OverDrive - OverDrive - August 8, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

Join Brendan Dunlop and Michael DiStefano for Hour 1 of Mail it in Friday! We celebrate Victoria Mboko winning the National Bank Open. TSN CFL reporter Matthew Scianitti joins the show to discuss Nathan Rourke’s performance in the Lions’ win over the Ti-Cats and Tre Ford’s future in the CFL.

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the more you save. Switch to Canada's fastest 5G-plus network today. For details and more great offers, visit a Bell store or bell.ca slash promotions. Bell, back to school, just got better. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. What's going on, Toronto?

What's going on in Canada? My name is Brennan Dunlop. Very happy to be in the Overdrive Studios, in the seat once again, and happy to be alongside ABL's brother. It's been too long, buddy. It has been, it's been, gosh. And we were just talking before. I don't know if we did a show at all last summer.

We may have to actually, I think we did like a morning show during the Christmas holidays, maybe you're in Vancouver, I think. That might make sense. It's the last time you and I worked together. Doing a morning show on Toronto Radio while base in Vancouver, I wouldn't recommend it. But it's nice at technology. 3 a.m. 2.30 a.m. wake up call for you. Yeah. I mean, I take a long time with the coffee.

It's a little, a little bit of, and the hair is still combed and brushed before, even though it's radio. But, yeah, it's a little bit of earlier a wake-up call. We're good to go here? Happy to be here. Four o'clock start time. We're ready to go. You know, yeah, this is the first Friday in August, right? No, August 1st is a Friday. August 1st was Friday. All right.

So there we go. Already off to a great start. The second Friday in August. But it does feel like this still feels like a long weekend. This I feel like this second weekend of August. Interestingly enough, it does. And I don't know if it's because, like, I got plans this weekend. I got a little like guys trip booked going up to a cottage for a couple of days.

Just out of KU guy. I got a buddy who's got a place down there. But whenever you go on a weekend. trip. It does feel like a long weekend. And you and I were traveling in here down the 401. That felt like long weekend traffic. It was insane traveling down the 401 today trying to get the DVP brutal today. Holy smokes. I spent an entire month in New York for a Club World Cup. And I was staying in Manhattan and Hell's Kitchen. We went to MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, almost every day. I can tell you only once in an entire month that I feel

like I was in Toronto because traffic was that bad. People talk about New York traffic, L.A. traffic. I've been to both of those places. Toronto during rush hour is worse than both. Yeah, absolutely. Toronto during rush hour is like I would are, in North America at the very least, worst traffic jams in North America. And the hardest part is that it's not exclusive to rush hour.

If it was only rush hour, I can understand it. I was driving up here at 1.30 in the afternoon. And it was bumper to bumper up the deeper up. TVP the whole way. Look, there were a lot of impacts, you know, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the impact on Toronto traffic is immeasurable. And it is one of the worst. It didn't take long for the traffic to get built back up. Because I was traveling up here every day during COVID. I still, I was one of the few lucky ones who didn't get to work remote. I had to come in every day back when we were doing the updates and stuff. And it was

actually a nice drive coming in. I was coming in from Niagara at the time, too. I was it, with a pop in here in like an hour and a half, hour, 40 minutes or so? Not anymore. You're looking at a solid two and a half hour drive from cut up from night. It's an hour to get here from downtown. Yeah, it's like, it should be a 25-minute drive, no traffic, but you leave afternoon. You're looking at a 45 to 50-minute drive up here. Well, if you're in the car right now, we promise to entertain you for three hours.

We'll do our best. For what could be maybe a 30-minute drive that will take you three hours if you haven't to be in Toronto. I am going to drive west tomorrow. I'm going to take my son, who's two and a half and baseball obsessed, to see the Detroit Tigers. Nice. Yeah. But they who are playing this weekend? They're playing the Angels this weekend, which is also special

because his favorite movie is Angels in the Outfield. Oh, I love that. That was one of my favorite movies as a kid, too. It's still one of my favorite movies as an adult. And more so as a father now. And, yeah, so that'll be special. I'm looking forward to that to share that ballpark. I grew up in Windsor. I spent a lot of time of Comerica, man. Oh, yeah. And the Tigers

were a bad team for a long time, and I feel like Jays fans and Tigers fans can often share and like you think your team's going to be good and then they're not. And now they're both good. So both dad and son can be extra happy. And they're both taking on L.A. base teams this weekend. A bit ironic, isn't it? It is.

It's ironic. The C. Max Scherzer, a Detroit Tiger great, playing for the Blue Jays, to go up against Clayton Kershaw tonight, that's worth staying up for. Regardless of what your plans are, make sure you catch that. Well, luckily it's a Friday night. So most people got nothing going on tomorrow. I don't have to wake up early.

Stay up for this one. This is going to be special. Like, I'm so fired up for this match. I've been talking about this game since like Tuesday. Really? When I found out that the probable pitchers

I went and I checked, we got Scherzer, Kershaw. They're not at their best. No, they're not. You know the Twilight Year. They're not what they make,

right. Yes. Extra special for you. That's what you're more excited about hanging on to? It's probably going to be the final time we see these two go up against one another. Yeah.

Like I mean, if we get lucky, maybe we see them pitch against each other in a world series this year. That would be special, but I'm not sure that, I mean, it'd be tough for both of them to crack the World Series starting rotation, more so I think Kershaw at this point. It's a quality, quality staff to have down there in L.A., but this could be the last time. I think it's the first time ever that we're seeing a pitching matchup between two starters who have both thrown over 3,000 strikeouts in their career. First time in Major League history.

Unbelievable. I think it's going to be the last time. I think it's going to be the only time. I think this is history that we're going to be watching today. Now, are they going to go out there and mow guys down like they did five, ten years ago? No, I don't think so. But I still think it's going to be a pretty incredible ball game to watch. I saw a comparable.

Randy Johnson pitched at 45 against Greg Maddox, who was pitching for the Dodgers at the time at 42. I forget what year that was, but those are definitely their ages. And the stat board was comparable, obviously, to what we're going to get tonight. I think for me and why I was curious, because you're a few years younger than me, the excitement that you have to see these two pitch is there's not a lot of guys playing professional sports that are older than me anymore. And so the guys that I, you know, I wasn't growing up, I wasn't adult, obviously,

but the guys that were older than me, you know, when I was enjoying going to the sports bar and I was, you know, consuming sports and in the Bachelor way that I did before, to see that these guys are still around, I think I'm really hanging on. the same way about Ronaldo and Messi and LeBron. I felt that way about Brady. You really like trying to savor it because you know, you know that it's ending. Well, we were having that conversation

yesterday, A.K. and I, funny enough, because I'm talking about like Shay, Gildes Alexander last night. They celebrate him in Hamilton. It's like, this kid is younger than both of us, but he's being celebrated by it with all these, like, and what are we doing? You know,

you look at Vicki and Boko, Vicki and Boko, 18 years old, wins the national open last night. It's like, what were we doing at 18 years old? Yeah. Like it's, it's, it really, it's a time to kind of look back and think about, man, the, the, what athletes are doing at such a young age right now is,

is incredible. And, you know, most even, no, hockey players, like, their heyday is in their mid-20s. So it's like most prime athletes are, are now under me as well. Like, they're now younger than I am. So I'm, I'm getting to that point now, too. Some, some dad advice. Comparison

doesn't do you any good, my man. No. Comparison doesn't do you any good But yes, if you needed a reason to feel old Vicky Mboko, who won the National Bank Open beating Naomi Osaka last night in what was a thrilling final. It's what she did this entire tournament, youngest player ever to beat four Grand Slam winners

on route to a championship, to do it on Canadian soil as a Canadian, to do it against Naomi Osaka who, in Boko even came out and said, like, this is someone who I watched growing up that I admired growing up in my younger years to be able to beat her in the fashion she did in comeback fashion, like, got smoked in the opening set.

It was what, 6-2, I think was the opening set. And then came back, won the second set, battled, forced the third set, got all the way to a point break, and then she took over in that point break. That one break point that she had where she just lunged out after Osaka tried the drop shot, and she goes out with a little counter-drop shot of her. Osaka was in disbelief.

that, like, I think that's where she lost. She knew that she was going to lose at that point. Because you watch her face off that drop shot, she was ready to walk off the court thinking, like, got that point, all right, I got that game, we could continue to go. All of a sudden, no, that's not what happened, actually. She kept it alive and then went on to win the next three points and won the tournament. Like, it was unbelievable.

I think we're showing it. Yeah, here's. To the TV audience. She turned to the referee in complete disbelief. She couldn't believe that. And I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe that she got there to get that. Like, that was unbelievable. That was one of those moments, though, where you look and you just say,

she took that, this is the shot right here, making that shot right there. And look at her, unbelievable. And Naomi Osaka thought, that's a point. She's about to walk off the court. And then she looks back and she's like, did she just get that? Yeah. Did she get that point? Straight of the rip.

Unbelievable. But that's a moment where Mboko was like, I'm not losing. Yeah. I've come this far. I've come back against Naomi Osaka, came back against Rabakana the night before. I've made it this far. Beko Goff.

I'm doing whatever I could possibly do to win this title. And that shot was unbelievable. There's a fearlessness that makes what she did pretty special. And in parts, I think, what made last night particularly difficult for Naomi Osaka. Because there was a time where, Naomi Osaka was in a very similar situation to Vicky and Boko. The Serena Williams.

Exactly. Yeah. And part of what made, I think, the Naomi Osaka story special and made her very successful in early 20s. And this is the case, not exclusive to tennis, but in a lot of sports, and particularly individual sports, where it's that fearlessness that they can lean in and have that extra gear to find that extra gear. And the difficult thing is, at what age do you lose that? and I think for Naomi Osaka that came with a lot of baggage there was a lot of weight with a success

she's been very open about the mental health struggles and how difficult it was and coming back as a mom all of those things play a factor but that fearlessness that she saw I think Osaka knew that she had lost that match in the second set in the second set she knew

as soon as maybe even yeah when she took the six point in the second set she's like I am not winning and that was just a struggle and you can see it in her body language and the way she was and even post-match I mean there was

I think we have the clip here of Osaka post-match which ruffled the feathers of a lot of Canadians this was this was Osaka and I guess didn't mention Mboko here's here's what you had to say

thanks I guess I don't really want to take up too much time so I'll just say thank you to everyone thank you to my team thank you to the ball kids thank you to the organizers and all the volunteers

and I hope you guys had a good night so I'll say this with the caveat that she did just lose a very important match right it's the first time she'd made a final since she'd returned to tennis after giving birth and you know she's struggled a little

little bit. So I'm sure it was an emotional loss for her, obviously. But you kind of just brought something up a moment ago where she had that moment years ago with Serena Williams. Do you remember how that tournament kind of ended? Remember Serena was barking at the official and she had lost the point? And then Serena made it all about her. And the story wasn't necessarily about Osaka, this young up and coming. The crowd was booing Osaka winning points. They were booing her when she won because Serena had lost the point and they were saying there was putting an asterisk on it

and then this young 18 year old who Osaka knew looked up to her beat her in a final in front of her home fans and then they kind of act like that and sulk about it knowing how much that could hurt you knowing how much that hurt her

when Serena had that situation it kind of irks me a little bit I think in the moment but you're not thinking about anybody you're not I think and that's where we can criticize it's like you couldn't separate

separate yourself and the feeling of loss for a split second to congratulate someone that in many ways, you know, could remind you of yourself, but that you know, and you were very much made aware, looked up to you. And I think she's also struggling with that. We were talking about age at the beginning here. When she was told that in the press conference, she said, oh, I don't know if I'm comfortable with already being, playing people that idolized me. Like, I don't feel like I've lived enough. I don't feel like I've played enough to get to that level. And everybody struggles with age that some people find turning 30 hard. Some people find turning 40 hard. I'm not at 40 yet, but I think I'm going to find it pretty hard. So I can kind of relate

to that, but I also expected someone who's achieved as much as her, but also kind of just understands what it's like to be in that situation, that all you need, all you need it was a nod. Because I'm sure, and she apparently told the Montreal Gazette today, New Mexico, look, I forgot in the moment. I was really caught up. Yeah, afterwards she congratulated her. You know, what a player. What a win. Like very happy for. and congratulations, but it would have been nice of just in the moment. Even if it was just a look to her and be like, congrats, you won a good one.

Right. It's just, feels like that was deserved. Biccci and Boko certainly earned that, right? 100% she did. It was an amazing, it's a great story, and it's awesome for, you know, Canadian tennis who has been craving for, like, a star ever since Bianca and

Drescue, like, that's the last time that we've truly had, like, a Canadian star win something like this. Like, I know, like, Leila and Fernandez, She didn't she win last week also? But it's like, it wasn't as noteworthy of a tournament. You know what I mean? But when you can win the National Open on home soil, everybody's tuned into this.

Like, Twitter was a blaze last night, watching Mboko, make that big comeback, win that second set, force the third, and then absolutely take over and dominate when she got there. Congrats. I mean, congratulations to Mbocco. It was a terrific, terrific tournament. And I think that she's got a very. long career ahead of her. I think she jumped up to, she started the year, ranked 33rd best women's tennis player in the world. Unbelievable. She jumped up to 24th with the win. She'll be seated at the U.S. Open. Yeah. That is phenomenal. Yeah. Like when we often say

meteoric rise for this young star, for this young player, like that is the only possible definition for Vicki and Boko. Did you see the video of here in Toronto when, the crowd found out that in Boko had won in Montreal. Yes, I did see it as Ben Shelton and Ben Shelton was going out. I think he was serving at the time. He was. And I think we have it if we could play the

video here because it was kind of funny watching it. Ben Shelton sitting there literally wondering like what, what's going on? What's going on? Here's the clip from last night. This is shelf is not sure what's going on no the players are very confused

it's because the crowd just found out some pretty crazy news outstanding news from Montreal Vicki Mboko has won the National Bank Open defeating Naomi Osaka and look that's the view from the big screen outside

and of course it runs through the crowd it's going to be a bit of a delay right now I do love that I can imagine I love that the fans react to that way which is great It was, did you see the other clip, though, where, where Shelton walks over to the, to the umpire and he's like, what's going on and leans over? Apparently the Canadian player won in Montreal, and he's like, oh, okay. And that's like, oh, all right, that's, that's what's going on.

But like, that's, that's so, that's such Canadian. Like, that's just, it's very Canadian when that happens. It reminds me of the one time, I was in, I was at a TFC game, actually, years ago. It was back in 2010, I want to say. We got to get you back. It's been that long? No, I've been to, I've been in multiple games since. But this one particular instance, I was at a TFC game,

I think it was like a school trip or something like that in high school. But I was there, and I think it was the night that the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Washington Capitals. And it was an upset. And out of nowhere, you start hearing Olao-Lay chance in the crowd. In the middle of a TFC game, I think they were playing the Montreal Impact, too, to be funny. Okay. Funny enough. But in the middle of the game, they start hearing O'Lay-Lay chance,

then you hear the whispers, Montreal just won. bunch. It was like kind of pre-smartphones. So, like, you didn't really know, but there's people who are listening to it in their little handheld radio while watching the game and they hear the whispers and the O'le-O-Lay-O-Lay kind of reminded me of that. That's one thing that my kid will never know, like the handheld radio at a game, although maybe that is the case. What's disappointing is you could have it on your phone, but the delay is 30 seconds.

Yeah, you can't. Yeah, you could not, it would drive me bananas. You can't watch the game there. Like I can't go and watch a Leaf game and listen to Bowen and be like 30 seconds delayed. No. Even eight seconds delayed would drive me bonkers what's going on. You can't watch the same game, but you can do it to another game. Like while you're watching the Dodgers this weekend, you can tune in to Jay's and Dodgers and see what's cooking.

What would you think about that guy that's at one game and listening to another? Isn't it like cheating on your experience of being in the game? It depends. I mean. Like I think I get it. I'll give you an example, where I would do that, okay? Let's say I had consistent Tigers tickets. I consistently went, right?

I got the flex pack. Blue J. It's fine. And there's a World Cup semi-final or a quarterfinal. Or Portugal's just playing in general. But I've told whoever I'm with at the ball game, be it my son, my wife, my best friend, we're going to the ball game today.

And we can know what, that's fine. Then, like, I've done that before. I've watched a game or moments of a game on my phone on the Belfive app. But I don't know if I could just be curious and be like, You know what? I'm watching the Tigers, but I also want to listen to what the Jays and the Dodgers are doing. I've done this. I've done this. Like I can tell you firsthand that I've been to a Blue Jays game or I've been to a Leaf game and I've streamed. Like it's no longer the radio. You can quite literally stream it on your phone now. Of course. Streaming the other games that I want to watch. Or if it's, actually, I was at a Leaf game. I used to cover the Leaf games on Thursday nights. You don't think I had the Thursday night football game on my computer that I could just take a peek.

at during the whistles and during intermissions? Absolutely, I was doing that. Whatever was appealing for your Fanduil's best bets Exactly, or that, or when we were, when we were doing our bets with overdrive with Luke and Hayes and O, I'm very invested in that stuff.

That is one of my favorite parts of the fall, by the way. I don't get to see you enough. We've exchanged a few text messages every fall, but I absolutely love the rivalry that you have with them, and that experience is pretty special. It's coming up quick, though. We have preseason in football last night, week one, kind of kicked off.

My guy Anthony Richardson, first drive, gets hurt. And I went on a diatribe yesterday on the show. We did like an NFL bull predictions, ZayK. and I, and I proclaimed that he was going to be the comeback player of the year. And I had this nice tangent prepared. And then he goes out there in the first drive and dislocates his pinky and doesn't return for the game. Yeah, that was gutting.

There's a lot of NFL stories. And I'm a Cleveland Brown's fan. And it hasn't even started and they feel pretty good. We'll talk in NFL with Ryan Harris. We'll talk some CFL, Matthew Schenetti. You mentioned Toronto FC. Georgie Mahalovich wasn't availed today. He's going to join us.

This is Overdrive on TSN 1050. Mail it in Friday 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. Back on Overdrive on TSN 1050 and TSN4. My name is Brendan Dunlop. happy to be in the chair on this mail-it-in Friday with my man Al's brother, A-B.

Lots to get to, lots to talk about. And whenever I am fortunate enough to be on these airways, I always find a way. There's always a reason to talk with my man, Mr. Football, Matthew Chenetti. And on a day like today, when we've got a Toronto FC star player on, when we've got national team players to talk about in the World Cup coming up, oh so quick, 11 months away. And then a night in Hamilton like you had to celebrate, one of Canada, at his best athletes right now in Shea Gilgis Alexander.

Matthew Schenney was right in the middle of it. What's up, Shooter? How are you, man? Boys, how's our Friday going? Going pretty good now. It's just got better. You're on the show, my man. Tell me about things last night in the Hammer.

What was it like? The exchange there on the field as Shagielis-Elexander thanked the crowd and lifted the Larry O'Brien trophy. That was pretty special. It looked good on camera. I must have been pretty special to be next to him. Yeah, you know, it kind of reminds me,

Brendan, a few years ago. And I give my own hometown of Vaughn a shout out here when Andrew Wiggins, who grew up literally just down the street from where I grew up, when he brought back the NBA title after winning it with the Golden State Warriors, the Duff and Clark Community Center on Dufferin and Center there in up there in Vaugh-Slawn Hill and just kind of the reaction he got from the community. This is on another level. And I think it's for a couple of reasons. One, SGA is now the face of the NBA in a lot of ways. pinnacle of the sport. He is arguably next to Summer Macintosh. And, you know, certainly you can put Alfonso Davies in there. Those are the most recognizable international Canadian

athletes right now. But just to see the outpouring of emotion in Hamilton, I've been very lucky in my career to go to the hammer a lot. And beyond being as hard-nosed and hard-scrabbled and gritty a place, as people might assume it to be. It is a very, very loyal town, and SGA is very loyal to the place that he comes from. He still trains, I hear, at the local YMCA every so often in the off season. And to see him walk out in front of 24,500 fans, to see them all stand and applaud a native son of their city. And to see, as I was asking him, just his earnest responses about what it means to be a Hamiltonian. Hamiltonian or not, Canadian all across this country,

you can certainly be proud of a guy who has not only accomplished nearly everything, and he's not done yet by any measure, but everything that you could want to accomplish in a professional basketball career, but to also see how loyal he is to his hometown. Really, that's the Canadian that fills everyone's hearts in terms of sports. I mean, they put on an absolute show on the gridiron in front of SGA and the sold-out crowd there in Hamilton. what a ball game we had.

41, 38 game went to overtime. There were 10 different lead changes. You know, like, where does that stand? Like, could that be CFL game of the year territory? I think the last two, Mikey, when you look at two weeks ago and the 10-point comeback in the final four minutes that the Thai cats had over BC in Vancouver, and then you certainly look at what happened last night,

and you peek over at the standings, maybe we're getting either because of course there's that crossover rule that still exist in the CFL and given how poor so far the records have been beyond the Montreal Alouettes and the Hamilton Tire Cats at the top of the East we could see this as a playoff matchup and it would be a hell of a playoff matchup

because obviously all the credits with the Ticats are building they had a couple short weeks dealing with a lot of injuries now they're going to have to figure out because they go not to look too far head. They'll go into Regina to face the best team in the CFL right now with Saskatchew

Rough Riders, but facing the BC lines it brings out the best in both teams and you've got to tip your hat to Nathan Rourke. A local boy too, I mean, he's not from Hamilton, he's kind of the Oakville-Birlington area, but a local boy too, like SGA and he showed out, man, the toughness

that he had, the tie-cats were coming out. That defensive line was playing downhill all game. There really wasn't anything BC's offensive line could do to protect Roark. And yet, every time you thought the tie cats had him and we're going to bring them down. There's Rourke, breaking contained, there's Rourke making

a play. As much as yeah, they win in overtime, he threw what looked like a backbreaking interception inside the final three minutes. But I think we're starting to see that old Nathan Rourke again, just the guy who is so locked in, so systematic and he comes in

in those, not only the final minutes of the game, but also too in overtime, you know, obviously was aided by a Thai cat's fumble in their first overtime series. But he just looks like he is near the top of this game again. But so does Bull Levi Mitchell. So I can only hope, given the peculiarities of that crossover rule,

that these two teams face each other again in playoffs. I'd sign up for it. I'd love to see them to go against each other. Now, save us some time to get to the soccer talk. But is Nathan Rourke the best quarterback in the CFL right now? I think it's Bull Levi Mitchell. I think it's Moly by Mitchell simply because he's playing as confident as he has since 2016, 35 years old, got receivers all across the field.

He used a full assortment of them last night. And again, yeah, to see the only, one of the reasons I think we saw the best out of Nathan Rourke is because, and I saw them have an exchange after the game, when Bolivar Mitchell is playing the way he is, and frankly, this may be one of the last few years. We see him at the top of his games, certainly professional sports and professional football in particular

and playing quarterback into the late 30s. But he's good right now. He's as good as a guest in the CFO. But you can't discount what Nathan Roark has done, but also Trevor Harris, too. And how accurate and systematic he's been and consistent he's been in Saskatchewan. Those are my top three. But if Roark continues to play like this, watch out the lines are going to be real tough to beat down the stretch. Well, while we're on the topic of quarterbacks around the Canadian Football League,

one that I'm kind of curious about, is Trey Ford, who has lost his starting job to Cody Pajardo. And coming into the year, there was a lot of hype around him. You know, he got that contract in Edmonton. And it was supposed to be him and Nathan Rourke, the two Canadian quarterbacks, to set the league of blaze hasn't quite happened. What do you think his future is like in Edmonton and in the Canadian Football League? I think his feature in the Canadian Football League is still, having a Canadian quarterback is certainly, you know,

you take a look at, you know, Brandon Bridge spent a lot of time in the CFL and certainly had some pretty good performances playing, for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. But I don't know if we all really know who Trey Ford is yet in this league. And I don't know. We're getting to a point where, as you rightly say, Mikey, he has had everything go his way. Not only did he get the new contract, and he got a new coach, but he got his twin brother now. Tyrell is there as well playing in defense.

And yet, it hasn't clicked. And this is not a criticism of him or his talent. but it does take I've been around this league lucky enough to have been around this league for a long, long time there has to be a certain kind of buy-in as a quarterback when it comes to

adversity and there's been a lot of adversity thrown at Trey Ford over the last few years and certainly you can see the dysfunction that has occurred within the Edmonton Elks organization for a long time. They changed ownership

last year trying to find a level there in really a where it was a lock that you would get 25, close to 30,000 people every single game, and they struggle to really at all bring anybody out there to Commonwealth Stadium. And you're trying to build a franchise around someone like Trey Ford. And their general manager, Ed Hervey, certainly made a statement, but it hasn't necessarily been met with, you know, a commensurate amount of execution from Trey Ford.

And he's got to look himself in the mirror because he's got the wheels, he's got the arms, he's got the intelligence, but he hasn't executed. And right now that's on him. Tomorrow night, Nick Arbuckle will be under center for the Argonauts, taking on the red blacks, both teams desperately in need of a win. Like, how important is this tilt going to be for the Boatman? Massive. It's, of course, every game could be considered the game in the year

and for the Argos going forward. But I'll steal a quote from Ottawa head coach Bob that I spoke to him yesterday. And he said to me, you know, myself and our analyst, Dwayne Ford and Rod Smith, I play maestro, that we're, We're coming to the point of the season where you start counting down the games instead of counting up the games. And our right, then what he mentioned it this morning, that this is a team now, the Argos, that he knows the effort is there. He knows the buy-in is there. He can feel a culture in the locker room.

But it hasn't translated on the field nearly enough. You can look at that win against Winnipeg a few weeks ago and certainly see ingredients for what this team can. do, but was that the Argos or was that the deficiency of the bombers? Because the bombers responded, especially Willie Jefferson last week, and as much as the Argos took them to the wire, Jefferson just broke their backs with the amount of passes that he knocked down. And if the Argos can't overcome a team like Winnipeg back to back and try to claw their way back in the east, it makes tomorrow's game incredibly crucial. But I think more so for Ottawa. I certainly, Ryan Dinwiddie can look at you and say,

I don't have Chad Kelly. My offensive lines all over the place. I don't have my outstanding offensive line and Ryan Hunter. I've had issues on my defensive line. I've had injuries kind of sprinkled throughout the field. They're dealing with an injury to one of their great receivers, Kevin Meetal, right now. And yet, he can say, look at my body of evidence. I've taken them to two Great Cup championships.

Always go to the East Final. This might be a Mulligan year. On the flip side with Ottawa, Bob Dice can't say that. I mean, Drew Brown is a great quarterback. Everyone loves them across the league. but they haven't been able to build anything consistently. Sure, they get a win over Calgary last week, but was that Ottawa, or is that the fact that Calgary was playing a backup quarterback

who clearly looked like a backup quarterback in the Canadian Football League? So it feels like a coin flip in terms of who it matters more to, but I lean more to Ottawa because their general manager, Sean Burke, has put a lot of work into revitalizing the lineup. They've had their injuries as well, but they don't have nearly as long a leash as Ryan Dean winning the Argos have. Uh, the Argos, I know, it wouldn't be a proper TSN 1050 interview if we didn't ask you a chat Kelly question. So my question to you is like,

mandatory now. But like if you, are you anticipating the Argos just not being with Kelly the rest of the year at this point? I'm getting close to it because the one thing that Ryan, and I don't say that, I'm not saying that to say I don't think you'll come back at all. but the injury that he had is far more significant than I think we and meaning us in the media not that we didn't realize it

but that we really gave a credit for it because he broke his leg like Vivia, Tibia, it just shattered on and well you're thinking about there's and I saw this injury you know you talk about football and football Brendan I saw this injury at Tejohn-Bucan as well but it wasn't nearly as severe

as what happened to Tejaum Buchanan And certainly Buchanan came back, could sprint, could shift, could change direction, no problem. That is the big issue with Chad Kelly. It's the weight. It's the resistance. It's the ability to escape the pocket. It's the ability to rely on that right leg when he needs it. And if he can't, that's an issue.

And I don't fault the Argos and Dinwiddie has said this as much as they're paying attention to what's going to happen in this season. They're also very, very aware of the rest of Chad Kelly's career and certainly his life after football. they don't want to put him in a situation where you break that again, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's no bueno. So how you look at it whole cloth and think, well, when is he going to be able to come back? He's back on the six game injured list right now that kind of tracks to around Labor Day. That might be realistic. He's, Kelly is splitting his time between Buffalo and Toronto, but we've had so many setbacks in, in this whole scenario, this whole soap opera, that it's hard not to expect another. one. Believe me, I have been on the sidelines. I can tell you if Chad Kelly's chirping is any

indication, he is raring to go and getting to get back on the field. But I know the Argos are being very, very cautious. One, because they have the investment in him. But two, if he gets injured with that leg and there's a break or there's a compound or something, you know, knock on wood happens bad again, it would be pretty devastating, not only to the Argos, but specifically to Jack Kelly. You mentioned Tejohn Buchanan there as we switched to the other football, to soccer. He made his move to Villarreal. Ishmael Cone's made a move to Susuolo, Jonathan David, the next star next to Alfonso Davis. He's made a big move to Juventus. All of those are impressive, but none is more surprising than Thomas Mueller to the Vancouver

White Caps. Put into perspective, Chenetti, for the overdrive listeners, what it's like for the 2014 World Cup winner, the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot winner, 13-time Bundesliga champion. and friends of Alfonso Davies, who come to MLS and pull on the old shirt that Fonzie used to wear at B.C. plays. The white caps are going all in, and it's not an insignificant move. And let's compare to what Toronto FC did, and, you know, certainly we, I'm sure you're going to ask me to Jordan Mihailovich, but I'll put that. He'll be on the show later.

We don't have the time, Shennady. He'll be on the 6 o'clock out. I'll put his arrival on the shelf, then you can talk to him about that. But the fact is, Thomas Mueller is one of the great winners in the history of European football. And I was having debates with people on social media. Who's the bigger signing? Is it Drago on what he did, or Nesta, what he did for the Montreal Impact about a decade or so ago? Is it a 51-year-old Sir Stanley Matthews, who was one of the original legends of English football coming over and playing for Toronto, if that was a big deal?

Was it Yussebio, you know, one of the big Ballandor winners? and, you know, Brendan, I'm sure your heart beat for a Portuguese icon, like the Great You Save You. But Thomas Mueller, everything he did, every time he stepped on the field for Germany or for Byron, was about winning. And he plays a position on the field that allows him to be the most athletic, to be the biggest facilitator, and to be a guy who could start a play and finish a play. And when you think about what the head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Jesper Sorensen has built this season, and how tactically efficient, how fast, how just irresistible Vancouver has looked at times. And even the run, including the run all the way to the Concorda Championship Champions Cup final,

he just adds a little bit of luster that's going to help Ali Ahmed. It's going to help Jaden Nelson. It'll even help Brian White. And I fully expect that when, you know, these things may not translate initially, Thomas Muller is in his mid-30s, he's going to be getting used to the travel of Major League Soccer, which Wayne Rooney many years ago talked about being something that he didn't appreciate,

having to travel from the West Coast as far west as they are in the northwest in Vancouver all across the Major League Soccer map. But when you see Thomas Miller and when you saw him in those World Cups where he scored 10 goals and he's the 10th all-time winning score in the tournament and he lifted the World Cup,

he just exudes this confidence of, I'm going to outwork everyone and win. And in terms of winner, he is one of the most likable winners in European soccer. And I know for a fact, given the culture and some of the players who play for Vancouver White Caps, he's going to fit in perfectly there. And it is a notice to the whole league because they're in the race for the supporter shield.

They're certainly in the race. They're facing for a Fierce this week in the Canadian championship. But the Vancouver White Caps want that MLS Cup. And what it will do, not just for the white caps, but for the city of Vancouver, as it prepares for the World Cup to have a World Cup winner there, it's priceless. In 30 seconds, your take on the $8 million that Toronto FC has spent to bring Georgia Mihailovich to Toronto to Bemo Field, and now they have a designated player for the first time in 40 days.

This is a huge, significant step for Jordi Mahalovich. I watched him. He was a big piece of that CF Montreal team a few years ago that had Alice for Johnson and had his smell, Connie, and had Kamal Miller in it that pushed, had a deep run in the MLS playoffs. And then he went over to Holland. It didn't really work for him there. Then he went back to Colorado. As much as it's a big move for Toronto FC, it's a bigger move for Mihailovich. Because if he's being listed now as a designated player, that means they're going to build a team around him. And in his midfield role or attacking midfield role, he's going to be

super, super influential. But if this doesn't work, wow, I have no idea what Toronto FC go from here because they have tried a new designated player. They've gone ahead and let go Lorenzo Zinier, Bernardeschi, and Keith Pelley has put a letter out to the fans. And, like, I have no, we're now then looking at the situation with C.F. Montreal is it. So I'm not going to be that fatalistic, but this is a huge opportunity, but a huge test for Jordy Mahalovich. Whatever the move was, it had to work. That was the pressure they were feeling.

It always works when I get you on the phone line when I'm in here in the studios, man. I appreciate you, as always, Matthew. Enjoy the weekend, buddy. We'll talk soon. Have a great weekend, boys. The one or only, Matthew Shiniti. Both sides of football. That's it. Mr. Football. Mr. Football. That should be the tech. That should be on the resume.

You fan of the move here? You're Mr. Football 2.0 also. George Mahalovich? Yeah. I mean, look, he's a player who can score in this league, create in this league, and they've gone out in the past and only bought players who have scored and performed elsewhere. And it hasn't always translated to here. So I do like that. I think that in the past, when they have made moves to get solidified MLS guys, it's benefited them. It hasn't been at this expense. But everyone was going to judge whatever their next move was And however much money they spent

But I think it's a smart move We'll see how it plays out And I'm very happy that we'll get to speak to With George Milovich in the 6 o'clock hour Lots more to get to. We'll get in the Blue J, Steve Phillips will join us a little bit later This is Overdrive on TSN It is Mail It in Friday

Brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar Enjoy $15 lunch at BP Where you get an entree, a side, 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 it for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. This is Overdrive.

My name is Brendan Dunlop. Happy to be alongside A.B. Al's brother, who I know is very happy that the wait for the NFL season to return is over. Preseason is here. The weather is hot. The stories are hotter. Gary Jones is always in the middle of something. He's always hot. He's always, always hot.

And Ryan Harris is going to join us for a NFLer. Get his take him. What's going on over there? I'm curious from a player's perspective, too. Like, when your teammates are holding out, like how disruptive is that from a player perspective? Yeah. Like, I know Josh Allen was speaker reporters yesterday about James Cook holdout.

And he's like, I want him back. Like, we need him back. He's a very integral role when it comes to our offense. Like, we want him back. Like, this is the start of training camp. Want to get off on a good foot. And I can't help but not look back to last year. and how much of a mess it was in San Francisco

and you had IU holding out for a contract you had the McCaffrey injury situation I think Trent William there was a couple of things going on Bosa was injured and it was such an abysmal season right from the get-go. It just stunk in San Francisco from start to finish. You hope that these teams who have these holding players like Michael Parsons with Dallas or like Buffalo

and James Cook or Tara McLaurin with the command Sanders, we're coming off a massive season, hoping to parlay that into a good year. Is, like, what's it like in the locker room when you've got a situation like that? So I'll be curious, excited to ask Ryan Harris about that one. Me too. I think it's, I mean, it's so circumstantial, right? But it does have the capability, I think, to derail the season. Yeah.

It depends on the person. Also depends on how that person is received in the room in general. Because most athletes will tell you, and I do believe this, that every guy in the room that feels like they're fighting together. They want everyone to get their money, get their bag, right? But if it comes at the expense of a team because you've dragged it out so long, or you've made it selfish, or you're a selfish guy

in general, then I think that's where it can play a part. And also, too, when speaking soccer with Mathis Chenetti in the last block there, you look at the wage gap and the gap in pay that's happening in the NFL. Now, increasingly, I think it's making it harder to keep

the chemistry in the room. And I think you're more likely to see these hold-ins and these holdouts and preseason have an actual tangible impact when the season starts because it's made the room a mess. Well, yeah, like you got a guy like Terry McClure and looking around and seeing wide receivers get paid $30 million a year and he's like, I've been a very productive receiver. I should be paid that way. Micah Parsons, one of the best pass rushers in the NFL looks around.

Oh, you know, JJ, T.J. Watt just got paid $41 million annually. Oh, House Garrett. I was Garrett just got a big fat contract. I'm every bit as good as those guys, I think. I think I should be paid accordingly. So, yeah, that's kind of the situation. Everyone wants to reset the market. And that's the problem.

And that market cap keeps increasing in the NFL. It's going to continue to blow. Like that story the other day about ESPN acquiring like the NFL network and now the NFL has 10% cut in ESPN. Like that's going to help, you know, revenue and increase the, the salary cap in years to come, which is going to mean more money for the big boys. Okay. Now we can pay. Michael Parsons, 45 million a year

to rush the passers. So it's going to be interesting. I also, if you look tonight, too, like another thing I'm curious about that I'm intrigued by in preseason football, Shedars Sanders makes his start tonight for the Cleveland Brown. And part of it's because there's injuries.

Like Dylan Gabriel, the guy, the quarterback that took in the third round ahead of him, he's injured, so he's not playing. Kenny Pickett's got an injury. He's not playing. So he kind of has gifted this opportunity. Good thing they got five guys. Exactly. That's right. I don't believe Joe Flacko is playing at all. So Shadur Sanders kind of gifted this opportunity, but it is an opportunity.

Like it is, to me, Shadur Sanders is still very much an NFL quarterback. Whether or not he is a star or should have been a first rounder, that remains to be seen. Only he can go out there and prove the doubt is wrong. But this is an opportunity to do it. Now, it's preseason and, you know, what does preseason really mean? I suppose not a whole lot sometimes. But this is a guy. There's a lot of spot. light on. If he can go out there and if he can have a good game, I think that goes a long way. But a bad game, it's like, okay, everyone was right. Everybody was right. This guy can't do anything. He goes out there and he goes, I don't know, like 12 for 25 with no touchdowns, 100 yards and two picks. Yeah. That'll be much louder, much louder for Shadour. And a lot of the people who flexed the muscles, say, see, told you, this is why he got passed on in four rounds. Right. Not the quarterback Mel Kuyper said he was. The standard and the measurement for him obviously is different than everybody else in comparable stats situations because of

hit the name on the back of his jersey. Yeah. How he carries himself. I'm rooting for him though. I'll be honest. I want to see him succeed. I want to see Shradur Sanders succeed. I think he got a little bit of a bad rep with with the, you know, with everyone kind of looking at him. He's the son. It's a lot of pessimism involved in or no. Nepotence. Is that what's with you with the jump in words? The words that mean to. There's both. There's a lot of pessimism within his career, but also, you know, there's the nepotism with his father.

I like the way you pull it back. I want, I want him to succeed. I believe, like, a bold prediction for the NFL. I do think that Shradar Sanders is going to start games this year for the Cleveland Browns. I do think it's going to happen, whether it's because the season gets off to an absolute abysmal start, which is possible. And they're just like, well, let's just see what we have. having him or maybe he shows out in preseason and then he rises up the depth chart and passes Dylan Gabriel and then all of a sudden it's like guy let's let's see what these two young kids

have and then he gets an opportunity anybody that has played quarterback beyond their freshman year of high school that is involved in the cleveland brown's organization has an opportunity to start an NFL game because that's just how it goes this is overdrive much more to come we're going to take quick break here on tsn radio and tsn 4 you've been listening to overdrive powered by fan duel Fan Duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. A Tate Night to remember. I think you know what this is. Tate McRae hit Scotia Bank Arena, August 19th, and IHart Radio could take you there.

With $500 spending cash and more, just stream IHart new music for 10 minutes a day on the free IHRRA radio app. See the prompt? Tap, enter. and do it daily for your best chance to see Tate McRae live. The new album, So Close to What, is available now.