Halford & Brough in the Morning - National Treasure Except It's The Stanley Cup

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

In hour two, guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Josh Elliott-Wolfe chat with Sportsnet Blue Jays analyst Zach Worden (3:56) about the impressive play of the team as of late, they speak with Vancouver Football Club VP Stephanie Wood about Sunday's upcoming Women & Girls In Sport match (25:42), plus the boys do some Ask Us Anythings (34:02). 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.

Welcome back to Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd, Josh Elliott, Wolf here. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime Craft Beer is full flavor without compromise.

At a liquor store near you. Or visit the brewery to see how it's made. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that is what you're waiting for. And of course it is an Ask Us Anything Friday.

We've already read some good ones. You still have a chance to send yours in now. Send it in 650-650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line, hashtag AUA. The winner, the best one, will win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway in Vancouver. Make sure you include the pizza emoji with your text to be eligible

to win that gift card. And joining us now, as he does every Friday, speaking of AJ's Pizza, AJ is on the line. AJ, what's going on, man? What is going on? And on a hot, hot day, you want an ice cold beer, don't you? I mean, that helps for sure.

That goes a long way. Right. Absolutely. That's a no brainer. How is everybody? What do you think about iced coffee all year long? We were getting some pushback on that. I'm in for iced coffee.

That's right. Join the majority. And I forgot because of all the commotion that happened last week. We are, for the whole month of August, we're running a contest. It's called Be The Office Hero. And you get free pizza and free delivery. You just have to DM us on Instagram and tell us why. All right.

I love that. That's fantastic. Yeah, we're doing 20 pies going out to Surrey. So Justin is the office hero for his company. And yeah, yeah. Can you share, like, what kind of submissions are you getting for people trying to be the office hero? I mean, I don't read them. My wife does.

Okay, fair enough. I would be lying if I came up with something. I probably should have come up with something witty, but yeah. That's all right. I appreciate the honesty. And I did want to ask, you mentioned the commotion last week. You know, for those who weren't listening, you told us a story about your wife fighting off a bear from your property on the Sunshine Coast. I just want to check, like, is everything okay?

Is there any wildlife encounters since then? Everybody's okay. Nobody was injured, including the bear, so that was a positive. That's good. That's very good. Everybody's safe. All right. I'm very glad to hear that.

Tell us a little bit more about what's going on at the restaurant this weekend, AJ. Well, it looks like, I mean, tomorrow looks really nice, but, you know, you got a little rain on Sunday, so happy hour all day that day, and it looks like a perfect day today to either come into AJ's and eat some pie or take it home and sit on your patio. It's always a perfect day to go into AJ's and eat some pie. There's no doubt about that. And I love the idea.

Be the office hero. And, again, you said you can DM you guys on Instagram to enter that, right? Yeah, exactly. All right. Fantastic. AJ, appreciate it as always, man. Enjoy the weekend, and we'll talk again soon. Everybody enjoy.

Great to see you. Take care. That is AJ of AJ's Pizza. Try AJ's traditional New York pizza or sink into their famous Detroit pizza only at AJ's Pizza. Order online at ajs.pizza. I love that idea. Be the office hero and score your office a whole truckload of AJ's Pizza.

Good idea. You can go to Instagram and DM them. Come up with a good submission and you could be the office hero for your office. Alright, it's Alfred and Brough, Sportsnet 650, and as mentioned, now joining us from Sportsnet to talk a little Jays, he is Zach Warden.

Zach, thanks for doing this, man. How are you? I'm doing well, thank you. How are you guys doing? We're doing well. So, I mean, what's going on with the Jays here, right? Like, you? I'm doing well, thank you. How are you guys doing? We're doing well. So, I mean, what's going on with the Jays here, right? Like, they wait until they sell off at the deadline. It's mid-August, and all of a sudden they're playing some of their best baseball of the season. What's happening here? Yeah, it seems like just kind of the influx of youth has kind of lit a new fire there.

And maybe with a little bit of the pressure off, they just seem to be playing a little bit freer, a little bit easier. It's a lot more fun to watch, I would say. It's kind of been a nice little shift for them. I know, obviously, it's kind of frustrating to see them put it together after kind of all the stakes are off, but I think it's a positive sign, at least for next season, that some of this young talent that's come in has kind of given this nice little stretch here, even if the opposing teams haven't been the best in baseball.

Yeah, and look, you can only play who's on the schedule, right? You've got to take advantage of it when it's not one of the better teams. And you mentioned that kind of the boost from the youth movement, and especially from players, excuse me, that they acquired at the trade deadline. And, of course, Will Wagner makes his major league debut in style this week. You know, his first couple games and he's doing nothing but hit so far. What did you think of his debut in the bigs with the Jays? Yeah, I think he was really promising.

I think he came up and just kind of was exactly who he is. I think he's not going to be the guy that's smashing balls over the wall, hitting home runs all the time, but he's kind of going to be this guy that sprays it around the field and hits the ball hard every time he's at the plate. I think his quality of that bat was really impressive. He's obviously got a strong command of the strike zone and is able to put the barrel on the ball all the time. So I think about as good as you could have asked from him in his debut

and probably if the Jays could get the August run from an older prospect every single year like they have the last couple years, it would be a nice piece that they could push that button going forward. Yeah, so how much, because of that, it's kind of like an older prospect, how much stock do you put into what he's doing now and how much that can you put into what he's doing now and and how much that can carry over to to next season yeah i i think it shows that he is kind of legit i know it's obviously two games but i mean he's hit at every single level of the minors there

wasn't um a low level where he wasn't an above average hitter so so i think it's just kind of one of those guys where you don't have the prospect sheen because he is 26 and then playing um against younger players all the time but i mean he's a guy who's hit everywhere um i i think it's something that you can put put in enough stock in and him being um a good hitter i obviously he's not going to hit 625 for the rest of the year but but i think he uh he's definitely showing what he's good at and that's kind of hitting the ball hard to all fields and finding a way to get on base another guy the jays got in the you say kikuchi trade with the astros was joey loperfito what have you thought of him with the jays so far yeah it's been uh almost two opposite debuts for wagner and loperfito with with the jays but uh yeah i mean i think he's a guy that you've got to give some more time with.

Obviously, he's kind of the same thing where he's a little bit older, but kind of had his big breakout this year in AAA. So I think the transition, even before he got to Toronto, to the majors wasn't that smooth, where he's obviously striking out a lot more than you would like. He's swinging and missing a lot. So I figure he's probably pushing a little bit trying to prove that he's um going to be a piece here in toronto in the future and that he can kind of um fit into to the organization so i think the longer um that he is with the franchise like the the more that

we'll see him maybe relax a little bit at the plate but uh no i think he's a really exciting player he's you know he's got all the tools. He's got the speed, the defense, the power, more so than Wagner. I mean, he's got kind of all those tools that gets you really excited compared to Wagner, where it's just kind of a hit tool. But, obviously, for a guy with some swing and miss and strikeout, there's definitely a lot more risk in Loper Fito's profile. And beyond the young players and kind of monitoring their progress, of course, Zach, the big story with the Jays right now

is that Vlade is still on fire. The hitting streak ends, but then he gets right back to it. He's an extra base hit machine. He's doing it all at the plate right now. And not that he had a poor start to the season, but he's obviously at a completely different level over the last month, six weeks or so. What have you noticed that's kind of changed the most for Vladdy

from the start of the season to the incredible tear he's on right now? Yeah, I think it's just kind of his presence in the box. It seems like he knows exactly what he's up there trying to do. He's executing his plan. He's mashing mistakes. He's getting his pitches. He's taking pitches that he doesn't want to hit. And I know we've obviously seen him um kind of struggle with um pitch selection in the past and what he's

swinging at and i think he's just in a really good spot right now where he looks more confident than i think we've ever seen him even in that 2021 season i don't know if he looked uh this in control and and confident kind of with a little bit of an attitude at the plate so it's been really fun to see just kind of the adjustment to where now it seems like he's up there and he feels like he's one of the best hitters in the league and not trying to do too much where um in in the past it seems like he's up there uh not totally in control of his approach and and maybe trying to prove uh something at all all the time at the plate so it's been a really nice adjustment just um i think from the presence is kind of the main thing that's,

that stood out to me. Yeah. And I think, you know, it's been, look, it's been a blast to watch Vladdy do what he's doing recently. But I think,

you know, the question for a lot of Jays fans is okay, Hey, this is great. How much confidence can we have that it's going to carry over to next year? And look, he's not going to do what he's doing in the last six weeks for a full

season. That's pretty much impossible, but you know, he's looked like one of the best hitters in the American League. That's kind of what you want Vladdy to be. And I guess for you, I mean, do you see this as something he can carry on and kind of, you know, go back to being one of the best hitters in the league over a full season next year?

Yeah, I think so. I think the thing is that he's always hit the ball super hard. And obviously that's kind of been the thing with him where he's kind of hit the ball super hard and has this profile of being a great hitter, even if he hasn't been able to kind of string together the results for a long period of time or kind of figure out how to hit the ball in the air, kind of all these different things. But it seems like he's kind of come into his own. And I think if he sticks with this approach and instead of maybe trying to do too much again next year when the stakes are back on and potentially his contract season, I think he just needs to stick to this. If he's able to do that, I think he's able.

He definitely has the talent to be the best hitter in baseball. He's got that type of talent level. It's just about maybe not trying to do too much while he's at the plate and figuring that out. And I think it'll be interesting to watch, I think, the first month of next season, because especially if he doesn't get extended, then there will be kind of that pressure of it being a contract season and maybe being kind of their last dance with the Blue Jays if they do keep him and Bo in place without contracts. So it'll be interesting to see what the first month of next season looks like,

and I think that we'll kind of learn a lot from it. Do you think there's a world where they go into next season without one of them signed? And it feels like Vlade is the obvious option, especially now he can have more confidence that he can be this guy again, and you feel comfortable, I guess, giving him whatever huge paycheck he's going to be looking for. Is there a world, though, where you go into next season and you're kind of like undecided on both him and Bichette? I really don't think that they can afford to do that.

It's one of those things where you can do that, but it feels like that just leaves way too much up to risk. And I feel like both of them obviously have major league dads, so they understand how baseball works and if they are not going into next season with a contract I don't think that they're going to sign one in the middle of the season when they're that close to free agency so I think it's it's kind of this off season where you got to get it done with Vlad I mean obviously he said that he wants to stay in Toronto and is continuing continuously expressed his desire to

return whereas you know Bobachet has kind of done some interviews with opposing media where, you know, he's kind of maybe left that up to interpretation. So obviously Vladi is maybe the guy that you want to zone in on there. But I do think that they need to have at least one of them locked up by opening day next season or else they're going to risk losing both of them and going into a full teardown rebuild for sure. And Zach, you know, we talked about Will Wagner and Loperfito a little bit, but of course,

you know, other players in the system that they acquired that they might want to get a look at, they'll get the couple of extra roster spots in September. Who are you curious to see, you know, whether they're on the roster right now, maybe they get some more run or coming up from the minors? Which young players are you kind of excited to see what they do if they get an opportunity down the stretch? Yeah, I think Jake Bloss, the other piece in the

Yusei Kikuchi trade is going to be interesting. He's just kind of starting his time with the Buffalo Bisons and AAA, and he's looked pretty good there. He'll be a guy that maybe they can bring up and maybe go to a six-man rotation, and he's a guy that you probably want to see what he can be at the major league level for next season to kind of know what you need to add in the offseason in the

way of starting pitching because based on the way kevin gossman jose barrios uh chris bassett the way that their seasons have gone you know whether they can rely on those guys to be top of the rotation arms once again um it's going to be a question mark i think there so adding as much rotation depth as can is going to be really important, and Jake Gloss is kind of the main piece for that. And I think he was rushed to the majors by Houston just based on their need for starting pitching and based on all the injuries that they had.

So getting him a few more starts in AAA I think is really important and seeing that he kind of has that experience under his belt before coming up to the Blue Jays. but i think he would be a really interesting piece to see what he can kind of do and in four or five starts in september zach appreciate the time man thanks for doing this have a great weekend thanks you guys as well appreciate you having me on that is zach warden from sports net talking jays here on halford and brough sports net 650 and of course as mentioned it isn't ask us anything fr Friday here on the show. 650-650 is the Dunbar-Lumber text line.

You can get your submissions in now. YVR Ray texts in. Ask us anything. How are you guys? I'm doing well, Ray. Thanks for asking. Pretty good. Doing good.

Yeah. Thanks, Ray. All right. Good question, Ray. We're all doing well. This one. Matt and Suri. Hey, guys.

Would you rather only be able to have fast food, so McDonald's, Wendy's, whatever. Thank you, Matt, for explaining what fast food is. Oh, McDonald's. Or Ron's, as the kids call it.

Although apparently I learned that not that I'm doing what we learned here, but Zach, producer Zach, who's even younger than Josh, if you can believe doing what we learned here, but Zach, producer Zach, who's even younger than Josh, if you can believe it. Elon is younger than me too, by the way. Okay. Okay. Apparently, but Zach, I'm sure he's younger than Elon.

Yeah. Yeah. Zach's the youngest guy at the station. Yeah. He's 14. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently he calls McDonald's D's, which is a made up thing.

So even shorting it from Don. What are these kids doing? Elon and Josh are like, dang kids. As each generation progresses, it just gets progressively shorter and shorter. Like 100 years from now, it'll just be like... This is as short as it can go, though. There's nowhere

from a letter standpoint. I mean, we've reached the end. We've reached the end point. I wonder if the cycle will continue and it'll go back to like a super long involved nickname for the generation after Zach. Right. Hey, do you guys want to go to Ronald McDonald's house of cheeseburgers? Yeah, let's go! 100 years from now.

I've never heard it called D's. Have you heard it called D's, Elon? I don't know what that is. But you like... Don's. Yeah, you call it Don's too. 100%. Okay, cool. See, you guys are on the road to being washed already. It's happening. You're starting down that road. But anyway, we continue with it. Zach's like, you guys want to go to D's?

You mean Ron's? I'm like in the background, you mean McDick's? It's all falling apart. Would you rather only be able to have fast food or only be able to have junk food like chips, cookies, and chocolate? Easy fast food. Easy answer. Not even

a question. At the older I get... I love sweets, but I'll get sick of that after a while. And they're not going to fill you up. No. Try to get full off a bag of chips. It's impossible, and you'd feel disgusting. I can also go to McDonald's and get cookies or get ice cream. That's true.

They have other things there. Yeah, so that's an easy one. I just find the older I get, the less like sweets candy hold interest for me yeah but i will still crush a fast food burger without hesitation i've got a big sweet tooth but i would still go fast food for sure i'm even finding that with my cereal like i love sweet cereal but as i age i start to get healthier with like sometimes i'm just like i just want some raisin bran or something yeah or some dude two scoops of Raisin Bran? What if I become? I know.

What's wrong with me? As I talked about the Halloween candy story last week, things change. As you get older, your tastes change. And you can't have as much sugar as you used to be able to have. This one asks us anything from Rich. What is the one thing that you cannot either eat or drink, but you wish you could conquer it and enjoy it? Oh, spicy food for me. I mean, I love spicy food, but like Mr. Dodd over there, I'm an acid reflux bro. And if I have too much spicy food, I pay for it.

So my doctor's like, don't do it. Be kind to your body. No spicy food. So if I could, I would eat the spiciest food possible because I absolutely love it. But I know what it would do to me. Yeah, I grew up having a lot of spicy food, so I'm pretty used to spicy food. I don't think I have to conquer it, but- Really?

You grew up with a lot of spicy food. That surprises me. What? No reason, but elaborate. That does surprise me. Your family just loves spicy food? My stepdad is super into spicy food and he did most of the cooking growing up, so I just kind of got used to it.

I'm just saying, I would not have bet Josh big into spicy. He looks like a Vaseline on toast guy. All right. What? Yeah, you know. I think for me, I've never liked tomatoes. Really? And you hear people talk about like, oh, the joy of like a great fresh.

Does this include like tomato sauce and stuff? No, no. For whatever reason, it's like just raw tomatoes. Oh, okay. Interesting. And the more processed it gets, the better I am with it. Like even like I like sun-dried tomatoes. I'm a little like that with mushrooms.

Like I don't really like raw mushrooms so much, but like on a pizza or mushroom soup. Yeah, but like ketchup, tomato sauce. Like even, you know, like if they're like roasted tomatoes on like a margarita pizza or something, I can enjoy that. But just like a slice of tomato on your burger. It's too bad we don't have Mojan right now. He would absolutely be loving this conversation. Or whatever. For whatever reason, I think it's like a slice of tomato on your burger we don't mojo right now he would absolutely be loving this or whatever it's for whatever reason i think it's like a texture thing i don't like it but you hear people rave about it like it's like one of the great like pure like oh just so fresh and it's like i've never been able to enjoy that experience take a big bite out of a tomato yeah like a piece of fruit i guess it is a piece of fruit yes exactly

like the piece of fruit that it is. Mine, I don't, honestly, I'm like pretty good with all food. I can't think of anything that I'm like, I wish I liked that. Maybe like some alcohol. Sure. Like some of it, I'm just like, man, I just don't like that. Josh is like, I wish I could be an absinthe guy. I just can't do that.

I just haven't worked my way up yet. Tequila. That's a big one. You know what it is? Like beer You don't like beer My next development in life As a white guy in his 20s Is to get super into beer You've already done the golf

I've already done golf You're speed running Josh take it from a guy I'm a big craft beer guy I've been working in the industry a long time now. I was like you when I was a kid. I didn't love beer. But the trick is to find the right beer.

See, I've heard that. I'm not like a huge lager or pilsner guy, but I love a hazy pale ale or a nice IPA. I love stouts and porters when it's cold out. A nice sour in the summertime. A nice Radler. I think there's too many options.

You got to find the proper beer. Also, don't like there was, I think it's toned down a little bit now, but when craft beer really became a thing, there was a whole craze of like, we're going to come up with wacky beers, right? And all these crazy flavors. And yeah, they still do that. But I don't think it's as much of a thing. I think I see more now where it's like,'re gonna make just a really good pale ale that tastes like beer but

like beer done really really well honestly a really lighter ipa it really depends on the brewery too because some breweries go the mad scientist route and they just get really nuts and some breweries like not we're gonna stick we're really good at one specific thing like yeah really good pilster brewery right really good lager brewery, or we do it maybe in the Czech style, or the Bavarian style, or whatever, and they stick to that formula, where some breweries are just like, they're mad scientists. They just go crazy. But I definitely don't drink as much

beer as I used to. I've gotten more into wine as I get older. I'm like in the next phase. Oh, man. You need to conquer beer. And then you can do wine. 20 years now, Josh is like a wine man. I'm going to get more into wine. That's literally what happened to me. I've tried wine, and I'm like, ew. Yucky. Really? I've got to have year and then you turn 35 you're gonna 20 years now josh like a wine right that's like literally what happened i've tried wine and i'm like yucky really i gotta have another one or something but wine for me it depends on the pairing though because i don't tend to drink wine on its own

hey hey josh is trying to get down a lager over here yeah josh is just giving up at this point i'm gonna stick to hot chocolate milk uh no what i'm saying though is like i i'm like i'm not a big wine guy but if i'm like having say like a steak or something i want to pair it with a nice sure something like that so like that's what i mean by that so i mean wine could very much be about the pairing but my recommendation for you josh would be like yeah fine like try like a pilsner and like a pale ale and just see, okay. And then just start really, really simple. And as Adog said, just find like, okay, what is the right beer for me?

Have you tried our sponsors, Bridge Prime Time? I actually have enjoyed those. I've kind of like worked my way into this. I have tried. My strategy so far has actually been drink enough of it until I like it. And then it works. And how it's going. Yeah, it tends to.

It goes pretty well most times. 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. I think we've got time for one more quickly here. Ask us anything in honor of AJ's wife. Who would stand the best chance of fighting off a black bear at the Halbro show? Who would have the worst chance? That's from Kevin on fighting off a black bear at the Halbro show who would have the worst chance that's from Kevin on the road. Are we talking current?

How I think let's say let's say like classic roster. So a dog laddy and Halford and brough. I don't think it would be brough. I think brough is too. I don't think he's too lean like he has the reach advantage. But what's that going to do? Oh, well, he's too skinny, but you're still just supposed supposed to appear big but i don't think this is like scaring off i think this is like you have to have a physical altercation with a bear you have to fight off the bear i don't think any of them i think

halford i think halford's got probably halford's probably got this is like maybe the strongest i would say of the four of you if i had to to guess. Bruff works out a lot, too. Although Halford does just have a major injury, right? I don't know. I don't think any of us would survive. I think in terms of actually scaring

off the bear, though, I think Bruff would have the best chance. I guess, if you were just trying to scare it off. What bear, too? I mean, growing up in Lynn Valley, many a time would see a black bear walking my dog. And honestly, man, if you look at them, they run the other way. Black bears are cowards.

They're so, so timid most of the time. So a dog's saying because he has the bear experience. Yeah, I mean, you're just used to them if you live in that area. You see them quite, maybe not regularly, but once in a while you'll run into them. And a black bear is generally, like, unless you're very unlucky and run into a mom with her cub, which almost never happens, black bears, once they see a human, they're gone. Yeah. I'm still going with Halford.

I think he would rise to the occasion. I'm sticking with Broth. He would get that. He would at least try. He'd get that adrenaline flowing and he'd do his best. He would rise to the occasion. That's right. This is a playoff game for Mike Halford.

Absolutely. All right. Keep sending your ask us anythings in. We'll take a quick break here. Stephanie Wood. She's the VP of Marketing with Vancouver FC. They're playing a game on the weekend. It's the women and girls in sport game.

We'll talk to Stephanie about that. Also, she had a major hand in designing those incredible cherry blossom kits that they rolled out this year. So I want to talk to her about that and a little bit more about Vancouver FC. That's coming up next here on Half Brough here at Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolf filling in for the guys. Howlford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today.

This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime Craft Beer is full flavor without compromise. At a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made. 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber and Ladner has moved to Progress Way. In Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product,

more awesome details at DunbarLumber.com. And of course it is an Ask Us Anything Friday on the show. Send your submissions in now, 650-650, to the Dunbar Lumber text line. The winner wins a $100 gift card

to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. The best Ask Us Anything. Make sure you include the pizza emoji in that. We will announce the winner at 8.30. We've had some good ones, but the field is open. We have not decided on a winner. Get your questions in now for your chance to win. We'll read more of those soon here and, of course, going into 8.30.

But right now, we're very pleased to be joined. She is the VP of Marketing with Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. She is Stephanie Wood. Stephanie, thanks for doing this today. How are you? I'm great, thank you. Thank you for having me. How are you guys? We're doing really well, and it's our pleasure, and I know you guys have a really exciting game coming up this

week on Saturday against Forge FC. It's the Women and Girls in Sport game. Tell us a little bit more about just why this is such an important game for your club. Yeah, it is. And not to be that person, but it's on Sunday, not Saturday. Excuse me.

You're fine. I don't know what day is today, honestly, either, because I'm a mom. But we... It's just my brain. But we know this is our second annual women and girls in sports game. Last season, it was our second annual Women and Girls in Sports game. Last season, it was our best attended game. It was the most talked about.

It was honestly the most fun. And there was just this vibrant atmosphere there. So we wanted to make sure we did it again for everybody that attended because we figured that it was a really important thing to showcase because, you know, sports uh is heavily maley dominated and um we wanted to make sure that we we present for the for the women in and around sports whether they're on the field um or they're off the field in in behind the scenes in the front offices so yeah it's um august 18th at the event center 4 p.m kickoff and as you said that is sunday of

course my apologies for getting the day wrong, but Sunday at 4pm. And I know there's a lot of stuff happening, though, before kick-off. Kick-off's at 4pm, but there's lots going on before that. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, so gates open at 3pm, but I kind of like pre-game. Starts at 2.30pm. We have Pilates in the park by a local female Pilates instructor. So anyone with or without a ticket is free to join that at half past two, 2.30.

And then at three o'clock when gates open, we're going to have a women in sports pregame panel. We have decorated Olympians in there. We have some of the managers and sales team from the Bandits. We have local female photographers and sports photographers. We have some rugby players in there. We have my ride or die and partner in crime, Laura Armstrong from the Canadian Premier League. She's flying in for this and she's our head of communications for the whole league. So there's a real mix of front office, on field and Olympians coming for all the girls and the fans who want to meet them and talk about their journey with them. They're free to do so. And we've got some cool little tote bags that the girls and ladies can sign for everybody.

And then we've got obviously our cherry blossom jerseys. We've only got a few of those left, the viral kit. But every five dollars from every one of those jerseys will go back to the anti-bullying campaign. So we want to make sure we sell those out at this game as well. And we're going to have what we're going to call Activation Plaza, where we have loads of activations and stores from female-owned or run businesses in and around the valley as well. So we have Wellness Den, Aura, Natural Market. We have Rain Aroma, Inspire Women's Fitness, No Fear, No Mirror,

just to name a few as well. You mentioned the Cherry Blossom Kit, and those are just, they are wonderful. And I believe you were responsible for the design. What went into that, and what's behind the idea of all of that? Yeah, I mean, the jersey side for it is a full passion project for me. I've done it for a few years now from being at Pacific and then coming back over to Vancouver. This one was just taking inspiration from what happens

at the time of year when we kick off. I always try and pull it back to something. And we hadn't seen a pink jersey in the league yet. We already know there's one of the most famous ones out there with Into Miami. And everybody wears it. Everybody loves it. And we wanted to do something that was different but also gives back. As a purpose-driven club, we want to do something that gives back constantly to the youth.

So we leave the world in a better place than we found it. And this one basically donates $5 from the jersey to the anti-bullying campaign here in Vancouver, which is a huge, huge campaign because it covers everybody. Everyone's been subject to bullying, but we want to make sure that the youth youth of vancouver and the lower mainland are looked after um but the blossoms itself was um basically i've always wanted to do a blossom kit that's just been one of my things since moving to vancouver um 10 years ago i just loved that season kind of like the april season where the blossoms come out you're starting to feel a bit warmer the mood's changing um and the streets are just

lined with this beautiful pink for just a very short period of time and i thought that would be super cool to showcase the season starts in april that's when we kick off and that's when the blossoms bloom but also the depiction that we're not we're not around for ages we have a short season in the summer um and i wanted to showcase that you know the juxtaposition between the athleticism the sports the male dominance with the light pink and the pretty, beautiful landscape of Vancouver. So, yeah, they're incredible kids. And it's interesting to hear more about the thought process. And I mean, you know, they they went viral pretty much instantly, right?

Because people look at them and wow, that is stunning. That must be a pretty rewarding experience for you, right? To put that much thought and like you're really thinking through the process and designing them. And then just to have that kind of instant success where everybody picks up on what you're going for, right? And gets it and sees how much they work. Yeah, oh, for sure. I'm not going to lie. It's the most daunting day for me when we put all the work into the jersey, the photography, the creative.

And then you're putting it out there to the public. And it's kind of like, oh, gosh, oh, gosh, oh, gosh. Is everyone going to like this? Are they going to hate it? And obviously, this could be a really Marmite kit. You're either going to love it, you're going to hate it. But I can't even remember one negative comment, not even from opposition clubs, from players, from anything. They fell in love with it straight away.

And it's super rewarding I mean me and my team um I'm gonna have to give a shout out to Beau Chevalier my photographer and creative lead at the club like he takes what's in my head and just gets it out there and he does such a good job of it and without him our launches wouldn't be the same because it wouldn't look and feel how I wanted it to be depicted so that's's a huge, a huge part of it as well. We could have just, you know, put it on a mannequin and put it in the store, but we didn't want to, we needed to give it time. But yeah, it's super rewarding. And we just hope to keep doing the same, you know, year on year and having some of the best kits in the league, if not North America.

So obviously, you're thrilled that it was such a success. Is there a part of you because I know this is how I would feel that is worried that I've set the bar too high for next year. Oh, I have. I have completely. I'm screwed. Honestly, when the samples came in for next year, I was like, meh, they're all right. But, you know, it's not a viral eagle kit,

and it's not a viral blossom kit. But let's strip it down and go back to basics. That's a little hint for next season. All right. Well, we're excited about that. I'm sure you'll find a way to do something really special again. Stephanie, thanks so much for joining us and I know you're really excited

for the Women and Girls in Sports match. It's on Sunday, again Sunday at 4 o'clock against Forge FC. Enjoy the day and thank you for taking some time with us today. I appreciate your time. Have a great day, guys. That is Stephanie Wood. She is the VP of Marketing with Vancouver FC and I would 100% feel that if i had like a smash

success hit like that but it's a yearly thing where you have to follow it up next year it's like well it's like that's the peak i've done it i guess it's like when you're you're like an artist like singer whatever and you make like an amazing album yeah and then you're like oh no i have to do it again everyone wants me to do it again to to do that as well. That is the pressure on Stephanie. 650-650 is the Dunbar-Lumber text line. It's an Ask Us Anything Friday. And again, just to confirm, the Women and Girls in Sport game goes on Sunday at Willoughby Park at the Langley Events Center. It's against Forge FC.

Sunday kickoff is at 4. You can go get tickets. But also, there's lots happening before the game starting at 2.30 and then at three o'clock in the lead up around the theme of women and girls in sport so go check it out go support vancouver fc and as she said still a chance for you to pick up one of those cherry blossom kits as well okay 650 650 the dumb bar lumber text line uh ask us anything don and penticton you both got a full week's work in and that means bigger paychecks than more moolah i don't know does it mean that don you may be

mistaken but that's okay uh what is your treat that you get yourself on payday do you have like a hey like check just came in or you're you're a family man bills maybe no uh i would say a little like it's not a payday thing but when i do if i do run into some extra money for me it's like like a nice dinner out something like that that would be the treat for me rather than like a physical object necessarily yeah that's fair i i i don't think like for me maybe it's like hey i'm going to a a nicer golf course than i might usually that's a good one that's that's probably about what i would do i can't like because i don't really buy material things either and well like why did you say that i don't know i'm not really into material goods like you guys house is house is empty. Hello, fellow human. What is your favorite material good?

I, too, enjoy material goods. Why did you say it like that? I don't know. I don't know. And I do buy a lot of material things.

Josh, rank your top five material goods. Oh, man. Where do I start? Number one, shoes. Yes. Where would we be without them?

T-shirts? That's up there. All clothes, really. Nice pair of slacks. Pretty good. all clothes really pretty good slacks pretty good yeah don't hear them called slacks a lot anymore either i'm bringing it back you're bringing it back all right and hard pants hard pants uh okay 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber text line again it's an ask us anything friday a marcus and gibson's text in ask us anything how cursed are the vikings awesome highest winning percentage without ever winning a super bowl yeah there Marcus and Gibson's text in ask us anything. How cursed are the Vikings?

Awesome. Highest winning percentage without ever winning a Super Bowl. Yeah, there was a graphic going around. I saw on social media this week listing the teams of the highest regular season winning percentage in the Super Bowl era. So like over a span of a long, long time. And it's, you know, it's the Steelers who've won what? Six Super Bowls.

The Cowboys who've won five. The Pats who have won all those ones with Tom Brady. The Vikings who haven't won anything. And then it's like the Niners who've won a bunch of Super Bowls. It's like every other team has won not just one Super Bowl, multiple Super Bowls except for the Vikings. I believe the stat is that of the top 16 teams in the Super Bowl era, winning percentage-wise vikings are eighth

and they are the only team of the top 16 who has never won a super bowl it sucks that's incredible it hurts gosh i haven't seen you in a while what's going on in your mind right now i don't like so in the last week i've gone from like hey i'm not gonna get too hyped about jj mccarthy it's fine he'll play in a preseason game we'll see how he does probably won't play to start the season So in the last week, I've gone from like, hey, I'm not going to get too hyped about J.J. McCarthy. It's fine. He'll play in a preseason game. We'll see how he does. Probably won't play to start the season, whatever. And then he played in the preseason game, threw a pick, and I was like, oh, this guy might suck.

And then he looked pretty good for the rest of the game. I was starting to believe Elon. And then the injury comes down. That sucked. And I was like, oh, maybe he's out for a few weeks, out for the year. That's awesome. And he's the for a few weeks out for the year. That's awesome. And, uh, he's the first,

I believe I saw another stat. He's the first quarterback drafted in the first round since 1967. Yeah. That will miss his whole season, his whole season due to an injury, which is insane. Yeah. How that hasn't happened before.

It had to happen to the Vikings. And the Vikings never draft a quarterback. This is the first time they drafted one in the top 10. It's wild. It's really fun. Well, it's because they're never that bad. No, they're good. And that's the wild thing.

It's not like being the Clippers or the Mariners where it's like, oh, you have one of the lowest winning percentages in your sport, right, without having ever won. It's like you're good a lot, which means there's always these constant like heartbreaking near misses it's one thing to be just utterly futile and you're not making the playoffs you're not coming close it's another thing to be consistently in the mix and it always goes and they just never make the super bowl either yeah i don't know it's not fun special

team they are very cursed specialty hey you know what if you're gonna be a fan of one team don't pick don't pick the minnesota vikings uh joven from richmond texan what sports championship for you guys would be the most satisfying to win as a team or individual give some options world cup stanley cup masters olympic gold there's a lot to choose from for me this comes down to two options and i think they're probably pretty basic, but whatever. Those are the answers. It's Olympic gold of a Stanley Cup.

Olympic gold. You just look at what it means to all of the athletes, even the athletes who have won the NBA championship, the Stanley Cup, what it means to be there and be part of the Olympic experience, being on the podium podium your country's anthem playing the recognition the grind it takes to get there right the just everything about the olympic experience winning that gold medal i think would be pretty hard to top having said that growing up as a sports fan in canada it's probably got to be the stanley cup that moment of lifting the stanley cup like i don't what's better than that if you're a sports fan?

And I think specifically for people in Vancouver who grew up Canucks fans, that like when you were growing up, for me at least, there was this like dream of like, oh, man, I'm going to be the one on the Canucks who like lifts it for the first time and it's going to be this momentous moment in Vancouver. So if that was like the scenario 13 year old Josh or whoever would that would be what I'm picking now I might go Olympic yeah it's it's tight between the two I do think I go Stanley Cup one just because of like the Canadian legacy that moment I also think the

thing they do where they inscribe everyone's name on the cup that's awesome and like Paul Maurice the interview he gave on the ice where he's talking about his dad's name going on the cup, like along with, you know, Gila floor, Maurice Richard and all that. Like, that's incredible. That is absolutely incredible. And you think about the history and all of that. The gold medal is incredible. I think it's a close second, but I think it's got to be the Stanley Cup doing it with your teammates and everything that comes along with that to me i'll take that number one i agree uh this one ask us anything the g-man would you rather have a condo on the beach in mexico or a cabin on a lake that takes an eight hour drive to get to so i'm assuming the condo on the beach you don't live in mexico it's like you live here you have it's like a vacation property vacation property so you obviously have to fly to it Or would you rather have a cabin on the lake? I think I'm going cabin on the lake. Really?

I like my solitude. I like being away from people. Cabin on the lake is awesome. I think the young guys are taking Mexico. I was going to go Mexico. The thing is, it's like, okay, it's an eight-hour drive to the cabin. It's going to take you at least eight hours to go to Mexico. Is it?

I don't know. How long is the flight? Total change of scenery. You get something different in the winter. You got to get to the airport early, get through customs down there. It's too hot. Too hot. Like door to door.

It's eight hours. 100%. But then when you get there, it's like Elon said, total change of scenery, completely different place. I would probably go condo in Mexico. Cabin on the Lake is so relaxing, though. And a condo in Mexico. Both are going to be very relaxing. I guess it is. Look in mexico both are gonna be very relaxing i guess

i look they're both good options don't get me wrong yeah i wouldn't i wouldn't turn my nose about a con no i just want to go and like just have utter solitude in a cabin where no one can bother me this is the no one can talk to me the next generation gap thing drink a glass of wine think my thoughts see i would go to a cabin on the lake and be like okay i gotta drink wine i guess and i'm gonna hate this and this is gonna suck it's so yucky i don't like this um it's tough again look condo on the beach in mexico is is pretty good but i'll take the uh the remote remote cabin i'm trying to find one here but while we were talking about uh the stanley cup somebody texted in earlier and i'll

find the name but it was uh settle a bet basically oh it's jt on van island okay jt on van island here yeah ask us anything help me settle an argument if the stanley cup was stolen and ended up on the black market how much would it sell for first of all i think this is a great idea for a movie someone's stealing the stanley cup like a kind of like thomas crown affair thing where like a really sophisticated it's like nicholas cage and i do think like i think we're talking at least a million dollars if you are you you have successfully stolen the stanley cup and you're selling it to the highest bidder now i don't know there's this trope in movies where where super eccentric billionaires love just collecting rarities and oddities from around the world to have them in their homes.

Is that a real thing or is that just a trope in movies? It must be. I mean, if you have all the money in the world, I could understand why it would be that way. Didn't Nicolas Cage buy a T-Rex? You guys see that? Yeah, he did buy something. He did buy something for like five mil or something. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But yeah. It wasn't alive. I mean, it was like a skeleton. It was alive, actually. Oh, damn. Yeah, it was buy something. Like 5 mil or something? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah. Like it wasn't alive. I mean, it was like a skeleton. No, it was alive, actually. Oh, damn. Yeah, it was the last one. Oh, my God. That's wild.

Wow. So I think, I mean, the Stanley Cup, if you're like, it's iconic sports trophy. We were just talking about how much it means. I guess, especially if you're like a Canadian billionaire. There's got to be a Canadian billionaire. I think it's way more than 1 million. You think like 10 million? I think like maybe 50. Really? Like a Canadian billionaire? I think it's way more than one million. You think like 10 million? I think like maybe 50.

Like a Canadian billionaire, you got a couple of them going against each other. Got a bidding war? Got a bidding war going. Got an auction at like an underground bar somewhere? Like they would do in the movies? Yeah. I could see it going for like 50 mil easily.

I'm surprised this hasn't been made like a CBC TV movie or something like that. That's what I'm saying this hasn't been made like a CBC TV movie or something. I'm saying this would be a good movie. Yeah. And then they have to get like a group of hockey players together to get it back from the billionaires who stole it. And they have to play a game. They have to play a game.

It's like the Avengers, but they're just hockey players. Yeah, exactly. We're putting together a team. Literally a hockey team. But I think you're right. Like it would be very expensive yes that is i mean that's got to be up there with like you know famous works of art things like that you would pay a lot of money like i i think it would go for more than any trophy in the four major sports uh i don't know like i get it because it's we love it and it's beautiful and it's iconic. Here's my reason.

There's multiple World Series trophies. There's multiple NBA Finals trophies. That's fair. And there's multiple Super Bowl trophies. Lombardi trophies. Yeah. Hmm. That's a good point.

So by like supply and demand here. Exactly. The rarity aspect. And I'm pretty sure the three other ones, like there have been some for sale at times. Maybe I'm wrong. But it's just like there There's so many more. Of these trophies. And there's like a few Stanley Cups.

We all know this. But there's still less than three. So if one ended up for sale somewhere. And it was legitimate. I think it would go for a lot. Okay going back to the last. This is a great text from Jeff the metal surgeon. From Mission.

Not a lot of cartel members. Up at the cabin on the lake, so that's an upside. However, you might run into Pablo Escobar. So stupid. It's a good text. I mean, you got to have broth with you, otherwise you can't get by them. Pablo Escobar. Shout out to Jeff. What was it? The metal surgeon?

Yeah. Jeff the metal surgeon. I like that everyone's just completely embraced this job description thing now. It's absolutely fantastic. How are we going to come back and just be so confused?

Like what is with all these new names? Like, well, we've implemented a new feature, guys. And now you really, the names are very long. Yeah. And you have to read all of

them. People leaning into it. Yeah. Mancuni and Mike text in. I have have to read all of them. Keep leaning into it. Yeah. Mancuni and Mike text in. I have no idea if this is true. Good morning, fellas. For your information, someone nicked the World Cup in 1966 when England won it, and a dog called Pickles found it.

No. That didn't happen. What? Pickles? It might have happened. I've decided it did not, though. That's too ridiculous. Who's giving their dog Pickles?

Mike, text in more. Text in more details about that. How did that happen? How did the dog call pickles? Make up more of your lie. Lie to us, Mike. Okay, we're going into the last hour of the program here. The Moj is going to join us.

Always look forward to this one on Fridays, and especially this week with the Nathan Rourke news that he is back with the BC Lions. Going to play on Sunday, we think. We almost certainly know that he's going to play on Sunday against the Bombers so we'll talk to the Moj about that if you have a Moj specific ask us anything we always try to throw one past the Moj so get those in as well and then of course we'll do our what we learns and we'll announce the best ask us Anything at 8.30, which, of course, will get a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway in Vancouver. The Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions' 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com.

We'll talk Lions. We'll do some What We Learn, some Ask Us Anythings. Final segment of the show coming up here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650.