Halford & Brough in the Morning - The NHL Voted "YES" On Keeping The Entry Draft Boring

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

In hour two, Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd discuss the best rivalries in sports, and why one of them is the NHL Draft vs. entertainment (3:00), plus the boys chat with Vancouver Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen (22:00) about the club's recent struggles, following such a hot start to the season. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Welcome back to Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd here filling in for Mike Halford. Halford & Brough brought to you by Jason.mortgage or this hour I should say is brought to you by 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. That's Jason.mortgage.

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So send your what we learned submissions in hashtag WWL What you've learned in the last 72 hours in sports. Jesper Sorensen is going to join us at 730 manager of the Whitecaps. But before we do that, we got an open segment here and we mentioned just briefly in what happened, probably the most significant sporting event, not from a local perspective, but from an international perspective on the weekend, the Wimbledon final and the gentleman's final specifically between Yannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner wins, gets his first career Wimbledon title. And I think more importantly, like there's, I don't want

to downplay the match itself. It was fine. It wasn't a classic, but I think the bigger significance more so than, you know, Sinner winning his first Wimbledon title more so than the match itself was this was a rematch of a Match that was a classic their epic French open showdown which Alcaraz won and a lot of people as you said Kind of said Sinner blew that one. He should have got he should have gotten it So I think the bigger picture story is that you have a set of results like this back to back at majors at Grand Slam events in tennis. And I think very important for the sport that sinner one here, right, that he kind of evened up the score for this year in the Grand Slam finals, because this is quickly developing into maybe the best rivalry, at least individual rivalry in sports right now. You know it's big because it has its own Wikipedia page. There you go.

Yeah, like you have to have a Wikipedia page to be official. And I think it's just incredible when you think about the run that the sport of tennis enjoyed and tennis fans and the people on the business side who make their money off the sport and all of that when it was was Federer Nadal Djokovic. And I know people throw Andy Murray in there as well, but like, come on, let's let's be real here. Sorry, Andy Murray. Yeah, but anyways, it was the big three. Yeah, it was the big three. And they went through this incredible.

It was this kind of like unique three way rivalry. And it was a rivalry as much as there's the mutual respect. It is still a rivalry. And they just dominated and carried the sport. And I think it was incredible and fans loved it and it was awesome. And then they start to end their careers and Djokovic is still playing and still very competitive. But you see the finish line in sight for him and you kind of wonder

who's going to fill the vacuum and to see it. Now, there's Alcraz and Sitter have a long way to go to reach the heart that the big three they've reached But you're high level already off to a great start and to see it almost Seamlessly transition from the big three era what's gonna replace it to oh the Alcraz center rivalry which already has Classic chapters in the books already looks like it's going to be one of the best individual rivalries in sports It's really incredible and I mean it must be an amazing feeling for tennis fans. Like, all right, this is great. We get on board with these guys now going forward.

It also got me thinking like, what are even the other contenders for best individual rivalries in sports right now? It feels like we're at maybe a bit of a low ebb. Like there's nothing in golf right? No. I'd say McElroy and DeChambeau is pretty good right now. In the US Open battle, they had the Masters battle. There's been, there's the live and the PGA side of things with them too. There's been some stuff in the media. Bryson after Rory won the Masters saying he didn't talk to me all around. Yeah. There's some animosity there.

But they're not the best players in the world. That's the problem, right? Like Scheffler is the best player in the world. And I know what you're saying, but Tiger, he was so dominant, but he did have Phil, right? I mean, that was a rivalry that was, I mean, it was very one sided. That's that was the issue. They're very one sided, but it was, it was still there. See, because I, you're right, but I will kind of, if we're talking rivalries in Tiger Woods, to me,

what I'll remember most is just that the period of it seemed like guys were going to step up, right? Like David Duvall or Sergio Garcia and it never materialized. Yeah. And I think even with Phil, there was the personality element. But from a head to head battle perspective for supremacy in the sport, it never really developed either. Yes. I think it's fair to say. Yeah, I think that's fair to say. What about Steph Curry, LeBron James? Say I don't think that's a rivalry now, is it?

I'd say they're both playing the same division. They've been in finals against each other. And the thing is, like there that was I think when they went to four finals in a row, like, OK, two of the best players, arguably one and two in the sport, four finals in a row against each other. That clear cut note about no doubt about an awesome rivalry. And I'm sure they still feel a personal rivalry, but they're also like like the Warriors are a playing team most years now. You know what I mean? Like, it's like they're not they're not elite,

elite at that same level. Their teams aren't elite elite at that same level. What about Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese? I think that might be the best one, honestly, of of individuals on teams against each other, because that now I guess you could also there's a bit of a like a Tiger Phil thing here, right, where I'm not a WNBA expert. But my understanding, Caitlin Clark, much more impactful, much better than than Angel Reese.

And I do feel like also a lot of the rivalry heat comes from outside of the two individuals, but not all of it. Like, I do think there's some legit heat between them and Caitlin Clark, an extremely competitive individual like she does not back down on the court. If you're just talking like to a casual sports fan in the United States or even in Canada, and you had to sell, watch this game because these two are going head-to-head Like I think Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese right now does that? Better than almost any individual rivalry I can think of just because there does seem to be that That like that level of potential fireworks on the court

Which you kind of need for it to really be an exceptional rivalry Is it better when they don't like each other? Of course it is. It would be better if Sinner and Alcaraz weren't so gentlemanly. There is. It was the gentleman's final, but a little bit of, that's what, that was so great about John McEnroe. He was just like, I mean, he didn't necessarily like hate his opponents or anything, but he was interesting. He was a loose cannon.

He was a loose cannon. Yeah. Right? They are not. I mean, don't get me wrong. Like, I'm not the hugest tennis fan anymore, but I watched that match. I woke up and I knew it was on and I was like, I'm going to watch a bit of this. And it was good.

I mean, it was, yeah, yeah, it was interesting that's that center one, because, you know, some of, some of us might've wondered, Oh, is Alcara is just the guy that's always going to end up on top, especially in the, in the grand slams and center did a good job of that. Even when it was like close to it was getting down to match point, we were, you know, in the back of our minds, we were like, I think it was three match points that Alcara's

overcame in the French Open. So even right until it was done, it wasn't done until it was done. But for me, there has to be part of the build up too. What I think Tiger and Phil, like Phil was kind of his own worst enemy. Yes. But like there were some good sound bites. Yes. Especially from yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think it's striking here because like you brought up LeBron and Steph and I think that was true going back a few years now. Somebody texted in Lewis Hamilton and

Max Verstappen and F1, but then they immediately texted in like, I guess that's a few years in the past now as well. Somebody else says, what about Ovechkin versus Crosby? That's long past in terms of like a real focal point rivalry for the NHL media created anyway. It was, but I don't know. I think there was some element of rivalry between the two as well. It was never like, it never had sparks in the way of some of these other ones we were when they were going to go at each other. They probably thought about it. Yeah. But I'm sure they were like, I'm sure I would like to beat this guy.

I'm sure of that. You can thought about it when he was still Stanley Cupless, um, into his thirties. Yes. And I'm sure he thought about it when he finally won that cup and that was the great equalizer between the two but like Again, we're going back, you know five to ten years and we have all these great suggestions Yeah, and now we're like our athletes like too nice. Now. Is that the thing? Can we turn this into a rant against Gen Z? Nice NHLers are I think they all like hang out with each other in the office I wouldn't say nice. I would say careful. I Think they're right. I think they just play it safe

They and that's why guys like Matthew Kachak are so so important to league and Brad Marchand because they're not they're not scared to make a headline But I wouldn't say like Kachak and McDavid are rivals. No, no, I don't think it's hard. It's hard cross-conference Yeah, you know like maybe if they meet again next year and the oil is not even the best player on his team Yeah, that's right. You know yeah, he's just like the spokesman for the team. Yeah Hey, I've got a great rivalry The NHL draft versus entertainment Cuz I know it's pretty one-sided to be fair the NHL entertainment would be like the meme I don't think about you at all. I

Don't know if anyone saw the news, but the NHL has decided to keep the decentralized draft and by the way, I have a theory about this that all the teams just voted to keep it decentralized because They didn't want to hear Gary Betman say, I told you so. Because Gary Betman was never for this idea and he had a very passive aggressive way. They voted for out of spite you're saying? Yeah, of saying it basically like,

well, you know, I said, don't do this. And then the draft was a disaster. And you know, I'm sure Gary Betman expected everyone to be like, okay, well, let's go back to the old way. You were right. But they voted it to keep the same, keep it the same way. And now the challenge really from the NHL and from Sportsnet's perspective is like, okay guys, it's decentralized, but we cannot do this again. And for me, you know, this whole thing should start with, okay, what's our target length for the broadcast? And I think it should be three hours, like a hockey game,

which is more than doable. I think last year, the first round went five hours. Yeah. Five hours. Four and a half, almost five and a half. Four and a half. I worked it. Ridiculous.

It's like the Oscars. Ridiculous. And I have a crazy idea here. And I'm just gonna start this and I'll allow exceptions. All right. No player interviews. I would say definitely once you get outside of like the top 10, you really have to pick and choose the player interviews.

Pick and choose. There's gotta be like a really compelling story. Absolutely. Um, let the teams post their interviews, you know, leave it to the teams because I don't really care what, for example, and I'm just looking at the draft right now, Justin Carboneau has to say after being drafted 19th overall by St. Louis. Now I'm sure there's going to be some prospects expert that was like, I was really curious

to see where Justin Carboneau would go, you know, you, you, you have to make this appealing to the typical NHL fan and the typical NHL fan, I'm just going to let you in a little secret here, doesn't care that much about most teams. No, they care about the top teams and they care about their team. Just make it 30 minutes.

Really, really 30 minutes. Yeah. Well, and this make it 30 minutes. They really, really, 30 minutes. 30 and a half, yeah. Well, and this is the issue that the NH, okay, so here's the thing. I saw the reaction when they voted to keep it decentralized and because the draft was such a slog this year and it did not work as an entertainment product, as a TV product, I get why people were aghast.

But they're actually separate issues. Like there's no reason That whether the GM's and the war rooms are present or not in the building should determine how entertaining is on television Yeah, like the two are almost completely separate so you can have a really entertaining Centralized draft or a really boring one you can have a theoretically a really entertaining decentralized I'm the NFL just decentralized exactly the NFL draft the NBA draft the issue is decentralized. Exactly, the NFL draft, the NBA draft. The issue is, and I think obviously the NFL draft, the gold standard of drafts,

of televised drafts in professional sports, the first round of the NFL draft, the big thing there is one, college football is a huge sport. So the people are intimately familiar with those players and you're expecting them to come in and be starters day one for you. And even if your team has already picked, while your division rivals might have picks coming up and you're like, Oh, how are they

going to improve? How are they going to get better? Cause I'm going to be watching this guy or taking him on my fantasy team in like in a few months, you know, the players, you know, the players and they're going to be relevant right away. Yeah. And the issue in the NHL and I think the NBA runs into this a little bit, certainly outside the top 10 as well, where it's like, a lot of these guys, yeah, they'll make rosters, but they're not going to matter. They're not going to be day one starters. They might never be starters in the league in the NBA. It kind of drags a little bit in the NBA. You tend to see more trades, which helps. drags a little bit in the NBA. You tend to see more trades, which helps.

I think also maybe there's a little bit more like the interviews provide more, more content, more fodder than they do in the NHL. So the NHL has got to find a way. Okay. After the first five picks, these are not big names. You probably lose a lot of that. Just casual interest. Almost be like background, the draft.

What do you mean? Like have it as a conversation. Sure. You know, the draft. What do you mean? Like have it as a conversation. Sure. You know, like less, I mean, this is, this sounds crazy. I know, but less analysis about the actual picks. And more about just the league in general. Talk about the team. Yeah.

If Columbus is picking, like talk about the team. I don't, I don't need to hear a guy say like, oh, this guy's got a great motor. No. You know, and he's a great teammate and, you know, or he's a defensive, he moves the puck, he's got a great first pass. Or I don't need to hear the player be like,

I'm so excited to be drafted by Columbus or whatever. Yeah. You know, like for me, it's just give, give the fans what they want. And a lot of that is even just have the broadcasters engage in some salacious talk, interesting talk. And I also think. What is the worst thing that happened to you as a child?

Go now. Like we need way less time of people talking on the stage. It should be Gary Betman walks up with the fifth overall selection, whoever selects whoever out of the OHL, right? Like that's it. And then he walks off. Yeah.

That's it. That's all we need. We don't need the quirky celebrity. No, we don't need all of the other stuff. Like I don't care. Cut, cut, cut, cut. Gary Betman walks up up makes the pick walks off That's all we need and then it's back to analysis back to other stuff

We all thought obviously and this is this is obvious the zoom interview thing cut cut cut cut That was anything where there's awkwardness Yeah, you need to be able to cut that off if a player says you should just cut them on a mat Okay, you're like the second like, uh, you're done. Bye next. Like, I think they got to limit the player interviews because they're 18 years old. They're not going to say much interesting.

Um, and, uh, a lot of them for a lot of them, English isn't even their first language. So that's tough. So have the, have an interview with the general manager and then like, don't ask the obvious questions like, you know, like, I mean, I guess you got to be like, what do you like about this kid? Yeah.

But then beyond that, get into like, how does your team look? Because that's going to keep people, when I start, when I flip off the draft and I turn it off a lot, right? It's like. I thought you meant like literally flip it off. Well I have. Yeah, I have done that a few times. Just setting it home in front of the TV.

Yeah, but I think. Double birds. Oh, I hate this so much. But like, I would love to do this with the NHL. Like I will watch that draft over again. I'd be like, I would turn it off here. Because like, I don't, like, I don't, I don't care. Right? Like it's, it's when you start getting into the real hardcore analysis about

these prospects and the, if the prospects guys complain, let them complain because they are 3% do a, do a simulcast, do a hardcore prospect. Yeah, yeah something like that. We've got 10,000 channels We can also throw it on another one. The prospects guys aren't gonna learn anything No, they're not gonna learn anything by having someone be like, oh this guy's got love his motor You know or he's a great teammate. Yeah, you know, okay awesome He needs that he needs to get bigger and work on his skating. Yeah, you know Yeah, if anyone says he needs to get bigger and stronger. They should be fired That is an interesting idea the NHL could do they could have like a draft bingo and whenever like one of the players or the

Analysts say something cliched. There's a big like and then I cross Bingo see if they can hit everything I do think I do think in the analysts aren't allowed to know what the words are in the interest of fairness to the NHL here and in fairness to our employer sports set there are two things I think that can make a draft really exciting and we talked about this with the NFL draft in the NBA draft one as you said familiarity with the players and the expectation that they're going to make an immediate impact NHL draft doesn't have that certainly not outside the first three or four or five picks the other one is transactions the expectation that a lot that deals with the players and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the players that are going to make an immediate impact and the expectation that they're going to make an immediate impact. NHL draft doesn't have that. Certainly not outside the first three or four or five picks. The other one is transactions. The expectation that a lot of deals are going to happen, even if it's just movement around the board, but especially deals involving players already in the league. The NBA draft has that pretty well. The NHL draft doesn't have both, either of those.

And it's outside of their control. They can't force the GMs to make deals. You can talk about it though. You can ask the GMs. You can ask the GMs. You can put the GMs on the spot and I think we should start from that spot. Those are the two key ingredients. You don't have them now. That doesn't mean give up.

That means, OK, then we have to get really creative for how we're going to overcome those obstacles because we're not changing those. So what are we going to change? Another thing you can do is force an NHL team to make a trade after they draft a player. You have to make a trade once you draft your player no matter what. You're not allowed to not trade someone. Then we just have Prospect for Prospect. No, no, no, no, can't trade, they have to be hockey trades.

Can't draft picks or the guys you just drafted. Just pure chaos for half an hour. Every team has to make a trade. I would watch that but it's a ridiculous I would actually why it's so big they shouldn't do the draft though It should be like lean into ridiculous at some point in the middle of August when nothing is happening There's a 24 hour window or a 48 hour window. It's like the purge Where every team has to execute a trade with a roster player leaving But for trades where every team has to execute a trade with a roster player leaving

Don't you get like a five million dollar cap it again, it's so funny is the purge for that we Imagine in sports radio. It's like oh, yeah, it's purge week in the NHL who's going every team's planning the entire year around the purge Fantastic all right, we'll talk more about the purge later on in the show. Are there some great ideas just coming up here? But up next, he is the Whitecaps manager. They're in a tough run of form right now, so we can talk to him about that and some updates on key players on the team as well. Jesper Sorensen joins us next here on Haliford and Bruff here at Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd, Jason Bruff here.

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net six fifty call in on the hotline powered by power west industries and joining us now on the hotline he is the manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps he is Jesper Sorensen. Jesper thank you very much for making time for us today how How are you? I'm good, thanks. So you're welcome. Thank you. Yeah, three nil defeat on the weekend for your team. And it's been a bit of a tough run of form recently. I mean, we'll get into more of the specifics, but just big picture. Kind of what has gone wrong for your team in recent weeks?

Yeah, we have been facing tough opposition, having a tough schedule where we have a lot of away games. And we lost a little bit of the steam we had coming into the to the Conqueror Cup final in Mexico. So I think also we have had a tough period after the after the final with a lot of players away and haven't been back until recently. So I think that it's, yeah, it's been a little tough for us, but that's how football is normally, that it's not just a straight line ahead with good results and a lot of good form all year, but it's ups and downs throughout the season.

Were you prepared for this to happen? You guys were riding so high early on in the season that maybe this was bound to happen? We knew that June and July would be extremely difficult. We knew that the gold cup would, there will be some players out. We didn't know that we would have that many playing for Canada and US. But we knew that there would be players out. We also know that during a season you normally have some issues with injuries and stuff. And we also saw the schedule that we are playing only away games in July. So, yeah, we had a

feeling that this could be a very difficult part of the season. Yeah, we had a feeling that this could be a very difficult part of the season. How much frustration is there from you that this is the way MLS does things where the international bricks aren't aligned with the schedule and you can go into games missing seven or eight of your key players? Yeah, that's obviously a thing. But it frustrated me a lot, but there's nothing you can do about it so that was just it. And looking hindsight it's always frustrating that when you're in a good period and you want to keep

going because that's what you want to do, you want to ride the highest all the time then of course it's difficult that you have a lot of players away for a because that's what you want to do. You want to ride the highest all the time. Then of course it's difficult that you have a lot of players away for a longer period, not just for a weekend or so, but for a longer period. But that's, you know, that's just what it is. We need to not make excuses for ourselves, but make sure that we do everything we can to be able to perform best possible. Then in football you can win some and you can lose some and that's normal in sports. What is important is that you all the time try to prepare to the next game and be best possible and don't let

the good things affect you too well and the bad things also don't let them get into you too much. Are you noticing that your opponents are more prepared for the way you played earlier in the season? And if they are, do you need to make some adjustments to the tactics? Yeah, we need to also adjust some things. We are doing it regularly. The opponents are of course aware of how we're doing it and also maybe a little bit more, you know, preparing a little bit more now. They know that we've been doing well. But still I think there's also a lot of things that we can, you know, that's not about tactics, that's not about just how you scheme yourself against the opponents and stuff. There's a lot of effort, there's a lot of competitiveness and the way you connect

and connect together as a team. That's very important as well. And those things have not been as strong as of late, as it has early in the season. And that's also a thing. So what is your focus right now as a manager, as a tactician and as a motivator? Yeah, of course there's a lot of stuff.

That's a good question. You ask that because that's, it's not just about, you know, how can we, how can we make the right tactics? It's also, you know, how can we, how can we motivate the players to, to look past a couple of bad games in the MLS lately and also how can we manage the schedule we have. Right now, we go to Houston tomorrow and play Wednesday and then we go directly to San Diego and after San Diego there's an All-Star game in Austin, where four of our players will participate. So we'll not have many days where we're together

and train and can do a lot of meaningful training. So it's very important that we use the time that's possible, that we motivate the players as best possible, that we of course look how to play our opponents, but also more importantly look to see how do we want to play more in general and how do we want to be a good team because it doesn't matter where you are in the standings, it only matters how you play because if you play as a top team you'll become a top team and if you play if you don't then over time you won't

play become a top team. So it's important that we that we get back into how we want to play and how we want to do things. Anytime you go deep in a competition like the CONCACAF Champions League, of course, part of the issue is all of the extra matches on your schedule. And I know that competition is done, but are you still feeling perhaps the impact of fatigue on your squad as a result of the extra games? I think maybe I think maybe, you know, that we mentally fatigue more than anything. You know, it's big games coming up all the time.

You prepare mentally. It takes a toll on you also, the mental preparedness for games like that. And then you get back into a season afterwards, where you go straight into the middle of the season and you have to, of course, perform every week, but it's not the same. And the games you just played if you look forward there's a long time till it's the playoffs and it's really a tough grind in the MLS over the summer I experienced now so it's yeah it's maybe but again that competition is over and there's a

lot of good explanations, but what is important for me is that even though those explanations are good and we can understand them, we have to get out and perform. Is Pedro Vite going to finish the season with the white caps? Is there anything you can tell us about him? I can't say anything, but of course if you have a young player like him and we have a transfer window now there will be a lot of speculation and there will be a lot of... There's also a lot of interest when you have a very good player like Pedro so that will be normal. If he finishes the season or not I don't know but we have to see. It's a good player. I don't want to lose him, but sometimes it's not about me. And if we do, then we're going to find somebody to replace him.

I don't want to make this interview all about the challenges you're facing summers in MLS with some of the places you go to and the weather that we're experiencing. I haven't looked at the forecast for Houston on Wednesday, but I imagine it's going to be hot. It's not, yeah, it's not going to freeze though. Yeah, it's not going to freeze. Is it, with the style you play, with the pressing

that you play and the fitness levels that you demand of your players, is it hard to play that way when it's so hot? Because we're also looking forward to the World Cup next year and we're wondering the impact that it's going to have on the players for that. Yeah. Of course it's something that you have to think about as a coach. That's definitely a new thing for me that the conditions you play under is so different. Because I come from a small country where it's mostly the same all over the country, the weather.

So playing Colorado in altitude, playing in Houston now, very physically demanding weather conditions. Yeah, of course, I think it's, it's something that you have to think about as a coach, and also maybe plan for, right, because the high pressing style might be, might be good, but you need to then you need to get the ball and you need to be able to control the ball because the players will have difficulties maintain the high fitness level over a game where they where they might play in very hard conditions. We've talked about some of the injuries and absences that you've dealt with of course

first on that list. Ryan Gauld, what can you tell us about his status when we might see him? Will he play again this season for the Whitecaps? Yeah, I'm optimistic that we will see him again on the pitch for us this season. Right now, it seems he's turned his corner a little bit and is out on the pitch now in football shoes, working with one of the physical staffers. And I think that's, that's very positive. I hope soon he will be able to participate a little bit in team trainings. And, and then he will need some time to get back to, to his full form. He can obviously participate without

being in full form, but but to be able to see the Ryan Goldwell so it can make the impact, he needs to get into a very good physical condition because he's been out all season. And it will take a while, but I'm pretty excited where we are now compared to a week ago. So I think that I'm very optimistic that we'll see him again. Well, let's end on that optimism and excitement. Jesper, thanks for joining us today. Hang in there. Good luck on Wednesday.

I was going to say you're still third in the Western Conference. It was a doom and gloom interview, but we wanted to give you that. I think if people had told you at the start of the season, hey, July 14th, you'll be third in the Western conference. That probably sounded pretty good. Yeah, it would. And you know, the one thing I think about in this business is that time is such a difficult, it's very difficult to mention this

because sometimes a month seems as a year. If we look back five weeks it's like we can't even remember. But that's how it is. Everything is very much in the present and that makes it very intense. But that's also, you know, it's just how it works in this business. And there's not much memory, but we'll have to go out and create some good matches and play well. And I'm pretty confident that we can also turn that corner. Jesper, really appreciate the time. Thank you for doing this and best of luck with your matches coming up. Thank you very much. Thank you. That is Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen. And man, just listening to that interview And I mean, first of all, like we, you know, they're in a tough run

form. You gotta ask him about that and what's going on. And he handled it very well. I thought in understanding that that's part of the process managing an MLS has got to be sneakily one of the toughest jobs in North American professional sports, just like the number of factors. Sometimes one of these guys come over and they're like, what is serious? What is this league? Like the roster rules, they, you don't stop for, so you're, you're almost punished for having good players. It's like, Hey, you're, a lot of your guys are having great seasons. Uh, so, you know, team USA wants to take them to the gold cup. So that means you're like,

you buy as a result of having guys good enough to play internationally, you get punished. The, the match congestion, the fixture congestion, all of it. As he said, the travel, which is so different than any other soccer league in the world, by the way, I don't see it as doable long term if MLS really wants to be taken seriously. I think they're going to have to do leagues in the world. They're going to have to do something. And it's interesting because the talent level has come so far. The talent level has come just leaps and bounds

over the last 10, 15 years, right? To the point where now, like, as you said, Pedro Vite, having a great season, good young player, notable leagues around the world are gonna see that and say, holy cow, we want this guy. That's where MLS has got you, that's part of it, but you're right, they are so out of step and so different than the rest of the soccer world,

and I think that made sense in the 90s and the early 2000s. It is increasingly making less sense, but man, I have a lot of sympathy for Sorensen and guys in his position because there's just so much on your plate to deal with at any one time. It's a tough continent to have a soccer league because soccer runs so long. And you know, I remember when they when they, when they said like, Oh, we're going to maybe consider going to a winter schedule like they do over in Europe.

And I'm like, in Toronto and Montreal, Boston, Colorado, but even like Kansas, you want to play outdoor soccer games in Kansas city, but then a soda, but then a few textures replied to me and I'm like, this is a good to me and I'm like, this is a good point too. He's like, yeah, we'll try going to Houston in the middle of the summer. Right. I just looked at the 32 and 65% humidity on Wednesday in Houston.

Yeah, that's not fun. I mean, it's dangerous in some ways. So I, it's, it's, it's kind of like, well, pick your poison in that respect, but I think they're going to have to like, well, pick your poison in that respect, but I think they're gonna have to, maybe they just have a very, I don't know what they do with their schedule if they go into winter, just to accept that maybe some of the games

are gonna be canceled or something, and then remake them later. I know you can heat the field too, you know, but. Right. I don't know. Like, it just seems like, it's like, what are you gonna do? Because it's not really acceptable in my mind

to have some of the teams that they've fielded. Like the Whitecaps, they actually won this game because Seattle played terribly and I think got into, I think they had red card trouble. But earlier in the season when all those guys were on international duty, they played against the game against Seattle where they're like calling up kids from the Academy team. Yep.

You know, and it's like, well, you're asking your fans to pay money to see not the star players. And consistently, and it was like, oh, are they hurt? No. No. They're just playing for- asking your fans to pay money to see not the star players and consistently. And it was like, oh, are they hurt? No. No. They're just playing for- They got a better offer.

And it's like, well, other leagues figure out a way to do this, like they're in step. Maybe MLS could be in more in step somehow? I have no idea. There's gotta be a way to do it. And now I'm sure they'll be shutting down for the World Cup next year since it's in. Canada, US and Mexico would be insane.

Yeah, clinically insane not to, but there's been past years where they've played during the World Cup. Yeah, I know. It's like I remember I went once to a white caps game while the World Cup was happening. It's like, man, this is a tough sell. This is a very different level of soccer. Yeah, what I'm watching on TV is like they almost should just stop for that reason. So you don't you're not seeing the comparison.

But I mean, like they're also up to 30 teams in the league and most soccer leagues in the world, like 20. So there's all these different things that they've decided to do. And it like the league's growing. It seems to be thriving. People are paying attention. People are fans. So I guess from that perspective, you could well, whatever we don't need to change

It's working for us, but it also just creates so many of these bizarre situations to manage What do you think the World Cups can be like? That is a fascinating question somebody texted in here and it was what we learned about read it now Oz that The security workers at Dix Sporting Goods Park in Colorado apparently Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Colorado Apparently confiscated a Canadian flag from a traveling white cap supporter because they deemed that it was a political statement and not allowed Which as the texture I did see this on social media as the texture points out great omen for the World Cup Where you know people take like to bring flags and things The Canadian flag is a political it is hilarious that we're doing is a joint we're doing a joint

North Americans massive sporting event in this time of all times. It's like hey, we're all friends, right? Let's get together and have a big party. It'll be awesome and ten years ago would have been amazing It would have been fantastic. Everyone be like, oh, this is so great. And now who knows? I think it'll still be great. Yeah. I think the, are you, are you going to go? Like, are you going to go? Are you going to travel? Like, I'm not going to travel. You're not going to travel because, okay, so my, one of my bucket lists is to go see England. Sure. Okay. This is something that I've wanted to do my whole life.

And now England, assuming they qualify, which they will, is going to come to North America. And I have a feeling that they're going to put them in one of the major American markets. If England comes, you want to have to, they weren't in the 94 World Cup, they didn't qualify. So you want to have them in a stadium that's got, you know, 80,000 or whatever, and I'm probably in a major city. I'm not exactly sure how they actually determine all that sort of stuff, but I imagine they usually find a way to do that. I'll still travel, but I haven't been down to the States for quite a while now. I was thinking about going to a Mariners game and I was like, eh, nah, I'd rather go somewhere else.

And we had a boys weekend and we were going to go to a baseball game and they were like, nah. And we pulled an audible and we're like, let's go to the Stampede instead. Sure. Had a great time. And we're actually going to have Tim Graham. He's a writer for The Athletic out of Buffalo. And we're going to talk to him tomorrow about, and this is going to be bigger picture, but he wrote about the Buffalo

bills and how their business is being impacted because they've got, I think 10% of seasons ticket holders are from Ontario and the Buffalo bills consider Toronto and Ontario, their market, much like the Seattle Seahawks consider the lower mainland and even parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan as their market. And he went out and talked to, well, he talked to the teams, he talked to a lot of the fans and he talked to a lot of the businesses in the border towns and they are just getting

decimated by this. Like I imagine Blaine right now is a ghost town. Yeah. Or Bellingham even, right? Like how many people go down there to shop and go to the mall and everything? Yeah. And there's still going to be people that are like,

oh, I like Trader Joe's and you go, and I'm not going to judge those people. That's fine. Like, you know, listen, it's not, I'm not going to judge them much, but I know, like, and there's some people that'll be like, I like Trump and I'm getting angry by this conversation, but the reality is, is that, like,

this is just real. These are facts. Way fewer Canadians are going down. And I wonder what their tourism levels are overall. You know, I know the administration down there wants to bring back jobs and manufacturing jobs and fine, but are they also like killing tourism at the same time? Yeah, I mean, it's a big part of the economy,

as you said, for the border towns especially. Current stats right now have it down 22% year over year. That's a huge number. That's a huge number. That's a massive, huge number. That's a huge number. And you have to think, and I realize, I'm saying this about this administration,

but that there's a certain awareness of like, we are hosting the World Cup. There is going to be an influx, a massive influx. Iran has qualified. Of visitors. You have to have a coherent plan. Because I think that's the biggest thing for a lot of people is just like you hear the horror stories of people going over the border

and you just there's an unpredictability to it. You know what I mean? You don't know what's going to happen. I think that's the thing for a lot of people. You need it to be predictable and orderly. That's the number one thing. Like here's what's going to happen. Here's how we're going to do things. Here's what you need to know if you're coming to visit America for the World Cup. That more than anything is what needs to be in place. If it's not, it has the potential

to be just absolute utter chaos. Yeah. So I don't know. But I'm not, when I say I'm not gonna travel for the World Cup, it's not because it's just because like that's way too much money for me to spend. Well, you know what? First and foremost, I was actually thinking like silver linings here.

Maybe the ticket prices will come down a little bit. There you go. If there's less demand. I did just get an email from like the Whitecaps mailing list about apparently you can now book single match tickets. For the World Cup, but only for these like crazy hospitality or something, so I look and it was like the first one in at PC place was $3,000 per person for the game. I was like, I'm not gonna be I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna wait

You know free nachos with that I'm gonna wait and see what the other ticketing options are here before I dive in on that one I really want to go see Canada at BC. Oh, that would be incredible. Yeah, like I got to find a way to do that. Yes. That's the one that I would be willing to shell out for if it's available. But it's probably going to be a lottery, I would think. Like just when the Olympics were here, right? You had to enter a lottery for the gold medal. I wonder what the get in price on the secondary market is going to be.

That's going to be fascinating because I don't care where I say. I don't care where I say I just want to be off the stadium. I just want to be there. It's the biggest rivalry party of the year Lions versus Roughriders Saturday July 19th at 4 p.m With the watermelon smash on Terry Fox Plaza get tickets at BC lions.com and we will talk lions They're back to 500 after beating the Elks on the weekend JC Abbott joins us next year on how for the Brough Sportsnet 650