Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Moj & HalBro Make Themselves Feel Old

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk the latest baseball news with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (6:10), plus they talk some Canucks & CFL with analyst Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (27:09). 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.

It's time to chat with Adnan It's Adnan Ferkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball And take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for Ad Nen. Yesen and Ferg he joins us now we'll head out to the ballgame and talk about all the filthy scene. 701 on a Friday happy Friday everybody Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. See the problem with administrative nonsense sometimes is it can run the program askew.

AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us despite the fact we're playing Adnan Burke's music, but Adnan Burke was supposed to go yesterday. AJ always goes at 7 o'clock on Friday. It's time to talk some pizza. With AJ? Yeah. What did you say? AV to AJ? That's close enough. AJ to AV. Yeah, that's close enough, right? Anyone listener land? All right, Halford and breath 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 our two of the program our two is brought to you by Jason Hominock at Jason dot 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. To the phone lines we go, it's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, AJ? What is going on? I love these introductions that are happening. It's amazing. We are gonna

get you a jingle soon. Soon my friend. Soon. Okay you gotta ask us anything Zan what we learned so go. Yes why don't I start with what I learned. So Mike Halfred is like you know when you go to like a buddy's poker game and you bring a celebrity and he has pocket aces the whole time and just takes everybody's money. So I invited Mike to my buddy's March Madness pool. And guess who went? I'm taking that money, bro. I am taking that money.

You know what? You know what I did to and I hate myself for doing it. So not only did I enter a complete strangers March Madness pool, I went all chalk. I picked four number ones to make the final four. What an idiot, what an idiot. And then I- All my buddies are like, come on, man.

I'm like, what are you talking about? I picked a couple upsets in the first round. I'm like, oh, Texas Prairie A&M. I like you to go to the second round. There was all ones just straight to the final. So there wasn't triple points for upsets or anything like that. It was just a straight bracket. That's why you got to introduce like triple points for upsets.

It definitely changes the bracket. Well, I'm cheering for you, my friend. I could still not win, by the way, because I think if Duke beat I got Florida winning it, you have Florida winning. If Duke beats Florida, I think I lose. So some other jerk took all four top some other loser radio show host also took all number one seeds. OK, there's what we learned out of the way. You shoot us and ask us anything, but I got an AUA. So I mean, unless obviously you've been living in a cave, you understand the political landscape.

I mean unless obviously you've been living in a cave, you understand the political landscape. If the Leafs are in the Stanley Cup finals against a team from down south, Ruff, who do you cheer for? Well, I mean, I think that's pretty obvious. I think we have to stay united as a country. I love it. Against the Toronto Maple Leafs and cheer against them. I mean, that's what brings Canadians together is cheering against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And if Alberta wants to do something different, I mean, that's on them.

But, you know, I think we got to stay united and in our, in our disdain for the Toronto Maple Leafs. So I think that's an easy question. Like what, what, what do you, what do you want us to cheer for the Leafs? Like a bunch of Americans? Come on.

The hats are going to be Canada strong and then and brackets underneath against the Leafs. United we gotta stay together. I love it. That's amazing. Okay. We got a big weekend ahead at AJ's. Back to back Canucks games on Saturday and Sunday Sunday Of course happy Arolda and hey March Madness on Saturday as well, bud. March Madness, my friend. Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be a great weekend. The weather looks beautiful too. So yeah, get out, get some slices, get some beers

and enjoy happy hours for sure. And then yeah, we still got to cheer on the cows. 100%. We got a little hope. Yeah, we got 1.6% hope coming in. All right, AJ, thanks buddy, appreciate this. Yeah, take care guys, everybody have a great weekend. Yeah, you too, thanks. That's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway,

the best pizza place in town. A reminder, get your Ask Us Anythings or what we learn in hashtag them, A-U-A or W-W-L. Put a pizza emoji. I'm drawing the triangle with my finger into the text. Uh, you'll be entered into the grand prize drop. Before we talk to Adnan, I'm going to, um, I'm

going to take myself to task here, Jason. Earlier in the show, and this is why it's always important to stay humble, kids. I bragged about how great my memory was, that I remembered that game from last year, where the Canucks, a late season game, and it was a matinee, right? Just like tomorrow's game. You called the Dakota Joshua hat trick game,

and I looked it up, and I don't think he's ever scored a hat trick before. Yeah. Quote, I am so good at this. So, one, you're right, he has never scored a hat trick. He had two goals am so good at this. So one, you're right. He has never scored a hat. He had two goals. He had a brace.

He had a brace. And that was the one where he went between the legs. He scored a Gordie Howe hat trick. Yes. But not a hat trick hat trick. I got most of it right. Can I at least get myself partial credit? Is there partial credit?

Like I got C. Lovz was in that. Still failing great. No, because you bragged about it. Yeah, that's fair. OK. Anyway, they did win that game, I think. I'm gonna go double check.

Three two. Just kidding, they won three two. I remember it. So maybe we'll see a replica tomorrow. Maybe Dakota Joshua will score another two goals tomorrow. Something to wager on, just to think about it. Maybe he will score a hat trick and then we can revisit this conversation.

Ooh. There you go. Good thinking, Greg. Okay, to the phone lines we go. It's not Thursday, it's Friday, but it's still a good day to be joined by Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

What up, Adnan? I'm great, Mike, Jason, how we doing, boys? We're great. There's only one story, and one story only, that we could possibly lead with, and that is Torpedo Bats. They have taken Major League Baseball by storm. It's remarkable that the amount of home runs that have been hit in the first

You know week and a half two weeks of the regular season My question for you is prior to the start of this year Were you aware of the existence of torpedo bats and the follow-up question would be? Did you expect it to be anywhere near this level of offensive explosion because of the tornado or torpedo bats? No and no. Uh, it's amazing learning about it and the fact that bat was engineered by somebody MIT, clearly those guys are much smarter than the bus are. And it was amazing. The first time I heard about it was a week ago. My buddy,

Jake Peeby signed award winner I was working with. And he said, you know, what they've done is they take the so-called good wood, which is in the barrel of the bat, which is course towards the end of the bat, not quite the end, but the hearty part of the bat, and just move it up. And I said, what's the process there? And he said, well, the thought is if you're getting jammed, you'll still be able to get more distance in the bat. I said, well, it's not like it's metal, like in the handle of the bat, also metal with aluminum that's different. He said, no, it's completely legal. And the way the Yankees have used it specifically is amazing specifically is amazing now again it was used a year

ago if you guys were using it uh... air does make clear he's never used it doesn't need it quickly to come in bp i think they were clear five home runs is good with the torpedo batter not one but the story to the impact of the likes of jazz chisholm and if you won't be in paul goldsmithing cody bellinger and austin wells uh... i would just say yesterday fellows those other people who is good at that about

baseball the good news going to ask me if you'd let the majors nineteen home runs this week the bad news is that struck out forty times in the first seventy at bat to the period of the feedback they salvage it last ever scoring a car runs with a surprise nine-seventh it went and we don't like it's good and bad as you know every year so we're going to

their boot up baseball plenty of spirit they were saying what the best plan baseball you guys know what it was the win. And the reason why I say it's good and bad is, you know, I remember years ago working with Aaron Boone on baseball playing ESPN. And we were saying, what's the best play in baseball? And you guys know what it always says, the triple, right? So exciting to watch and Boone kind of laughed. He goes, no, come on, it's the home run. A triple, people get excited about a home run. Everyone stands, everyone goes nuts. Everyone goes berserk. You don't remember a walk off triple. You remember a walk off home run, like Joe Carver or people of a certain age, Bill Mazurowski. So I,

I always remember that conversation. I think of an and good and how it would be good to be a key and his team is torched in the ball like no other and going himself was quoted as saying it's just an advancement in baseball it's just a certain way to adjust the game is still a bit while others are cheating at her any comment from rod man for the commission's office more guys using it again it's not just a he's probably using it the most

and so we use it to the greatest advantage but Ryan Jeffers played with the twins he has torpedo bat a couple of other guys use it as well so honestly Mike it's amazing what a story to become because you're right a week plus in the season that's all anyone's talking about Prime Monday night hockey for Amazon we were in Denver my buddy Joey Shelley does a phenomenal job he has never talked baseball with me and then after the game having a few drinks and some french fries he goes how about this torpedo bat so It's certainly a conversation for everybody, whether it's a baseball fan or not, it certainly has taken the baseball world by storm. Well, they might have their Torpedo Bats and a plus 21 run differential in the first six

games, which is okay, but guess who's first place in the division? It's the Toronto Blue Jays at five and two. Small ball, baby. We were kind of making fun of Laddie, who's probably the biggest Jays fan on the show after the first game, which did not go well for the Jays. What have they done since to turn it around? Well, the biggest thing was the first four games their pitching was just abysmal.

And honestly, Jay, I was talking to people who feel the Jays could contend this year, and he felt like the strength of that team was their starting pitching with Barrios and Gospin and Bassett and Scherzer and Bowden Francis. Of course, can't forget him. He almost had a couple of no hitters a year ago. Yeah, Scherzer gets hurt, Laddish who you kind of predicted that, right?

One year, 50 and a half million for guys that three times signing award winner, but just shell himself. He just always gets hurt. A thumb injury this spring, he was hurt last year. Now it's a Laddish, just who knows. But the rest of the guys have picked it up. And the one story has been great is Andres Jimenez who again a time under the radar now as far as offseason moves the Jays traded for him and the thought was well it'll be a good

insurance option if Bobuchet leaves his tremendous defensively look at his numbers like there's two war and a couple years ago he was good offensively but his stick had gone down a little bit plus he was owed quite a bit of money so it's a basic salary dump for the Guardians but he's been terrific with the Jays he's been able to hit and he's been able to play great defense. Santander was of course their big acquisition. He's a notoriously slow starter and has been that so far, but Boba Shett, thank God, is back to being Boba Shett and it makes sense because

someone said to you, well much of his career he's been great. He just had one offseason. He'll go back to being great. Yes, that has been the case. So he's getting hits again and the pitching has been better with the exception of those two guys, Barrios and Scherzer and, um, Francis again, it's such a great story. And the other day they had a pitcher called up, he was making his first major league start, uh, he was great for them. So, uh, they've really turned it around right now.

It's a nice story. If it is, you'd have some positivity around the Toronto team. Do you think the lack of talk about resigning Bichette had more to do with his struggles or more to do with a certain notion that he didn't want to be with the Jays long-term? You know, I think that's kind of been the rhetoric for a while, Jay. Like, I can talk to people that are all kind of

like, yeah, this is like, Vladi makes it clear. I want to be a Blue Jay. And by the way, when he says he wants to make it clear on his own terms, it's $500 million. So when I tell my boss at MLB network I love working here I want to be here I put it in the happy for salary to be at I just go to do my job I think it's funny like oh he just wants to be here yeah for that kind of money where his bow the feeling is whether it's right or not but he feels

that the cat times he kind of sulked a little bit last year only played 81 games and 71 OPS plus it looks like man he can't wait to get out of here doesn't seem to really chive with Jay's management, whether it's Shapira, Atkins, or Schneider. So I thought it was interesting last year, Bo did come out and go, hey listen, I do want to be here. Like I know there's this narrative that I don't want to, but I do, and I still think people are skeptical about that.

For some reason, he doesn't seem to cling as warmly to Toronto as does Vlad, native Canadian, and all the rest of it. So I don't know if that's fair or not, but so far the way he's playing, if he wants to remain a blue jay he's certainly helping his cause and if he wants to play somewhere else so he's helping his market value you know I like guys on expiring contracts I do because they've

got something to prove there's no question about it I was watching the Phillies game yesterday Schwabers on expiring contract G2 Romuto is on expiring contract Schwabers went deep, Romuto had three hits, Romano the former Jays closer expiring contract had Schwabber went deep. Ray Luttre had three hits. Romano, the former Jays closer, expiring contract. I have to say. So guys get something approved, man. It matters out there. Psychologically, of course you do.

If you sign an eight-year deal, you don't think you'll loosen up a little bit? Whereas if you go, I've got eight months to prove myself or four months to prove myself, naturally it is a motivator. And you're seeing that right now from both. Mad Fientist Do you think the Padres ever feel a little overshadowed in the NLS? They start seven and O and they're like, we must be first place, right? No, the Dodgers are 8-0. What do you think about that race so far? Well, I love the fact they signed Jackson Merrill, who's an absolute stud.

That was extension day on Tuesday. It was bizarre. I was working with Peeve and the great Albert Pujols and three guys signed contract extensions, young players. Catel Marte had two more years left on his deal, the Diamondback. Give them credit. the great albert pools and three guys signed contract extensions young players could tell marty had two more years left on his deal that diamondback give them credit it's the third extension he signed since 2017 they ripped up the final two years game of six for 116 the red sox got a stud and christian campbell early contender for rookie of the year is eating 400 and he gets 60 million dollars fell to playing one week in the majors and it could be a steal eight years for 60 events it could be 100 million dollars but he looks legit and. And then you look at Jackson Merrill, nine years for 135,

but the escalators could be $200 million. He was second in rookie of the year, voting a year ago in San Diego. They absolutely love him. He does everything well. Machado's obviously having a good season. Tateeth is one of my favorite players, one of the most charismatic players in the game. And really it's their pitching fellows. I looked at the numbers yesterday. Dylan Cease was the only starter who had not been incredible. The rest of their starters at a 1.75 ERA and she said, give it up three of the total of nine ones. They've given up by the starters and then she shoved yesterday.

So all of it, he's ready to go. So the pod is talked about. We're really good. They get an excellent ball put a germ, I strut as well. But of course those starters are kind of the guys who are leading charge King and see specifically are excellent pitchers. When you get Jarvis and Musgrove in the mix they'll be even better. So yeah, they're a great team and you're right, they definitely feel like they don't get nearly enough love. But in San Diego they love them.

I've been to Padres games, it's one of my favorite cities in the world. Who doesn't love San Diego? They were third I believe last year in attendance in the majors. Like once the Chargers left, everyone slashes out of the Padres. So it's an awesome park, it's an awesome venue, it's an awesome city, it's an awesome team right now. If you'd never been, so I've never been to Dodger Stadium and I've never been to Petco, if you could only go to one of those, which one would you choose? Wow, that's a great question. So Dodger Stadium is of course historic and that drive up is

fabulous. You kind of go off this, you know, big winding hill and and the backdrop is amazing you got the mountains in the background there and the stadium still holds up around obviously since 1962 they certainly have some amenities as well but honestly when i go with san diego i think it's a beautiful park it's right downtown in san diego right by the gas lamp district they got the tony glenn statue out in right field you see all the fans by the way they sit in the outfit they can just sit in the grass and watch the game and it's a beautiful park. There were some thought they should actually kind of face it the other way, in which case you'd get the water in case of like a PNC park in Pittsburgh, which is my favorite park or San Francisco, of course, again, where you face the water.

So there's some talk of that in San Diego, but instead they chose the beautiful downtown San Diego. It's a wonderful backdrop. It's an awesome park. You got a fire mask everywhere. So it may be heresy for a long time to our Dodgers fans, but I would say if I only have one choice, I go to a game in San Diego.

I think I haven't been to Petco. I've been to Dodger Stadium and I've been to the old Jack Murphy, but San Diego is an awesome place to go. But I do want to focus on the Dodgers here for a second because I think I've watched four of the eight games that they played this year now. They're a perfect eight and oh.

And it is remarkable how deep that lineup is. Like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts have only been in the lineup sporadically and they're still knocking the cover off the ball. Like Edmund, obviously Ohtani, Teoscar's been good, Will Smith, Ken Forte. I mean, it is like, it is a murderer's row right now. Kike Hernandez comes up and he gets big hits.

And nevermind the pitching staff, which is also loaded, but that batting order right now is so tough to get through. It's a great point, Mike. We focused so much in the off season, their pitching, because they ran out of pitchers last year so much, so they had a bullpen game in the World Series. And Dave Roberts did a masterful job. What a job by Dave, by the way.

They were down two, one against the Potters, don't forget. I'm like, they lose one more game, he's out of a job instead he got a four year thirty two and a half million dollar extension the highest paid manager of baseball and of course they won the World Series in no small part the way he utilized that bullpen which is excellent but the story was that the offseason look at their starting pitchers they went and got Blake Snell two times dying award winner he's got more side on they does complete games against Sasaki from Japan is a stud obviously in the world now healthy Kershaw will show up in june or july or trying will start

pitching in may and that's focused but you're right they can bang with the best of them it was five three and i was sitting next to pool so i told albert they're going to come back i'm never right with this stuff i promise you guys i'm not exactly uh... no shabnam here but i'll go back and once you got a hit and also no tiny walked it off like there you go this team is too good and otani's fourth walk-off it third with the Dodgers second walk-off home run and we get the brace for now always said it was a popular key competitors in

national league no team has ever made the class starting on seven others more class but now forced to walk hard but there are some trouble and you're right about that dot is why i'm glad to mention tommy at the city who's underappreciated. I wouldn't say people thought he was done in baseball, Mike, but he was pretty much on the downside. And all of a sudden, he was rejuvenated last year in LA.

He got a new contract. He's been great. They took a flyer in Conforto, almost as like a fourth outfielder. He's been good for them batting sevens, and you're right. With Mookie, who's not 100% healthy, still great. Of course, he can still bang. Freddie Freeman now placed in the IL,

which has to be a first. We talk about weird baseball injuries, how about the fact he's out with a shower mishap? I'd love to know more details about that, but I guess it's just a sprained ankle. Maybe he was just playing with a rubber ducky or something, but ultimately he's out with a shower mishap, but Dodgers have no mishaps.

What is going on with the Braves? Because that's seven straight years they've made the playoffs and now they're 0-7. Yeah, they're waiting for the reinforcements. You know, Strater is a potential perennial Scion candidate, Acuna is a former MVP. But their pitching hasn't been very good so far. After Sale and Schwellenbach it gets pretty dicey with regards to their starters and their bullpen.

And offensively they either had off seasons from guys like Matt Olson who's one of my favorite players, or guys who were hurt like Austin Riley, Ozzy Albies, et cetera. So they're in some trouble right now. They face some good teams, right? There's no question. They're facing the Dodgers though, that's gonna be challenging, but in a division which is very challenging,

you know, at least on paper, I was looking at some of the odds, they have the Phillies right now as the favorites who win the division, then the Mets, then the Braves. And you're right, they're always a playoff team. You think all three of those teams make it, but you can't guarantee anything.

They're really gonna get Strider and Acuna back and figure out they're starting pitching and get back on the winning track and face some easier teams. Adnan, this was great, dude. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week and all the games this weekend.

We'll do this again next Thursday. Awesome. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Jake. Talk soon, boys. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. That's Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Haliford and Bruyff Show on Sports 10650. I wanna do something here. Okay. It is Ask Us Anything Friday. Sometimes Jason and I kick around, ask us anything ourselves. And because we were talking about the Dodgers and

the Padres, it reminded me about this. You had the question, what's something about you as a sports fan that makes you feel old? So remember how I said I went to the old Jack Murphy. Yeah, I was like, you're a Jack Murphy? 1990 end of the year game, meaningless game between the Padres and the Dodgers. Good rivalry, but I think the Padres stunk that year and the Dodgers were really good. So this Kurt Gibson was playing still for the Dodgers. Yeah. And I got to watch Tommy Lasorda waddle out of the dugout

and go nose to nose with the empire. That's awesome. Yeah. That's awesome. And like, I mean, that is, I mean, you want to talk about how old that makes you feel. Like Lasorda obviously he's passed since, but he hadn't managed in such a long time.

And if you, I talked to a current generation, like there's a current generation that has no idea who Tommy Lasorda is. And more importantly, like how he was a, he was a borderline celebrity. No, he wasn't a border like how he was a select. He was a borderline celebrity No, he wasn't a borderline. He was a celebrity He did you know he'd be on like Johnny Carson and all that sort of stuff. What was the Johnny Carson was a talk show host? Tommy lasorda he did Slimfast. He was the pitch man for slim. Yeah, 30 pounds on ultra slim fast. Remember those ads

Yeah, he's still looking. Rotund, but still. Yeah. But anyway, so why? He was a legit celeb. So I was old enough to watch Tommy Lasorda go nose to nose with an umpire in an MLB game at Jack Murphy Stadium, which- I'd actually throw that out to the listeners.

I know not all of you are super young, but what's something that you can say that you did or saw that would be like, yep, you're pretty old. So the reason I came up with that question is I've been watching the Celtics documentary. I think Bill Simmons is a executive producer of it. On HBO, yeah.

Yeah, it's HBO. And it's really good by the way. It's very good. I especially loved the, I think it was the second episode when they went through the issues that Boston had with race and busing and everything. Anyway, if you watch it, you'll see it. And I remembered that I saw the Larry Bird Celtics live. See, that's pretty... You're old.

In Seattle. That blows my mind. Yeah. I remember Robert Parrish running up the court at the old Seattle Center Coliseum which is now the Krakens Arena. It's just been super renovated. Yeah that was my first ever Sonic's game. It must have been late 80s. Yeah. Maybe early 90s, maybe early. You should try and find the box score. I found the game that I went to.

I think I think I might have. But I honestly I know the Celtics won. That's all I know. And I remember seeing those. I mean, like, this is pretty cool. Seeing Larry Bird plays, that's pretty cool. Because Larry Bird is that's it. That's a couple generations ago.

Right. Like when the Grizzlies were here, I saw a lot of all time NBA players, but guys that you would still be like, yeah, I could see how you would have seen play. When you told me that you saw Larry Bird play live, I'm like, damn, you're old. First thing I thought, then I was like, that's cool. Then I was like, how old are you?

I was mostly there to see Xavier McDaniel and Tom Chambers. Fair, the X-Man, wildly underrated player. Here's a text from Troy, the retired bread guy. My first Canucks game was against the Seals. Wow. That's awesome. My first Canucks game was against the LA Kings in their purple jerseys. And I imagine Marcel Dion was out there.

I was a kid. I don't remember. I remember- Your first Canucks game, they were still the millionaires. My first Canucks game, this ages me. My first Canucks game. Even though life was black and white. Ended in a 3-3 tie.

Yeah. Ah, ties. Okay, so now that we're going down this road of how old we are. We should bring ties back. This is different because I wasn't a spectator, I was a participant, but I was, someone brought this up to me the other day.

I've been playing soccer for so long that I played when the rule that you could pass the ball back to the goalie and he could pick it up didn't exist. Like when I played. Oh yeah. You used to be, did you know this? You used to be able to pass the ball back to the goalie and the goalie could pick it up in soccer. So if you had like a uh, if you had a, was it a goal kick that you would just like. No, no. Like let's say you rolled the ball out to the defender. Goalie possesses the ball.

He rolls the ball out to the defender. Okay. The defender could pass the ball back to you and you can just pick it back up. Yeah. Yeah. And it would be any pass back. They could pick it up.

I got a comparison for that. Denmark did this. And then I want to say it was the 92 European championships with Peter Schmeichel and Ned. No, but wasn't it normally like there'd be a goal kick and then the goalie would take the goal kick and just pass it to the guy and then he'd roll it back. Yeah, but you could do it any time you wanted.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You could take the ball the length of the field, go to the attacking end, and then hammer it all the way back to your goalie and he could pick it up and kill minutes at a time. I remember playing hockey with the two line pass. My very early hockey days. You're old.

Yeah, the two line pass was still in effect. I remember that. That's my comparison. Will in Victoria, Texas. I went to the 1979 Whitecaps, NAASL Championship Parade in downtown Vancouver. I high-fived goalie Phil Parks. I was 11.

Awesome. That's a good one. Yeah, that's a pretty good one. I was born in 79, so I don't really remember the... Was it the soccer bowl? That was the Village of Vancouver thing, right? Yeah, yeah. That was the whole... Yeah. 79. Yeah, yeah. I'm surprised you don't know that intimately. What do you mean? Just the history of it. No, I just couldn't remember the name of the trophy. It was the soccer bowl, though.

Oh, I don't remember. Yeah, that's how deep my knowledge goes. Oh, okay. Peter and Delta texted in, come on guys, Canucks are still alive. This is a summer topic. They're a summer topic. Yeah, Canucks are not still alive. It's also Ask Us Anything Friday, so we can talk about literally anything on a Friday. It's our show. And we'll run into the ground if we want to, Peter and Delta.

We're going to ask Moj that same question coming up. And we'll also talk to him about present day sports. Moj coming up next and then Rick Dollywall. We'll talk I'm sure more about Rick Tauket's future, maybe Tom Willander's future. We've got an hour and a half to go on the Haliford and Ruff show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strantz. 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 Moch. I did not eat four burgers. Yes, it's the Moch. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. It's the Moch. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalanya.

Yes, it's the Moch. Halperd's fine, but you know, it's just grumpy all the time. Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, Moach, It's the Moj. 732 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halvard Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halvard and 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 now at the midway point of the show. Moj is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program, the midway point is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at 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. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go. Our next guest is a presentation of the West Coast Auto Group. Great service, great selection just over the bridge in Maple Ridge. It's the Moge here on the Halford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650.

What up, Moge? What up, fellas? I understand Mr. Tocque, it has been the main topic of conversation this morning. We spent a fair bit of time talking about Rick Tocque's contractual future. What would you like to add to the conversation, Moge? Well, you know, you don't want a coach here

who doesn't want to be here. Right. I mean, that's clear. I mean, clearly can not see if they're going to exercise their option on target, want him to return to guide this team, whether or not they sign them to an extension, who knows, but I'll throw this one out there for you.

I mean, this is a connect team that needs all the help that it can get. Right. Do you see a scenario? This has happened before in the National Hockey League. It's happened in other sports. Do you see a scenario where maybe they let Tocket go to Philadelphia and they get compensation in return?

So I'm glad you brought this point up because in the clip that we played from Elliott Freeman on 32 Thoughts, one of the parts we didn't play was that Elliott confirmed that the compensation for coaches is done and dusted. You can't do it anymore. It's been ruled out because we've had that question asked how many times in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, like 10, 15 times over the last couple of days. There seemed to be a lack of clarity around it, but apparently that's off the table. I think the last coach that ever got compensation might've been when Tortorella went to Columbus and the Canucks got a pick and return for him.

Of course he was fired at that point, so a little bit of a different scenario. But yeah, apparently the compensation for coaches is no longer according to Freage. Okay, well take that one off the table then. You know, the one that if you really go back in history, first round pick for Michelle Bergeron with the Rangers in Colorado,

but that was like, I don't know, in the late 80s or something like that. It was a fairly common practice in the NFL for a while, eh? I remember that. I think Belichick and Parsa, I think Belichick got traded for a first round pick. So it's not uncommon. Yeah, that's right. Yep. The other question you had, and I'm assuming, Moj sends along talking points. I'm assuming this one's for the Connector. It could be a life question. Where do we go from here? No, that was a life question.

Where do we go from here, Moj? Oh man. I just look at this team and first off, let's look at the numbers. According to Puckapedia, they've got, I think, 78 million tied up next year out of the 91 million. So you've got 13 million to play with. You've got to find replacements for a couple of deaf defensemen in Juleson and Forbert.

Well, at least you have to resign or find replacements for and then you got Besser and Pia Suter up front. So when you look at it, 13 million for those four players isn't really that much, right? So I just keep looking at this team and you know, they're good at doing the old robbing Peter to pay Paul routine, right? Like they'll address one need, but unfortunately it creates another need and we've seen that, you know, when they address the situation on defense, it opened up some holes up front. So I just look at this team and I think to myself, where is it going to go? And you know, I almost think that this team is going to find itself in

the same conundrum, the same issue that it had when the Sedenes were winding their careers down. Remember, they didn't want to trade the Sedenes. They wanted them to finish as Canucks and they were kind of committed to, you know, putting a team around the Sedans. And not that Quinn Hughes is going to retire anytime soon, but it's almost the same thing again, right? I mean, we've got Quinn Hughes here. We've got to get a good team around Quinn Hughes. We've got to support him, right?

And it's just, I don't know if they can do it. I really don't because when I think of 13 million left to play with out of 91, um, I just don't understand. And it's not like they have some high draft picks coming in either. I mean, okay, look, your Mac, you might be a player. Um, Willander, when he finally comes up, you know, Pedersen PDD has looked all right, but I just look at this team and I think to myself where are they getting at the value, those entry level players are going to make this an extremely competitive

game. This is something that we've brought up before, Moj, and I know you want to talk about this. So go back to when Tauke was first hired. One of the things he constantly said is we need to empower the leadership group. And we all kind of wonder like, what does that mean? And I think it ultimately meant like, we need to, first of all, tell these guys that they need to be leaders, but also encourage others to follow the

leaders and the leadership group was comprised of Quinn Hughes, the captain, Elias Pedersen and JT Miller. Well, the captain still looks good and he's providing leadership and I know there are some veterans like Tyler Myers who has done a really good job of leadership but do they need to redefine the leadership group this offseason? Without a doubt I think it's gonna be I think we talked about this before but to me it's the biggest priority for this team and

you know even in talking to members of the organization that they talk about how much they missed in the ankle, how much they missed as a door off right. Any team that is successful I mean the message starts with the coach, the messaging starts with your head coach in terms of what he wants, in terms of standards, in terms of a culture and And that goes to the leadership group. And, you know, the really good teams, the leadership group kind of takes it from there. They kind of basically police the team themselves. They make sure that everybody adheres to those those standards for that culture. And then they get everybody else on the team to buy buy that message and get on board. And I think with the

connects where perhaps they're kind of the disconnect is I don't know if they have a strong enough leadership group now that gets everybody else to buy the message to get everybody else on board. And I think that's one of the things that they're going to address this offseason is to maybe add a couple of players and you, they might be players that people will be shaking their heads out and going, why are they getting this guy? Right? But in reality, the sense is they're bringing these players on because they believe them to be really strong

leaders and really vocal players will be able to, like I said, extend that message that the coaches, that the organization actually wants to have. We're speaking to Bob the Mojmar Jonovic here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I want to ask you about the Canadian Football League Moj. We had Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation on yesterday talking about the new commissioner, Stuart Johnson, former

president of TSN, who will be taking over from Randy Ambrosio. What have you been hearing on this front, if anything, about Stuart Johnson, what he's bringing to the table, what he needs to improve from the Randy Ambrosio era and what you're expecting. I know how Bruffalo is the top, talk about the global initiative, so.

Will we see a Tahiti based franchise anytime soon in the Canadian football? Oh man. There's only a few million flushed down the toilet by the CFL. But don't worry, they've got deep pockets. I don't know about this 10th franchise thing. To me, I think if it was going to happen, it should happen by now. Yeah.

Maybe Stuart Johnson has new connections. Maybe there was some sort of situation where Randy Ambrosia and the rest of the league really couldn't, you know, cultivate a new owner. Maybe Stuart Johnson had some people that he knows that, you know, he could cultivate possibly approach. I don't know. I mean, that's all insider stuff that I haven't really been privy to. But one thing that I did hear about Stuart Johnson is that he's one of these guys

that just wants to see the best players on the field. It's going to be interesting to see what happens with the ratio. The ratio is already down to five players, but there could be a situation where, you know, maybe he tries to, uh, implement something like that. Uh, and of course it'll have to go through the owners, but I think the biggest obstacle there is the CFLPA. I don't think they would go any lower than they are right now in terms of, you know, what they want to have on the field in terms of Canadians.

So, I think that's something to watch for as well. What did you make of those comments that Ed Hervey had a couple weeks ago? You know, I know Ed obviously was here in BC and he speaks his mind, right? So, you know, when Ed said something, you don't take it with a grain of salt. You take it with the fact that he's put a lot of thought into it and he's brutally honest. So I'll give Ed Hervey that credit in the sense that he's one of these guys that comes out and he's just honest in his assessment of a situation. You want to do a food ask us anything before we let you go?

I'm going to throw you on the spot with this one, but I think you're prepared to handle it. Okay? Okay, fire away. Someone wants to know, and they ask, I don't have the text in front of me, but I read it earlier. They want to know when you're cooking pasta, if you have, or if there is an elite

or number one pasta noodle shape. Say it's tough. I'm trying to remember the name of it. I get this to choppies all the time. the noodle shape? Ah, you know. Say it's tough. I'm trying to remember the name of it. I get this at Choffy's all the time. It's kind of, I can't remember the name. I use Borrelli sometimes. Yeah.

Borrelli's, and then there's another one that's kind of like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and it's, Borreo, whatever, Borrelli. It comes in a yellow and blue packaging and I can't remember the name of it, but it's pretty good. I always get my Parfardelle. That Parfardelle I got, which I just absolutely love.

But one of the things though, like with pasta that I think is overrated is don't add the salt and all the oil when you're boiling it, right? Just let the water do its thing and just leave it. And Julio and I got into a huge argument on this because he's one of these oil and salt guys. Okay. And I'm like, no, we don't need to put oil and salt in the water. That's it. It's good enough. I have talked to, it's funny because it's a very polarizing debate. I've talked to people before who suggest that boiling pasta water should be the equivalent of sea water in terms of taste and how much salt should be in it.

They're like, you need to heavily salt the water. And yet I've also heard people like you, they're like, just let the water do its thing, man. It's going to release all of that deliciousness in the pasta. It's an interesting topic anyway. You had one? Yeah, I've got one for you Mo, just one we've already kind of answered ourselves. And so I was talking about watching that documentary series, Celtic City, and it's pretty good if you've seen it. It's on Crave. It's about the Boston Celtics.

And I was saying that I felt old because I remember going down to Seattle to watch in person Larry Bird's Celtics. And I was wondering if there's anything that you can say you've done or a player you've seen in person That makes you feel old. Oh Wow, it's funny I was I was on social the other day and there was a post and somebody had said I Was thinking about 30 years ago and I was thinking about the 70s or the 80s and actually 30 years ago was like 1995

I was thinking about the seventies or the eighties and actually 30 years ago was like 1995. Think about that for a second. Um, you know, I'll tell you what it makes you feel, at least it makes me feel old, right? When you start talking about the Nazlin, Morrison, Bertuzzi, right? I mean, we're coming up to 20 years on that. I know, I know.

I know. Think about that for a second. It just seems like these guys were just playing here. Like, okay, like if I'm thinking 94, to me that, that's getting into the old part now. You know, 30 years ago and great team and great memories with that team that went to the cup final. But like, when I started thinking about the fact

that that group, like I said, you know, the Cluchet, the Nazlins, Owens, all those guys, that's, that's 20, it's pushing up to 20 years now. Yeah. I'm just like, whoa, 20 years ago. Right. Um, it's, it's kind of scary. Well, I'll tell you a funny story.

I remember they brought Joe back a couple of years ago. Um, they didn't, they honored them one night here and we, there's a bunch of us. We went out to parlor in Yale town and Ed was with us and a couple of other people and all that. And we're just, you know, sitting around having drinks, reminiscing about the old days and stuff. The way it just comes up, she had no clue who had Joe Manosky was like zero, not that like no clue.

She's at Joe Manosky and somebody said he used to play for the Canucks or something. And she was like, Oh, well, that's really coolger over the last game. Somebody said he used to play for the Canucks or something. She was like, Oh, well that's really cool. When did you play? You want to talk about feeling old? That was one of the, one of the times right there where you kind of look back and you go, man, it has been a while even since that group came through. So yeah, that's, that's when I started thinking

about, you know, how old you are. Right. Sometimes I look back on old grainy footage of games that I remember. That you were at? Yep. Or sometimes I was at, yeah. And I'm like, I can't, how do we watch this?

Like, dude, I, like, I remember having the smallest TV too, and being like wildly invested in these, in these games. I was like, I can't even see the puck right now. How do we get super, super into this? Oh, you're talking about just like the actual mechanics of the TV itself, or like not being able to see that. Yeah, I understand what you're saying.

It's like, yeah. Well, I was thinking actually like the play itself too. Like you watch some of the games from days gone by. Like one of the biggest games, one of the best games that I remember as a kid. And if you're old enough, you might remember this if you're in your, you know, say early sixties or even later, um, was the infamous, or the famous red army game versus the Canadians new year's Eve.

And I know it's 75, 33 tie and the Canadians like completely outplayed them, but like they all shot them out at like 40 to 19 or something. But anyway, I remember going down to YouTube wormhole and watching that game. I'm like, this is a freaking pickup hockey at eight rings. This is supposed to be one of the greatest games of all time. I was like, look at the quality of play and I'm going, man. Right. And then, you know, it's kind of funny, we've talked about this a few times,

even at the rink, just, you know, sitting around watching club practice. We'll talk about, you know, goingink, just sitting around watching club practice, we'll talk about going down YouTube room holes and watching games. I go, okay, if you watch some of the hockey from the seventies and eighties and even nineties, and it looks like beer league hockey, how bad was the beer league hockey back then? Yep.

I totally agree with you. I mean, I wasn't alive for the 72 Summit series, but I remember, I guess it was during the lockout, they replayed that series and I'm watching it and it's not so much the, well, it is like the quality of the skating. It's like how many times they give away the puck and just like terrible giveaways and things that would get a guy benched for a while now, they just do it and it's not even a big deal. It's just like, oh, buck turn over there.

That happens a million times in these games, I guess. It is incredible. Which sport do you think, since we're talking about our lifetimes and making ourselves feel old, which sport do you think has advanced the most since you were a kid? Hockey. I really think hockey has. I mean, football has a different way. It's more about equipment, more about strategies. And yeah, players are bigger, faster and stronger. But to me, just hockey, the speed of the game, I don't think you can find a position that's changed more than goaltending. Yeah, I was just going to say goaltending the speed of the game. I don't think you can find a position that's changed more than goal-tending.

Yeah, I was just gonna say goal-tending. Yeah. Right? That's the one that stands out the most. When you look at the old highlights compared to the new, that's almost a different sport that the goalies are in. Yeah, it is. I mean, goal-tending to me, I don't think you, in terms of equipment, in terms of style of play,

all of those things. So for me, in terms of what's evolved the most over the years, goal-tending. Yeah, all the athletes in every sport are bigger, faster, stronger. But, and even like you touched on it, even the way the game is played has fundamentally changed. I mean, hell, when you were a kid,

I mean, you could probably see line rushes, like three on twos, two on ones, the entire game just back and forth. And now, you know, you're gonna be lucky to maybe see three or four during the course of the game. So even the way the game has been played, the speed, the course of the game. So even the way the game has been played, the speed, um, the strategy behind the game, the

goal-tending, the equipment. Yeah, for me it's hockey. Well, the equipment is a big deal too, because obviously in hockey you use a lot of equipment. You know, I don't think the basketball has changed very much. Um, you know, technology and baseball, I don't, you know, other than the analytical side, which

has changed the game immensely. But hockey, there's two big things. There's the skates and the stick. Kids these days shoot wildly different than we used to shoot because they have better technology and they better use the technology. But also skating, they teach you to skate a lot different than they used to. And you know, the way that guys use inside, outside edges. And I mean, just the way Conor McDavid, can you imagine dropping Conor McDavid in his skates, like in modern skates, modern equipment into that, you know, Montreal red army game,

what it would look like? Oh, it'd be, it'd be like he'd be superhuman, Warp Street. How about Quinn Hughes? Yeah. How about throwing Quinn Hughes in there, watch one of those Connect games with the Coliseum in the late 80s and just dropping Quinn Hughes into the mix and see how he does. With his defensive partner, Dana Merson.

Yeah. Don't be ripping Dana Merson. I'm not, he'd be the perfect compliment. He'd be staying at home because he could not keep up. He's like, I'm just going to stay at home. Oh man. Hey, you know, it's funny. We're talking about connect defense and how they're always the whipping boys. I forgot to mention one a couple of weeks ago, Susan went off there and I

just found Spisa. There was another one. Yeah. Yeah. He deserved it though. Spisa good Branson, Merz, and Meyers has fallen into that mix. It's kind of funny how there's always that one guy

people want to take shots at. Didn't they re-sign Spiza too? Yeah. Like they give him a, remember they surprisingly made the playoffs in 2015 and then they re-signed Lucas Spiza and Derrick Dorsett and everyone was like, ooh, I don't know about either of those moves, but everything went great after that. You want to be alone?

Yeah, yes I do. You want to be alone? Yeah, I do. Please be a player 10 years ago. God, that's right, 2015. We're rambling now. He's a grandpa now. Did you know that?

So because of what's going on with the Oakland A's right now, and now just the A's of course, no longer Oakland, a lot of people have been posting clips about how it used to be great. They posted a clip of their game season opener 2000 and they had a highlight of Jason Giambi going yard three times I think in that game or something like that. 25 years ago they had 53,000 people in Oakland to watch the opener. And then like, it's like, it's one of those, like, it's sad how far we fell to see where they're at now and what they're

doing. Going this zombie team in front of 13,000 people in Sacramento. It's crazy, but that was 25 years ago. That's how long ago that was. Anyway, enough reminiscing about olden times. We got to get going to break here, Moj. Thank you very much for doing this as always. Enjoy the weekend. We'll do this again next Friday.

Okay, fellas. All about several great weekend. Everyone. You too. Thanks buddy. Uh, that's Bob the Moj Marjanovic here on the Haliford and rough show on sports net. It was really interesting.

He was talking about the goalie development and just being a person who grew up as a goalie and I was sort of right in that era, right? When the sport changed, right? I grew up in a goalie. And I was sort of right in that era, right when the sport changed, right? I grew up in the nineties. So it was a weird sort of scenario where I got into coaching as well. And you know, here I am this 15, 16, 17 year old kid. And it's like, I know more than you 60 year old

former goalie than you do it, because you don't know the new ways that we're playing the position. So it was really odd. Like you want to be respectful of your elders. You want to do all this stuff, but the game changed so rapidly over that period of time. And I was that first wave of butterfly goalies

coming up and it was like, I literally know more than most of these, they have no idea how to teach what the goalies are doing nowadays. So it was a really weird position. I'm telling you, getting the goalie going the other way and then sliding it back along the ice used to be a great way to score a goal. Yeah.

I mean, we're going to be talking a lot about OV breaking Gretzky's record. Gretzky had a lot of those slide the puck along the ice, get the goalie going the wrong way. And it wasn't like you didn't have to shoot it particularly hard or anything. You just had to, because the goalie wouldn't go down. Or he just shoots it at his legs and the goalie kicks it and it goes in. Dropping down was seen as a huge negative. Seriously, some of those Gretzky goals, I was watching the highlight package the other night just because they were doing that comparison with Ovi.

And not to take away what Gretzky did, because obviously he was still incredible, but man, some of those goals were so bad. The goalies just stood there. And it didn't do anything. They were just standing there. I'll contest too. It wasn't just- He was probably like, this is so easy.

It wasn't just the fact that goalies started going down. It's become their mobility while down that has changed everything to what you're talking about. You can drop in the butterfly and still push from that position and get across in a split second. Which was a pipe dream back in the 70s.

The entire ice, that's not an option to slide the puck. Unless you maybe open up five hole a little bit, but even then the stick might be there. Could still hit a part of the pad or something. And the equipment has changed so much. So we were laughing the other day about, hey, why didn't anyone think about this torpedo stick in baseball? You guys have been playing that

game for a long time. I mean, if you look back on, I mean, every great invention looks obvious right after it came out, right? For the most part. Why didn't we think of this? Why didn't we think of this? But I mean, it's hilarious to me that in hockey, you used to be like, who's our smallest guy?

What if he's gonna be quick like a cat? What if we bring him in that? Like, I mean, some of the- What were they thinking? Like, I mean mean we did swing too far the other way It was the guy who couldn't skate really yeah the goalies the goalies got too big No, it was always a small guy no, I know but then we swung too far the other way the goalies got way too big Yeah, like Ben, you gotta be like you tall you gotta be seven feet now, but our starting point was ridiculous Yeah, you know what I mean?

Oh, I know. Are you five foot eight? Well, if you were like- What if we got a guy that covered more of the net? No, no, no, no, no. Well, it was like, it was because they couldn't physically match up against bigger forwards and stuff. Oh, stick them in net, they can't be hit.

Well, it was kind of like, they were like, well, you can't have a 6'10 point guard or something like that, right? Like, it was that sort of thing. It was like, you gotta be quick and agile, and only the little guys can do that, right? And they saw a six foot 10 point guard and they're like, my God, we've got it wrong the entire time.

All right, we gotta go to break. When we come back, Rick Dollywall is gonna join the program to talk some Rick Talkett. It's Rick on Rick action here on the Alfred and Ruff show on Sportsnet 650.