OverDrive - OverDrive - August 14, 2026 - Hour 2 - Keegan Matheson/Farhan Lalji

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins to discuss the Blue Jays and Yankees' divisional battle, TSN Football Reporter Farhan Lalji joins to dive into the NFL and CFL's biggest headlines and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Power 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game, your way, best bets later in the hour, CFL on TSN tonight. Lions were the win. That was on the stamps. Vernon Adams, man, that was tough to watch last night. But Lions got themselves a win. We got Farhan Lollogy coming up. Obviously, Farhan knows the BC Lions as well as anyone knows the CFL as well as anyone.

So we'll catch up with Farhan, get his take on CFL action this weekend, the NFL back in act, this week as well and Fahun and I were doing some sports center stuff this week trying to come to a consensus on the playoff format

in the AFC and the NFC and the NFC which is very difficult to do because you know turnovers coming every single year you don't know exactly who's going to be healthy come week one

and it's the two of us trying to come to a consensus which basically never happens you know like there might be four or five teams in each conference where it's like, all right, we're not fighting over the Rams, obviously. We're not going to fight over the Seahawks.

That's okay. But where do other teams possibly fall in line? So it's a fun things to do. NFL is unpredictable, man. It's, you know, to think you're going to predict it. I know Hayes and Bro have a pretty good track record of seeing which way the tea leaves are blowing. Not bad. But you guys are two of the few.

Like the rest of us, it's hard to know, man. It's hard to know how it's all going to shake out. tough. Yeah, Hayes and bro, we have been on the right side of it a lot over the years. Even when I was with Luke, before he went, Benedict Arnold on me, we were to run fired down the stretch.

The only guy that stinks all the time is oh. He's always on the wrong team. He's the only guy that can't see the board ever. Same teams this year? Are you going to I think so? I mean, I'm not turning on my guy. Who knows with the other two guys? Anything's possible with him. But

yeah, we'll catch him with far on a little bit later in the hour. Jay's Yankees tonight. Again, Major League Baseball announcing the All-Star game going to San Francisco in 2016 in 2028. The summer games were in L.A. that year, so I guess they wanted the players to be in San Francisco, so maybe they can get to L.A. I'm not really sure the connection there. Well, yeah, because they're talking about having major league players in the Olympics.

I guess that's the plan, right? So they want them to, it's almost like having a Canadian Open where the U.S. Open is, so they're all in the same coast or whatever. But I thought maybe they'd skip the All-Star game if they were doing that. I was thinking the same thing, like the NHL does whenever they go to the Olympics. But nonetheless, that's been established. The hope now in Toronto, I believe, is in 2019, maybe we finally get the All-Stra game back here for the first time since 91, I think it is. It's been a long time.

Maybe our next guest has some access to information for us. And maybe he can break the story wide open right now. There he is. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Any inside sources with Rob Manfred and company on the All-Star game coming back to Toronto? again? I texted, Rob. He hasn't gotten back to me yet. We'll see. I'm being left on red for now. It would make a lot of sense, though, guys. It's long overdue. We know it's long overdue. And it falls right in line with what you see really in any sport, whether you're being awarded the NFL draft or an All-Star game.

Big renovations that the Blue Jays and the league want to show off. And guys, now more than ever, All-Star games are not just the ballpark. They take up the whole city with all of these activations. these play ball events. So downtown Toronto, you got a lot of space. You got the convention center. You have a lot of places to put things. It makes too much sense. I'll be happy to see it if and when that does come.

But I'll let you know if I get a text back here in the next 15 minutes. Please do. We'll see. Yeah. No, it is long overdue. And it's kind of disappointing, I'm sure, for the Blue Jays, that the rentos took place a couple years ago, and they got to wait at least until 29 until they get it.

Yeah. You know, that's, that's, yeah, the renovations. are still relatively new, but they're not fresh. But it is, you know, I'm not a huge all-star game guy in terms of watching the games, but I've always understood the value of when it's in your own city. Like wherever the NHL game is, the baseball game is, I'll give it, maybe the Pro Bowl is cool wherever it happens to be played. Because it is about, you know, fan engagement, it's about kids,

it's about all those activations, it's about local businesses being able to pop. So there's a lot of benefit to it. And I think baseball in particular, I think most people can see it, if not everyone. It is the all-star game of all-star games, right? It's been established for a long time. And let's hope it comes back to Toronto. That would be a great story. So in terms of what we can expect tonight, Jay's coming off a really successful series against the Red Sox.

Yesterday, obviously, it got away from them, but that's okay. You take three or four. They're two games out of a wild card spot. The goalposts continue to move, Keegan. what are you expecting for the Jays this evening, but also in terms of the whole series against the Yankees? This is the real one. You know, the Yankees and Rays are the real ones.

Now, you can look at the Red Sox series two ways. And if they don't make a bad error at third base, and if Wilson Contreras catches a damn pop-up, we're talking about a much different series. But at the same time, I do think there's something to be said, and it's a skill to outlast the other team. and not screw up first. The Red Sox screwed up first a couple of times. Blue Jays were not playing overwhelming offensive baseball. They were not dominating these teams. They were playing just a bit

cleaner. I wouldn't even say better, but cleaner baseball. Just clean baseball does not beat the New York Yankees, and it sure does not beat the Tampa Bay Reyes. They are going to need some offensive outbursts. Guys, I don't know if we've talked about Vladdy this year. We're like three days away from an entire calendar year without him homering in this building now would be a pretty good time. He seems to like playing against the Yankees. These are teams where you need offense against.

They have TBA pitching for them tomorrow. The Blue Jays do. It's probably Simeon Woods Richardson, some combination of bulk guys. They need offense. You're not going to beat the Yankees two to one. And if they do tonight, we'll just scrub this video completely

so I look smart. But I don't think you're going to beat the Yankees two to one. They need offense. And against the raise, you're not going to outsmart the raise in that situation either. You need to play ultra-clean, ultra-competitive baseball. They have momentum, guys.

They have that scrappy, feel-good momentum right now. And I think that does matter. But you need the big guns. You need the big ones against the Yankees. Well, Kagan, we were just talking about the idea of Vladian the Yankees, right? Like, he's put himself on the line against the Yankees, right? He said he hated the Yankees a couple years ago. You know, he had the thing with David Ortiz.

after the Blue Jays beat the Yankees in the playoffs with doing the John Sterling, the Yankees lose. And is this maybe the thing that could put a be in his bonnet, so to speak, and maybe unlock him, the idea that it's those guys in town at a big moment? I mean, we've been speculating when it might happen and it hasn't happened. I'm assuming it can happen. And would there be a better time than now? Why not, man?

And I think there's really something to this, because it's not just Vladdy. It's kind of the Guerrero family, going back to Vlad Sr. When he nearly signed with the Yankees and then didn't, there's some reason. There's some backstory to this. And Vladdy doesn't just hate the Yankees because he plays for the Blue Jays. This goes back with the Guerrero name, which is a very important thing. And Vlad, I loved how he played that whole game last year during the playoffs, because every single year, guys, it would be in this room.

I've pivoted locations today, guys. I'm coming to you from the podium where John Schneider usually sits because I've finally found some better Wi-Fi. I made them turn off the video board. I don't know if we would have liked all the logos up there, but I'm looking out at all these empty seats here in front of me where I'm normally slouched in the back asking about things after the game. But there were so many New York media in this room,

every game asking Vladdy, what about New York? Doesn't it mean more that it's New York? And he would say, no. And that threw them off. because they're used to hearing, now, it's all about New York, baby. Come on, we've got to beat New York. He got asked about it and asked about it and asked about it. And he deflected it completely.

And then when he beats them, he's dancing around, drenched in beer, singing Aaron Judge's walk-up song, I'm the King of New York. And he's saying, do Yankees lose on the broadcast? It means something, man. He's just not going to give that to you when you're New York. So I think this does matter. And when you are a Vladdy, you need something to activate. you. You cannot get the adrenaline of the

world series here in mid-August. You just can't. But playing the Yankees two games out of a playoff spot feels a heck of a lot different than playing the Kansas City Royals in the middle of May. And if this isn't going to wake you up, I don't know what will. It's been almost a year since he's homered here in the regular season.

It's about time. Yeah, it's about time. And Garrett Cole to Mount tonight too. You got gold tonight, you got Schlett tomorrow. And you look at the lineup card that was released about an hour ago. Brett Bateman is going to lead off tonight for the Jay. So we got Brett Bateman leading off for the Jays.

Your thoughts. Go ahead, Kagan. Well, it's exactly as I said, this would play out, guys. You know, all spring. All spring. Like, amazing. Yeah. What are we doing here?

I kind of love it. Yeah. I kind of love this. Because even when you see Jesus Sanchez and Ernie Clement batting 8, 9 in these situations, I kind of love that. Nothing else has worked. try something different at this point of the year. And I like the energy that is around this team right now.

A lot of that starts with John Schneider, who's had some great quotes the last few days, which I cannot repeat in full here. There's some good energy with this team right now. And I think you need to take that approach that you would take growing up, playing travel ball and high school ball. If a guy's hot, bat him lead off.

Get him as many A-Bs as you can. If a guy has some energy, if you have a good gut feeling about a guy, go with it. I'm not saying throw analytics out the window. You still need to use your brain, but let the heart into the equation a little bit more. If you're going to go for this and try to do it on adrenaline and energy, let the heart into it, make some gut calls, try something different. And sometimes, guys, it's not trying something different because you have information.

It's when you're shanking your T shots and you just take your glove off or you put your wall in the other pocket for your next T shot. Sometimes it's something dumb. It doesn't need to have a big bowl. explained reason. You just want to do it a little different. And if that means batting the rookies one, two, like we've seen Charles McAdoo leading off, I never thought that would happen, especially in August, but why not? Hey, Keehan, you know, you talk about all the changes. We've seen so many different combinations, and I've lost count about how many different lineups they've had. You probably know the number, but it seems like it's a high number. And yet, Vladie remains

at three. And I know there's people saying we heard our good pal, Rich Griffin, former communications director of the franchise you cover, say bad Flattie 7th. Like, let's send a message to Vladdy. And I've heard guys like you say, no, they're not going to do that. They can't do that.

They will not, they just, that is not something that will even be considered by the organization. But why is that? Is that because the relationship with Vladdy is so important? They don't want to, they don't want to spoil it. Is that because his ego is fragile? Is that because they don't want to, you know, sort of tell him that they don't believe in him anymore.

How do you see it? Imagine you're in Vegas sitting in a slot machine and your X's, X's, you're getting nothing. You're worried that when you stand up, the next person that sits down is going to hit the jackpot, I guess. You know, you're worried that he's going to get hot after you move him or that you're missing out on the big city. That would be good if you got hot after you move him. I'm saying it the wrong way. Like, Vladdy, like, you want him to get hot in this spot. Okay.

And I want to split the middle with Griff, Adam 5th. You know, like, seventh, that would be a headline. I don't know if you're looking for a headline. I don't know if you're looking for me asking you 10 questions about it if you're John Schneider. But there's been a long battle between Vladdy and John Schneider. When I say battle, it's friendly. They get along. Don't worry.

But going back to single A, John Schneider, for the last 10 years, his life has wanted to bat this guy number two. Vladdy always likes batting three. That's been the battle for a long time. It's kind of out the window this year. But I see no problem at all with a move to fourth, two fifth. Partly because you can see some analytical arguments, but partly again, guys, to the same reason you're batting Brett Bateman, number one, shake it up, get him a different look, have him take an ad bat in the second inning instead of the first inning, even if it's just for a few days. But I feel like the Blue Jays are stuck in the place that I frankly understand, which is they think it's about to happen and they don't want to

get up from the table if it's just about to happen in this number three spot with their big bats. But what game are we in right now, fellas? 124? It's time to happen. Man, I see no issue at all with the move. I've never had an issue with that. So maybe not as hardcore as seven, but at this point, man, you got to have an OPS that starts with a seven. Absolutely. to be top three or four in the lineup. But nonetheless, Vladdy hitting third tonight. Springer will DH again and clean up. And Okamoto, who was at third yesterday,

he's obviously back in the lineup tonight. Like, what is Okamoto? How's he feeling? What are you hearing on him? What are you hearing on Springer? I believe it's been his shoulder that kept him out of the starting lineup a couple of days ago with those two in particular,

Okamoto and Springer, in terms of their status and kind of health report. What can you tell us? Elkimoo's been real banged up. There were two games there in a row. row that he got scratched with a left knee issue after he fouled a ball off himself. Now, Okamoto is like, he's got the hockey legs. This guy is built big and thick. Like, he's strong. Thankfully, if you want to say it this way, Okamoto's slow already. You're not losing anything on the bases there. So as long

as he's healthy, I think you're totally fine. And if you're going to beat New York and Tampa, you're probably going to need to steal a game because the Blue Jays don't have a better roster and we can't pretend they do. You need to just steal a game along the way. And if that's a Casso Okamoto three run shot, then fantastic. Having him back in there is a big thing. George Springer seems beat up too. Now, nowhere near his beat up as he was this time last year. I think half his body was broken by the time we got into the postseason.

He seems energized, but that shoulder's tough. A shoulder issue on any swing is very tough. But the energy that he's showing on the bases. And just his presence in the lineup guys, I think is important. Guys like George Springer, Shane Bieber, Max Scherzerz. These aren't guys who are playing if your team's just trying to go young and play out the season. Just by existing and being in this lineup, I think George Springer is important because this guy could have been traded. He could be somewhere else back with the Astros chasing the West or making a playoff round.

Him being here tells the rest of the lineup we are trying to make the playoffs. We're trying to make a run at this. And Springer has to be part of this, man. He was their MVP last year. I know it's not all the way back to that whatsoever, but they need his energy, if nothing else. Yeah, for sure. Jay's Yankees tonight. On the other side of it, Aaron Judge,

you know, he has such a presence. And when he's playing, he's always the focal point, but he hasn't been playing for a long time. He said recently he will return at some point. We talked about it last week. But, you know, you were down there. I was down there for every game in the LDS. The guy watching him walk around.

It's like incredible. But what's it like being around the Yankees without him in the lineup? They don't feel like the, Yankees. He is the Yankees. I mean, he's however big he looks on your TV for everyone listening, he is twice that size. It's absurd. I'm not small. He makes me feel quite small. I shook the guy's hand and he swallows you up. He's a massive human being who is the heartbeat and conscience and cleanup, you know, most powerful hitter on this lineup for the Yankees. Without them,

they're really lost offensively. And you need guys like Jazz Chisholm to step up and play more consistently. You need Bellinger. You need if Jean-Cardo Stanton can run or open a bag of chips by now, like that old report, we'll see. But Judge is the guy they need. Man, like the latest reports are that he has a shot to come back maybe in August, but rib injuries are so tough, especially

with the amount of torque and rotation he has in that swing. So without Judge, the Yankees are not quite the Yankees. They're still a very good team. But this is not the team from earlier in the season that was running away and looking like a powerhouse. See, he's as important to them as any player outside of Otani is to their team. Absolutely.

Great stuff, Kagan. Have a great weekend down there, buddy. We'll do it again soon. You've got her, fellows. Take care. There is, Kegan Mathis, and joining us here in the Maple Toyota Hotline. It's time to try to check out the Toyota Tundra pickup trucks, both available as hybrids. Maple Toyota near Canada is one of the land on Maple Auto Mall. Yeah, the presence of Aaron Judge.

Yeah. It's missed for the Yankees, for sure. They've gone 32 and 30 without him, but he hasn't played since May 31st, and he's still got more than twice as many home runs as Vladdy. Crazy. It's amazing. It's crazy. Gladdy should be ashamed of himself.

It's just disgraceful. Well, and I saw with, like, Cal Raleigh, we were talking about him. Someone tweeted out earlier this afternoon. Like last year he hits 60 home runs. He has 51 hits this year. Think about that. Like, yeah, it's August.

He's still got a lot of games left and maybe he gets red hot, but, like, that's, that's, That's wild. That fall off. And that doesn't excuse Vladdy, obviously. But he got a bigger contract in terms of bold numbers than Aaron Judge did. Judge got 360, I think it was, on his total deal. Vladty got 500.

And no one was expecting Vladdy to compete with Judge in terms of production. He's not as good of a player, clearly. Judge is an all-time great player. But Judge has a staff. that every single year you're going to get great, great production. And when he's out, it is a massive, massive hole in the lineup that simply can't be replaced. Where when Vladie has missed time, it's like no one even pays attention to it. Yeah.

You know, in terms of like the production of the offense is not affected at all because the way he's been playing. Wow. Like, it's very easy to replace a 695 OPS. Charles McAdoo can do that for a couple of years. Like, forget if, forget having a, MVP season, which it wouldn't be crazy to expect him to occasionally throw one of those in there, but he hasn't had one since, you know, five years ago. But if he was just having an average season, you know, like how much further along would

they be? Like to your point about, you know, Vladdy has been like a big plus war player. And this year he's like, he's barely a one-win guy. Yeah. Oh, it's at least three or four wins. It's got to be. Him alone represents at least three or four. If he's just playing an average.

He's got like 20 home runs instead of seven. You know, like if he's on pace for 30 instead of whatever he's on pace for now, like 15. Not even 15. No, he's on pace for like, what, 10 or 11? Not even. Yeah. Yeah. I mean.

I mean. Yeah. Like they're probably buyers at the deadline, too, if he's on pace for just an average season. Like, yeah, not even excellent. Like, we're not even asking for excellence. That would be extreme. Like, you're excellent. Then you're well into a wild card spot.

Yeah. Well, I mean, you've got to be realistic. It's one player. But if he's excellent, he's probably worth another four, maybe five wins. Right. And that would put you into a wildcard spot. Like that puts you above 500 and not feeling comfortable, but nonetheless, you're still in a much better place.

Yeah, that's the number I was looking for. The year he had the 48 home runs, he was a six and a half win player. This year he's a 1.1 win player. So to your point, like they're three or four. if he's excellent, they're way ahead. And if he's somewhere in between those two things, you know, they're in the wild car right now. They're probably in the wild card spot right now.

Yeah. Yeah, that's his reality and that's their reality. That's the bizarre aspect of it. And he's 27. That's the thing. Like Springer coming back to Earth, no one's surprised by that. You know, like Kevin Gosman having a down year

while he was here relative to what we would have expected in the past. No one's surprised by that. No. 27-year-olds in your prime? I mean, come on. Like, you got to give it. There is no excuse. Like, I don't know, bad hamstrings, you know, tweaked back.

I mean, we've heard those excuses. But, like, if it's injury, then he should have been sitting out longer, getting healthy, right? Yeah. Which tells you it's probably not injury, right? No, I don't, at this point, it's not. It can't, like, it doesn't mean there's not nicks and bruises, but this is too extreme. Yeah, I don't care how injured you are. You're still performing better than this, clearly.

Okay, Farhan coming up. Best bet still to come a little bit later in the hour. Mail it in Friday, brought you by Boston Pizza. Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy a $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree aside and a drink, and you get it all in 20 minutes or less. So fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch of your local Boston pizza.

Overdrive continues up on YouTube Live. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the glorious sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Fittata.

Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music. Loud, crowd, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeartRadio app. All right, Farhan Lology coming up here in a moment. B.C. Lions with a big win last night.

Friday night football, Red Blacks. Oh, and 8. Not good in Ottawa. Man. Tough time to be a Red Blacks fan. They stink. And they've got Winnipeg tonight. Bombers are a pretty significant favorite this evening.

And then it's Argos and the Alks tomorrow night. So, and we're getting close next week to the X, right? The X is going to open up and go out and watch the Argos and use your ticket and get into the X. That's always a good scene. That's hard to beat, man. beat that. I'm going down there next week. Ed Shearans in town. We're all going down. Ed Shearons taken over the dome. So I'm going to be on, I think I'm down there

on the Friday night, I believe it is. A good family concert? Yeah, absolutely. That's what it is. Bringing my kids for the first time. Never been to a concert. First concert. Nice. So watch yourself, Ed. Like, just keep it on, keep it PG. Which I think it generally is with Ed Shearin. I don't think of him as

necessarily a guy that's going to go off script and start swearing or doing stuff like we've seen with Usher and Chris Brown as they roll through town. Ed Shearin, like I don't know his material that well, but he seems about his PG as it comes, doesn't he? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, that's how I would label him. So, yeah, we'll see. We're looking forward to that.

I don't know if the dome will be open and now. He's playing the Rogers Center. It's always a bit of a different. There's so many different forms of concert now, right? Yes. Between the amphitheater and now Rogers Stadium and the Rogers Center, and you can still go to Scotia May. You go to Massey Hall.

You can basically get anything you're looking for. Stadium shows, intimate shows, everything in between. But I'll take going to the center over the stadium. That stadium out in Downsview is not getting a lot of great reviews. Everyone says the same thing. That when you're there, it's cool because they're massive acts that are playing. Right. Like if you're going to see the food fighters or something, that's awesome.

But it is an absolute disaster to get out of there. Yes. Like it's just impossible to get out. and people that have cars, people that are getting car services, trying to get like cabs or Uber up there, just impossible. Like you have no chance of getting out within like an hour or two. And it's a pretty long walk to the subway. And there's, you know, it's the TTC, so there's going to be problems.

There always are. Exactly. And which line are you on or which line are you trying to get to? You know, it's, uh, yeah, I mean, that's a five-year plan, right? Like that stadium, and I can't imagine they're going to get rid of it after that. I don't know. I don't know. is with the city, but I'm pretty sure it's a five-year deal.

Well, it's always, that's where everybody, the insiders tell you that's where they could put our NFL stadium. Oh, I like that. Now, would that make, that would make sense that they would screw that up. Not that they couldn't make it work, but like how difficult it would be to get there. Yes.

You know what I mean? Because I'm not bracing for an NFL team coming to Toronto. No, neither am. But if it did, they'd need their own stadium, clearly. The NFL would not allow it to happen. They wouldn't be playing at the Rogers Center of BMO That's not happening. It's not happening for sure, not happening. So they need their own stadium, but the dream will remain alive.

As long as there are billionaires in this city, which they'll always will be. And, you know, the dream will remain alive. I mean, the Buffalo Bills will have something to say about it. And they're not going to be saying yes without a massive payment coming their way. Sure. Which, again, I always take a bit of offense to because when they came up here and started playing some games up here, and obviously it didn't go that well. Needless to say.

How priced everyone. It was obnoxious. The opening press conference is infamous. Legendary. Legendary for Ralph Wilson and Ted Rogers, just basically saying, we're going to print money here. Just built people here.

Yeah, it was, I remember it very well. It was like, the question was, are there going to be tickets under $100? And this was quite a few years ago when $100 was expensive. Yeah. And I think it was Ralph Wilson that kind of cackled, like, yeah, two. Yeah, exactly.

Not too many. Not too many. No, it was absurd. And they were preseason games. And they were preseason games. They were preseason games. They were charging an arm of lake for. Yeah, exactly.

I went down to one I want to say they played maybe Cleveland or something like that, which again, it was just like a brutal game. But it was cool to be down there. Remember they used to host bowl games down at the Ryder Center. That's right. I remember going down to watch. I think Rutgers was playing. And I don't remember.

Maybe they were playing. Buffalo, actually. It might have been Buffalo versus Rudgers or something, down the Rodgers Center. And that was kind of a cool atmosphere, but the bills, like the players didn't sell it. Not that it was their job to do that, but they were

like openly in town saying we basically hate being here. And not that they hated Toronto. It was like this isn't a home game for us. It's not our stadium. We got to travel. We're staying in a hotel. Right. You know, and it's all good points. 100%. Yeah. Again, the

players, they're like, it's not money that's going in our pocket. This is about the ownership, but they just didn't sell two people in Toronto, the idea that this is something that the NFL really cares about. And now, 20 years later, it's like being held against the city, like, well, that didn't go so well, the bills in Toronto thing. Right. But then you say the idea of a team ever coming here, the bills would take offense to it. Well, then why didn't you act? Like, you actually cared about the market 20 years ago. Good question. Now they're trying to get in with MLSC and they're trying to, you know, and all that kind of stuff. And listen, they have a stranglehold of this market.

No doubt. Every team is represented in the greater Toronto area. Basically every team has a fan base here, but the bills own it first and foremost. And only one team's on TSN Radio. That's right, and that's what's important to point out. Bill's Panthers tomorrow. I'm at Clark Stadium. Someone

won tickets. I don't know who it was, but someone sent a text in and got a pair of tickets. Can't wait. Opening night, week two, against Detroit. We talked about yesterday. How tough that schedule is. So yeah, the NFL on the horizon, the CFL, Continue CFL on TSN tonight. Ottawa looking for the first win.

Here's our TSN football reporter and analyst. Farhan Lulayor is joining us. Farhan, what's happening? No much, man. I'm sorry I couldn't get on camera with you guys. I just dropped my wife and son off at CETAC airport. He's leaving for Virginia to go to a prep school. So I'm on my way back from that, and I thought, okay,

doesn't work out perfect. I'll just pull over here and I can get them on camera, and I guess I'm too close to the mountains for that. Because there are much more civilized people in Toronto. Yes, we are. We don't do mountains here. No. We maybe do hills. We like hills a little bit. Hills are okay. Speed bumps. Yeah, we do speed bumps.

Compared to what you guys got out there. We don't have oceans. We got a lake that no one really goes in or anything. True. Anyway, it's great to have you on. Yeah, we do have the, we do have him. We have O'Dog. And we've, you know, we get noodles, Susan Al Burton, but still, we'll take him. We're claiming him for the next. I got a more intellectually stimulating version of the show with Festchuk.

There you go, exactly. A huge upgrade in terms of IQ. Right. and where this conversation is going to go. But the Lions got themselves a win last night. And, you know, it's confusing, from my standpoint, because they had such a struggling start. Yet now they're four and five, and they're kind of back in the hunt.

You know, the Nathan Roark stuff kind of was hanging over them with the injury and all that. But where do you stand on the Lions and they're standing within the West in particular? Oh, look, I think a lot of people, you know, it was easy to forget when they were struggling out of the gate that many experts picked this team to be in the Grey Cup. And so I don't think we should be overly surprised when they were able to turn it around.

I think in the first few weeks of the season, I think their form was surprising offensively. Defensively, I kind of thought it would take some time for them to get going because there were some new faces. And their defense for the first two weeks was just terrible. I thought their offense should be able to hit the ground running at a higher level. And fortunately for them, the defense actually turned very quickly. Like in the late stages of week three and then really since then, they've been as good a defense as there is in the league. And now the offense is slowly catching up.

So as I look at the lions, I still see far from a finished product. Because when you look at their win two weeks ago against Hamilton, the offense was just not good. You wouldn't expect Nathan Ork after only missing, you know, three games or two games to be that rusty. He was better in this game, took a really, really bad risk late that almost cost them the game. But I just, when I look at this team,

they're getting nothing out of their special teams. Pickers are fine, but in terms of cover teams and their ability to block and return, like none of that is there. And I think their offense still has the level to get to. So I just think that it's okay to be bullish on it. They might have a higher ceiling relative to where they are currently at the midway point of the season than any other team in the league. Like you look at Montreal, they're operating at a really high level.

You look at Edmonton, given where they're coming from, they're operating at a really high level. I think the lions still have much more room to grow at a higher ceiling than the rest of them relative to where they are today. Well, and was last night sort of the death knell of the stamps farhand with Adams going down with an apparent head injury and then Mills getting hurt, the league's leading rusher also going down with injury. I mean, obviously a huge downer of a night for the stamps and not only because Hayes picked him with his best bets. Yes, I did. Yeah, I mean, look, a tough night for them. and they've had a couple of tough ones.

And if you look at Calgary this year, I really believe they're much better than their record indicates. And I know that you're not supposed to say that. You know, you are what your record says you are, but nobody has lost more close games than Calgary. And then, you know, like, we also know what they're doing offensively coming in the last week,

where they were operating at historical level, like, gone pace to better the CFL single season scoring record by a team. And, you know, passing Doug Flutis Calgary stampeters. So, like I still think that it's a good offensive team and the way they were playing defensively

this year compared to last year like last year they were lights out and this year they've been struggling like I think they're closer to last year's team that way the problem is like the west is going to be a bear right like it is this is a tough division to navigate and even with a likely crossover spot

available it's going to be hard right and I kind of felt Winnipeg was going to be that team that might slip this year and might be on the outside looking and even with a crossover. So as far as those two injuries, it's just going to come down to how long they're out for. Fortunately, Calgary has a buy coming up this week. VA was knocked out yesterday. Like, he was out cold.

And he was able to kind of get to and get it figured out. No symptoms today, from what I understand, and the tests that he went through today came back fairly positively. You know, I don't have a more definitive word on Diedrich Mills yet. But again, with the buy, what happens in two weeks are they going to play? In VA's case, he had a concussion with the stamps a year ago. So now you've got to be real careful because you don't want to get into Zach Kaleros territory where there's a neck or a head happening every season. So, you know, we'll see how cautious they are.

But in this West, you don't have a lot of wiggle room now, especially when technically they're in last place. With Farhan-Halogy. So the Argonauts finally got back home last week, and Chad Kelly is now making a reputation for himself as a guy who can throw infinite amount of interceptions and still win. And he's done it multiple times. Like, the guy, he's thrown 13 interceptions this year, Chad.

And, you know, he obviously had the injury last year where he didn't play. You know, he's had the off-field stuff and the suspension hanging over him. He's not a young guy, Chad Kelly, anymore. But he's found a way to win. I think the Argos are prime, you know, they're not going to catch Montreal clearly. But I think they're the two seed in the east. but where does Chad Kelly still rank for you, like, at his best? Where is he in terms of your rankings?

Is your top three quarterback in the league, top five? Where do you stand on Chad Kelly? At his best, he's in the top three. There's no doubt about it. And, you know, you can't just gauge him based on the interceptions. You've also got to gauge him on the touchdowns in the yardage totals that he puts up. And this is a team that kind of doesn't really have a running game. So it really is all on Chad Kelly right now.

I'm going to be calling the game tomorrow night in Edmondson, looking forward to that one, and just kind of seeing how they fare against what I think is a pretty good Edmonton defense. But the one thing with Chad, and you know, we've seen this from some other quarterbacks in the league, right? Like, you know, Vernon Adams, for example, has been through those crazy games where, you know, he throws the interceptions. They affect him. They don't affect Chad Kelly. Chad is like Bowley-Lefi Mitchell in that regard. And, you know, there might be a couple of others out there that when they throw picks, they don't give a damn, right?

Like Matt Dunnigan, if he threw them, Danny McManus, if he threw them, they simply didn't give a damn. They were just going to keep throwing. You know, like Danny used to say, if you throw four, don't be afraid to throw five. And that's Chad Kelly, right? So as long as your defense can keep you around and with the CFL, there's always going to be more possessions. So as long as you can stay in those games, Chad Kelly has the ability to pull those games out. So they're never out of a game. So far, you said you're speaking to us not far from CETAC airports, Seattle, Tac, Oklahoma, Washington State, USA.

Hayes and I have been talking about the sort of the disrespect that's being sort of put, in the direction of the NFL team in that area. Happen to be the defending Super Bowl champions. And yet, people are talking about the L.A. Rams and how they're going to be the dominant team. You look at their gambling odds, and they are shortest odds to win the Super Bowl. What's your take on how the Seahawks are reacting to that?

Are they feeling that disrespect in your opinion? To a point. You know, and Hayes and I talked about this, both in our NFC preview and also with Sam Darnold in that conversation. If people are picking them as the second best team in the NFL, is that really disrespect, right? Well, fair point. I don't know if, yeah. They're really good.

They're more talking and giving shine to the idea of a super team with the Rams. And we know when the NFL is trying to form these super teams, it hasn't always worked itself out. And the biggest challenge around comparing these two teams is they don't play until Christmas Day, week 16. So what are they going to look like by that point? You know, I was in L.A. at Rams training camp. And one of the things that was pretty evident is Sean McVeigh, who I think in terms of emotional intelligence, has his team figured out as well as any coach in football.

And he understands that he's got an older team, and they've got to, you know, they've got to kind of play the long game. And when you looked at them in practice and Matthew Stafford, the day we were there, Davis and I were there, Stafford didn't practice, getting kind of a day off. he was only practicing every second day during that stage of training camp. Devante Adams didn't practice that day. Miles Garrett came on to practice field late,

didn't do any 11-on-11 work, and hadn't practiced for the previous four days because he was dealing with something minor. So he's definitely got to play the long game, and believe me, in practice that day, the offense looked like trash, and that's kind of what it could look like if those guys are healthy and not available.

But, yeah, I mean, look, if it works out, the fact is that you get Trent McGuffie, but they were pretty specific. They knew their defense needed. to improve coming out of last season. And they were pretty specific with how they were going to build that group. When you look at McGuffie and Jalen Watson, helping their secondary, you got an elite pass rusher, a generational pass rusher, and then we'll see what Aaron Donald looks like when he comes back.

But you get a guy like McDuffie who can play in the slot, he can play JSN and play that match-up game. So, yeah, I mean, when you consider that it basically took a miracle for Seattle to win the late regular season game to get home field advantage for the NFC championship game, which they won by four points, that certainly you have to believe all of these changes could potentially get them over the top. The flip side is Seattle.

Continuity is everything, right? I said with Hayes on our heads that 87% of their offensive and defensive snaps from last year have returned. That's the highest number for a Super Bowl winner in 16 years. That matters. And I think Mike McDonald is still evolving as a head coach. Even he says there's another level for me to get to

and only about 30 years as a head coach. So I just think they're going to get so much better still. They're going to grow. They don't have to figure each other out like the Rams do. So let's see what these teams look like at Christmas Day. But disrespect when you're the number two thought of team in the NFL? I don't know. I don't think so.

Yeah, number two's not bad. Like, it's definitely not bad. The bills are two in some places. Is it a slap in the face to LeBron James that he's second on my goat list? It is to him. Damn right. He takes that personally. He's the king.

No, the greatest, just ask him. With all the hype that LeBron took into his career, like I don't even think social media could have made him a bigger deal coming in. He's who lived up to it. If he's number two, he's lived up to it. So, like, I just, I don't view that as disrespect, and I don't view it as disrespect for the Seahawks right now. Yeah, well, it's a great analogy.

Yet, LeBron would absolutely be upset with that take. No doubt. It's wild when you consider, again, all the great players of all time that you're putting them ahead of. But we'll see. That's why they play the games, and it's on Seattle. They go back to back. There won't be any disrespect, right? You go out there and chase down the NFC West, and you win it again, man.

People are going to praise you, that's for sure. Forehon, great stuff. Thank you so much for doing this. We'll do it again soon. All right, boys, thanks for having me. Have a great weekend. You got it, Farhan, Lulogy. That is kind of wild that the scheduling worked out that way.

They're going to play Week 16 and Week 18. Yeah. And you've got to hope that that Week 18 game isn't like a formality. It probably will be. Yeah, and it's like we're going. sitting quarterbacks, like one team, you know, this team's already won the division and we can't catch them, so whatever. Like, kind of weird.

If it's a meaningful game, then you can't ask for anything better. Clearly, that would be flexed to Sunday night and there's your game. Like, that could be the game of the season. If they're both sitting on 12 wins or something and winner wins the division, winner wins the first seed, loser has to, that would be Minnesota, Detroit from a couple years ago where Donald lost that game. That's right. And many had to play in the wild card.

and we know what happened when Donald played in that game. It didn't go so well. But nonetheless, we're getting close. Like, studying the schedule is such a great part of the NFL. It's another thing that they have. Like the Raptor schedule came out. You look at certain marquee games. Same thing with the leaves.

Like, oh, were they playing opening night? The Havs? Where are they? Montreal, Toronto? Okay, cool. When did they go to Western Canada? I always look at that. Other than that, I don't know. What else you're looking for?

That's the thing. You know? Like, unless there's some egregious number of back-to-backs that nobody else has or they're just giving them. a raw deal on some aspect of the schedule where it's like building and losses. I mean, you're right. And that doesn't happen very often. Those quirks don't happen too often.

Right. And that's not like combing over it necessarily for like marquee games. That's more the context of the schedule. Right. And talking points of the schedule where the NFL, you're literally looking like, who do they play this week? Who do you got next week? What do they have after that?

The best. That's why they're the biggest. Yeah. So good. Mailing and Fridays brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree aside and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch of your local Boston pizza.

Best bets coming up, recap in a busy afternoon. Jay's Yankees tonight will tee that up as well. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. IHart Radio is throwing it back. To the days of huge hits and unforgettable. A non-stop stream of the biggest and best. Drake, Rihanna, Beyonce, Katie Gaga, the weekend. And more.

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and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. All right, Best Ben's powered by Fanduel. Make your picks and assemble the same game parley in seconds on the Fandrel's sportsbook. Yeah, but I'm looking at the Argos tomorrow night. In Edmonton, I'm taking the points.

They get three and a half. You take the points. Edmonton had a hot start. They've come back to Earth recently. I kind of like the way the Argos is starting to trend here. I like the way Chad Kelly. I understand the interceptions, but like Farhan said, you got to talk about the touchdowns and the fact that he wins.

18 touchdowns, 13 interceptions. You know, lay the points. I'm going to take the points. Argos, Elks, tomorrow night. I like it. Yeah. Best bets powered by Fandwell. Same game. Parlay is available for every CFL game on the Fandwell Sportsbook Gap.

Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. So, Jay's Yankees. As we said all week, we started on Monday, and I said, 5 and 2 has got to be the objective here this week. They are now three and one. They did what they had to do against the Red Sox. You've got to win the series against New York now. Yeah. Like you just, you've got to.

It's a big homestand. You got a day off on Monday. The bullpins on fumes. Probably an opener tomorrow. You're playing Colin Schlittler the next two nights. It's not going to be easy. No. Not going to be easy.

But you got Dylan C's an amount on Sunday. So you got a pencil that one. It is a W. And then you've got to get one of these two against the two best pitchers. Yeah. Not easy. Not easy. Not easy.

Hey, how about a little overachievement? How about surprising us with some offense for a change? That would be big. Like, wouldn't that be something? That'd be a lot of fun. Professional baseball players started hitting like their professional baseball players? Well, there's not a lot of run production. No, it hasn't been.

The reason they are where they are, right? But tonight's the night. This is the weekend where it changes. Well, as Keegan said, like, if this doesn't get Vladie going, what will? Like, it's not the World Series, but it's the Yankees and your two games out now. You've got momentum. There's a buzz in the building. There's adrenaline coursing through your veins theoretically if you actually are a human being.

And we know he is because he was a freaking superhuman in the playoffs last year. Yeah, his performance against the Yankees and the ALDS was out of this world. Incredible. They could not, like they couldn't stop them. No. And there were so many guys on base all the time, they couldn't really pitch around them. You know, because everyone was pulling their weight. And that's another big part of it, right?

Bateman leading off tonight. Lucas hit in second. Okay, I'm fine with that. Go for it. Bateman's been been okay at the place. He's had some energy. And Lucas's been gray recently. But set the table and Vladie, come on now. Come on. Thank you. We'll see about that. Thank you, Vladdy. We'll see about that.

That was David Ortiz. Was that Pappi? Was that Poppy? Was that Poppy? Was that, Vladdy? Oh, it was Flattie. There you go. My bad, man. Yeah, well, they were paired with each other. That was a great moment. hilarious. That was phenomenal.

That was about as funny as I get. Yankee lose. Yeah, okay. That's Vladdy. I got it. Really good. Yeah. Because Ortiz really lays it on.

Oh, yeah. That's a great panel. Like, they do a great job. It's Yankees and Red Sox. No one else is represented. That's right. In 20 years, it'll be a Dodger up there, I would think. They could lose Jeter.

If they lost Jeter, it just, it was A-Rodd and Pappy. It would be fine. But it does feel like you need someone that represents the West Coast. that's what I'm saying. Like, wouldn't there be like a great giant or a great sodger player? And Jeter never says much, man. Like the other two, Arod and Ortiz are really entertained. They're in it for the entertainment.

They're really good. They understand they've got to be entertained. Like Jeter's there, you know, he obviously represents greatness. Oh, great respect. I mean, I have great respect for the man, but just as a broadcaster, he was a great shortstop. Yeah, that's where it begins and ends. All right, Jay's Yankees this weekend, CFL and TSN continuing. We got the FedEx Cup playoffs, right?

Some Canadian content down there. Yeah, Sidarsian. Unreal, shut the lights out today. Playing great. So he's in the hunt going into the weekend. Love it. Love to see that. But Sheffled himself a day too.

Scott, he's lurking. As expected. It's not at all surprised. No. All right, Dave, great stuff, man. Thanks for doing us, as always. Great to see everyone behind the scenes. Thanks for helping out.

We appreciate everyone for tuning in today. TV radio, podcast, web, and of course, up on YouTube Live. Streaming soon up on Crave. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy your weekends. We're back Monday at 4 p.m. We'll chat then.

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