OverDrive - OverDrive - December 18, 2025 - Hour 2 - Luke Willson/Laurence Applebaum

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joins to discuss Puka Nacau's comments, Rams and Seahawks' matchup and Hayes, Bro and O's selection. CEO of Golf Canada Laurence Applebaum on the season for Canadian golfers and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

Every year it's the same. I get socks. You get socks. We all get socks. Not me. This year, I got more. More socks? More for less. Virgin Plus hooked me up with an affordable phone plan and member benefits on food, fashion, and entertainment. So while I'm knee-deep in snow and novelty socks, you're unwrapping deals all season?

Exactly. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Get more for less this holiday season with affordable phone plans and member benefits you'll love. Virgin Plus, obviously. Visit a Virgin Plus store or virginplus.ca for details. Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, the O'Dough, Jeff O'Neill, Dave Festruck in here. And there he is, Luke Wilson, in studio.

What's happening? Just big Steelers win Monday night, big cover, feeling good. Feeling good? Feeling good. How are you feeling about Seattle? Wow, it's a tough game tonight. It's a great game. It's a big, pivotal game, like basically the NFC.

will be determined this evening. I will say that there is kind of one dark horse here that no one's really put on the table yet, but I believe, and maybe Dugie can confirm this, that if Seattle wins tonight and they continue to win, and you look at Sam Fran and they continue to win, Sam Fran's playing Philip Rivers, so I would assume that they get it done on Monday night,

that if San Fran beat Seattle the final week of the season, they will sneak in and be the one seat. Crazy. They win the division. Right. They're still in the hot. Like, no one talks with them because of the injuries, but they've just continued to win football games, and they have a bit of a softer-ish schedule.

Like, they got to win out as well, but it's live. NFC. West is live. Yeah, it really is, man. They got three, like, legitimate lottery tickets chasing a Super Bowl this year. And well-coached teams. You look at all three teams. How many are legit, though?

Talent-wise, I think, too. And, you know, I'll say this for any Niners fans out there, If you guys were healthy, specifically Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, I mean, those two guys, in my opinion, are still top tier, all pro talents. I would say that they are just as good as anyone. But losing those two guys, even look at last week, I believe it was Tennessee. The defense, you know, Robert Salah can only do so much. Well, let me ask you about one guy, and his name is Sam Darnold.

Yeah. Your old Hawks. Do you trust that guy in a big game? because as much as he's turned his career around, he can still stink to join out in a big game. Yeah, and I'll say this. O'Dog, what's tough for him right now, you look at Seattle,

is I think they have 407 rush attempts this year, which puts them fifth in the league, and their yards per carry is 3.9, which puts them fifth last in the league. So he hasn't had a ton of help from the run game, and Kubiak, their offensive coordinator, comes from that old Mike Shanahan tree, which is where his dad was of like

established the run game and everything's based off of that. So I don't think it's all him he's had obviously a good year they've had some turnover issues but I get worried that if it comes down let's say today there's some weather

you know I do worry that he won't be able to put the team on his back and just find a way to win. Yeah I would agree with that and I think that's why you know it's interesting you say the Niners are not necessarily a team getting talked about it. They're not getting talked about in terms of chasing the division. Yeah. But I think

they get way more play from the general public than Seattle, partially because they're more of a public brand. Totally. You know, the Niners are a hugely popular team. They've been very good for a long time. Shanahan's a pretty captivating coach. Seattle, for me, like I would say the Rams

and the Niners are getting more chatter in terms of what they're doing this year. And Seattle has kind of been third, and yet they have 11 wins. And they have some good ones in there? Some really good ones. You know? And I think it's the Darnold effect personally. And it's not that Darnold isn't a well-known player.

His third overall pick. And look what he did in Minnesota last year. He's played really well this year. I just don't know if people like the general public are willing to jump on board when Stafford has done what he has done. And Pertie's played in a Super Bowl before. Yeah. And I understand that.

And again, tonight's kind of another op for him. He's got to write his story. This is a massive game for his career. Totally. I would say that. But you also, we got to. keeping into effect like Seattle generally when they say it's raining it's missing

I actually spoke with Farhan Luljee right before coming on here gave me a little shout and I'm like yo how bad is it he's like it's raining raining we'll see if it's coming there's supposed to be I believe 40 mile an hour wind gusts are you sure about that like are you trying to... It's pouring I'm looking at video

right now now they have tarps on the field yeah but this is where it's like you know sometimes it's been a short week I actually think the wind situation is a little wilder but you look at Seattle's defense, like if this is a game where it's really tough to throw the football and Matthew Stafford's got only one

of his main weapons in Pooka, which I don't know if you've seen some of the off-field stuff with Puka this week. That guy's got to figure it out. Dude. Why are these guys going on streams and like the stuff where he called out the refs is crazy? Just dumb. So stupid. Dumb penalties for like attention or something? Yeah, he said they

want attention so they make calls. They throw flags so that they get more TV time. Like, was he a little bit altered, I'll say? A little bit tipsy, is that what you're saying? I don't know, O'Dog. Like, I'm watching it, and I'm like, I don't know the guy. Like, I have never, you know, cross pass with him, but I'm like, this is just silly, especially

for a guy, like, right now, statistically, you've got JSN and him kind of taken over the league. And I'm like, why would you bring, like, this light or this distraction? You have the one seed if you win tonight, somewhat locked up if you win. Yep. you're one of the best receivers in the league right now. You're on a team that has a good defense. You're on a team that has who I think is going to win MVP and Matthew Stafford.

Do you not realize the magnitude of the stars of a line you could potentially win a Super Bowl? And you're going to be on a street. Yeah, we have it. Why don't we play it? Talking smack about refs and then doing other stuff. They're just like, my goodness, man. All right, play it. The reps are the worst. There's just some of the rules aren't that like

These guys want to be These guys are lawyers and like They want to be on TV too, brother Like the game is You don't think he's texting his friends in the group chat Like yo, you guys just saw me Sunday night football like that was no way Like that wasn't PI

But I called it I was like, did they do that? I mean these guys are normal human beings too Bro like he's like me and ain't for a better job than them Man that's wild Like you don't think these guys are on their group chat No, I don't think No they're not

I do not think No. The NFL referees are making up PI calls and then going on to their group chat. That's where his agent gets on the horn and is like, why are you doing those things? Or as head coach. I think it's more likely McVeigh.

The agent would be after the head coach. Yeah. What I find fascinating about that is, like, that's Aidan Ross. There's certain streamers out there that are massively popular. And I understand there's a large portion of society that would want to be on the stream or be, popular or be his friend,

why an NFL player would have that mentality? Like, dude, you you're the guy that the streamer is dying to be friends with. Not the other way around. Agreed. Like, you're going on a streamer's, and he just sounded like he was saying stuff to make Aden Ross be like, oh, no way, that's so cool.

You're such a cool guy. I'm like, you're a wide receiver in the National Football League. One of the best wide receivers. Why are you looking for cloud? Are you the best team? Yes. Why are you looking for clout on a streamer's live stream. And, you know, to his

point about the refs are normal human beings, guess what? They are normal human beings, and they're going to hear that. Right, exactly. And they're going to be like, are you serious, pal? You're nuts, dude? It's incredibly agreed. But there's been some wild commentary recently. Like, you heard I'm a Udoca the other night, head coach of the Rockets come out and

blasted refs. He said two of them should not even be out there. And he said this in his post game, not on a stream where you sometimes get lost to the shuffle. It was a wide. It was a Do we have that, JP? I know we're talking NFL right now. See if you can find the Udoca clip because...

It was way over the top. I haven't read about a fine. I'm shocked it. Oh, you got a fine. Okay, you must have. Like, because I'm almost surprised he was suspended. It was wild commentary from a head coach in the end of the day. Okay, we have it.

Let's play it. This is I'm a Yudoka, the head coach, the Rockets a couple nights ago. In general, I think it's poorly officiated game. I've seen a long time to have no business being out there. And the crew chief is Zach and Starstruck. So you're seeing all kind of inconsistent calls. And I'm sure we should have got a few more texts. What do you say to your team when a game is being called the way that it was tonight?

Keep being who we are. We're not going to adjust to poorly, poor officials. So we're going to do what we do. And hopefully they can adjust and call it the right way. Oh, man. The crew chief is starstruck. so he's out there looking at stars and being like you're the best you're getting calls that's what he's indicating there and two of them should not even be on the floor this is that's wild

what are you expecting to happen in the next couple games like you're going to get just butchered out there yeah that that is red hot man like i appreciate the honesty because that's the way he thinks he thinks these reps are a joke and and look they're the NBA's in a bit of a transition period they got a lot of young refs that probably aren't as good as they should be no doubt about that. I think if you talk to people that are in the league official development department, like they kind of acknowledge that.

It's just, there's been a turnover, right? A lot of the veteran guys retired and you're slowly trying to build up the workforce, but you can't say it out loud like that. There's no, there's, and what is the I just wonder what goes to these guys? Like, what is the benefit, Luke? This is where to further your point, to further

your point, when I see something like that, I think to myself, okay, you know, there's a lot of negative that can come from now like refs, being like, man, I really don't like this guy, whatever, because there's human nature involved. But I always wonder, like, going on there. And for me, I'm going to transition this, but it was similar. This is the first time I thought of it. In the NFL, at least when I was playing, you had to have a little bit of white sock showing.

And in warm up, there was a fine guy that would walk around and be like, tell number, whatever. If he doesn't pull his white sock up, $5,000. And I was a rookie. And I remember hearing a vet on our team be like, find me the $5,000. and I'm not pulling them up. And I remember being like, that is a wild ordeal. And I think to like,

this coach right here, imagine sitting down, you know, and if I'm doing a presser, being like, I am going to take, I'm assuming it's 50 grand plus, and I'm just going to light it on fire.

And for what purpose? Everything that he said, he could have said off camera, probably 30 times worse, kept his whatever the fine money was, and made a bigger impact. And on the flip side, I bet the official,

would probably appreciate, like, hey, we had a bad night, this guy was right, kept it to himself. I can't fathom making that decision, matter how much money you have to just basically torch thousands of dollars. It's funny because I think he probably, I bet you it played really well in the market, because fans always want to see that stuff. They want to see the coach react the way they would react in a similar scenario. And you always hear head coaches throughout sports say, I'm not going to say it. I'm not getting fine, right?

like Dwayne Casey was famous for that. Nick Nurse, I'm using the NBA example. But guys would say it all the time because they get poked and prodded. Hey, horrible officiating. What happened at the end of the game there? They'd say, I'd love to tell you, but I like my money. My wife won't let me. My wife won't let me because that'll be $25 grand or $50,000.

It was $25. It was, Adoka spent $25 grand with those comp. Yeah. 25, geez. Which I've got to be honest, I'm surprised. Like, there's obviously, there's no CBA because they're coaches, their league employees, but I'm a little bit surprised at, wasn't harsh. That's a wild

statement. Those are wild comments, man. It also, I think it's, the fact that it wasn't harsher might tell you the league I understand. You might have a point. Yeah, I guess so. And yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens with Nakua tonight and the Rams, but it's a great game.

Like, we got a great game tonight. I know you guys are taking the Hawks, but it's all right. We'll see. I was brother will join us here momentarily. But we haven't had you on since the Monday nighter, and Rogers was slinging it, man. Slinging it.

He looks, two weeks in a row. He, two weeks in a row. He's getting going. MVS caught a ball. I'll tell you another guy, and he didn't do much, but he played a ton. Adam Thielen. They used Adam Thielen quite a bit as a run blocking,

kind of wide receiver. And I was like, as that relationship starts to develop, I can see Adam Thieland becoming a part of this offense too. I'm not saying a guy who's going to come out here and cut you know, a buck 20 a game, but be another option for A-Rod. Don't look now. I mean, in a weak AFC, the Steelers, I think, they'd have to play.

I don't think they have a shot to run the table and go to the Super Bowl, but they have a shot to win the first round? I mean, right now it depends who it shakes out against. But doesn't this feel like it's going to be a year where there will be like a surprise team in the Super Bowl? Given the fact, you know, like Lamar is not what he was. Burroughs not. Yeah.

You know, obviously the guy that's been the most predictable Super Bowl quarterback, you know, Mr. Mahomes, not available. It feels like there's going to be a surprise team in there. Certainly from the AFC unless it's the bills. And it feels like the NFC is pretty wide open too. Again, I think if the playoffs started right now, the one seat is Denver. Do I have that correct? Yes, Denver.

And it would be New England playing Houston. Which is a wild matchup. I would lean Houston. To win outright. I would lean Houston at the moment, but very, very tight. And then Jacksonville, Buffalo. I'm taking Buffalo there. Pittsburgh, charge.

And I'd probably take Pittsburgh. I really would. And now all of a sudden you roll into this thing, and Buffalo's going to Pittsburgh again. And then Houston would be going to Denver in your scenario. That's where it gets a little wild for me, where obviously I would lean Buffalo over Pittsburgh, especially after the last time. But that being said, you know, if it ended up being something the effect of like Pittsburgh's playing Denver, you know, if all the favorites won, or if Houston's loses,

And we now go, Buffalo plays Denver and Pittsburgh plays New England. Like Pittsburgh, New England in the second round for me is a tight matchup. It really is. Yeah. Like, there we go. There we go. Stop it, O'Dog. Stop that.

Look how comfortable he looks. Look at Al's brother. Look at the O'Don. That's going, fellas. How we do it, you look like you are comfortable, ready for the holidays. and ready to talk some pigskin. Oh, yes, I am. I am, and this is a good game.

This is a good game. I'm excited for this one tonight, and I've got some tremendous information for you guys. So I'm set. All right, let's establish the line, doogie. Are we at minus one and a half, is it for Seattle? Seattle minus one and a half at home. Al's brother, you referenced tremendous information.

Please supply it. Yeah, I'm quite perplexed by this line. I'm not going to lie with you. I think the Rams are the far better football team. So I'm surprised that the Seahawks are even favored. So we're getting points as well to go with McVeigh's Rams. Very surprised by this line. But I'll give you a little three-pack of reasons as to why I like the Rams tonight.

Okay, first and foremost, the Rams just absolutely control this matchup. They're eight and two against a spread against the Seahawks in their last 10 games, and they've covered five in a row in Seattle. So going out onto the road against the 12s, That doesn't bother McVeigh and company. They get it done whenever they're down there. You look at McVeigh in December, last 20 December game, 17 and 3. It's a team that gets hot as the season progresses as they start to kind of come into their own as the playoffs approach.

And that's where we're at right now. You said it earlier today. The weather is going to be horrendous, expecting tons of rain, 30 to 40 mile an hour wins, which means this is going to be a run game. The Seattle Seahawks, they like to run the football, but they're not good at running the football. ball. They average the fifth lowest yards per carry, and they're going up against a defense here at the Rams that ranked second in run-stopping win rates. They're a terrific run-stopping team. So then you're putting the ball in the hands of Sammy Darnold, who saw ghost through four

interceptions a month ago against this Rams team. You're talking about bad weather. I just don't like that matchup at all for the Seattle Seahawks. And there's one of the thing that I think the weather could impact as well, because you look at what's gone on with the Seahawks. offensively. In the last four weeks, their red zone scoring percentage, 37 and a half, which is 28th in football, which means they've relied a lot on the leg of Jason Myers, who single-handedly won them that game last week against 44-year-old Bill Rivers. In a weather game like this, you think they're going to be able to put up all those points with the can't score touchdowns last week. That's why he's got, like,

hey, he relied on them. He relied on them. Yeah, yeah. Don't say four weeks. Last week jam them in this. But the last four weeks, 37.5% that's a legitimate statistic right there when you look at the Seahawks. And in a 30-mile-an-hour wins, I'm not relying on kicking field goals tonight,

which means they got to score and put it into the end zone. Because you know that the Rams are going to put it in the end zone. The last three weeks, they're averaging 66% scoring rate once they get into the red zone. So I think it comes down to the team that scores seven instead of three, and I've put all my eggs in this Rams basket. I think we take the points here. I think they're the better team.

I'm quite surprised that they're, They even are getting points here. I love the Rams tonight. Oh, that's probably loves the Rams. Hold on. Where are you at, man? I told you I don't trust Sammy Darnold in the big game. I really don't do it.

I think they had a struggle against Old Man Rivers last week that was somewhat suspect. Very suspect. Does someone explain to me this line then? Well, this would be my... Singapore ain't calling with this... This would be my explanation for it. A couple of different things.

Devante Adams not playing his... very significant. Leading the league in touchdowns as a wide receiver. 12th man, tough building, big game, short week, divisional game, weather's not great, and I guess they're looking at it thinking Darnold

is due for a big game. I mean, that would be my assumption. But I can't go against these two guys. I mean, that was tremendous information. There were a lot of different points there that made a lot of sense. I think we'll lock in the Rams. We're getting a point in a half. Maybe Seahawks win 29-28 night. I get the Hawks at home.

Yeah, that's right. Are you comfortable with that? Why on earth would Vegas give Seattle? Well, you explain it. How is Seattle favored in this game? First and foremost, Seattle's defense is an elite unit right now, an elite unit. They're playing extremely well. Secondly, compared to Seattle, you take the Rams defense?

I think they're very comparable. I didn't ask that. I didn't ask they're comparable. Which unit would you take? I would probably take Seattle's, but I'll take this office all day long. But they're not facing 44-year-old Bill Rivers. They're taking on the league MVP and Maddie Stafford. And what happened the last time Matthew Stafford,

what happened the last time Matthew Stafford came to town, or excuse me, played the Seattle Seahawks in L.A. How'd that game go for Matthew? I believe they won the football game. Yeah, because Sammy threw four picks. So if you want to have a real point, I'll take O'Dog's point. If you're worried about Sammy Darnold, that's that. But those points are gifted.

Matthew Stafford, they think had what, one drive? The Hawks dominated him. Mike McDonald has Sean McVeigh's number. You know it, and I know it. The Hawks cover tonight, and we're down to... No, I don't even want to say that. Down 12? No.

Okay. Down a regular dozen? Well, listen, I think, you know, it's interesting the way you put that, though. This could be an MVP night for Stafford. You get dusted tonight. You don't put up numbers and you lose. I think the door's wide open for Josh Allen. Just steamroll right through it. Like who needs...

I think so. I told you, man, I think Alan should be the MVP anyway. Okay. MVP all day all long? Saffords. Numbers matter. Right now, he's number one. They did last year, though, because everyone that was pushing numbers was pushing Lamar.

Yeah, but right now, Saffords won in the league in pass rating, two in QBR. And it's not to Josh. Josh is not one. He's won in total past yards, I believe. His most thrown touchdowns only five picks. Like, unless he comes out here and throws five picks, Vixen, I don't know how you say. I'm saying,

maybe he doesn't lose you know, the pace car roll, but he can slow down a few miles an hour. You know, like, he plays poorly tonight, loses, I'm just saying, I think, I don't think it's determined. Like, I don't, I don't think Matt Stafford,

I wouldn't be putting money down on him yet. Like, I think the door is open for Alan to come steaming through down the structure. Oh, yeah. The way he's playing over. It is not over. It is not old. No.

I think that's the bills in general. That's the story of the bills in general. Like if you're not going to win this year, be it the MVP or the Super Bowl, like when are you going to win it? Right, exactly. Like the opportunity's never been gifted to you in a more beautiful way. And I think in large part because Alan is playing at the level he's playing at. Yeah, I mean, like he is completely unstoppable right now.

The AFC, no Lamar, no Patrick Mahomes. Like, I mean, unless the Steelers puke all over themselves, which can't happen. But Lamar ain't going to be there. So now you sit there and you say quarterback-wise in the AFC playoff picture. Stroud is the 7. Obviously, you got Buffalo, you got Herbert. I'm still taking Allen in that match up. There isn't a quarterback.

There isn't one that's even close to it. You can't beat a 40-plus-year-old Aaron Rogers, then you ain't the MVP. And I wouldn't be afraid of Lamar. Lamar doesn't have a great playoff history, especially not against Buffalo. He's a terrible year. Yeah. The problem is, boys, that Buffalo defense is not ideal. It's not great, and isn't great on the road.

You know, in particular, it's really bad on the road. And they're going to have to go on the road. You know, I know we'll see how this whole thing shakes out. But whether it's on the road or at home, if they have to play the Houston Texans, that's a bad matchup for Buffalo. That is a bad matchup. Yeah, we just saw it a couple weeks ago. They couldn't score.

Seven, eight sacks? Yeah. Yeah, it's a very bad matchup for Buffalo. Outside of Houston, I think Buffalo. Denver would scare me a little bit too. Yeah, Denver's defense would scare me. and you're going to Denver. That's a tough game.

This might be a weird take, but I actually would have preferred, if I'm a Bills fan, I would have preferred that they played the Patriots tight, but lost that game. Like, I hate the idea that Brabel now has, like, film to study and prep for the playoffs. Like, I would give the coaching edge

between McDermott and Vrabel to Vrabel. Sure. And, like, again, I know I'm big-braining this, but it's like those would be the three, If I had to rank, like, the four teams that I would be, like, it's Buffalo, New England is still there. I mean, it was a 35, 31 game. Denver and Houston would be the four.

It would probably be my top four right now. All right. Well, we'll see what comes with it tonight, man. Good luck to your Seahawks. Go Hawks. Good luck to your Seattle Seahogs. Alice, Brother, great seeing you. Great, tremendous information, as always.

I love where things stand with us right now. We got a game to play on Saturday, and then we got games on Sunday. man, we got that Packers Bears game. It's going to be a great weekend. Great weekend. Busy weekend. The Rams, they love the slop. Love the slop.

Love it. And they will love it. O'Dog, is this killing you on the inside, man, having to, like, listen to this? I got to tell you, I feel like I'm, they've made me feel like I'm part of the team. You are part of the team, O'Dag. Yeah, you're on Philip Rivers. And Al's brother, I have to do something right now that I never thought I would do. I give you full permission to use the pro-athlete salutes.

No, don't you dare. Hey on a second. Ows-brother? Let's go. That is staggering, man. That's staggering. You want bad, Jude. You would just happen.

That's the TSN turning point of the season right there. That even makes me concerned. Dolan Valor right there. That is concerned. Al's brother is being treated like a professional athlete. Pro-athlet union. today. He's just too good today.

All right, Albaels, brother. Luke, good seeing you guys. We'll catch you guys tomorrow. There it is, Luke Wilson. See in the group chat, boys. Catching the group chat tonight. Pick is locked in Rams. Plus one and a half for HBO.

All right, Best Betts coming up. Our friend Lawrence Applebaum coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and up on YouTube live. All right, Best Bet's coming up later in the hour. Leaves back in action tonight. Dennis Hilderby getting a start. see what Austin Matthews has in store after a big night the other night, right?

Gordon, four of his last six, maybe he's starting to show some signs of life. Yeah, like I'd love to see just an outburst of a three or four point night. Remember those days? I do, and we see it with McDavid every night. Like McDavid, I think they're in Boston tonight. I fully expect him to have multiple points. Talk about heaters. Yeah, McKinnon.

The two of them, the last six, seven games, they both have like 17, 18, 20 points. It's crazy. You know who else is starting to creep up, and it's a team, not an individual, is Florida? F-L-A. Yes. Somebody tweeted out the other day. I think it was Jason Demerz. He was like, shame on the Atlantic for not pouncing on them and putting them down at the basement and leaving them there.

Because of the mediocrity that's going on in the Atlantic. Like, these guys are just, they're, I believe they're in a playoff spot. They're, well, they have 38 points now. They beat L.A. last night. They're technically out of the playoffs, but they're a pointback of Jersey. They're a point back of Tampa. Yeah, I mean, Florida, they've won three in a row. They're six, three and one in their last 10,

and guys are starting to score. Like, Bennett's coming alive. Ben is starting to score. I think he had his 11th last night. Verhegis scored his 11th last night. Lundell, I think, scored his 11th. Like, they're all starting to come alive. Marchon's been really good.

Ryan Hart's been really good recently. Seth Jones is playing. great. And absolutely. Like, they were dead in the water. They looked, they've been injured. Dead in the water, man. They looked disinterested. They were losing. And their heart, two heart and soul guys aren't around

right now. Yeah. Cuch and Barkov aren't even there. And now Florida is right there ready to pounce. And they may just go and say, screw a man, we'll just go and win the division again. And two weeks ago, I was thinking maybe this just is not a year for them. Like they got to regroup and, listen, the

nature of the Atlantic and the nature of the conference would suggest don't get too ahead of yourself right Florida could lose the next four in a row and you say right back to reality here it's been very difficult to predict you think those guys when they pick up steam they're going to go revert back to just I don't know it seems unlikely it's all it's just like the old saying the cream always rises man like it's you notice things were like dicey and the oilers are going this way and the Florida Panthers are going that way and it's like There are some other fraudulent teams that are going up and down and up and down. And it's like, that's what you're true called.

Even the penguinos, man, I was so high in the penguinos early. It wouldn't shock me if they just... Dude, finish bottom five in the league wouldn't shock me. Yeah. Would not shock me. Yeah. You know, like they have lost six in a row now. Yeah.

Like, it's quickly turned and, you know, obviously not rooting for that. But look at the Rangers, too. The Rangers stink, man. but that's what we talked about at the beginning of the year with Pittsburgh it's like do you really want to buy in the idea and I did I bought in I was like they're for real they're for real and it's like how long before you're like how could you really believe in that and like what like load up on the deadline with what yeah I don't think they're transitioning Dubus knows what he's doing that's why he made the Skinner trade he knows

like they got she loves they got Skinner they're going to figure out any of those guys make sense. Might they stick around? They're going to trade more pieces. It's a long season. You know, like just... Well, it won't be long, O'Dong, until Hayes is back on the trade Sid Van Wagon and, you know, making, pounding the desk, say, get Sid out of there. It won't be possible. It's going to be interesting what

the philosophy of the organization is when you just have new ownership step in right now. It's like, yeah. What the hell do they want to do? Well, and Dubus has got to figure that out, right? Because Dubus is now pitching to a new ownership. That's right. Fenway brought him in. They didn't recruit him. They did not recruit him. So we'll

We'll see what comes of that. But, yeah, Leaves in action tonight. Oilers in action tonight, a bunch of games in the NHL, Ottawa at home. They need to get going as well. The halves have got to get going. There's a lot of teams just kind of lingering right now. So we've got that. We've got obviously the rap is in action.

We've got a big Thursday nighter. A lot going on in pro sports. But golf is always lurking in a background with the three of us in particular. Right? Noodles, maybe not so much. But the three of us will watch replays of almost anything. Well, you tuned in last night for the All-Star Team Golf? I still have a tough time with the manufactured stuff.

It was pretty fun. Yeah? Yeah, I liked it. You're a fan of that? I mean, they were running around. Like, they were standing in the fairway doing relays, waiting for the drive to land so they could hit an approach shot. It was kind of fun.

All right? Well, I guess you've got to get creative, right? Like, this is the golf off season. A lot of people moving indoors. Sim golf is pretty significant. It's like a pretty booming industry in the country, too, right now. But to put a cap on the 2025 season, start looking ahead to 26. Here's our good friend from Golf Canada, the CEO of Golf Canada.

There he is, Lawrence Applebaum. How you doing, Lawrence? Guys, good to see you. The three top golfers at TSN, right there, right there in front of me. Good to see you guys. Highly debatable. Highly debatable. Well, these are the top two.

I'm not even in the conversation. Always for sure. Always, without question, the best golfer at TSA. You're better than Duffy, aren't you? I think I'm better than Duffi. He plays a lot more than I do, right? Like, Lawrence, you've seen us both. Be honest.

Best game going, if you had to pick one of us, J.D. or myself, who you take it? Well, I got to take the O'Dog as a partner just because the gross score, in a gross game, that game is not going to be gross. That's what I know with O'Dog right there. But as you know, Brian, we do our hashtag my golf year for all our Golf Canada members. And so we send out a year in review. And it's pretty telling. You know, it's pretty telling. you got your total number of games total number of holes how many birdies how many eagles and uh off a very nice year you know obviously jeff has the lowest gross score but the most holes played bostathi by about a five factor by anybody that you guys know so

i would guarantee you with this weather kind of lightning up he'll find he'll find around a golf on the weekend like that's the kind of nonsense he does he'll like he'll find he'll call around to the course that's open in December and say can I go tee it up and he'll be playing oh I've seen it and you know we we've had we've had such a run of of golf in 2025 but we get a little respite from this cold here here in this part of the country and that these out there playing unfortunately are the tracks that we that we've got a chance to play a few times they've put it to bed they've had a full season but you're right Brian the off course the simulator golf, this sort of

we've tried to take an approach that there's no off-season for golf. You just have to take it indoors, and it's been super fun to see Canadians across the country, getting into simulators, honing their game, especially the short stuff, Bri. The short stuff is where it's at

for 2026. That's what I have to work on in particular. But how does that work with the golf courses around a country, Lawrence? I'm curious how that works because, as you know, with Sims, like sometimes you go to a place and they have hundreds of courses, thousands of courses.

Some of them don't have, you know, many. Do you have any idea how that works, L.A? because I'm sure there's like a copyright issue, I would think. You can't just put a course under your, you know, under your programming. But do you advocate for that with, you know, the great courses in the country to get out there and allow people to play them presumably around the world

if they're playing Sim Golf? Sure. You know, you could go on a lot of the different SIM platforms, whether you're playing with Foresight, which is a partner of ours or trackman, which you see everywhere, they've got literally, as you said, thousands of golf courses around the country. Most of the private golf course or semi-private have either engaged and had their golf courses put on. So if you want to go play Copponwood, you can play Copponwood.

You want to play Mad River. You can play Mad River. A lot of people like to play, you know, the pebbles and the old courses. But if you go into a club and you walk into a place like, let's say, Hamilton Golf Club, there'll be three people playing the old. old course and one group playing at Hamilton, you know, they're always playing. You want to play your golf course no matter what it is. So I just think what's so cool, and south of the border you see in a ton of top golfs or drive shacks, but it's happening here in Canada.

People are able to go out and play, have fun, learn the game. Like what we're seeing a lot of is these indoor leagues that are going on. So Tuesday nights, you know, you're going out for an hour with your buddies and having fun playing. A lot of the places have great. great, great food, great drink, and you can enjoy yourself. But I think for us in Canada, that's kind of the next frontier. People played close to 70 million rounds of golf in this country. And once the snow starts flying, they still want to hit it. And so that's just been awesome to see as people going indoors.

But in total, this year has just been the year where people played so much golf. It was really a special moment. By far the greatest year of golf in our country's history. Wow. L.A., what are the real golfers do, like the Team Canada golfers, as far as keeping their game sharp? Is, like, are they able to head south or play actual golf or they're not using simulators? Are they? They're doing something different?

Well, our team, like, we've got the largest group of Team Canada golfers, young women, young men, boys and girls that are on Team Canada ever before. And what we've done with our high performance program is we rent a house. in the western part of the U.S. and outside of Scottsdale. And then we also have our friends at Cabot who we lease a place just outside Cabot, Citrus Farms. And they go down, they train all winter long. And one example that is this is this young guy, AJ Ewert, who you guys probably saw in the final Q school, AJ stayed 120 nights at our house outside of Scottsdale. And they train at a golf club.

They practice with other team Canada members. and AJ just won that Corn Ferry Q school and got his PGA tour card. So the kids, the kids and the young pros, they got to go south, they got to see full flight, they got to train against the best in the world, and we're seeing it. And now we've got, you know, now we've got seven guys on the PGA tour. And now we'll have three in the LPGA tour for 2026, which is really spectacular. Hey, Lawrence, you know, nothing is more dramatic in a lot of ways than watching that Q school event. because you know for a lot of those guys,

it's either you're going to have a full-time job as a golfer or you're going to be back to grinding and trying to get a full-time job as a golfer and there aren't many of them. We saw, you know, as you point out, you say, AJ, you were, you know, rise at the top. Adams Fenson got into that top five

and you had some guys that were near misses. Ben Silverman loses out in a playoff and misses out on those full-time privileges by one shot. Adam Hadwin missed out. Miles Creighton missed out. What do you make of those guys? know, kind of who come up on the wrong end of the eternal quest to get that coveted card.

Well, I think one of the magics of professional golf is it's a true meritocracy. And this, this Q school or qualifying schools that they play is such must-see television. And for the core golfers, they follow it pretty closely. But we had nine guys in final Q school. And as you said, AJ Ewert wins it. Adam Svensson gets his card back and then Ben Silverman loses in a playoff. Like in sports, you don't have it come down to your entire next year

is down to this one one playoff. I think about some of the other guys that guys that you guys all love and know, Adam Hadwin had a tougher year and he's going to have a more challenging schedule in 2026, but we know we'll see Adam at the RBC Canadian Open. We know he'll get a bunch of starts from the PGA tour. but those guys like Adam like Miles Crichton we've also

we just want to sure that all the Canadians continue to follow these guys and women who are trying to get back their cards we also have another rookie who earned his card a guy named Sudarshan Yelamarajou and so when we get back to regular

programming and Hayes and O'Dog are making their picks you've got two new guys with Sudarsian and AJ who are going to make you know, start to make fill out your rosters, but Corey had his best year ever overall finishing a six on the FedEx list.

Nick's having a great, you know, he's still in the heart of his career and playing so well, and then obviously two of our favorites in Taylor Pendrith and McKenzie Hughes coming back for another full year on the PGA tour. So Lawrence, can Owen and I stay at that house? Like, can you text? What happens

if Owen and I said the guy, the other guy, stayed there 100 and 300? I would have stayed there 300. No kidding. Like a Full moving. Hey, U-Hall and everything. Where's the house, Scottsdale? Okay, well, I'll stay there as long as I want.

Thank you very much. Yeah, but let me just tell you, this isn't like our program where you roll out of bed, make some bacon and eggs and then go hit a few balls. This is, you know, doing your workout before 7 o'clock, eating right, going to the golf cars, hitting balls for two hours, having a protein lunch, then you go putt for two hours,

then you go on the golf course, then you hit balls, then you come back, tuck yourself into bed by 8.30. It was great to see, like we had three or four of these young pros or amateurs staying at the house, and they feed off of each other. And so it is a dream. Many of us would think it's a dream to be fully committed to playing professional golf. And so it's actually a real pleasure to see, you know, we just had a coach, Derek Ingram.

Many of you guys have met Derek over the years. You know, he's Corey's coach. He's Taylor's coach. He lives and dies with these young guys. and he's now coach of the year and the PGA of Canada just named the national coach of the year and he's down at the house

working out with these kids making sure they're doing the right things. We had a goal to get 30 Canadians on the LPGA and PGA tour by 2032. And so we feel like this, you know, all the things that we're doing are really contributing to that.

We're just kind of having a golden moment right now in golf in Canada. Awesome. Can't wait for 2026. Get to the Golf Canada app for the My Golf Year full break. down and L.A., you can text us the address if you want off the year. You don't have to reveal it publicly, but we look forward

to getting down there, O&I. We'll bring Festruck too, and maybe you can get down there and we'll play and we'll figure it out. Thanks for doing this, buddy. Appreciate it. All right, thanks guys for everything you do. You got it. There is a lot of Applebaum of Gulf Canada. Yeah, that would be, I wonder what the rules

are in terms of like, you got to leave, you know. What if you want to leave? Yeah, that's true, too. Like, if you commit, But what if you get down there and it's like, you know, you're just hammering drinks at night and, you know, like... Dude, I think somebody would make a phone call saying so-and-so is abusing the house. Not a part of the program. Like that is kind of, I appreciate that this guy, like, that's a commitment and it's paid off. Oh, yeah.

You know, like you won the Q school and he's going to be playing on the PJ tour. That's amazing. But there's got to be a Farley on the other end of it that. showed up and it was like man this is amazing scott stuff you seen the girls down here this place is awesome golf's got a lot of far out there yeah i love it anyway uh 2026 right around the corner right it's actually pretty nice day yeah i had someone text me the other day say do you know of any courses that are open i'm telling you text up i don't yeah he's got a place in hamilton man he wheels out there and he golfs he's a machine amen he is those

Those escarpment courses. The soil is nice and sandy. They drain fast. It's not too wet. You can, the course is in Niagara. I've played on Christmas Day down in Niagara many times. There you go. Sunbelt.

Ontario, Canada's Sunbelt. Miami of Canada. The Miami of Canada. All right, Best Buds coming up. A bunch of action tonight. We'll recap a busy afternoon. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4.

All right, Thursday night football tonight, HBO, locking in the Rams. We're getting points. Big, big game in the NFC West. You can feel it in the NFL. out. It's put up or shut up time now. Time to get rocking, right? Who's going to win? Who's going to win the

divisions? I can't wait for the game. I can't remember a year where you have no idea who's actually really good. There's a lot of teams that you just, like, are the Denver Broncos really the best team in the NFL? Well, I kind of like that, though, first, Chuck. I like the idea of maybe Denver wins

a Super Bowl this year. Maybe it's Buffalo's year. I do like the dynasty, but I also like the element of maybe Houston wins. Never know. I love it. Well, it's funny. Like, the Eagles are still in the, they're still in a playoff spot.

They're going to win the division. Don't you think the Eagles as bad as they've been, Hayes? They should scare some people if they flip the switch. That's what I'm saying. No one's talking about them. No one. Nobody. Everyone's written them off.

Understandably, they've been horrible. They're 9 and 5. You know, they're going to host a playoff game. And, you know, they're probably going to play a team that technically is better than them or has been playing better than them, but that's not an easy game to go into Philly if they're healthy. That's a terrifying opportunity. And they've been through this routine before

where everybody's doubted him last year. Everybody wanted Nick Seriani fired when they had a tough start last year. And then what do you know? He's doing press conferences at the Super Bowl talking about everybody wanting to fire him. Yeah. You know, and it's like, oh, by the way, we also won the Super Bowl. Everybody still wants to fire me.

Things change quick, man. They changed quick. So, yeah, we got that tonight. We got the Leaks in Washington. And the last time they played this team, It was an afternoon game, U.S. Thanksgiving. And remember, they were up two nothing, and they were holding on for dear life. Yes.

And they lost 4-2 in Reg. Tonight's a can you find a way to get a point night, which is not a great mentality to have. I'm fascinated to see. I'm all three games. They got washed, they got Nash, and they got Dallas. So you've had a Cupcapes schedule at home, and now you're going on the road, and you're going to play some real hockey teams. So let's see what you got.

And Washington's last, what, they've lost the last two games by a combined 10 to 1. So they're on high alert. They're not happy. Yeah, we had Dylan Strom on yesterday. And he was talking about how well they've played recently up, you know, with the exception of the last two games.

Correct. You know, which is natural. But anyway, we'll see. We've got the Leafs in action. We get the Raptors. Do you think they make a pitch to Janus tonight? Hey, do you want to find a way to get traded to the Raptors? Or is a New York or bust.

You know where that guy's going. He's going to New York and that's it. Because they won the NBA Cup. No, because he wants to be in New York. I can't blame him. I know, man. Every time, I don't know, I think Toronto was always a possibility for him. The Greek community here has always been massive.

And they always show up to the Yonis games. Yep. You know, like, I've been post-game at a Raptors game where Yonis comes out and is greeted by like a standing ovation from like hundreds of Greek people. How much does it hurt that Maasai's not here? for that recruitment, Dave. We had Danny Green on this show, I think, when you guys weren't here one day. Were you here?

I was here. I'm not sure it was, but, and he said it does. I mean, I think it does, because Maasai had a real relationship, has a real relationship with the Antenacupo family. Like, he got him a passport when he was young, when he was just a nobody that nobody really understood how good he was. And they've been, you know, they've been a thing for a long time. But probably Bobby Webster is nobody.

You know, Bobby can make a pitch. And Bobby's won before, right? And that famous clip of them trying to trade up to get them, why didn't they just go all in and get them? You could have got that pick if you added a piece or two. Hindsight being 2020. But if you really thought Janus was going to be a superstar, go get them. You know how many stories there are of basketball scouts and GMs

and executives that had a chance to get Janus or sign Janus? Or shoe executives that had a chance to sign Janus. There's a lot of regret around Janus. A lot of people miss Janus. Best bets powered by Fandole, make your picks, and assemble the same game parlay and seconds on the Fandroll. You know the play. Rams. Taking points tonight. Rams tonight.

Stafford to throw two plus touchdowns this evening. Best bets powered by Fanduel. Every NFL game is available on the Fandual Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today. TV radio podcast web and of course up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel.

We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. a salute to Al's brother, my new compadre. There you go. We'll chat then. Iheart Radio.

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