10 L. A. Sports dead zone. The Demilitarized Zone of sports. I could watch it from afar. And by that I mean the Open Championship. So I'm going to tell him there's a screen right now. This is John Ramos, teal Hatton. I don't know. Oh, it's Hatton, liable to snap a club here. I like to do play that play though, but I want him to again. We'll talk to Adam Stanley in a in a couple of minutes time here. Quick little rundown of where we see things the Canadians again, the two that are out there. It's not going great. Had been three over through 10. Taylor for over through 13. Other notables include John Ramboy mentioned, even on his day so far, screaming about the wins there. John Ramb is apparently I've had I know as he's want to do, he's he's angry before it's just another day of the week. That is it. Why? That's kind of why. It's kind of why I always loved him because he's just like a fine thing to be angry about. Yeah. My man. Yeah. Don't I don't I know it finding finding a way to know that when he made a deal with a devil, it literally meant making a deal with the devil and it ruined him. Yeah. There it is. Two under still your lead. The only guy in the clubhouse at that number is the speed Alex and Norin. So we'll see if that holds up today. Obviously, whether going to impact things and there's still a ton ton ton of golf to be played. We got Canadian still to go out and in Hughes and Connors and Tiger Woods looking to look at me. Things started as well. I mentioned before, we talked Stanley and a couple of many times we got back to the golf there, but the Blue Jays. So they're starting up this series with the Tigers and, you know, I kind of joked about this the other day. This is a real like show your age series in this in this part of Ontario here because, you know, I think you pull, you know, Jay's fans of a particular vintage who's the rival and you'll hear a lot of Rangers. I think you'll hear, well, where's Roog Nendo door? Is he playing for a team still because that's the most hated team. But of course, for sure, Yankees, socks, again, I think Rangers is absolutely in there. I don't, I don't think this is a team rivalry as much as a fan one, maybe some people. I think the Orioles are sneakling. Okay. Orioles actually. I was going to still, I was going to say Mariners just cause the Mariners are a fun one. But it's that, that feels more of like a rivalry between the fan bases than the actual teams. You go ask Jay, Jay's fans of a, of a different vintage. You know who they'll say those dastardly tigers. I cannot stand them in their evil ballpark down in America, which is actually quite a lovely ballpark. I've been there many times. Oh, have you really? Oh, I went to school in Windsor. So it's just quick, quick hop across the board. That's quite nice. Yeah. Really, really nice part. Great. Great. Great. What they've done their nice open field and, you know, hey, I think you should put a roof on everything, but it is nice that there isn't one, isn't one there. But thinking about the tigers and they've been, man, they've been lost in the wilderness. Like you want to talk about a tank that didn't necessarily do it intentionally, but Spencer Torkelson, because number one overall pick is expected to be what he hasn't been exactly at this point. And I just think this is a really informative series. And this is the kind of fun thing about baseball is that as a, you know, you get set to play a team and, you know, it's not a division laden schedule the way it used to be, but especially somebody outside of your division, you kind of dive in what's going on over there. And the tigers are proof positive of just how much of a wasteland the wasteland can be quite frankly. I mean, we saw the graphics been going around. It's on lately of their rotation from, I think it was 2014 and it's, it's Verlander. It's Scherzer. It's Porcello. And it was really nice of them to include Robbie Ray on the graphic of say young winners, even though he wasn't, would go on to win his for seven years. So maybe that one shouldn't count as much, but I don't think he was a finished product at that point. But that was a great team, you know, made their runs in Leland and Verlander and all the guys there. But you got to pay the price when the bill comes due and they've been eating it for a while now. And they're one of these kind of mushy middle teams that are in this exact spot. And you know, you were the one who brought it up that it is pretty informative of where things could go for the J's if there's a kind of hard, hard pivot. So I, I, I had this thought across my mind actually as it pertains to one player and one player in particular, that being Terrick Schuemel, who is top of mind right now because we're seeing his name floated around in trade speculation. Tom Vaducci reported earlier this week that the Dodgers and Orioles are preparing these lucrative offers. They're stepping up to the table. They're ready to present packages for Terrick Schuemel. And it got me thinking more so about the blue J's from the perspective of what we should see from them at this trade deadline. And where I saw the parallels immediately, it goes to Terrick Schuemel's a guy, 27 years old, that has two years of control left. And you might ask, well, why would the Detroit Tigers want to move a guy like that and ace of their staff, a guy that figures to be one of the best pitchers in baseball for, you know, several years. It's not like he's on the back end of him being one of those type of guys from the left side as a starter, a lead on, right? No question. And he was an all star for a reason, as you saw in the game itself on Tuesday night. But here's where I think in a weird way, for Detroit, it would make sense because they're timeline and we sort of hit on this earlier. Their timeline is in a different place. They understand, yes, it's nice Riley Green is sort of emerging, but Torkelson has been a disappointment. And then if we look at the rest of that roster, well, where are you pointing for signs of potential and optimism? Like they've been toiling in the realm of mediocrity for a long time here. But again, in terms of them actually making this big step forward, it actually in a weird way makes sense for them to trade potentially terror school provided the offer is right. And it immediately got me thinking about the Juan Soto trade again, because look at what that trade did and how it weaponized the Washington Nationals. DJ Abrams, who was really the centerpiece of that deal. First time all star this year in his second season with the Washington Nationals, James Wood, who was by far regarded as a high level elite prospect, he is now in the major leagues, Mackenzie Gore, who probably not going to be an ace, but he's in the rotation at the major league level. Robert Hassell, who's another prospect, people fell in love with an outfielder that we haven't seen yet scratched the surface and reached the major leagues. But if you can make a trade that is not, again, different caliber of player clearly, but if you're making a trade that nets you, let's say three prospects of that sort of ilk, you have to do it. You would be irresponsible not to do it if you're the Detroit Tigers. If you were in a position to, let's say in theory, make a trade with Baltimore that nets you one of Kobe Mayo or Jackson holiday as part of a package, you have to do that. This brings me to the J's, Kevin Gosman. You have to consider and weigh the possibility of trading him now. I am very confident that a year from now, I feel like I am very skeptical and dubious that his value will be the same, that we will view him in the same light as we do right now that even teams potential suitors will view and interpret him as being a piece that can push their team over the top to the degree that it might do this year. He's also got two years of control remaining, like Tarett Schoolwell. The difference is age, but if you get a package that enables you to replenish your system, how can you not? How can you not, in good conscience, make that move, make that decision? I think that is where the parallel for me really lies, mind you, we can look at another parallel with that team, Jason George Pringer, they sign have your bias. But overall, Detroit's much closer to actually winning and being in that mix again than the Blue Jays are. And if they're considering trading their ace, the Blue Jays have to consider trading their ace. Yeah. I think the thing that I look at it with is just the idea of a pitcher versus a hitter. If Tarett Schoolwell was Juan Soto, I could hear the argument from the Tigers perspective of, no, we're not going to trade him. We're going to hold on to him and we're going to, because you can bank on the bat being a thing for, and hey, like nothing is certain in life, so we shouldn't act it that way. But I don't know, Juan Soto seems pretty, like so long as he's upright, I'm pretty confident in what that he's going to look like for the next at least six or seven years. We just, with pitchers, it's a finite thing. There is a, and no one knows the number. If we did, we'd never be able to trade for a pitcher because the second a team was given up on him, you'd know there was a trouble there. But with a pitcher, I think you actually have to be much more pragmatic about it. I think, and this goes back to the Blue Jays with Bo, with Vlad, they can sit there and say, okay, like I can sit here and squint in a world where we give Vlad, you know, like a gillion dollars and it's a 10 year banger and some point in the life of that, it's all going to work out. People can differ on that opinion, but I think that is a fair way to look at it. With a pitcher, the idea that, oh yeah, we'll just pay scuba and he'll be on the team for the next 10. Yeah, he'll be there, but the idea that he's going to be that, again, we talk about the reason we talk about Scherzer, the reason we talk about Berliner, the reason we talk about those guys are freaks in nature that they could do it in Kershaw, that they could do it for so long. And guess what? They had years where they got hurt and they couldn't do it too. So I think that's the thing that boils down to with all of this, and Gosman, Gosman specifically, I think hammers home the point that you're running out of gas with this guy. And I think it's commendable what he's been able to do in a year that from the jump has not gone right, that he has been the good soldier for this team and found a way and had the one nail start and plenty other good ones along the way, but it is clearly an asset that is in decline right now. And this goes back to the conversation we had with a charity yesterday, the idea of if you move off them now, whether it's eating money or you're able to get a better prospect, it's a way easier conversation to have now than it is a year from now or even this off season if a team is looking to do that, because if a team's looking to rebuild their rotation, I mean, this goes with saying, yeah, they'd rather take Tarek scuba of course than they would Gosman. But I think the other thing about that as well that is so important to hammer home with this is that teams that are shopping for a stop gap, Gosman, they go find a stop gap, Gosman. They don't have to give the J's anything for in the off season. Now, is it going to be quite as good a pitcher? I mean, it's up in the air. How good Kevin Gosman is going to be next year again, Blue Jays off tonight, they'll continue their series with the earth continue. They'll continue their season tomorrow, they will resume their season. They'll start the series. As if he needed more disappointment. I did. That game's on Apple TV. That's okay. That's not going to bother me too much. That's right. I will say it could be worse. Like the twins, they don't even play until not tomorrow, but until Saturday for some reason, obviously. How does that happen? Well, obviously, there's another team. I'm quickly looking at the schedule here. Yeah, by the Brewers, they're also a Saturday start. So I guess there you go. Twinkies and Brewers start there. How does that? How does that happen? I don't know. I was doing sports radio in Minnesota, but maybe that's just a commentary. What are they talking about? The Vikings. For sure. They're just like, oh, yeah. Yeah. My car. J.J. McCarthy, maybe. That's all. That's all there is to be discussed there. The 152nd playing of the open championship is underway. Apparently we're having phone issues with Stanley this. We'll continue the Blue Jays conversation for a second, a second there. The idea of the idea of the Blue Jays moving on from Gaussman, I think, is the, I don't want to phrase it this way because I think he has been the most exemplary J you could possibly ask for. And I'll pause that thought again. Oh, we got him out. Because we apparently have Adam Stanley. All right. This insider is brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, Northlexus.com. My man and yours, Adam Stanley, the content beast back from the East Coast. That is Stanley. How's it going, bud? Yeah. You're talking about how it's the slowest week in sports. Guys, there is so much golf going on. I've got like, this is the crazy, this is the busiest time, but we're doing all the hockey writers. They're all at the cottage already. Everyone hanging out. I'm, I'm grinding. I'm doing my thing, but you know, it's coffee golf season, right? You know, you love it, it's, everything's great. What time did you wake up this morning, Adam? That's my question. Yeah. Actually, I'm not actually on the television until four. So I have not been on, I have not been awake for all that long. So I will fully admit it. You willingly woke up at four AM to watch golf. Like that is. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. I don't think under and I willingly woke up at four AM to even if golf was on. I don't know. Maybe, maybe gunner. Check yourself. You better. I can assure you, I can assure you, you better believe there has been an alarm in my past that is just labeled with the emoji cup of coffee and the emoji golf flag. You better believe that has happened before. That's great. Don't you dare. We are sickos. That's right, Stanley. Open championship, always, always kind of a fun one, a lot of kind of storylines coming into this one. We'll just start with the big one off the top of the return of Rory. He's back from his hiatus. He had a little vacay. He got his mind right. I normally have a, and I'm not always right about this, but I feel like I normally have a strong feeling one way or another about what to expect from Rory heading into a major. I feel like, you know, there's been times where I think, not his week. There's been times where I think, oh, I really like his chances. This feels like a black box. I've never had less of a clue what to expect from a guy or I should say this guy heading into the major. When you were like, we're going to start with the biggest storyline of the week. I was like, this is Rory. He's got a lot of Rory and I'm here for it, which is really fun. Yes, I think he's playing, he's playing pretty well so far, like the conditions are conditioning right now at Royal Trood. I think, is he even par? Is Rory even? Yeah, right now. Right. So, I mean, I think if he finishes even par at the end of today, you know, he's going to be in the top 10, certainly heading into tomorrow, which is just fine. It's a very curious time for Rory McElroy. I think because how he played poorly last week, I think we kind of would have been able to say, well, the guy hasn't played Lynx golf since last year. He's kind of getting his feet back under him. You know, obviously he's mentally trying to just compartmentalize everything that happened at the last major and now he's back in action, then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But he came in, played fabulous golf last week, finished tight for fourth. And now again, you know, it's a place where, okay, obviously, you didn't really need to take all that much time to get used to Lynx golf again. You know, his record obviously at major championships over the last decade, despite the fact that he hasn't won one, is better than probably everyone other than Brooks Kepka. And he's just at a place now where he says, it's better than the alternative. It's not like he's gone to all these major championships in the last 10 years and completely stunk. Like he has played incredible golf at majors. And if the question specifically was, hey, Adam, do you think Rory Macroy is going to be in the mix come Sunday? The answer to that question, in my opinion, is absolutely yes. And is he going to win this week's major championship? He's just lost in such a variety of ways. A heartbreaker, like at Pinehurst, a heartbreaker, like at St. Andrews, shot the round of the day Sunday at the Masters a couple of years ago, when he chipped in for birdie from the bunker on 18, finished second. So he's kind of gotten a collection of results in a variety of different ways. So I think that's where your question kind of stems from, because this week, Rory's going to be in the mix come Sunday, confirm 10 to 10, that's auto going to happen. But is he going to shoot 65 on Sunday and finish third? Is he going to shoot 74 and finish third? Is he going to shoot even par and finish second? Or is everything going to kind of go his way? He feels like he's owed one, and is he going to win this thing coming from behind? Is he going to win it from being out in front? Those are the questions that certainly still remain. But in my opinion, by the time we get to Sunday, Rory's going to be part of the conversation for sure. Yeah. I think that's a really good way to contextualize things, like to put it in perspective, because we, you know, we, we, we, he is in the gnarliest bunker right now, having said that. Absolutely is. By the way, this angle is terrific. That is an unbelievable angle at the look of in this bunker, which looks gnarly regardless. Back to the back to the conversation, Adam, when it comes to Rory here, I think it is important to have that context because, you know, we, we, he's got this reputation of being a proverbial choker at majors and coming up short. It's been a decade, obviously since he's last won a major, a span of 37 consecutive tournaments that he's participated in on the major calendar. And yet, as you alluded to, he's still played good golf at times. And for large stretches throughout that decade long drought that we've experienced with him, I think coming off the back of what happened at Pinehurst, my big question is coming into this weekend. Do you think the perception, the public perception of him has changed at all, like he's always been this very, I don't want to say virtuous figure, but people, people definitely revered him. People definitely respected him. I wonder if that's evolved or changed in any meaningful way, given everything that transpired on that Sunday at Pinehurst and everything that has followed since. Yeah, I mean, he has been the most prominent global figure of men's professional golf in the most turbulent time in this sport history. And I think that a lot comes along with that. And probably for the first time in his career, people either really loved him or they hated him or they felt like, "Man, get Rory off my screen." Because I think from 2009 until 2019, there was no real reason to, in air quotes, kind of dislike Rory McElroy. He was the only guy who, for 10 years, was still in the top 10 in the world. He had won a bunch of majors, people were wondering, "Well, when's he going to get the next one?" and everyone was kind of rooting for him to do it. He won the FedEx pump a bunch of times. He's won multiple times on the PGA tour. He's been world number one for a long time. So up until even through the COVID pandemic, he was doing the thing with Taylor Made and he was trying to do the content and et cetera and et cetera, et cetera. So finally, there was kind of this point where you could disagree with Rory McElroy. And I think despite the fact that he continues to play incredible golf, he's still one of the best golfers on the planet. Still puts himself in the mix to win big tournaments plus majors. There's this spotlight on Rory McElroy, the person versus Rory McElroy, the golfer, has never been brighter. And with that comes people being able to form opinions about it one way or the other. Obviously personal life has been something that people have been talking about a lot. His role in the shaping of the future of men's professional golf is something that people are talking about a lot. His opinion on live versus anyone who stayed and the structure of the financial state of the game for moving forward is something that people can have opinion on. So I don't think that the public's perception, the overwhelming public perception about Rory McElroy as good guy and good golfer has changed. But I do think that for the first time ever, there's a large percentage of people that now have a reason to disagree with him. Yeah, there's definitely the case. And I think that when you have a moment like the end of Pinehurst, and I'm not even talking about the pots. I'm talking about blowing out of there and not talking to the media, it just gives people license to feel away if maybe they had those inklings already. This is an insane question to ask, but I think I have to. If Scottie Scheffler doesn't win this week, have we witnessed the end of his Messiah-like run? Oh, man. You know, this is my take about every guy who has a run where we go, oh, he's going to win nine majors. No, they're not. They're never going to win nine majors. It's so hard to be good for evering golf. You know, Scottie Scheffler has had an incredible year. He's ripped off a million wins. He had the TA to the PGA, but he was finished outside of the top 40 at the US Open. The last two opens, he's been outside of the top 20 here. How important is it for Scheffler to have a, have a good week here or do you think there's a world where we look at it and say, well, that's links golf. Well, what do you want? That's nothing like what we're going to see from him when he's back in, for the FedEx Cup playoffs. I think I honestly think that he needs to win. He needs to win the FedEx Cup to have, to be able to kind of put a bow on, on this incredible year. You know, six wins already, including the last time he was on the PGA tour in the, in a playoff at the Travelers, there are another signature event. Like, he has played such ridiculously consistent and amazing golf from a TV green perspective from a winning on the biggest golf course perspective, like pick your, you know, pick your category, but at the end of the year, he may not win the FedEx Cup and he may not win player of the year still because of how kind of back and loaded some of this stuff may be. Now, say, Scottie Scheffler wins the gold medal, say he does, you know, win the FedEx Cup. There are so many other things that are obviously going, going for him, but yeah, this has kind of been a tale of two, tale of two seasons, tale of two, two parts of the year, but I think it's, I think it's wild to be like, man, Scottie Scheffler, what's going on when he's still won six times, including the last time he's heated up on the PGA tour. So, yeah, may leave the major championship season with more questions than answers. I think the first question would have been, well, what could have been because he was arrested right before the second round of the second major of the year, but also, you know, if he plays poorly this week, then it's kind of going to be, then, yeah, I mean, look at Zander, right? Zander hasn't finished at the top in a major in two and a half years. This year he's, him and Bryce are the only two guys to do all three. Now, Bryce, if I am recalling this correctly, has played terrible, terrible so far today. Yes, he's certainly trending to not do that, but yeah, I mean, look at Zander's consistency, his body of work. If we weren't, you know, if Scottie hadn't done what he did for the first four or five months of the year, you know, we're talking about Zander running away with player of the year honors at this point. So, yeah, I mean, he's done everything he's needed to do. He's won a bunch. He's played better golf than anybody, but at the end of the career, we're all going to measure it on major wins. And if he goes this year with only winning one, that's going to be kind of strange. Adam, this may be a silly question to ask, but on the topic, on the topic of Scottie Sheffler, and by the way, I mean, he's been, he's been such a joy to watch all season long because the consistency is what really stands out week to week. It's like, this guy's almost a robot. You watch him, you're like, is he even, is he human? Like what? Like, I just, I just wonder what is going through his mind because it looks like he's so dialed in consistently, which is remarkable given how frequently they play. And the, the just the sheer stress that there is during the course of a, of a tournament weekend. But when it comes to this specific event, the open championship, does this game translate well in this type of setting, playing on a links golf course like where, and obviously there's some track record there, but how, how should we, cause he's, he's being labeled as the betting favorite, the odds on favorite going into this as has been the case for every major, but it feels like this is different because there's more unpredictability with the fact that it is on a links golf course. So I'm, yeah. So I'm going to answer that question in two ways, but you, you've kind of answered it for me with that exact comment about links golf, like there are two things that even the best ball striker in the planet, Scotty Scheffler can't control the weather and the draw. So if he gets the stinky draw, you know, I think he's going off late early, is that whether, cause he, he hasn't, he hadn't teed off yet, right? Nope. Okay. So he's going to go late early. And if that is the, if that's the bad draw, you know, that, that wasn't up to him. And if he's going to have to be, well, if he is behind the eight ball, you know, just before he even puts a tag in the ground, that's not his fault. So the, the draw and the literal luck of the draw is something that, that really only the, the open championship can, can offer guys. And number two is obviously just the bounces, you know, you would mention a couple minutes ago about the, the gnarly lie that, that Rory was in, in a bunker, you know, just before getting on the call, I saw Brian Harmon hit, hit a ball in a par three that scooted, you know, probably a yard or two to the left. And he ended up in a, in a terrible bunker, with a terrible bunker lie as well. So, you know, even for someone like Scott, even if he's hitting it in, then there's one yard by one yard box with every iron shot, even sometimes with links golf, you got to be in the six inch by six inch box. So those are two things, the draw on the weather and then also the, the bounces and the luck of or lack thereof are, are something that, that even for someone like Scotty, who's ranked number one in every statistical category, there is, is not going to be able to either a avoid or, or be avoid entirely, I should say, or be just, it's out of his hand. So yeah, you can look at the stats, you can look at the body of work and you can say, Hey, this guy is the betting favorite because of the way that he hits the ball and he hits it better than anyone on the planet. But Mother Nature takes no preserves and, and neither does, you know, just the, the rumbles. They're the way of playing it either. Oh, I thought, I thought you were, I thought you were describing like some of the golfers I've seen some of the older gentlemen. I thought that was rude when you're calling rumpled hums, I'm like, it's not, it's not nice, Stanley. All right. I'm going to ask you about a little piece of old news, but it sets up the block I want to do on the other side of the break and you know how this business works. We're going to do that here. Tiger Woods says, thanks, but no thanks to being Ryder Cup captain. What in? I'm sorry. What? I never would have thought I'd see a day. The tiger says, I don't want to be a leader of men and ride around in a golf cart and wear an earpiece and get to give speeches and wear tactical gear. I love his earpiece. He loves an earpiece. How shocked are you that he said, thanks, but no thanks to Ryder Cup captaincy. I conceptually shocked kind of in the nitty gritty, but not so shocked like why the outgoing CEO of the PGA of America, him and Tiger are boys and they've been boys for a long time. So when we found out that Seth was not going to be, you know, leading the PGA into the next Ryder Cup, okay, that was kind of one thing that wasn't all that surprising. You know, the guy who owns their manner where the next Ryder Cup is going to be in Ireland, him and Tiger like our boys as well, JP McManus. So I think he wants to do that one, I think, you know, hopefully by 2027, you know, the future of men's professional golf is a little bit more just dialed in and should be okay. So, you know, all this, all these other things that he's doing in golf and in life right now should be the rear view. So, yeah, I mean, you're talking about a guy who wants to be a leader of men and wants to, and wants to do this, but more than all of that, he wants to win. And if he doesn't think that he can win, just like why he's teeing it up still at these major championships, so that's the line that he trots out every time. If he doesn't think he can win, which means he's not doing the preparedness work, he's not putting it in, you know, 125%, he's not going to do it. So he wants to be the leader, he wants to be the captain, but he wants to be a captain of a winning squad, and I don't think that he could captain a winning squad this time around. I don't disagree, but man, the hubris of being like, no, no, wait until it gets back to Europe where we have an amazing Ryder Cup record. God, I love the arrogance of guys who have done what he has accomplished. Like, girl, I had to think that way when you've done it, it's just, it's incredible. Stanley, best week of the year, you know, I love me some coffee golf and I love talking to you about it. Thanks so much, bud. No worries. Thank you both. There you go. Adam Stanley, Sportsnet Golf Report. You can check out Adam's work on Sportsnet.ca. I imagine you can find it on the Sportsnet app as well. Absolutely. Just Google Adam Stanley. Yeah. Find his work. He's out there, folks. He's a content beast. That insider has brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus.com. We ended the conversation there with Tiger all roads and it does seem like until he no longer is putting a peg in the ground, he will be the straw that stirs the drink or at least part of the conversation in golf. Why is that the case? Will it ever stop? We'll talk about that and more on the other side of this fan morning show continues on Sportsnet five night of the fan covering the blue jays from an analytical perspective, Jay's talk plus with Blake Murphy. Be sure to subscribe and download Jay's talk on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 150 second playing of the open championship. Under way. I do feel like you have to pronounce royal true and pronounce it for me, please. In that voice, I know. The 152nd playing of the open championship, but royal true. I think you have to like hit the hit the ooze there. I think that's the way to go. Go about it. God. Just the sights and sounds of the open. It is just so, so different even just have like, I mean, it's not, they used to have a famous guy, I have a Robson who would do like the first he announcements and he had this awesome like sing songy way of doing your name and it's not quite the same, but it's still like the guy's just, this is shocking uber, uber British over there and it's like by that. I mean, it's Scottish because that's where all the courses actually are. So again, we touched on it with Stanley there that look, there's a million figures of important in golf, right? And I think honestly, I think of the parallel I kind of want to do here is is NBA related and that there's a million amazing stars in the NBA. Yes. We can name from all day, Anthony Edwards, Luca Donch, a joke, it's Steph Curry still poking around, but it all leads back to one man and one man only. And it's Bronny. No, it's LeBron. It's LeBron and that is kind of how he's the Godfather, right? And that is kind of how golf can feel at times. Now, the difference is is not that LeBron isn't diminished from what he was at the absolute apex peak of his powers, but I think it's safe to say he has a more dominant figure in terms of an athlete in his sport right now than tiger is in golf, but they are this almost emeritus figure that just looms over it all. And this all popped off at the beginning of the week with Tiger because Colin Montgomery did the like, oh, when's he ever going to give us the moment? And we've all said it. You know, Tiger doesn't care what I have to say, but I guess when a golfer of note does say it, he likes to poke him in the eye. And it's always going to be a thing with Tiger that the idea of him just going away or giving us that moment or ever really willfully ending it in terms of a professional career. It just doesn't seem like it's ever going to be in the cards. And because of that, it really does feel like it's going to linger forever. And I say that until he doesn't show up at the four majors a year, I really think that's all it takes is for him to show up four times a year and there to be the odd report of these hitting balls in his backyard, or oh, he saw them at medalist. And it doesn't mean he's more important to the sport than Rory or Bryson or, you know, Ludwig Oberg, who is the next one right now, he's not. But it's just remarkable how we cannot seem to escape pulling him into the conversation. And I think again, to do the LeBron parallel, I think the more of a basketball sicko you are, you're like, yeah, okay, like LeBron's great. I love LeBron. Do we have to talk about this all the time? Yeah. And I think the more of a golf sicko you are, you go, oh my God, I love Tiger. He's the best. I love joking about him being the captain at the Ryder Cup and all. But I want to talk about the guys that are doing it right now. And I think that's the thing that kind of keeps kind of jumping back to me with those two guys specifically. And again, I say this is a stay out of both guys. LeBron is more important as a as a actual player in his sport than Tiger is right now, but I can't help but escape the feeling between the two of them. Here's where there's a drastic difference between a sport like golf and team sports, like seasonal sports, like basketball, hockey, the NFL, name it, right? The big difference I find is in golf, there's never that real true crystallized moment of clarity when we get the fairy tale sign off and farewell. And part of that is because unlike even tennis, which is another individual sport, these guys are going to play until they're 65, 70 years old, they're going to linger. So you're never going to get that moment of anybody really at the peak of their powers or or just after that, like on the clearly they're on the decline. The aging curve is catching up to them. They're never going to reach a point where you're going to have a Rory. I'll use Rory as an example, at 45 years old, Rory's not going to sit there and tell us, okay, this is going to be my last run of regular sketch. >> I'm the head of golf or whatever. >> We're never going to get that from any of these guys because they're A, naturally too talented. >> Mm-hm. >> B, they have all these exemptions to all these elite tournaments that they, mind you, granted, they've earned it. >> God, do you imagine if Michael Jordan could just bring a team to the NBA Finals? >> Yes. Who's still there? >> I own it. I own that. My finals, that's my territory. You got it. I'm just going to be 65 years old and I'm still bringing guys. >> The best part of it is Jordan's team would include Tom Brady. >> No question. >> He's like, that guy's a winner. >> No question. And he at the very least, even if he didn't play, they'd be sitting on the bench and he'd be coaching him up and saying, we are not going to let LeBron or anybody else take another ring. Nobody's going to take another ring. But part of the retirement conversation, it is so drastically different in golf compared to other sports. And that's why I'm very torn on this because I love Tiger. I think Tiger, still in a lot of ways, moves the needles for casuals. But I hate seeing this version of him. Because I still want to be able to, think about it this way, let's paint this picture. There is literally an entire generation of golf fans that have never seen Tiger win something of consequence or do something for a prolonged period of time. Play at the high end of the spectrum of being among the top players in the sport for an extended stretch. Like the 2019 Masters is the outlier of outliers. And it was an awesome moment and it was nostalgic. But here's what you don't want. You don't want Tiger to become this nostalgic attraction. I want Tiger's presence to represent something other than that. And right now, unfortunately, when I see him play in these tournaments, when we see him tee it up, at the majors, it just feels more than anything like a play on nostalgia. I don't want it to be a novelty act. And that's sort of what it feels like. So that's why I feel like, and that's an unfortunate situation and predicament that he's in. But again, he's earned the cache, he's earned the license to say, as long as I am living and walking and able to put the tee in the ground and still drive the ball 300 yards. Yeah, I'm going to play. I'm one of the greatest of all time. Nobody's going to say anything to me. Nobody's going to be able to say boo to me. But I just think for any fan in this era, even for me as somebody that did have the opportunity to catch the end of that peak period for Tiger Woods, I still feel guilty watching this version of him today. Yeah, I think the other thing that lends itself and you nailed the biggest reason is just that Tiger Woods, guess what? He loves golf. Yes. He really does. Okay. But if the only tournaments that were available to him were corn fairy tournaments or, you know, a charity scramble, I don't know that he's still dying to play. It's because he could play the masters, the US Open, the Open Championship, the PGA. They just gave him the opportunity to play in all the signature events going forward next year, whether he's qualified or not. So why wouldn't you show up? And I think the thing that also we sometimes skate over this because golf is the one sport where you can, if you play, you can compare it in the slightest, tiniest way to what those guys do. And the biggest thing is, is that, again, if you're somebody who golfs, we have all had the three, four, five hole stretch or the one or two rounds in a row where you're playing above your skis or you're playing the best version of yourself. And the difference is, is that for most of us, it's like, okay, we know how, for Tiger Woods, that unlocks like the core memory of what it was for him. And he says, well, if I could do that for three or four holes, why can't I do that for 18? And if I can do that for 18, why can't I do that for four, 18 all rounds in a row? And then all of a sudden, Hey, look at me. I'm a winner again, again, like we use the Michael Jordan analogy. If he, if he was out there right now on an MBA court, there's not a world where he's having a hot two or three minutes where he just takes over the game and he looks like vintage. Yeah, no chance. It's not happening. But, but guess what? It's unlikely to happen, but it's entirely possible. We have a three hole stretch from Tiger this weekend where it's rep stinger off the tea, great, creative, low shot to the green, makes a big putt, oh, big birdie for Tiger. That's going to happen almost certainly for one or two fleeting moments. And if you are, that's the thing for these guys and, you know, we make it about LeBron, we make it about Jordan, we make it about Tiger, man, any guy who is an NBA player and NHL player, that's the way they have to be wired to take that little hint of belief and kind of find a way to extrapolate it. So that's the thing. I just think it is the, it's the nature of the sport and the idea of the exemptions you get, but it's also the nature of the sport and just there is no other sport in the world where a guy can have these fleeting moments of greatness even late into his life. Like I'm not going to pretend to have watched Gordy Howe when he was 50 playing with his sons in the WHA. I don't think it looked like vintage Gordy Howe. And I just think that's the thing that will always come back to this. And I think the golf will find itself in this. It's honestly remarkable. They've been able to grow so many new stars while he is lingered around for so long. So I think, you know, we talked about this the other day of, of team sports that are more in the idea of passing the baton. It's taken big moments from Anthony Edwards, from Luca Donchitz, from Nikolai Yokech for them. Yeah. I mean, even Steph Curry when he was, you know, surging. Yeah. He, I always forget about Curry because he's like, there's now two generations post the baton and he's the first one of them. Right. Right. So crazy. But when you see it with these, with these team sports, you try to pass the baton and so much of it is beating the guy at the, at the apex of his powers. And these guys have beat Tiger, but it wasn't beating Tiger when he was Tiger. It's this lesser version of it. And I think that's the remarkable thing is that the game's been able to kind of create and grow so many stars. Well, the shadow of him still kind of looms over the sport. Yeah. There's one word. If I could pick one word to sort of summarize my entire thought process on this subject, it's closure. In golf, we don't get closure. No. We can't tell them that we ever do. In all the team sports, you do get closure and, and for this, and it's becoming progressively better in terms of the legacy of the, the all time greats that they are in a position where they're able to dictate when that closure happens, right? In some sports, and we've seen it where athletes don't have the opportunity to actually control when that comes to an end and when the closure arrives. But with the all time greats and LeBron will be the next one. So that's he's going to have the opportunity to do it golf. We don't see that. Do you think we're going to, do you think we're going to see a bit of this with LeBron, like a little tiger in him and LeBron and that he is such a physical freak and like he talks about how hard it is for him to get his body to the position. It's in to go through the rigors of an MBA season and be able to handle all that. But do we think there's going to be that for LeBron? Cause that is the thing I, you know, I think obviously he envisioned he go to LA and he'd win his sixth ring and then he could retire and have done like sure. That's not happening. What do you think like the off ramp looks like for him? Cause I think LeBron is going to be a guy who has a very hard time. I don't think he's just going to want to say, all right, 23 years, 23, man, let's call it a day. There's going to have to be a reason, a hook, a point, a story he wants to tell quite frankly. And much like with Tiger, where there have been moments where if he would have wanted, it could have been like, Hey, man, he walks off after the 2019 masters. How good's that? But even there have been other moments, you know, St Andrews, the most famous open championship course. He could have just, that was two years ago. He could have just said, that's it 150th open, I'm done playing these things. He doesn't want to do it that way with LeBron. I think he is another guy that I look at and I just say, I don't know because he is such a freak athletically that he's ever going to be able to just give it up without there being a kind of temple moment that not forces him into it, but shows him the light, I guess. He's kind of alluded to this. I think physically, although in terms of quickness and speed from just from a, I guess speed is the right way to describe it. Quickness, in that respect, that is, we've seen that diminish, but all the other tools are still there. Right? Like his, it's the athleticism, the size, the shoe, all of that is still play making on display. He's talked about this a little bit too. I think the mental, it's whenever his brain finally starts to tell him. Or allow doubt to creep in in the respect of, you know what, I don't, today I don't want to wake up and I really don't want to get it that bad. Right? Like, we've all had those moments as regular human beings. And I'm thinking about it from the perspective of him as an elite, high performing athlete that's done it for two decades. He's still at this particular age, at the tender age of 40, has the willpower and the desire to wake up. And even with all the lavish riches he can enjoy in his life still has the motivation to get out of bed when that alarm goes right away. Once that, I think starts to dissipate a little bit and the competitive hunger of believing he can still win legitimately win. Like I firmly believe this in his mind, he thinks if things go a certain way, if they break the right way, he can still win. Once that starts to disappear, that I think is the moment. But regardless, he at least, there is at least a definitive moment of closure that he can point to because if he can come out before, let's say the 20, 26 season and say, this is it. This is it. Right? I'm, I'm done after this. Oh, he's going to take his retirement. Oh, no question. He's going to do a course. Of course. Him. He's going to bask in that glory. 100%. But there is a moment understanding that whether it's game 82 or the final game of whatever play out. That's it. That's the end of it. There's no more. And once you make that decision, right, you're not coming back from it where I think he will struggle. And when I think the decision becomes difficult for him, I do think he's going to listen to him's his, his mental more than his physical when it comes to making that decision because the physical. Honestly, this guy could probably play till he's 44. You know who you know, that's how, that's how insanely gifted he is. But do you know who you just described in terms of when he tiger would tiger would that's exactly. Because literally the answer he gives verbatim is like, oh, as long as I think I can win, I'm out here. Yes. But there's a difference. He only has already failing him LeBron's body. This is where I think LeBron is in a different place. I think once his mind starts to give out that's the, that's the indicator because I don't think the body will. I think the body's going to be there. And I think that's why when he actually has this conversation realistically with his family or with Rich Paul and all the other confidence he has in a circle, the conversation is going to be LeBron. Why, why now? Like, look at what you're, look at who you are, look at what you're still capable of. Because it's not going to be him coming off the back of a year in which he averages 18 points a game. That's just not going to happen, man. He's going to average 25 of a game, if not slightly below that, that, that barometer. But he's still going to be a very productive player until the very end. I am firmly confident in that just based on how he prepares and treats his body and conditions himself. So given that, it's going to be far more challenging for him to cite physical reasons for leaving. It's going to have to be more of that, that mental grind, more of the psychological aspect of it. Where a tiger, the reason he keeps going or the reason he keeps showing up is because in his brain, he's wired as a natural competitor, a fierce competitor that he feels he can win. But it's his body that is what that's preventing him from actually going out there and competing to the level of, you know, not even let's say being at the front of the pack and contending, but being able to make cuts these days part, it's all physical with him. Yeah, the other thing is, is that there and not that this will be an easy thing for, I don't know, you know, Polinka, Jeannie Bus, whoever it would have to be. But no one, no one's going to say thanks, but no thanks to Tiger Woods, whatever golf tournament he wants to show up at, they're going to have them at some point. And to your point, I don't, I think I honestly think he could be like a role player in this league till he's 50 if he keeps this up, LeBron, like quite honestly, but at a certain point in time, somebody's going to say like, okay, we're good on just giving you the car keys to the entirety of the org because the juice isn't worth the squeeze in terms of what you are as the player or even what you could bring us via clutch and all of that. That's the difference as well is that he, Tiger only has to be accountable, you know, his family as well, much like LeBron does, but all the guys, all the guys who are in his camp, you know what they're doing? They're sitting there going, thanks for the paycheck, Tiger. And I know you're all saying, yeah, how desperate is that with LeBron? Okay, fair. But there are people who cut LeBron's checks, right? Well, the difference is Tiger's only accountable to himself and his and his team, his inner circle. LeBron is accountable to obviously his own inner circle and all the various enterprises he's built. But bigger picture, he's accountable to the other guys in that room. The actual team, yeah, that matters, right? And what kind of, you be incredibly selfish and self-centered. And I know there is this, there's a narrative out there and there's a world where there's this, I mean, heck though, every superstar athlete has a little bit of arrogance in them. But yes, I think that is a very important distinguishing characteristic here because it's different when you're just thinking about yourself and how it makes you feel. But when you have to go walk in that room at whatever age is going to be 42, 43, look around and be like, man, I got 21 year old dogs in here that want to be able to do something. Am I holding them back? Or am I actually helping them in any material way? Am I doing what's best by the organization that has done right by me? That is another interesting factor in all of this. Yeah, it certainly is. Before we get into the Wakenrake, and I don't like taking victory laps before events are over, but I did tell you yesterday at Betjotz and Thomas to lead after the first round. And the first round is not over. But he is in the clubhouse at three under, which leads to the tournament right now. So just saying, maybe listening to your boy guns, just throwing that out before we start Wakenrake. Having said that, it's now time for the Wakenrake presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown Sportsbook 19 plus bet responsibly feels fitting day to look at MLB futures. And we have to look at the future because there's no games tonight. So Dodgers, obviously, World Series favorites. You can get them a plus 333 fillies plus 425. If you want a little value, you got to go a little lower guardians at plus 1600 Astros there as well. If you think one of those teams is going to make a splash, this is the time to get in on them. I think if I were making a play on this right now, I would honestly be looking at the guardians at 1600. I think this is a team that that's where the value is going to lie. The Yankees, yes, they're going to go out and get something to help themselves. But I just don't know that there is enough out there for that. Whereas the guardians, I could see them making a little more splashy play and you need a little value as well. You're doing futures here. You don't want it at a three digit number. Do you have a lean in terms of these odds one way or another? I like the Phillies. Yeah. I do like the Phillies. Quite honestly, I'm sort of surprised. I mean, not surprised that they're not atop the list. Obviously, the Dodgers are the public team. But I really like Philadelphia because I think they're a complete team. They're roster top to bottom. You be hard pressed to find a lot of holes on that team. So Philly, I think there's some, there's some value there. I know it's still three digits as you alluded to the Cleveland one is interesting as well. They're just perennial choke artists in the playoffs. Unfortunately, maybe this is you that changes though. They have a really, really good team. Of course. So those are two. Nice job by you identifying two solid options. There you go. Thank you. Santa Maria indeed for the for the Cleveland guardians. If they go and do it and a shocker, shocker, Otani and judge are running away with your MVP races there. That was development. Yeah. I know very much so. That was the waking rate presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly. When we continue, it's been, and if I'm saying it, you know, it has to be true. It's truly been a summer of soccer, people. We had Canada success at Copa. The euros happened. Things were going on. There's a guy named Nico Williams, who plays for Spain. We're not going to talk to Kevin Blue about that, but we are going to talk to him about the future of this program as far as Canada's men's national team. How do you go about gearing up for the World Cup? And how did he go about landing Jesse Marsh? Nice job there. Kevin Blue, the general secretary and CEO of Canada Soccer will join us on the other side. We got one hour left on fan morning show on Sportsnet 590 to fan. [Music]
