Halford & Brough in the Morning - The BC Lions Have (Momentarily) Abandoned Nathan Rourke

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason do some Ask Us Anythings (6:00), plus the boys set up the final game of the regular season for the BC Lions tomorrow with radio commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (26:28), as the Leos will be going with Vernon Adams Jr. as their starting QB for the matchup instead of Nathan Rourke.  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 Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Laddie, what a pull. What a pull. Fiesta Friday, I had to. John, can't see Noel. Feliz Navidad.

Great call. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in hour two of the program. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Noted Yankees fan is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuck at Jason.Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.Mortgage. 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, to the phone lines we go. It's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. AJ, good morning, brother. How are you? Well, Christmas is canceled in my house this year. There will be no Feliz Navidad.

And Laddie, I know you did that on purpose. That's nice. No way. What are you talking about? So for those that haven't been to AJ's, it is a fantastic pizza place, a great hangout joint, but it is also a mini shrine to the New York Yankees. The walls are adorned with many famous Yankees throughout the decades and generations, and you are a diehard Yankees fan.

So I got to ask you, it's not curtains last night. Obviously, it's a long way from it. How are you feeling after that very dramatic turnaround and loss for the Yanke curtains last night. Obviously, it's a long way from it. How are you feeling after that very dramatic turnaround and loss for the Yankees last night? I mean, I'm with you. That was one of the wildest three innings I have witnessed, and I've been watching playoff baseball, well, since I was six. I mean, it was wild.

It was wild. It was gut-wrenching. It's everything playoff baseball is about. If you're on the other side of it, I mean, no one in cleveland's asleep i'm assuming they're still up um how are you feeling it was why how are you feeling about the series now oh i i think the yankees are are a much better baseball team but that always doesn't translate today today's game today's game is two guys who haven't pitched in almost a month, which is wild. But, no, I like their chances.

I mean, come on, you're one. You're 0-2 away from being up 0-3. Well, being up 3. But I would say this. It was 20 years ago, Ralph, have you pointed out, but it was 20 years ago last night when Dave Roberts stole second, and that just, and there you go and then it all started. So I'm actually

taking a little hope from this because if they were up 3-0 maybe they'd blow it again on the 29th. Okay. Has Cleveland been long suffering like the Red Sox were? Maybe this is just what teams need to break their curse. They need to come back in historic fashion against the Yankees in the ALCS.

It's possible. That could be. That could be. Let's hope for my wife's sake that that's not the case. Okay, this weekend at AJ's, I'll remind everyone, if you swing by on Saturday, the Canucks are on. That means you get specials on pints, Pilsner pints, for $6. And then Sunday, happy hour all day so you can watch football, eat pizza, and drink beer.

Did I get everything covered there, AJ? You got everything covered. And plus, we have the Atmospheric River, right? So what better thing to do than drink beer and eat pizza? I love it. Thanks, buddy. We'll see you this weekend. Absolutely.

Take care, guys. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Go check him out. A reminder, Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. Think about it. $100 gift card to AJ's. Atmospheric River. You can take that 100 you can just go nuts this weekend at aj's drink all the beer eat all the pizza you just go by yourself don't invite anyone be solitary you know i've

told you this before but i've never had a meal by myself in a restaurant that's crazy man i like i i'm i'm shocked because you've also done a decent amount of traveling for work. And did you always just need me there with you to order your meals for you? I never thought about it. He'll have the grilled cheese. Yeah, please.

Chicken fingers in the shapes of dinosaurs. I never, I never thought about it until you brought it up. Not even like just going out for breakfast or something. You're like, you had a night and you're just're just like i'm just gonna go out for breakfast and grab i've eaten food by myself before but i've never gone to a restaurant been like table for one and sat by myself at a table i've never done it i love it i absolutely love it have you done

it a dog yeah i'm sure i must have some point like you're traveling and you want to get away from the band members one night and you go to a fancy. Well, what about if you're just like hanging out? I mean, you're hanging out by yourself. You don't work in the middle of the day. You're like me. I often go out after the show and I'll go for like a breakfast or something like that. You've never done that.

Just never gone into a restaurant for breakfast. No. It's bizarre, man. You haven't lived. Are you that? You haven't lived. You haven't been alone enough. You haven't lived until you are you that old you haven't lived you haven't been alone you haven't lived until you've been alone for a meal laddie have you done that before you've gone to a restaurant but like table for one laddie that's me and you just sat by yourself

i think i've white spot a few times i've done it for breakfast like like bruv yeah just go out and go on their table for one you don't feel like cooking you want to go out and get awesome you just scroll your phone yeah it's catch up on things i did with myself i have kind of re-evaluated my entire 45 years on the planet now that I know that I've never done this. Usually if I go, especially if we were on the- No one's going to hold your hand. I prefer company.

I prefer having somebody. Yeah, of course. Well, I'm not afraid to go by myself. Well, it depends on the company. Hold on. Let's not go too far. Rich with Anaskis Anything here. He says, after watching last night's New York-Cleveland game,

which had a fantastic ending, what is your best memory of a storybook ending where a team you follow had that type of nail-biting ending? Well, Rich, let me tell you. Came last night in Sunrise, Florida, where the Canucks had lost their first three games of the season, and they desperately needed a win uh and and JT Miller delivered at the same time as that Cleveland New York game it was a real where were you moment it was uh it was nail-biting the funny thing was

it was like watching that game and someone someone um replied to me on X. I don't want to call it Twitter. Just call it Twitter. I don't know. And he said, that had a playoff intensity. And I was like, I didn't disagree. Yeah, man. It was, I mean, it's crazy to say that,

but it was like the Panthers were really invested too. Yeah. And that game got kind of nasty. That was big boy hockey in the third period. It was the Canucks. Again, I said this earlier, and Rick Talkett asked the Canucks to dig in, and they really did dig in. I thought they played really hard.

And the Panthers probably, knowing that they're without Kachuk and Barkov, some of those guys in the lineup probably were like, the top end guys like Reinhardt and Bennett were like, all right, well, it's up to us to really carry the mail. And then the other guys in the lineup are probably playing for NHL jobs, so they were playing really hard as well. I'm glad you brought this up because I also noticed the level of intensity

for game four of 82. You know what the first thing I thought was? I wonder if Florida's going to burn out because they played so much hockey last year. And Maurice's style for success with this team is very demanding. They play a very demanding style. I'm not trying to pin, like, you can't draw a line between that

and the injuries that they have. Like, Kachuk's sick. He's not hurt. And Barkov's injury is just, it's a run-of-the-mill injury. It's not like he got hurt. But I do wonder if there's going to be a wear down effect because they ask a lot of Verhege and Bennett.

We saw Reinhardt get, you know, jostled and leave the game last night. We saw Gajewicz get hurt and not return. So I do wonder about that. By the way, on this topic of conversation, the ask us anything. So for me, everyone knows the Kirk Gibson home run against the A's. Right. And I've told this story before.

Yeah. You were on the other side of it. You're a big A's fan. I could be, you know, like the reboot of the karate kid where they do it from the Cobra Kai. I should do like a one person play about how terrible this heroic Kirk Gibson home run was.

How he's a villain in my eyes, not a hero because he ruined Dennis Eckersley and really that team that should have won the World Series that year. Oral Hershiser also played a big role. I don't care for him either. That guy won so many games. Yeah. Weighing 130 pounds. He looked like a huge dork.

He was. He was the biggest nerd. And then Greg Maddox came around. He's like, I'll take that title. But for a while, his name was Oral. He was the biggest string bean on the planet but man he could chuck oral could chuck dude he could throw uh jimmy from north van ask us anything by going down oh two and winning the way they did last night with a two percent chance and

a pinch hitter you've never heard of is it safe to say the cleveland guardians are embracing the hard uh yes it is uh They are embracing the challenge. And it's funny because I was thinking like, did I just join the Cleveland Guardians bandwagon? Because it would be incredible if they were able to come back and win this series against the hated New York Yankees. That would be great. But then I was kind of like, yeah,

but then we'd have the Cleveland Guardians in the World Series, although that would be pretty cool. Only if they could pull it off, though. Only if they could pull it off. I only want Cleveland to win this series if they actually have a chance to win the World Series. I don't want to see them go to the World Series and get blown out by what's likely going to be the L.A. Dodgers.

Right. So that's what I'm worried about. Yeah, like that's the kind of choice. Do you go with the potential? And what are the odds right now of the Guardians actually winning the World Series? First of all, they'd have to come back to the Yankees, and then they'd have to beat the Dodgers probably, assuming that there's not a miracle Mets comeback.

So it's probably like 3%. Yeah. My concern with Cleveland going to the World Series is I think they'd be spent probably emotionally and physically. They probably have to run out all their arms to beat the Yankees in the ALCS. And I also worry about the Magic running short

of the World Series. That's what I don't want the Mets. I think the Mets' Magic has run out. They've come up against the Dodgers. They're getting bombed. Has there been a good game in that series? No. No, there hasn't.

That game last night between the Guardians and the Yankees has saved this round of the playoffs because everything else has been pretty flat. I got one here. Nick on the drive who wants us to know that he is a watch guy. That's important. Where's a watch? Yeah. It's not like watching a wristwatch. He's watching you right now. He might be.

We're on kind of television. Ask us anything halford mentioned checking his watch during the baseball game are you guys quote-unquote watch guys and if so what do you wear or are they obsolete tech for the olds i don't look at it like that i look at it more as like a fashion piece now oh yeah because you don't need it for functionality but i do i wear i i got right now i got this as as a uh it was a birthday or christmas gift was that one of those calculator watches uh no i remember when my dad had one of those in the 80s i'm like you are the richest man in the world it's one of those big font watches uh no this is this is a this is a

garmin watch and i like like to track my heart rate. It's got a lot of numbers on it. Just in case I have a heart attack or something. I'm like, why is my heart rate 185? I'm just sitting on the couch here. The searing pain in my chest won't tell me. My watch will. A lot of people wear those Apple watches.

It's like your wallet now, right? You just tap it. We're such an old man. A lot of people wear those Apple watches now. Yeah, they do. Really trendy. Those Macintosh watches. Have you ever been intrigued?

It took me a long time to get used to this watch, though, because for all my life, I didn't wear a watch. I think the last watch I had before this one was a Swatch. Nice. In elementary school. Those were pretty sick. I was like, you can see through in all the gears. It's pretty cool.

I just got my two-year-old to watch. You did? She's obsessed with time and looking at clocks. Did you go big? Did you go Rolex? No, we just got her like a little...

Is it the big picture thing? She's like, time is ticking by. No, she's not existential yet. Calm down. She started singing Cats in the Cradle. You cried.

She just really likes numbers. I've always wanted to buy the big, like, F-off off ornate over the top gold watch maybe with some diamonds like a bling watch i don't know what that because they look cool they don't look cool they look like you're trying to show off yeah i know then you get targeted yeah totally you'd be mugged within five seconds yeah i know i want i want to live that life man what can i say yeah i like the videos really are you being serious right now like you want to live that life, man. What can I say? Yeah. I like the videos. Really? Are you being serious right now?

Like you want to show off watch? I would never. You don't strike me as, like you wear sweatpants all day. You're not showing off. I know that's where you show your true wealth. It's like, I don't, I spend the money on the clothes.

I spend it on the bling. Yeah. I want to chain. Watches don't. Maybe it says half or something like that. I don't know. Watches don't really interest me in terms of, but like I appreciate that people,

I appreciate, this is the same with cars. People who are interested in cars, not for the show-off factor and watches for that matter, but for they just appreciate the engineering of them. Because the watches that, well, seriously, the craft that it takes to create those fine watches is really quite incredible because they're so tiny. How do you make them? It's true.

Do you just use tweezers? How does it happen? How does it happen? It's incredible. Those Swiss people, man, I tell you. They are very precise, aren't they? Yeah. A buddy of mine dropped 10K on a Rolex,

and I thought, like, I'm like, you're the wealthiest guy I know. Second wealthiest guy to Jason's dad when he had the calculator watch. Yeah. Yeah. So this is from Burnaby Berto, and I mentioned this earlier. Ask us anything. Do you guys believe in alternate universes? Now, Halford doesn't think existentially much.

I do. I spend a lot of my time thinking about it, and that's why I'm such a wreck. I do wonder about alternate universes, and then I freak out because when I start thinking about infinity, because there's a theory out there, I'm sure I'm not going to do it justice, that, you know, there are infinite universes out there. So everything that you can possibly conceive of is happening in an alternate universe. Everything. Everything. Everything. Like, there is a universe out there where the Canucks have played a billion games

and they've won them all by exactly the score of 173 to 4. Right? So when you're talking about alternate universes, do you mean different universes with different people in them or they're all the same they're all us doing different things yes and yes because everything because they're different because everything those are two different things now if you're talking like the butterfly effect where every decision you make has no i'm

not talking about that but no no but every decision you make has a branching path right so you can make a million decisions and each one of those decisions is its own universe. The butterfly effect. Yeah, what I just said. So that in itself is an alternate universe theory, which I've always loved. It's super interesting. And then there's the one where, because the universe is infinite... Do you guys want to smoke a joint right now?

Dude. I don't want to get hired right now. The furthest I've ever gone down the alternate universe road is when I read a choose your own adventure book in like grade four. That was it.

I knew that there was two realities and then from there it splintered off into another couple of realities and that's where it stopped. It's like this is too much for me.

It's the we're living in a simulation. Can I just read this book start to finish? Will that work? Sorry. We're living in a simulation and the odds

are extremely high that we're not living in the true reality that we're actually living in one of these simulations the odds are extremely high that we're not living in the true reality, that we're actually living in one of these simulations. What was the score that you posted in your alternate? 173 to 4? Yeah, every game. So you're saying we're in the Matrix?

Is that what you're saying? How bad are the other GMs in this alternate universe? Yeah, that's a weird... There's no salary cap in this. For some reason... No hard cap. All the alternate universes... It's a great alternate reality.

In all the alternate universes, for some reason, Jim Benning still traded for Oliver. There was no universe where he didn't do that. Peter in Cloverdale, Texas. We have the same birthday, similar sadness. Now we wear the same watches. I'm on my second Garmin watch. Been wearing one for over eight years. I'm constantly checking my steps.

Yeah, now I'm a slave to my steps on my watch not a bad thing i like to get 10 000 a day that's the general rule yeah i failed yesterday quite badly actually i think it was about 3 000 how many did you get 10 yeah just 10 yeah uh steven north sanich good morning with what we learned it's amazing how much a goal one millimeter over the goal line, a second with a five-minute review for a hand pass off the faceoff, and an overtime goal strongly helped

because the other coach was experimenting with using three forwards. This can all really improve your mood. I didn't want to go down this road, Steve. I didn't want to qualify or quantify every single thing that happened last night. There was some good fortune in the Canucks' favor, but over the course of 82 games,

you're going to get games like that where things work in your favor. Mm-hmm. Right? I thought the review on the face-off was a wild move. I thought that was a crazy review. I made a joke.

But didn't you think that was a glove pass? But I was like, can you even challenge that? Well, yeah, you could. I don't know. I like to joke that i thought that i thought they were going to call that back on a glove pass the referees went over and all they did was look at the tablet and be like can we actually review this like not even i just love to think of the the conversations that they're having with toronto's like does anyone know the rules here

check the rule book real quick well is colin campbell there does he know the rule and then i thought here's my other theory on this one. I felt like Paul Maurice was trying to make a point that you could challenge it as opposed to actually thinking he could win the challenge.

That's why he did it? That's why he, because he said after... He wanted to prove that he could do it. But don't you think out of spite?

Didn't you laugh? There's a little bit of spite involved. Didn't you laugh when the referee didn't really offer any explanation? He's like, after further review, it's a goal.

I love those reviews. That's the main thing. Then it's like, well, I can't argue with that. They said it was a goal. You want to expand on that? He's like, no, I'm not. Because after the game, Maurice said he passed it. He still said the same thing.

He passed it with his glove. Well, I think he did. So why didn't they review it? Why didn't they pull the challenge? Why didn't they alter the call? Because maybe they couldn't find definitive proof based on the camera angle that it only hit his glove. Because when I was watching, I was like,

it might have also tipped off his stick as well. Like, did it go glove, stick, and then he won the draw? Because, I mean, it is – I've never pondered this. This is something you ponder in an alternate universe, right? Like the linesman drops the puck and the players get their sticks and gloves under the puck before it actually hits the ice. It hits the glove. It's a one face off. That's a glove hand pass.

Is it not? I don't know. I thought so. Also, that's what he was doing. And then so not only does he lose the challenge, but they can actually get a power play. Yeah, they did nothing on the power play, so it's fine. And then Steven Nortz-Sanich also mentioned the goal

one millimeter over the goal line. That, of course, is the Bluger goal. It was adorable when Adog chimed in on our thread. He's like, what, that, wait a minute, that Bluger goal counted? Like, did you just? Well, I wasn't watching. I was in first grade.

I was going home, coming home from work. But then Florida had one on the goal line that didn't go. That was the Rodriguez goal. Yeah. It wasn't as close. The Bluger one was definitively... Pretty close. Eh. If it's touching the goal line, it's close. But the puck got lost. Like, it wasn't like there was much of a debate when you saw the replay. It was like, well, you can't

overturn anything on the ice. But still, you're an inch away from a pretty big swing in the hockey game. Either way. So, I in real, I missed the Bluger in real time because I was flipping back and forth, but did he do a celebration or did he do anything demonstrative when he did his wraparound or did he just keep playing? Because Rodriguez threw his hands up at the side

of the net. I think he hesitated for a second, but then they just. Okay, yeah. Because I would, when I saw the replay, I'm like, oh my God, that's in. That's awesome. It was just barely, but it was in. I like this text. Is there an alternate universe where your show is good? Well, there has to be, right?

No. That's the only exception to the infinite universe's rule that there is never a universe where our show is good. Each one is progressively worse than the other. Okay, let's take a look at the Canucks' upcoming schedule because they go into Philly on Saturday to play a Flyers team that has really kind of had their number over the last little while. I think the Flyers were 2-0 against the Canucks last season,

and they beat them earlier this season, which is only four games old, although the Canucks had a good chance to win that game and it did get to a shootout. So the Canucks go into Philly on Saturday and then they go to Chicago to finish this four-game road trip. That game, I believe, is on Tuesday. I don't have the schedule right in front of me. It's on Tuesday.

That's a Seelov's game, I'm going to call it. I'm going to say they're going to go back with Lankanen on Saturday. You think so? See, that'll be, I'm almost 100% sure that Lankanen will start Saturday in Philly because he's already played the Flyers. Yep. But if he plays well in that game

and the Canucks get a win, don't you have to come back to him? Sorry, let me rephrase that. I'm not saying like, ooh, that's a Seelovs game. I'm saying like, that's a Seelovs game. Like I want them to, I think it's just play Lankanen in both. But I'm looking at- I know Tauket wants to keep Seelovs engaged and playing

and he doesn't want to have a big break. But I don't know. We'll see how things go against Philly. Lankanen might not play well, and then Seeloff is the obvious starter for the game against Chicago. This sets up well for the Canucks, this Flyers game. I think anyway.

I watched it last night. I think that... Just in terms of the Philly schedule and the way they have to travel, they just played in Seattle last night. Yep, they gave up six. It was a long road trip. They're probably pretty happy with how it went,

aside from the Seattle game, which was kind of a disappointment. They lost in Edmonton as well. Yeah, they played okay, though. Yeah. They played well. They blew a lead, didn't they? Yeah, but they played well.

Okay. And they had a legitimate gripe that they should have got a power play in overtime when Sanheim came in on the net, and then McDavid. Now, it's funny. If you listen to the Edmonton broadcast, it was a good defensive play. If you listen to the Philly broadcast, it wasn't as good. I like this getting to see him a second time. Philly's all right. Mitchkoff's very good. The hype was real there. Mitchkoff's very good. Philly's just got Vancouver's number. So we'll see. The Canucks return home after this four-game road trip,

and there's three pretty interesting opponents that are coming in, all from the East. First of all, October 26th, which is a Saturday. It's Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and the rest of the old guys from Pittsburgh visiting. Gino's off to an incredible start to the season in terms of individual point totals. Sid is always good.

Then Carolina and then New Jersey. So those are three tough opponents as well. I know the Penguins didn't make the playoffs last season, but they're always going to be a test with those types of top players coming into town. Carolina has been one of the best teams in the NHL, certainly in the regular season for the last little while. And New Jersey, they're looking really good right now, now that they've gotten a little bit healthy and they've, I guess,

solved their goaltending issues with Jacob Markstrom. So five pretty interesting games coming up for the Vancouver Canucks, two of them on the road, three of them at home. We got lots more hockey talk coming up, but we're going to take a little break to talk about the BC Lions, who have made a really significant decision to start Vernon Adams in their final home game of the regular season. It's technically, based on the standings,

a meaningless game against the Montreal Alouettes because the Lions are definitely going to finish third in the division and travel to either Winnipeg or Saskatchewan for a playoff game. But they have abandoned Nathan Rourke. I know. And they're going with Vernon Adams. And there's still no decision on who's going to start for the playoffs. But this is a very interesting game suddenly for the BC Lions. This meaningless game against the Montreal Alouettes has meaning.

We'll discuss that coming up with the Moj on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's the Moj. I did not eat four burgers.

Yes, it's the Moj. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. It's the Moj. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. It's a millennia. Yes, it's the Moj.

Halpert's fine, but, you know, Brumf is just grumpy all the time. It's the Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. It's the Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj. Moj.

Moj. It's the Moj. 733 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 2 of the program. Moj is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominick from Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason

shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Just kidding. Let him do exactly that. Visit him at jason.mortgage for more. Let's go to the phone lines now. We are joined as we are every Friday here on the show by Bob, the Moj Marjanovic here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Moj? Well, a rough night last night, fellas.

Explain. 1987 UBC football teams going on to the football wall of fame tonight. We're being inducted. So we had an informal gathering that was a lot of fun. You know, you guys have both played on teams. And getting everybody back together last night, it was quite the night of storytelling, so to speak. Where'd you guys go?

There was like a private room they have at the Shark Club. Fancy. It's called a cigar room, even though you can't smoke a cigar. We'll figure on that one, right? Yeah. Well, I'm glad you were able to shake off the cobwebs and join us, because this is a very important hit, Moj. The BC Lions are making a quarterback change,

and their final game of the regular season, Vernon Adam Jr. is going to be behind center when they take on the Owls this weekend. And what's more, Rick Campbell said it at practice this week, this could be his chance to seize the starting job for the playoffs. Walk us through it. When you first heard the news that they were going to VA, were you surprised, not surprised?

What was the Moj's reaction? I was not surprised. I mean, the team needs a spark. I mean, what's that old expression, in case of emergency, break glass? This move defines it, right? This is a team that just did not play well in Saskatchewan. It didn't show up, to be honest. And they're looking for something.

And, you know, football, like hockey, it's one of those sports that, you know, in hockey, if you've got a great goalie, you have the belief that even if you don't play that great, you still will probably win because this guy's going to bail you out. Conversely, if you have a goalie that's not too good, and same thing in lacrosse, and that's where I gained my experience from, but, you know, if you've got a goalie in lacrosse that's not that great, it's like, man, we're almost

down a goal or a couple of goals to start the game, right? And same thing in football. I mean, if you believe in your quarterback and you have the feeling that this guy can get it done, you're up a touchdown. Conversely, you're almost down a touchdown if you have doubt about your quarterback. And unfortunately, I just think with Nathan's

performance this year, and it hasn't been poor. Let's be honest there. It hasn't been really bad, but it hasn't been Nathan Orr circa 2022, which is a lot of people expected. Even Nathan has those type of expectations in talking to him this week, right? So it just kind of spiraled to the point where, you know, they had to make a change. And, you know, like I said, it's it's it's their seasons on the line because the way things were going, I don't think it was going to change.

I don't think you're going to get Nathan or 2022, you know, basically until he gets a trading cap under his belt. Right. And to be honest, it was very difficult for him. I mean, here's a guy that's been through, five playbooks hasn't played in two years and everybody just expected him to pick up where he left off but um it's going to be interesting because if vernon adams lights it up and they beat the alouettes there's no way you can go back to nathan rick and you know let's just hypothetically say what happens if vernon adams goes on some miraculous run in the playoffs and the Lions go on some miraculous run what does that mean for the future do you think there were some hard feelings in the room or maybe a sense that Vernon Adams got a raw deal when Nathan Rourke

was brought back definitely I don't think that's any question and know, I think it's just one of those situations. I mean, these guys are tight with Vernon. I mean, and I'm talking about the receivers for the most part. I mean, you know, they came down to his home in Tacoma. They had a passing camp. Without a doubt, I think that has come into play because, you know, they were loyal to Vernon. And it's not like they don't like Nathan,

but a lot of them haven't played with Nathan, right? I mean, Alexander Hollis played a little bit. Justin McInnes hasn't played with him. Ed Neberhard hasn't played with him. And the other thing, too, with Nathan, I'll be honest, since he's come back, okay, I'm going to go back to when he took over for Mike Riley. When he took over for Mike Riley, Mike Riley was a future Hall of Famer,

kind of his own separate entity. And he was, I don't want to say he was detached, but he had that status. You know what I mean? Yeah. And when Nathan took over, he was like, you know, just this kid in a candy store having this great time playing football. And he was kind of like one of the guys.

You know where I'm going with that? And not to say that he's not one of the guys now, but now I think he feels the pressure, right? I mean, the contract, you know, what the expectations are, and I think that's really impacted him, right? It's basically kind of, I don't want to say jaded him, but there's just so much more pressure on him now. And he realizes that he tries to meet those expectations.

And obviously it's been a difficult season for him. I got a question for you. Go back to that September 13th game where they lost at home against the Argos and Rick Campbell took out Nathan Rourke at halftime, put Vernon Adams Jr. in. The next game against Hamilton, they went back to Rourke and he played against and put Vernon Adams Jr. in. The next game against Hamilton, they went back to Rourke, and he played against Hamilton, he played against Calgary,

and then he played in that debacle last weekend against the Rough Riders. If you're Rick Campbell, if you could go back in time, ooh, an alternate reality question. If you could go back in time, would you make a different decision, and would you have made that the point where you went with Vernon Adams moving forward from the Argos game instead of going back to Nathan Rourke? Well, you know, right now there's an alternate universe, and that's actually happening, right?

Right. I wish we were there. If you've watched, like, you know, a great show, by the way, in terms of alternate universes, I don't know if you ever watched it, Man in the High Castle. It's filmed in Vancouver, actually. Yeah, yeah, it's good. I think I watched the first season.

Yeah, so basically in an alternate universe right now, the Lions are on a three-game win streak with V.A. With V.A.? No, I mean, hindsight's 20-20, right? I mean, you can always go back and say, well, if they've done this or if they've done this. I mean, who knows, right? You really don't know.

But if you had your choice now, yeah, you'd probably go back and say, well, maybe we get Vernon the next game and see what happens and try to build some momentum with Vernon. But clearly that didn't happen. So, Moj, do you think the way the Lions lost in Saskatchewan contributed to this decision? What did you see? Because I've got to be honest with you, I turned it off.

I guess they kept it close for a little bit against the Riders, but then the Riders really pulled away. Was there any give up was there any quit in their game i don't think there was a give up or a quit i just think saskatchewan was at a different level when it came to intensity right um they just i mean they just wanted it more to be honest they were out there flying around making hits and one of the good indicators of a team and its intensity level is see how many players are around the ball on defense, right? And we call it flying to the football, getting hats around the ball.

And when you see four or five guys around the ball carrier every time, six, whatever, you know that that team is flying around and playing and feeling it. And conversely, when you see a team that, you know, you might only have one or two guys making a tackle, well, it's a little different. I just think Saskatchewan just had a completely different intensity level than the Lions that they didn't match.

And, you know, the opening play of the goal, the second play of the game, I mean, I've never seen that happen where I thought it was an incomplete pass in calling the play. And, you know, Stanbeck dropped it, it hits his heel. It pops up. They juggle it and take it to the end zone.

And right now, the way this team is, their emotional psyche, they're an emotionally fragile team. And that wound up just, you know, they were behind the eight ball the entire night and just couldn't figure out a way to get ahead of the eight ball. So what's at stake for the Lions in these last,

well, hopefully they're not the last two games, but, you know, I have to wonder about the future of the head coach. Without a doubt. I mean, this was a big year for the BC Lions. This was a year that, you know, they're hosting the Grey Cup and that, you know, and Rick Campbell always talked about it and rightfully so. I mean, oh, is there extra pressure to get in the Grey Cup? I mean, there's always pressure to get to the Grey Cup. You don't there's always pressure to get to the Grey Cup. You don't need that as an extra motivation. But clearly, it's something that Lions fans were looking forward to, head coach, pardon me, owner, Amar Doman, was looking forward to.

But you don't even wind up having a playoff game, right? So I think everything's under review at the end of the year. Well, let me rephrase that. Everything's under review at the end of the year anyway, but if this team flames out in the first round of the playoffs in the semifinal, I think there's a possibility that anything could happen, right? I mean, everything's up for analysis and debate. Yeah. Is Montreal going to, do they have anything to play for in this

i think cody fajardo coming back probably wants to knock off a little bit of rust um montreal's an interesting team because they've lost some pieces you know they've lost philpot the kid out of siakam uh great story of course last year in the great cup uh tyson philpot and he's a big part of that offense because it's interesting. When I was watching Montreal play their last game, so much of their offense with Cody Fajardo at the start of the year was just all these hit screens and just getting the balls and the receiver's hands and watching those guys, you know,

pick up a lot of yards after catch. And it was just like it was a different offense. And, you know, Davis Alexander was playing a quarterback. So that might have had something to do with it in that Ottawa game. So maybe they had a different type of game plan. But, you know, Montreal is a team that they play really good defense and they just kind of nickel and dime you on offense. They give you what you take and they they never really get one-dimensional on offense

because their defense always keeps them in games. So they're a tough team to beat, but I think it really all starts with their defense. Okay, Moj, we got an Ask Us Anything food-related from Oz and Squamish to finish off the hit. Question for Moj. When hosting the game with friends, how does the sporting event change what food you serve very interesting yeah

well i think number one if you're making the food you want to make something that's quick right so there's you know if you're watching say football i mean the last thing you want to be doing is spending like three hours in the kitchen and missing the entire game so usually try to make something that takes maybe like half hour to an hour so you know sometimes I make jambalaya sometimes I'll make tostadas sometimes make some pasta but I'm not doing some sort of like you know freaking pot roast or something that takes two hours to cook and you got to check and, you know, make all of these different, like, you know, little accompaniments. No, just make something really quick, something that's quick, but good. And that way it allows you to watch the game.

I know that when we were watching the Euro final with England in it, we were watching with a bunch of English family members down in the States. Yeah. You had awful food or something. Was that the theme? We boiled all our meats. No, Ed. They did bacon sandwiches in Guinness. It was very nice.

It was good. Oh, wow. That's interesting. Yeah, it was good. Okay, Moj. Hey, by the way, before we go, I got to tell you something about food. I found a new, I don't know, it's not a new food group. Somewhere in Saskatchewan last week, right?

Regina had the smoked old-fashioned, the best drink in the league. You have my interest. Got the charcuterie week, right? Regina had the smoked old-fashioned, the best drink in the league. You have my interest. Got the charcuterie board, right? And I'm looking at these, what I believed, I thought they were olives, because they were charred, right? And I kind of like take one of them and start eating. They were grapes.

Charred grapes? Charred grapes. Warm grapes. So good. Interesting. Were they sweet? Yeah. Huh. So, like Interesting. Were they sweet? Yeah. Huh. So like they were like they were like red grapes and I guess they charred

them on the grill or whatever and then they served them with the charcuterie board. So try that. Like, you know, put them on like if you've got a skillet.

Yeah. Like put them on put a bunch of grapes on the skillet, char them a little bit and then try them warm with some cheese. Tremendous.

Food tip of the week, right there. I learn something new every week talking food with you. Thanks for doing this, buddy. We appreciate it. Have a good call on the weekend. We'll do this again next Friday. Have a great weekend, guys. Bob, the Moj Marjanovic. Charred grapes here on the Halford & Brough Show. I like how he called it a new food group.

That's not, that's fruit. I don't know if that works. Very well established as a fruit, Moj. It's no longer sour grapes. You're now charred grapes. Let's do a few more Ask Us Anythings here. Jason in the White Rock. I don't think you just say in the rock or in White Rock. That's like handy referring it to as the Apple Watch. Eh, they got all those, the Apple Watches.

Yeah, I got one of those Apple Watches. A lot of the people are wearing Apple Watches now. I'm like, yeah, they're a successful company, eh, Doug? They just sprung up overnight. Ask Us anything. When does someone officially qualify as having quote unquote old man strength? And Jason writes, is there a specific activity that you have to do to qualify? My kids are getting bigger, but I can still carry groceries longer, open jars more and fix more things.

Curious for your thoughts. I think old man strength, now that I read this text, a lot of it is the opposite of kid laziness. Yeah. Kid laziness is definitely a thing. Like kids have the strength to do stuff. They don't have the willpower. When he says carry groceries, have you ever asked a kid to carry anything?

It's like the biggest ask on the planet. The most arduous task imaginable, apparently. Carrying hockey bags. I have thought. They all got wheels on them now. We used to have to carry it uphill both ways from the parking lot. There's another one too. Dad strength often is involved with moving things that either you shouldn't move on your own or is clearly designed for two or more people to move.

Yeah, but you don't want your kid involved because he'll screw it up. So like moving a fridge or a couch by yourself down some stairs, that's dad strength. There's a certain idiocy that goes along with it. A bit of ignorance that you're going to hurt yourself or that you know that, that, you know, you should have at the very least a spotter. That's why they have those commercials for like safety. Yeah. You know, all of them are thought about doing this ladder thing.

That's right. Changing a light bulb with the lights on, like turn them off. Turn them off. Just do it. Well, how will you know if it's, if it's on or off,

right? You know what? Then you have to get back down the ladder. Exactly. Yeah. Anyway. Okay. That's a

good one uh kevin with an ask us anything which of our local pro sports teams has been the most disappointing to this point in their respective seasons which team do you most expect to pull it out in the end okay uh okay all right uh well let's the first one most disappointing it's not the canucks. Not only have they not been that bad, they're four games into the season. So it's either the Lions or the Whitecaps. I think you got to go with the Lions because they're hosting the Grey Cup and because they made these big additions, bringing back Nathan Rourke and Matthew Betts, the expectations. Not to downplay the disappointment of the Whitecaps season so far.

They are not trending in the right direction and it's possible that their postseason could be over in like what? One knockout game against Portland? Yep. And they might not even get to host that one knockout game depending on what happens this Saturday,

decision day at MLS. Yeah. It might actually be Sunday as well or both or one. I don't even know. That's how I'm just, I know what's going to happen decision day at mls yeah it might actually be sunday as well or both or one i don't even know that's how i'm just i know what's going to happen so but you know what's the line but you know what's funny is i think the answer for both of these questions is the lions because which team do you most expect to pull it out in the end which means win it all right so most expect who has the best odds of winning it all? It's the Lions, because all they need to do is go into the playoffs

and win three games. The Whitecaps winning the MLS Cup seems practically impossible, given, first of all, their form and the fact that there are just significantly better teams in MLS than them. And then the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup, it's just hard. It's just really, really difficult to do that. In the CFL, we've seen the Lions win the Grey Cup after topsy-turvy seasons. I know the odds of them going into Winnipeg and Saskatchewan

and getting wins is low, but I think they're capable of doing it. I mean, yeah, you stumbled upon a funny dynamic here. Yeah, yeah. Right? I mean. It's the CFL. It's a nine-team league. Six teams make the playoffs, and the Canucks are,

or the Lions, not the Canucks. The Lions are hosting the Grey Cup. Yeah. So if they can get there. You've seen sort of like average to above average teams. I mean, what was Montreal, an 11-win team last year? And they went all the way? Well, Toronto the year before, too.

Yeah, it happens, right? So the issue right now with the Lions is that there's been no signs of life over the last four weeks that would suggest that. And that's why they're going to Vernon Adams. It's just like a last ditch effort to try and get something going. And I know we all poked fun at Rick Campbell for, and the talking points out of the lines, they're like, we don't like, because Martin Doman said the same thing. He said, we don't believe it's a quarterback issue.

Oh yeah, why are you changing the quarterback? Sounds like a quarterback issue. They're just trying don't believe it's a quarterback issue. Oh yeah, why are you changing the quarterback? Sounds like a quarterback issue. They're just trying to, and it's like what Moj said. He said, you know, when, two things. Number one, when you have a quarterback that you trust and is playing well, it kind of emboldens the whole team. And number two, Moj says, look, I don't think there's any question that there were hard feelings in that room

when Nathan Rourke replaced an injured Vernon Adams who had actually gotten the Lions off to a pretty good start to the season and Nathan Rourke comes back and is the starting quarterback and Vernon Adams is left out in the cold. So maybe there's a feeling among the Lions coaching staff, which has been critical of his

team's, Rick Campbell has been kind of critical of his team's spirit. I think you can say, and he said, you know, sometimes when things don't go well, we don't respond well. Maybe they think that's someone related to the hard feelings. That's what they're hoping on.

That's what they're banking on. It might be a Hail Mary. This is, I mean, this it's football. This is probably a Hail Mary. Okay. Let me throw something it's football. This is probably a Hail Mary. Okay. Let me throw something at you though. I'll try and catch it.

By putting so much stock in this season and by just trying everything you can to try and make this season salvageable when let's be honest, it just might not be.

It just might not have been in the cards that just because you're hosting it, you're supposed to go. Okay? In this hypothetical scenario, Nathan Rourke's making a lot of money

and he's gonna be the quarterback next year right okay well not necessarily probably but not necessarily okay what happens if vernon adams jr goes on a miracle run and wins a great cup is your quarterback next year that's something that I'd be willing to go through if they can win the Grey Cup. Well, yeah, obviously. It has to be. Okay. Yeah, he is.

Okay. If that exact thing happens, yes, he is their QB next year. I don't think CFL contracts are guaranteed. Like, you could cut Nathan Rourke. Sure. No, I'm just saying. I don't know what the answer is. But that dynamic exists.

Yeah. In which case... But what's the problem? Are you worried about that happening? That's the whole point of the season. But then they never... Well, no, but then I'm just saying, then you look back on this season,

you're like, you probably should have given VA the job back way earlier. Yeah, but you won the Grey Cup. Who cares? You made the right decision in the row. No, no, this season. Yeah, yeah. You should have given him the job back

the moment he was... So that's what you're going to do if the Lions win the Grey Cup. You're going to go back and say, well, You should have given him the job back at the moment. So that's what you're going to do if the Lions win the Grey Cup. You're going to go back and say, well, we should have given VA. We're not going to do anything. It would be amazing. I'm going to sit there and drink and celebrate, right? But that dynamic exists now.

That's all I'm saying. But you think that if they won the Grey Cup with VA, they would go back to Rourke? No. I don't know what they'd do. I have no idea. But let's see. Yeah, let's see it happen.

I think this move, for me, makes this Lions season infinitely more interesting because I had lost all interest. After that Saskatchewan game, I'm like, they're done. At least this gives you the Hail Mary chance. Oh, I get that. And people texting in, you know, Taj texting, VA looks shaky his last two games before injury.

It's not like he was on fire prior. No, he wasn't. No, he wasn't. The thing started to turn for the Lions well before VA got hurt and well before Nathan Rourke joined the team. But this is like, this is the only thing they VA got hurt and well before Nathan Rourke joined the team. But this is like, this is the only thing they can do at this point, I think.

Like they've tried Nathan Rourke and it was like, okay, well one more game, one more game with Nathan. We'll see if it works out. One more game with Nathan. We'll see if it works out. It wasn't working. Yeah.

So go to VA. There's still the option to start Nathan Rourke in the playoffs. If VA goes out, If VA goes out against the Owls and he looks terrible, you can still start Nathan Rourke. You can still start Vernon Adams in the playoffs and bring in Nathan Rourke if he doesn't look good. There are these options out there, and I think they should explore them.

This makes the Lions season more interesting. Rick Dolly, while speaking of very interesting, he is coming up next. We'll talk about last night's win. And I know Dollywall wants to talk about this Lions situation as well. He wants to talk about the Canucks game in Florida last night.

We haven't mentioned Jake Ottinger's extension and Dollywall wants to talk about that as it relates to Thatcher Demko's next contract, which could be a, well, we'll see. So that's Shisterkin, no, not Shisterkin, sorry, Sorokin, Swayman, and Ottinger have all basically signed the same deal now. Yeah. The 8x8.25.

They're not currently hurt. No, they're not. I'll take 8x8.25. You want to play? Sure. I'm just going to play O-line for the Seahawks. You could be a goalie in the National Hockey League. Hips don't're not. I'll take 8x8.25. You want to play? Sure. I'm just going to play O-line for the Seahawks. You could be a goalie

in the National Hockey League. Hips don't work, but I'll get in there. You're listening to the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.