And that's what we're going to see now, and we'll see you in the next one. [MUSIC] >> Fan morning show trucking along here, just powering through to the weekend. I am not looking at the clock dying for it to get here. Now I love chatting with you guys just like I love watching the 152nd edition of the Open Championship. >> We're Shane Maury is back on top picked up bird on eight is one of some guy named Daniel Brown again, might hang around today. Okay, sure. You've got your horse. I've got mine. >> Do you know anything about him, by the way? >> No, not a ton. >> It's his first major. >> Yeah. >> That's all I know. >> Three PGA starts. >> You will see this, especially with, you know, different especially like a national type open. There's the open qualifying series for this. And yeah, guys are able to get in. And these are the types of stories you'll see from time to time. And generally speaking, he will forever go back to telling the tale of the time he had a share of the lead at the open championship. And God, I'd certainly love to have that story to tell in a pub one day. Justin Thomas, four shots back, he's alone in third. Xander Schoffley, part of a pack of guys, the two under which I believe still includes Mackenzie Hughes, who is on the course right now. Corey Connors, he is one shot back of him having posted a one under round today as well. So those are the good stories for the Canadians and we will keep it there. And yes, I can confirm Mack Hughes is still sitting at two under. I can also confirm. I know none of you believe me because it's been a hundred years. But the Blue Jays will in fact play a game of baseball this evening. Starting. I didn't do anything, but you know, I couldn't tell people the good news when I got it again. Threat or promise. It's up for you to decide. You will watch this game tonight. You also listen right here at the end of the fan. What are we expecting from the next? I don't know. It's not even two weeks anymore here. Basically until the deadline here. What do you want to see? Because I know there are people. This has been a topic we've talked about all along. I have been of the opinion that I just want to see this team do what is necessary to make sure the pieces that need to be traded are traded. I want no false hope. I want no belief of what could maybe be. That is the thing. And again, like no one wants to sit here and cheer for losses. This isn't the NHL or the NBA where you cheer for tanking. That's not what I'm sitting here saying. I just would be. And I think it has to be borderline perfect between now and the deadline for it actually to create false hope. But that is the thing I most worry some between or worries me the most between now and the deadline is the idea of a little dead cat bounce or a fake run or whatever you want to call it. Yes. In terms of what my greatest expectation or hope is over these next. Let's say 10 days or so is that there is no flip flopping that occurs. That the Blue Jays are committed to a direction and that entails being even if it entails being soft sellers, which is the expectation. Just stick with it. Please stick with it for the love of God. Stick with it. Because if you even take a moment gunner to look at the take a peek at the schedule, these first nine games coming out of the break are against teams that are at or below 500. And the worst thing in the world would be for them to go 7 and 2 and try to talk themselves into you know what maybe maybe we can squint and close our left eye and we can talk or we do no you do not want that. So you want them to be consistent in what the messaging has been up until this point and follow through on everything that we've heard. Even if that entails just being soft sellers and moving off the assets that are expiring contracts at the end of this season. That is a step forward in my opinion and a step in the in the right direction. It is a positive development for this team. It is a necessary occurrence for them to make these moves. I do think you know you can read this one of two ways. Sure. But how they lined up their rotation. I'm not sure if you saw this. You say Kukuchi is going to be pitching tomorrow. Meaning he's going to get a second start in prior to the all-star break. I read it one of two ways. A it's confirmation of the notion that they understand where they are and that they are going to be in a position to sell off some of these assets. But secondarily. It also it also reeks of a little bit of desperation as it pertains to Kukuchi for me. And I look at the recent track record. If we were to separate his season in two chunks of ten starts. The first ten. Fantastic. ERA in the two six range among the best in the in the sport as it pertains to starting pitching. The last ten. He's given up twelve homers in those last ten starts. He's got a six five ERA. Not good. So there's a little bit of desperation there and a desire to try and pencil them in in favorable spots here in these next couple of weeks to drive the value up and sort of curry a bit of a market ahead of the July 30 deadline. But to encapsulate it all to summarize in summary. It's what you said which is no false hope. No flip flopping. Let's be distinct. Let's be decisive in our actions and make sure that you are delivering on what we've been talking about for months now which is just trade the guys that need to be traded. That's it. Well the other you know not to not to turn this into a Tigers talk or whatever it is they call it in Detroit. But they've got other than today a bunch of TBD on the board there listed for their rotation. We'll see what shakes out with them. Obviously they are you know we talked about a lot of things about this yesterday. The idea of they're not being the marquee bat necessarily available which I think is very safe to say. It's like we're once again doing the like Brent Rooker conversations and you know I love my Brent. Somebody will love Brent Rooker I can tell you. Okay that's honestly I'll tell you go to somebody I love Brent Rooker. It's fine. That's a good bat to add to a lineup and if you're a team that needs it you should go get it. But this is not a lineup defining bat like I've talked about at the deadline. Having said that. Scooble him going somewhere. That is that is rotation to fighting especially if you can mix a left DM with whatever you've typically got from the right side. I think it's interesting that they have listed a bunch of TBD there. It'll be a lot of talk about it'll be not that you know it's funny we don't do like deadline day in baseball the same way we do in some other sports that those three broadcasts this weekend will be exceptional preparation for baseball straight deadline. Just didn't learn everything you can about Scooble. I'm going to learn about all the J's. The Kukushi start. I don't think you can. You know you can't overstate it. But these two starts potentially are massive in terms of what you what you got. You've laid out the struggles he had. He did have the jam a couple of starts to go against the Giants there. If you can see and I think that's the interesting thing about Kukushi is there are starters that if they had been struggling teams would want to see that from because that's what you're expecting to get from them where you say, Hey, is this guy going to be able to go deep into a game? Is he going to be able to give us six six and a third? Maybe seven innings there? That's not going to be a four seven innings there. That's not what you need out of Kukushi. If he can give you seven innings, you're obviously going to take it. You're thrilled about it. But he is your classic. Be great for five and then get out of Dodge and guess what? That's a problem for the Blue Jays because of what this pens look like. If you're a good team, if you're trading for him, if you want to make this guy your number four starter or your three starter, whatever it is in the postseason, the idea of a five and dive guy, you love what you've got in the pen. Generally speaking, you're going to go out and add to that area as well. That's the other thing is that it is not that high a threshold for what you need to see out of Kukushi for it to be a positive weekend for him in this regard. I think that's the thing that's kind of jumping out the most to me is that it doesn't need to be two seven innings starts. We strike it out. Double digit guys. He just needs to get back to that high high floor that he had showed for this team for so long. I like that. I really do like that assessment. I think the key with Kukushi is he's got to avoid the big blow up. And that's sort of really bit him in a big way during this recent 10 start stretch where, you know, earlier in the season, it was more it was less about the raw numbers, but more about the consistency with him over that first 10 start stretch to kick off the 2024 season. There was there was a period in their gunner where he had six consecutive starts going at least six innings. Now that's not six immaculate innings of going of allowing, you know, one run or fewer consistently. No, no, it's just being steady and stable, providing that stability that you want from an arm in your rotation. And we're not your and that doesn't entail, you know, providing a production that is commensurate of an ace. No, it's just being in this day and age and major league baseball, you're banking on the consistency. And that's what sort of has eluded him at times over these last couple of months where we haven't seen it as consistently for him, where he's been able to tap into his arsenal and be as effective. So I think that's the key here and clearly they're prioritizing that. They've made it clear that and they understand teams are still seemingly interested in seeing something more from him. The other something else that I am curious about here over these next couple of weeks, Gunnar, the J's, as we've sort of touched on throughout the course of this week, have an opportunity to be major players. And that entails them shipping off assets because they do have a number of interesting, even if they're not the most attractive, there are intriguing pieces that they can offload. I wonder, will they be upstaged? They need to be careful with this. They need to make sure they don't run the risk of being upstaged at all. They need to take advantage of it. And I think that's a great opportunity for the Detroit who's in town this weekend is a prime example of a team that could in theory potentially upstage them with the Terrick School of it all. But not just Terrick School. I look at a guy that's starting tonight in Jack Flaherty, who's having a great season. And Jack Flaherty kind of reminds me in terms of the ilk of picture that he is, it's very similar to you, say, kakuchi. Right? We're going to be the savior. We're talking about the same sort of marketplace for a third or fourth starter fringe guy having a quality season. They're both in that conversation. I think of other teams that are right now still technically quote unquote in the mix, but a Chicago and the Cubs that being of course the White Sox are a disaster. Yeah, I'm more. Right. Good. The Cubs that are right on the periphery of the playoff picture for the time being. Well, what happens if they take a step back and they're instead of being three games out there now all of a suddenly five and a half out by the time July 30th rolls around. There's another team that needs to factor into the selling conversation. You know, what happens with, you know, the St. Louis Cardinals, for example, what happens with the San Francisco Giants? What happens with Tampa Bay? Like those teams right now are listed as question marks, whereas the J's are a certainty at this point. We kind of know what they're trying to do. So don't risk getting upstaged by anybody else. If that happens, then the market is going to diminish and it's going to depreciate the value of some of your assets. So the timeliness of when they decide to make some of these moves is very important. It is critical that they pull the trigger at the right time. Don't wait too long. Be patient. Don't hurry. But you got to still know when is the appropriate time to make that decision to ensure that you are maximizing the return. Because if you I fear that if they wait too long, there's going to be a point where the amount of assets on the market is potentially going to outweigh the number of buyers and that is then going to create a scenario where they're going to have to sell some of these guys at a discounted ring. No, I think that's something that they've had to guard against all along. It's been probably my biggest question when talking to any of our MLB insider types is just what is the value in jumping the market. I think the problem is it's easy to do that when you're a buyer to say, all right, we're just going to go out and get what we want. It is a little harder because to the point, the buyers are ultimately the ones who have the final say, right? If they're going to hold back and hold their cards and hold their chips, the name that I think I have made my mind up on regarding this, but with a player that's showing the high end that this guy has in the past for the bulk of his career, I do wonder is a week and a half, two weeks enough time for bow to go scorching hot for somebody to change their plans. I think no, but that is the thing that a player of that ilk that has shown what he has throughout the bulk of his, this isn't, you know, not to denigrate Vad because I know we're back to loving him now again. But the idea of, you know, this isn't a player who's had a yo-yo career. He's had yo-yo seasons, but they always end up in the same place. I do wonder if Bishette just comes out of this all-star break, absolutely red hot. I don't think the team should alter their decision on him in that way, but I do wonder if it changes a, you know, we keep going to the Dodgers, the Dodgers mind on something. If Bishette comes out of the gates supremely hot because the overwhelming sentiment there is is there's just no point in trading him now. You'd be trading him at a complete low value. I do wonder if just because of what he's shown in the past and the fact that it has been a light switch going off and then the season is kind of trended in a completely different way and there's a track record of that. I do wonder if there's enough time. I think the answer is no, but he's the one guy that maybe would be able to change my mind. I tend to lean in that direction as well where my answer to that question would be no. But here's what's interesting. There's enough of a track record there with Bo that if he comes out and has a two week stretch where he hits 380 hits a couple of homes. Yeah, showing that he's back to being, you know, he's hit all fields and the defense is fine. It's a lot to ask. It is a lot. Sure, sure, of course. But he if there's anybody capable of a stretch like that, it's a player of his caliber because we all think we still believe it's not that we've all soured on him in terms of the type of player he is because I think generally speaking, everybody around baseball, people in this market will tell you Bo is still a very good baseball player. And there's a belief that at some point or another, whether it's in a J's uniform or not, he's going to break out of this and he's going to look closer if not being able to replicate the type of player that we've known him to be for the bulk of his career. That is within the cards and we all firmly believe that. I do think it's interesting, though, if that would change the tenor of the conversation in terms of the value because on the back of the baseball card July 30, even if he has an incredible stretch where he's hitting 390 for the next two weeks, it's still probably going to say something to the effect of he's a 240 hit with seven homers for the season. And what is that really worth? And it's up to the J's to interpret what the conversations that they're having and the officers are receiving being interpreted as lowballing teams that are going to reach out and say, yeah, of course, we love the player in the back of their minds are thinking, this guy's balance to get back to the type of guy the caliber of player he was prior to the season because look at the track record, he's done it his entire career. We're going to bank on the stability of him being a 300 hitter and leading the league in hits as he's done multiple times throughout his career. And if you're the J's, you have to sit there and really then consider the question, okay, I'm going to show you a little bit about the game. I'm going to give you a little bit of a different value in our estimation for Boba shed. What does that look like? What do we think in the most ideal of circumstances we can actually get? And if that, if whatever's being presented is not remotely close, you don't do it. It's as simple as that. You do not do it. It doesn't matter where you are logically speaking. And we've kind of gone through this with both Bo and Vlad. The idea and the prospect of the game is that he's going to make sure that he's going to be the most entertaining team. That being said, if those teams can't meet the price and if you think it would, you'd be selling him at a diminished rate, you don't do it. It's just plain as that. You just don't do it. Yeah. I don't disagree. What I do agree with though. Let me tell you this. Def leopard and journey are coming to Roger Center on August 2nd and we're giving away tickets. Tenter. All you have to do is tune into that. And I'm going to go ahead and talk about it. The credit rates may apply. Today's code word is eclipse text eclipse to 59590 right now to enter for your chance to win today's the last day for this giveaway. But if you don't win with us, tickets are on sale at ticket master.ca. Something I was thinking about and it does tie into the J's. But it's really about, you know, the lack of interest that may come following the trade deadline here is how much in this market specifically does it open up the conversation surrounding the summer games? And you know, Canada is. I hate to always put it this way, but it's like the men's basketball team is going to be, I think, the northern star of this games. We love team sports. Don't be wrong. Like we love individuals, but just as North Americans, I feel like especially if you're coming into this, not from a person who goes, oh, the Olympics, but isn't looking at it because you're a sports fan. Team sports is what you're kind of drawn to. But the idea of the men's national basketball team and the women's national soccer team do feel like they really have an opportunity and not that they both couldn't have forced you. The J's could the J's could win every game for the next month. And guess what? If we're playing for a medal in either of those sports, we're caring a lot about it. But I do wonder how it kind of changes the tenor of the conversation surrounding it that there does seem to be a bit of an open space in the sports conversation. Again, like we're going to talk about the J's. There's going to be stuff to talk about, but it's not going to be the red hot go make a playoff summer. I hate to break it to everybody. I mean, it feels like a welcome action. That's what it feels like. I do think it provides added runway, extra runway for those teams to capture the the attention of everybody. Hearts and minds. Totally. Yeah. Capture the hearts and minds of everybody in this sporting community. There's no doubt about it. I do think the basketball team is different. It's interesting. I think the women's soccer team they enter as defending champs. They're coming off a really disappointing showing at the World Cup last year, which was the end of the Christine Sinclair era as it would have turned out. And for them, I don't want to say relevant, but for them to galvanize the country in the same fashion that they did in 2021. I do think results are a big part of it. Totally. You know, I think they're not happy to be here anymore. Yeah. I think the men's basketball team is slightly different. Little bit. I do think there's a natural curiosity there. So even if Canada happens to lose a game or two games or, you know, and I think the best barometer is probably group stage for that because once they get to the knockout, every game matters, even if it's a quarter final. But I think let's say they lose their first game. Game two is still going to feel meaningful. It's still going to feel big. For the women's soccer team, I think the trickiest thing for them is it's only going to feel big once it gets to the more meaningful moments. Right. Once it gets to those knockout stage matches and we saw that in 2021. That's, again, not an indictment of them. It was an awesome, awesome moment. And everybody was latched onto that story. But it really didn't feel like it picked up full steam until they essentially beat the Americans. And that was, I can't remember if that was a semi or the quarter. But once they got to that point, then it was like everybody's eyes kind of opened up and you were saying, oh my goodness, there's something really special happening here that they might be able to go and win a gold medal. And this would be a huge moment of validation for all the work that they've put in. It's awesome. Let's celebrate it. Let's jump on board this train and really embrace it. It's different though. They need the results. Yes. In order to, and I don't know why that is. But in order to capture, that's what it is. It's something had results. Like we, I don't know about that. No, no, but like you can't, I understand like we get so bogged down in the vacuum of paying attention every tournament. And I just think people think of this, especially with an international team like this, especially with soccer where it like, I'm sorry, we're not watching Janine Becky, wherever she plays. And like we care about her when she's got the national team sweater on. And that should change. It is changing. But that's where we're at right now. I still think people look at that team of girls and say, you're winners. I remember London. I remember Christine Sinclair. I remember beating the Americans. And that's why the expectations are there. For Canada's men's basketball team, we saw them kind of sort of win. It was big. It was massive for, but they won bronze. Yeah. In a tournament where not all of us guys were there and it's a American team that doesn't look anything like the American team that they're going to go against here. And I think results are going to matter for the men's team. It's just a less of a threshold that they're going to have to get to. I think the only reason that the women's national team in terms of soccer for the Olympics this year is going to feel this way is because they're winners. It's no different than it is for any team we follow, right? Once the Leafs want to play off round, guess what? Yeah, win around. It doesn't really matter so much now when they lose. It's still absolutely devastating to be personally. But the idea of win one round, what's that worth? Nothing now, kind to a certain extent. And I think that's where you're at with this women's national team for soccer because they have won before. They have won big tournaments. People don't remember. I don't think. Maybe I'm wrong of this. They don't remember every ebb and flow and every Ola was just they remember generally speaking. And I think the men get lumped into this as well. It's just been a very positive time for Canada soccer. And I think that's why people kind of have a much higher bar threshold of what they'll get excited about, quite frankly. Yeah. You know, that is a very interesting perspective. I understand what you're saying. I really do. I do think, though, even for the women and that team coming into this tournament, there's a distinctly different feel. Like they're not in good form. And they haven't been in good form. And there's this preconceived notion about the team which you alluded to. They're winners. Yes. And I'm not going to try and you know, denigrate them or talk a down on them in any shape or form. But this is a really fascinating tournament for a number of reasons because they haven't had the recent track record of success or the results accompanying that winning mentality coming into this tournament. It's also the first one without Christine Sinclair, which is a big deal just from the perspective of the notoriety that she brings to the table. Like it's a different team and they're going to have to find their own way. I'm curious more so not because I'm thinking if I watch this team, there's a good chance they're going to win a medal. I'm more curious because the last time we saw the Canadian woman soccer team play, it did not look good at all. It was in fact arguably one of the most embarrassing showings at a major international tournament, which happened to be the World Cup last year. So that leaves me in a position where I think most people casual sports fans or Canadian sports fans would be in line with your thinking. My thinking is a little bit different when it comes to that team. And that's why I think maybe my perspective on how much, not interest, but how the point at which I will become fully invested, maybe my threshold is different compared to what other people is when it comes to that game. I mean, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I think it's going to be fun on Olympics to see. It's just going to feel so different, quite frankly. I mean, the 100 will still feel like the star of the show when it comes around. But it's just, I mean, we're getting older, Daniel. It's just a different summer games than it used to be. And again, like I don't want to constantly go back to the sports. We always care the most about and we talk about the Olympics is supposed to be a time to kind of clear out a little and give your Janine ball. It's going to go win gold in the steeple chase. I'm sure. We'll love them for it. But you know, there's break dancing in this one? I wish you didn't tell me that. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how that's possible, but apparently it's a thing. I mean, they got, they got dressage in there. So you can have break dancing. I got break dancing. It's a lot. I mean, they had ballroom dancing before. So I don't see why break dancing. It's just a different world. I hate it all though. There. I found something. You can judge that. Well, I mean, you have a criteria and you judge it. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I agree with what you're saying. But it's like, I don't know how do you judge figure skating? They got they got thresholds for it. They got artistic merit. Yeah, you know what? That's really no different. Sorry. Look at this guy. I'm out of my deficit. He did a double South cow while spitting on his head. Look at that. Ten points for him. I think is how that will go. We will not ask Michael Granger about that. But we will ask him how excited. Generally speaking, we will be in this country. But Canada's men's basketball. What is the threshold for a successful tournament? And just what is it going to do? It's not going to do it. It's going to be a game of basketball globally to have our first event that's felt like this since, quite honestly, maybe the redeem team, if not all the way back to the dream team. Grains joins us next. We're halfway through fan morning show on Sportsnet 5-9 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. All right. Fan morning show. Gunner, Daniele. Talk in sports, watching golf. Pretty good Friday. Gotta be honest. It sounds like a great recipe. I mean, it's flying by. We're having a great time. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely like the clock has moved. We are enjoying ourselves. But it's like flying. Gunner. No, look, they're just-- I'm sorry. You have to share company. Come on, that. No, it's not that. It's just there's been too many technical issues for people. It's just like flying by. I go back there. There's like there's a full blown like board meeting happening behind. I don't know his name. There's some like guy with like great curly hair behind the glass now. It's like he's involved in everything. His name is Alex. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him. But there's just a lot of people back there. It's making me a little uncomfortable. But what's making me comfortable right now is my friend in yours is going to join us. Michael Grange. Grange, how's it going on on Friday? How you doing? It's going great. How are you guys doing? We're going to talk about the summer sports radio. We debated ESPN's top hundred athletes of all time. Not of all time. The 21st century. The 21st century. It is fully that season. But we are very excited that the Olympics is nearly. And by that I mean still so far away. But nearly upon us here, Grange, and it got us thinking about just what an opportunity it is for Canada basketball to kind of take center stage here. You know, I don't want to denigrate any of the other wonderful Olympians we're going to have. We're all going to get behind, you know, the various people who are going to take center stage here. You know, I don't want to denigrate any of the other wonderful Olympians we're going to do. You know, the various stories that will be told to us and we're going to tell. But it really does feel like the men's basketball team has a chance to kind of take true center stage for Canada at these Olympics. At least it feels that way to me. Yeah. And I mean, I think the women can do it. And I think the women three by three could do it. And you know, Canada's got three teams there in the basketball competitions. And, you know, Mike Bartlett has just done an amazing job with as a CEO of Canada basketball. You know, Mike Bartlett has just done an amazing job with as a CEO of Canada basketball. You know, I think he frames it quite well. You know, they want to create where were you moments. And when you look at, you know, Canadian sports the last decade or two, you know, really, I mean, there are kind of these tent pool events where we refer to them, you know, years later, because something incredible happened. And I'm all off and it is at the Olympics. And you go back to, you know, the Summit Series in '72. You go to Summit Series in '87. You go to, you know, '96 or, sorry, '88, Ben Johnson for multiple, you know, two extremes of that spectrum, '96 with Donovan Bailey. And we kind of kind of keep going down that list. Yeah. I'm partial to, I'm partial to he's, he's a chicken, personally, if we're talking Donovan Bailey, but I'm partial to that one. That's a great one. You know, and certainly, you know, the women's soccer team, I think, in the team sport, you know, outside of hockey, you know, women's hockey have done their share, their share, of course, too. You know, at the Olympics, at the World Cup, you know, winning gold at the Olympics, just some of the, just, they just become the focal point for everybody. And there's a few reasons for that. It's one, it's a team. It's not an individual. So, you know, that's so many more opportunities for people to have some six degree of separation with the people on those teams. You know, they're collectively representing the flag and, and all that. And so anyway, the point you're making, I agree with, is there's a real chance if both of all three of these teams, if any one of these teams, and certainly the men's team are kind of the one that, probably, or the, maybe the most likely to do it, get on a run and play super meaningful games in a single elimination format in the high, you know, probably the highest profile stage in the world. I mean, it's, it's, you know, there's a chance that basketball, maybe for the first time, could be creating some of those moments. Yeah, you know, the men's team range for obvious reasons is a major source of curiosity and optimism when it comes to some of the team sporting events going into this Olympics. You know, we chatted with Kevin Blue yesterday, who was the CEO general secretary of Canada soccer. They're coming off the back of a tent pole moment in their own right as it relates to the men's team reaching the semifinals of the Copa America. And I think what was interesting about that conversation yesterday and where I'm trying to lead and see if there are any parallels here with basketball is we talked a lot about sort of how that can fuel what the future of the program for, you know, not just a program, but what their entire federation looks like just from a grassroots level all the way up to the professional ranks at the highest of levels internationally where guys are shooting up for their national team playing for Canada soccer. And on the basketball side, I just wonder what that growth kind of led to this moment where it feels like almost a coronation of the growth of basketball in this country to have this team. This men's team finally back on the Olympic stage. But I guess the next question is where do we go from here beyond just trying to win a medal beyond just trying to have the results. But in terms of growing the game, where do we go from here? And how does this team and this opportunity with this platform factor into all of that? That's a great question. I think, you know, there's a few elements to it. And I think, you know, I think really the challenge for Canada basketball isn't so much growing as managing growth. And, you know, I think the impact the Raptors had in 2019 is almost still yet to be felt. Like, that's only five years ago. So you're, like, an eight-year-old who decided, man, I'm dropping everything. This is what I want to do. And I'm sure there's a lot of eight-year-old out there who kind of made those choices. You know, you're only 12, 13, 14 years old now. So, you know, those -- that -- the wave is still kind of coming through through the system. And you could kind of argue that so many of the last decade of the National Team story has been sort of the Vince Carter wave, the post Vince Carter wave. And we've seen how that's kind of played out. And so I think, you know, I know on a very technical level, I know what kind of basketball is really working to use this opportunity and this visibility to grow membership, which is a big kind of a boring side of all of this. But, you know, they actually just need the provincial federations to be on board and, you know, basically you take your kid to sign up for obviously basketball and a portion of that money gets funneled up to the national team program, which in turn funds all the things required to be a self-sustaining and vibrant federation at all levels. You know, on one level you're trying to make sure that Shay Gogas Alexander has what he needs and wants to commit to the national team. You know, it's like that's on one level you're really running an MBA team. It costs a lot of money, a ton of resources when you have to keep these guys in a situation they're comfortable with and accustomed to and on the other hand, you want to make sure that, you know, kids in none of it have an option to play absolutely basketball somewhere near that. It's a pretty broad spectrum of duties. So I think on a very kind of mechanical level they're really going to try and use this to drive membership, which improves their internal funding and as your membership grows, that's something you can take to, you know, whatever bank or whatever, you know, grocery retail or whatever it might be, who are looking for sponsor opportunities. They want to be able to activate on the ground as well as get the high profile stuff. So that drives everything. So you're looking at a virtuous circle. A lot of that stuff's in place already. And so I think the challenge for kind of basketball really is infrastructure. It's making sure that they can get access to all the gyms that are closed at nights and weekends to make sure they have places to practice that, you know, in places necessary that maybe some private facilities are being built, not that they would necessarily be funding that, but, you know, there's just different options and outlets for, you know, for both grassroots access and then elite development. And it's, like I said, that's a tall order when you sit back and look at it. But, you know, it helps when you have your whole country being excited about a team and a sport. And that's the opportunity that Canada basketball has, I think, going into these games. Yeah, boy does it. I mean, you know, it's funny hearing you say all that. It's like, boy, this sounds a lot like the rooms I've sat in with folks at Golf Canada explaining this exact thing and the afterglow of Nick Taylor's win and trying to start up junior programs and have the avenues there. It's like when something happens, you do want to have the ability to kind of take advantage of it. I want to zoom way out and be on Canada basketball. Basketball globally is not at a place where we need to worry about, you know, growing the game. Every league wants to get more popular, of course. But, I mean, as far as global sports go outside of soccer, you could make an argument that the basketball is second. What does this Olympic tournament have a chance to kind of feel like, Grange? I mean, we've had some down ones in years past. I think there's some bit of a last breath here of a generation of, you know, great Americans and Curry and LeBron that we're going to see there. Just, it's jarring to me how, because, you know, NBA players have been going to the Olympics for a while now. This is nothing new, but this tournament certainly does feel different. And I don't know if it's the Canada's in the mix, so we feel like we can touch it more a part of it. And that's why it's more exciting. But this tournament really does have a different feel about it. For me, anyways, then they have the last couple iterations of it. Yeah, I think it's a combination of, you know, this is where, you know, when the dream team was launched in 1992, it was in response to the fact that U.S. college players weren't good enough to be elite European pros anymore. And then, for a while, you know, top U.S. NBA players were too good to even be touched by most, almost all international teams. And then, kind of, I'd say the U.S. kind of took the foot off the gas a little bit. You know, they lost no four. They had the redeem team in '08. And then the last, kind of, 12 years or so, you know, Canada, U.S. is one of the gold medals at the Olympics when they bring their best. The margins have been a little tighter. So they certainly were in Tokyo. But they've won. They've done the job. They've won. And then outside of that, they've been a lot of disappointments because, you know, I don't think there was the urgency there in terms of, and then, you know, the international competition keeps improving. So this, to me, feels like another dream team, redeem team type moment. I mean, this is a superb team. To me, U.S. is bringing. I think they could kind of spoil the party. Like, if they play to their potential, I just do not see how they get beat. I'm not even sure it's going to be all that close. I think it's going to be all that. Which, to your point, Brent, is could kind of ruin, like I said, ruin the party. Like, because I think the level of international competition has never been better. It's the deepest Olympic tournament probably ever. I mean, you look at the 12 teams that are in it. And I think you can safely say that nine have, you know, you could project as a team that could play for a medal. I think there's probably eight going there that say, "I'm not sure if that's happened before." But I just don't know if anyone else is going to be competing for the gold medal. So, you know, so it'll be interesting because at the end of the day, we might just sugar, salt, and go, "Yeah, Team USA is the best." But, stranger things have happened. And there are teams, I think, capable of an upset. But I think, to your larger point, I mean, the getting out of the group stage in this tournament is going to be really exciting. I think the round of eight and the semi-finals are going to be just incredible basketball, because I just think that there's going to be so many teams that, you know, you're just going into those games and it's going to be a complete 50-50 to start powers there, obviously. Like, almost all the key players you'd want in the world are there. So, it should be -- and it's going to be in Paris, at least the elimination portion. And, you know, it should be pretty spectacular. Yeah, it should be a spectacular backdrop, Grange. I point to just even Canada's group as evidence of what you're alluding to, the parody aspect of it. Look at who they're sharing a group with. They've got Greece, which is, of course, led by Janice. They've got, you know, Spain, which is -- Not to NASA's? He's not leaving. No, that's me. Okay, that's me. No, no, no. Oh, he's even -- he's okay. How dare I not know that? No, no. Good job by me. Not really. But back to the point, you know, Spain's in that group, Australia, with the amount of, you know, just NBA talent across the board, and not just that, the continuity that those two countries have in particular when it comes to international competition, it just -- it does point to the overall depth of field as you alluded to, Grange. When we zoom in a little bit on this Canada team in particular, we've got two more exhibition games left on the calendar for them before they open on the 27th against Greece. One of which is today, they're going to play France, and I think that is an interesting sort of litmus test, and it'll provide a barometer certainly in terms of how their front court fairs against a group that is anchored by, you know, Victor Wimbingyama, Rude Gobert. There's also in the fold there with the French team. What do you have lingering as maybe a big question that you're hoping to get some clarity to before Canada has to tip off on the 27th against Greece? I don't know that we could glean very much from the USA game. Like, it felt like that was very much almost like a controlled scrimmage in a sense, so I'm wondering, as Canada's getting ready to play these next two, these final two tune-ups, what are you keeping your eye on? I think offensively, can Canada score at the rim? I think they struggled to do that against the team USA. There's a couple of reasons to that, but one of them was lingering back there, where you either BAM, MB, or Anthony Davis, and, you know, as well as back pressure from LeBron or Jason Tatum. I mean, you know, so as much as Canada was trying to get to there and trying to get two feet in the paint. When they got there, they were not very efficient. I think they had nine shots blocked. So, but again, as you point out, like, there's not a lot of teams in the world that can bring that kind of pressure from at the rim and from, you know, as they kind of chase you down from behind. So, and then defensively, can they protect their own them? And if they can't, and, you know, personnel-wise, I think that's going to be a struggle at the last line of defense. You know, I think that's why Jordy Fernandez has been very upfront. We want to be a very, you look at the strengths of this team and they just have a load of really good, really switchable, long-armed guys who should be able to put a lot of pressure on the ball in waves. And, you know, if they can do that, well, then all of a sudden, you know, it's so much work. You aren't getting to the paint as much. You're winning possessions. You're gaining extra possessions. You're in transition. You're playing fast. And it just kind of, that's the way I think Canada needs to play. To win a medal. And, um, and so doing, you know, what's the challenge against team USA was and will be is, is there's just no weakness. So, you know, if, you know, all these guardianship goes to Alexander and they force a switch, all of a sudden it's, they're quite, you know what I mean? Exactly. Yeah. How good did that, you know? What are you trying to exploit in that situation? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, and, but, you know, there's no other team in the world that brings that. And so, you know, France obviously is going to be a very difficult score. A team to score at score against in the rim. I are at the rim. I think you've got to be able to exploit them in the mid range. Um, you've got to be able to exploit them in transition. And you've got to be able to, um, make it very uncomfortable. If you look back at the, you know, when, you know, the first signal that this team, this version of Team Canada was very special to me was at the World Cup last year when they blew France out. They went by, they put him in the first game. They blew him up by 30. And, you know, if you remember in the first half, you know, I'm blanking on the, uh, Evan Pournier, sorry. Yes. Yes. First half he looked like, you know, Jordan, right? Like which seven born it does. Uh, you know, Thomas Adaranski, but yeah, he looked pretty good. Oh, he's better that he didn't get minutes with the mix. He just needed an outlet. That's what he needed. Right. I believe I'm a bit of an Evan Pournier fan. I don't understand exactly why he's anyway, but, um, there's worse players than him. I think getting more opportunities. Good. High point is his first half, he's, he's goes off for 20 points. He looks incredible. And then the second half they turned the water off on him. Uh, they, and I think so that's, you know, like Nicholas Petume is a nice player. Like he's a good complimentary piece, but he's, I don't know, 36, 37 years. Oh, like all of a sudden he's got Luke Dorton to face. And, you know, that's not probably not that much fun. So that's what I'm looking for is, you know, you've got, uh, the kid from Washington. Um, I'm going to remember to say, like I said, thank you. Um, the, uh, you know, so again, really, I love that kid. I think he's a tremendous prospect. But, you know, you've got, does he really want to deal with Dylan Brooks? Like probably not. So, you know, so I mean, that's, that's what I'm looking for today is can they make their perimeter guys uncomfortable enough that it offsets their ability to, you know, to be probably a dominant at the rim up at both ends. Yeah, it'll be, it'll be fascinating to see. And, uh, I don't know how this thing is. Just a, just as a wild card. Please. Yeah. It is. The scary thing for me is I kind of think that Victor Reminiana is on the verge of becoming a top 15 top and then who knows top five player in the world. Like it could be happening this month. And, um, you know, certainly the way he finished the season last year would indicate it. And, you know, the stage of Dylan, he's at, you know, like every month, he's getting better and that's going to be a real wild card is, uh, you know, he could, you know, it's a good team anyway. And then he could be a guy that all of a sudden you're, you know, what do you do with him and, uh, I'll answer that. I will answer that for Canada basketball. Unfortunately, not much. Uh, the rest of the world's going to find that out real soon. Uh, Grange propagates it so we got a run, but, uh, thanks for the time. Good chat with you any day. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. There it goes. Michael Grange sports dead Raptors slash. Can ball reporter right now. It's not a lot of wraps to talk about right now. Uh, what there is to talk about super, super quickly. Shane Lowry in the midst of an absolute meltdown at the open championship. He shanked a ball. He shanked it again. He is screamed at a cameraman and, and, and his ball is still not on the green yet for the whole he's playing. So just letting everybody out there, if you love chaos golf, my man and your Shane Lowry going through it right now at Royal Trune for the hundred and fifty second playing of the open championship. It is now time for the wake and rake presented by sports interaction. Your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. Jays back out of tonight. Vegas or in this case, sports interaction doesn't know what to do with it. Mine is one Ted on the money line for the Tigers. Mine is one Ted on the money line for the Jays over under seven and a half. Do you have a lean on this one one? I don't know where another day now. Yeah, let's get nuts. I want some offense. Give me the over seven and a half. Give me the over. Let's get some runs on the board tonight. Kukuchi pitching tomorrow. So it's okay. If you're going to give up a lot of runs. Sorry, Seabass, but it's the night you want it tonight. Why can't the Jays just go in? You know, maybe they score seven runs of their own. Yeah, I know. Thought about that. The Jays could in fact score runs in a baseball game. I mean, nobody's preventing them from doing it other than themselves. That's right. Ain't that the truth? So yes, I'll go with you there over on the of the total there. Seven and a half is the total. We'll take the over. You got to pay minus one ten to do it. And again, it is a complete pick a minus one ten for either side on the money line there. That was the wake and break presented by sports interaction. Your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly. We're still weeks or at least we can change away from baseball's trade deadline. What can change for the blue Jays? Should anything change for the blue Jays? Caitlin McGrath will join us next. Also, I'll continue to update you on the open where Shane Lowry leads for now. By the time we come back, I think that number will have dropped and will have a new leader there. The fan morning show continues. We got one hour left on your Friday on Sportsnet five nine to the fan. [MUSIC]
