OverDrive - OverDrive - August 18, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

Join Michael DiStefano and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! Host of the Ross Tucker Football Podcast Ross Tucker joins to dive into the headlines across the NFL in the lead up to the season kicking off in the league. Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum joins to discuss the Canadians advancing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the CPKC Women's Open field and RBC extending the Canadian Open sponsorship and the FanDuel Best Bets.

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apply. 6 p.m. hour of overdrive underway, Mike DeStefano, and Dave Festchuk filling in for the regulars today. We're going to have Ross Tucker join us in just a moment, but as we do on every Monday, something to chew on brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's

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We've been talking about this throughout the day, but obviously the big news of the day here in Toronto is that Bobby Webster was named not president, not the president, but the head of basketball operations and something to chew on. We're wondering, you know, what are you expecting from the Raptors this year?

Do you expect them to be, and there's a poll. You can go find it on the overdrive Twitter page. You can go find it and the poll basically playoffs, play in or miss the playoffs. What are the expectations for the Raptors now that you're in the Bobby Webster era? Well, they got a playoff payroll, as we discussed earlier in the show. They've spent a lot of money on these players. Yeah.

It seems like they maybe have a play-in profile in terms of coming away from a 32-win season, 50 loss season, where they were clearly tanking and not particularly effectively tanking. Yeah. I didn't even play Brandon Ingram after they acquired him late in the season. Probably could have played, but didn't feel the necessary given their competitive aspirations or lack thereof. But we don't really know. That's the bottom line. I was brother, we haven't seen these guys play together enough to really know.

We haven't seen Brandon Ingram play at all. And he's a $40 million piece of this puzzle. So, you know, I think if they were injury-free, which is in the NBA, almost a pipe dream, I could see them be in a top six team in this league, but given the fact that they probably won't be injury-free, play-in seems logical to me. Well, that's what's lead the poll right now. There's about an hour left in this poll,

and the playing tournament at 47.2%, 38% believe they missed the playoffs. So only 14% of the pollsters believe that the Raptors can finish a top-six position and secure a playoff spot. So it doesn't sound like there's a lot of, optimism right now for Toronto and I guess why would you like Messiah was looked at as a Messiah for many years and then you part ways with him and you promote the guy who was underneath

him for all these years it's well how are we going to get something different I don't quite understand it and I get that sentiment and what we've seen over the last few years well has not been a top six in the East playoff finish so makes sense I don't know if you could technically call this promotion for Bobby Webster I mean he was the incumbent top basketball executives still employed by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment before the search for the so-called president. He was already making those moves prior to finding a president anyway. He was the head of the org chart.

And now instead of calling him president of basketball operations, they are calling him head. Not the vice president, not the executive vice president, but the head. President and head aren't really like neck-in-neck is the two things I want to be called. I mean, I'd much rather be called president than head. Correct. Correct. And he'll have an opportunity, I'm sure, if things go well, and he proves that he could put together a winner here in Toronto.

I'm sure a title change could be in the works in the next couple of years. But, I mean, he's got to put a winning product on the court. Yeah, if he puts a winning product on the court, they'll cease calling him a body part and maybe give him a better title. Like, I guess head is better than, like, foot or, you know, the foot. Hoosh or, you know. Yeah, it's not, of all the. elbow of basketball operations.

Of all the body parts, it could be, I suppose that one is, you know, among the ones you would prefer. Really quickly, before we get to Ross Jackson's here, or Ross Tucker, rather, former NFL or NFL analyst, I do want to play a quick clip from Sean McDermott after his team got spanked last night, 38 to nothing by the Chicago Bears, and he wasn't too fond of his team's performance. to our standard what we expect got a lot of work to do that's very clear it doesn't matter who's out there ones two's three's fours whoever it is we expect them to perform and we expect our level of performance to be much better than that so not too happy about the way that the depth played now i i will say chicago played their starters the bears uh you know they did they walloped them

38 nothing was the final, but the bills, it was second, third stringers. And to McDermott's point, you do expect for your organizational depth to step up and not get tattooed by another organization. But, I don't know, it's definitely not a sky's

falling scenario to lose 38 to nothing in a preseason game. Oh, it means exactly nothing other than, other than the coach pointing out that guess what, these guys that are on the fringes of our roster, they should be working harder trying to get off the fringes and into the roster, right? And that's basically what this was, right? This was

guys who probably won't be on the team, not performing like they should be on the team. Correct. All right, joining us. Now on the line is Ross Tucker, former NFL or NFL analyst and host of the Ross Tucker football podcast at Ross Tucker NFL on socials. How's it going, Ross? It's going fantastic. Are you guys doing? We're doing well. We're doing great. And we're just talking about Sean McDermott's comments yesterday after they got beat 38 to nothing by the Chicago Bears and I'm not sure if you had a chance to listen to them but he essentially said that

they didn't play up to their standard. He was upset regardless if it was second, third, four stringers that were in the game. What did you make of those comments? Yeah, I think, I mean, some of that's coaching, right? I mean, that's how these guys look at it in the sense that, yeah, they realized that the Bears you know, had different priorities for that game than they did and that the Bears certainly had their starters out there

and let's be honest, right? You know, it was a nationally televised game and Bears have a new coach, they got a young quarterback. The Bears put a priority on that game last night of really looking good, really trying to build some buzz for the team,

some confidence for Caleb Williams. That's what they prioritize. The Buffalo Bill did not prioritize that. They did not care about that. And that's totally their prerogative. But, you know, you'd still want the guys that are out there to perform better because a lot of those guys are going to contribute this year, right? Like, it'd be one thing if it was the last 20 guys on the roster. But the guys that are out there, you know, some of those guys are going to get playing time this year. a lot of those guys we practice squad, they might get called up. So it's still disappointing when, you know, you get beat that badly or you look that badly

and that guys don't perform at a higher level. You know, you're hoping that your position coaches, that your coordinators, that they can get those guys to perform better than they did last night. So Caleb Williams, you know, he's a very polarizing player in the NFL right now. Last year's number one overall pick did not have a particular. particularly good rookie season, got his first start in the preseason last night, did go six of 10 for 107 yards with a touchdown in that game against the Buffalo Bills, his first showing with Ben Johnson, his new head coach.

What's your confidence level that Caleb Williams can still be a franchise quarterback in the NFL? That's a really good question. I would say not particularly high. If scale 1 to 10, and 1, I don't think he has any chance to be a long-term franchise quarterback, and 10 means I really think he's going to be, I think he's a lot to be a franchise quarterback.

I'd probably put him at 4 or 5. You know, I just think that there are some concerns there, that I've seen, especially in terms of, you know, you think about some of the decisions he made last year. It just seems like a lot of times he does the wrong thing. And he takes so many sacks, and that goes back to college, and that's a really, really hard thing for guys to be able to overcome. So I would say if five's right in the middle, put me at four, right?

I mean, if he doesn't do it this year or does it look like he's on his way this year with Ben Johnson, I would think that that's really concerning because the amount of resources they put in. I mean, they're drafting skill guys, right, with the first two picks. They sign a whole new interior three on the offensive lines. They bring in Ben Johnson as the head coach. I mean, everything they're doing is to try to make the Caleb Williams thing work. no doubt about it ross so we're big fans of the ross tucker podcast over here and uh i saw on social media i haven't had a chance to listen that you've taken the opportunity to break down

the entire afc and give your predictions obviously in this neck of the woods there's a lot of attention on the buffalo bills and their prospects to take the step that they have yet to take in franchise history ross uh not to ruin the suspense and i promise i'll listen but we where do you have the bills factory in this season and what do you foresee out of Orchard Park, New York? Well, I don't know if we talked about this before, but that was, you know, my favorite of the five teams I played for. I have a real affinity for the people up there in Western New York and in Canada. You know, went up to Toronto probably three times and was amazed. It was just how clean it was and how awesome Toronto was, big fan of Toronto as well.

You know, the best thing that I feel like the bills have going for them right now is that I think their division is significantly worse than their two major competitors in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, right? I mean, the Chiefs are in a division where three teams made the playoffs last year. The Ravens are in a division where only a couple did, but certainly you think the Bengals will be in the mix. I would be very surprised if any other team in the AFC East made the playoffs. So why that matters is the bills need to get the number one seat.

They need to get the number one seed and they need to get home to advantage throughout. I don't know. Maybe you guys can tell me, I don't think they've done that under Josh Allen. You know, even two years ago when they got to play the chiefs at home, I believe the Ravens were the number one seed, correct me if I'm wrong. So they haven't done that yet, and I just think there's a significant advantage to only having to play two games and they're both at home. And there's really no excuse for the bills to not get that home field advantage this year. I think that's critically, critically important.

They need to get it. Every year, it seems like they lose at least one game, sometimes too, that they just have no business losing. That can't happen this year. with uh with ross tucker uh the buffalo bills they got their holding situation dealt with james cook signed his deal last year but still a few more around the NFL and one that is above the rest is the micha parsons situation now you had an opportunity to play at dallas in your career uh are you surprised that it's kind of gotten to this point uh given your experience with jerry Jones? Nope, not anymore. I mean, this is kind of standard operating procedure. It feels like

at this point for Jerry Jones. I mean, I don't know when he decided this guy's, but it certainly feels like he decided at some point that trying to win a Super Bowl is really, really expensive, really hard to do and that your odds of doing so are very small and very hard to control. But then he realized, you know, being able to be the team that makes the most money and is worth the most,

that's a lot easier to control. And so I believe he feels like he's winning in the business of football. And I think he realized, at some point along the way that nothing gets attention like a star player hold out during training camp and the suspense and intrigue around whether or not he'll play in that first game.

And so I think that's one of the reasons why he does this. I really do. I think he's figured out that he's getting millions and millions of dollars worth of free value every day with the Micah Parsons, will he, won't he, situation. I think if you're a Cowboys fan, that should be really, really troubling, really sad because there's no way to argue

that it's what's best for the football team, especially when Micah ends up getting a deal that's going to be a ton of money and at the very top of the market, a ton of cap space, but it just doesn't feel like the Cowboys care about that that much. It feels like they think that it's worth it.

Hey, Ross, what does it do in your experience? What does it do to the unit, the team, when you've got a circus side show of this nature going on around it orchestrated by the owner of the whole operation? Well, it depends on who you are, right? If you're a guy like I was, it doesn't really affect you that much at all because you're just so concerned about your job and your role

and the things with star players or whatever don't really affect you or concern you that much. I think the higher you are on the totem pole, the more frustrating it is. You know, I think about a guy like Joe Burrow, who after the season was asked, I think about Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and salary cap and how hard it is. And he said, well, I don't know. I mean, the Eagles have paid everybody. It seems like that's the way to go. Seems like that's the way to do it.

And I love that Burroughs said that and called the Bengals out. I think if you're Dak Prescott or some of these guys, you get frustrated because you're probably smart enough to realize that the organization really isn't doing everything it can or should do to try to put you in the best chance to succeed. And this is your legacy. I mean, this is your life. C.D. Lamb knows it. Certainly, Dak Prescott knows.

it, but at this point, what are they going to do? With Ross Tucker, host of the Ross Tucker football podcast, Matthew Stafford finally got onto the field for practice today. I think Rams fans got a sigh of relief when they saw him finally hit the field. But a lingering back injury at 37 years old, how concerning is this whole situation for the Rams right now when it comes to Matt Stafford? Yeah, I would say it's pretty concerning. You know, you're talking to a guy, my last year in Buffalo, 04, you know, I had major back issues, and I got the epidural, and it didn't really do much for me, and I played the last however many games with a herniated disc in my back, and it was bad.

I mean, it was really, really bad. I had a significant playing time bonus, so I was heavily motivated to play on. multiple levels, but I can remember taking like, oh, I think it was like two flexeroles, two laura tabs. I would get a shot of total on my butt before every game. My wife, I remember that last game against the Steelers, my wife had to tie my shoes when I was leaving the house to go to the stadium. I mean, it was bad.

I do think as a quarterback, he's in a better spot because he doesn't have to be in a three-point stance. So it doesn't have to have that sort of fulcrum of being in that three-point stance and having to, you know, get out of it up into an upright stance. So that should help. I know he's tough his nails, but he's also, I think I was like 25. I mean, he's also 37. And if he's already getting the epidural, he's having a disc issue.

He's got a long road ahead of him. You know, I think anybody that's ever been there, and I'm sure a lot of people listening in their cars right now. If you've been there with back pain and you've had the epidural, you know that's a long road to hoe. I'm 46 now, guys. I don't think I've ever talked to anybody that said they used to have a bad back. It's like, once you have a bad back,

you're signed up for that for life, and then you're just kind of managing it for the rest of your life. So I would definitely, definitely be concerned if I were a ram's fin. Hey, one of the other big hold-in stories, and there have been a handful of them, Ross, as you know, in the NFL, Terry McClureen down in Washington. What do you think of this strategy that he's employing now? Not only is he, you know, he's not, he hasn't caved in on the contract talks, but he is, you know, joining the team in practice, taking himself off the, the pup list, as they call it, and making himself available to get out there. doesn't feel like much of a hold in anymore but the contract impasse remains if you're a player or you're his agent how do you feel about this move well i i guess i have some skepticism that it's

not contract related at all i know that's what they're saying but i would imagine that there's been some type of progress some type of you know conversation if you remember james cook practiced for a day or two before he got the new deal, I think these teams don't want to set the precedent of giving a guy a deal to get him to come back to practice. They want to set the other precedent of after you come back to practice, then you have a better chance of getting the new deal. So my guess is that is what's going on there and that I would think he'd have a new deal within the next week or so. Ross, I want to ask you about Joe Flacco, who is named the starting quarterback for the Cleveland

Browns this year, 40 years old. Like, what are your expectations for Flacco at this point, and can they even be a competitive team in the AFC North here? Well, so I just did their game against the Eagles on Saturday. I do the Eagles' preseason games, and I went to their joint practice. And I don't know. I mean, I think even the Browns know that best case scenario, if everything went well, they're like, what, seven and ten? You know?

I think the real issue is with all those veterans on the team, you think about Joel Betonio and Miles Garris. It's tough to just put Dylan Gabriel out there, Shador Sanders, right? you want to give those guys a chance when the season's a clean slate to win games and see if maybe they can go on a run and surprise people. Plus, their schedule is really difficult. At the start, my guess is that they want to, you know, play Joe at the start. And then when it's pretty clear that they're out of the playoff mix, then probably get these other guys in.

I guess I understand that. I'm not sure that's the way I would go, but I do understand the logic there. And I'll say this, too, I'm, like, impressed by Flack. I mean, he's made $180 million, okay? That's just in on-field earnings. He's making $4 million this year from the Browns. So I guess I always look at it, like, after taxes, you know, that's $2 million. bucks and that's a lot of money right for me and you and whoever but for him like that two million

dollars is not going to make a difference in his life yeah a significant injury could you know torn patel attendant a really bad concussion so i'm uh impressed surprised whatever that that joe keeps going that he keeps wanting to play he clearly loves loves football yeah i'm looking at the schedule you mentioned it, Bengals, Ravens, Packers, Lions, Vikings, Steelers to start the season. So maybe by the time to get to the Dolphins in week seven, we'll see them make that quarterback swap unless, you know, they go on a run and win some of those games and shock the world. The fancies a good coach. They had, you know, some success yardage-wise a couple years ago. Maybe there could be some sort of Cinderella story, although usually the Browns brown themselves.

So I'm not holding my breath on that. Not betting on Cleveland, that's definitely for sure. Ross, before we get you out of here, what's the deal with this My Front Page Story.com? Well, let me ask you guys this. Is September and October or maybe even August big for anniversaries up there or no? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay, because evidently I found out recently,

September and October are the two biggest months for weddings in the United States, which blows my mind away that people do. do that during football season. That should be illegal. Agreed. It's selfish. I mean, the amount of weddings I've missed because I'm a player or a broadcaster, extremely frustrating.

But the only reason I reference that is because these guys at my front page story.com, it is by far the best anniversary gift I've ever seen. So if you're one of those people that got married in September, October, or late August, or maybe your parents did, check out my front page story.com. You literally talk to a professional writer for 10 minutes. Tell them how great your significant other is or maybe your parents, whoever you get it for. They write this incredible story.

It's framed. Looks like it's on the cover of the newspaper. And I've seen so many videos at this point now where they're just crying when they receive it because it's a really emotional gift. See in print and word. how much you mean to the other people in your life. So anybody got an anniversary coming up, do yourself a favor. At least go check out myfrontpage story.com and see what it looks like.

Throw your email address in and you'll get that 20% discount code if you want to wait until Valentine's or Mother's Day or something. It's called Myfrontpage story.com. Love it. Absolutely. I know I've got, I catch you. I think my parents' anniversary is coming up pretty soon. So I'll definitely have to take a look at that.

Ross, really appreciate the time, as always. Hopefully you can do it again soon. My pleasure. Thank you guys so much for having me. Really appreciate it. Absolutely. There he goes. Ross Tucker from the Ross Tucker football podcast at Ross Tucker NFL on socials.

And, yeah, my front page story. com. What he said there at the end, by the way, about weddings, like wedding season being in the fall is horrendous. Yeah. Absolutely horrendous. And especially for those who have like Sunday weddings, which is a bizarre thing to do anyways. I didn't even think that was a thing.

I guess it is. I've known lots of people. Maybe it was just because like COVID, they had to move a lot of dates through COVID. And they're still trying to catch up with some of these spots. But yeah, I've seen a lot of people complain that they've got like a week three Sunday NFL wedding to attend instead of being able to sit down and watch the game. and be a degenerate for the next eight hours or 12 hours of commercial free football, which is no longer on commercial free, actually. I just realized I remembered that the other day.

Very upsetting stuff. Yeah. New era, new times that were in here. It is a new time. And I, like, yeah, look, I mean, I guess people get married on a lot, pretty much every day of the week, but you'd like to think they'd leave Sunday as a sacred day for the football fans in the fall. It's for, it's for church and it's for football. Yeah.

But Sundays for, it's not to get married. Church and football. Yeah, I guess I got married in the fall. So, blame me. I blame you. It is you. Actually, I appreciate Ross, you know, reminding me that I'm going to need an anniversary gift and not to... You're going to have to head to my front page story.com.

Hey, man. He made a hell of a sales pitch. What's a newspaper, by the way, Alas, brother? What's a newspaper? I'm not sure. I don't even know what are those things? No clue. No clue.

Front page of the what? How many front page stories have you had? in your career. Very few. Very few. Really? I mean, I don't know. Why would even count?

Because it's been so many. That's probably yet. You know, back when my mom was still alive, she used to cut them all out and put them in a scrapbook. But those days are, those days are gone. Lawrence Applebum, CEO of Golf Canada, joining us next here on Overdrive on TSA 1050, live on TSN2 and up on YouTube. Something to Chew on is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP.

where you get an entree, a site, 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 at your local Boston pizza. Overdrive continues on TSN 1050, up on TSN2, and on YouTube live. Mike DiStefano and Dave Festchuk here with you, and join us in a moment. We'll be joined by Lawrence Appelbaum, CEO of Golf Canada,

and we got the Canadian Open coming to town this week. We've got at the Mississauga Golf Club. So that should be awesome. We'll definitely ask Lawrence about that. One asking about that, that Sheffler shot over the weekend. I mean, one of the best shots that I've honestly seen in my life. Now, I'm not like Mr. Mr. Golf Guy, don't get me wrong. I'm not hazy being owed and you and your son, like, diehard golf guy.

But that shot was incredible. It was great to watch. Oh, great TV. He's so good, man. Like, it, it, I, look at this. Look at this. Eighty-one foot chip and it just, like, how, that rolled like 40 feet. Oh, yeah.

And just perfectly dropped in ever so softly. Like, that's, the man's got butterhands. It's unbelievable. All right, joining us now on the line. Lawrence Applebaum, CEO of Golf, Canada. How's it going, Lawrence? Good to chat with you. Well, great to hear from you else, brother.

And Dave, wonderful to see you as well and hear you. Absolutely. I always love having you on the show. And we're just talking about the Sheffler shot. We got to watch it on TSN2 again. It's a shot that I honestly won't mind to watch multiple times throughout my life. I mean, where does that one kind of sit for you when you think back of some of Sheffler's greatest shots? Well, I think on an earlier edition of Sports Center this morning,

I think they showed some of the highlights of just this year alone. And obviously, Scotty Sheffler is having a, you know, a season for the ages, you know, reminiscent of, you know, two or three of the Tiger Woods years. So he's playing, you know, amazing golf, but here north of the border, you know, we're just super excited that both, you know, Cory Connors and Nick Taylor are playing into the tour championships and they themselves are both having exceptional years, but you do have to sort of appreciate that you're watching a season of greatness with Shetler, absolutely. Well, it's one of the great questions for any sport, Lawrence, is like, would you rather

have a dominant force, you know, an all-time great sort of, that is so much better than everybody that it's just awe-inspiring, or would you rather have more parody at the top? I mean, how do you see it with golf? Well, I think history sort of tells us that the most compelling errors are the where there is an A and a B. You know, there's a rivalry that people are striving for it. And I think what was really neat in the Tiger years was you had different guys coming up and being able to battle Tiger for a very short period of time. And then he would dispatch them and you'd have another and he'd do the same thing.

And obviously, if you go back to that four-year stretch, I mean, it was nothing short of incredible. I've been very fortunate to see Scotty up close and, you know, we've had Rory start to battle him in some areas and then you had Xandershoppy playing pretty well and a whole host of other people. But, you know, I'd really look forward to, you know, celebrating his year in 2025 and then 2026, you know, obviously I'm very biased,

but to see one of our Canadians start to really drive towards the top. but it has been some really superb golf. And I think for so many of the recreational golfers or really excellent golfers out there to take away the mental stability, strength, the performance ability that Scotty Schaeffler has done from just the mental side of the game is something that us inside the game are really following

and how really truly generationally has been in that area of the sport. court. Well, Lawrence, you mentioned it. a couple Canucks, Cory Connors, and Nick Taylor, both advancing to the Tour Championship. And I think I was raised just the second time since 2007 that we'll have two Canadians

at the tournament. Like, what does that say about the growth and kind of where golf is at here in Canada? Well, it's been a superb time to follow Canadian golf and to be part of it and to be a fan of it. You know, it was, Taylor Penwith was

just on the outside of that top 30 and making would have been a historic threesome that we're going into the Tour Championship. But, you know, McKenzie Hughes had a good year. Taylor Pandors had a very solid year. And then our two stalwarts, you know, the guys who represented Canada at the Paris Olympics in Cory Connors and Nick Taylor have just been so exceptional. And it gives us this energy about what's going on in Gauls. And for us, you know, really this week and what's happening. at the Mississauga Golf and Country Club is we're going to welcome, you know,

93 of the top 100 professional female golfers in the world. And we're going to have 14, we'll find out in the next hour, but maybe even 15 Canadians tipping it up for the CPKC Women's Open. So all in all, on the men's side and on the women's side, it's just a really special moment to be following Canadian golf. So another big moment for you, Lawrence, I'm sure, on the business side of things was the announcement that RBC had extended its partnership to be the title sponsor of the men's Canadian Open, the RBC Canadian Open on a multi-year deal.

RBC's been a big, big part of what has helped propel Canadian golf to where it is. What's this mean from your perspective? Yeah, Dave, I mean, I think you say, you know, RBC being a big part of it is they are interwoven in the fabric of everything that is golfed in this country. And, you know, this announcement today of them renewing their sponsorship, not only with our event, the RBC Canadian Open, but the signature event, the RBC Heritage, was so wonderful and so appreciated. They've really put golf on their, you know, proverbial shoulders,

and they support the game at every stage, you know, from the grassroots in our first deep program through RBC Community Junior Golf. They support our women's initiative through She Play's Golf and then Team Canada. You'll see all of the athletes wearing the RBC Shield at both the CPKC Women's Open and, of course, Team RBC at the RBC Canadian Open. But they've just been integral to everything we do in the game. We've been able to bring the event to such heights. I know so many of your listeners and you guys yourself were.

out at the RBC Canadian Open this year at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. And we just are looking to be world-class in everything we do and to have a world-class title sponsor like RBC in supporting golf. It's allowed us to really be, make the tournament so special and really, you know, make a really special experience for all the fans who come out. With Lawrence Applebaum, CEO of Golf Canada, big tournament this week with the Canadian Women's Open, the CPKC Women's Open this week at the Mississauga Golf Club. What excites you most about this upcoming tournament?

Well, I think for us, the CPKC Women's Open, our title sponsor is the Railway, Canadian Pacific, Kansas City, they go across the country and through the U.S. and Mexico. And so like the railway, the tournament goes across the country, we were, in the GTA back in 2019 at the Magna Golf Club. And then we've been, you know, to Shaughnessy in Vancouver, to Ottawa, to Earl Grey in Calgary. But to come back to Toronto and to bring what is, what is I like to share is the Brooke Henderson show into the GTA. This golf course, if you're driving up and down the QEW, you get a chance you see the hitting nets, you know, high above the screen. and this gorgeous Stanley Thompson, Donald Ross, golf course

amongst the trees, amongst the Credit River is a beautiful spectacle in our city. And we have the best of the best coming to town. We've got, you know, world number one, genotidico, we've got Nellie Korda, we've got Lydia Coe, and of course to see Brooke in amongst the Brooke Brigade, to see all the little girls and little boys following around is really a spectacle.

These women are incredible athletes. They hit the ball so pure. And, you know, at the end of the season, as you guys know, we've had a great summer. A little bit of rain this last week has sort of made everything pop. It's like a real field that dreams out here at Mississauga. And we're very grateful, you know, to the club, to the membership for hosting us here. And it's really something I encourage, if you haven't seen,

live professional golf to come out and see it and it's really just a wonderful experience for the family. Yeah, no doubt about it, Lawrence. I mean, and if you haven't seen, you know, the Brooke Brigade, that in itself is worth the price of admission just to see the frenzy that Brooke causes among the young fans that tend to follow her around. Lawrence, I know you know Brooke at her, at her height has been among the world's best at times. This hasn't been her best year by the statistical measures. She, you know, she's, I think she's ranked the world number 58 right now. She's obviously been, she's been much, much higher at her best.

I mean, what have you sort of seen from her? And I guess what are the odds that a trip to her home country where rejuvenate the season and find, and find a new gear? Yeah, for Brooke, I just ran into her. she did the red eye from the Portland event last weekend. And she really did at points in the tournament in Portland had it really going. She had her the full Brooke Arsenal in play. And she finished sort of top 20.

But I do think she's one of those athletes that truly feeds off the energy that's been around her. And as you said, Dave, like when you see her out there and the crowds are four or five deep. She builds on it. She has this incredible momentum. She might be one of the most positive people on the golf course that, you know, professionally that I get a chance to see where she really engages and connects. And I think that's why she's such a fan favorite. But I would say, you know, there was a streak in the last few CPKC Women's Open where she either won it or was in the last pairing or was able to be a top 10. And I would say that the golf, this golf court suits her.

It's playing a little bit longer and Brooke's been really strong off the tea. You know, one of the areas that she's actually gained statistically is on the putting side. And so this place has small greens. They've got, it's playing a little bit longer. So I think that Mississippi is a really good track for Brooke. to do well. And I just think that this crowd, this Canadian frenzy that she creates is really going to do really wonderful things. So we're looking forward to seeing Brooke in her full, you know, the full arsenal, I was saying. I know we're all going to be looking forward to it

and watching it this week. Good luck with everything. I know you're going to put on a fantastic tournament down there. Thank you for doing. This is always, Lawrence. Okay. Thank you, guys. Appreciate your time. Absolutely. Lawrence Applebaum, CEO of Gulf Canada. I'd be quite the story if Brooke Henderson can find her game back on home soil. Yeah, well, she's won it before. Yeah, and I'll not win it again. Yeah.

And look, I mean, she's set such a lofty standard, right? You kind of just expect, like, she should be winning on a regular basis, right? Because she won so much. And so when she's not winning, she hasn't won in a while, I mean, it does kind of surprise you. But as Lawrence says, like a player of that caliber, it's never very very, very much. far away. She's got to find it. She was right up there at the beginning of the Portland tournament where she

had one before and yeah, it wouldn't take much. No one would be surprised if she flipped the switch at Mississauga and found herself right at the top of the leaderboard. No, and I'm sure we'll have some best bets for the open later on in the week, but I've got some best

bets for tonight's baseball slate. That's coming up next here on Overdrive. Today's best bets are powered by Fan Duel, Make Your Picks, and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook app. I'm looking at the Brewers' Cubs game tonight. I think we see the Brewers get back on

their winning ways. Their winning streak snapped last night, but I have to pick up the win tonight. I like Andrew Vaughn, 2 plus bases. That kid's been on fire. But one of the best hitters of baseball since he's come up to the Brewers and Little Cancon, Owen Casey, I think he records a hit tonight for the Cubbies as

well. So you parlay those three together. You can get that at plus 387. Today's best bets powered by Fan Duel. The first inning means as much as the ninth when you bet baseball on the Fandual Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Man, what a season for the Brewers. They have 14 in a row that they had going. They have free burgers.

You see that story last week? Yeah. So there's like a, I guess there's a burger joint. I forget what the store is or what the restaurant is. There's a burger joint in Milwaukee that if the team wins 13 games in a row, they're going to hand out free burgers to the city. Anyone who goes, gets one free burger, and they accomplished that last week.

When they won their 13th game, they won a 14th game, and then I believe it got snapped after that. It was George Webb's Burgers. George, the JP. Webb's Burgers. And they ran out of vouchers, apparently. That makes sense.

I mean, you get your hand away free burgers to the entire city. I mean, I know Milwaukee, it's not the largest city, North America, but I'm sure there's enough people that'll drive over city lines to pick up a free meal. One thing I've learned in this life, free food? Swarm.

Swarms of people. It's like that, yeah. It's like that July 11th thing at 7-Eleven where it's 7-Eleven, free slurpee 7-Eleven. You go into a 7-Eleven, it's just like the slurper machine's broken because it's been overrun. People are showing up with buckets. Yeah. Trying to get buckets. They had that one promotion. I don't know if you remember that. Whereas, I don't know, one day

of the year you could show up with and fill anything and people would show up with like garbage cans and fill a massive garbage can with slurpy that can't go well yeah i think after a couple of years they outlawed it to like must be this big uh an ounce or or a milliliter uh limits okay but early on people are showing up with these big extravagant containers of some kind to carry like a year's worth of kids swimming pools. Yeah, essentially, of slurpy. So they outlawed that one. Yeah, that's a good move.

Good move by 7-Eleven. But I'll tell you what. Milwaukee gets a bad route, but nice town in the summertime. Never been. Never been. Worth going in the summer. Wintertime, it's just another prairie city. Midwest city that is very cold and, you know, not too far from Green Bay and the frozen

tundra. Right. But in the summertime, pretty nice town. Yeah. If they get enough respect. I think I was looking at Fanduel and they're like fourth best odds to win the world series

You got the number one record in baseball by like six games Kind of Blue Jays, isn't it? And they're crushing everybody. They're saying it's blue in terms of the odds The Blue Jays don't have great odds to win And they're the American League's best team Yeah, I think they're only

They only have, they're like the fourth highest To win the American League, let alone the World Series Like dumb, I'm smart and I want to spects There you go, that's right JP And yeah, and I understand stand it to a degree because both these teams, nobody picked them to begin the year. Nobody expected anything of this nature from either of these teams. Maybe they did in Milwaukee.

They certainly didn't in Toronto, right? Nobody saw this coming from the Blue Jays? No, nobody saw it coming. But it's been a fun year. It's been a very fun year. I've enjoyed watching the Blue Jays hard at work. They got a tough pitching matchup tonight. That game just got underway not long ago, but it's Kevin Gosman versus Paul Skeen's.

First time that Paul Skeens has taken on this. Blue Jays lineup. And it's a tough test. It's a good lineup, but he's a hell of a pitcher. So it should be really fascinating, entertaining game. We'll come back tomorrow and recap it and see what else we can get up to in the sports world. It was a pleasure to have you here. Are you back tomorrow? I'm Frankie. I don't think I'm back. No, I think I got Frankie tomorrow. So it's Frankie and I tomorrow, but it's always fun. Great seeing you. Good to see you as well. All right. That does it for us. I'll be back tomorrow at 4 p.m.

And I'll chat then. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.