Halford & Brough in the Morning - Olympic Rowing Insider Elliotte Friedman

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Elliotte Friedman (2:04) as he gets set to call Rowing, Kayaking and Canoeing at the upcoming Paris Olympics, plus they chat with Sportsnet Olympic soccer reporter Hayley McGoldrick (24:35), as the Canadian women's team gets set to defend their gold medal. 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.

🎵 702 on a Tuesday. Big band Tuesday. This is more like marching band Tuesday, but it works. Is this Platinum Blonde? Yes, it's their new stuff. This is their new stuff. They've taken a hard turn.

Going for a very specific demo now. The marching band demo. Now Brass Blonde. Just a reminder that we're giving away Billy Idol tickets featuring Platinum Blonde for the best what we learned so include the ticket emoji when's that concert Adonk July 30th at Rogers July 30th at Rogers Arena Rick

Dollywell obviously excited for Billy Idol and Platinum Blonde that was the funniest moment of yesterday's show when you asked Rick Dollywell his favorite 80s band was and then he said Dick Clark. And then he filibustered. How? He just filibustered. I just assumed it's Rick.

Like he would know. There would be a band on the top of his head that he'd like. He always has this answer. He's like, oh, oh, oh, the 80s. You know, Dick Clark. Dick Clark. Like I get it. He's just like his brain is just like, it's like a car on a cold morning.

It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Trying to come up with names. To be fair, he is on vacation right now. I know. I know. I shouldn't have asked him such a tough question. What? What his favorite band was?

You say tough questions. I'm being polite. All right. Elliot Freeman waiting patiently on hold here. Let's get down to some business real quick. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer, meticulously brewed for quality and taste.

Primetime is full flavor without compromise. You can get some at a liquor store near you, or you can 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. Sorfy, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for.

To the phone lines we go. Former NHL insider, now a paddling expert. Elliot Friedman joins us on the Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Friedge. How are you? I'm good. As a matter of fact, I will be attending Billy Idol and Platinum Blonde in Toronto. I can't remember if it's August 8th or 9th, but I'm going to that one. Nice.

What are you more excited for, Billy Idol or Canadian band Platinum Blonde? I like them both. I was a big Platinum Blonde guy in high school. I didn't have Platinum Blonde hair. Oh, they had amazing hair. I did that when I was older, like an idiot. But I did love their music. They had a couple of great songs.

I still have Not In Love on my playlist, and I listen to it from time to time. I really love their music. They had a couple of great songs. I still have Not In Love on my playlist, and I listen to it from time to time. I really love the song. With Billy Idol, I mean, the guy's a god, man. So I love Billy Idol. Which winter classic was he at? Oh, the one in Washington. I don't remember.

It was the one in Washington. Washington? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The funniest thing about that one, I didn't actually go to that one, but the funniest thing about it was when Murph interviewed him this year during the playoffs when he announced his tour, he actually said it was the first hockey game he'd ever been to,

so I was kind of laughing. You know, I'm sure Billy's taken a lot of substances over the years, or his memory is kind of fried. I'll never forget, he went to the Winter Classic, and then he thought that the Winter Classic anointed who won the NHL that year. He did a celebratory speech afterwards. He's like, congratulations on winning hockey. Didn't they also have that guy that sings that song that's like,

and I'm proud to be an American. Oh, yeah. They had that guy in Washington. So that was an interesting mix, him with Billy Idol. And anyway, Lee Greenwood. Lee Greenwood, right. Freed, rowing. How much did you have to learn about this?

A lot. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm still doing it. The event, regatta, I guess it's the Olympic Games, but the rowing, obviously, if you know rowing, the rowing tournament is called a regatta. It starts on Saturday. So I've been doing a lot of

work and uh you know there's a couple things you have to learn the rules like uh i'm gonna wow you with my knowledge every race in rowing is 2k no matter what size the boat is or how many people are in the boat uh every race is 2k um uh canada has only two uh boats entered in this year's uh regatta but they're both like they're both good boats like the women's eights of course they're the defending olympic champions um they don't have the full group back as a matter of fact andrea prosky won gold medal she's the commentator this time um they they uh and their best result this year was they won a World Cup race in May. The other boat they have is the lightweight double skulls, Jill Moffitt and Jennifer Kasson. They were 12th in Tokyo. They've had a really good year. They just had the World Championships actually last year.

They had their best race together. They finished fourth. They'll have a shot at a medal but those are the only uh two boats in rowing and i'm also doing the canoe kayak sprints which will be held after the rowing regatta is over and uh there's uh there's one boat there i'm still going through my research of the canadians there but um you know there's one boat there in particular it's it's katie vincent sloan mckenzie and katie vincent's actually returning medalist she won a bronze uh in tokyo with a different partner so you know i'm just i'm i'm going through the rules i'm learning the key canadians i'm going through it right now and you know the one thing you realize in canoe and kayaking like the world power is hungary hungary is not the world power in a lot of sports but they're really up

there in in this one what's the reason for that uh i just you know every country gets has things that they're good at right and uh hungary has won the most medals ever in olympic canoe kayak although they haven't won the most golds i think uh soviet union and there's another country that one has won more i think it's germ Germany have actually won more gold than Hungary, but nobody's won more medals than they have. So we all know the catchphrases that you use in hockey, like he shoots and scores and all that sort of stuff. What are they for the paddling sports?

It's like they're future paddling art out there that looks tiring. You know, I think, Jason, it's going to be a lot of, like, what's the old acronym I used? I learned as a camp counselor, KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. Like, you know, I've learned over the years that when you're doing a sport that's kind of not yours, quote, unquote, just, you know, don't be cute. Like, you know,'t be cute like you know everybody remembers the big mistake i made back in in real and you know when i look back at it

and i looked at uh you know the reasons for that happening is that there were two really number one is i've gotten off to a great start and i kind of got a little bit of a big head and i think that really affected me there and i think the other thing too is I was very consistent about something I did like they had a special computer that always told you when every when the swimmer swang each lane a lane how much like who was in first what order they touched in and I always checked that except for once and the once was when I screwed up the Phelps-Lockney thing. So, like, you know, you go back and you look and say, okay, this is why mistakes happen and how do you correct it.

And I really do think the thing is, like, be consistent and also just, you know, don't, like, you know, like if you try to get caught up in the catchphrases or the shtick, I think you put yourself in a better position to make mistakes. So I'm going to keep it simple. Is this you wanting to challenge yourself as a broadcaster? Are they coming to you and saying it? Yeah.

God bless you for doing it. I was doing research last time. I'm like, I think we need a Canadian rowing summit because we're not as good as we used to be. That was my extent of knowledge on the whole thing but I mean I it's got to be overwhelming at a certain level because like you're fairly inundated with you know hockey most of the time and now it's like I'm gonna go completely far afield for and it's not just a minor event for these athletes this is the this is the Olympics right this is this is the hard work and dedication everything every four

years this is their chance to be on that stage, and you're responsible for calling it. You know, it's a great question, Mike, and it's partially that. Like I told, you know, so for example, after Rio, I called the World Swimming Championships the next year, and then things just started developing between COVID and other responsibilities that i just couldn't you know cbc they were so good they kept asking me to do stuff and i couldn't

and as a matter of fact they asked me to go to the 2018 uh olympics to do hockey and at that time like you know the pros weren't there and i would have been the only person on the panel who would have left during the season to go to the olympics i didn't think it was the right thing to do it was a really agonizing decision but i just didn't i thought it was the wrong message to my teammates at sportsnet to leave them during the season to go do the olympics when i would be the only one and you know it was it was i I know that internally in CBC, they kind of said, well, you know, we can't count on Elliot anymore necessarily. And that's their right.

Like, I was not a full-time CBC employee, and they asked me, and I said no, and it was an agonizing decision. And, you know, like, and so, you know, Rob Schnuck took over the swimming, and he's done an unbelievable job. And, but now, like, this year, you know, I said to them, like, and so, you know, Rob Schnuck took over the swimming, and he's done an unbelievable job. And but now, like, this year, you know, I said to them, look, I understand if the answer's no, but if you need anyone, I'd love to do something. And I was considered for the sideline role in basketball.

They gave it to Nabil Karim again, who's an excellent choice. And then, so I wasn't considering doing anything. And I guess they must have been stuck or something because they came to me during the playoffs and they said, look, we need somebody to do rowing. And, you know, initially I wasn't, I'm not going, I'm doing it from Toronto. But, you know, I wasn't so sure, but I mentioned it to my wife and she said, why wouldn't you do it? You know, you like the challenge of it. And I think the other thing, too, is Mike, is that, you know, about to turn 54.

You know, who many knows how who knows how many of these opportunities are left? That's fair. Yeah. So you're like, you know, so it's a the challenge of it and be like, it's nice to be wanted. And you never know, like I'm getting to an age where eventually they're going to throw me out, so I might as well do it while I still can. And your wife wants you out of the house. It's quite clear. I said to this, I just was gone for two months, basically, because of the playoffs.

Is this another opportunity for your boyfriend to move in? I just feel proud about this. Yeah, things are getting serious between those two. Elliot, so is hockey just out of mind for you? No. No? Can we ask you a hockey question? Yeah, you could.

For example, I've been tweeting the arbitration stuff, like Mallinson signed with Buffalo this morning. I've been putting that out there. And, you know, I was working. I was at Adam Gray's golf tournament yesterday, the Smile Zone tournament, and someone sent me a note about a scar of apparently Nashville's really looking to see what's out there for him. And he's kind of indicated he doesn't want to play in the American Hockey League anymore.

So Nashville's kind of got him out there, and they're testing the market. And I had some people say it could happen soon I had some other people saying no Nashville's just they just want to know what the market is but they know they have a player who doesn't want to play in the American Hockey League anymore so I'm still like I'm not working it as hard as I normally would Jason but I'm keeping an eye on things. What did you think about the Daniel Sprong signing in Vancouver? Oh, you know what? I think it's a,

it's a really good signing. I mean, it's a, it's, it's below a million. You know, the guy can get points, you know,

you know, like, and plus you guys had a hole there. Like he's a good enough offensive player to play with your good players. So I like that. You know, i know like i had a few people asking me like how come this guy is is bounced around so much and uh i think number one i think there's two reasons number one i think that he was hurt by the flat cap like he's a guy if you look at his totals um you you can see that he should be making more than he is

like there are players who cannot produce at the same level who are making more money than he is and i think that because sprung can't always play up higher in your lineup or in key situations because his defense hasn't been great he gets gets squeezed out. I think that happens. And I did ask someone, like, you know, is there a personality thing here? And, you know, one guy said to me, a player, he paused and said, he is a bit of a unique personality. So, you know, I think those two things are kind of what's hurting there.

Maybe talk, it can now be the Daniel Sprong whisperer or something, I don't know. Well you know what put it this way like it's pretty obvious that the guys in Vancouver really like being coached by him for a lot of different reasons so you know what can't hurt. I want to ask you one more hockey question. Dean Evason in Columbus Mike and I were joking around that Columbus might have considered Joel Quenville for one second and then been like, yeah, no, we're not going to do this again. So I guess this is a two-parter. Number one, what do you think the fit is like, Dean Evason in Columbus? But the conversation we were having is, do you think we'll see Joel Quenville back in the NHL

sooner rather than later? I don't think they consider Quenville at in the nhl sooner rather than later um i think that i don't think they consider quenville at all because they went through what they went through with babcock and i think there's only a limited number of times you can go through things like that um and so and don waddell to us especially the local reporters was was was pretty transparent about the fact that Quenville was not a candidate for, for that job. Um, for that, and probably for that reason. Um, you know,

Everson, um, you know, I think, you know, I think Everson got as much as he could get out of, uh, the wild.

Um, uh, I think that he's, you know, like, I always think people are supposed to be better the second time around than the first, like he's a hard driving guy he's an intense hard driving guy and i know columbus was was looking for that like that's

why they went to babcock in the first place they wanted somebody who's intense and hard driving like i don't think evison would be in babcock's camp in that like i don't know as many people were like that as Babcock was. But Everson, I think, is the kind of personality they were looking for. Now, I think they really wanted Todd McClellan. And to be honest, I really haven't gotten to the bottom yet of why that didn't happen. But McClellan was their first choice. But Everson, I think, was their second choice.

When McClellan didn't get the job, someone said to me, and this is a person who generally gets all these things right, said he would bet that Everson would be the guy, and he turned out to be correct. You know, when it comes to Joel Quenville, I wouldn't be surprised, and, you know, I think actually Quenville, I've heard, is actually

very sensitive to this, that I wouldn't be surprised if a team hires him as like a consultant first um and and i've heard that quenville and again i've heard this second hand i've heard that quenville has been leery about that because he doesn't want to be perceived as coming in and vulturing someone out of a job um like that he's just sort of like the coach in waiting somewhere. He doesn't really like that idea.

But unless he wants to sit and wait until somebody wants to hire him, I've heard that there have been teams I've heard that have gone to him and saying, do you want to join our organization as kind of like a coaching consultant? And while I think he's at least considered the idea, I've heard that his preference uh was not to do that although you know sometimes circumstances change fridge this was great man thanks for taking the time to do it enjoy the rowing and the canoeing and the kayaking enjoy billy idol enjoy platinum blonde have a good couple of weeks bud canoeing they kneel one or a sort of one, like a one sided or,

and kayaking sit two sided or keep it simple, buddy. Piece of research. Yes. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Thanks. All right,

guys. Take care. You too. Thanks. That's Elliot Freeman, a paddling expert, also NHL insider here on the Halford and rough show on sports net six 50. So I have a random, ask us anything for the group.

Okay. Okay, so A-Dog, I know you're working on something, but I'm going to need your participation in this. Put your headset on. So for the first time in Vancouver, when I was walking around downtown the other day, two days ago on Sunday. Sunday. I saw a Cybertruck.

Nice. A Tesla Cybertruck. You tweeted it out. Was it as ridiculous as you would have possibly imagined? Yes. I was driving behind one on Oak Street. Okay. So was that the first one you've seen?

First one I've ever seen in Vancouver. I've yet to see one. Vancouver, you see all sorts of cars, right? And I mean, we are one of the supercar capitals of the world. That's true. A Cybertruck has to be one of the stupidest looking vehicles I've ever seen in my entire life. Hold on a sec. Before you start editorializing.

Well, it's true. I have the ask us anything. Okay. And this is it if you were given the choice between having a cyber truck or having to walk everywhere what would you choose as soon as the word cyber truck came out of your mouth so you have so you have you have so you actually like you would have to walk everywhere you would have to take transit you would, you would have to walk to work. Or you have to be seen driving a Cybertruck.

I mean, what would you take? Well, I mean, I reluctantly have to choose the Cybertruck, of course. Walking everywhere would suck. Are you kidding me? It's not worth it. What about the red fuel? No, no, no. You're being ridiculous, Greg.

Yeah, you wouldn't walk miles and miles. You couldn't work. You couldn't walk from Ladner every morning. You'd have to leave the night before. There's no way. Can I get a bike or something? Is it? No.

No other form of transportation? The rules are unflinchingly rigid. Okay. You have to either walk everywhere or drive the dumpster on wheels. Still not doing it. A toaster on wheels. Yeah. Well, that was the report that was out there.

It's like a toaster oven. I saw one guy complaining that raccoons were trying to get into it because they thought it was a dumpster. No, no, that's a story. That's a story, yeah. Yeah, there's like claw marks on a bunch of Cybertrucks because raccoons think they're dumpsters. They think they're dumpsters, yeah.

I mean, it's a stupid looking thing. So what's really funny about when I tweeted out – The guy driving around in a Cybertruck listening to this right now. Just crying uncontrollably. Those guys are my heroes, man. I thought the raccoons were just being friendly. Yeah. When I tweeted it out, there was, of course, most people were like,

it's so ugly or whatever, just having a good laugh and not taking it too seriously. But they're all – I don't know if you've noticed this on social media, there are a lot of Elon Musk fanboys. There's always a couple weirdos. And they replied, one guy replied to me, admit it, you're jealous. And I'm like, I'm not jealous. If it was a Ferrari or a Lamborghini,

maybe there's a touch of jealousy there that I wouldn't mind having that car in particular, but the Cybertruck is like the people walking by it, they were taking pictures but also like kind of chuckling

at the same time. Everyone looking at it is making fun of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's nobody looking at that thing going wow, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's nobody looking at that thing going, wow, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At any rate, Elon Musk fanboys are, you know, kind of tough to convince otherwise. They're not very bright, so I mean, who cares?

I bet even Elon's like, I don't know. Did you see the Kim Kardashian Cybertruck story? No. She lopped off the tip of her finger. What? And people are, the rumors are flying that it was the trunk of her cyber truck that is the culprit. What?

I mean, the comparisons between it and- Is she a raccoon? Is she trying to get out? Is she just clawing away? It's the real life Homer car. It's the real life Homer car. It is the real life Homer car. Two bubble domes?

Yeah. Yeah. And the horn plays La Cucaracha? Yeah. All of it. Yeah. It's, I'm shocked that, like, I know that we're a mega supercar capital and there's all kinds of crazy vehicles on the road.

Yeah, yeah. I just didn't think that anyone actually had one. I thought they just existed in a realm. Like, it was purely online. Amazingly, people do spend money on them. Yeah, it's crazy. They're not obviously selling the clip that Tesla's are, but people are buying them.

Okay. We've got a lot more to get to on the program today. Going to do some more Olympic talk throughout the show. Coming up on the other side of the break, Hayley McGoldrick is going to join the program. We'll talk about Canadian women defending their gold medal in soccer at the Olympics. It is an extremely competitive field this year at the Olympics.

Some are saying maybe the most ever in terms of talent and depth and the amount of quality opponents, all of whom rank very highly in a variety of sports books with odds on who's the favorite. So we'll speak to Halem and Goldrick about that coming up at 7.30. At 8 o'clock, excited to speak with Roger Bennett from the Men in Blazers podcast and the Men in Blazers media empire. This will lead us nicely into the big match this weekend at BC Place

between your Vancouver Whitecaps and Global Sensation, Rexham FC, owned, of course, by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhinney. So we'll talk to Roger Bennett from Men in Blazers about that. They're going to be here, actually, in Vancouver, a live taping of the Men in Blazers about that. They're going to be here actually in Vancouver, a live taping of the Men in Blazers podcast, because part of their podcasting network and empire includes a Wrexham themed podcast, which has gotten very popular over the last year.

So there's a lot more to get to. It's a very diverse sporting show today. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. 6 50. 7 31 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday. Everybody. Halford. Rob sports at six 50. 7.31 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford, bravo. Sportsnet 650. Halford, a prep of the morning is brought to you by White Rock Honda,

Surrey's premier multilingual dealership destination. Visit them online at whiterockhonda.com. Every Tuesday, you just managed to unearth another gem. That's a good one One of the many I feel very relaxed Big Band Tuesday has evolved It has From the classic big bands of what?

Like 20s, 30s, and 40s? The roaring 20s? Yeah, is that the right... I don't even know if those are the right decades It doesn't matter, just keep going It's evolved into something that you would hear on television in the 1960s and 70s. Yep. Is that fair to say?

I've run out of ideas, so I've kind of just branched out of anything with brass. Yeah, Big Band Tuesdays has kind of become 60s game show Tuesdays. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's also the tagline for the show. Halford and Brough, we've run out of ideas. Today on Halford and Brough. We've run out of ideas. Today on Halford and Brough. 03X3. Was that a flugelhorn?

Sorry? Is that a flugelhorn? That's a flugelhorn. Yeah, yeah. Okay. The Olympics begin soon. Very excited. We've already talked 3X3.

We've already talked rowing, canoeing, and kayaking. Now it's time to dive into the defending gold medal champion Canadian women's soccer team. They'll be looking to defend gold in a very, very difficult tournament this year at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Joining us now to discuss it, you've seen her work in the Toronto Star, the score, and right here on Sportsnet, Hayley McGoldrick joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Hayley. How are you? I'm good, thank you. How are you guys? And right here on Sportsnet, Haley McGoldrick joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Haley. How are you? I'm good, thank you. How are you guys?

We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So the Canadian women are back, set to defend the gold they won in 2020. 13 of the 18 players from Tokyo are back. A handful, I think there's six Canadian women that are going to their third straight Olympic Games. They won the bronze in Rio in 2016, gold in Tokyo. So right away, Hayley, first question. How difficult a task is this going to be for this Canadian women's team to defend their gold medal in France? I think it's definitely going to be a little difficult for them.

Not that, you know, this isn't a talented team, but first and foremost, like you said, they lost some big players, as much as there's a lot of returning players from tokyo steph labbe who's the goalkeeper who everyone dubbed the minister of defense after that gold medal game she is not with the team anymore diana matheson had retired before them but still like that's a big player who was in that era christine sinclair obviously you know there's a lot of new younger faces which is great but also in the same breath you kind of saw how canada did before in that world cup as well as such a disappointing exit in the group stage of the world cup and so i think that

for canada is going to be a little difficult it's not that they have the easiest group ever as well they have new zealand columbia and host nation france so they've got some tough teams in there and then also in general you know spain the women's world cup champions are coming into this they're making their Olympic debut. They have such a talented roster. So I feel like Spain is really the team to beat in all of this, but also even their group. It's not an easy group to get out of to begin with.

Canada is ranked eighth in the world in the FIFA rankings, and there's a lot of talent there, but it's not going to be an easy path for them to defend their gold. Who's going to be scoring goals for Canada? I think a big one that people kind of need to watch out for is Adrienne Leon. She's been incredible. She was great at the Women's World Cup. She's really been stellar for Canada recently.

Obviously, you have players like Jordan Haidama, who you're hoping are going to score goals as well. Chloe Lacasse. You know, we have quite a few goal scorers on this Canadian team. But I think Leon is really a player that people need to keep an eye on because she's going to be somebody who is going to be notable as well. Janine Becky is somebody who she was coming off injury. She didn't play in the Women's World Cup. She'll be back. There's a lot of talent when it comes to goal scoring on this Canadian roster. It's not just going to be going through one player. What is going to be the number one challenge for this team? Is it going to be scoring goals or is it going to be keeping goals

out of their own net i think it's a little bit of both you saw the world cup especially that they really did struggle to score and i think that was the biggest thing they found themselves down and then they had to get that equalizer or they just were really struggling to put the ball in the back of the net and i think that's the biggest thing if canada can get even to a one nil lead and get that step ahead that would be huge for them but at the World Cup that was something that they really struggled with there just wasn't that goal scoring it felt like there was something missing something out of place and of course there were a few injuries to that World Cup squad but they just couldn't seem to get the goal

scoring going so that's going to be the biggest thing for Canada is making sure that yeah it's nice that you have a really strong defense you You have Kanisha Buchanan back there, Ashley Lawrence, Jade Rivera, Jade Rose, Gabrielle Cove, Vanessa Hughes. You have so many incredibly talented players defending, but it doesn't do you any good if you're not scoring any goals. Is it going to be weird going into a major tournament without Christine Sinclair? I think it is. I know for me, especially, like I've only ever really known Canadian women's soccer with Christine Sinclair. It's going to be without her you look at the u.s women's national team there without alex morgan it kind of feels like a shift in women's soccer that there's these legends who are not on these rosters some of them are no longer playing of course christine sinclair is still

playing in the nwsl but they're not playing for their national teams anymore it's a little bit of a shift i think it's definitely weird and she was such a leader as well and now you know you've seen the capabilities shift the captaincy shifting to Jesse Fleming and so it's a younger generation now and that's you know you're taking the next step forward and I think that there is still a lot of talent on this roster but it's undeniable that the impact that Christine Sinclair had on this team so it's 100% going to be weird not seeing her there. Why did the captaincy go to Jessie Fleming? I'm not questioning it I'm just asking you to sing her praises. Yeah I think obviously Jessie Fleming is an incredibly talented player she's a creative midfielder she's a

playmaker she's got incredible IQ you know she was somebody who came out of college and she went to go play for Chelsea under Emma Hayes who is is now the U S women's national team head coach. She's a phenomenal player. She's somebody who just, I feel like she's very calm on the pitch as well. She's not somebody who panics. So you need a captain. You need somebody who's going to be level-headed.

You need somebody who, when things get tough, she's not going to panic. She's not going to lose her mind. And so I think that's kind of why it shifted to her. You could kind of see it coming when the rumors were swirling that Christine Sinclair was maybe going to retire. Everybody said, well, Jessie Fleming's next in line.

A lot of people kind of called her a Sinclair prototype as well a little bit. And I think that's why as well. But I just think that she's an incredibly talented player, a smart player, but also she's very calm. And that's what you need in your captain. When everything is going left, you need somebody who's going to be there, regroup, and Jessie does just that. So, Hayley, has this group been together enough to form the chemistry that you need to have success in these tournaments? You know, their performance in the World Cup, which we've already mentioned a few times, was pretty disappointing.

I don't know if chemistry was an issue there, but, uh, you know, everything needs to come together for a team in order to win a tournament as we saw at the last Olympics. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. And I think that they have had some time, like a lot of these players are coming off playing in the world cup together. 13 of them, as you said, had played in Tokyo, but there are six players who are making their Olympic debut. And they're talented players like Simi Lojo, LaCasse, Jay Rose, etc. But I think that they have had enough time. And obviously, a lot of people have criticized the women's soccer schedule because of that. I remember talking to Janine Becky before the World Cup.

And she said it's really hard because you're playing, especially a lot lot of players from Canada play in Europe. So you're playing your European season all fall and all winter. And then you get a tiny little feeble window to play maybe one or two friendlies. And then you're back to your team. And then all of a sudden you're in camp and then it's the World Cup or it's the Olympics. And so I think that does contribute to the struggle a little bit that they don't get as much time as they should as a national team to be able to have these windows of building that chemistry and playing together but Canada is lucky in the sense that they have a strong foundation of a lot of returning members and I think that helps with the chemistry but just the schedule is not very forgiving in terms of being able to have that chemistry year-round and so I do think that hurts them a little bit

but there is a lot of talent on the roster and I know that they'll be able to make it work. What is the best women's league in the world? Because you've got all sorts of the Canadians playing for American teams, but also you've got Roma, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Leicester City, there's all sorts of European clubs that the women represent as well.

Yeah, I think it is a little bit subjective because obviously, yes, the FA Women's Super League is huge. You've got clubs like Chelsea, obviously, one of the best women's players in the world. Sam Kerr plays for Chelsea and Chelsea has won the FA Women's Super League many, many times. But then you look and Barcelona Feminine is the you know the reigning UWCL champions and their incredible Eitan Abamadi who is the reigning uh Bellandor champion and Women's World Cup champion who's also going to be here you know she plays for Barcelona and so that's a team that you're looking at and saying well maybe that the Spanish league is the best league in the world or the German league you know Wolfsburg has been a team that's been up there in the Champions League

a lot and then the NWSL has a lot of talent and the German League. Wolfsburg has been a team that's been up there in the Champions League a lot. And then the NWSL has a lot of talent and the thing is we're very lucky to have a lot of talent in both Canada and the United States and because a lot of those players want to play close to home they play in the NWSL. So you do see a lot of the world's best players playing in the NWSL. Christine Sinclair is there.

Marta played in the NWSL for a very long time. This Olympics is going to kind of be Marta's send off. She played in the NWSL for a very long time this Olympics is going to kind of be Martha's send off you know she played in the NWSL for a long time so I think it is a little bit subjective I would like to say a lot of the top talent does play in the FA Women's Super League but then you're seeing the best player in the world plays for Barcelona there's a lot of talent in that

Spanish league but I think that we're very lucky that women's soccer is continuing to grow and so we are seeing more talent in every single one of these leagues. We're very lucky here in Canada. We're getting the NFL next summer. And so, you know,

we're hoping to pull some top talent into that league and hope it becomes one of the top leagues in the world. I think it is a little bit subjective. I would say there is a lot of talent in the FA women's super league, and there's a lot of investment there. And you're seeing a lot of the clubs, like for example, you said Arsenal, you know, Arsenal sold out the Emirates for the women's game. And now they've moved like eight games for next season to the Emirates

instead of playing at their little stadium. That's a huge league. There's a lot of talent. There's a lot of talent from the Lionesses who continue to play in the FA Women's Super League. But it is a little bit subjective depending on who you ask, of course. We're talking Canadian women's soccer with Hayley McGoldrick. Hayley, Canada's group at the Olympics includes New

Zealand, Colombia, and France. Tough group, busy group, medium group. What's your opinion? Definitely a tough group. It certainly won't be easy. Of course, France not only having the home field advantage in a sense, but also they have incredible players, Wendy Renard, Amandine Henry. They have a lot of talent. The Women's World Cup really showcased that Colombia is an up-and-coming team. Linda Cancedo is 18 years old. She's playing for Real Madrid.

She's incredible. She's a player to watch for sure. And then New Zealand as well is a tough team. You know, they didn't have the tournament they wanted playing at home in the Women's World Cup, but they're a really strong defensive team. They know, they didn't have the tournament they wanted playing at home in the Women's World Cup, but they're a really strong defensive team.

They're going to be a team that's going to be hard to break down, and Canada knows that. And Canada's had trouble in the past breaking down defensive blocks. We've seen that from them a lot.

So New Zealand's definitely going to be bringing that against Canada. It's certainly not going to be easy. And I mean, obviously, the tournament is only a 12-team field to begin with,

so I think every group is really concentrated and really hard but Canada certainly is not going to have a cakewalk coming into this group who's your favorite for gold I would say Spain just because they are coming off that World Cup success and their team keeps growing and it's crazy to think that you know at the World Cup in 2015 they didn't even make it out of the group stage and now they're reigning World Cup champions they have so so much talent. Obviously, the United States, I feel like is a team that you can never count out. Even the Women's World Cup, they didn't have a really great World Cup either, but they are still the United States. They're looking to bounce back from that World Cup the same way that Canada is looking to bounce back from that World

Cup. Germany is an extremely talented team as well. Australia, the Matildas, you saw them at the World Cup. They did really incredible. Of course, they had the home field advantage at that time, but they're a team that, of course, they're kind of shifting into a new generation as well. So this is kind of the last hurrah for a lot of this current Matildas era. So they're going to be wanting to win that as well. And then Brazil as well has so much talent. Again, like I said, this is Marta's last hurrah. I'm sure Marta wants to end her career with an Olympic gold. I would say, I know I just named off a bunch of teams, I would still say Spain. I think Spain really are the team to beat,

but there's so much talent in this 12-team pool that it really could go so many ways. Haley, this was great. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Canada kicks off two days from now. July 25th is the opener against New Zealand, and that game's going to kick off at 8 o'clock our time.

Thanks for doing this. Enjoy the games. Thanks so much. Take care. Thanks. That's Hayley McGoldrick here on the Halpern and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. If you want to reach the gold medal final and win at the Olympics, you have to play six games in 17 days at this tournament.

That's tough. The Olympics is actually, I don't want to say much more, but what the hell, it's my radio show, I can say it. I think it's much more difficult than the World Cup because you don't have any real, as many minnows in the field. There was some really lopsided scores at the last couple iterations of the Women's World Cup because the field like there was some really lopsided scores at the last couple iterations of the women's world cup because the field's bigger yeah and they're trying to expand into areas

where the game hasn't grown as much and one way to do that is to get more teams qualifying for the world cup put them on that stage make sense uh the olympics is 12 teams you've got a bunch of them ranked inside the fifa top 10 You've got groups where there's going to be a team going home in the group stage that is either highly thought of or had higher aspirations than getting bounced in the group. Canada is going to be in tough, right? They open against New Zealand, which is a difficult match. When they have to play the hosts, France in France, I guess.

That'll be tough. That's a difficult challenge. And then, like Hayley was mentioning, Colombia is going to be difficult as well. But add on top of all that, how grueling the schedule is. It's not like a World Cup that takes, you know, sage over the course of a month.

Like, everything is basically crammed into a two-and-a-half-week window. So you need, like, a large squad. You need squad rotations. You need to have a pretty deep bench in terms of substitutions. It can be a real grind to try and capture gold at the Olympics. Okay, quick reset here.

We need more What We Learns. And to entice all of our listeners to send in What We Learns, we're giving away a pair of tickets every day this week to see Billy Idol in platinum blonde on July 30th at Rogers Arena. So all you have to do is hashtag it WWL, put a ticket emoji into your text, tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. Here's the kicker.

It's got to be good. This isn't a giveaway. This is a contest. The tickets go to the best of what we learned. What did Laddie say yesterday? We need you to rebel yell into the inbox? Yes. By the way, you missed a really great

opportunity for a pun earlier in the program um my dad puns are are uh not up to speed today like i'm also boring your computer you are mine is still uh suffering the the aftershock of the the breakdown last week. Oh, okay. Still? The Windows shutdown is still affecting your computer? Yeah, yeah. Did you just leave it with the tech guys and go fix this? Blue screen thingy, fix. I didn't even get, I went in, so I felt bad for our IT guys on Friday.

It was a nightmare scenario, right? But I went in with my laptop and the guy just looked at me and he was like, no, not today. I was like, I didn't even get to ask the question. He's like, no, go home. Go away for the weekend. What was me and he was like no no i didn't even get to ask the question he's like no go home go away for the weekend what was the pun no i gotta find i can't yeah you can't just bring this up and then have to search through everything he's not used to scrolling on a macbook it was when we were talking about and frege was talking about should have seen him trying to use the mac he's like pawing at the screen i am so bad to be fair

though i will admit as someone that also hates Macs and has been using a PC his whole life going from a PC to a Mac very quickly is jarring especially when you don't have that right click button like you don't think about it once you've been using a Mac for a while like in radio school there was all Macs so I really got used to Macs I was good with them

it wasn't a problem but if you quickly go from a PC to a Mac it's jarring man it messes you up it's like they do stuff on purpose to make that transition difficult. Yeah, no, we're not going to give you a right click. That's too convenient. They switch the side the X's are on the corner. Okay, I remember the pun now. It was because Greg loves dad puns.

And Elliot Friedman came on our show and was talking about that Hungary was a rowing power. And then Jason asked, why are they so into rowing? And I looked at Greg and I'm like, why are they so hungry? I was looked at greg and i'm like why are they so hungry i was like say it just say it someone has to do it yep and then someone said they are hungry for the hunger they're hungry they got the hunger hungar it was right up your alley but do you think there's do you think do you think there's something about does hungary have a lot of i looked it up rivers and lakes or did they just have one good Olympics? And then they're like, we're investing in this.

They had a lot of, this is our thing now, whether anyone likes it or not. Yeah. They like take kids away from their families early on. It was like, you're a rower now. Yeah.

Tethered rowing. Say goodbye to your family. You'll never see them again. Can I have both? They're like, no, no, you can't.

125 years of rowing history, no, you can't. 125 years of rowing history in Hungary, by the way. And it was because they had great success first at the 1908 London Olympics. Oh, so this has been going back a long time. Yeah. They've been a rowing powerhouse and I haven't even known it? Or is it more, I didn't even know canoeing and kayaking had been in the Olympics for that long. That hasn't.

Why is Hungary so good at rowing? What's the historical? Literally just talking about that, my friend. I can't do this any clearer. They had a- God, you're worse than Halford sometimes. So Hungary is into rowing? They had great success in the 30s. No, no, no, sorry.

I don't mean at the Olympics. Historically, pre-Olympics, why are they so good at rowing? I heard that part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Would you, if you really want to know. Well, is there something about the geography of the country? Yeah, that's what I want to know. Like, I get the Olympic history.

I want to know why they, as a country, are all good rowers. I thought maybe they just had one really good rower early on, and it was like, I don't know. Okay, you want to, okay, here we go. Okay. and it was like, I don't know. Okay, here we go. A trip to England in 1822 by the wealthy Hungarian intellectual leader Count István Szczesny planted the seeds. Szczesny saw rowing on the Thames in London.

This looks easy. We can do this. Yeah. A year later, he returned to England to watch the first Oxford versus Cambridge University boat race. Oh, that's a big one. And then took it back to Hungary

and they became a rowing power. Did you bring back any goods? Any jewelry? Anything financial for us? It's exhausting. You gotta wake up early in the morning to do it. Count Eastfod, what is boat? I brought it back with me from England. There are lots of rivers in Hungary. Did you see the

Calgary Flames unveiling their plans for their new arena? The one thing, and you know this is a Vancouver take. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's the practice facility? That's all you want to know. Did you see the practice arena is like underground? Oh.

It's kind of right beside the arena, but there's going to be like fields on top of it. So it's almost like a bunker practice. Subterranean. Yeah. So they have a bad game. It's like, get top of it. So it's almost like a bunker practice. Subterranean. Yeah, so they have a bad game. It's like, get in the bunker. We're skating lines today. Yeah, I did see this. By the way, that's the first and only radio pivot

in sports history that goes from Hungarian rowing and its history to the new Flames Arena. This is going to happen a lot this time of year. It's the Olympic season. So it's called Scotia Place, which I guess Flames fans are upset about because it's too close to Rogers Place, and they want to differentiate from Edmontonians. They couldn't call it Scotia Bank Place

because Ottawa's rink used to be called Scotia Bank Place, no longer called Scotia Bank Place. Now it's just Scotia Bank. You know what I got to say? Bring back Coliseum. Yeah. We don't have enough Coliseums anymore. Or gardens. We don't have any Coliseums anymore. Or gardens.

Yeah. We don't have any gardens anymore, do we? Arena is fine because it's an arena. Place. Like what? Place. I don't care. It's so nondescript.

What is it? It's a place. It's a place. Stuff happens. Yeah. It's like calling a car. It's just like. This one's our.

It's like a Ford car. That's our latest car it's a Ford car what does it do? it drives it's a car don't ask any more questions yeah Scotiabase

this one's called the cauldron they've already tagged it with a nickname oh yeah yeah because the organizers are calling the exterior of the roof

because they made it to look like flames on the artist's rendering so this will be called the cauldron the fire pit yeah it's smaller than the saddle dome it's only than the Saddle Dome.

It's only going to hold between... Wait, what? Really? Well, capacity for the Saddle Dome was ridiculous. Dating all the way back to when it was first opened, the Flames used to have crowds over 20,000 at the Saddle Dome. Plus the trend is more intimate, smaller. This one's got really steep, I guess, bowls, you would call them. It's based on the Red Wings new arena, which apparently is a pretty good arena to watch hockey in.

You know the disappointing thing about all these new arenas now, though, is that they're all kind of the same. Yeah. Like there's no Boston Garden. There's no Montreal Forum. Utah's different. Yeah, Utah's going to be a little different, but it's like, there's no Montreal Forum. Utah's different. Yeah, Utah's going to be a little different, but it's like, it's not functional. But like the other ones, I mean, the Boston Garden,

it was always a story when the Canucks went in there or any team went in there, people were like, okay, well, the arena is like tiny and, you know, the Boston Garden was not a big arena. I think the capacity was something like 14,000 for hockey, but the fans were right on top of you. Everything was so different. I mean, St. Louis had this bizarre building,

and, you know, Pittsburgh played in the Igloo, and that was a weird building. I'm not saying they're cookie cutters necessarily, but there's no real like – They had more personality back then. Like what would you say – Oh, JD and Coquitlam said had more personality back then. What would you say- Oh, J.D. and Quikwitlam said you forgot Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden-

You said there are no more gardens. There is still one garden. Okay, but Madison Square Garden is the only arena where I'd say, yeah, that place has personality. Yeah. You're going into the- One of the most famous sporting arenas in the world. Yeah, and it wasn't, and I know it had a heavy renovation, but I think the spirit of the

garden is still there. All the other arenas, is there an arena where you're kind of like, wow, like the Canucks are going there? Climate Pledge, Seattle. I've never been. I feel like it's a- The Bruins play a TD Garden. Okay, there are two gardens.

You guys are like, there are no more gardens anymore. There are still two gardens. None of the newer rinks being built are being called there. There's two gardens left. But the new Seattle rink seems like it's interesting. It's got the roof. It's a little bit underground. Isn't there a big window, too?

Yeah, on the upper floor. Yeah. Of current rinks, like I always... Could be scoreboards. I think my problem with them, basically, is they're all too nice. Yeah, I want the next arena to be really weird. It has to be avant-garde, like really strange

artwork on the walls. Totally. The seats rotate 360 degrees. Or just make it like a real dump. And so the fans there are just kind of like real blue-collar fans.

Intimidating. Yeah, make it intimidating. Chain link fence. You never hear... They sit down in a seat and it's like, ah, there's like a screw sitting out of you

sticking out of that. We need a chain link fence. We need a ring that has a chain link fence instead of... Chain link bring. You never care. You sit down in a seat and it's like, ah, there's like a screw sitting down. You're sticking out of that. We need a chain link fence rink. We need a rink that has a chain link fence instead of glass. Chain link bring back. I mean, they brought back the old school baseball stadiums. Bring back the old school hockey arena. Like our hockey, our rink is half the size of a regular rink. There's a lot of hitting out there.

Yeah. You never liked the United Center. I like the United Center. The United Center is too big, man. It's too big. It that's like the staple center of where the hell they call it down in la now they're they're way too big i mean that is a problem when the united what's special about the united center crowded and loud that was it crowded most nhl arenas are crowded 22 000 people it was very crowded it is big yeah but it's almost too. And if you didn't have the tradition of the national anthem, it would just be another arena.

Yeah. Okay. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about JanPro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace demands a clean environment, contact JanPro for a free, no obligation quote. Visit them online at janpro.ca. Coming up in the final hour of the program.

Uh, we are going to do our, what we learned. We're going to do our ticket giveaway. We're also going to be joined at eight o'clock by Roger Bennett from the men and blazers podcast. Uh, of course, also the Rexham this week in Rexham podcast, which of course Rexham will be coming to BC place this weekend to take on the white caps in a highly anticipated exhibition match. That's all coming up in the final hour of the Alfred and breath show on

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