking about this for weeks. Everything seems to point to, hey, if you can get through the Bosnian-Katar matches, which they have, on four points, which they have,

it sets the stage. If everything's going your way, that you're in control of your fate going into the Swiss match. And they are. So can they play and can they contribute? This Swiss team is going to be a lot more difficult, especially from an attacking sense

than Bosnia and, of course, Qatar ever were. I don't think Qatar got the opportunity to attack. They had maybe two minutes into the game. They have four-way. Yeah, I think they maybe had one touch in the Canadian 18th. So there was not much there.

The Swiss have quality. I'm actually worried about the adjustment that Canada is going to have to make. Just in what way? Just going from Qatar to Switzerland. That's fair. There's not tactical adjustment. It's just expectations. I know these guys are pros, so they know what's coming.

But the Swiss are an entirely different challenge than Qatar and even Bosnia. How big of a favorite are they over Canada? I don't know if they're huge favorites in this one. I mean, the expectation, I would say the favorite is that Canada either draws or wins. That's the favorite result. But I think if you put these teams up against each other, you would give Switzerland a slight edge in quality.

Agree or disagree? If they were playing at a neutral location where the great, the previous group stage matches didn't come into effect and Canada didn't have the ability to go out and play for a draw and advance. If you were just picking a straight up winner in that scenario, Switzerland. However,

like I've been in tournaments before where you go into a final in a round robin needing to chase a particular score. It happened to us when we were the Masters Westerns a couple years ago. It was just around Robin. So we played the team from Evanton

in the quote unquote final on the final day, but it wasn't a true final because even if we won, we needed to win by two to win the round robin. And it made the match totally different because our opponent had no interest in going forward to score. They're like, if this goes nil-nil,

we win the tournament and it's over. So you apply that logic to what's going on tomorrow. Canada, I mean, theoretically speaking, I know they're not really wired to do that under Marsh, but theoretically speaking, they could play five at the back, they could go into a low block.

They could do what Bosnia tried to do through qualifying into the opener. And let's see if we can hold them off the sheet. Canada doesn't concede a goal tomorrow. They win the group. Look at it that way. These games are always so interesting. And it's fairly unique to a lot of people that don't watch

soccer regularly or watch these tournaments. Because Canada could go into a defensive mode, right? And then let's say Switzerland breaks through and scores. Then it's 1-0. Like, this thing is on a knife edge unlike other games because then Canada will be like, okay, well, we're going to go now. And then Switzerland has a decision. Do we go into a shell?

Because it's, you know, in hockey, if you're down one nothing, you need two goals to completely sway the game in your favor. Correct. In this one, you only need one because you're going between a win or a draw. Do you know what I mean? Like it is, it is going to be extremely exciting. And there is the potential for this to be an absolute roller coaster. There is also the potential for it to be very low event.

Yeah, I was going to say, if they just played a lock it down, it could be pretty boring. Because Canada doesn't really lock it down is not really Canada's style. Okay. And this is now, I'm glad you brought this up. If you go into a match and you're like, all right, we're going to play really conservatively. doesn't that take away of what a lot of what makes Canada good? Yep. Pressuring teams with their speed and using the crowd and using the energy.

If they go away from that, then doesn't that give Switzerland a big advantage? Unless you can do it tactically in a superior way. Look, the upper crust, upper tier elite countries and players and managers understand the game at a level that you can change tactics. In a match. They're professional footballers, right? Yeah. And those are the ones, and this is kind of like why England was successful under Gareth Southgate,

is because he understood in tournament football, you need to present different styles. And sometimes it's more about the way you defend and the way you don't concede as opposed to the way you attack and how aesthetically pleasing it may or may not look. Now, the issue with the Southgate is that some people think that ultimately limited. his team, his style in that he never really let all the talent display it. And then Southgate would probably say in response to that, I took

the team to a European final, took the team to the World Cup semi-final. Right. You know, like they advance further in tournament. And then Nigel from Sheffield... Two European finals, sorry. Nigel from Sheffield would say, but she didn't win, mate, did you?

Yeah, and that's a great debate. Yeah. At the end, can you truly compete with the Best of the best, which is often what these tournaments unfurl. Can you actually beat them in those moments? Are you just playing so conservatively you're playing to get there and not necessarily to win? By the way, I'm going to check out Granville Street today. I haven't done it yet. And the fine folks at Dublin Calling. They've arranged a table for me to watch England and Ghana.

So I'm going to go down there a little bit early. You're going to go to Dublin calling. Yeah, that's a boy. No, I'm looking forward to it. And then tomorrow, you're going to the match. Yep. And I'm going to the fan fest. Me too. To watch the game.

You guys are going to hang out together? Fan fest? And so, no, no, I'm in reserve section. A, I'm welcome. And then, yeah, you're going to be in Jen Pop. I got my press pass. Bring your share. I'm going to kind of request that you're not allowed in there.

At any rate, the show on Thursday could be quite ill-prepared. Yeah, probably. We want to, no guests. Time now for... 10 guests. Yeah. that's a good way to do it actually. Okay, time now to tell you about our friends at VGH Plus hometown heroes lottery. They need your support to help change lives and save lives.

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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. 732 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford, Bradford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Got debt. If you do, reach out to Sands and Associates during regular business hours. And they'll get back to you within 20 minutes. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. Still in hour two of the program, Midway Point of the show, Julio Caravetta is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of the program is brought to by Jason Homanoch 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.orgage. It is time now for the BC Lions rundown. New for 2026 summer series and Friday night Lions games for information on season ticket packages. Visit BCLions.com forward slash season tickets. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest, as mentioned, BC Lions Radio, analyst, Julio Caravetta, joins us now

on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Julio, how are you? Good morning, guys. How are you? We're well. So, you've had a few days to unpack this one. A 41 to 27 loss to Hamilton in Hamilton on Friday night, now that you've had a few days to unpack, what were your thoughts

on a loss that, is it fair to say, actually maybe flattered the Lions on the scoreboard that it was only 41 to 27? Yeah, you know, that's a fair statement. You're right, the score did flatter them. I think going into this game, I honestly thought, you know, offensively, they were going to be, you know, it was going to be tough for them, given that you've lost three starters. And then Karen Massant went down fairly early.

And then McKinnis got hurt later in the game. I mean, that's a big ask. When you're talking about a quarterback who, you know, really kind of, you know, is working always on his timing. and his anticipation and getting rid of the football and those split seconds really have an impact when a quarterback has kind of got to wait to think whether or not you're going to be in the spot that he thinks you're going to be.

So, you know, that was going to be tough sledding for them, I thought, offensively. Defensively, I honestly, I thought there was going to be some type of a bounceback given what happened in Saskatchewan. But to be honest, there just wasn't. you know, they just didn't look like they were in sync. And Bo Levi Mitchell, who, you know, that's two weeks in a row now where you've got a veteran quarterback in the CFL who really kind of tore them apart.

You know, he looked unbelievable. And, you know, they just couldn't stop them. I mean, and that's at all three levels, right? You mean, they're not winning any one-on-one battles up front. You know, the linebackers are, again, there's no one winning battles, no one getting to the quarterback. and then in the secondary, you got, you know, you give a quarterback that kind of time. It's a big field to cover.

And in a lot of cases, too, you know, and there are some cases where guys are open, there's no question about that. But, you know, in both two weeks now, there's guys that have good coverage, but they're just, you know, the ball is just being thrown in an absolutely perfect spot. So, but again, I mean, that's football. That's professional football. And you're going to have to find a way to make plays. And they just can't find a way on, on.

defense right now. One bad defensive performance is one thing and you can maybe excuse it away but you pointed out you were expecting a bounce back so to have one bad defensive performance on the heels of a pretty bad one in the opener. What does that say

about the union and I guess more importantly what does it say about how concerning the performance should be the second one anyway? Yeah you're right absolutely there's you don't mean there's no sugar coding that right? Everyone sees it there has to be of concern, right? And, you know, they've got a really good staff there with a lot of experience

and, you know, they're going to have to try to find an answer. Like, you know, here's the thing, guys, like, you know, when you, any sport, whenever you play, right, they spend so much time analyzing and breaking down your opponent and your film and all that kind of stuff. And when somebody finds, they say, a weakness or something that you're doing, a tendency, whatever it is, they're going to find it. And it seems like, Like everything that, you know, Mike Benavides is calling right now, it just seems that the kind of run that they're on is, they have the right answer for it, right?

Whether you blitz, they're finding the right receiver at the right time, whether you're playing zone, he's always fine, you know, it just seems like they just can't, they just are, the offenses are like a little, like a one step ahead of them, right? So what you have to do is you have to go back and you have to analyze what you're doing. and, you know, obviously with the release of Sione to him, it shows you that they weren't happy with his performance, right? As I said, the film never lies.

The film never lies. And, you know, knowing Ryan Rigmeiden the way I do, and he's not the kind of guy that's going to sit around and wait on a guy, right? It's about performance, and they're going to make changes if things aren't going the way they want them to go and the way that they played, you mean, you're, you're, you're,

going to expect some change. Ryan Rigmeiden came on our show last week and leapt to the defense of Mike Benevides, who the fans are not very happy with right now. Do the fans have a point or was Rigna right to say he does a great job? Well, no, I mean, in fairness to Mike, right? Like Mike's been doing this a long time too, right? He's good at his job. But here's the thing.

like I said, like sometimes in football, right, as a coordinator, when you're trying to call a defense on every play, you know, it's sometimes what you're trying to do, it just isn't working. There's no flow. There's no, you know, it just seems like in everything that you call, they have an answer for, right? It's just one of those things. And it's been a bad spell.

But ultimately, too, guys, again, you have to have the, players to go out and perform, right? And I don't, I think if they're being honest with themselves, the first two weeks just haven't been good enough. And as a professional athlete, you have to accept that. We always love to blame the coach. That's the easy, that's the easy way to go. But at some point, the players need to step up and say, no, we need to take responsibility. I need to be better. I need to do my job better. I need to be better prepared. And that's, that's the bottom line. That's what sports is all about.

don't do it, they're going to find somebody who can. So really, the answer lies with the players ultimately because the coaches can't go out there and play for them. So how are they going to turn this around? I mean, the CFL, we don't panic often that early in the season. I mean, the Lions won a Grey Cup one year pretty famously after a terrible start. And even last year, I mean, they looked kind of shaky last season. And then they locked it in and, you know, nearly made it to the Grey Cup. So what do they need to do starting now to turn this thing around?

Because they're going to Colonna. I think everyone's going to have a good time in Colonna two games. I know it's going to be a lot about going out there and talking to the fans. But now, you know, they've kind of put this on themselves. Like, not only do they have to go there and put on a good show for the fans and have a good time, they've got to win these games. Yeah. Well, yeah, for sure, right.

You're absolutely right. It is going to be a real festival because I know the Lions behind the scenes. they've put a lot of time and effort into this thing, right, to make it, you know, like a football festival the whole week. Now, having said that, you said it. You got to play a game. You've got to play two games. And so, yeah, you can do all this stuff, but at the same time, you need your players to lock in, right, and realize what the number one job is, is that's to win a game. And I had that same thought after the game on Friday when we were in Hamilton.

and I thought to myself, holy cow, like these, it's, I know it's early. It's their own two and they haven't played well, but man, it doesn't get any easier. Now you're, now you're playing against a team that's also O and two in Calgary, and they're going to be desperate to win because you just don't want to get behind the eight ball early, right? Because then you're treading uphill the whole, the whole time, the rest of the season, right? Everything becomes a little bit bigger early on in the year. So for them, these next two weeks are huge, right? you play Calgary, you play Edmonton, both Western rivals.

Edmonton's off to a two and old start. So this is an important couple of weeks. They've got to find a way to win a game. And in doing that, like, you know, we talk about, when you talk about football, and I know the defense is taking their licks right now, but it's about complementary football too, right? It's about picking up the other side when they're down, right? You're going to have games during the year where your offense and D.C.

sense are not playing well and you need the other to pick each other up. And at the same time, you need your special teams to do something, right? You can't be fielding a missed field goal when you're five yards from the back of the end zone and try to get it out of there when you can just let it go out of the end zone and not give up a point and take the ball in the 40 yard line instead try to take the ball out and getting it to the two. And, you know, the ratifications of just that play led to a touch. right so you need you need the other parts of the game to help each other out so when the defense

isn't playing well you need the offense and special teams to you know to make make some plays get change field position get momentum going and i know that was going to be tough given the injuries to the offense um on friday you know just because of sheer numbers and the inexperience that they had at the wide receiver spot but um that's what wins you championships and i i point to last year in Saskatchewan. That's exactly the same thing that happened to them. Their quarterback went down for a few games, and they weren't spectacular on offense,

but their defense really picked them up and turned the ball over. Their special teams scored for them. Those are the kinds of things that you need to happen when one side of the ball isn't helping you out. With the two Alberta teams coming to Colonna to play, the Lions, I was wondering if you could tell me about the state. of football in Alberta right now, CFL in Alberta, because we know it's

strong in Saskatchewan and we know it's strong in Manitoba. Those two teams, I'm not worried about their attendance. I'm a little worried about the attendance in Calgary and Edmonton. Yeah. Yeah, you mean, you know, again, I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't worried, but

I think the other part of that too is you know, fans are, they want to see winning football, right? and we all can admit that Edmonton hasn't kind of put that product on the field. And so that's why this was so huge for them early on was to come out of the gate. They're 2 and O, and there are football fans there. We've seen that.

And I think they will support it. Same for Calgary, right? They're so used to as such a winning standard there for so long that when the team starts to struggle, you know, it's unfortunate, but the fans find something else to do. And in those places, right, there, you know, with a lot of people, you know, even in Hamilton when we were there, you know, the summertime in the East, you mean, people are going to the, going to their cottages. They're finding things to do on the weekends, right? So you got to give them a reason to come, right? It's, it. You know, I know I hear you guys all the time. And it's a competitive entertainment market, right? You've got to put on a good show. And people will come when you do that. And so hopefully they will. The name change in Edmonton seems to be a big, big deal. I guess there was it their president that came out and said the name change was a disaster for the team. And listen, like I don't know if I, you know, I see people on social media like, you know, when they change the name to Elks, I didn't put another penny into the team.

I'm like, okay, well, names are pretty important to you, I guess. But, you know, there was a tradition in Edmonton. and it feels like that tradition has been lost, and it's not just the name change, but like you're saying, it's the play on the field. But how important is it to the league that it maintains interest in Alberta

because, you know, right now, again, like, you know, I saw the crowd in Ottawa the other night. Not a good crowd in Ottawa, and you can't have a league that's just driven by Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. No, you're right. And the thing is, too, is that the unfortunate part early on here is, you know, they made a lot of changes in Ottawa, right? They went and got Dinwiddie from Toronto.

And, you know, he's a great cup winning coach. And they made a lot of changes to their roster. And it may take them a little time to, you know, have that, all that stuff come together, right? Like, again, I don't want to press the panic button. No. But all the points you're making are very, very true. right, that the reality is what it is, right? You look at it on TV, and I was the same.

When I saw the crowd, I was like, wow. And I don't, here's the other thing, if I remember correctly, because there's so many games. That came, the weather was an issue, too. Was it not in Edmonton? Oh, yeah, yeah. It was pouring. It was cold in it.

Yeah, yeah. So the announced crowd was 14,664, but I actually think there were fewer than that in the stadium because it was just so miserable out. Yeah, it was miserable. It has been, Alberta has really gotten hit hard lately with the weather, but let's not digress and talk about the weather. But you're right about the name.

You know, when Chris Morris talked about that, and I think that they're going to do everything they can, I think, to probably get it changed back. And, you know, I know that there was lots of... That'll be interesting. Yeah, I don't... You know, I'm not giving you anything that I don't know. It would be interesting, though.

Like, if he said that, that it was a disaster. I don't know if they could go back. I don't know. Maybe who knows what they're going to try to do. But when the president comes out and says that, you know, I wonder what the ultimate plan would be if he thinks it was a disaster. Change it again. I don't know.

Something else. Yeah, exactly. So it'll be interesting here. That's what I mean. And to your point about Calgary, right? Like they understand too. They got to win. Yeah.

Right? You can't. And so now all of a sudden, you have. that into a week three game it should be awfully awfully intense in Colonna for a couple of a couple of weeks there for the CFL and for those

teams, Lions included because even early on these games mean a lot to all these franchises. Julio, have a great time in Colona. I bet you're going to have a fun time. Enjoy it, buddy. See you, pal. Okay, I appreciate you guys. Cheers. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. Yeah, have a good one. That's Julia Caravetta.

The BC Lions Radio Color Analyst here on the Halford and Bruff Show. on SportsNet 650. If only to appease basketball, Phil, should we mention that there was an absolutely massive trade in the national basketball season? I know, I know, I know.

Someone texted in there like, Phil's probably having an aneurism right now. I'm like, maybe. I texted you yesterday when that trade happened, and I was like, that's more of a what we learned on our We're going to squeeze it in the first two hours of the program. So yesterday, all NBA talent, Yana sent him to Kumpo,

on his way to Miami, in exchange for, wait for it. Three players, including Tyler Harrow and Jaime Yakez Jr., one of my favorites. A couple other players going as well. Three first round picks, including the 13th overall pick in this year's draft. They also traded, the heat did.

Their first rounder in get this, 2031 and 233, which is seven years from now. I love the NBA. They also did a 2030 first round pick swap, and then they threw in another second rounder in 233 as well. So where does this put both teams?

Because Milwaukee ended up winning one NBA title with Janus and great for the bucks. But okay, here's how I look at. Are they now back to being like oh yeah, Milwaukee has a team too. This is the first legitimate. I forget about that sometimes. Okay, forget about Milwaukee because they don't matter. This is the

first legitimate, this is the first legitimate superstar player that the heat have had since the LeBron era. I'm not putting Jimmy buckets in that little run they had there in this category. Janus is of a different variety. He's of a different class. He's a high-level elite MVP-caliber guy.

The question is, at 31 years old, and having already played 14 NBA seasons, how many more high-level seasons is Janus going to give in Miami? Now, in recent years, we've seen a lot of other superstar players in the NBA kind of defy the age curve. LeBron, of course, being one of them.

Steph Curry did it past the age of 30 for a few years. Kevin Durant did it as well. And I put Janice in that category. And he is going to be teamed with Bam out of bio. So it's going to give them an incredible one-two punch. So in, like, put it this way. For 2026, 2027, I think the heat are going to be fantastic and a legit contender and very difficult to beat.

I don't know what it looks like in 2027, 28. And I don't know what it even looks like in 2028, 29. So I've got, I've got sports book odds up. right now for next season. The Spurs are the favorites at plus 250. The Thunder at plus 260. So they're co-favorants, I would say. You got the Celtics and the Knicks in the next category plus 650 and plus 700, respectively. And then you've got the Miami heat at plus 1,800. So the heat right now are going to be. So this is the projected lineup for Miami right now.

There's Janus, Bam out of bio. Andrew Wiggins, who I think a lot of people forgot, was in Miami. Some probably didn't even know. but he's got a gigantic player option who knows what's going to happen there. Former Raptor Norm Powell and then Davion Mitchell and then a group of bench players including Bobby Portis who went in the trade with Janus.

So it's a good solid rotation and they'll be a contender as evident by the odds that you just threw out there but they're going to be light on shooting and the big question for me is when you've mortgaged so much of your future to get Janus what does it look like beyond the first two years of the deal? Do you really care?

Okay, so, so South Florida got Brady Kachuk and then Yannis in back-to-back days. Sorry, Zach was in my ear. I didn't hear any of that. South Florida got Brady Kachuk and Janus in back-to-back days. Okay. What time for South Florida. Here's some Brady Kachuk audio. And what's his podcast called? The wingmen.

Oh, like knocking rocks together or something like that. Yeah, pray on lovers podcast. Something like that. Don't eat the crayon podcast. Here's Brady Kachuk on his podcast, which just happened a few minutes ago. It's been going on for the last little bit behind the scenes. And that's also, I just want to thank Steve and the rest of the management, Michael, you know, Craig at Newport Sports. And for everybody working so hard on this and keeping it, you know, keeping it quiet and keeping kind of in the background and not a distraction.

I got a phone call. It was Saturday morning that things were progressing really fast. And also, I thank you to the other teams involved as well for taking their time and really grateful that for everything that they did and taking the time. And, yeah, just got a phone call that everything was progressing pretty fast with just the process and just kind of be on your phone. and on Sunday rolls around and, you know, I put my phone down for five minutes and all of a sudden we have our grandpa, Papa, Chuck a Chuck. Middle of the pictures looks at his Apple Watch and is like, huh, this is interesting. Brady. Emily Kaplan just tweeted out that even traded to Florida.

So interesting. I was like, what? I was off my phone for five minutes. And yeah, I then checked my phone, made some calls and realized that was happening. And I mean, I still don't even know. Like, it's just everything has happened so fast. I like when he feigned surprise that he'd been traded. Like, what did you tell me that I've been traded to the team that I was demanding a trade to?

Florida, where my brother plays? Are you kidding me? That's wild. I put my phone down for five minutes. minutes and the team that I've been demanding a trade to acquired me in a trade. The freaking balls. Wild is that. The freaking balls on these two, man.

I can't. I can't believe it because they're living in their best Kachukh life and era right now. We're like, we're going to do whatever we want. And they're going to, for the most part, get away with it because they're going to get, I mean, I would be shocked if this doesn't turn out with Florida going back to a Stanley Cup final. I've got a hypothetical for you. I've got a hypothetical for you.

Okay. Let's say the Oilers pull themselves together somehow or Babs is a really good coach. They haven't officially hired him yet. But let's say they do. They get back to the Stanley Cup final and they play Florida again. Who are we cheering for? I'm cheering for Edmondson. That's where I'm at with the Kachachshak.

Oh, man, I don't know if I can go there. I would like. I don't know if I can do it. I would like to put the help for. I don't know if I can do it. I would like to put the help for. It's not going to happen. I would like to put the helper disclaimer on this, that this is not me cheering.

for Edmonton. I just want to put that out there as a little PSA for the listeners. It's not me cheering for Edmonton. It should really underscore how I feel about the Florida Panthers, which I've never really felt that much of a hatred before this. I didn't like them, but this, and good on them for being the unquestioned villains of the National Hockey League right now. I think they've taken that mantle from Vegas. My God, I might do it too. I might look past my envy and jealousy for, you know, if Edmonton won the Stanley Cup, I mean, you know, for Wish, it's the same as if Carolina won the Stanley Cup. Sure. The celebrations would be equal in a ring as a ring. But I think that celebration in Edmonton would be incredible and it would be hard to watch as a Canucks fan. But I think I might pay the price. And I'd be okay if McDavid won it, especially if McDavid could get the upper hand on those guys. You know, forget Edmonton, forget the Oilers. But I think,

I'd go like, okay, I'm cheering for McDavid in Canada against this team. Okay, so we've kind of been all over the map here in this segment, so I need to circle back. The, uh, well, because the smart decision was ultimately I landed on Antenacupo in Miami being a smart decision for Miami. I don't know how long the good times are going to be, but I know at least for one or two years that will be good times. And it's Miami. You need star players there.

It's been a long time since they had a true bonafide superstar. That is the smart decision brought to you by Crow. your trusting accounting and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at chroma guy.cai.ca. Coming up on the other side of the break, back to the footy talk, we go. Ben Steiner, Canadian soccer writer for Sports Illustrated,

and Goal.com is going to join the program. It's Canada and Switzerland tomorrow for the group. Ben is going to join us to preview it coming up next on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650.