Halford & Brough in the Morning - Why Are You Booing Me? I'm Right!

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

In hour two, guest host Jamie Dodd continues to defend his pepperoni pizza take with AJ from AJ's Pizza (1:18), joined by co-guest host Israel Fehr, they talk NFL preseason with NFL.com's Nick Shook (5:56), plus they talk the most memorable Olympics moments thus far with CBC's Ben Steiner (25:17). 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 here, Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd, it's Israel Thayer filling in for Halford & Brough for the week. Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer, meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime Craft Beer is full flavor without compromise.

Add a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Of course, it is an Ask Us Anything Friday. We've read lots of good ones already, lots more coming in. It's your chance to be entered to win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Text in

650-650 with your Ask Us Anything. Include the pizza emoji and we'll give away that $100 gift card to the best submission. We'll announce that at 8.30. And right now, very pleased to be joined on the line from AJ's Pizza in Vancouver. He is

AJ. AJ, what's going on, man? What is going on? Hey, so I have, so one, two, let's start with the question of what should be on pizza. Yes. 83, 85% of the pizzas we sell have Ronis. This is what I'm talking about. Thank you. Everybody, everybody, and then the other thing about the marriage.

He's bringing the analytics. I like it. Just for you, laddie. Thank you. And the other thing about the marriage, you need to find someone who can fight off a black bear as my wife did last night. What? Whoa. You got to tell us more.

How did this happen? So I'm in the house. We have a house in Gibson. So I'm here. And as I do on a Thursday night, I'm in the house as I, as we, we have a house in Gibson. So I'm, I'm here. And as I do on a Thursday night, I'm watching the Godfather and I hear this commotion outside and Black Bear charges, charges my wife and our little new puppy. Oh my goodness. And she fights them off.

Unbelievable. So we're talking like, are we talking like bare hands or like? We're talking like bare hands. Like she somehow won the fight, which is not shocking if anybody knows Teresa and who the real boss of AJ's is. But yeah. So there you go. That's the tip for marriage. That is a wild story.

That's how you know you found the right partner right there. When she's protecting your puppy, fighting off a black bear with her bare hands. And I'm just watching from the window. I mean, I can't go outside. I mean, whatever. It would have been a bad fight then. Two on one is not appropriate. a black bear with her right and i'm just watching and i'm just watching from the window i mean i can't go outside i mean whatever there would have been a bad fight then two on one's not appropriate you're cheering on you're cheering her on from the from the window you go get it honey you're doing great but yeah but yes pepperoni come on you gotta have everybody loves well and this is what i'm saying people are texting in like oh you got to expand your palate i'm like look sometimes

simple there are other types of pizzas that i enjoy don't get me wrong but if you're just talking like hey crowd pleasing you want to satisfy a group sometimes simplicity is best you don't need to add a bunch of things right we already know what makes the best pizza and it's a pepperoni and i know you've got a bunch of different varieties which we do we got a couple different varieties for sure but and laddie was that you said barbecue chicken? That was A-Dog. That was A-Dog. A-Dog.

What? I expect more from you. Thank you, AJ. That's what I said, too. I'm just a big sucker for barbecue sauce. That's the thing. If it's got barbecue sauce in it, I'll eat it. That's my thing. That's amazing. Hey, yeah, it's going to be a fun weekend at aj's obviously happy hour on sunday all day and and yeah as we're as we're in the in the thick of summer it's gonna be great uh that's awesome aj appreciate it an incredible story shout out to to your wife theresa for battling

a black bear i hope you're treating her to something special this weekend for that one they'll be sushi today or something. There you go. Absolutely. AJ, thanks for doing this, man. Appreciate it. Have a great weekend. Take care, everybody. Enjoy the weekend. Take care.

That is AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Try AJ's traditional New York pizza or sink into their famous Detroit pizza only in AJ's Pizza. Order online at ajs.pizza. Sorry, ajs.pizza. Excuse me. I was not expecting that that from aj I was hyped

I suspected he was probably gonna agree with My pepperoni take but I was not expecting The oh yeah my wife fought off a black Bear with her bare hands In gibson's last night that was a Swerve I also we didn't have a chance to get Into it but he seemed to imply that he watches the godfather Every Thursday Thursday night

I was watching the godfather surprise me that's What I do godfather every thursday thursday night i was watching the godfather wasn't surprising that's what i do godfather thursdays man we like our themes here on the alfred and ruff show aj likes his themes godfather thursdays yeah he watches it once a week every week once a week every it's a long commitment for a uh a once a week viewing of a movie that's a big time commitment good for AJ. He doesn't need to fight off bears, apparently, so he's got the three hours to spare. He's too busy watching the movie. Which scene from The Godfather would you leave? He's in there. It's in

the best part. He's like, keep it down out there! Trying to watch The Godfather. Why all the growling? We're at the restaurant scene. Come on, guys. Ben Steiner from CBC Sports is going gonna join us momentarily here we'll take a little bit of a look back obviously stuff still happening at the olympics we got the four by 100 four by 100 men's relay today which canada uh might have a chance to medal and of course that we you know we talked about noah lyles withdrawing that impacts the american team the jamaican team

i believe didn't qualify for the relay final. So another potential medal opportunity there in addition to some other ones. Ben Steiner's coming up at 730. But right now from NFL.com, Nick Shook joins us to look ahead to the first full week of preseason action here. Nick, thanks very much for doing this. How are you? Good. How are you? Good, how are you? We're doing really well.

So one thing that I wanted to get into from last night was the debut of the new measurement technology. And I know it's just for preseason. They're not bringing it over to the regular season just yet. They're just testing it out. You know, there's the one clip going around on Twitter where it took a really, really long time for them to actually use the new measurement and kind of halted progress.

But I've always thought it does seem like there's got to be a better way to spot the ball to actually figure out where the ball was relative to the first down marker than the chain system and the referees just eyeballing it. I mean, are you of the same opinion that there's got to be a better way and they've got to find a way to smooth the wrinkles out and find a new system to deploy here? Yeah, I mean, we're in the 21st century. There's microchips in footballs.

We track players because we have chips in their pads. I can pull up the NextGenStats console at any time, can tell you how fast the guy was moving on any given play, in what direction, how far he was running, how far he ran on that play across the field, you know, without actually the yard markers being our measurement point. So it seems natural in the evolution of football that this would be next. But, of course, it's not going to be easy.

It's never going to be as smooth. This is why you test it out in preseason games is to make sure that, look, we've got to work out the kinks this way before it actually affects a game that matters. So we'll see stuff like this. We'll see bumps in the road and everything else. And we're in the same era in which people are talking about having robot umpires. So this is a natural thing in the NFL.

And before long, they'll get it figured out. But it's a good time to test it out. Speaking of debuts, I saw one of the rookie quarterbacks make his first NFL action with Drake May in the New England Patriots. We'll see Caleb Williams soon when the Bears play the Bills. What's at stake for rookie quarterbacks in the preseason? Obviously, their first opportunity. It's not the regular season, but still an NFL game. What's up there for them to compete for and to try to settle in before a season gets started? I think you just said it.

I think it's settling in. I think it's getting those live reps. I know Caleb Williams talked about it before the Hall of Fame game, how much he wanted to play in that game because he just values high reps and how important live reps and how important they are to your development as a quarterback because you have to get acclimated to the higher speed of the game, to the more complex defenses that you're going to see, which you're not going to see a lot of in the preseason most stuff

is vanilla but it's it's always helpful to get reps that are outside of a practice environment now joint practices you can get kind of close but there's nothing like playing in an nfl game and especially for a quarterback who's got to process a lot who's got a lot of responsibilities and who needs to just you know get up to speed literally with the speed of the game and the decision making so it's not that they're going to go win jobs necessarily. I mean, you might see an occasional quarterback competition where preseason reps do matter. It's more about just getting acclimated and preparing yourself

for whenever you do get to take the field. And I think that's the value in it for these young guys is being out there and just getting those reps, getting comfortable, so that when the regular season does arrive, they feel like they're more prepared to go out and perform. Well, you know, Caleb Williams, his situation in Chicago is kind of interesting because obviously first overall pick, but going to a team that wasn't truly terrible last year, right? Of course, it wasn't their own pick that they used to draft him at the top of the draft.

They were 7-10. You know, so often when you see these generational type, or not generational, but, you know, elite prospect quarterbacks go to to first overall it's to teams coming off you know two win three win seasons the bears in a little bit of a different category there they get to add caleb williams what do you think are reasonable expectations for him and for the bears team as a whole going into this year yeah i prefer to refer to these guys as uh top tier and avoid the generational type which you caught yourself doing too as well because you know you never really quite i mean that's a little too far for caleb williams i was as a top tier and avoid the generational type, which you caught yourself doing too as well.

Because, you know, you never really quite. I was a little too far for Caleb Williams. I was like, what am I doing there? Slow down, slow down. It's early. I understand. I mean, you know, even Trevor Lawrence seems to be a generational prospect, and he's had his own bumps in the road.

So it's never a slam dunk, and it's never guaranteed. But if you can put him in a better situation, it certainly helps him out in the long run. And I think, you know, the Bears, their record and the way that they finished last year, the way that they finished is what really made their record, which kind of does. All right.

They have on paper. Now there's a lot of people have good reason to be optimistic about the future of this team. It's just that, you know, we don't quite know yet. We haven't seen it yet. It's all on paper,

but it's, you know, the expectations for him. I mean, he was a heck of an athlete know yet. We haven't seen it yet. It's all on paper. But it's, you know, expectations for him. I mean, he was a heck of an athlete at USC. He was a very solid quarterback. He ran into some turnover issues in his last year there. You know, some might say it had to do with whether he was playing with an injury on his throwing hand or not. But, I mean, you can't argue with what he did in his Heisman season.

I mean, those results were undeniable. There was a reason that he was projected to be the top pick for over a year. There's a reason that the Bears felt very confident and confident enough to move on from Justin Fields and select him. So the pressure's on, but also, you know, I expect him to be better than, you know, a Tim Couch in Cleveland in 1989 with a, you know, expansion team. You know, they're not going to be that bad. They have weapons around them.

They've tried to improve the offensive line. That defense really came together down the stretch last year, which is a big reason why they finished 7-10. I'm not going to expect them to go light the world on fire and have a C.J. Stroud season, because I just think that's extreme. But in the meantime, I still think it'll be better than probably what you saw with Justin Fields, just because he was

put in a bad situation as a rookie. And hopefully it produces some positive results for the Bears, because let's face it, folks. A year ago, around this time, Matt Iberflues was almost a lame duck. And about halfway through the season, they were ready to move on from it. So, you know, the fact that they were able to put together down the stretch is really what saved his job.

And if Caleb Williams can perform, then, you know, they're going to be in a much better spot. Now that we're talking preseason games, it means that training camp proper is wrapping up. And the big story at a Seahawks training camp the other day was a lot of fights, five or six scruff or kerfuffles and back and forth between players. And it's not unique to Seattle. There were a few other instances where that popped up at other training camps. This seems like something that happens every year. Is it one of those things where it's just something that is part of the deal? It comes with training camp. It comes with a competitive environment. Or is there something a little deeper to dig into when we see these back and forths between teammates?

I don't think there's that much to dig into, but I do think it's a great exercise in how many synonyms you can come up with for fights. You know, Donnybrook, Frakis, Scrap, you know, all kinds of things. Tussle. I mean, yeah, exactly. Tussle, you know, all kinds of things like that. Melee.

Yeah, there you go. That's a good one, too. Melee's good. Brujaha. Brujaha. All day. Exactly. Look, here's the thing with training camp fights.

They're going to happen. They're inevitable. Because training camp is long. It's a grind. You get tired of hitting the same guy, you know, hitting the guy wearing the same jersey as you. So you go play joint practices, and all of a sudden you're like, oh, somebody else is wearing a different jersey than me.

That's the designated enemy. Of course I'm going to have bad blood for that guy because we're here in camp and I'm hitting somebody that's not wearing the same colors as me. Fights are inevitably going to break out. You're at a point in the season where everybody thinks that this is their year and they're out to prove a point. So you get into the long hours of a joint practice, you get tired of a guy doing something that irritates you,

and next thing you know, tempers flare, and you're fighting. I mean, even back when I was playing, I would fight an occasional teammate just because you get frustrated. You're hitting the same guy over and over again, and they're pulling certain things that you don't like, and next thing you know, you're on top of them, and you're doing the dumbest thing in sports, which is punching a guy with a helmet.

But yet that continues to happen every year. So there's nothing really to dig into that's really that deep. I do think sometimes, though, it can be a sign of a lack of organizational or institutional control and part of the fight-interrupting practice to the point you're not getting anything done. Then suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you're like, look, do we need to be more disciplined? Do I need to be more on top of it?

I saw it myself with the 2019 Browns. We went out to Westfield, Indiana for joint practices with the Colts. And in that moment in time, they had a lot of positive momentum from the offseason, but they also were pretty prone to getting into fights with the Colts. And practice, I think, each of the days

ended early because of fights that just break out in special teams drills. I mean, punt return and just a massive brawl would break out. There's another one, by the way, brawl. And so, you know, eventually that was a sign of what was to come, which is a disorganized team that lacked control. But I don't think it's necessarily always a sign of that. I just think it's a product of camp.

Another headline coming out of training camp. Surprise, surprise from the Cowboys camp yesterday, Nick. And owner Jerry Jones asked about CeeDee Lamb, of course, star wide receiver who's holding out for a new contract. Jerry Jones saying he doesn't have a sense of urgency about getting a contract extension done with CeeDee Lamb. And then you add this on to the ongoing Dak Prescott situation, right? And, you know, I know a lot of people will say they've pretty badly mishandled that situation with their quarterback. What's going on here with the Dallas Cowboys and managing these contract situations with some of their top players?

Yeah, you know, it is kind of concerning. It's strange, if anything. It's almost as if the Cowboys set everybody up for a prove-it year, whether it's the coach, the quarterback, or the star wide receiver. And maybe they're just standing pat to see what changes may become. You know, if the Cowboys don't deliver, I think they'll be on to a new coach. Dak Prescott going in the last year of his contract puts a lot of pressure on him to deliver.

And, you know, we'll see what happens there because I can name a few teams that would like to have him if he became available. But I also think that Jerry Jones doesn't necessarily have the time for patience. And so he's kind of applying the pressure by letting everything stand pat. It doesn't really make a ton of sense to not get CD done because he is your number one receiver and a star, a legit guy that should get paid.

And especially for, you know, in a season, which Dak's got to kind of prove it again. That's the curious thing to me. How he handled Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott, I guess, kind of makes sense. But not having a sense of urgency to get a receiver done, it's a little curious to me. I still feel like it's going to get done before long because you don't want to go into a season in which you don't have that option. But it's a wait-and-see situation, and if you're a Cowboys fan, you're hoping for the

best because it was a quiet offseason. They've pretty much dug in their heels on every player in every position and just said, look, we're going to repeat and see what happens. And it's kind of hard to do that if you don't have a receiver in camp. So hopefully we'll get something done soon, but not a lot of traction on it right now. As you outlined, a lot of intrigue around the Cowboys at the moment. Is it realistic to expect them to be one of the best teams in the NFC? What is their ceiling this season? I mean, on paper, they should be almost about as good as they were last year.

The problem is that in most offseason teams get better. Some teams get worse, but some teams get better. And you think back to what fell apart for them last year. I guess they couldn't stop a nosebleed in the playoffs. They lose their defensive coordinator to Washington and Dan Quinn. And now they're, you know, operating with Mike Zimmer. And all the positive vibes that come from Cowboys camp are, oh, this is how Zimmer's going to use Micah Parsons.

It's going to be crazy. And maybe they do experience a jump on that side of the ball. But otherwise, you know what you're going to get offensively for the most part. And like I said, the pressure's on. So, I mean, it's going to be a tough conference. Maybe not as tough as the AFC or as tough as the AFC was last year. But we don't know what the Eagles are. And that's obviously their main competitor in the AFC East right now, because they fell apart down the stretch. And that was the reason why the Cowboys were able

to come away with a division title. I don't know if the Eagles are going to be in that type of situation again. And I don't know if maybe the Cowboys end up looking back on this season when it's all said and done as a missed opportunity or a wasted opportunity. But right now, when I'm picking, you know, some of the top teams in the NFC, the Cowboys are in the conversation,

but they're not, you know, a confident favorite to be better than, you know, a San Francisco. Who else would you have? Obviously, oh, sorry, Nick, you cut out there.

That's why I interrupted. Apologies. But I was just going to ask who else would you have in that kind of top tier, probably behind San Francisco, but in those top tier of NFC teams going into the season? Yeah, I should tell you, I'm in Cleveland.

We had a big storm come through and power outage. The reception over here is all. Fair enough. But yeah, so I would put Detroit up there. Green Bay is up there. San Francisco is up there. We don't know what Philly is going to be. I don't know what happens in the NFC South.

And, you know, San Francisco is running the West right now, but I don't think that's the only team that can come out of that side as well. I know you guys want to talk about the Seahawks. We'll see. You know, new coach Mike McDonald, we'll see. But, yeah, I would probably put, you know, it would be Detroit, Green Bay, San Francisco among my favorite San Jose right now. We have a question coming in, Nick, from one of our listeners

about the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh, of course, with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both there. And look, they've been very, very, very careful about saying, you know, Russell Wilson is QB1, he's our starter. But also inherently when you have those two guys, there's going to be some intrigue. How do you see that quarterback situation playing out, know not just going into week one but over the course of the season for pittsburgh never good when you have a guy get banged up in camp but i think it's

a blessing in disguise for the steelers because they've gotten an extended look at justin field so far with russell wilson not being able to fully participate and i think that's going to matter at some point in the season if it doesn't go well for russell wilson but as of right now that's still his job to vote for seed and they'll figure out ways to work Fields in. It's going to be a very fascinating situation throughout the year because of the fact that Justin Fields is on that roster and they need to get an evaluation of him. But unless Russ plays like he did in Denver, I don't think that you're necessarily going to see a lot of Justin Fields early. I do think that you'll see them find ways to fit him in. But as of right now, it's Russell

Wilson's job to lose. And because he hasn't been healthy, we don't have a ton to say, but as we go into week one, I'm sure that's what it's going to look like. I did want to ask you about the Browns, and yesterday they released mock-ups for the stadium that they'd like to build just outside of the city. It's for a lot more money than what had previously been discussed, according to the reports. What's the situation with Cleveland and the stadium battle that they're trying to get done here? It's the talk of the town right now, I'll tell you that. Everywhere I go, I get asked about it.

What do you think about Brook Park? Brook Park is about 15 minutes outside of downtown, where the stadium is planned, is literally right next to it. I'm not misusing literally. It is literally right next to it. I'm not misusing literally. It is literally right next to Cleveland-Hopkins Airport. They redesigned the freeway that runs along it, and mixed use is the name of the game these days in stadium development. It's not just about building a venue for football games.

It's about building something that can be used year-round. Patriot Place was probably the first one that did it. Other stadiums have done it. It's outside of football. It's happening in Tampa when they're building a new stadium for the Rays. It's just the way to go. And the problem in Cleveland is where the stadium is in the lakefront right now, there's two ways in and out.

You're right along the water. There's not a lot of development around it. It's essentially a single-use facility unless you have something like, you know, they had SummerSlam there last weekend or a concert or something like that. It's hard to get to you, but it's also a traditional spot. You know, there's a lot of parking lots that people have been tailgating in for decades. It's the same site as the old stadium. It's near and dear to a lot of Browns fans' hearts,

so it's a very divisive issue here where people don't want to see the Browns leave downtown. They already saw the team leave the city entirely to go to Baltimore in the 90s. They don't want to see that happen again. They don't want to drive to Brook Park, but at the same time, they're also like, that's a pretty cool-looking stadium and a cool idea. So depending on who you talk to, they're either all geared up for the Browns to move to Brook Park or they're holding out hope that the city can get it done. You know, Justin Bibb, the mayor in Cleveland, he's made an effort, you know,

both privately and publicly to try to get to the negotiating table and work with the Browns on this. So I kind of see it right now as a leverage play, but it's a serious one. The fact that you have renderings makes it serious, makes it real, even if they're preliminary renderings. So we'll see if the city, you know, plays ball with the team and gives them more incentives or agrees to a deal where they rebuild the stadium because they cherish that spot so much. But I can tell you as somebody who's lived here for five years and grew up in this area, this city is very dependent economically on the sports. They have three stadiums downtown that the smallest market to have three major sports teams and everybody comes in and out of the city to go to these games,

and you can walk to all three by foot. Two of them are right next door to each other, and it's a big part of the downtown economy. And like when LeBron left the first time, they suffered tremendously financially because people didn't go to Cavs games as much. So the bars and restaurants very much built around the games as well. So we'll see if the city will, you know,

get to the table and actually make a hard play to keep the Browns downtown or if they end up with a futuristic dome stadium, 15 minutes outside of the city. Just before we let you go, Nick, from an on-field perspective, what are you expecting from the Browns this year? I expect a slight step back defensively because I think it's really hard to replicate what they did last year in a Jim Schwartz. They got a lot of talent on both sides of the football. People are worried about Nick Chubb and whether he's going to be able to be healthy.

He's made a lot of strides in that area. But it really comes down to Deshaun Watson. It's not about the talent around him. It's about Deshaun Watson and whether he can deliver. You're bringing Ken Dorsey to bring some new ideas to the offense. I worry a little bit how that's going to affect the run game because they did not run the ball well in Buffalo when he was the OC. But Kevin Savancy is still the guy in charge.

And he hasn't yet said that he'll be the play caller, but I fully expect him to be the play caller. If you can replicate what you did defensively for the most part, you're still going to be a top five defense. All that talent is there. They're deeper on both sides of the ball. But if your quarterback doesn't deliver, none of it matters. You know,

they got to the playoffs last year because they caught lightning in a bottle with Joe Flacco coming off the couch and playing well. They're not going to do that again. They've tried to prepare with Tyler Huntley and Jameis Winston as backups and everything else, but ultimately it's the guy you paid $230 million fully guaranteed over five years. He's going to have to deliver for them to be as good as they can be,

and right now we still don't know. Nick, really appreciate the time. Thanks for doing this, and enjoy the slate of preseason action this weekend. Yeah, definitely. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Nick. Nick Shook from NFL.com, weighing in on some of the big stories around the NFL as the exhibition season really gets underway this weekend. Seahawks in action tomorrow for their first preseason game of the year.

Get ready for the ultimate sports fan trip to Michigan from September 27th to October 1st. Experience games at the Big House, Comerica Park, and Ford Field. Contact Neil Charke at neilc at uniglobecarefree.ca. For details, Ben Steiner from CBC Sports coming up next, talking Paris Olympics, looking back a little bit about what Canada has accomplished at these games. That's next here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650

with Jamie Dodd and Israel Fair filling in. Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer, meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime Craft Beer is full flavor without compromise at a liquor store near you or visit the brewery

to see how it's made. 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome details at DunbarLumber.com. And of course, it isn't Ask Us Anything Friday, $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza. We will award it to the best Ask Us Anything at 8.30, so send your submissions in, 650-650. Make sure you include the pizza emoji to be eligible to win that gift card. Right now, though, before we do any more Ask Us Anythings, very pleased to be joined on the line from CBC Sports covering the Olympics.

He is Ben Steiner. Ben, thanks very much for doing this today. How are you? I'm doing pretty well. It's another exciting day of the Olympics as we start to reach the end of this, you know, marathon of 400 meters, I like to call it. You're always tired covering the Olympics. Yeah, it's and, you know, we're doing a bit of a kind of look back.

But of course, as you say, like, you know, there's still there's still opportunities for Canada to the medal today and coming up on the weekend as well. So still lots of intrigue going into the final weekend here of Paris, but lots that we can look back on as well. And, you know, so far from this point, I mean, the easy answer is probably summer Macintosh. But if you had to do kind of a podium of memorable moments for Canada, things you'll remember from these Paris games from a Canadian perspective, how would you build out that podium? Yeah, I mean, I think it has to be Summer McIntosh at the top, and then below that, unfortunately, I think it has to be

the disappointments that we saw with men's basketball and women's soccer. Those were big stories, especially men's basketball, considering where France has gotten to now in the final against the U.S., that could have been Canada. It could have been Canada-USA in a moment that I think would have rivaled Crosby's golden goal if Canada had somehow pulled that off in the final. But, of course, we didn't get that. And I think that's going to be the kind of standout things is actually

the disappointments of this Olympics, even though these games could go down as Canada's greatest ever summer games, because, you know, they're only one medal in the 4x100 later today, but no medal, not even a final in the 100 or the 200. He's now going to be turning 30 soon. What does the future look like for Andre de Grasse, who prior to these games had had a sterling reputation for performing at the Olympics? Yeah, it could be Andre de Grasse's final Olympic race today. It's worth watching on the chance that it might be. It's a kind of weird one when you think of back to Rio 2016. It seems so recently, some of those memories that he was exchanging smiles at 70 meters with, with Usain Bolt and crossing the line. And then there was talk for a little while,

maybe he would up Serp as the fastest man in the world. And he never quite got that in the hundred. He got it in the 200 at Tokyo. And so today could be the end of you know one of canada's greatest olympians the most decorated uh canadian olympian but there's also a chance that he finds his way to la and he has still been you know running at a speed that he hasn't necessarily ran at since tokyo when he won those medals the field has just gotten that much faster his times though are quite similar to what he was running three years ago.

And he went through some injury troubles. He's gone through a bunch of coaching changes. His coach, Rainer Reeder, who was banned from coaching British athletes due to some SA allegations, cases, a lot of complications on his coach, Rainer Rieder, who was revoked accreditation midway through this competition. And so that's a distraction. You know, you get older, your body just starts breaking down, and that's also been a distraction.

There's been a stomach bug that's gone through the Canadian team as well. So, you know, this could be his last race, one of Canada's greatest Olympians, but there's also a chance that it's not because he's running quite well, actually. Yeah, and you mentioned possibility, at least, that it's his last race in the 4x100 today in the final. How do you like Canada's chances in that event? I mean, I know, you know,

Noah Lyles withdraws from the American team, so maybe that opens the door a little bit, but how do you like Canada's chances at a podium place in this event? It's possible. If this came two years ago, that would have been great because Canada were the world champions two years ago and the U.S. hadn't quite figured it out in the 4x1.

I still think the U.S. is going to be the favorites when it comes to this. And there's a lot of good countries in the 4x1 that can have a lot of better exchanges than even the U.S. can do. The U.S. has a bit of a habit for coming into these big moments, whether it's world championships or Olympic finals, and flubbing and baton exchange. Canada is experienced. This is basically the same group that has done the 4x1 in the Canadian shirts

for the last eight years or so, really. It's Jerome Blake, Brendan Rondy, Andre de Grasse, and Aaron Brown. Andre de Grasse is likely going to run that Anger Lake. And if you haven't seen it before, I tweeted it out a couple days ago, but I think it's an iconic Canadian sporting moment. It's a shame it happened in the World Championships

instead of an Olympics. Canada won the 4x1 at the World Championships two years ago in Oregon on American soil, and they beat Noel Isles and US Final Stretch under the grass, the best paper lake you'll ever see. It's a possibility. I would say if they get a medal, it's going to be bronze. The Americans probably still have this,

but it would be a pretty special moment to see a group that's really grown up on the track together step away on a podium. People will certainly be tuned in for that. Still a couple more days left of competition here. And of course, as we get down to the final days, a lot of medals on the line. So what are the other potential medal opportunities that you're tracking for Canada as we get close to the closing ceremonies? Yeah, well, if you're tuning in today, it has to be shot put.

That's one that Canada at this point might actually be one of those gold medal locks like we kind of saw in both genders in the hammer throw. So Canadians continuing to be good at throwing heavy things on the field. And then there's also a bronze medal about women's wrestling. That's been a bit of a surprise. The 18th ranked in the world, Hannah Taylor from Somerset PEI of all places has made a bronze medal about in wrestling. That's later today. Breaking makes his breaking debut at Paris 2024 today. It's going to be the most fever dream Olympic sport ever because it's literally on the Olympic program for two days and then gets taken off for LA. And Canada has gold medal chances in that with Phil Kim tomorrow,

Marco Arope in the 800 meter you know and then the four by one men's and women's relays where canada has a chance in both to land on the podium so they've secured 23 medals uh gold medal bout or gold medal fight uh in the women's volleyball today and that's going to be one to watch as well the canadian pairing playing the best in the world so 23 secured you know can Canada could get to 25. 28 if things go really well, and that would break the record for most medals in a non-boycott of games. You mentioned the

double gold in hammer throw. Good shot at gold in the women's shot put as well. I was thinking the exact same thing as you. We're really, really good at throwing heavy things a long way away. What's going on there? You know what I mean? How did we become one of the preeminent countries at throwing heavy things a long way away. What's going on there? Like, you know what I mean? Like, how did we become one of the preeminent countries at throwing heavy things a long way? Yeah, excuse me. It's a little bit random. It's a little bit random. You know, there's not really

consistency when it comes to everything happening at the same time, really. There's not been any sort of special investment in Canadian throwing. They're not even at similar points of the country. I mean, the hammer throwers are both from BC, but Sarah Mitton's from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia. So it's a little bit of a concoction of coincidence for Canadian throwing. And enjoy it while you can, because we've never seen this for Canada in field events, really. And so many of the medals these games for Canadians have been historic. And then also enjoy the sprinting today,

because there's not a lot of top sprinters coming up in Canada at the moment. Well, to that point, then, it is this thing, especially in this country where we're also spread out and it can be hard to find the the finances required to to keep training at such a high level is there anything from these games that might kick start a larger movement or get people excited or is it really just at the whims of where people are at and in the kind of opportunities that they might get locally? Yeah, I think people would have watched fencing and potentially been inspired by that. You know, we're talking young athletes, young kids

that get inspired to take on sports. I think a lot of people enjoyed women's rugby sevens, and that's already a big sport in the country, especially in BC. But that's something that could continue to grow in Canada. And then, of course, swimming. When you have a superstar like Summer McIntosh, there's going to be people who want to be the next Summer McIntosh. And, you know, when you're talking about that, you're talking about someone who's really

eight years old right now, someone who can get into the sport right now and, you know, contribute at the Olympic level as a youngster, potentially, you know, in la as a super youngster or you're looking at the next games in brisbane um but that's the kind of age range you're looking at for those next olympians is you know the the kids born in dare i say it what 2015 uh are the people that are that are getting inspired by by these performances and could kind of be that next generation of of. Yeah, and as you mentioned Summer McIntosh, as we look ahead a little bit to 2028 in L.A., I mean, she's going to be certainly one of the main focal points for Canada looking ahead four years, only 17 now, doing what she did at these games.

The hype and the expectations are going to be immense for Summer McIntosh. Is there anyone else, or whether it's a program or an individual that's kind of on your radar for 2028 now for Canada as a result of what they've done at these games? It's not quite a result of what he did at these games, but what he's done previously with the University of Georgia. But Christopher Morales-Williams in the 400-meter has to be one to watch. He had broken the world indoor record for the 400-meter in the NCAA

where they run a lot of those events through the wintertime. And then he also just recently made the turn to pro and he looked a little starstruck at times a little bit, you know, not quite ready for that moment. He turned 20 at these Olympics, he made the Olympic semifinal the day before his 20th birthday had a day off and then in race the Olympic semifinalinal so he is one to watch one that can be you know canada's superstar on the track moving forward it's not in the sprints but you know the 400 meter might be the toughest race because it's not a sprint it's not a distance event um and you're going all out for one fast lap around the track now keeping with just looking

ahead to 2028 here you mentioned breaking is coming out which which is kind of funny to me, as you said. Kind of fever dream here where it's in there for a couple of days and then it's back out going into 2028. But being added some returning sports, baseball, softball, lacrosse, sixes version of lacrosse. Lacrosse will be back for the first time, I think, almost I think more than 100 years at the Olympics and flag football being added. And not that we're going to medal in all of those, but that seems like a pretty favorable group of sports to be joining the Olympics in 2028 for Canada. It is. When you look at football around the world,

sure, it is flag football, and it's a lot easier to get into in the next few years. You can kind of take a good athlete and turn them into a decent flag football player. But Canada, of course, has flag football you know in the blood um with the cfl and you know there's mobile guys in the cfl i can imagine you know a guy like trey ford might be looking at this as something that he could do and thrive in a game like flag football on the olympic stage um the us is probably going to get the nfl guys i'd imagine they get the mob guys as well um because everyone's going to want to be a part of what's going to be the biggest olympics

of our generation um you know it's going to be massive they're going to build everything to break world records the pool is going to be the fastest you've ever seen like it will be everything that you would expect from hollywood olympics, except that women's softball is going to be in Oklahoma City. But when you look at, you know, all of the competitions that Canada contended, even the baseball team, you know, we could be talking about, you know, Vlade Guerrero Jr. on the Canadian baseball team, Joe Romano on the Canadian baseball team. And, you know, those guys haven't exactly had great seasons with the Jays,

but when they actually play for the country that they could represent at the international level that isn't, you know, a World Baseball Classic level where you can kind of represent your heritage and it's a bit looser, Canada could have a very good baseball team as well, which could be exciting. Moving off Canada for a second, France obviously hosting these games and have a couple of opportunities to get some high profile medals there in the gold medal final in the men's soccer that kicks just off of TV that the French athletes are getting tons of support from the home crowd. Do you imagine that that's going to translate over into these gold medal games that they've got coming up in soccer and basketball?

I think it will in soccer. Who knows about basketball? You know, there could be a very good chance that these U.S. players are as shaken up as the Canadian players were when it came to that crowd because it's going to be a crowd that basically none of these U.S. players have ever played in front of because when you compare these crowds that the French are putting on to, you know, NBA crowds, NBA crowds are just noise.

It's good noise. It's loud noise. Don't get me wrong. But they're not as coordinated as that French crowd was. And that really shook Canada up in the first quarter and they weren't able to climb out of that hole. And so I think the U.S. could have that problem. But also, you know, the U.S. stars we're talking about are some of the best players to ever play the game and would still be a massive upset if France pulled that off. In soccer, you know, I would think that they probably figured it out.

It would be great to see them win in that sport on home soil, but it's also an under-23 tournament, and there's a little bit less pressure there. But when you're looking at the basketball, like if they could upset the U.S., that would be their biggest moment of the games. It would, I think, eclipse everything. Léon Marchand did in the pool, and that was exceptional as well.

It actually held up a track race because everybody was watching Léon Marchand's swim race at the Stade de France on their phones. You mentioned that 2028 is shaping up to be potentially a generation-defining Olympics. Now that we're getting toward the end of these Paris Games, what do you think is going to be the overall legacy of Paris 2024? I think it reignited the spark of the Olympic movement because there were a lot of Olympics, you know,

basically, I think, in some ways since Rio 2016, maybe since London 2012, on the winter side, since Vancouver 2010, that a lot of people have seen the Olympics and it's like, oh, the Olympics are happening. There's not necessarily been an excitement around the games, a passion for the games. Of course, we had two COVID games in terrible time zones for North America

that it just felt very distant and the Olympics had kind of become an afterthought. Whereas I think this, you see the atmospheres in Paris, you see the parties back. It brought back memories of, you know, what Vancouver was in 2010 and the excitement around the Olympics. So I think it's not back to where it was, but it started to kind of get that revved up again.

And when you look at L.A., it's another, you know, the Olympics in Hollywood, as I said before, it's going to be quite cool to see. And then, you know, the Olympics in Hollywood, as I said before, it's going to be quite cool to see. And then, you know, going to Brisbane, a country that has immense passion for the summer games is going to be cool, too. And then, you know, you look on the winter side and we're talking Milan, France, Salt Lake, like the Olympic spirit is kind of coming back. And I think that's that was exciting to see of these games, which was also the return of crowds, which brought a lot of it. Yeah, I think that's well said, Ben. I know I've really, really enjoyed watching them.

I'm hyped for, I mean, 2026 from a Canadian perspective, we've got NHL players going back to the Olympics. And then as you said, 2028 sets up to be really, really exciting as well. Ben, thanks for doing this. Really appreciate the perspective on the games. Yeah, it's been a fun ride. And, you know, the next 10 years of Olympics are going to be pretty cool as well.

Absolutely. Thanks, Ben. That is Ben Steiner from CBC Sports covering the Olympics and weighing in. And I think he's absolutely right. This has felt like a really probably since I would maybe even go back to London in 2012 as the most enjoyable. And part of that is that Canada is having a lot of success. And it's interesting because despite the high profile disappointments that Ben touched on,

which you might even put as he did as kind of behind summer McIntosh, the most memorable aspect for Canada at these games, I don't think you can look at it and say overall that it hasn't been an extremely successful. There's people making a credible case so that you could say this is their most successful summer Olympics ever, at least non- boycotted version, depending on what they do in the final days here.

And it's partly because Canada has been so good, but I just think overall the crowds, the atmosphere, the compelling events, it's been a tremendously successful Olympics in Paris. It's ticked a lot of boxes. And I do think we have to go back to, to 2012.

I covered the games in Rio in 2016, and that felt like the end of something. There were a lot of political factors at play. There were a lot of just Brazil itself had leveraged a lot of its national capital to host the games. And it didn't feel like even though there were iconic moments, you know, Michael Phelps' final Olympics, Usain Bolt's final Olympics, and Canadians performing there, you know, rugby sevens, they win a medal. They had some golds that had become quite rare at the summer games. But it did feel like the end of something.

And it feels like the talk at the time was that this Olympic spirit in the way that Ben coined it was probably something that was dead and gone. Yeah. And it does appear that there was a lull and that predates COVID. COVID is part of it. But even, you know, building up toward Tokyo and having that be the COVID games

and then the most recent winter games are very flash in the pan. There are very few I think cultural memories from that this summer things have certainly been front and center and that olympic spirit appears to be back certainly back in canada and uh if that you know the crowds are any indication in france when when their athletes were performing people are getting behind that that's that's a huge part of it obviously we had the games here in 2010 we saw that in full force you even go back to having a 2014 in sochi right and it's in russia

and it's not exactly this world-renowned city a destination i understand the winter olympics often not like that in more of the kind of winter resort communities but you think like sochi and then rio with some of the issues you're talking about 2018 the winter olympics in korea yep no nhl players there and then you get into the COVID games. And so it does feel like this is the first one that's really felt like a classic Olympics in a long time. And I'm curious because remember, there was a lull there where they were having trouble getting people to sign up. They couldn't get anybody to bid. And I wonder if people, if cities around the world seeing this and are saying, oh, okay, actually, this is something we want to be involved in.

Which is the whole selling point of the Olympics. Right. Yeah. Because remember when Vancouver was bidding, it was a really competitive process. I remember where I was when it was announced seven years before that they were going to host the Games. And then all of a sudden it was like, ah, we're like begging people. Hey, do you want to host? Do you want to host?

And I do wonder if that will be kind of the legacy of these Paris Olympics is, hey, if you're a big world city, it can still be really powerful for you. It can still be a really, really good event to have the Olympics come to your city. And I got to say, I mean, I know it's four years down the road, but 2028, as he was saying, like, they're going to go all out. They're going to build the pool for world records. Snoop Dogg will be everywhere. With inflation, he's going to be making a million by the time that rolls around. At least they won't have to put him up he's local he's local um he can stay in long beach city and just

make the commute um but the other thing is you know i hadn't even thought that they might pause the major league baseball season to get the stars there but if that's the case and you're doing you've got the nba stars in basketball with all the world stars. They're now going up against the US. You've got a very competitive baseball field with all the stars from Major League Baseball. I mean, those to the star power alone from those. Then you add in potentially NFL players competing in flag football. That is going to be just in terms of star power and interest. That could be truly, truly phenomenal.

And I mean, flag flag football whatever the americans throw out there like i don't know if tyreek hill is still going to be the fastest guy in the nfl at that point but i mean i wouldn't bet again that seems like a cheat code and flag football to me but canada i mean hey like we've we've got nfl wide receivers we've got you know chuba hubbard at running back that that's that that we should be competitive for a medal in flag football it's exciting yeah i i look forward to seeing that. I have seen a number of Major League Baseball players saying that they want to go, they want to play, they're pushing for that. We've seen on the hockey side, especially since the NHL players have been out since 2014, the talk of how important it is for them, right? When we're talking about renegotiating CBAs

and making concessions so that they would have the opportunity to go to the Olympics, it's very clear that those high-profile, highly paid athletes value this experience. And that appears to be opening up now to Major League Baseball players and to NFL players at the games.

Basketball players are in the same boat as the hockey players. It's something that, I mean, you look at the way that LeBron and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, guys that have won the MVP, guys that have won multiple championships at the highest level of professional basketball, are just completely relishing the experience of playing for their country, playing on this different stage.

Quite frankly, playing a bit of a different game and getting the opportunity to do that, I think must be, yes, they're very well compensated and they deserve it for what they've done, but there must be a little bit of monotony in the NBA. You know, you're doing this. This is like a really fresh experience. And I imagine that that would translate over

to the baseball and the football. I enjoy Ben's wishful thinking too, by the way. Oh, Major League Baseball? Well, no, Vladdy being on Team Canada. Oh, Vladdy being on Team Canada? With the way he's playing, I think he's got a spot locked up on Dominican Republic. Dominican, yeah. Well, hey, maybe he's so happy.

Maybe. Rodgers needs to write that into his contract. Yeah. We'll give you $300 million. He's already a citizen. You're playing for Team Canada. All right, buddy? It would be amazing, but you're right.

He's probably going to be for the Dominican. The Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. And we're going to be talking a little BC Lions with the one and only The Moj. Of course, he is the Lions radio play-by-play voice. We'll look ahead to their game against Edmonton coming up next here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650.